Pious

The priest continued, raising his voice above the storm. "Guide and strengthen us by the same Spirit, that we who are born again may serve you in faith and love, and grow into the full stature of your Son, Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit now and for ever. Repeat."

The priest produced a Bible from his side pockets and began incantations. "Repeat after me. Heavenly Father, by the power of your Holy Spirit, you give to your faithful people new life in the water of baptism." As the priest spoke, the thunder outside seemed to roar in disagreement. The great doors are suddenly blown open by the wind and Sister Mary falls on her back. The priest urges the doctor to concentrate. "Repeat it!"

((Mention if the water turned to blood, if the Doc sees the dead walking and falling and if later, the demon takes over. I'll leave all that to you Doc if you want those things to happen.))

"Alright then" said the priest, bending over the wooden crate. He produced eight candles and then climbed down the alter towards a small, eight-sided baptismal pool. Carefully, he positions the candles on eight stands and lights them up. Sister Mary had finished closing all the windows and now approached the great doors. The storm outside had become so thick that she struggled against the wind, just trying to shut the doors.

"Doctor, if you would like to step into the pool please" said the priest. "There will be some... things that may or may not happen when you enter the holy water so, brace yourself and don't be startled. One, the holy water may burn you severely. Two, the pool will most likely turn to blood the instant you enter, it will boil and it will be incredibly thick, depending on the number of innocents you have killed and the weight of your sins. Three, you may begin to hallucinate, you will see walking bodies of your victims, ghosts and spirits, they may try to attack you, just make sure you stay in the pool; it'll all be in your mind. Four, the experience might trigger the demons within. In this case, I will have no other choice but to do battle; again, you must be kept in the pool. However, the most important thing is that you stay attentive and repeat every English word that I read. If you seize to respond, I can only read louder and hope you can still hear me. If this is clear, enter the pool."

((Aww heck. I'll put all three papers on the Wiki! Its good now that we have special pages for the articles. I think I'll choose whichever paper's text works best for the front page though, if thats alright? Also, could I maybe have text-version of these articles, it'll make my work much easier, just copy and paste. ))

"I operate under the laws of God and outside the laws of man, Doctor Mechano." said the Priest. "But I do well to keep the Court pleased. If you renew your faith, you will no longer be a criminal in the eyes of the Lord. However, Mathew 5 verses 23 and 24 teaches us to confess our wrong doings to those we have offended, and offer onto them a gift in order to repent our sins. As far as the Church is concerned, these acts will cleanse you off your sins. Afterwards, you are welcomed to stay at our monastery." At this, Sister Mary who was struggling to shut the great doors quickly turned to send a questioning look at the Priest. The man returned a comforting look and continued "If the Court will not allow it, then you must do your time in prison as punishment for your past crimes. However, we will pray that they be lenient and allow you to live and work under the supervision of the Church. I am very glad you have decided to redeem yourself Doctor Mechano, there is no greater joy than to see a man rethink his evil ways. Are there any further questions before we begin?"

Again, thunder struck. The heavy rain could be heard beating violently against the glass windows, now hidden behind wooden shutters.

((by the way, read my edited post above. I have to go to work now, be back later tonight))

"Almost correct. Technically, you have chosen to become a demon, however, through prayer we can bind your soul to your faith. This means, so long as you believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and continue to believe, you will live as a servant of God; a redeemed demon; an angel so to speak" said the Priest. "It is a heavy decision to make, it must come from the heart. You must truly speak your sins and then accept Jehovah as your God and Christ as your Saviour. The transition may or may not be instantaneous, similarly to the healing of your wounds, it will depend mainly on the strength of your faith."

Outside, a storm strikes the earth; lightning and thunder begin to dance. Sister Mary Stevens reappears, carrying a large, old wooden crate marked with a cross. She places it near the Priest and proceeded to lighting candles. She then approached the huge windows, and began to shut them, one by one.

The Priest continues, "you were almost correct because as a servant of God, you are immortal, granted the gift of everlasting life; you will continue to work according to His will until the day of Judgment, just like myself. Unless of course you loose faith, at which point you shall inevitably be banished to the Netherworld, as a demon... forever." On his last word, a thunderclap struck, the noise echoing through the Church.

((here are three good shots Coile. I look forward to seeing the finished article. might put yours up instead, we already have a history of Paragon City Posts. Do not click on this LINK!! unless you're ready for TF spoilers))

((Okay. I have some shots, I'll load em up to photobucket. Also, I'm reserving the Newspaper section of the Wiki main page for any article on this project, so hurry! ))

"That has to be the stupidest thing I've heard in a very long time Doctor. But I am glad that you've decided to seek the good Lord" said the Priest, in monotone. "The good news is, you have shown great faith in God so far, so I will be able to cure you. Together, you and I can banish your demons to serve your faith until death. Do you understand what I am saying, is this what you want?"

The priest spoke softly. "Why, did you choose so willingly to worship and then accept a demon Doctor Johnson? By these actions, you condemn your own soul into damnation!" Sister Mary disappears behind a door.

"Father, I know that lycanthropy is the ability to undergo transformation into a wolf, but exactly what type of demon is an incubus?" asked Sister Mary, clutching her gun tighter than she should.

"The incubus is a demon in male form, or in this case, inside a male, who lies upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have sexual intercourse with them. They usually do this in order to spawn other incubi." the Priest answered, watching the Doctor closely. "The incubus drains energy from the woman on whom it performs sexual intercourse in order to sustain itself. Repeated intercourse with such a spirit by either males or females, a succubus, may result in the deterioration of health, or even death. So the question is Doctor, were you... forced or did you accept these demons willingly?"

Sister Mary smiled, clearly holding back giggles. "So in other words, where you rap ed?"

"Sister Mary Stevens!" the priest rasped, but the gun-wielding nun deflected on an innocent face, "its a perfectly logical phrasing" she said.

"The decision to repent and give your life to Christ is one of great weight Doctor, so firstly, let us establish exactly what sort of beast possesses you to attack the innocent" asked the Priest, his wings disappearing.

The Priest then held out his arm across the Doctor's forehead. "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I restore your health. Stand now and be cured off your bodily wounds"

((If the Doctor can see energy waves, he might notice a faint white aura pulsating from the Priest's hand and over his body, as the bullet wounds, internal and external injuries quickly disappear.))

Sister Mary exchanges a look with the Priest, and then lowers her weapon. Slowly, the priest hovers towards the alter, his long garments fluttering behind him. He stands above the injured man and looks kindly upon him. "Acknowledgment and confession of one's sins are the first steps to redemption."

As he spoke, a pair of feathered wings came into view from behind the holy man. They were abnormally large, hunching from his shoulders and sweeping across the marble alter. The man suddenly resembled a dove preparing to take flight, as his wings gently fluttered into a relaxed position.

"Rise, son of man" said the Priest. "I will heal your wounds, then we can discuss the nature of the beast within"

"Am I to believe that a man so narrow-minded, so focused on sciences is here asking for God?" asked Priest.

The Exorcism of Edward Johnson

A loud metallic clunk echoed through the nave of the Cathedral, as Sister Mary Stevens cocked her assault rifle. She poised it on the man at the alter, understanding that at any minute, things could go terribly wrong.

"Doctor Mechano. We meet at last" came the toneless voice of the masked priest. "Codename and I have actually been expecting you... but not this soon. Did you loose patience? You don't look too good."

As the oversized man withdrew into the shadowy mists, the Priest descends to the ground and faces the two dead snakes. With a single gesture of his hand, the snakes vanished, teleported to another dimension.

[Blackout]

Its union... we always rock.

With practiced ease, the masked preacher leaps onto the snake and drives his sword deep into the back of its head, until the head was dismembered. The snake fell limply to the ground but the priest remained airborne, in a meditating posture. "This mission against the Rikti, Mister Campbell, where shall we meet and when?"

"Around about this time of night, I get ambushed by the Devil's own; but I was not expecting these snakes. Sthenos must be up to something" said the Priest, guarding himself again and again. Suddenly, he strikes the ground with his broadsword and bellows in an amplified voice. "Enough! Steros, Elusa, I do not wish to harm you; I beseech thee, begone from this holy ground"

"You dare call the daughters of Ssthenoss by name, peassant?!" screamed the giant snake, one called Elusa.

"Perhapss he longss to join us Elussa" screamed the other.

"Mister Campbell" called the Priest. "I assume you're familiar with the snakes of Mercy; these two are High Cobras, their venom is threefold deadlier than the vipers on the Isle. Put simply, we must not be bitten"

Suddenly, two giant tails came crashing down from the heavens; the Priest narrowly escapes both. "I guess they really want me dead Mister Campbell" said the Priest. "We should end this quickly; pick one and do what you must Mister Campbell, I shall climb to Elusa's head and dismember it." With that, the preacher races towards one of the snakes, sword in hand.

"Well, if the Lady sent you here then I have no choice. I will help you fight Rikti" said the Priest. Suddenly an ear-piecing screech is heard from the depths of the mist and two sets of fiery, demonic eyes can be seen slithering through the darkness. "Ha, here they come" said the Priest, producing a large sword. Another screech is heard as two winged snakes the size of Cathedral itself, emerge from the mist, breathing fire from their eyes. Without warning, one of them dives towards the Priest, who stood steadfast and motionless. "Dear God, the Twins of Sthenos!" he whispered, lowering his blade to guard a sudden attack.

Saturday evening is good for me also, 7pm - 10pm okay? Btw, what does 'mmb' project stand for?

"I am aware of the Council" said the Priest. "What do you plan to do and who was it that recommended me?"

"That would be an acceptable assumption to make Mister Campbell" said the priest. "Surely, with your records you can understand why I would prefer to met with you in the open. For all I know, you've been sent to harm me. Fortunately for you, I am a man of faith and delight in optimism. However, for your sake, I would advise we make this meeting very, very brief." The tone in his voice was calm, even soothing, yet it carried a sense of danger. "So, the question is, why are you here?"

Apocalypse, The Recruitment 27 August, 5:55pm

A cloaked man steps out from within the shadows of the Cathedral grounds. A silver eye-plate and his white collar stands out against the black cassock. He stood motionless, clutching a small bible, apparently waiting for someone.