3: Second Coming

Ace receives a call to action, as well as a normal call. While playing Call of Duty, and griping about how bad Call of Juarez was. There's a lot of calling to be had.

A few weeks have passed since the call from the government.  Although Ace tried her hardest to keep a low profile, she was still responsible for multiple crime busts and robberies.  The government didn’t contact her on it, but her father did.  Most of the calls were yells mixed with concern and worry, but one call was different.   This one call was not so much yelling or concern, but rather shock and disbelief.  Something this unprecedented would change the lives of almost everyone on the planet, but none more so than Ace.  For you see, this one call was about the return of someone many people consider significant, even imaginary. 

            The call came during the afternoon of a Sunday.  Ace was doing her homework- which is code for playing video games and slacking- when she got a call from her father, who immediately told her to check the local news channel.  And the national news channel.  And, well, pretty much every channel imaginable.  With a rolling of her eyes Ace turned her game off and switched to the news channel before dropping the game controller in stunned silence.  A tall tan man in white robes was on the screen.  His long, black hair went down to his shoulders, and almost fused with his long beard.  Before him was a crowd of countless others, cheering and bowing before the man.  On the prompter below him said the words “Jesus Christ has returned.”

            “What the hell?” Said Ace, “Jesus is…and he’s….are you sure?  Is this some sort of hoax?”

            “Let me guess- you were expecting a white guy, right?” Responded her father.

            “Uh....that...and I’m pretty sure Jesus ain’t coming back.  Not now, not ever.”

            “Well, I can’t explain that last part, but the reason he’s not the way he usually imagine him is, his words, an Arab living in Nazareth.  When was the last time you saw a pale blonde guy naturally living there?”

            “Point taken.” Ace felt a slight itch down her spine. While trying to listen to the news report, she asked “So, like, we know he’s the real thing because…?”

            “He’s cured diseased, began solving world hunger, started peace treaties with different warring countries, and played air hockey with some kids in Europe.  And that’s just in the last ten hours!  But you’re not going to believe the craziest part.  Keep watching the news, hon.”

            Ace’s father hung up, as if that’s all that needed to be said.  Disturbed that her ironic atheism was the worst choice she’s made since not letting her hair grow out, Ace continued to watch the news.  The report went on to explain that although Jesus was, is, and will continue to make the world a better place one problem at a time, he had an extremely important announcement that he needed to be made.

            “My children,” He spoke to the crowd.  His voice was soft, gentle, and inviting, “I thank you for giving me such a welcome return.  I feel like I am one of you once again.  I will do everything in my power to make sure the children of God thrive in peace and harmony.” The remark was met with applause and cheering.  Jesus motioned for them to settle before beginning again.

            “While I am more than honored to help you with the troubles of the world, there is one thing I must ask for.  My father was killed a long time ago and has since been dormant in a human.  I must ask that the one bearing my father come forth!  So that I may awaken him and show him all the good humanity has done in his absence.”  Immediately people began rising up and claiming they were the ones holding God, to which Ace yelled “Oh bullshit you are!” to the television.  Jesus motioned for the crowd to stay where they were.

            “I appreciate the concern, however I am afraid to say that no one present is the carrier of my father.  The one called Ace from the United States of America is who I seek!  I would go to her but that would mean abandoning my people.  Instead, I ask that she comes to me, here, in Jerusalem.”

            Ace was filled with multiple emotions- she was stunned she was mentioned by name, worried about what “awakening Him” means in Jesus’ mind, frustrated that she has no idea how to get to India from Ohio, and hungry because she got into an argument with the lunch lady at her local cafeteria about what chicken nuggets were really made of and didn't get any as a result.  That last one probably doesn’t qualify as an emotion, but nevertheless, Ace called back her father and explained what she heard.  The news had been airing the same report for quite some time, so her father was well aware of the situation.

            “Well, what am I going to do?  I can’t exactly buy a ticket to Arabian nights!”

            “We’ll figure something out.  I have some money in our savings I could set aside, and hopefully I could get funding from local chur-“

            “No, you’re not spending a dime on this, Dad!” Interjected Ace. “I refuse to ask you for a plane ticket to India.  You’ve already done too much for me as it is, it’s not right asking you.” 

            There was a bit of silence as the last part of Ace’s statement was said with sincerity.  Her father sighed.

            “Alright, but how are you going to get there?  You have school, a job, and a life.”

            “No sweat.  I’m sure they can make do, what with me being a messiah and all.”   Ace said jokingly.  “Besides, I just had an idea.  Who said I need to take a plane?”

            “I don’t follow.”

            “No worries, I’ll show you when I come to visit in a bit.”

            “…’in a bit’?”  Queried Ace’s father.  He received no answer before she hung up.  No sooner had she hung up but she received a call from the government.

            “Yo what up?” Ace said.

            “  This is general Cambell.  I’m sure you’ve seen the news?  The entire world now knows who you are now.”

            “Oh come on, you can’t blame this on me!  I didn’t even do anything.”

            “No, but you’re planning on going to Jesus, yes?”

            “Well, I…maybe?”

            “Uh huh.  Look, the boys upstairs will explain this using big fancy words, but we’re disconnecting ourselves from you.  The US government can’t cover you up anymore, and anything you do outside of our country we can’t back you up on.”

            “Um, ok?” Said Ace in a tone of voice that hinted she already knew that.

            “No, not okay!  If they get your hands on you we could have a war on ours!  You can’t leave the country.  We’ll try and have Jesus come to us, but it’ll take longer.”

            “That’s not fair!  I can handle myself out there just fine.  Plus, asking JC to come here is nothing short of dickish. ‘Oh hey, savior-who-died-for-my-sins, seems like the one person you’ve been looking for like 2000 years is under our jurisdiction and we don’t feel  like giving her over to you.  Any chance you could drop everything and come to our unsafe country?’ Hmph.  Might as well throw him a giant middle finger while you’re at it.”  Ace slumped down onto her bed, frustrated by the whole thing. “I mean, you’re denying the world it’s god and savior, and at the risk of becoming religious, you can’t do that to them!”

            The general pressed the top of the bridge of his nose with two fingers and rubbed it slowly.  He was getting irritated, and now knew why no one in his office wanted to deal with this woman.  “Ace, we don’t own you, per se, but considering the damage you throw our way on a regular basis, we can’t afford to have you plowing through other countries.  Now I’ve seen your record.  You’re a good girl, you do good things.  But I swear you get a hard on for causing as much collateral damage as possible!”

            “Oh psh, that just happens.  I can’t help it if I hit like a truck.” Ace responded, flexing her arm. “Besides, it’s a simple in-and-out thing.  I go to Jesus, we have coffee, he does whatever, I come back home.  Honestly, if you’re putting up this much of a fuss over this, I wonder what you’d do if I went overseas for school.”

            “Ace, I’m warning you, don’t leave the country, and don’t disobey any orders we give.”

            “Oh yeah?  Try and stop me!” Ace shouted before slamming down the phone.  Immediately after she wondered if she had made a big mistake, but shrugged it and got ready for a trip across the world.

Author's Note

First offensive thing: Killing God.
Second offensive thing: Being historically accurate and making Jesus an Arab.
Third offensive thing: cooking a Poptart in the microwave. That's just taboo.

Reviews

[Tai Ryens]

Well, since the story is revolved around God being killed, that doesn't really offend me, and I'm a proud Christian. What matters most is that you made God sound really awesome, and that itself makes up for everything. As for Jesus being an Arab, where do you get your information? Just wondering, but I think there's no scientific proof to prove what nationality he is. As for that third offence, that really went over the edge. I'm sorry, but cooking poptarts in the microwave, that's just plain evil. Haha, but really, that part made me laugh a bit.

Time to review your story, went a bit off-track with that. It's interesting, but I feel that you could have spanned this over more chapters, I guess it feels like you tucked too much information in one chapter, and that is kind of bad. It seems to fast paced a little bit, but it still is a good write. Keep it up!