interrogoiterum | Final Crisis: God is dead

Final Crisis: God is dead

So... this is it then, the end.

Renee tries not to think of her family. It's not as easy as it might seem, given she's been trying not to think of her family for years.

The Cathedral is full of people doing the same thing, sitting around in clutches of friends and acquaintances, all focused hard on not thinking about their loved ones that must be outside in the Anti-Life throng, collectively calling at the cathedral for people to Submit. It's not a pleasant situation, but it's suddenly very much worse when the noise stops.

Everyone outside is silent.

And then, in the middle of the crowd, a sound, like a shepherd's crook on stone. The crowd parts, and the man comes forward, barefoot, clad in only a pair of torn shorts, and clutching the Spear, the glows red with energy like hate, matching the flames pouring forth from the inverted cross between his eyes.

Renee recognises his face - it's Vandal Savage, the Immortal Man. Or at least, the body is. The person in the body is Cain, and Renee has no idea if that is Vandal Savage, or is just possessing him. She doesn't know if there is a difference.

He stands at the base of the steps to the cathedral and screams. “Hate Everything. HATE EVERYTHING.

“God most of all.”

He stands at the base of the steps and he calls for the Spectre. And the Spectre answers – well, Crispus Allen answers, materialising at Vandal Savage's feet, snatching the Spear and lifting the man up with a hand at his throat. It's definitely more wrath-of-man than wrath-of-God. And Cain answers it – by plunging a thumb into Cris' eye, kicking the Spear back into his own hands and plunging it down through Cris' heart.

Renee screams “No!” but no one heeds her.

Right now, at this moment, she doesn't believe in God. At least, no God who could allow this to happen. Who could allow Cain to stand there, with a spear through her friend's body, and rip the Spectre out, leaving Crispus a dead husk on the ground.

But there are new gods. They're dying and being reborn, and all of us mortals, she thinks, all of us made of meat and blood – we're nothing to them, just collateral damage. The Spectre, apart from his human body now, kneels in red chains at Cain's feet. The Radiant stands behind the Question, not quite cowering, but not much more than submissive.

The Crime Bible foretells Cain's return, and the vengeanse he wreask upon the world, upon God's creation for the punishment he endured. Cain's return heralds the end of the world, the death of the old god. The book of Adumbrations tells of Cain ushering in the Age of Apokalips on Earth.

The Spectre kneels at Cain's feet and calls him Master.

This is how the world ends. With the might of one God brought to his knees, a slave following on the heels of his master and – as Cain lifts a hand to touch the Radiant on her glowing cheek – with the corruption of God's mercy.

And then, he turns his attention to Renee. Because it's been at least an hour since anyone tried to kill her and that can't be left alone.

“You defied my will, Faceless. You failed me. You were to lead my order, the one detined to put the spear in my hands, not Sister Wrack,” (Who by the by is watching all this and muttering “kill her kill her kill her...” Renee is going to slap that bitch if they both survive.)

“I do not abide disobedience. I abide failure even less.”

“Talk talk talk,” Renee retorts, because she never learned not to taunt the person about to kill her. He grins a grin that makes the Joker look friendly, and points the spear at her, shooting the same red angry power straight at her chest, just as he killed Cris.

Nothing.

Cain asks the same thing Renee was thinking “Ho do you yet live?”

She takes the opportunity while she can, and kicks him in the face; a move that accomplished two things: 1) a broken foot and 2) the opportunity for him to grab her by the throat.

“Oh no no no, little thing. You may be immune to its power, but its blade will cut you just the same.”

And once again, Renee is about to be killed. Time for another last minute rescue.

Someone?

Anyone?

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"Actually," Renee says, "I think I've got that covered..."

Except the Radiant now looks distracted. "Where are you going?"

"Outside"

She heads outside, to Cain on his throne of human flesh. Renee and Huntress follow, trailed, for the sake of frightened curiosity, by a group of young men Renee saw Sister Clarice talking to earlier.

"You have murderers under your protection, Radiant," he's saying. "Does God know?"

"God detests the sin, not the sinner, Cain."

"But what about you, Spirit of Mercy? I can smell the blood on them. Your blood."

Edited 2011-03-23 03:06 (UTC)

Oh. Oh.

"Even if you can forgive what they did to you," Cain continues, "What if they do it again to another? Think of the others you're trying to save... The danger you've put them in... It's not right spirit. It's not just."

His voice is silky smooth, almost seductive, making his words sound so reasonable: like the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, Helena imagines.

"What would you have me do?" The Radiant asks him in her gentle voice, still calm, still musical even tinged with sadness.

"Isn't it obvious? Give them to me. And I will exact the punishment that God would not. Give them to me, and I will spare the lives of all those under your protection."

When the Radiant speaks it is to utter one simple word, deafening in it's simplicity: "No."

Edited 2011-04-05 22:31 (UTC)

Cain is, understandably, pissed at such a reaction, but the Radiant stands her ground. God is behind her protection of the Cathedral, and only God can break it.

"You have made the Spectre your slave. He has no will of his own."

"Then I shall make my instructions plain," Cain replies, pulling the Spectre up by the chain around his neck.

Renee knows the words the moment they begin.

"Anti-Life = Loneliness + "

The Radiant knows them too, and for the first time Renee hears fear in her voice.

"alienation + despair +"

She hears the despair as she begs, pleads with Cain to stop this.

"Self worth ÷ mockery"

The sound of her faith as it breaks.

Then the Spectre that marked the One, all praise to him, will speak the spell of the ending. And lo, the slave will whisper the words that they echo throughout creation, and thus the unmaking will come, and that which God granted shall Cain steal away and the One, all praise to him, shall break their faith and he shall steal their hope. The Flames will rise and those who resist shall fall and their freedom shall be as memory, and all will become one in the darkness.
The Book of Lilith, Chapter 19, verses 27 to 31

The Spectre speaks the Anti-Life equation, and the world echoes with Darkseid. He falls silent, and in the void, Renee hears new sounds. The crackling of flames, the laughter of madmen. The Spirit of Mercy weeps, and the face of evil gloats.

Says Cain, "We win."

As Anti-Life spreads across the earth, the Radiant falls to her knees and reaches out to Renee.

"... Help... me..."

"Something's happened to her!" Helena says, kneeling next to the Radiant as she begins to recite a prayer that Helena knows well:

"Hail Mary, full of grace..."

"Help me get her inside," Renee says to Helena, as both of them hook at arm under ann arm of the beaten Sister Clarice, helping the broken woman to her feet.

She praying, and Cain gloats, but Renee ignores it., refusing to look behind her as the Spear cracks holes into the protection around the Cathedral. She just focuses on getting the Radiant inside, clearing an aisle and laying her down.

"Radiant, Radiant, it's all right..."

"No, we've lost... God has abandoned us..."

If Helena was afraid before, now she is downright terrified as the Radiant, the source of their hope, seems to be giving up the fight...

"No, don't say that. Don't give up hope, please, not you..."

But then Renee hears it.

"Oh that's not good."

Outside, the protection cracks, shatters like thunder.

"Cain weakened Radiant's faith enough that her protection is failing. It's just a matter of time before it falls and the mob outside breaks in. And then we all become like everyone else in the world.

"We submit, or we die."

She stands up straighter. "There's no time left. We need the spear, and we have to get it now."

"No argument, but no plan either," Helena says, getting up from where she has been kneeling next to the Radiant.

As if not having a plan ever stopped Renee.

"You want a plan. Here's my plan. We go out there and we get the damn Spear.

"Then we use it to free the Spectre from Vandal Savage."

"I find your plan intriguing, but believe it lacks certain crucial details...

Namely the whole "how" part."

"In lieu of a better idea, we kick his ass."

"Cain will destroy you. Or worse, make ou slaves unto him,"

"C'mon, sister," Renee replies. "Have a little faith."

They're going to need Radiant to have all the faith she can.

... Damn, Renee is hot when she's trying to save the world.

Helena follows Renee out of the Cathedral just in time to see Cain run his finger over the tip of the spear, now dripping with blood, and raise it to his lips.

"Mmmmm... Tastes like mutton..."

And the thing is, Renee kind of knows it. There's a adrenalin involved in confidence, even when it's 90% a front. That's probably why Renee bullshits so often.

"Hey, that's my Spear."

"You've finally remembered your Scripture, Faceless," Cain replies, leaving the Spectre alone for now. "Could it be that, faced with the inevitable, you finally have come to embrace your fate?"

"No."

Renee lunges forward, and out of the side of her vision she sees Huntress doing the same. smashing the forcefield between them and breaking out into the crowd.

"I just want my Spear back."

Helena recognises two of the figures prowling around Cain as Catwoman and the new Batwoman.

"In that case," Cain tells her, "come take it from me."

SHHZZZZAAKKKK

Helena stops abruptly as Cain levels the Spear at Renee and red lightning shoots out of the tip to hits her in the chest. Helena knows it can't hurt her but there's still that moment of fear when her heart skips a beat.

"C'Mon man," Renee replies, pushing against the power like she's swimming uphill. "The Spear doesn't work on me, remember?"

"That wasn't for your benefit, Faceless," Cain retorts. "It was for theirs."

And then She's being attacked by Catwomman, while to her side she sees Kate throwing herself at Helena.

She'd be lying if she says she never imagined the two of them going at it.

Damn it! This would be why it's a bad thing to get too attached to other heroes: in the few moments Helena took her eyes off of Batwoman when Cain shot Renee, she's blind-sided Helena and attacked with a cry of "SUBMIT TO THE ONE!"

The surprise attack coupled with Batwoman's unfamiliar fighting style means that Helena's opponent has the upper-hand, and the best she can do is play defence.

"Your plan doesn't seem to be working!" she yells to Renee as she manages to land a palm strike against Batwoman's jaw.

"My plan?" Renee shouts back, jamming a hnad onto her head to keep from losing her hat as a kick from Catwoman sends her flying heels over head.

"I thought this was our plan! We've got to get past them."

They're a distraction. The Spear is the thing.

"Switch!"

It makes sense, really. Helena knows Catwoman's moves better and Renee has far more knowledge of Batwoman than she does (not that this is the time to start getting jealous.)

In one fluid movement the two women swap places and Helena pulls her crossbow out and puts a bolt into Catwoman's right shoulder.

"Go!" she calls to Renee, "I'll cover you!"

THNNGG! a second bolt hits her in the left arm, but Catwoman keeps coming.

"Aww, c'mon!" Helena starts to complain. "That's got to at least- hurturkkk."

Her last words turn into a strangled cry as Catwoman's hand clamps around her throat. With her spare hand, Catwoman pulls the crossbow bolt from her left arm and -

As Catwoman releases her hold on her neck and pounces after Renee, Helena sinks to her knees, looking down at the piece of metal protruding from her chest and the blood staining her costume.

"think we maybe need a new plan."

"HUNTRESS!"

Renee screams even louder against the effort not shouting Helena's actual name in the circumstances. Pushing Kate aside she throws herself towards the fallen Helena, but a red leather glove wraps around her neck, holding her back and pulling her to the ground.

Helena, no. Please be OK.

She struggles weakly at Kate's arm, but in vain.

"I must say," says Vandal Savage, but Renee is hardly listening, "in all my years of immortality I don't htink I've ever seen anything so - pathetic."

Renee then sinks the lowest she could ever go. "I know you are, but what am I?"

"Dead," he says.

And with that he plunges the spear through Renee's gut.

Through the pounding of the blood in her ears Helena can hear Cain taunting Renee: "let me hear it, Faceless... Let me hear your scream."

Caine twists the Spear and it must be torture for her, but Renee doesn't make a sound.

That's my girl, she thinks fuzzily.

Despite her own pain, Helena laughs.

"the plan worked," she wheezes as blood fills her mouth.

"Plan?" Cain yanks at the Spear, which causes Renee to lurch to the side, pain rocketing out of the shaft through her midsection. "What in Hell is she laughing about?"

Renee tasting blood and smelling it in the confines of her mask.

"The one where I end up with the Spear."

Then, before Cain can react, he's rushed, as the boys standing behind Renee, the boys who killed Sister Clarice, throw themselves at him. He lets go of the Spear and Renee falls back, her hands closing around the shaft.

She tries to call out, but can only manage a strained "RADIANT!" before she has to concentrate all her energy onto pulling the Spear back out.

And then, she lets herself scream.

Helena is beginning to drift in and out of consciousness as her breathing becomes more laboured and she loses more blood, which is probably why she thinks she's imagining things when the Radiant appears in front of them, glowing brighter than before with white light.

"I come, with faith renewed," she says turning to them and lays a hand over Helena's heart.

"Helena Bertinelli, be whole once more."

Her world rushes back into sharp focus, the pain disappears and the wound in her chest is healed, like it never was.

Renee feels like she can finally breathe again when Helena is restored.

Or she would, if she didn't have a hole through her. "My turn, you don't mind?"

I cannot heal you, Faceless one. Your wund is beyond my power to heal. As corrupt as the weapon that made it."

Well, now she tells her. "But Longinus cured the blind... the Spear can heal..."

"But not as it is now, not as it has been defiled. It must be purfied, its power used to heal a soul rather than destroy one."

So Renee needs to heal someone else first? Use it selflessly? From by her ear on the ground, the Spectre whispers a plea.

"...help us. Help him. Bring him back."

And Renee understands what she is to do.

"The choice lies with you, Renee Montoya. He was - is your friend. Would you do this for him rather than yourself?"

"No question."

Renee grasps the Spear, and angles it down into the pool of her own blood, closing her eyes.

She can do this. She can bring him back to life.

Everything melts away,and Renee finds herself plunged into blinding white light that seems to fill every part of her with a seering pain, before she's thrown backwards against the asphalt, in the dark and the rain.

"It didn't work."

... No, no it's not meant to end like this. It can't end like this. Renee -her Renee - isn't dead.

Helena rushes to Renee's side and kneels beside her, putting an arm under her neck to support her head and pull her onto her lap.

Up close she can see the full extent of the wound and knows that without a miracle there will be no coming back from it.

Please, God, don't let me lose her like this.

"Hold on," she says to Renee, her voice shaky and tears beginning to cloud her eyes.

Wait, what's going on, right now? Renee forces her eys open and looks for Helena's - it's hard to make out emotions under the Huntress mask, but she knows it's almost impossible with her own, but this - this doesn't make sense.

But then the Radiant is contradicting her. It did work. She's done it.

The Radiant places one hand into the hole in Renee's stomach and light streams out of her, into Renee. It feels like nothing she's ever felt before, and the sudden absense of pain is disorientating.

She grabs Helena's hand to help herself up to a seated position. Too much is going on, but the important thing is what she's just seen behind the Radiant.

Standing as clear as if he were alive in the raincoat and suit he used to wear day in, night out on the streets, Crispus Allen is handing the Spear to the Spectre.

"As God commands. Let what we have done be undone. Let that which was made is reformed! Let that which was stolen be returned!"

He's back. The Specter - Cris - is back. And his words have power which reach out beyond them. Renee knows this won't undo anti-life. It won't stop Darkseid, it won't even help Kate or Jim or Maggie or Stacie, but it will heal the cracks in the world formed when the Spectre spoke the Equation. And that's what matters.

Well that, and shooting a look towards Huntress. What is going on over there?

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