Authors note/warning: This chapter is focused solely on John Mathers. I
know this might seem pointless, but I felt it would be better to fill in
some plot holes about him before the battle between him and the bebop. You
will see what he has in store for the bebop here, but I'm not saying
anything else. Keep the reviews up.
-Randall Flagg2
We satisfy our endless needs
And justify our bloody deeds
In the name of destiny
And in the name of God
-The last resort, The Eagles
John Mathers watched the iniquitous work in the mines from his office TV. It gave him great pleasure in the way they suffered under his hand. He particularly enjoyed the way they reacted to the crucifixion of that boy Ray. Some of them had screamed, others had cried. The boy's mother had fainted upon the seeing her son made just like Christ. But didn't they deserve it? Didn't the apostles and the prophets before them say that they would get what was coming to them? And didn't the savior himself say "If he will not repent, treat him as you would a tax collecter?" Oh it did alright, and John Mathers was not one to blaspheme God's name. He'd be damned if he would act like they did. They were just like his parents were. Unbelievers who had no use for God or the way's he had set out for people to follow until the day they were taken to paradise. He hated people like that. "I was born from a mockers womb, and came into the world to give light to the people." John muttered. He closed his eyes and remembered his childhood on Ganymede.
During the early years of his life, John Mathers had the uncanny ability to read things that were far ahead of his reading level. By the time he was two, he could read and interpret books from Authors such as Shakespeare, Lovecraft, and Poe. His parents, Reginald and Laura, were astounded by this. They had tried to diagnose their son's reading ability, but the doctors could not give a diagnosis. So his parents had just accepted the fact that their son had extraordinary reading talents. There really wasn't much else they could do. So they had bought him books of all sorts that he could read for amusement. Poetry, humor, mystery, many things that one would normally begin reading by the first grade at least became his to read and interpret. Before then, he had been as blind to God as they were. Worst of all, he had enjoyed it. Then one night in November when he was four, he had stumbled across an old bible in one of the shelves in his parent's room. Being interested in literature, he had decided to read it. At first it had been confusing since it was in a sort of foreign tongue that was like English, but the word "you" became "thee" or "ye". After a half-hour, he had been able to understand the difficult language. Thus, having conquered another literary obstacle, he began to read.
What he read was shocking, revealing, and every so often terrifying, but he knew that this story was true and not made up like the books he had read before. He had been so fascinated by the whole concept of this thick book that he had read all of it by the end of the day. When he had finished reading it all, he had been changed from an unbelieving child into one of God's creatures. From then on, his life would be entirely devoted to God and nothing but God. That was what this book called the Bible commanded, so he had no choice. His punishment would be to die if he dared not act according to God's will. But what horrified him even more was the fact that the time he lived in was nothing like the biblical times that this book had been written in. Things were different now. People cared so little for religion nowadays. During biblical times, the unbelievers were a minority compared to those of true faith. Now the righteous had been cut down to only a relatively small portion of the entire universe. He didn't like that. He knew that now he was an angel among a universe of demons, and that they would lie in wait to devour him, just as the bible said it would. That fear slowly melted into anger. He was being raised by these people who called themselves human beings, who were in reality anything but. But he would hold steadfast to God and religion, just as the scriptures commanded. He had lived the life of a sinner, now he would reign with the righteous.
As the years with his family progressed, he attempted to bring holiness and trinity to his household, but was unsuccessful. When his parents asked him to do something, he would do it without any hesitation. His parents were proud of him, but he knew it was just an act. They were really waiting to punce on him like a young lion and devour him alive when they had the chance. Whenever he did something wrong, he had begged them to beat him for what he had done. His parents had been disturbed by his request and refused to correct him as they should have, not being the types to hit a child. That had sickened him. The proverbs said that any parent who did not spare the rod, hated their child, but the rod brought wisdom and atonement for sin and saved them from death. More proof that they disliked him for his righteous behavior.
The only friend he had when he was a boy was a boy named Craig Niles. Originally, he had intended to try to teach him the lord's path, but some demon in him had commanded him not to. So he had kept his righteous behavior inside of himself and had done his best to relate to him. Friendshio had blossomed between the two, and for awhile he had gone back to doing the devils work. But after a period of time he slowly reverted back to his ways. He had begun to avoid his Niles for his unbelief in God and the many blasphemes spoken against him by the boy. He had also began to get violent towards others. He would physically assault anybody who dared to do something against God and his name. Smoking, making out before marriage, drinking, anything that was devil's work was cast down by him. He had only been suspended once. He had to be caredul, as the wicked disliked the lord's work. And one night his friend had asked him why he had "let religion get to his head" and he had lost control. He had beaten his friend halfway to hell where he belonged with a crowbar to punish him for his mockery. He had no regrets over it. He would do it again if he could. From then on, he promised never to associate with a sinner again. He broke that vow again in his life when he met Sonya Rockwell.
At first, the relationship had gone well. Sonya was nice, and had again caused a demon to put the lord's work aside for one who could not be saved. He had returned her feelings for a long time, until later. He objected highly to the clothes she wore because they were not the clothing a woman should wear. She should wear a dress, like a respectable woman of God did. She did not share the same view however. Then they had begun to argue a lot, and the relationship had gone downhill. One nigh when they were out on a date, a kid had come by him with music that mocked everything God stood for. Deciding the boy needed punishment, he had descended on him and beaten the kid into a state of unconsciousness. When he had finished, he saw Sonya looking at him raptly, her mouth an O of terror and disgust. Their relationship had ended that day. To keep himself occupied, he resorted to the thing he had done best as a kid: hacking. As a child, he had learned how to use a computer when he was seven. His friend Craig had known a lot of things about these machines and had taught him how to hack into internet sights and other computers. So when nobody was around, he would hack into home computers and government sites and had shut them down for blaspheming God. He had only been caught once, and his punishment wasn't that severe.
All of that had been before the gate accident. Before he had set course for outer space, he had told Sonya he was going to Calisto to set up God's kingdom. After the gat incident, he had traveled around space in search of people he could have as disciples. All of the people he took with them were mostly homeless of depressed people who had nothing left in life except the ability to dream. He had educated them in God's teachings and they had converted to his views. They had traveled around the universe as missionaries from Calisto who preached the heavenly father's word and warned them of the traps that had been set for them. But then one day, John had realized that to get God's word across, he would have to exorcise the demons in people. So he had set up a base deep inside of Calisto and constructed a satellite which he could use to see into the homes of the hellbound and take them into his kingdom for teachings in God's ways. He knew that some would have to be killed to atone for their sins. He would not torture them like the Catholics did in medieval times. They knew nothing of God or his ways. The only way a person could be saved would be to die as Christ did. After all, he had shed his blood on the cross and brought salvation, so he would do the same to these people to save them. It was after all, the only way. He had taken people of all races and cultures to be taught the ways of salvation. He had taken that Ed girl because she had committed more iniquity than all the others. He wasn't worried though. There was no way her friends could save her now.
Now all that was left was to cut down the wicked with fire, and he needed the water in the planet's core for that. By harvesting the water, he could create powerful hydrogen which he would use in bombs. He did have one job that the planets allowed him to do legally. He often built crosses and shipped them off to churches around the universe. By harvesting the water and getting the hydrogen from it, he could use it in the crosses' design to make a powerful nuclear bomb. Once he had shipped these to all the churches on all the planets, he would detonate them and consume the wicked in holy flame. He would be able to do it soon too. Just an hour or so more and he would be able to harvest the hydrogen and bring the evil times to an end. All this pleased him immensely. Soon the righteous would reign over the universe as they had been destined to for so long and he would have his revenge for trying to tempt him with their false ways. It would be soon. Very soon indeed.
That's it for this part. R&r please. The big stuff starts next chapter.
We satisfy our endless needs
And justify our bloody deeds
In the name of destiny
And in the name of God
-The last resort, The Eagles
John Mathers watched the iniquitous work in the mines from his office TV. It gave him great pleasure in the way they suffered under his hand. He particularly enjoyed the way they reacted to the crucifixion of that boy Ray. Some of them had screamed, others had cried. The boy's mother had fainted upon the seeing her son made just like Christ. But didn't they deserve it? Didn't the apostles and the prophets before them say that they would get what was coming to them? And didn't the savior himself say "If he will not repent, treat him as you would a tax collecter?" Oh it did alright, and John Mathers was not one to blaspheme God's name. He'd be damned if he would act like they did. They were just like his parents were. Unbelievers who had no use for God or the way's he had set out for people to follow until the day they were taken to paradise. He hated people like that. "I was born from a mockers womb, and came into the world to give light to the people." John muttered. He closed his eyes and remembered his childhood on Ganymede.
During the early years of his life, John Mathers had the uncanny ability to read things that were far ahead of his reading level. By the time he was two, he could read and interpret books from Authors such as Shakespeare, Lovecraft, and Poe. His parents, Reginald and Laura, were astounded by this. They had tried to diagnose their son's reading ability, but the doctors could not give a diagnosis. So his parents had just accepted the fact that their son had extraordinary reading talents. There really wasn't much else they could do. So they had bought him books of all sorts that he could read for amusement. Poetry, humor, mystery, many things that one would normally begin reading by the first grade at least became his to read and interpret. Before then, he had been as blind to God as they were. Worst of all, he had enjoyed it. Then one night in November when he was four, he had stumbled across an old bible in one of the shelves in his parent's room. Being interested in literature, he had decided to read it. At first it had been confusing since it was in a sort of foreign tongue that was like English, but the word "you" became "thee" or "ye". After a half-hour, he had been able to understand the difficult language. Thus, having conquered another literary obstacle, he began to read.
What he read was shocking, revealing, and every so often terrifying, but he knew that this story was true and not made up like the books he had read before. He had been so fascinated by the whole concept of this thick book that he had read all of it by the end of the day. When he had finished reading it all, he had been changed from an unbelieving child into one of God's creatures. From then on, his life would be entirely devoted to God and nothing but God. That was what this book called the Bible commanded, so he had no choice. His punishment would be to die if he dared not act according to God's will. But what horrified him even more was the fact that the time he lived in was nothing like the biblical times that this book had been written in. Things were different now. People cared so little for religion nowadays. During biblical times, the unbelievers were a minority compared to those of true faith. Now the righteous had been cut down to only a relatively small portion of the entire universe. He didn't like that. He knew that now he was an angel among a universe of demons, and that they would lie in wait to devour him, just as the bible said it would. That fear slowly melted into anger. He was being raised by these people who called themselves human beings, who were in reality anything but. But he would hold steadfast to God and religion, just as the scriptures commanded. He had lived the life of a sinner, now he would reign with the righteous.
As the years with his family progressed, he attempted to bring holiness and trinity to his household, but was unsuccessful. When his parents asked him to do something, he would do it without any hesitation. His parents were proud of him, but he knew it was just an act. They were really waiting to punce on him like a young lion and devour him alive when they had the chance. Whenever he did something wrong, he had begged them to beat him for what he had done. His parents had been disturbed by his request and refused to correct him as they should have, not being the types to hit a child. That had sickened him. The proverbs said that any parent who did not spare the rod, hated their child, but the rod brought wisdom and atonement for sin and saved them from death. More proof that they disliked him for his righteous behavior.
The only friend he had when he was a boy was a boy named Craig Niles. Originally, he had intended to try to teach him the lord's path, but some demon in him had commanded him not to. So he had kept his righteous behavior inside of himself and had done his best to relate to him. Friendshio had blossomed between the two, and for awhile he had gone back to doing the devils work. But after a period of time he slowly reverted back to his ways. He had begun to avoid his Niles for his unbelief in God and the many blasphemes spoken against him by the boy. He had also began to get violent towards others. He would physically assault anybody who dared to do something against God and his name. Smoking, making out before marriage, drinking, anything that was devil's work was cast down by him. He had only been suspended once. He had to be caredul, as the wicked disliked the lord's work. And one night his friend had asked him why he had "let religion get to his head" and he had lost control. He had beaten his friend halfway to hell where he belonged with a crowbar to punish him for his mockery. He had no regrets over it. He would do it again if he could. From then on, he promised never to associate with a sinner again. He broke that vow again in his life when he met Sonya Rockwell.
At first, the relationship had gone well. Sonya was nice, and had again caused a demon to put the lord's work aside for one who could not be saved. He had returned her feelings for a long time, until later. He objected highly to the clothes she wore because they were not the clothing a woman should wear. She should wear a dress, like a respectable woman of God did. She did not share the same view however. Then they had begun to argue a lot, and the relationship had gone downhill. One nigh when they were out on a date, a kid had come by him with music that mocked everything God stood for. Deciding the boy needed punishment, he had descended on him and beaten the kid into a state of unconsciousness. When he had finished, he saw Sonya looking at him raptly, her mouth an O of terror and disgust. Their relationship had ended that day. To keep himself occupied, he resorted to the thing he had done best as a kid: hacking. As a child, he had learned how to use a computer when he was seven. His friend Craig had known a lot of things about these machines and had taught him how to hack into internet sights and other computers. So when nobody was around, he would hack into home computers and government sites and had shut them down for blaspheming God. He had only been caught once, and his punishment wasn't that severe.
All of that had been before the gate accident. Before he had set course for outer space, he had told Sonya he was going to Calisto to set up God's kingdom. After the gat incident, he had traveled around space in search of people he could have as disciples. All of the people he took with them were mostly homeless of depressed people who had nothing left in life except the ability to dream. He had educated them in God's teachings and they had converted to his views. They had traveled around the universe as missionaries from Calisto who preached the heavenly father's word and warned them of the traps that had been set for them. But then one day, John had realized that to get God's word across, he would have to exorcise the demons in people. So he had set up a base deep inside of Calisto and constructed a satellite which he could use to see into the homes of the hellbound and take them into his kingdom for teachings in God's ways. He knew that some would have to be killed to atone for their sins. He would not torture them like the Catholics did in medieval times. They knew nothing of God or his ways. The only way a person could be saved would be to die as Christ did. After all, he had shed his blood on the cross and brought salvation, so he would do the same to these people to save them. It was after all, the only way. He had taken people of all races and cultures to be taught the ways of salvation. He had taken that Ed girl because she had committed more iniquity than all the others. He wasn't worried though. There was no way her friends could save her now.
Now all that was left was to cut down the wicked with fire, and he needed the water in the planet's core for that. By harvesting the water, he could create powerful hydrogen which he would use in bombs. He did have one job that the planets allowed him to do legally. He often built crosses and shipped them off to churches around the universe. By harvesting the water and getting the hydrogen from it, he could use it in the crosses' design to make a powerful nuclear bomb. Once he had shipped these to all the churches on all the planets, he would detonate them and consume the wicked in holy flame. He would be able to do it soon too. Just an hour or so more and he would be able to harvest the hydrogen and bring the evil times to an end. All this pleased him immensely. Soon the righteous would reign over the universe as they had been destined to for so long and he would have his revenge for trying to tempt him with their false ways. It would be soon. Very soon indeed.
That's it for this part. R&r please. The big stuff starts next chapter.