Confessions & Repentance (EoD Wk, 3 RP #1)
Oct 12, 2021 1:02:24 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer, anthonycaffrey, and 1 more like this
Post by Donzig on Oct 12, 2021 1:02:24 GMT -5
It was a cold, stormy night when the doors to the old Catholic Church opened with a boom. A gust of wind snapped though the church sending the flames of the votive candles dancing as the light fell on three figures standing on the stairs leading up to the doors. Two of them were huge and hulking, and they watched the street silently. The other was slender wrapped in a long coat that snapped and swirled in the wind, a slim pale hand held a hood over her face against the wind. But her eyes were on the figure that stalked into the church. That figure motioned for the others to wait in the rain, and then the doors banged shut behind him. His head lifted as he shook rain from his long leather coat, and he paused as he lifted a hand to sink fingers into the empty eyes of his mask. He pulled that skull like visage off, and stared at it for a long moment before he walked across the empty knave of the church.
He said nothing as he paused beneath the stained glass, staring at the light falling through the window. On it's surface, Christ performed miracles. He healed the blind, the sick, and the crippled. He led his disciples to pull nets full of fish from the waters, and walked on the surface of a raging sea. The figure looked at each window for a long moment, then walked onward. Only to halt beneath the figure of the Lord hanging upon his cross, his eyes narrowed on that suffering face before he crossed himself. Then he walked to a small stall not far from the altar. It was hidden behind a few pillars, buried in the corner of the church.
The man known as the Scourge, slipped inside. He sat down, and after a moment the screen opened on the other side. He rasped in a cold empty voice, leaning forward slightly. 'Forgive me, Father for I have sinned. It has been--'
A pause, and Donzig thought as a hand lifted to drag through his beard. He couldn't remember, which was odd. He remembered everything, shrugging his shoulders before he hissed. '--quite some time since my last confession.'
'And what do you wish to confess, my son?' asked the priest.
'Wrath. I hold grudges against my enemies, I wish to watch them suffer. I long to see them in agony, to be punished for their wrongs against me. I seek revenge against them, and their destruction.' Donzig paused, and he lifted his hands to steeple under his chin as his fingers tapped against them. 'I hold their every slight, every minor insult close to my heart, and wish to revisit it upon them ten fold. I can not rest until they pay for what they have done. Real or imagined, father. I am petty and cruel, and I delight in it. When they wrong me? It makes me glad, because I can inflict pain on them.'
The priest was silent, and then spoke again. 'Our Father in Heaven commands that we forgive our enemies, my son. This is a grave sin.'
'I do not forgive. I show no mercy. I will have my vengeance, Father.' Donzig rasped, and he drew the cold mask from inside of his coat to stare down at it. His fingers slid across the metal, stroking it softly as he gazed into it's empty eyes. 'I will have my revenge on all of them even if it means the end of everything, even if the sun goes out, and the earth itself burns in the fury of my wrath. I will not show them the slightest mercy, the slightest forgiveness, I will heap scorn and sorrow upon them.'
'What else?' the Priest said.
'I treat my friends with cruelty, I treat them with indifference, I use them to further my own ends.' Donzig waved a hand, and he leaned back in his seat. 'I betray my brothers to serve myself, I reward loyalty with brutality. I show them no gratitude, and no kindness for the deeds they do in my name. My friend, my brother? I will destroy him as well if he will not return to my side, he thinks he can do better without me? No, no, no. I will have him back, and I know who has poisoned him against me.'
The priest said nothing, but that voice had changed slightly. It became colder and deeper, more bitter as it hissed.
'Caffrey. Caffrey did this. He poisoned Drake against me, filled his head with lies against me.' snapped Donzig, and he stared at the mask as he nodded. 'The Purple Emperor, eh? Well, I have not forgotten the indignities heaped upon me in your domain! I have not forgotten what has been done to me in your precious Philadelphia! Oh, no. No, no, no! Well, the game is up now isn't it! It's time for ruin, time for vengeance, time for you to pay what you owe Anthony! You even came out of retirement to what? To oppose me? To stand in my way? Well, we'll see about that won't we!'
The Priest was confused, and he stammered. 'My son, I--'
Donzig smacked his knuckles against the screen, and he growled. 'Oh, I see it now. He comes to me, acts like the nice guy? But the entire time he is just the hatchet man, eh? The fucking guy that the XHF has sent to stop me! Oh, my enemies have gathered against me and Caffrey is their agent, eh? Well, we know how to deal with that! He has his own viper clutched to his chest! And together we will see Fireside burn for this insolence! I will drag his broken carcass into Philadelphia myself, and make him watch me lay it all to ash, eh?'
The priest said nothing as the voice had risen to a shriek, and then Donzig fell silent. 'My son, your hatred for this man--'
A deep breath, and then the voice came out in a harsh whisper. 'Pride. My greatest sin is pride. I think myself better than the others, all the others, and when they don't recognize that? It makes me want to hurt them. My arrogance is overwhelming, it drives me. I think of myself as a God, Father. Do you understand that? A god. That I am beyond the petty concerns of this mortals, and that I should rule over them. And when they defy me? Oh, when they defy me they should be punished! They should be made to suffer!'
The priest fell silent at this, clearly at a loss. Donzig glared at that screen, and then his eyes returned to gaze down at that mask. His eyes narrowed as he met the stare of the empty eyes, and his fingers tightened on the metal as he shrugged. 'I am beyond them. My abilities? My skills? Oh, my pride drives me. But yet I envy them, their loves, their lives, their happiness! Everyday they spend out there living normal lives with their friends? Just being content and not consumed by the need to conquer? The need to be the best? Oh, it makes me hate them even more!'
Donzig licked his lips, a hand lifting to smooth his beard before he shrugs. His other hand still holding that mask, and he arched a brow with a tilt of his head. His gaze flicking to the screen, and he continued. 'I want to destroy, Father. I am addicted to violence, to destruction, I want to tear down all the things other people hold dear. I want to cast down their heroes, and their trophies. I want to grind them into dust, burn them into ash, and drag them through the mud. I am not content to let them stand, and I want to see them fall. I love the feeling of power of causing pain, and suffering. I enjoy asserting my dominance over them inside of the ring, of hurting them. And I can't stop, I won't stop, it is the only thing that gives me meaning.'
'My son, these are grave sins.' the priest said, and he was clearly troubled. Donzig snorted a laugh, and he leaned back against the wall. His eyes turned towards Heaven, and he shrugged as the priest continued. 'You need to do penance--'
'Penance, priest? For what?' Donzig snapped angrily. 'I have commited no wrongs! I am the one who will command penance, I will make them all suffer for their crimes. All of them, the entire XHF will suffer for what they have done! Their sins will all be brought to the light, and they will be stacked high to the sky! And they will all bear witness, and I will make them all pay a penance. And it will start with Caffrey, eh? He thinks he is better then me, and that is the least of his sins!'
Donzig rocked inside the stall, his hands twisting and clawing at the mask as he nodded to himself. And he licked his lips, eyes narrowed as he glanced at the screen. He wished he could get his hands on that priest. He would love to teach that man exactly what he thought his god thought of him, to show him that even God could not save him from the fury of the Scourge. But the Priest spoke again, clearing his throat.
'My son, your sins are many. But there is still hope for you, God will forgive you if you ask for it. Repent, and be absolved.'
Donzig blinked, and he sat up as he looked down at the mask with a confused look. His head tilting before he shrugged his leather clad shoulders before he shook his head, and then he laughed. 'I mock everything. I show my disrespect and arrogance by making mockery of what offends me. I mock things I am jealous of, I mock things that I don't understand, and I mock people who I consider a threat. I show my contempt and anger in laughter, do you understand that?'
'Repent. I can grant you absolution if you repent!' the priest begged through the screen, his voice rising. 'Renounce your sins, and repent this wickedness!'
'No.' Donzig hissed, and he leaned closer to the screen pressing his forehead against it, and his shoulders shook with a laugh. 'No, no, no. I will not repent, I will not ask God to forgive me. I will not ask him for absolution, and renounce my sins. You see Father? I don't regret them, I don't look at them and think I will never do that again. I will it again, and again, and again! I will do worse! I don't even view them as sins, I view them as necessary tasks! They are the will of God, and how can he ask me to repent them? How can he command me to ask penance for things that I gladly did? That I am gladly doing even now? I will drown the XHF in my sins! They will fall down like rain, and wash it all away into the Abyss. I have committed a thousand sins, and I will commit a thousand more to reforge this place in my image do you understand?'
The priest said nothing.
'I will make them all like me, Father. I will remake them in my image, eh? And then we all go down screaming into the pit together. So you can save your penance, and your absolution for them! You can save it all for later, because the hour of the Scourge is here.'
Donzig shoved the door open, looking up at the empty gaze of the Savior. He slowly tugged his mask back on, and dropped a roll of bills into the plate. He shoved his hands into his pocket, sweeping for the door. There was work to do.
He said nothing as he paused beneath the stained glass, staring at the light falling through the window. On it's surface, Christ performed miracles. He healed the blind, the sick, and the crippled. He led his disciples to pull nets full of fish from the waters, and walked on the surface of a raging sea. The figure looked at each window for a long moment, then walked onward. Only to halt beneath the figure of the Lord hanging upon his cross, his eyes narrowed on that suffering face before he crossed himself. Then he walked to a small stall not far from the altar. It was hidden behind a few pillars, buried in the corner of the church.
The man known as the Scourge, slipped inside. He sat down, and after a moment the screen opened on the other side. He rasped in a cold empty voice, leaning forward slightly. 'Forgive me, Father for I have sinned. It has been--'
A pause, and Donzig thought as a hand lifted to drag through his beard. He couldn't remember, which was odd. He remembered everything, shrugging his shoulders before he hissed. '--quite some time since my last confession.'
'And what do you wish to confess, my son?' asked the priest.
'Wrath. I hold grudges against my enemies, I wish to watch them suffer. I long to see them in agony, to be punished for their wrongs against me. I seek revenge against them, and their destruction.' Donzig paused, and he lifted his hands to steeple under his chin as his fingers tapped against them. 'I hold their every slight, every minor insult close to my heart, and wish to revisit it upon them ten fold. I can not rest until they pay for what they have done. Real or imagined, father. I am petty and cruel, and I delight in it. When they wrong me? It makes me glad, because I can inflict pain on them.'
The priest was silent, and then spoke again. 'Our Father in Heaven commands that we forgive our enemies, my son. This is a grave sin.'
'I do not forgive. I show no mercy. I will have my vengeance, Father.' Donzig rasped, and he drew the cold mask from inside of his coat to stare down at it. His fingers slid across the metal, stroking it softly as he gazed into it's empty eyes. 'I will have my revenge on all of them even if it means the end of everything, even if the sun goes out, and the earth itself burns in the fury of my wrath. I will not show them the slightest mercy, the slightest forgiveness, I will heap scorn and sorrow upon them.'
'What else?' the Priest said.
'I treat my friends with cruelty, I treat them with indifference, I use them to further my own ends.' Donzig waved a hand, and he leaned back in his seat. 'I betray my brothers to serve myself, I reward loyalty with brutality. I show them no gratitude, and no kindness for the deeds they do in my name. My friend, my brother? I will destroy him as well if he will not return to my side, he thinks he can do better without me? No, no, no. I will have him back, and I know who has poisoned him against me.'
The priest said nothing, but that voice had changed slightly. It became colder and deeper, more bitter as it hissed.
'Caffrey. Caffrey did this. He poisoned Drake against me, filled his head with lies against me.' snapped Donzig, and he stared at the mask as he nodded. 'The Purple Emperor, eh? Well, I have not forgotten the indignities heaped upon me in your domain! I have not forgotten what has been done to me in your precious Philadelphia! Oh, no. No, no, no! Well, the game is up now isn't it! It's time for ruin, time for vengeance, time for you to pay what you owe Anthony! You even came out of retirement to what? To oppose me? To stand in my way? Well, we'll see about that won't we!'
The Priest was confused, and he stammered. 'My son, I--'
Donzig smacked his knuckles against the screen, and he growled. 'Oh, I see it now. He comes to me, acts like the nice guy? But the entire time he is just the hatchet man, eh? The fucking guy that the XHF has sent to stop me! Oh, my enemies have gathered against me and Caffrey is their agent, eh? Well, we know how to deal with that! He has his own viper clutched to his chest! And together we will see Fireside burn for this insolence! I will drag his broken carcass into Philadelphia myself, and make him watch me lay it all to ash, eh?'
The priest said nothing as the voice had risen to a shriek, and then Donzig fell silent. 'My son, your hatred for this man--'
A deep breath, and then the voice came out in a harsh whisper. 'Pride. My greatest sin is pride. I think myself better than the others, all the others, and when they don't recognize that? It makes me want to hurt them. My arrogance is overwhelming, it drives me. I think of myself as a God, Father. Do you understand that? A god. That I am beyond the petty concerns of this mortals, and that I should rule over them. And when they defy me? Oh, when they defy me they should be punished! They should be made to suffer!'
The priest fell silent at this, clearly at a loss. Donzig glared at that screen, and then his eyes returned to gaze down at that mask. His eyes narrowed as he met the stare of the empty eyes, and his fingers tightened on the metal as he shrugged. 'I am beyond them. My abilities? My skills? Oh, my pride drives me. But yet I envy them, their loves, their lives, their happiness! Everyday they spend out there living normal lives with their friends? Just being content and not consumed by the need to conquer? The need to be the best? Oh, it makes me hate them even more!'
Donzig licked his lips, a hand lifting to smooth his beard before he shrugs. His other hand still holding that mask, and he arched a brow with a tilt of his head. His gaze flicking to the screen, and he continued. 'I want to destroy, Father. I am addicted to violence, to destruction, I want to tear down all the things other people hold dear. I want to cast down their heroes, and their trophies. I want to grind them into dust, burn them into ash, and drag them through the mud. I am not content to let them stand, and I want to see them fall. I love the feeling of power of causing pain, and suffering. I enjoy asserting my dominance over them inside of the ring, of hurting them. And I can't stop, I won't stop, it is the only thing that gives me meaning.'
'My son, these are grave sins.' the priest said, and he was clearly troubled. Donzig snorted a laugh, and he leaned back against the wall. His eyes turned towards Heaven, and he shrugged as the priest continued. 'You need to do penance--'
'Penance, priest? For what?' Donzig snapped angrily. 'I have commited no wrongs! I am the one who will command penance, I will make them all suffer for their crimes. All of them, the entire XHF will suffer for what they have done! Their sins will all be brought to the light, and they will be stacked high to the sky! And they will all bear witness, and I will make them all pay a penance. And it will start with Caffrey, eh? He thinks he is better then me, and that is the least of his sins!'
Donzig rocked inside the stall, his hands twisting and clawing at the mask as he nodded to himself. And he licked his lips, eyes narrowed as he glanced at the screen. He wished he could get his hands on that priest. He would love to teach that man exactly what he thought his god thought of him, to show him that even God could not save him from the fury of the Scourge. But the Priest spoke again, clearing his throat.
'My son, your sins are many. But there is still hope for you, God will forgive you if you ask for it. Repent, and be absolved.'
Donzig blinked, and he sat up as he looked down at the mask with a confused look. His head tilting before he shrugged his leather clad shoulders before he shook his head, and then he laughed. 'I mock everything. I show my disrespect and arrogance by making mockery of what offends me. I mock things I am jealous of, I mock things that I don't understand, and I mock people who I consider a threat. I show my contempt and anger in laughter, do you understand that?'
'Repent. I can grant you absolution if you repent!' the priest begged through the screen, his voice rising. 'Renounce your sins, and repent this wickedness!'
'No.' Donzig hissed, and he leaned closer to the screen pressing his forehead against it, and his shoulders shook with a laugh. 'No, no, no. I will not repent, I will not ask God to forgive me. I will not ask him for absolution, and renounce my sins. You see Father? I don't regret them, I don't look at them and think I will never do that again. I will it again, and again, and again! I will do worse! I don't even view them as sins, I view them as necessary tasks! They are the will of God, and how can he ask me to repent them? How can he command me to ask penance for things that I gladly did? That I am gladly doing even now? I will drown the XHF in my sins! They will fall down like rain, and wash it all away into the Abyss. I have committed a thousand sins, and I will commit a thousand more to reforge this place in my image do you understand?'
The priest said nothing.
'I will make them all like me, Father. I will remake them in my image, eh? And then we all go down screaming into the pit together. So you can save your penance, and your absolution for them! You can save it all for later, because the hour of the Scourge is here.'
Donzig shoved the door open, looking up at the empty gaze of the Savior. He slowly tugged his mask back on, and dropped a roll of bills into the plate. He shoved his hands into his pocket, sweeping for the door. There was work to do.