Afterlife: part 3
written by Tobie Abad

THE DCFuture Underground Fan Fiction group acknowledges that DC Comics owns the concepts behind THE ENIGMA and all other DC Comics characters that may be used here and ALL related characters and retains complete rights to said characters. These concepts are used WITHOUT permission for NO PROFIT, but rather a strong desire to peer into the future of the DC Universe. We also acknowledge that the concepts and original characters introduced here are the intellectual property of the author.

AFTERLIFE: CHILDREN OF GOD
An Epic of the War between Heaven and Hell in Nine Parts
BOOK 3
Written by Tobie Abad

"Howie," Jezebel rushed to her producer's side with an evident frown on his face. The smartly dressed man looked up from his mini-ratings-tracker and waited for Jezebel to continue. "Why on god's green... well, gray and black nowadays... earth do we have a child as one of the guests in this show?"

Howen Kisp brushed a misplaced lock of hair off his browline and raised the tracker. Jezebel watches as the tracker showed them the current number of viewers of thier show. The ratings had begun to rise faster than expected. Although they were still pale in comparison to the special they had on The Enigma Incident (see The Enigma Grows mini-series) they were gaining fast. Jezebel smiled and nodded. It was for the ratings. It was for contraversy. "But Howie-" Jezebel wanted to protest only to have Kisp hold his shoulder and gently push him towards the set. "You're on in ten, nine, eight..."

Jezebel rushed back to his seat, took a deep breath and smiled a second before the lights beamed brighter and the live studio audience began to applaud as dictated by the neon light beyond the camera's point of view.

"(Bi)Sexuality - The Truth and Thrust of it all," Jezebel declared the show's topic again as were procedure and turned to face the guests for a brief moment. He froze. There, on the leather chair, the child had begun to publicly rub herself between her thighs. He realised the audience had noticed this as well as the clapping began to fade and murmurs began to become more and more audible.

"Cut to Camera One, focus on Jez," Kisp told the crew and moved to one side of the studio. He tapped a young man on the shoulder and whispered a command, "Centralise the imagery projectors on that guest's seat. Let's cover her with an illusion while it isn't her turn to speak. Loop the first few seconds she was on the show just sitting down behaved and all." The man nodded and began to flick on keys.

"Well," Jezebel struggled to maintain a facade of preparedness, "Some of us are obviously very excited by this show!" The live audience gave a half-hearted laugh, immediatelly artificially supported with a cue from Kisp to the sound engineer. "Let's meet our guests again for tonight, in case some of you home viewers out there tuned in a bit too late," Jezebel was back in full form, walking his feminine walk that would put Oprah to shame.

The camera focused on an elderly woman who wore her platinum blonde hair like a jellyfish. Gemstones and gold rings adorned her fingers. It was no mystery that she was extremely wealthy. Surprisingly, though far from her younger years, the black sequined body stocking she wore was cut to reveal her cleavage and belly button area; the skin shown was smoother than Jezebel's! "Harriet MacGergos was been jumping from one lover to another for how long again?" "Thirty seven years." "Thirty seven years," Jezebel echoed and continued reading his cue card, "She is one of the most wealthy people in Fresno and is now currently with her 12th husband. And now, you want a divorce because you believe you're in love with a woman."

"Ah know it sounds messed up," Harriet began with her sitting up, her bosom fully becoming flushed red from the attention, "But that's how ah feel. Being with Sera has been very different. More fulfilling even than being with a man."

Jezebel fought the urge to laugh, having found the image of two eldery women running off to get married somewhere in the world flashing in her head. "Harriet, if I may ask... you're how old?"

"Eighty three."

"And you've been with your 12th husband for how long now?"

"Three weeks."

"And you want to divorce him to go after this Sera?"

"Yes," Harriet replied and heard a sound similar to a tomato being squashed. She slowly turned to her right and saw the other guest staring at the young girl guest. The man was leerily smiling as the young girl pulled her hands out from beneath her clothes and cheeerfully exclaimed, "Sorry, all done."

"She orgasmed?" the technician gasped out. Kisp grabbed the screen with both hands and felt a chill of horror slide down his spine. "Was she on camera when it happened? Was she? Will somebody tell me!"

"Sir," a young female technician called out, "She was on camera 5 but you never asked us to transfer feed to line 5. We've been focused on lines 1 and 3 for the past few minutes."

"Thank you Genna," Kisp nodded and walked to the giant screen. He watched as Jezebel continued to talk to Harriet, their discussion starting with how Harriet first realised she was bisexual and how she decided to confront her husband about it. Kisp reached for his pocket and pulled out a small flask. Down came 80% alcohol down his throat.

"Where do you get these weirdoes?" a female voice suddenly entered his attention. Kisp glanced to the side and saw Kristen Bergham peeking from behind the door to the Technician's Room. "That Harriet is one freaky woman."

"She's ratings," Kisp smiled and pointed to the two holographic charts that were on the side wall. They were still struggling against 5 other shows for the larger sum of viewers, but they were steadily rising. "I expect by the end of the show, we've accomplished five times the audience rating that the chart is currently showing."

"Because sex sells," Kristen wondered aloud.

"No," Kisp retorted, "Because other people's weird sex sells. We like to be made to feel that our way of having sex is normal. Is accepted. With sex being such a taboo, we like someone to tell us what we do is normal unlike others. These guests are making loads of viewers out there feel very good about themselves."

"If you don't disgust them in the process. I'd shut this channel off if I was watching it," Kirsten replied.

"True," Kisp nodded, "BUT, you will start to check out this channel every now and then. It made you feel good. Feel normal. Feel acceptable. You'd be checking it out every now and then and one day you'll find yourself one of the fans. Its basic. But it works."

"What's that?" Kristen pointed to the screen.

* * *

"I call it a Tongue Trainer," the man with blue green eyes and thinning hair explained as he displayed the five inch long metal bar with four springs, a hook, and a pair of clamps he held in his hands. The man proudly stood from his seat and walked towards Jezebel, "The Tongue Trainer will teach you how to be able to give great oral sex and at the same time increase your tongue size to be able to reach your own chin. If its long enough to reach the chin, you see-"

"Wonderful!" Jezebel interrupted the guest even as the guest stood beside Jezebel's seat and continued to hold the device before him on display. "Wonderful wonderful machine, I'd like to see how it works someday but for now, a commercial break. Don't change frequencies now, you all!"

The audience applauded. The lights dimmed. "And we're off the air," Kisp's voice reverberated in the studio projected by the speakers. Jezebel stood from her seat, smiling at the three guests. The old woman continued to watch the child. The child had been staring at the audience for the past few seconds, smiling a perverse innocent smile. The man, on the other hand, was smiling at Jezebel. "Honey baby," the man started and raised both eyebrows at Jezebel, "Maybe,when the show is over-"

"Aw, sorry," Jezebel interrupted him again, "I have plans you see. Lots of plans. Got to head to different cities, wear a red and blue hero thing and call myself a Super Man you know. Excuse me."

The child watched as the people on the studio began to relax a bit. Slowly, she turned her head towards the right and saw the old woman staring at her. She smiled. The old woman smiled back. Somewhere, behind the child's eyes, a gleam of something undescribable existed.

***

"Howie!"

"Jez."

"HOwie!"

"Jez..."

"HOWIE!" Jezebel screamed to break the routine and grabbed the flask from Kisp's hands. The producer looked at his friend with a smirk and waited. "Where on earth did you get these weirdoes! I tell you they are extremely beyond any existing logical explanation! The... the old woman for crying out loud is old enough to be by grandma but has busts I'd envy EVEN IF I WAS A WOMAN! Did she had some sort of operation or special transplant done or something or what? And imagine having gone through 12 men only to realise at the end. supposedly, that you're actually a lesbian! And to make this more interesting, that Sera woman she's claiming to be in love with. Its her fucking sister's daughter for crying out loud! Can there not be anything more insane?"

Kristen walked up from behind the door and tossed Kisp a smile. Kisp feigned interest at Jezebel's words and sat down.

"Then there's that man, Buno... uh whatever his name is. He's big enough to give birth to ME right now, has the facial appearance of someone you'd wish you could die for and has this fetish for tongues. Take note, not any tongue but MALE tongues. Oh oh oh! But let's not forget, he's married with four kids, all girls, and has no plans of doing anything with another person. So to put it simple, he's a loving, caring husband of four beautiful daughters and everything would be perfect if only he didn't like men's tongues! And do you have any idea what he likes to do with it?"

"I think we all heard," Kisp pointed his finger at the monitors. "After all, we have to monitor your show right? We're the studio?"

"And finally you have that kid who-"

"Ten."

"What?"

"Nine."

"Howie? I'm trying to-"

"Eight."

Jezebel stared at Kisp curiously, trying to understand why he was counting. Counting downwards. "Oh!" Jezebel realised and sprinted back to his place. Kisp gave Kirsten an amused glance, one which she returned. "You're cruel," Kristen whispered as she bent to pick up the alcohol flask which Jezebel dropped when he ran off. "This isn't just about ratings is it?"

Kisp reached for the flask and discovered Kristen didn't let go of it. He looked at her and found her eyes bearing down on him. A bit louder this time, she accused him, "You got these guests on purpose didn't you?"

***

"How old are you?"

"Twelve years old," the young girl mentioned and propped one leg up the chair. Jezebel audibly gasped when he saw that the underpants and skirt of the girl were wet enough to be seen. Immediately, Jezebel stood and walked towards the child, standing a profile to the kid's side to block her clothes' condition with her body.

"Twelve years old!" Jezebel feigned amusement and glanced at the cue card quickly, "And you're bisexual too?"

"Something like that," the child replied, then warmly glanced at Harriet. "You could say I'm straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, and so on and so forth. I guess it all depends on how you look at it."

"What do you mean?" Jezebel asked, obviously interested. Not just because this was something about gender politics, but more so because this was coming from a twelve year old girl.

"Well, many people tend to confuse the act and the identity. Many people say that any guy who kisses or touches or hugs or maybe even cries with another guy is considered gay. Any woman who supposedly hates men, pushed people around, acts roughly, is a lesbian. And so on and so forth," the child began, "But they don't understand that gender is not the act. Just like sex isn't just the ejaculation."

Jezebel's eyes popped wide open. She turned to the studio window and was hoping to see any sign of what to do.

"So are you saying that if I choose to kiss my best friend right now whose also a guy I wouldn't be gay?"

"I don't see why you should. Lots of girls walk around kissing another friend of theirs who may or may not be another girl. They kiss as a sign of saying hello. As a show of acceptance of each other as friends. Are they lesbian?" the Child challenged Buno's statement and left him speechless. "We can all do something and it is nothing but just an act, unless we give it meaning."

"I'm getting lost here," Jezebel thought of trying a different approach. In his mind, he decided hecould probably control the situation if he lead each question to what he wanted them to say. Not letting them just speak would be a way. "Why not take this slowly and lets tackle this a question at a time. Why do you say you're not just lesbian but even straight, gay and all those other things you mentioned?"

"Because I believe I am."

***

"Oh no," Kristen looked at the monitor and motioned Kisp to watch. Kisp pulled the flask away from his mouth and stared. The Child had rose from her seat and was standing on it now. She was explaining something.

*You can see me right? My clothes? My skin?*

"Howie, she's gonna flash," Kristen warned him.

"What?" Kisp rushed to a screen and called out, "What's on line now?"

"Sir, line 1. We've been following Jezebel."

"We have to shift, is that hologram of the kid ready?"

*But you can't see my sex right? You can't see my pussy?*

"Did she just say pussy on air?" the female technician screeched.

"Oh no!" Kisp grabbed his hair, "The hologram!"

"Sir, on your mark!"

Kristen looked at the wall and saw the ratings drop by a few points.

"Now!"

***

The Child pulled up her skirt and exposed herself. The audience went dead silent. Jezebel screeched like a woman being raped. And nobody, not a single soul in the studio moved.

***

"Tell me we got the hologram in time... somebody tell me please!" Kisp pleaded to the air surrounding him. He would like to have pleaded directly to one of the technicians had any of them been on his line of sight. Kisp had not taken his eyes of the monitor. And the child had not brought down her skirt.

"Sir," the female technician confirmed, "We got it just in the nick of time. But we have to get the show moving along sir. The holotube audience can see the guests all shocked seeing the kid simply sitting down and smiling."

Kisp glanced at the ratings chart and saw that everything had gone to a standstill.

"Howen," Kristen appeared, blocking Kisp's view of the chart, "What's going on here." Although her eyes were soft and welcoming, Kisp could not ignore the tang of annoyance in her voice. He pulled out another flask of alcohol (this one was hidden near his waist) and took a deep gulp. He patted Kristen on the back and walked away from her, heading towards the studio floor. He called out aloud as he opened the door, "Commercial break for 1 minute. Start now."

***

As the lights flashed, COMMERCIAL BREAK, a large number of the studio audience immediately left their seats. Some were headed for the restroom to relieve themselves. Others had decided they've had enough and were on the way home. Some though, needed time to ponder. To think.

On the stage, Harriet and Buno had exchanged glances numerous times. They had been loyal viewers of Jezebel's shows for the past few months and had never expected a show of his to be this... interesting. Jezebel, on the other hand, had one thought currently in his head: This was the end of his career since the proper authorities would never have such an event shown on live holotube. It was the day he was to kiss showbiz goodbye.

"Jez," Kisp's voice cut through Jezebel's thoughts and woke him from his mental prison. The transvestite looked up at his producer and began to cry. "Jez," Kisp said his name again in a reassuring tone, "Its okay. We got the hologram up on time."

"Hologram?"

"Yes, we covered everything up real good. You're in no trouble. And the ratings are so high, this is bound to be the second most viewed show in Fresno, following our The Enigma Incident. You've become a smashing success!"

Jezebel could not move. Buno and Harriet, having overheard Kisp ran over to their favorite host(ess) and gave him a warm hug of congratulations. Kristen appeared behind Kisp and wrapped her arm around his. Kisp looked at her and pursed his lips, signalling her to be silent for now.

"Oh, I shouldn't have doubted you!" Jezebel smiled and composed himself. "Well, we have a show to run don't we?" Harriet and Buno nodded in synch. The transvestite stood and dusted off his clothes. He looked at what remained of the studio audience and faced her guests, "What the heck, we don't need them. I got you two."

"Three, don't you mean?" Buno asked, looking around. "Wasn't there a kid among the guests?"

Jezebel turned to Kisp, frantic and tense once more, "Howie! One of the guests-"

"Will remain an obedient hologram for the rest of the show," he replied, showing everything was in order, "You go on with the show, I'll handle the covering up okay?"

***

The door closed with a soft shush and immediately Kristen saw the child sitting on Kisp's desk. Kisp, however, didn't look that surprised at all.

"I should have known," the child began only to be interrupted by Kisp.

"But you didn't!"

Kristen looked at Kisp and noticed his face held a smug display of satisfaction. And it seemed the child hated it.

"I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT," the child's voice suddenly boomed. It was like the whisper before a hurricane begins. Or the rising of the sea as a tsunami forms.

"And I can cover it up... well, while you're in my studio that is."

"YOU CANNOT DO SUCH A THING. MY WORDS BECOME FLESH. MY WILL BE-"

"done on Earth as it in Heaven," Kisp continued, "Yeah yeah, we all heard about that line before at some point in our lives. But don't you get it, this world doesn't need you around anymore. We're moving along fine on our own."

"Need you?" Kristen pulled Kisp closer to her, "Who is the child?"

"I AM THE ALMIGHTY. MAN CANNOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE."

"Well, that's why man decided to start creating different meals, you know. Nowadays, we got instant noodles, hamburgers, pizzas of all sizes with so many topping combinations you'd wonder why the only thing you offered us was bread!!"

Kristen's eyes widened. Kisp kept a smug expression through out. The child had begun to stomp her feet on the ground.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?" the child suddenly complained, her voice a whine of annoyance. Kisp was taken aback. It was Kristen, this time though, who moved forward. She moved closer slowly, each step in time with her tensed breath. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

"WHY CAN'T I CONTROL THINGS ANYMORE? WHERE ARE MY ANGELS! MY BEAUTIFUL ANGELS? I WISH I HAD A MOMMY!"

Kisp raised an eyebrow, "What's going on here? I thought once you remembered kiddo, you'd poof off and head on back to your other selves?"

The child ignored him and bawled some more, "I WANT MY POWERS BACK! I WANT TO BE ABLE TO BURN BUSHES! TO CREATE MORE ANIMALS! TO GIVE THE WORLD MORE RULES!"

Kristen reached the child and tentatively reached her hand out. Her fingers touched her hair. Kisp moved closer as well. The child stomped her feet again. Kristen couldn't help it. She sat beside the child and reached to embrace her. Kisp watched in awe as his friend slowly comforted the embodiment of God with an embrace. He stared in amusement as the God-child relaxed and buried her face in Kristen's hair.

"Shh," Kristen hushed the child, "Close your eyes and just relax for a moment." Kristen began to rock back and forth, giving the God-child a comforting feeling of security. Kisp sat beside the two and whispered to Kristen, "Kris, that child in your arms. She's someone very special. And dangerous."

Kristen looked at Kisp and smiled, "The child's God right? Well, one of the 7 God-children that is."

The surprised expression Kisp held was plastered on his face for a long silent minute.

"Oh, I knew," Kristen nodded, "I had the same dream. About that guy calling himself Mr. E or something like that. About a war where God was needed. About the 7 Children. Seven aspects of God."

The child was asleep in Kristen's arms.

"When the show started and I saw that kid on the stage, I had a feeling something was up but I didn't know how to bring it up. After all, what if I was wrong? I'd be easy picking for someone whose head was cracking up. After the Enigma Incident, I'm an easy target for someone gone insane."

Kisp smiled and heard the intercom call out, "Mr. Kisp, the show is on. Will you be handling the technical aspects or-"

"Genna?" Kisp called out.

"Sir?" the female technician prompted responded.

"You're promoted," Kisp as a matter of factly explained, "You'll handle the technical direction for the show starting now. Got it?"

"Sir? Uh.. Thank you!"

"That'll be all," Kisp shut the intercom and looked at Kristen and the child. Ironic, it was to him, to see God being comforted by man. Ironic again, it seemed, since he was doing the opposite earlier. "Kristen, when I invited her to the show, I wanted to do my part in that dream. What that Mr. E said, 'HE WHO IS I AM IS EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHEN/AS THE BATTLE THAT DEFINES ALL DRAWS NEAR, ONE NOW STANDS AS SEVEN/FROM BIRTH, IN LIFE, TO DEATH JEHOVAH MARCHES INDEED/SEVEN CHILDREN OF THE ONE GOD SHALL MAKE THE ONE THAT LEADS/ THE ONE WHO CAN BEND ALL, BUT DOES NOT BEND/FROM SEVEN WILL COME THAT ONE, THAT ONE WHO TO WAR WILL MEAN AN END,'" Kisp cleared his throat having forced his alcohol-roughed voice to copy the booming effect Mr. E's voice had.

"And you're having God on the talk show?"

"Pure selfishness," Kisp smiled weakly, "I mean come on, how often can you cast God as a guest in your show? Or tell God straight to the face that you were able to cover her up with a hologram? Or tell her that we're doing quite fine without you?"

Kristen smiled and stroked the child's hair a bit. The child turned to one side and began to suck on her thumb. Kisp moved closer and placed an arm around Kristen, "And now, imagine, you'll live for the rest of your life knowing you actually COMFORTED God. Who's to claim you can't be a good mother now?"

The child stirred a bit and Kristen began to rock a bit once more. Kisp looked at Kristen and found himself getting lost in her eyes. Kisp suddenly noticed a small tear precariously clinging on her eyelash. It fell, and he reached out in time to catch it with his palm. "Kris?"

"Oh, Howie.. I just remembered the Incident. Gabriel died because of this faggot who wanted to take him away from me. As things would turn out, the faggot had to be a fucking Meta. And now I got God in my arms and she's claiming to be bisexual. I'm confused as hell now. Are straight people actually the deviant ones?"

"Us?"

"I mean, if this God-child is bisexual... wasn't it said that we were made in the image and likeness of God?"

Kisp shrugged his shoulders and looked at the kid. The kid was definitely asleep. And although Mr. E mention to them that reminding the child she was God was enough, the child had no signs of disappearing.

"Are we all actually closeted bisexuals then? Or gay people in denial? Or what?"

In a flash, Kisp pulled out his flask and offered it to Kristen, "Don't think of those things like that. I mean, look at it this way, we made the first mistake by calling the Almighty our Father. Well, she doesn't look like no father to me. She's a ten year old girl for crying out loud! So just drink, relax and let's wait for the child to do whatever she's supposed to do."

"What happens if the kid dies?"

"I dunno," Kisp honestly replied, "Maybe all the gay people in the world die as well? Or turn straight? Or nothing at all?"

Kristen nodded and began to smile, "Funny how the people in the world start to realise how much they didn't understand about sexuality only when they begin talking about it."

Kisp nodded and took a quaff of the flask. "Funnier still," he offered, "That we become more understanding and less homophobic only when we first accept that we're talking about a human being who likes the same sex and NOT about some monster out to eat out family jewels."

Laughter broke out and the child stirred. Kristen looked at the child and gave it a kiss on the cheek. "Uh, shouldn't you be off to save the world or something?"

The child's eyes slowly opened and a smile crossed its face. Kisp bent close as well and offered a smile. The child looked at the two faces and with a smile, slowly began to vanish. "No hard feelings, okay?" Kisp called out as the image began to vanish.

"Funny," Kristen commented when the child totally disappeared, "Weird shit like this gets so much easier to take the more often you go through it."

"Hey Kris?" Kisp suddenly looked distraught and took another deep gulp, "You don't think God's gonna hold my actions against me when my time comes do you?"

the end