The moment Faith Seed had grabbed America's hand with her gentle touch she found herself momentarily lost in a white fog. In almost the same instant, the fog disappeared and the Deputy was no longer at the Convent, but some beautiful field.
"What is . . . where . . . I am . . .?"
America felt like her body was swathed in velvet, the warmth of the sun seemed to seep into her very soul and her body felt so, so light. This felt very familiar, but her mind just couldn't seem to recall why? The harder she tried remembering, the more she didn't care. It was so . . . freeing! So enraptured by these feelings she didn't even realize Faith was still holding her hand
And strangely, she didn't mind that.
A butterfly fluttered by her sight.
"I know you've heard stories about me. That I'm a liar, a manipulator, that I poison the people's minds." The blonde fondled the Deputy's hand, as she gently led her through the field. "Well, let me tell you . . . a different story. A true story."
They brushed through the tall grass, which was softer than any grass she ever felt. Faith sat them down as her beautiful face became saddened as she continued talking.
"There once was a young woman, who was ostracized by her community. Bullied by her friends. Abused by her family. She took to a needle for help. She was all alone. She wanted to die." Her somberly quiet voice cracked at the last sentence. Her eyes were shut in what looked like pain racking through her mind, but it disappeared like a bad dream when she said, "And then she met the Father."
A butterfly flew past.
Suddenly, she grabbed America and ran through the gorgeous field, that was now overgrown with large beautiful flowers that were beyond description. She spun the Deputy around in a dance-like fashion, kicking up petals or flowers and causing butterflies to scatter.
"He gave her hope and confidence. The Father showed her how special she was, that she was full of love and life. He gave her a new family, one that accepted her just as she was." She stroked America's face lovingly. The butterflies rested on her shoulders and hair, almost like they were attracted to her love and happiness. "The young woman no longer wished to die. She had been given . . . purpose." Wings made of mist bloomed from her back, as she floated ten feet into the air and all the butterflies circulated around her.
So mesmerized by such wonder, America hardly registered that she too was lifted off the ground by Faith's aid. She waved behind her and the clouds in the distance parted to show the statue of Joseph.
"One day, the Father brought her here. He asked, if she had faith in him. He asked if she'd be willing to die for him. The young woman, who very much wished to live, was scared!"
Taking America's hand, the two flew through the air, gently brushing past the fields, the trees, and the lake. Faith had brought her to the top of the statue, placing her near the edge of the book. Standing beside America was Marshal Burke and he had a little butterfly pal relaxing on his shoulder.
"The Father told her this was her test. He would have faith in her if she had faith in him. So, she closed her eyes and leapt." She giggled down at them. A second butterfly fluttered onto the Marshal's shoulder. "The Father kept his word. The path to Eden is clear, to those that have faith."
And with that, the Angel vanished in a puff of beautiful mist. But somehow, America could still feel her, around her, inside her. She was true Faith incarnate.
"Walk the Path." The Marshal said and without hesitation fell from the edge of the book.
"You must have Faith . . . let go."
America took a step.
'Wait . . .' A rogue thought pushed.
A second step.
'No.'
A third step. One more . . .
'Stop.'
Her muffled thoughts pushed through the fog, trying to stop her, but no matter how hard her mind fought . . . she couldn't stop.
"I will give you purpose. I will set you free."
'Don't!'
And with that fourth step, the air rushed past her as she plummeted faster and faster and faster until she hit the ground.
Then all was darkness and only Faith's soothing voice kept her from dying.
"Do you feel different? Do you feel alive? The first step is always the scariest, but we all have faith. Follow the Pilgrimage, Walk the Path, I'll see you soon."
The darkness faded and light shined through her eyes. America groaned in pain and tried to get up. Her vision returned and all around her . . . was death.
Broken bodies, blood splattered nearly everywhere, and underneath all of them was a giant Eden's Gate Cross painted on the stone. She pushed herself onto her back and saw where all the bodies came from: the cliff, being overlooked by Joseph's Statue.
"Did I . . . did they all . . .?"
Her mind was racing to comprehend what just happened.
'Did I really fall from up there? And survived?' She turned her head to all the bodies. 'Did every one of them jump . . . and not?'
A question was booming through her head. How? How was she alive?
Suddenly a pair of black boots entered her vision. She looked up and saw a figure clad in all black.
"Well, looks like you survived." They said, their voice altered in a way that made them sound robotic.
The Deputy quickly jumped to her feet and pulled out Judgment, ready to aim and shoot at a moment's notice. She got a good look at the person now. They were literally covered head to toe in black clothing, from jeans, combat boots, a hooded leather trenchcoat, and the most defining feature, a gas mask. America honestly couldn't tell if this person was male or female, their clothing covered too much and their mask hid their voice as well as facial features.
"Who are you?" She asked warily.
"An ally." They said simply, unwavered by the gun pointed at them.
America calmed down a little since they weren't attacking, but she was still anxious. "That doesn't answer my question."
"It's . . . unimportant." America quirked an eyebrow. "If you need a name, the locals call me the Black Hood."
The Deputy was a bit surprised by this. The Black Hood was one of the individuals named by the Sheriff that was saving people from the cult.
Feeling less threatened now, she holstered her weapon. "Okay. What are you doing here?"
"Do I need a reason, to go where Eden's Gate is?"
They pointed up the cliff face and at the statue. She turned back and saw the climbing gear and RPG-7. Her eyes widened understanding what the masked individual's goal was. Her face then contorted into one of mischief and revenge.
"Ya need some help?" She asked.
"I never turn down a helping hand." They then gave her the rocket launcher, plus projectiles. "I'll follow your lead though."
America took the large ordinance almost hesitantly. "Alright, but why though?"
"I have reasons." They stopped the conversation by walking ahead. America then got a good look at the back of Hood's coat. A pair of stylized white wings covered the entirety of the back. Focusing on them hard enough, America could have sworn she saw eyes designed into them.
"You coming, Deputy?" Black Hood called, already getting started on climbing the cliff.
"O-oh right! Coming!"
It took about twenty minutes for them to scale the cliff-face. A few times America performed the stupid act of looking down and immediately regretting it. She could see the dead bodies that had taken the Leap of Faith and splattered onto the rock like paintballs.
'How on earth dd I survive that? Did I actually jump? I couldn't have, no one could survive that!'
"You're overthinking it, Deputy." Black Hood called, apparently reading her mind. "What's the expression? Never look a gift horse in the mouth? You're alive, either by dumb luck, the grace of God, or something else. Personally, I'd vouch for the second option, but you believe what you want. In the end, you have the chance to payback the ones who made those poor souls jump."
They were right. America put what happened in the back of her mind. Right now, she had a rocket launcher and the perfect opportunity to kick the cult in the crotch.
Pulling themselves over, the two fighters kept low and observed their surroundings. There were cultists all over the place! Many of them were celebrating or meditating around the statue, praising Joseph like it was going out of style. Honestly, America didn't know how none of them ever got tired of doing that.
"Get the launcher ready. Once you take the first shot, reload and repeat, I'll guard you from the peggies."
"Got it." America then got started on setting up the rocket. Once all was properly in place, she aimed at the hip of Joseph and waited for confirmation from her partner in crime.
A single wave of the hand and a chunk of Joseph was obliterated. Chunks of concrete dropped from the air and crushed several peggies alive, ruining their twisted fun. Of course, they immediately found the pair, since an RPG was anything but subtle, but Black Hood had the Deputy covered as she prepared another rocket.
America fired again taking out the back of Joseph. The cult's hard work became their tomb stones as they were crushed underneath.
Having cleared most of the peggies, Black Hood motioned for America to move with them, so she could get a better angle on the rest of the statue.
They saw red dots circle them. Apparently, that statue was not empty and many surviving cultists were now aiming down from the exposed hollow points of the statue. This didn't deter the duo though as Black Hood fired on their assaulters with the same level of marksmanship as Grace. America took cover setting up the next rocket. Once ready she immediately fired on the left side of Joseph.
The explosion caused many of the cultists to fall from the statue. Their screams were silenced when they reached the bottom. Apparently, Faith wasn't enough to survive that leap.
Another rocket was ready and fired upon Joseph's raised left arm. She had gotten it under the armpit, making it crumble and plummet off the cliff in shambles.
The cult was now coming from all over, seeing their precious effigy desecrated. They were sprinting up the hills and stairs and climbing up the mountain walls, desperate to stop the vandalizing heathens. America had to admit, she hadn't had this much fun since tearing down John's sign. Only this time it was hurting the entire cult's spirit.
While Black Hood fought them all off with their assault rifle like they were some kind of badass soldier out of an action movie, America fired the next rocket at the book-holding arm. Like the left arm, it broke entirely to pieces and fell off the mountain in a heap.
There was only one piece remaining: Joseph's fucking face.
"Oh, I'm really gonna love this." America stated, as she took careful aim for this last one. "Suck on this cock, Joseph!"
A click, a "boosh," and an explosion later and Joseph's Statue was now modern art. She could hear all the peggies crying out in despair and anguish before Black Hood put them all out of their misery. The Deputy only wished she could see all the cult's reaction to the destruction of their precious golden calf.
'Especially Faith's look. I bet she regrets bringing me here now.'
"Good work." Black Hood complimented. They had killed all the peggies and was now swapping out a magazine of their gun.
"Thanks. Couldn't have done it without you."
"Yes, you could. I just provided the ordinance. Even if I wasn't here, you'd have persevered regardless."
"Um, thanks." That was some confidence they had in her. It was more then she had in herself.
Suddenly, her radio crackled to life and America realized that she didn't contact any of her friends or the Resistance.
"Hello, this is Tracey from the Hope County Jail, is anyone there?"
"Tracey? It's me, Deputy Jones."
"Jones?! You're alive?! Wait, are you the one that blew up Joseph's statue?!"
She smiled proudly. "That's right."
"Holy shit!"
She heard Tracey shout to everyone about the news and got them all to gather.
"Rook, is that really you?" Sheriff Whitehorse asked.
"Yes sir!"
"Holy crap, Rookie, when Faith took you, we thought that was it." James said ecstatically. "One second you were there and the next, gone in a puff of smoke."
"We're all glad to hear you alive, Dep." Grace said.
"And having a party without us!" Sharky yelled. "We saw you lighting up that statue like it was a firework! Hell of a show, wish you had invited us!"
"Sorry, Sharky, I was a bit disoriented at the time, but I didn't do it alone. I got help from the Black Hood."
"The Black Hood? They're there with you?" Whitehorse asked.
"Yeah, they kept the peggies off my back while I brought down that eyesore."
"Cool! You're working with a superhero!" Sharky yelled.
"Not a superhero." Black Hood stated.
"Anyway, we're just about to get out of here before more peggies show up. You guys weren't the only ones to see that show and I'm sure the cult's not gonna take kindly to what we did."
"Hold on, Deputy." Tracey stopped them. "If you really want to send a message to Faith there's one more thing you can do. That statue was used to store the cult's stuff, weapons, supplies, bliss, but at the very top is Faith's own personal copy of Joseph's ramblings. Climb to the top and burn that shit. That'll show her what happens when you fuck with the wrong people."
America paused to think about what Tracey was asking. Was there any real reason to do that? Unlike destroying the statue, there was no purpose in burning Faith's book. It would be no huge loss to the cult . . .
'But it might be devastating to Faith.'
That thought alone was enticing. The Deputy recalled her time in the Bliss, how she had no real control of herself, how she mindlessly hung onto the woman's words and . . . actually . . . believed them. She believed against her own volition. The thought of her freedom and will being overtaken like that angered her and the thought of her doing that to hundreds of people . . . and killing them with that power . . . sickened her.
"What do you say, Black Hood?"
"I go where you go."
America smirked. "Consider that book burned, Tracey." She could hear the cheers in the background.
"Hey, Deputy." Jerome's voice suddenly spoke through. "We overheard what you're doing and we're sending a chopper to give you a lift. Once you burn that book to ash, it should be there to pick you up."
"Thanks, Jerome! Appreciate it."
The duo made their way up the statue. Turns out there were still some survivors in the statue, lying in wait for them or just cowering. Either way, The Deputy and Black Hood each tossed a grenade into the room to kill or flush them out. Judgment and rifle raised, the two moved in and shot any peggie in their way.
They climbed up the ladders and were met with more resistance, but not as much as the cult would want. They stepped over bodies as they fought the cult all the way up the statue.
Some ladders had to be lowered manually, giving cult reinforcements enough time to arrive via helicopter.
That was when The Father himself chimed in on America's radio.
"I see what you've done. I know what you're doing. I'm not angry, but I'm disappointed. My people are coming to show you my displeasure."
"Shave your beard and suck my clit, Joseph. Your disappointment is sweet like candy to me." America spat into her radio.
And like the bastard promised, three choppers arrived in the sky, likely filled with many angry cultists. They became two when Black Hood downed the pilot of one. It crashed and burned, killing everyone inside.
"Keep climbing!" Black Hood shouted.
The helicopters started firing on them. Wasn't exactly easy, as despite the walls literally being torn down, there was still enough cement and metal left to shield the pair. Of course, one stray bullet could still end them, so they weren't safe.
Black Hood and America fired on the copters, trying to bring them down. One of the helicopters went higher and dropped off their passengers.
"Go ahead, I'll take care of the birds." Black Hood said. America nodded and made her way up to the head.
One peggie tried getting the drop on her, a headshot showed how bad an idea that was. Two bullets killed the second. The Deputy kept down when rifle fire nearly got her. She had to backtrack when a smoke grenade went off.
She tossed another grenade into the smoke. It detonated, destroying more of the statue and causing dead and alive peggies to fall to the earth. When the smoke cleared, she advanced and shot two more peggies trying to get to her. They had a better shot at winning had they hunkered down, but they must have been too blind with rage to want to just suppress her.
Fine with America, the more came to her, the easier the targets. Eventually they all fell, whether off the statue or from bullet wounds didn't matter to her.
By the time The Deputy was finished on her end, Black Hood killed the helicopters too. Well, they had shot the pilot of one and as it fell, crashed into the second one and both exploded in a fiery heap.
Apparently, the top of the statue had taken more damage than the rest of the body as the steps and ladders were destroyed. So, the two had to treacherously jump and scale warped beams and concrete. America was now wondering if the book would even be intact, considering how messed up the very top of the statue was.
To her surprise, the book was indeed intact and so was the wall it was laid in.
"Halt, heathens!"
And so was the last remaining cultist guarding the book. He was completely shirtless, clothed mostly in a pair of white pants and a ton of tattoos. The most prominent being portraits of all the Seeds on his torso. Like the other male members of Eden's Gate, he had grown out his beard. In his hands was an axe, whose head was shaped like the cult's cross.
"You have ruined this place enough. You have slaughtered my brothers and sisters who only wish the best for the world. And now you come defile the word of the Father?" He spat at their feet. "I will not allow you to take another step. I shall avenge my people and the Father's honor." He then stamped the other end of his axe on the ground. "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"
. . .
. . .
America and Hood looked at each other before raising their guns and shooting the man. His bullet riddled body then fell off the statue, joining his brethren and his stupid idol.
"Zealots. What drama queens." Black Hood drawled.
With that pathetic show over, America walked over to the hard, leatherbound book.
"You sure you want to do this?" Black Hood suddenly asked. "I can get behind hurting the peggies, but book burning is . . . well, let's just say some of the best literature was produced from madness."
America grabbed the book, it felt lighter than she was expecting and the leather felt strangely soft to the touch. "Whatever "profound" wisdom Joseph can offer to the world, he has no right to shove it down other people's throats and watch them choke on it. I don't tolerate it from my own religion, so I sure as hell won't for his. Besides, anyone who listens to his ramblings have become cold hearted killers who care for nothing but their precious Father."
Black Hood nodded, but she wasn't sure what exactly they were thinking. "You do what you have to do."
Pulling out the lighter Red gifted her she lit the edge of the book on fire and watched the flames slowly consume the text. Once it reached the tips of her fingers she flung it into the air, to join the destruction below, among the blood, fire, and rubble.
That was when Faith spoke . . . but in her head?
"His words! What have you done? Don't you know what he'll do to me?"
I spun around, looking for the bitch, but saw no one, but Black Hood.
"You heard Faith?"
I looked to them shocked. "Yeah, how—"
"You're not the first to hear her in your head. She does that to many and no one knows how."
"Great, so I got a witch in my brain." She sighed. "Bad enough I've been breathing in her drug gas."
"Get used to it. Until she's dealt with, she can pop up at anytime and anywhere she wants, that's what makes her formidable and a bigger threat than even John."
At that moment a helicopter flew over, one that wasn't painted white or baring any cult markers.
"Looks like our rides here."
"Your ride. I'll be heading off on my own." Black Hood said.
"You don't want head back to the prison with me?"
"I prefer to keep a low profile." Was all they offered.
"Come on, we worked really well together."
"We did and we'll work together again, Deputy. Count on it. I'll be there when you need me the most."
Before she could ask what they meant the helicopter distracted her. Its doors opened revealing a smiling Jerome and an eager Alex and Hannah who were taking many pictures and recordings.
America turned to convince Black Hood to come with her, but they were gone. Literally gone. She did not see them heading down the statue or parachuting down or anything. They were just gone . . . like Batman.
Beyond confused, America took Jerome's hand and got into the copter. The door closed and they took off once everyone was seated and secured.
The priest and the bloggers were singing praises to her, but she was only half paying attention. Her mind was elsewhere thinking about how crazy her day has been. She may or may not have jumped off a cliff and somehow survived, she teamed up with some masked weirdo to blow up a statue, probably broke fifty laws doing it, participated in a book burning and then said masked weirdo disappeared into thin air, literally as there was no trace of them.
If this is what results after entering the Bliss, then she planned on staying as far away as she possibly could from the stuff. Just as she thought that, she looked out the window and saw the mist of Bliss suddenly rise higher and spread further, like a gentle fire. It even became slightly denser, looking more like a fog.
She stared in utter disbelief and had only one thing to say.
"Shit."