Thanatos, Story about the Angel of Death, Rated R

[SPLChamps]

OK, so I'm going on another hiatus from "The Code". It's remarkably hard to write a story that you started when you were 15. So I'm moving on to this in a vain attempt to seem like I can process more than one story at a time. It's called Thanatos, who was the Greek god of death, but it is nothing to do with anyone Greek. I just was wanting to use that name as a title because Greek gods have cool names. This is a story I first conceived a good 6 or 7 years ago when I was just a kid in my american Elementary school and it evolved in my mind. Some, well...I, might say that this is my Gangs of New York. But that would be pretentious of me. It all spawned from the first time I played Grim Fandango (I'm a little obssessed right now!) and I just thought that Death is such a great character and so ambiguous that he would be easy to write an original story for, so this is all being churned out as I think about it here. I've never committed it to page before so please enjoy.

[SPLChamps]

Mike Larkin was having a bad week. On the Sunday, he walked in on his wife and their next door neighbor. He had suspected, but this moment made him emotionless. Then on the Monday, he found out that not only had his father passed away during the night, but he was to be made redundant and replaced by a machine. It was not a good week by any means. The thunder clapped behind him in the distance. His first guess was that is was a good 5 miles south, and he'd be right. People seem to be a lot more into paying attention to things like that when they drive alone, it's how they try to stay awake. It didn't work. Mike had been driving for 3 straight hours in the pouring rain when he dozed off. It was fate, it had to be. He'd never fallen asleep at the wheel before. He wasn't an evil man nor was he a cruel man. He had sinned, but no more than the next man. He never intended for what was about to unfold. His car started to veer right into the next lane and, eventually, through the central divide. The traffic had been quiet all night, but it was fate this night. Destiny. Meant to be.


The Westerman family had seen better nights than this night. Once again, Sam had gotten drunk and started making a scene at the restaurant, so Lily left him and took Suzy with her. The rain made Suzy sleep in her child's seat soundly, the constant tapping was like a soothing rush in her ears that massaged her into slumber. She would be 1 next week and her mother couldn't wait for the party. However, all Lily wanted to do was get home and prepare for Sam stumbling into the house from whatever cab he got home at whatever time he chose. She looked in her rear-view mirror and noticed nothing.


"Wow, this is a doozie, don't you think?" Officer Wallace had been involved in his fair share of accidents on rainy nights, but they had never been this brutal. "I think the glass shattered inwards and tore the two arteries here and here. As for the little one, well, we only managed to get one half of her out. The other half is practically part of the car now. Makes your heart crumble and burn, doesn't it?" Wallace had two kids of his own and seeing what he saw that night made him look at the picture of his two sons more than usual. He would go home tonight and cry on their shoulders while they slept. He loved them more than life itself, especially since his wife had been murdered viciously by a common theif no more than 4 months before. He said a prayer to himself for the woman and, presumably, her daughter. "Cheif, we got another one!"


Lily Westerman turned around to look at her daughter sleeping at the traffic lights. She was so happy and proud. '3 tries and we finally got one' she said to herself. It was the first miscarriage that led to Sam's alcoholism and by the time Suzy was born, he was in a place no one could get him out of. Lily loved him, but resented how hard he took the loss of his child. To lose one after a few weeks of pregnancy is torture, but to lose one a few days before the due date is sheer hell. She understood this. But she had carried that child for 9 months and she got over it, so how could Sam not? She stared at her whole world in her back seat as the lights went green and she entered the freeway.


Mike briefly woke up when he saw the maroon SUV gunning at him through the powering rain. But rather than take control of the vehicle, he did something he never thought he would do. Quickly, he unclipped his seatbelt and jumped out just as the cars collided, shattering his pelvis and both legs from the shockwave of the impact and putting them beyond repair as the rolled across the asphalt and lay in the rain, struggling to breathe.


Lily adjusted her rear-view to get a look at her daughter. The freeway was empty and she could take her eyes off the road. After all, the streets were empty and it was a straight road, "Cruise Control Country" they called it. When she looked at the road she was blinded as a set of lights came right at her but swerved to her right as they came into view. It was the last thing she would ever see.


"Preliminary views, doctor?" Wallace was impatient. He needed to see his boys.
"I would say that the sedan driver fell asleep and woke up just at impact, fleeing out of the car. He must've used the steering wheel to throw himself and that caused the car to turn slightly, as you can see here. The shock of the collision must've broken a few bones as he came into contact with the door's shock absorbers and that nasty fall will probably render him legless, that is if he makes it through the night. The way the cars impacted caused a fault in the SUV's crumple zones to shatter the glass inwards and pierce the female driver. She lost control and the car flipped onto the sedan, which crushed the child. I hate to say it, but I've seen it in many variations before. Either a drunk driver or a sleeping driver. Possibly even both."
"He's waking up!" came the cry from Mike's resting spot. The cops shone the light in his eyes.
"Can you hear me, sir?" All Mike saw was the movement of their lips and the light envelope him. He then heard a voice.


"What you have done, tonight, is without reason and without excuse, Michael Joseph Larkin. And you shall be punished. In light of your recent past, I will bestow upon you a chance to regain your honor. Harvest the souls of the wicked and the evil, and I will grant you entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. Until you have harvested enough, you shall be forced to walk this Earth as a spectre of your former self. You shall not taste nor feel anything. You shall not sleep nor age. You are a figment of yourself, Michael Joseph Larkin. But do my bidding, and you will earn your respect. Smite those who are beyond redemption."

[SPLChamps]

Mike awoke in a hospital bed, feeling both dizziness and aches in his head. He looked down at his legs and noticed the cast and his inability to move. He watched as nurses and orderlies walked by his room. He looked over at his side and saw a well-dressed gentleman looking at his watch, his hair combed perfectly and his goatee finely trimmed. He looked up and noticed Mike's stare.

"Good, you're awake, I was wondering when you'd finally come to."
"How long have you been waiting there?"
"When you've been waiting places as long as I have, what I've just been through is a microwave dinner in comparison."
"Who are you?"

"An ambiguous question which will result in an equally ambiguous answer. Short term, I am Gabe and I will be your guide. Long term, I am the Archangel Gabriel, Messenger of God and General to His Servants of Redemption. In a past life, I was Gabrelus Camilius Marius, a commander to the armies of Scipio Africanus during the Second Punic Wars."
"Wait...when?"

"Oh, on the Earth calendar I believe the final battle was at Zama on October 19th, 202 BC. It was a Tuesday...or was it Thursday? You know what, after all this time I don't even care anymore."
"What the hell is going on?" Mike wondered how he was able to talk.

"Oh, right, yes, let me get down to brass tacks here. I was once like you. I once did horrible things that I never thought about but now pay for for all eternity. At Carthage, I was the first one to cast salt onto the ground and I was the first one to massacre a family. I was a monster. But I was given a choice by God when I died. He accused me of herecy and evil beyond retribution, but told me that due to my military strengths and general intelligence that I was eligible to save my soul from Hell. I became one of 3 Generals to the Servants of God. I command the Servants of Redemption, who are kind of like a tactical army. We figure out how to defeat our opponents like a game of chess and use a mixture of stealth and skill to carry it out. You may have heard of my peers, also. Raphael is another. He commands the Servants of Good Will, also known as the Saints. They spread peace and love to the places who have earned it through years of scorn and oppression. Raphael was once a medic for an Egyptian pharaoh but was mummified and given the chance to escape his eternity in Hell for herecy because he did not deserve it due to the kindness he had shown in life. Finally, there is Michael. Don't mess with Michael. He is the one true angel left. The sole survivor of the Old War, millenia before the universe was created. He was also God's first son. Recently we have had a harder time finding our opposition. The damned have a way of being crafty. Rapists go free and aren't able to be harvested straight from jail anymore. It's getting harder. That's why we are enlisting all the help we can get and are offering eternal bliss in return for some service."

"So if I help you kill some evil bastards then you'll let me go to Heaven...is that...what you're trying to say?"
"Swear to tell the truth and nothing but, it's not like I have the capacity to lie anyway."

Mike broke out in a fit of laughter. "So you...work for God and, what was it, 'harvest' the souls of the wicked."
"Oh boy, another sceptic, I loved dealing with you fuckers during the Rennaisance." Gabriel took Mike's hand and threw him against the wall, piercing his heart through the eyes with his stare. "Laugh all you want, heretic, but it is in protecting people like you that I manage to still be forever denied my place in Heaven. Unlike you, I wasn't given the choice of purgatory. So a little respect, please."
Mike stared in fear.

[SPLChamps]

Gabriel took his hands off of Mike and put on his perfectly starched wool coat.
"It's raining, get yourself some clothes."

Mike looked down at himself, decked in the suit he wore during the crash, except without the blood, road and sweat stains. He brushed himself off and had a look of utter confusion.
"My legs..."
"Are perfect. Look at them. I remember I could barely walk when it happened to me out of sheer shock. Plus I got an arrow in it instantaneously. Dying in battle, they say it's honorable but, well, I felt like an idiot."

Mike thought about how much Gabriel talked about his past like he didn't care about it anymore.

"You're right, I don't care." Gabriel's lips hadn't moved. "It's cheaper to just enlist telepathic ability amongst the servants, rather than some stupid radio system."

"Wow...this is...deep. And quite the headmess."
"Shut up and swear. You kill for a living now, swearing is the least of your sins. It's like charging your room service to the company on a business trip, might as well get waist deep, shit head."
"Oh...right."
"Get some humor in you, for His sake! I realize you've just been told that you are fucked unless you kill, but come on, I don't even get the salvation you do."
"That's because you enjoy the death."

Gabriel stopped and thought. Then he and Mike left the hospital room. An orderly chased after them and Gabriel clicked his fingers. The orderly was in Mike's old bed in his cast, along with a cast over his head.
"That'll fool them for a while. Let's head to the hunting grounds, shall we?" Gabriel sparked a cigarette.

---------------------------

Gabriel and Mike walked towards a sparklingly clean white Lotus Elise. Mike looked at Gabriel as they walked.

"You clearly have something to say, rook, so say it before I lost interest."
"Wh...wh...no...stop. What the fuck is going on? How in the Hell am I supposed to 'harvest' these souls-"
"Not so loud, you'll scare the living shit out of the living, which is quite envious of you, seeing as you are now devoid of living shit yourself."
"But...you didn't answer my question."

Gabriel unlocked his car and stepped into the driver's seat, indicating to Michael to sit down. The car was immaculate, perfect interior and silver lining across every accessory. The black leather seats were like tufts of air. The car turned on with a kick of sheer power and Gabriel depressed th clutch, sticking it into 1st gear and speeding off.
"Aren't you going to check your blindspot-"
A loud crash was heard as Gabriel clicked his fingers and his car was pristine once more. Mike looked behind them at the wreck they had created in the station wagon next to them. Gabriel stepped onto the road and took off his sunglasses, staring behind and slowly walking towards the car. He looked like a stone.

Gabriel spoke to the bleeding passenger of the station wagon without looking at him, merely looking around.
"Look, before you leap. Do you believe in God?"
Before the man could answer, Gabriel picked him up.
"Mike, over here now." Mike walked over to Gabriel, in disbelief at how effortlessly he lifted the injured man. "This is Raymond, he is a paedophile. Look at his fingertips, they'll have touched more young ass than Pampers. Observe."

Michael stared on as Gabriel stared deeply into Raymond's eyes. Raymond kicked at Gabriel in the face and sent him to the ground. He then looked at Mike and punched him in the throat, running quickly.
"There he goes." Gabriel jumped up and pulled out a twisted knife, kissing it at the handle and flinging it, eyes closed at the man. It pierced right through to his eye. Gabriel walked over to the body and touched his hand to the cadaver's forehead and closed his eyes. The body, once again, shook.

"That is how you do it. Come on, let's go find some bigger game."

[SPLChamps]

Mike looked at Gabriel as he drove, seeming to keep his eyes closed as if he knew what was coming.

"What happened in the Old War? Who is Michael?"
"This story will not be believed, but if you truly want me to tell it I shall. Do you?"
"Yes."

Gabriel began.

First of all, don't believe all that you know of God, Heaven and Hell. It is not what you think of it. In the first known age, God as we know him was an Emperor. He commanded all in his kingdom with unquestioned loyalty. He became totally omnipotent to the point that insurrection was an inevitability. He decided to recreate his kingdom in an image he saw fit. He created the divine followers, or Angels, and along with his wife he ruled. The only survivor from the previous era was God's second-in-command, Lucifer. Lucifer was not as he is commonly perceived. He was far from cruel and evil and was not a tempting soul. He was of unquestionable loyalty to God and he did without thinking, neither about himself nor about others, only of God and His kingdom. It was believed among the Angels that when God's son, Michael, was born that Lucifer would become jealous. He didn't, however. He took a shining to Michael, some said even more-so than God had to him. He taught him to battle, to think and to command. He was Lucifer's double. They were like peas in a pod, truly. When a rebellion began in the City of Dec, Lucifer and Michael quelled it quickly at dawn. Lucifer controlled his troops in exemplary style. This ease of battle and strategic genius earned Lucifer the title of the "Morning Star", which was later the translated Latin meaning. It was unrevealed to God, however, that the rebels called for Lucifer to take the throne. Lucifer was a man of the people, having earned his place in the highest of societies through the previous era. They believed him to be more powerful than God. Lucifer disagreed, but the rebel belief spread throughout the kingdom and God had realised his mistake. He made himself out to be the main figure when he should've stood and waited in the background.

When the battles began, both Lucifer and Michael led their armies, both to similar success. However, in the Seven Cities of Sin Michael met a great deal of scrutiny for his failing tactics in battle. His troops became disillusioned by the supposed Second Lucifer. In order to win their respect, Michael did the unimaginable, he took on 100 rebels himself, escaping markless and devastating the rebels with deadly effect. It was here that Lucifer realised how powerful Michael was. During battle, however, Lucifer was slain by a rebel who stabbed him in the back. When God was informed of the news, he ordered every man in the entire army to pay his respects to God's second in command. Lucifer was cast into the afterlife, and put on trial by the dead. Because of his unquestioned loyalty to God, he was cast into the flames of death and there, he evolved into a more hating creature. He feared that God had abandoned him and so embraced his new home. He became Satan.

When Lucifer fell in battle, Michael was distraught, but took control of his old mentor's army. He commanded with precision and brilliance the likes of which had never been seen. His sieges of the Cities of Wrath and Pridus were sheer brilliance. Michael, however, felt remorse for slaying the people. God requested an audience with his son and it was then that He revealed his true plans. He told His son that the entire kingdom would be razed and replaced once more and that Michael would be the only one to join God into the new era, as Lucifer had done before. By this time, God's mortal wife had died many years before and was almost entirely cast out of memory, such was God's intensity when it came to the war. Michael was aghast at his father, uttering how it was defication of Lucifer's good name. God, however, would not listen to his son.

When Michael explained what was to happen to his soldiers, he remained emotionless. One lone angel stood up and hugged his commander, uttering the words "so it is written, so it shall be." Michael broke down at this moment and called for God. When his calls went unanswered, he realised that the time had come. He addressed all of his soldiers and confessed that he would gladly give up his place and die with his brothers than go into existence without them. They died with his name burned into their hearts and he went on with a piece of his forever gone.

God revealed what the new kingdom was to be to Michael. He explained the implications of morality and right and wrong, explaining that he would create choice and consequence, cause and effect. He would sit in the background and observe how his creations lived with only the bare necessities provided to them. Michael took his seat next to his father and began a period of mourning that continues to this day. When there are great harvests, Michael does them on his own. He is bitter and has sworn to get his brother, Lucifer, out of Hell and into Heaven, where he believes he belongs.

"Now do you see why I told you to avoid Michael? He has been through more than we could hope to comprehend. His pain is no longer measurable. Take comfort in the fact that you will never go through what he did."

Mike was silent for the rest of the journey, until they arrived at what seemed to be a street race.

"Ah, easy pickings. Shall we?" Gabriel smiled a smile of sheer elation.

[Katana]

Interesting.

[SPLChamps]

When Mike and Gabriel walked right in the way of the street race, all hell broke loose. Gangbangers and hoodlums were whipping out 'nines' quicker than a Republican at a gay wedding. Mike was nervous as he looked up at Gabriel, who was almost laughing.

"This is where the fun starts, young man." He looked at the racers. "Gentlemen, the bells have tolled for thee. Judgement has come to you on this fine night and I have come to the conclusion that, well, you just aren't fit enough for heaven. I'll let you stay in purgatory for a millenia or two, if you lay down the guns now."

"Yo, this fucker is nuts."
"Waste his ass foo'!"
"Hey man, crack this fucker in the skull man."

"Oh how you damn yourselves." Gabriel let off a laugh as one of the men advanced on him with a baseball bat, swinging with the might of a titan right at Gabriel's face. Without even looking up, he caught the bat and flung the man through the window of his own car.

"Ho shit!"
"What the fuck is this man!?!"
"Let's get the fuck outta here!"

"Don't run. Please. Pretty please." Gabriel took out his desert eagle and dispatched two of the men with a flick of his wrist and a slip of his index finger. "Alright, Mike, prove your worth. Waste these rapists." Mike was astonished and disgusted, yet found himself picking up the bat and chasing after the men. "Let's see you fly, angel of death, let's see you fly."

Mike shot into the air with a leap and a bound, as if it were second nature, an inner-programming of his brain as normal as breathing or heart-beats. He chased the men down alleyways and across streets until they eventually took their stand. Mike stared them all down with the bat in his left hand. One of the men stood up to him.

"Hey, hombre, you wanna mess wit' one of us, you mess wit' all of us!"
"Yeah, gringo, get your cracker ass out of my shit a'fore I pop nine until you shit metal, fucker."

Mike's eyes stared into the man's soul, black as the River Stix. The man drew his gun and shot Mike down. Inside his body, the bullet evaporated into white nothingness and his wound sewed up as if nothing had happened.

"WHAT THE-"

The cracking of the baseball bat finished the man's sentence. Judgement had truley come to these thieves, rapists and murderers on this night. With every swing of the bat, Mike felt like an ancient warrior slaying demons with his sword of light. 7 men became 6, 6 became 5, 5 became 4 until there was one man left in a pool of his own blood, saying a Hail Mary. Mike uttered the first words he had spoken since the hospital.

"This is a message. Written in blood. Sealed by your own hatred and all your sins. They will weigh you down as you sink to the lowest level of Hell. Your body will burn, your soul will erupt and your eyes will melt in what will be the most painful experience of your life. I would ask God to be with you, but he sent you down there in the first place. Goodnight." The bat ended Mike's fears about the job and ignited his passion. He was ready to do God's bidding.

[Katana]

Freaking shweet.

[SPLChamps]

Michael walked through the halls of the Sistine Chapel. Those who saw him cowered in fear. His eyes were empty and his face was blank. He could see and feel the believers around him. He got up to a small crucifix at the side of the chapel. He stared at the eyes of his "brother" and began to rant to himself.

"You. You wanted to save them. You told me repeatedly that they weren't beyond salvation. If you could only see yourself like this. If you could only see what I see. And you know what I see? Pathetic. A waste. A terrible piece of nobody who just got in my way. If they hadn't killed you, I would have. You were weak and I-"

Michael was stopped in his tracks by a noise outside of the chapel. A loud rumble was occurring. The parishioners stayed in their position of solemn prayer as Michael stepped out of the chapel. He saw the clouds open and his Father was sat in his chair, looking down on him.

"Why, son?"
"You can ask that of yourself, father."

--------------------------------------------

Gabriel and Mike got back into the car after reaping the souls of their recent harvest. Gabriel quickly looked at Mike and frowned.

"It doesn't get any easier. Trust me. You'll be wishing it away over the rest of your life."
"So this is what doesn't make it into the job description, the whole emotional disdain of the job. The fact that this is my life until further notice."
"If, at any time this gets too much, just remember what you'd have to face if you had chosen the alternative. And always remember what Michael is going through."

"I want to meet him."
"What?"
"I want to meet him, meet Michael. Let me meet him."
"You'll regret it."

There was a flash and they appeared in St. Mark's Square, in Vatican City. Michael was staring at both of them with a sword at his side.

"You are the new guy?"
"That's right."
"Well," Michael stared as he spoke, never blinking,"what do you think of the job?"
"It's...tough."

Michael's stare became intimidating.

"Tough? Try an entire existence of emptiness, lonliness and the feeling that you just aren't what your father wanted. So much so, that he had another son who was your polar opposite. My brother preached forgiveness, turning the other cheek. No more than 5000 years earlier, father wanted me to preach thehand of war to all who would listen, to completely annihilate anyone in his path. Hypocritical bastard."

His sword was drawn as he got closer to Mike and thrust the sword towards his neck, stopping just shy of his throat.

"I could have been happier. Now I will always be forced to live with the fact that my father imprisoned the only man I called brother. Tough is nothing, you son of a bitch, now grin and bear it before I eat your tongue."

Mike didn't cringe and squirm like the others. Michael was put off.

"I'm not afraid. Do it. A lifetime in hell will get my mind off of what I did to that family."

Michael's threat went unheard. He thrust the sword back into it's scabbard.

"I like him. Gabriel, take a walk. Reaping is needing done in the Americas."

Gabriel bowed his head and disappeared.

"Come, we have much to discuss." Michael put his arm around Mike as they walked away.

[Katana]

Seriously dude, this is a damn cool story.

[SPLChamps]

"What Gabriel has told you about me is true, I am a force to be reckoned with. And I know that one day my fallen brother will challenge my father, and ask for my help. I do not know what I will do that day, and this has vexed me since the creation of this existence...if it can be called such a thing."

"Do you need to take sides? God is the creator. Can He not battle Lucifer Himself?"

"You would think so. But all these years of peace and delegation of violence has left Him arrogant, dependent and weak. As much as I love Him, I hate what He has become. He is nothing like his former self. When I was younger, Lucifer told me tales of how he and my father would destroy entire armies together. My father. The great creator. Lord of Heaven and Earth. Ha. Don't make me laugh. He is a bureaucratic miscreant who has lost all the power to his generals. Gabriel and Raphael answer to me and I control Earth. A retarded restelac could run Heaven."

"Restelac?"

"Oh, right. Ancient creature before this existence. It was like a hippo only dumber and slower."

"Point taken." Mike was engrossed in Michael's frank nature and also his total disregard for his father's reputation. But then, what son has never questioned their father's abilities? That was when Mike realised that Michael's resentment was natural and that it had not stemmed from Lucifer's imprisonment, but from a much younger age. He was jealous.

"If you had been in the ancient times, from what I hear from Gabriel, you would've made quite the commander. Learn from me. Let me teach you the way my brother taught me. Let me guide you to the power one can only achieve through force and violence."

Mike looked at his superior. "General, I fight for you. But that path is one I would need a lot of time to consider."

"Very well. Do not worry. You really do have all the time in the world. Wait...what is that?"

A rumbling began from outside the city. Michael drew his sword and unsheathed a second, throwing it to Mike. They were in the air, heading to the outskirts and could not believe their eyes.

"You see that?" Michael had a smile.

"Yes...what is it?"

"It's a restelac, only this one is much bigger than the ancient ones."

"I don't understand," Mike attempted to grasp the situation, "I thought they were extinct."

"They are...well, were. Come on, it's time to live again."

They flew towards the beast.

------------------------------------

God sat on his throne, content with what he was being told by one of his messengers. Then he looked down at the Earth and saw the restelac.

"The first sign," he sighed with little suprise, "it begins."

[SPLChamps]

Woops, forgot to log in initially. If someone could delete that post made by "Guest" that would be brilliant.

[Katana]

Done.

Ancient beasts and foreshadowing seems like a winning combo.

[SPLChamps]

Doesn't it just smack of a million other things.....I mean....originality...yes....I have no influences in this world at all......and no....I've never seen the TV show G vs. E on the USA Network, why do you ask....?

[Katana]

Well. since I haven't heard of that one I believe you. :-)