The Big Three

The A-men: Furnace

The Big Three

                Hebrews 11:1

Now Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

 

                Since the series has begun, the A-men have formed and grown one member larger. They have witnessed the growth of the demons and have gained a leader. The enemy is now holding the Crown of Oppression and the A-men do not have a defense against it. They also have Sasha in their custody. It is unclear what they plan to do with the weapon or the human they now have but whatever it is, it can’t be good. Fortunately God looks out for his children. The A-men are about to receive a helping hand that will surely even the odds.

 

Camden Yards: Present day

                David was a huge baseball fan. He loved watching baseball both on television and in person. He especially liked watching games in person. Today he got to do just that with Emoni Saunders. They had a lot of things they disagreed about but one thing they had in common was baseball. She was given access to two free tickets through her job and was gracious enough to give one of them to him. So they were sitting watching their home team lose. They were trailing by three points. It was the ninth inning so Emoni had pretty much written this game down as a lost. David however didn’t think it was over yet. Their team had two outs and the batter up had one strike. They had two men on base. Two more and the game would be over. The batter up was the worst hitter on the team so David had his doubts. Although he knew any number of things could happen. This hitter could get a homerun and tie the game up. He could get a double and allow them score once. Or he could simply get a single and keep the team in the game.

                Emoni was barely watching the game anymore because she was sure the game was over. The pitch was thrown and as she expected it was a strike. Now the hitter had two strikes. In one more pitch the game would be over and she would go home disappointed. David urged her to keep watching so she decided to push through the last pitch. A few seconds later she was glad that she did. The batter hit the ball far enough that he made it safely to third base. The fans jumped to their feet in joy. Everyone was excited that their team now had a chance. Emoni watched David leap for joy. This made her laugh a little. David noticed her chuckles and pursued it.

                “Is there something funny?” David asked.

                Emoni was a little embarrassed because she didn’t know that David was going to hear her. “Oh I was just laughing at you a little.”

                “And why is that?” David asked again.

                “I was unaware you Christian folk could even have fun.” She said mockingly.

                “Are you serious? Of course I can have fun. Just because I’m a Christian doesn’t mean I instantly give up all my freedom. There are plenty of things I can do. I can watch movies, I can go to games, and I can attend social events. I have plenty of fun without doing things that are wrong.” David said.

                “That’s true but what about other things. You’ll miss out on a lot of great movies. You’ll always be stuck in a church. You probably don’t even get to go to stay up late do you? Thou shall not be late for devotions, right David?”

                “Now it’s my turn to laugh. I don’t care about missing a few inappropriate movies. I don’t mind church at all. Your last assumption is wrong by the way. I’m not in church every day from dawn to dusk so I can definitely stay up late. I can have just as much fun as you. We just don’t agree on the same type of entertainment other than baseball.”

                The two were so into their conversation that they hadn’t realized that the game had already ended. David’s team had lost. He had to admit to a little disappointment but for him it was just enough to get to watch the game. Emoni however saw another opportunity to scoff at him.

                “Maybe you should have prayed to your god, I’m sure your team would have won.” Emoni said and laughed.

                “Laugh all you want but it doesn’t work that way. It isn’t like ‘prayer on demand.’ Sometimes you get yours answered and sometimes you don’t. In any case I didn’t pray over this game anyway. The end result doesn’t really matter to me as long as I get to see the game.”

                “Sure so you weren’t panicking earlier in the third inning when the other team scored a grand slam?” Emoni asked.

                “Alright I was a little hurt that they let that go. But I’ll get over it. I’m not going to dwell on a lost game.” David answered.

                “Whatever you say. Now let’s get you home. I told Ananda that I would bring you home right after the game was over. So let’s go. I wouldn’t want you to break curfew.” Emoni said.

                “She wouldn’t mind trust me. But you should still take me back anyway. It’s only right.”

                David and Emoni started to make their way out of the stadium. There were a lot of people trying to get out so they found themselves delayed. They made their way down the stairs slowly. David had to wait several times for someone to move out of his way. Emoni however had no such patience. She pushed and shoved to get out. She was getting a lot of dirty looks. David felt sorry for her. If she had an ounce of respect in her body then maybe she would have a better public appearance. He thought about the only reason he even bothered to hang around her. He wanted to see her one day confess the name of Jesus and he was willing to do all that it took. He didn’t always mention God around her because he knew that pressure was counterproductive.  So instead he just interacted with her normally and brought it up when the situation allowed it. With Emoni however, the situation was rare.

                Emoni and David finally made their way out of the stadium. Now their next big test would be sitting in the traffic until they could be on their way. David wasn’t in a rush. He actually liked to sit still for extended periods of time. It gave him time to think even if it wasn’t the most ideal spot. Right as Emoni made it to her car, the two were approached by three unfamiliar individuals. Two of them were men and one of them was a woman. They were all dressed in black suits and wore sunglasses. Emoni’s first thought was rather rude. David didn’t know what to think. The trio did not say anything. They simply stared at the two of them. The awkward silence was driving David crazy so he finally decided to say something.

                “Is there anything we can help you with?” David asked.

                The woman stepped forward. “Yes David Lane you could help us greatly. We would like to talk to you.” Her voice was soft and pretty. David almost blushed. Emoni gave him a sharp look.

                “Sorry David can’t talk right now. He has a curfew and I need to get him home. Maybe you all can talk some other time.” Emoni said.

                “Do not worry about it Emoni Saunders. When our talk becomes absolutely necessary, we will find Mr. Lane. Who knows, maybe we’ll come speak to you eventually.” The woman said. Then all three of the strangers turned around and walked away.

                “What was that all about?” Emoni asked David.

                “How should I know? I don’t know them.” David answered.

                “Well apparently they know both of us. They called us by first and last name. That was just freaky.” Emoni said.

                “Yea it was a little weird, although I have seen something like that before. I’ll check it out tomorrow. Can you take me home please Ms. Emoni?”

                David couldn’t have seen it but he was still being watched. The three were standing together from the stadium lights. It was a mystery how they got up there and even more so how they got there that fast but it was the perfect spot. No one could even begin to notice them. They watched David and even though they were so far away, they could see and hear him perfectly.

                “So what do you think Meshe’? One of the men asked.

                “David shouldn’t be a problem at all. It is Emoni that has me worried. I doubt we will be able to use her anytime soon.” Meshe’ responded. “Continue to watch her anyway. If she does anything relating to our goals, let me know immediately.”

                Emoni and David got in the car and took off. David was taken back to his cousin’s house. She didn’t think anything of the three strangers. David however could not get it out of his head. The last time he was approached by someone he didn’t know, he ended up in Satan’s clutches. He knew he really needed to take precautions this time. He considered calling Kimora to see what she had to say. Then he thought of an even better source. He went to his room and knelt down by his bed and closed his eyes.

                “Dear Lord I need to ask you a question. It’s about the three people I met today.”

 

Demon Headquarters: Unknown location

                Goliath was excited for the first time in a while. He had retrieved the Crown of Oppression and was ready to test it. If it was as powerful as he was told then the A-men would be in a sufficient amount of trouble. He stared at the crown for a while. It looked magnificent. It was well shined with small skulls engraved in certain areas. His patience was growing thin. He wanted to try it now. He lifted it over his head and prepared to put it on. He was stopped at the last minute.

                “What do you think you are doing?” Folly asked.

                “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m testing our new toy.” Goliath continued with what he was doing.

                “You are such an idiot Goliath. The crown is not meant to be worn by the one who wants to use it. It is supposed to be worn by the one the person wants to use it on. Or were you actually planning on oppressing yourself?” Folly laughed.

                “That does make sense. Well then bring in our prisoner. I want to test it now. We should know how far this power goes. I would hate to try and use it in the field and find out that it has some glaring weakness.” Goliath said.

                “That would seem like a good idea but I cannot allow that. I already know the weakness of the crown. The more you use it on a single host, the weaker it becomes. That is why we have set up the plan in stages. This isn’t the only tool we need. You are not to use it until I give you the word. Are we clear?”

                “Oh please I don’t have to wait for your ok Folly. I don’t fear you at all.”

                “Maybe you don’t. That is understandable because I wouldn’t fear me either. Fortunately I know the one being that we are both afraid of. All I need to do is let him know about your insubordination. How do you think he will feel about that?”

                Goliath broke into a cold sweat. If there was one person in the entire realm that he didn’t want to deal with, it was his master. He knew that he had to back off of Folly or else she would just basically snitch on him. “Very well Folly. Take the crown so I’m not tempted to use it.”

                “Apel isn’t even here. Where would your temptation even come from, but very well? If only to stop you from ruining our arrangements, I will take it.” Folly only played along with Goliath because it was the easiest way to stop infighting. Secretly she was more than happy to take the crown from him. The less he knew about her goals, the better.

She left Goliath and walked a while until she was in a dark room alone. A portal opened in front of her and she walked through. Once the portal closed, she was in Hell. It was nothing new. She was used to the heat of the flames and the stench of the rotting flesh. The screams of utter agony didn’t hurt her ears anymore. The only thing that still frightened her about this dreadful place was the behemoth who watched over it. She wished that her entrance had gotten her closer to her destination but she would just have to walk through.

As she made her way through Hell, she saw many faces that she recognized. During the time she spent on Earth she met countless people that she was able to talk into foolish decisions. Most of the time, she would fill her victims’ heads with many trivial ideas that would eventually compile into an entirely incorrect lifestyle. Other times she took a more extreme approach. One or two bad ideas were often enough to reach the desirable outcome that Folly desired. Every dupe she saw was even more satisfying because it was a remainder of Wisdom Woman’s failures.

There was one person in particular that caught her eye. She wasn’t directly responsible for him being here since her associate put in all the work. However this boy had been on her list for a long time so if Dishearten had not done it, she would have been next in line. When she walked past him, she had only two words for him. They weren’t enough to tell him anything about her or her teammate so he wouldn’t feel the full force of her message. They were enough moreover to make Folly feel good inside. “Hello James.”

Finally after her long walk, Folly reached her objective. In front of her was a giant throne made of skulls and bones. She flew to the top so she could speak with her master. When she got to the top she saw something she would rather have not seen. A huge beast was sitting next to its master waiting for food. Its master looked over to one of his slaves and ripped off some of his flesh. While the skin immediately grew back, the pain stayed. The beast was fed the soft tissue that its master had just retrieved for it. “Oh Satan, you are completely ruthless.” Folly said.

Satan stood up and walked over to her. “Is that a problem Folly?”

Folly could sense her fear setting in. She hadn’t felt it in a while and now that she was feeling it again, she wanted to run away as fast as she could. “No master. It is no problem at all.”

“I didn’t think so. Now tell me why you are here. I can’t imagine you made this trip for no reason at all.” Satan said.

Folly laughed nervously. “Of course not. I actually wanted to discuss our plan. I did as you requested and kept Goliath out of the loop. Although I am not sure how much longer I can keep up the ruse. Eventually he will start to question things heavily.”

“You leave that nothing to me Folly. I will be sure to keep him occupied to make sure he doesn’t ruin anything. You simply need to continue with your success. Bring me the Crown and the Tongue and then you may go about your business.”

Folly presented the Crown but then there was an awkward silence. Satan looked at her sharply which made her speak immediately. “We weren’t able to retrieve the Golden Tongue. Goliath sent the human to get it and she failed.”

Satan spat a few flames at her. “HOW DARE YOU MAKE EXCUSES? It was your job to ensure that this artifact reached us. Now it could be in the hands of our enemies! This plan only works if we have all of the tools. With the Tongue, they now have a defense against the Crown. Be gone Folly. Clearly this was too much for you. I will send someone else on the next assignment.”

“With all due respect master, this will only happen again so long as Goliath is a part of this.”

“Then don’t be an idiot! Get rid of him.” Satan said.

Folly turned and flew away. The feeling of accomplishment she had when she arrived had given way to failure and anger. She didn’t feel like going back to deal with Goliath or anyone else. She opened a portal to a random location on Earth and walked through. Perhaps the best thing she could do now was lay low.

Outside David’s Home: The next day

                Sometimes it did the mind good to just walk. So that is what David did. It was early in the morning and the sun hadn’t even come up yet. He considered this as good an opportunity as ever. His cousin Ananda was a very light sleeper so trying to sneak past her room was just a dumb idea. Instead he opened the window in his room and jumped out. He was surprised when he fell face first on the ground. It was a painful fall since he was on the top floor and the fact that he wasn’t expecting it only added to the shock. He laid there for a few minutes until he felt good enough to get up. He extended his hand to try and move some of the ground. His initial idea was that he would jump from his window and use rocks as a staircase. Nothing happened. Even now while he was trying to use his powers, nothing was working. “Why isn’t this working?” He asked out loud.

                “Oh you don’t know?” A voice answered.

                David looked around. He couldn’t see anyone. It could be due to the fact that it was dark but the voice sounded close. “I’m up here.” The voice said again. David looked up. The tree in his back yard was housing one of the three strangers he met the other day. It was the woman. She jumped down from the tree. “I would have thought that you would have known the limits of your powers.”

                “I don’t know Meshe’. Maybe he isn’t as smart as we gave him credit for.” One of the men jumped out of David’s window and landed next to him. David was trying to figure out how he got up there without being seen. “Perhaps we should be focusing on the other one instead of this boy. After all he is still young. I’m sure he has time.”

                “I know he has time. But why leave anything to chance?” The third voice said. This man came out of bushes. David was more confused than ever.

                “Shadr you’re supposed to be watching the other one.” Meshe’ said.

                “Oh relax. She isn’t even awake right now. I checked before I came over.” Shadr said.

                David didn’t appreciate the conversation that was going on between strangers in his backyard. “Can someone please tell me what is going on? Who are you and why are you coming out from my tree, my bush, and most importantly, my room?”

                “My my my, someone is a little upset. I guess it would be in our best interest to introduce ourselves.” Meshe’ said. The three of them lined up side by side. They all spoke together which was a little creepy. “Greetings David Lane, we are the Hebrew 3. We are a special team that answers directly to the Arc-angel. The first of us is Shadr. He is the descendant of Shadrach. The second of us is Meshe’. She is the descendant of Meshach. The last of us is Aban. He is the descendant of Abed-Nego.” Then they split apart.

                David smiled. “You’re descendants of the three Hebrew boys? That is so cool. So I’m guessing you all are human.”

                “We are humans who were given special qualities.” Aban said. “We will tell you more about ourselves later. For now we have to tell you what we were sent to tell you.”

Meshe’ walked up behind David and started to speak. “You will recall the fall you took moments ago. There is a reason you are unable to use your powers while in the physical realm. You have been given an ability that is meant to be used to benefit others. That is why you are able to use it in the spiritual realm. However you are not supposed to use your powers to benefit strictly yourself nor are you supposed to draw attention to yourself. Showing off these awesome abilities would defeat the purpose of faith tests if you showed off such impossible wonders. The only time you are permitted to use your powers in the physical realm is in the most extreme circumstances and only when it is not your own life at stake.”

“I wish I had known that before I took a two story fall.” David said. He rubbed his arm which was still aching.

“You’ll survive. You are far too important to die.” Shadr said. “You don’t know it yet but there is a lot depending on you. Your team has started something. It might not seem like it yet, but you all have inspired many. A lot of allies and enemies are hiding and both are going to come out soon. The war is about to get serious and all of you will play a huge part in it. The three of us are here to ensure that you play your role correctly.”

“Well how am I supposed to do that? You are speaking cryptically.” David said.

                “Trust us. When the time comes, you will know what your place is. Until then, we would like to present you with a gift.” Meshe’ said. Then she pulled a necklace from her suit jacket. It looked pretty and at the end was a small white stone. “This will one day become one of your greatest weapons. For now we simply ask you to wear it and never take it off.” Then Meshe’ gave David the necklace.

David put it on and starred at it for a moment. He was surprised as to how heavy it was. “I can wear it. Although I would like to know why I can’t remove it?” He asked.

Aban answered him. “As you know by now, the building block of our belief is faith. To ensure that you are the one we need, we must test your faith. This is our simple request that you never ever take this off until the time is right.”

“How will I know that the time is right?”

“You were able to douse the flames before. The flames are going to return. The day will come where you will have your back against the wall and the fire will overcome you. That is when you will remove the necklace. If you do so before this moment, you will die.” Aban said. Then he and the other two disappeared.

David waited for a moment before moving. He wasn’t sure if the three were really gone or if they were still watching him. After thoroughly searching his yard, he came to the conclusion that no one was watching him. He realized that he no longer wanted to go on his walk. He had a lot on his mind and he just wanted to sit down and think about it. He climbed his tree and then jumped to the window. He barely made it but he was able to grip the windowsill. He suddenly question two things. He wondered why he left his window open and he wondered why he didn’t climb down his tree when he left the first time.

Once he finally climbed up he found another surprise. Malachi was sitting on his bed along with Gabriel. David felt like questioning why they had just broken into his house but he decided not to. He had already seen weird things in the short morning he had seen so far. At least this time he was being confronted by people he actually knew. “So what brings the angels to my house?” David asked.

“We’re going to move out earlier than we usually do today.” Gabriel said.

“Seriously? What’s going on now?” David asked.

“Goliath is close with Akita and we have to see what they are up to.” Malachi said.

“Alright someone explain to me what they want. It seems like all we do is continuously chase them around and I’m sick of it. Why are they doing this?” David asked.

“I don’t know what they want. It doesn’t matter. We need to do our job David so let’s go.” Malachi said.

“That’s easy for you to say, angels don’t have to sleep.” David said.

“Weren’t you about to take a walk anyway?” Gabriel asked.

“Shut up.” David said. Then the three of them crossed over. With the assistance of the Gateway that they now had, getting to their enemies wouldn’t take long at all.

 

Unknown Location

                Goliath and Akita walked side by side. The tension between the two of them could be considered visible. They both knew that they were only here to advance their goals even if their goals were completely different. Goliath wanted to make progress with project ‘Furnace.’ Akita simply wanted to kill Malachi. She was sure that he would show up. The fact that it was dark gave her quite the advantage. Goliath had trained her in the dark so this was like her natural habitat. She started to tremble with excitement.

                “Would you calm down? The last thing I need is for you to screw this up. Stay focused so I won’t have to kill you today.” Goliath said. Akita gripped her sword. She wasn’t a stranger to what she was feeling. She wanted so bad to swing on the giant. However nothing was more important than her current objective and she had to complete it before moving on. The two continued to walk until they saw a bright light. From the light emerged a large gate which opened wide. Malachi, Gabriel, and Stone jumped out.

                “Showtime.” Akita said. Then she pulled her swords and ran at Malachi. This pattern was all too familiar by now. Malachi protected himself. Akita had a slight advantage but she couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t doing better. Her eyes were trained in darkness. “How can you be performing so well?”

                “I’m an angel. Do you think my eyes function the way yours do?” Malachi asked as he continued fighting.

                Gabriel drew an arrow and was about to fire at Goliath but Stone stopped him. “Don’t worry about it Gabe. Goliath is mine.” He covered himself in his rock armor and proceeded to take on his enemy. On a normal day Goliath would present a sufficient challenge. Today however Stone wasn’t in the mood to play. Today he just didn’t want to be bothered. He tackled Goliath and started beating on him.

Goliath struggled to get the upper hand but he couldn’t do it. Stone continued until Goliath wasn’t moving. Then he manipulated his rock into a sharp sword. He pointed it at the giant. “I am tired of this back and forth. There are plenty of other threats we will have to face but you don’t have to be one of them anymore.” Then Stone paused. His anger suddenly disappeared and his reasoning came back. He started to think about where all of this strength had just come from. It hadn’t come from positive emotions. He wasn’t being a servant right now; he was just being a senseless executioner. He lowered his weapon and got off of Goliath. That was his first mistake. His second mistake was turning his back.

Goliath quickly got to his feet and punched Stone who hit the ground hard. He found himself under Goliath’s foot. “You should have finished me off when you had the chance.” Now it was Goliath who was beating Stone. “If you had, then you would have been able to avoid dying on this day.” Goliath picked Stone up. His armor had crumbled because he was so weak now. “You should know by now that I am not a creature of mercy! Why didn’t we think of this before? An attack early in the morning would surely give us the advantage. Your mind isn’t working correctly. Of course you would make mistakes.” Goliath laughed and clenched his fist. “It was nice knowing you Stone. Tell the Big G that I said hello.” Then right as Goliath was about to kill the boy, he felt a sharp pain. He looked down and saw a blade sticking out of his chest. His black blood covered it. He dropped Stone and turned around slowly. Once he did, he saw Aban standing there. He knew this to be his assailant.

“The boy is too important to die here.” Aban said. “You on the other hand have no such use to our cause.”

Goliath tried to breathe and realized that he couldn’t. He felt his body getting weak. His eyes went wide with shock as he started to understand this feeling. This is what death felt like. His vision started to become blurry. He was feeling dizzy. He knew he had only moments to live. “I-I don’t be-believe this, outwitted by a bunch of w-we-weaklings.” Then Goliath’s eyes closed. His entire body turned into black sulfur and crumbled into dust.

Akita ran over who had recently broken away from Malachi. She only laughed. “Idiot. You should have known that was awaiting you. Only the smart can survive.” Then Akita opened a flame portal and vanished through it. Malachi tried to chase her through it but he failed. Only sadness met his heart. Even in losing her greatest ally, her soul was still lost.

Stone looked on. He couldn’t believe what he had just seen. Goliath had been such a problem since he had been enlisted in the spiritual war and now he was suddenly gone. Stone wasn’t sure how to feel. Part of him was happy. However there was a part of him that realized that only more pain and suffering awaited him at the hands of his corrupt master. Aban helped him to his feet.

“So I’m guessing you are a warrior?” Stone asked.

“Yes in fact I am, although I’m going to need you to convince me that you are.” Aban patted him on the back.

Malachi approached Aban. “You are going to turn into something huge soon. Once people know you as the one who destroyed Goliath, you will be one of the biggest names ever. We could really use someone like you.”

“That is why I am here. Goliath was only one. There still exists an entire army. This war isn’t even close to over yet.” Then Aban helped David back to the Gateway and the A-men (along with their new teammate) returned home.

 

Demon Headquarters: Moments later

                Akita came back to see Folly waiting for her. It didn’t take long for Folly to express her surprise that Goliath was not with her.

                “Where is the other one?” Folly asked.

                “I am all that remains.” Akita said.

                Folly turned away. She didn’t want Akita to see the joy in her eyes. Now that the brute was out of the way, project ‘Furnace’ could proceed without anymore failures. She couldn’t believe her plan worked out so well. Sure it required giving the A-men a new member, but it wouldn’t matter how many there were once she was finished. “Good job Aban.” She said quietly.