Church:
(Okay, I will try to base this off of my own experience. I'll be honest, it's been a while since I've been to church. Let's see how the Bad Guys handle being in church! Enjoy!)
Zeke was unsure of how today would go, because he could tell the Bad Guys were having a hard time getting behind the idea of going to church. The rabbit decided he would be confident and would ask how to handle this. "Chamaco, you sure this is a good idea?" Piranha asked. "Absotutely." Zeke nodded, "Church isn't a huge place where you have to look your best, you know." Diane said, the rest of the Bad Guys were unsure of how to take the idea. God wasn't an unfamiliar name or subject, but the idea that horrible decisions led to death was pretty scary on the Bad Guys part, given their former endeavors. "And you're sure the folks aren't gonna be scared of us?" Snake asked, "I mean, it might be creepy to some people if they see a LITERAL SNAKE at church?" He then said, dejectedly.
"It'll be okay, Snake. We've got nothin' to worry about." Diane said, Wolf smiled happily, "Yeah, they'll probably start seein' ya as a sweetheart when they get to know ya." Wolf said, hugging Snake rolled his eyes and groaned, annoyed. "Yeah yeah, whatever, and I'm sure ladies'll be swooning over you." Snake said, sarcastically.
"Hah, naturally." Wolf said, with Webs laughing slightly. Diane smirked and interjected, "Yeah, not happening, Wolf." She said, "Anyways, since me and Zeke have been the two people showing up to church, we can vouch for you guys." Shark explained, "Yeah, and they should know how you guys are a little because Uncle Lou disguised himself as you guys when he met some of the people." Zeke said, which surprised the rest of the Bad Guys. "Shark! We told you to stop pretending to be us." Wolf said, "Yeah, but you forget how great of a muse you guys can be for my skills!" Shark said, "Acting like you guys is hard to pass up, and it's funny." Shark laughing, getting a giggle from Zeke and grumbling from the other Bad Guys. When they made it to the entrance of the building, Wolf straightened his jacket and they all tried to smile, but they did scare off a few people. "We SERIOUSLY need to smile better." Webs said.
(Later)
Zeke was excited to see Liv and Marshall today, since Marshall started coming to church ever since they've been out of juvie. "Hey, glad you made it!" Marshall said, happily. "Yeah, same, g. Marshall, peeps this! My fam's here!" Zeke said. Liv looked shocked, "Whoa, seriously? I already have to deal with YOU every Sunday." Liv said, acting snippy, "You mean I have to deal with your trigger happy fish uncle?" Liv asked, "It'll be fine. Assuming they don't think to put him in here with youth." Zeke said, Marshall fixed his glasses and looked confused, "…But he's an adult…?" He said, phrasing it as a question. "Ohhhhhhh…Wait, really?" Zeke asked, as if being unsure. Marshall rolled his eyes, "Please stop that." Zeke put his hands up, defensively. "Anyways, I hope this can hopefully help me and my fam out. I know we still need to get a better idea on how to be good, too, you know?" Zeke said. Liv nodded, "I'm sure it'll be okay, Zeke. As long as they're not getting into those huge fights, we're good." Zeke smiled, hoping and praying the church can go well for his fam, too.
"So, how have you guys been since last Thursday?" Zeke asked.
Marshall picked up a bubble wand and soap and blew a few. "Been doing good, my report card's supposed to come in, so my Aunt and Uncle'll be on my butt about that for any bad grades." Marshall explained, "And you should know how I've been doing, Zeke. We're in the same class." Liv said to him, which made the rabbit giggle, "I know, I asked as a courtesy." Zeke said. "So, Liv, who's your boyfriend?"
two coyotes walked up to the three of them. "Levi! Don't be gross!" Liv said, "He's just a friend." Levi just made a blah blah blah gesture, "I'm not the one who shouted and blushed at the idea, Liv. Hi, I'm Levi. I'm Liv's older brother." The other coyote waved, "I'm Regina. You can call me Reggie. Liv talks about you Juvie Kids all the time over the phone." Reggie said, "Wait, really?" Marshall asked. "What? It's not weird that I talk about you guys, is it?" Liv asked, "Yeah, she talks about you guys a lot. She's said she's gonna start spreading rumors that you guys were in juvie as a gang." Reggie said.
"Reggie! Cut it out, don't make up lies about my friends!" Liv said, sternly. "Yeah, besides, I know Liv wouldn't do that, she HATES trouble." Zeke said. "
"Okay, looks like everyone's here. We're going to be resuming our topic about the Prophet Isaiah…" the youth pastor had said.
(Meanwhile)
Shark led them around, some people were more distrusting of the Bad Guys than others who walked up to them, "Oh, it's you, Mr. Shark!" A woman walked up to them.
"Hi, my name is Sera, and if I remember correctly, you two would be Zeke's parents." She affirmed, "Yes ma'am, it's nice to meet you. I'm Diane, and this is Moe Wolf." Wolf waved cheerfully, "So, like…what are we supposed to do here?" Piranha said, not really having been in a church as frequently as he'd have liked. "Well, to start things out, we begin with a few worship songs, then we let the pastor preach about the specific subject, and we do an annual prayer." Sera explained. "I'm happy to see you've all made it this time. I bet Zeke is excited that you're here, too."
The Bad Guys looked a little bewildered, people were HAPPY to be seen showing up here? That's not something they're used to, that was for sure. "I don't get it. How come you're happy to see us?" Snake asked, all of them walking into the worship hall. "Aren't Snakes…like connected to bad things in the Bible?" Snake asked, Sera brushed her hair, "You don't have anything to worry about, Mr. Snake. While snakes were often mentioned as representation of sin, they aren't literal harbingers of it. There have been a few examples of snakes being of God as well, like when Moses turned his staff into one." She explained to him, "All right then. Well, thanks for having me, then." Snake said, "Not a problem. I have to go. I hope you guys enjoy today!" Sera said, walking off.
"So, how are you guys holding up?" Diane asked, "I'm good, I've been here a few times." Shark said, "I dunno, I mean. I expected a lot more judgment." Webs said.
"Not everything is normally as it seems." Shark explained, "There was a lot about the Bible we didn't know about." Wolf smirked, "So, all of a sudden, you're a Bible expert?" He asked his friend. Piranha and Webs giggled, "I know more about it than YOU." Shark said.
Diane rolled her eyes, "Okay, let's act mature here, you all. They'll be starting soon."
(Later)
The band had set themselves up on stage, the pianist urging and beginning with a prayer before breaking into a song. "I was buried beneath my shame...
Who could carry that kind of weight...
It was my tomb...
Till I met You…"Piranha's interest piqued when he heard all the singing and music, Snake wasn't particularly fond of loudness, but he was feeling like he was into the music. Shark started clapping his hands, singing along, Webs up on his shoulder.
"I was breathing but not alive
All my failures I tried to hide
It was my tomb
Till I met You…"Tarantula was watching everyone else sing along, kind of unsure of how she's supposed to really do this. Wolf smiled, tapping his foot to the rhythm, it's almost if some part of him was hoping to be here someday. "You called my name…
And I ran out of that grave!
Out of the darkness…
Into Your glorious day!
You called my name…
And I ran out of that grave!
Out of the darkness…
Into Your glorious day!" The pianist kept singing.
Diane smiled, going from watching the stage screen's lyrics to watching all the Bad Guys enjoy their time with the songs. The worship went on for at least an hour with plethora of songs that seemed nigh infinite. Before the pastor walked up and started praising The Lord's Name.
"Hallelujah! We praise You, Lord, and we love You…" the pastor looked sheepish, but despite that, he made sure not to stutter. The musicians had stopped playing, save for the pianist, who was keeping the ambience of the worship hall going. The pastor had began to speak a prayer and urged the audience to repeat after him. The Bad Guys had shut their eyes.
"Dear Heavenly Father…" the pastor said, the audience now repeating.
"We thank You for Your Word.
This is Your Service..
And Satan, you are NOT welcome here
In my church, in my life, or in my home
In Jesus Name,
Amen." Wolf and The Bad Guys bowed their heads and joined in the prayer. "God is Good, Amen!" The pastor said, before going over the details of events coming up. "Okay, if you would, turn your Bibles to 1 Timothy 1…" with The Bad Guys picking up the Bibles behind the chairs of the next row.
(More later)
After the service concluded, Diane and The Bad Guys had a plethora of thoughts and questions come to mind. Their reading was about the Apostle Paul with his reminder that Jesus Christ didn't die for those pure, but for the sinners of the world.
"So, we're ALL technically bad?" Piranha asked, "Not technically, what he was saying was about how Jesus gave us the ability to really understand and know God. We're still sinners by the end of the day, but God is showing He loves us." Shark explained, "Yeah, but how could Paul even say he was the worst?" Snake asked, knowing a lot of the things the crew used to do. "It's more like Paul's way of admitting he did wrong." Wolf thought about it, "It's like uhh…what's the word…"
"Humility." Webs said, "Right! Honestly though, whenever you hear about stuff like this, you'd think that God chose like really pure saints or "Good Samaritans", that whole spiel." Wolf said, "Nah, I mean, He even chose that Paul guy and he was literally trying to persecute Him." Webs said. Diane smiled, "The pastor was onto something, that's for sure. It's a good reminder that anybody is capable of a redemption arc, right, Wolf?" Diane said.
Wolf smiled a little, "Yeah, all the more reason this Good Guy life can keep going!" Piranha said, excitedly. "Now I see why Zeke was trying to talk to us about this." Tarantula said, smirking. "Speakin' a which, we better go get him." Wolf said, walking off to go pick up the rabbit from youth.
(More later)
The Bad Guys were now driving off, "Ya think we're doing this right?" Snake asked. "Whaddya mean?" Wolf asked. "You know, living…I mean, what if…what if we fall back into that stuff…" Snake said, Zeke comforted his Uncle Hubert. "I think we're doing a lot better, and I'm pretty sure none of us wanna go back to being thieves." Zeke said, "Zekey, don't include yourself in this. You're just a kid." Shark said, "I was an enabler. An enabler that's bad at enabling, but still one." Zeke said, which mostly shocked the Bad Guys to hear. Their boy considered himself someone bad.
"Yeah, but you didn't have control over that, kid." Snake said, "Still, it's what I'm guilty for sometimes. Sometimes I wish I was older, so I could help you guys know better." Zeke explained, "You already help us a ton, kiddo. You knew how to brighten up a day, and you were already ordering groceries when you were five, and then you went out to get them on your own." Wolf said, "Whoa, WHAT?!" Diane said, sounding angry and then Wolf regretted what he just said.
"I-I kept a close eye on him, I promise!" Wolf said, defensively. "The point being is that we're all flawed, and God was taking His chance on us. He gave us a chance to atone and we literally took it! And we took an even bigger step going to church today, I feel." Zeke explained, "It's thanks to God that we were able to stop being Bad Guys, you know? If God doesn't want us to feel guilty about the past, we can just move on…we're already trying to do better, too." Wolf smiled at his son's advice, "Yeah, I guess that's true, kiddo. I get it." He said to his son, he felt proud of his little baby bunny.
"Huh…great advice coming from you, kid. Aren't you the same runt I know that screams at a tv?" Snake asked, "If Splatfests never existed, I wouldn't ever have a good reason to shout." Zeke said, Snake rolled his eyes. "Nah, Zeke's probably right. We're doing pretty good right now, and the best thing we can do is make up for anything we mess up." Diane said. The Bad Guys looked at each other, nodding. Wolf smiled, watching the others argue in that usual funny way, "Thank You that You gave us this chance. I just hope we don't waste it."
(Okay, we're at the end! I hope u guys enjoy this chapter. I figured Snake WOULD have this doubt about church, specifically. I tried to base this one shot off of the advice I've been trying to understand, and also my own experiences at church. I hope I managed to handle good advise. Like I keep saying, I'm no expert, you should probably find someone who's better at this. Anyways, stay strong and awesome!)
Isaiah 46:12-13 KJV:
12. Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness: 13. I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.