"Peace
be unto you all, amen."
It's
how I was ending all my sermons these days.
I think I was beginning to sound a little hypocritical considering what
I am believing now. How did I, Hank
Norman, come to my recent revelation, you ask?
I was
saved by an Angel.
It had
happened a few months back during the events known as "Kingdom
Come." It was a Sunday afternoon
after one of my many sermons about the book of Revelations. One of the many things I had found curious
about this time was the inherint fear that washed over everyone after the
disappearances of several million people were believed to be of true Christian
faith. I didn't believe the
disappearances were the true rapture considering some of the people who
disappeared were people I knew, and I certainly knew they weren't Christian.
However,
things changed that afternoon.
I
looked up into the sky and I saw before me a demon the size of which was too
large for words. All of a sudden, the
building I had been walking by began to crumble apart! I gasped, thinking for sure that this was
truly the end for me.
Of
course, like I said: An Angel saved me.
Sailor
Archangel swooped down and rescued me from the debris and flew me down the
block, rescuing me.
"Are
you all right?" he asked me.
And in
that one moment, all of my faiths turned in on me. I stared into my savior's eyes, trying to understand what drove
him to risk his life to save me. I know
it's morally right, but to save one person while the fate of countless billions
hung in the balance thanks to the demon that stood nearby seemed a foolish
notion.
And
then it came to me that this hero was indeed an Angel. If he was sent by God himself or if he was
created by the wills of men I probably shall never know. All I shall ever know is that I had been
rescued by a symbol, a testament to my faith.
And so, I said the only thing I could say to him.
"Yes... I'm fine..."
And
with that, he flew off in another vain attempt to fight the great demon. I merely stood there as he flew off,
disappearing in the distance. I
couldn't help but wonder if an Archangel like him was mentioned in Revelations.
You
know, the bible says that one day, the meek would inherit the earth.
And as
I watched an entire army of Sailor Soldiers attacking the demon that was trying to destroy the freedom that we
all enjoyed, I couldn't help but wonder:
Why had
God not accounted for the mighty?
Perhaps
the really interesting thing about the Sailors are the Titans. I've asked many at my church if they knew
anything about them, yet none of them could give me similar answers.
"Yeah,
that Cephiros chick owed me ten bucks."
"Those
damn Sailors are just going to destroy humanity!"
"The
Titans are the coolest! They're like
comic book heroes, only better!"
I guess
in the end it's all a matter of perspective.
I don't know what to think anymore about them. All I can do is stand here in my church. I guess the only thing I can do is look for
answers...
Up...
High...
Forgive
me, I suddenly looked up at the ceiling of my church, and the most
extraordinary thing has happened.
Descending down towards me was an Angel, a very testament to my faith in
the lord. But this one was not like the
Sailor, no. This one had long brown
hair, and he wore white robes with wings slender and true.
"Hank
Norman?" He asked.
"Y-yes?"
I responded weakly.
"You
wish to learn about the Titans?" He asked.
I
nodded to him.
"Then
take my hand, and you shall learn." He stated.
I
weakly brought my hand out to him, my decrepid old hand grasping his young and
heavenly one. Instantly, my church
disappeared from view, and was replaced with something far more horrible. It reminded me of crypts and catacombs I had
once happened upon in England, but this was different. It was as though the walls themselves were
filled with evil...
My
companion Angel turned my thoughts away from the walls and over nearby to a
battle that was occuring. It was a bit
dark, so I strained my eyes to see what was going on. And there I witnessed five Sailor Soldiers on
the ground, writhing in agony.
Standing, or at least sitting, for all I could tell, over them was a
demon that pierced everything around it with the very thing of which I had
fought so hard to destroy: hate.
The
monstrosity turned from one Titan to the next, uncertain which he was going to
destroy first. He finally chose his
target: Sailor Love. As energy began to
form in his hands to destroy her, I wondered how many of the Titans had
sacrificed their lives for the cause of protecting humanity, if maybe all of
the originals had died and the Titans of today are completely different people.
But
they didn't die. Sailor Asteroid took
the hit for Sailor Love, saving her life but wounding himself considerably. As Shakespeare said, "No greater love
hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother." Or sister, in this case. But Asteroid's life was not given up. Sailor Love summed up a strength and light
from Heaven itself and vaporized the demon.
"Incredible
power..." I spoke softly.
"Indeed. This was not the first time that the Titans
have summoned Heaven."
And
suddenly, everything changed. We left
the horrible, dark realm of the demon's lair and were flooded with quite the
opposite. I felt a lifting of my spirit
that I had not felt in years. I was
surrounded on all sides by a beautiful light: that of heaven's itself. And standing before me once more were the Titans. But this seemed like a different group. Not just were there Titans, there was an
Archangel, a small cat, and two beings wrapped in white robes that I did not
recognize. Added to that, there was a
different number of Titans. There were
six of them, and one of the originals was missing. She had been replaced by a girl no older than seven or eight, and
a Sailor with colors of blue and gold.
They seemed to be appealing at first to the two men in robes.
After
the men in the robes shook their heads in refusal and began to walk off, the
leader of the Titans, Sailor Angel, stood up, his face filled with anger and
frustration.
"Don't
turn your back on me! Don't you even
try to walk away from me!" he shouted furiously.
And
then, much to the surprise of his compatriots, he grabbed one of the men by the
shoulder and turned him around.
"Just
who the hell do you think you are?! Oh
wait, I know what you think you are, what you want us to believe, but I don't
buy it!" he continued.
"Who
is the man that Sailor Angel is so angry at?
An Angel?" I inquired.
"No. The holy father himself." my companion
stated.
I was
my turn to be shocked. Where did Sailor
Angel get the nerve that he could touch such a being?
"He
is human. That is all the nerve he
requires." The Angel said.
"But
still, how can those who claim to be our protectors speak to the creator with
such disdain?!"
"That
is enough of the past. Perhaps now we
must gaze upon the future." the Angel that guided me suggested.
And
with that, our surroundings changed once more.
We now stood upon the streets of Crystal Tokyo. People fled and ran around me in
terror. I looked down the street and
saw another great monstrosity. This was
not one of demonic origins, but of human.
It was yellow and black metal merged together to form some type of
protective armoring. It was a walking
tank, and it's creators stood on the streets before it, wearing some type of
yellow and black uniforms with a yellow helmet. They almost reminded me of hornets or bees.
They
filled the streets like it was an invasion force. They carried weapons in their hands that attacked anyone who
refused to move.
"This
is horrible! Can no one stop these
horrible things?!" I shouted to the Angel.
"Possibly."
he told me.
"Well,
can't you stop this slaughter?! We need
some kind of hope!" I pleaded.
"At
no point did I promise you hope, Hank-"
"Like
hell you didn't! You are an Angel, your
existence a very testament to faith! If
we are to survive until the day when evil itself ends, we need a sign! We need people who can stop such suppression
of free will! WE NEED HOPE!"
And in
one instant, it all changed. A bright
flash of light and a beam of light shined down from the skies were sent down
into one of the mechanical beasts. It
fell over instantly, and then I looked up, as did the invading soldiers. There were now eight of them, one of the
originals back again. They were joined
by an old companion, the Sailor protected by steel: Sailor Centauri. Some of have said that Sailor Angel and
Sailor Centauri used to be the same person, but I guess that proves that wrong,
eh?
They
swiftly went down and engaged the forces of darkness, each one using tactics
unique to themselves.
Sailor
Angel swooped down and tackled a group of the soldiers with his staff.
Sailor
Moonshine froze a group of them in time, then encasing them in a glass orb.
Sailor
Cephiros sent out a fiery spirit from her ring to knock them down, then tied
them up with a ring of fire from her ring.
Sailor
Love summoned up energy in the form of a large heart that slammed a group of
the soldiers into a nearby wall.
Sailor
Asteroid made the very ground rise up and destroy any more of the giant
monstrosities.
Sailor
Crystal blew them all a kiss and spun crystal around their weapons and legs,
stopping them in their tracks.
Sailor
Life summoned a spirit from her baton that traveled through a line of soldiers,
leaving them to writhe in agony on the ground.
Sailor
Centauri leapt from one of the mechanical suits to another, launching missiles
and cannon fire to incapacitate them.
And
then it was all over. The Angel and I
were once again inside my church.
"It
is done. Do you see why I have done
this?" he asked me.
"No."
I responded.
"To
show you that the Titans are there to inspire hope. It doesn't have to be the kind of hope that there are people
running around the streets in sailor fukus saving the world, but that there
shall always be hope and faith in our minds, even if we do not believe the same
things." he explained.
And
with that, he was gone. I was alone
once more in my church, and I blinked as I took that all in. The Angel, whoever he was, had been
right. Although the Titans of today and
yesteryear have not yet saved the world, we shouldn't give up hope on them
yet. The Angel left me with an
important message.
That we
would see miracles happening and angels all around us if we just opened our
eyes and looked up.
To Be
Continued...