Awww. What a wonderful story. Good to see you back Rupert.

That’s not how it works it is spacial dimensions.

Cookies were always the best way to attract recruits. I glared at the Butterfly Scouts set up across from me in the grocery store entrance. They sat there all cute in their uniforms ready to lure unsuspecting marks into their web of lies and chocolate covered shortbread. My stand was classy, we had chocolate covered pretzels and lemon squares like mature, sophisticated hustlers. I fingered the empty space on my sash. All these badges I’d earned and still this one eluded me.

“This is never going work.” Stampy pouted, nearly invisible next to me.

“People love carbs and sugar, it’ll work. Have some faith.”

“No faith, that’s why I’ve debased myself to working with your pathetic organization.” He pouted some more.

“Our firm has a strong reputation for success. Don’t give up yet.” Aha! A bus of white haired grannies fresh from their retirement village, clutching grocery lists written on the back of used envelopes and plans to buy highlighters for their grandchildren to unwrap as a birthday gift. They slowly, slowly dismounted the bus steps with their canes and walkers. The damn Butterfly Scouts sat up in anticipation but they were going to be disappointed. All these grannies likely had granddaughters that had already fleeced them for cookies already.

“Pardon me, ladies!” I shouted over the whine of low hearing aid batteries. “May I interest you in a lemon square and a wonderful opportunity to help a disenfranchised entity?” I held out my powdered covered bait and a pamphlet.

“You’re a little old to be a Butterfly Scout.” A blue hair with cataract sunglasses took my lemon square and went into the store without hearing my spiel. The grannies cleared out most of my lemon square tray and went into the store. The scouts smirked at me from across the concrete, smugly checking off the orders they’d just made on their stupid smug order sheets. I refilled my tray and tried to tempt a mother with a pair of toddlers with a treat. That was a lost cause. The kids started screaming at the sight of my open air sugar and the mother was clad in haute couture leggings. She would be on a diet. They were all always on a diet.

“Stop going for the old women. I need someone with longevity.” Stampy sulked.

“That mother wasn’t old.” I pushed the pretzels into better view and tried to tempt the grocery cart collectors into hearing my pitch.

“She looked old.” This god was such a defeatist. I couldn’t wait to be rid of him. I’d gotten stuck with his case because I was the best. I’d been able to find a worshiper for my past three accounts. The god of polystyrene had been a difficult one. I’d gotten a whole fast food chain to ignore EPA standards and worship that foamy bastard. I wasn't proud per se but it was still a victory. I’d even found a home for the god of 3rd Grade Recorders. If I ever had to sit through a piercing rendition of “Hot Cross Buns” again rip off my own ears, but I sold that squeaky behemoth and by gods I would sell this one too.

The sun was going down and I began to think about how I would changed tactics tomorrow. Maybe I could put together a few educational school assemblies. That took time and permits and background checks but I could do it.

“What are you selling anyway?” One of the Butterfly Scouts shouted across to me as she counted her winnings for the day.

“Stamps.” I answered. Stampy was trying not to cry in the seat next to me.

“Like ink pads and rubber crafts? That’s weird.” Her little scout friend scoffed.

“No. Stamps that you put on a letter.” Both scouts looked at me in confusion. “Like, to write a friend in another state.” Now they looked at each other in confusion. “A letter that arrives in the mailbox, with a note that has stories and jokes and maybe an invitation to write them back?” More confusion. “Okay, these stamps,” I held out a sheet with hearts on them, “you put them on a letter and can send it to someone all without using a single screen or computer.” Stampy still sulked and tried to hold in his tears. I sensed I might have a sale and started a campaign speech that included sparkly gel pens, trips to craft stores, scented paper, origami, and the potential for glitter and stickers.

The scouts were hooked.

“Only thing you need to make each other official pen pals…is this,” I held up the sheet of stamps, “stamps. What do you say?” Stampy’s eyes gleamed with the glimmer of long lost hope. The scouts’ mothers were thrilled with the idea that their children would be occupied with a non screen activity and that they themselves would not be required to write any physical letters. One mother proffered that it had the potential to be a perfect patch earning activity.

I sat back and relished in a victorious lemon square victory as the scouts dragged their parents to the stationary store with Stampy glittering behind them in the sun. A shiny new patch on my own sash that proudly proclaimed ‘Forever’ in the bottom corner.

Later that night my firm called me up again, I had a new client. The thin wispy thing appeared in my living room. “Hello, I’m the god of drive in movies.”

“Come on in and let’s talk strategy.” I was the best.

Proper warlock prompt

Ben and Maya lay on the rooftop terrace, watching the clouds of Earth 4 drift by above. They’d been best friends for twenty years — since they were kids — and had been waiting for this moment ever since.

“Think they’ll be different on 3?” Maya asked.

”Hm?”

”The clouds. Think they’ll be different? Prettier, maybe?”

He considered. “No. Or, maybe. But I think they’re plenty pretty enough here.”

She took his hand and squeezed it. “Me too.”

It was the evening before judgment. Tomorrow the angels would arrive and deliver certain people to Earth 3, others to Earth 5.

Ben and Maya had spent twenty years preparing for judgment — twenty years of performing good deeds together, trying to buy their ticket to Earth 3. Helping the elderly across roads, feeding the homeless, campaigning for the environment, for animal welfare. Always together.

They lay silent now. Ben wondered if Maya felt a similar unease in her belly. What was causing it? It was as if he could hear the angels singing in the distance, debating their decision about them in an off-key song.

“I hope it was worth it,” said Ben. “We’ve given our lives for this place. If we don’t both make it…”

“Then we’ve improved Earth 4.”

He swallowed back a flash of anger — that hadn’t been what he’d meant. ”Barely. We’ve been constantly sweeping the floor but more dirt is always falling down behind us.”

Maya rolled onto her side and looked at Ben. “You’ve not done it all to escape here. Don’t pretend for a second that’s why you did it.”

“Of course it’s why. It’s why we both wasted our lives here.”

“Wasted.”

”You know what I mean,” said Ben. “We could have done anything else with the years. Stuff for us instead of others, you know?”

She paused a moment then said, ”Did I tell you I saw Leo again the other day?”

”Leo?”

”The junkie you saved with the Naloxone. Except, he’s not a junkie anymore. He had new teeth and showed me a big new smile. He said to pass on his thanks to you.“

”That’s nice,” said Ben, downplaying the emotional gut punch as much as he was able. He’d been certain he’d see Leo’s obituary sooner rather than later.

”He’s working construction now. Does charity work on Saturdays.”

”Huh. Maybe we’ll see him on Earth 3.”

“Ben… I don’t know if I want to go.”

”What?”

”I’ve heard Earth 3 is pretty nice. Calm. Pious.”

“That’s kind of why we’re trying to get there, isn’t it?”

“The bad apples have mostly been left here to rot, and in the realms further down, too. There’s not much wrong on Earth 3 because everyone there wants to make it to Earth 2. Like, they’re actively working on it — being polite and fake and as good as they can be. Here, that’s not the case. Plenty have given up on moving. They’re happy with the grey morality. Some find it more fun, even.“

The unease grew in Ben’s gut. He could hear the angels song better now, louder, and was sure it was the broken melody of rejection — a song he knew well enough, that his own parents had sung when he’d been just a baby.

“This is everything we worked towards, Maya. Please don’t throw it away now.”

”Ben, if we keep going here… If we inspire more people like Leo, then what’s to say this can’t be Earth 3? But better, maybe. Because people want to be here, not just pass through it.”

”And you thought it’d be a good idea to talk about this now? On the evening before judgement?”

She shook her head. “No. I knew it wasn’t a good idea. And I’m sorry I left it so late. But it’s an idea that’d been growing recently. Avalnching even, and now it’s way too big for me to ignore. I hope you can understand that.”

It had been Maya’s idea, back when they’d been kids, to get into Earth 3 together. To help as many people as they could. It was an idea, she’d said, that was too big to ignore. She’d only been nine. They’d been orphans together.

He said, “I’m not going to be able to persuade you to go, am I?”

She shrugged. Her eyes glistened. “I don’t think so.”

“This’ll never be Earth 3,” he said.

”I know… But—“

”Not without us putting in a lifetime of work.“

It took Maya a moment to understand. Up until Ben squeezed her hand.

“You know,” he said, “we’re going to have to rob a bank or something at this point. Or commit a lot of petty crimes.“

Maya laughed. “You can reject the angels, you know.”

”Yeah,” said Ben. “But where’s the fun in that.”

They remained silent, staring at the clouds as the sky reddened. The unease in Ben’s belly was gone — the voices silent. He wondered now what had even been causing the feeling of unease. The thought of leaving, perhaps, rather than the idea of not making it. Either way, it was calm inside him now. As if everything was just how it was meant to be.

How do you like it?

Thank you, friend. I'm glad the points I was trying to make came across. I like the way you took it with poker better, a subtle hint that this world was different than ours. All I meant was that young people wouldn't know those green transparent poker hats, a thing to add to show the haphazard nature of Marcus's 'research' he did after two redbulls at 2:00 in the morning.

Great prompt by the way, thanks for thinking it up.

Wow ! A child being separated from her family, causing sins to cheat the system, a fixation on reaching a specific Earth ? All very interesting ideas, and the surnatural/action genre vibes emanated by this are very pleasant. Angels as maddening entities who have no time to waste in talking (it reminds me of the 10th plague of Egypt in a way), a mystery with Yuna’s mother being sent down for unknown reasons, somewhat wholesome with her husband being ready to condemn himself to follow her, and who knows what Yuna herself could have done to earn her banishment further down ?

[removed]

I really need a book series of this a la Forgotten realms asap.

I didn't even consider the how much of an NPC the mailman sounded like when I made the prompt

Oooh, when you put it in a way where humans are not even aware of all this, it takes a very different form, like a Matrix with religious undersides. Really impressed by how you took into account such things as culture, generation mentalities, and changes between realities that would be caused by this separation (was poker never created in the after-1998 reality ?!). Clever cliffhanger ending.

Made me laugh out loud! Excellent!

Wow ! I had never considered the idea of immortality for humans, but it does make a lot of sense as both a utopic characteristic of a sin-less world, and a way to perpetually torment the sinners. I knew this prompt could spark a lot of concepts, but the character of Alex is really something surprising, and kind of terrifying, as a very violent Lawful Evil character, like it was some hidden part of the good man he had been before. I like it a lot.

[removed]

Fantastic!

Dude's facing off against Wakko Warner. 🤣

[removed]

Od'alko was sat on his favourite chair. 3 of his sets of arms were crossed. His left bottom most arm was resting on his chair support while Od'alko's head was resting on his right bottom most arm. All 6 million of his eyes were focused on the girl in front of him. Who was wearing the cheapest looking dress Od'alko had ever seen. The pink sparkle did only to hurt his eyes.

"I'll cut to the chase" Od'alko said. Which appears to have made the girl jump in fear.

"Your parents sold you to be my bride. They're currently on a flight to Hawaii." The girl grows sadder by every word Od'alko said.

"However. I am not the type to force companionship from others." Od'alko said as he walked closer to the girl.

"So take this" Od'alko used his top left most arm to grab a platinum card from the inside of his suit. And had it to the girl.

"What. What is this? Lord Od'alko?" The girl said with fear.

"Drop the "lord" part. And that is one of MY company's platinum cards. It connects directly to my bank. And anyone with a brain knows to not mess with you once you flash it. So have fun" Od'alko said before going back to his desk to look over his company's investments.

"Wait lord Od'a-"

"I said drop the "lord" part"

"Apologies. Od'alko. But why are you doing this for me? I know I am to be your bride but-"

"One. You're not my bride. I don't care what your parents said, I don't like forced companionships. And two, it is evident that you didn't have the easiest life. So why not let you enjoy it a bit."

"Oh I see."

"Well what are you still waiting here. Go enjoy your desires."

"Actually the thing I want c-c-Can't be filled with just money..."

"Oh? Then what else can I do to help?"

Within half an hour the pair were at a McDonald's.

"I must say." Od'alko said taking a bite from his burger. "I would not have guessed you wanted a companion to eat at this fast food establishment."

"This is like a dream" the girl said taking bites from her burger, fries, nuggets and ice cream.

"Pace yourself. The food will not disappear"

The girl looked at Od'alko's meal. "Are you sure you don't want more Mr Od'alko?"

"Oh no there's no need. I don't require much food. You however, look like your do for a second round "

The girl looked down to notice how all the food she had ordered was almost gone. "I. I didn't notice"

Od'alko chuckled to himself. "It's always good to have a healthy appetite. Wait here I'll order seconds"

As Od'alko walked away to order someore food, the girl couldn't believe how lucky she was. To get away from her parents. To meet such a kind person. And to be able to eat such good food. The girl started crying tears of joy.

Almost instantly Od'alko heard and rushed over. "Are you ok? Are you injured?"

The girl shaked her head. "No. I just can't believe how luck I am to meet you Mr Od'alko"

Od'alko signed "there there child. There's no reason to cry. After all, the night is still young. And you have a credit card to max out"

"Dad, if only I had the power to help you."

Yuna stares at the old, brownish photograph. Though the years had manifested itself in the bleaks and smudges of the glass, she can still vividly pronounce the figure - the happy smile she has as a child as her father carries her by her arms, and her mother close by her side.

The little girl in the photograph can no longer be discerned with the lady holding the wooden frame. Yuna, now 56, has the only reminder of her past being the scar she has on her right arm. A scar of which origins she can still remember despite the decades of hallowing memories burying it within.

It was a fateful day, of that six year old girl, watching as the angels come down in glorifying, mystical sight. Their robes pure in form, bathed in light, and their faces only barely discernable against the white glow. They come down in sense of fright and wonder upon the crowd looking at them. The whole community around her, and people from far and wide, garnering around them in a line.

She looks at her scar once more, now barely visible from her arm, only slightly pale and tender to the touch. Her mind can hear the voices and cries of people at that day. One by one, they face the terrifying angels in the lines. Some laughed, others cried, and they are all taken away towards the endless skies.

She saw her mother right at the front lines looking back from afar, with tears on her eyes. Her face seems to be in the form of despair, which Yuna then didn't understand. Yuna was carried by her father in his arms, and she can also hear her father's faint cry. Is mother going away too? By then she can't tell, as the angels took her mother away with them.

Her father took her down, and with eyes filled with sadness, knelt down in front of her and touched her face gently.

"Yuna, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

He held her right arm, and with a knife he held on his other hand, cut her arm lightly with it. She remembers that it hurts a bit, but her father's sudden take to embrace her did not allow her to cry or express any pain.

"Someday, Yuna, you will understand me."

After that, her father walked away from her, and into the line of angels. She was still holding her bleeding wound as she saw her father also taken away. The glow of the angel figures slowly molded into her faded memory.

It was only after all those years she finally understands. The scar, her father's expression, and why it is done. It is a sin, but perhaps a noble one. For she now knew that they both have to be taken away. That her mother was thrown into a lower Earth, and her father also has to go there. The scar is all but a reminder of her father's love, even amidst in front of God's divine judgment.

Yet even knowing so, Yuna felt powerless. If only she had done something, to not lose them, or to at least make them stay here too. The questions over the years flew by. Why was her mother brought into the lower Earth? What has she done? Why did her father did that act? Is he selfish, that he would dare to hurt his own child?

"I have to find them. Maybe they are out there, somewhere still."

She didn't know what Earth they were. She is now in Earth 4, but judging from her dad's act, they are absolutely in a lower Earth. The judgment that is once every 50 years will soon begin by the following month. She must make herself be judged, sinful and be damned. For in the name of love and family, she will be willing to face herself in God's harsh hand.

Kimuru sounds nice

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“Describe it, go ahead,” Marcus was dead serious, holding out a pencil. “Draw it even.”

“Well, I know I’ll fuck it up then,” Alex said, sparing the pencil a dubious look. “It's like a bowl of fruit, I remember grapes and an apple maybe.”

“But it's not a bowl, is it?” Marcus prodded with a smile, throwing the rejected pen and paper through the bedroom window before himself.

“No,” Alex answered slowly. “It was the old-timey thanksgiving wicker horn thing. A cornucopia? All the fruit’s spilling out of the side of it.”

“And what color is it?” Marcus asked as he stood, eager voice struggling to remain a whisper.

“Brown, yeah. For sure.”

“There you go,” Marcus said with a broad gesture, as though this somehow proved something. “All wrong.”

He held up his phone, a nerdy beacon in the darkness, brightness withering Alex’s retinas. It was a Google search for the Fruit of the Loom logo. It was just a pile of fruit.

Alex winced and rubbed his eyes. “You really came over to my house in the middle of the night to quiz me on underwear logos? They changed it, so what?”

“That’s the kicker. They didn’t change it, been that way since 1893. They still have the die press. There never WAS a cornucopia.” Marcus said, wide eyes pleading in that ‘see it now?’ way of his. “It's completely gone, can’t find it anywhere."

“Wait, what? No way. I distinctly remember that cornucopia. I even still have some of my kid clothes."

"If you find them, it'll just be the fruit."

“Okay, this is weird, I admit, but still not worth you coming over here like this.”

"Lots of theories but I had an idea," Marcus pushed Alex’s junk across the desk and laid down his paper. There was a branching line with a mentally unhealthy amount of notes scribbled every which way.

“This is a little intense, dude.” Alex furrowed a brow and looked his friend up and down. Hints of deranged was a good way to describe his look.

“Just wait!” Marcus traced the line from the right. “Based on when these things happened and looking for a common year, ‘the jump’ happened here, 2005. I looked back and I found the same sort of stuff fifty years before. It doesn’t make sense to us because we’ve had it the current way all our lives, but this one drives really old people crazy. 'A Friend in Need' made in 1903 by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, know it?”

“No.”

“Yeah, you do, painting of dogs playing poker. Apparently, a lot of people remember one wearing a green poker hat.”

“What’s a poker hat?”

“No clue, but doesn’t matter. From 1955 and on, you can find loads of letters and even a news article about people talking about it. The stuff, usually based around something odd and memorable, is made at the start of a fifty year cycle and forgotten by the next, see the pattern?”

“Okay, yeah but it's just people misremembering. What else would it be?”

“Judgement, grouping by morality. That's why most young people you know are nice. We'll probably get moved up the line in 2055. And why there's all the memes about boomers and Karens, they were old enough in 2005 to be established assholes and get bumped down, whereas we probably got moved up, watching SpongeBob and minding our own business.”

“Okay, now you really do sound nuts, dude.” Alex looked at his bedroom door, considered waking his mom. Marcus didn't notice.

“Every fifty years, God or whatever pushes good people up in a tier of dimensions, probably a line of them, and bad people down the same line. Then he or it comes back, sees new people are born and moves them too. The world’s got shittier and shittier, nobody can argue that. What we call eras are just the time between jumps until a new load of shitty people from the higher dimensions get dumped on us. Generational trauma, sociopathic CEOs, it all stacks, man.”

“So, if I believed you and things keep getting worse. We’re low on the line.”

Marcus nodded eagerly, “Very low, near the bottom probably, but that’s not the crazy part.”

“That’s NOT the crazy part?”

“I found a way out,” Marcus said smugly, throwing a pair of whitey tights on the desk. "Get dressed."

The logo was there, plain as day. The cornucopia spilling with fruit, just like Alex remembered.

/r/surinical

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there. Yeah that would have been a much more interesting avenue to explore ngl lol. ‘The good guys are bad’ trope is getting played out but I can see now I definitely hinted toward it being the case - so I basically promised the readers that the superhero isn’t all that good but then I didn’t deliver on it. That sucks. I wanna re-write it now. Would you be interested in reading an alternative version?

“It’s been fifty years already? Time flies on Earth 7. I remember how dull the years felt all that time ago. How bored I was with my immortality, sitting around with the other self-righteous on Earth 1. Or shall I just call it Earth? What do the angels refer to it as?” Alex asked, paying little attention to the angel. He had been struggling to open his can of soup for the last ten minutes, banging it against the side of his worn-out kitchen table. The pointed edges of the table piercing the top but not quite busting it open, spilling droplets of red tomato soup all over the table.

“We call it heaven. You were a holy man back then; a crowning achievement of what faith could do for a person. We still believe you are that holy person, which is why we are begging you to reconsider this crusade you’re performing. These people will repent on their own. They don’t need you to torment them into submission.” The angel pleaded; body hidden by a ray of golden light. On Earth 1, the angels were visible, a figure that those holy humans could comprehend, but as one moved lower down the Earth’s, the angels became more obscured, their features not visible behind the protective holy lights.

“Really? You think this is reforming anyone? Have you even looked at the world outside? Feel free to glance out of the cracks in my walls. It’s hell on this Earth. You put the worst of the worst together and expected them to play nice?”

“We believed that it would be in their best interest to be separated. It would offer them a chance to self-reflect without harming anyone else.”

“Without harming anyone else? So, it’s fine if they kill each other?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“It’s implied. I agree with you, I would rather they kill each other. Unfortunately, that doesn’t give them a chance to reflect on their mistakes. All you’ve done is given them access to a playground of sin, one where they have even fewer consequences.” Alex banged the can against the edge, the top spilling open, spilling a wave of red liquid over the table. “Want some soup?”

“I’ll pass. Don’t you think this is better? We created a heaven and hell using your Earth, a way to organize people into categories. No one dies anymore. They simply live and reflect on their lives until they earn their way to Earth 1.”

“How many people here do you believe will earn their way back?”

“I believe every sinner has a chance to-“

“Honestly. Without the shit, how many do you think will earn their way back without me?”

“Five, maybe ten.” The angel sighed.

“Five or ten every fifty years. This place is going to get overpopulated at this rate. That’s not even counting the new arrives. Sure, Earth 7 is a hard place to get into, but it’s an even harder place to leave. Imagine living around murderers and sinners and trying to avoid killing someone. Even if you kill to protect yourself, you’re still technically a committing a sin.”

“God says one must forgive his enemies. As an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”

“Fifty years of turning the other cheek is hard. Which is why I’m helping. These people need someone to fear. A threat that makes them uneasy about sinning.”

“Alex, this isn’t the way to do things. You need to trust god’s plan.”

“What plan? We hear nothing from him for thousands of years and then suddenly we all sent to these Earth’s without warning. That was his grand plan? This isn’t what I devoted my life to. God teaches sinners how to grow. He doesn’t throw them into the too hard basket and leave them to kill one another.” Alex sipped his soup, downing the cold liquid and tossing the can onto the floor.

“This is a different way of teaching.” The angel said, picking up the can from the floor, looking for a bin to put it in. When it found none, it simply crushed the can into light. “You still choose to eat, even with immortality?”

“Even if hunger won’t kill me, it still doesn’t feel nice to starve. Plus, one can for me means one less for the others. I plan to weaken them until they are forced to become better people.”

“That isn’t the way. What if you shared the can? Wouldn’t that send a better message?”

“Heh, you angels really don’t have any clue what these people are like. These aren’t people who have just sworn during church or tripped someone over. These are the worst of the worst. People that don’t understand the difference between right and wrong. Suffering is their only way to salvation. They need to experience fear and pain.”

“I don’t think we will see eye to eye on this. I hate to say it, but you won’t be advancing to Earth 6 this time.”

“Mm-hmm. You can just send a letter next time. Don’t bother showing up.” Alex murmured, noticing the hint of a flashlight outside, the light poking through a crack in his wall. The light moving around the back of his house as he crept closer to the wall, peering out of the hole, watching as a small group of looters made their way to his shed.

“Please. I can tell what you’re thinking. Share your supplies with them.”

“You know, maybe you’re right.” Alex said, giving the angel a moment of hope before he reached for a remote underneath the kitchen sink. With the remote in hand, he waited until a looter opened the shed door before setting off the explosives. “Oh, what a shame. Nothing left to share.”

The angel grimaced, unable to look at the destruction. Smoke pouring from where the shed once was. The looters didn’t die, but it would take some time for their bodies to fully heal. Alex opened the backdoor, staring down the group.

“Welcome to hell, newbies. I’m going to torment you until you repent for your sins. If you’re smart, you will take this warning and follow the rules I’ve set. If you don’t, I’ll make sure you never get a moment of rest; you will always be looking over your shoulder for me.”

Alex watched as the group slowly healed, staring at the man in horror before scurrying into the darkness of the night. Alex was certain some of them would be back. Most people that ended up in hell weren’t the type to conform to rules, at least not at first. They would make a few attempts on his life and may even succeed, but without being able to kill him, they could only halt him for so long. Even trapping Alex wouldn’t last forever. The most successful trapping attempt lasting five years until the lock on his cage door rusted, and he broke free.

“You have set up rules?” The angel questioned.

“I have a few posters outside. A few guidelines on how to avoid contact with me. If they behave themselves, they won’t get much trouble from me. It’s the ones that continue their old habits that need to fear me.”

“I see. When you were a religious man, did you believe in the devil?”

“I did. It makes sense that if there is a god, there would be a devil.”

“The devil was never real. At least not until you arrived here. Your tale shares some similarities to the devil’s too. You both serve a similar purpose, although while the devil was a prisoner of hell, you appear to be a warden. I believe you have become the devil of Earth 7. I just wonder if you will stay a warden forever or end up a prisoner, too?”

“I’m no devil. I’ll return to Earth 1 when the evil repents. I just don’t plan to leave until I do god’s job for him. Even the wicked deserve to go to Earth 1. Even if they have to be forced to better themselves.”

“Hm. That answers my question. I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Please do. I need to go check my security camera. This place might look like it’s falling apart, but that’s just to trick anyone stupid enough to enter it. I have traps, a bunker and everything I need to make them repent. You’re just putting me in danger by being here.”

“Very well. Farewell.” The angel shone even brighter, causing Alex’s senses to overload, unable to hear anything but white noise as the angel left him with one word. “Prisoner.” Before vanishing.

     

(If you enjoyed this feel free to check out my subreddit /r/Sadnesslaughs where I'll be posting more of my writing.)