The van pulls up to the church as pillars of smoke are coming out of the top of the church. Smoke is also coming out of the front door of the building. Everyone files out of the van as a fire truck pulls up. Mickey rushes ahead and holds the upturned Tush whose chair had been turned over on the side of the building. It’s probably why Hysteria hadn’t noticed him before. Tush’s head is bleeding as he’s lying on his side immobile. Mickey and Harley Jack lift up Tush and place him back in the chair. Suddenly a crazed looking Richard Tessmocher walks around the side of the building. He walks up to Hysteria who is standing in the courtyard looking up at the building. The smoke rises and rises into the air. Hysteria, seeing Richard, grabs him by his neck and brings his fist up to punch.

You… how the fuck could you let this happen you IMBECILE! This was our home… our estate… our LEGACY.

Too strong… couldn’t stop him…

What? Stop who?

Woe… Westboro… they did it, Hysteria. Je n’en reviens pas!

Woe?! That… fucking…. But he was ENLIGHTENED! Just like you!!

He was… immune to it. Something about drugs… Bon débarras!

Hysteria looks pissed off. He releases Tessmocher and clenches his fist… He looks up at the place. He looks at his fist and he PUNCHES Tessmocher in the face! He leaps onto Tessmocher and begins delivering punch after punch to the face of Richard, not letting up in the slightest.

You… fucking… piece… of rotten… fucking…

Richard’s face is bleeding profusely! Venomous and Cory Scarecrow pull Richard off of him. Hysteria kicks at the body of Richard before finally calming down.

Richard.

Richard’s face is a mesh of tears and blood, but he looks up at The Prophet.

Stand up.

Richard slowly gets to his feet holding his head.

I apologize for hitting you Soldier. Please let this be the end of it.

Richard looks at him with shock, but nods his head. Hysteria sighs.

Now let’s all gather around. Now if we look at Verse 26 in…

Hysteria feels his chest. He looks at the ground as his mask transforms from a calm ink blot to a frantic and sporadic one. He begins patting his pockets all over his pants and jacket hectically. He suddenly realizes. His mask slowly looks up to the fiery blaze of the church.

The Book….

The book was inside the inferno that was the church. Hysteria looks at Richard with a suddenly different vibe. In the blink of a second, Hysteria had stabbed Tessmocher in the shoulder with a huge knife and had pinned him to the ground. Hysteria turns the knife as Richard howls in agony.

YOU FUCKER! The BOOK is in there!

Hysteria releases him, stands up straight and looks at the church ablaze. He looks at the firefighters spraying the church with water. He takes off running and runs into the front door of the building. He looks around, but it’s almost impossible to see anything except for the hand in front of his face. Hysteria begins slowly moving ahead through the smoke coughing as he tries to breathe. He gets past the entranceway and sees his pews… barely. He walks towards the center walkway, but the entire walkway through the pews is a huge fire! The lanterns had evidentially been knocked down on the way out. Hysteria begins walking towards the left side of the church. He hears a crack and looks up! A huge pillar has fallen from the rafters! Hysteria leaps back just barely dodging it! The beam cuts off the left side of the church as it is on fire! Hysteria turns back to try the right side, but the flames have crept up the center of the aisle leading all the way to the front entrance! Hysteria is frantic.

He begins climbing over the pews very slowly as he watches for more falling debris. He gets to about the fourth row of pews when he notices his back part of his jacket has caught in flames! He quickly pats it out. Hysteria sighs and coughs. He looks ahead and is about to climb over the next pew when suddenly the third pew erupts in flames! Hysteria looks to his left and sees fire. He looks to the right and sees fire. He looks ahead and sees fire.

He falls to the ground and sucks up the cleaner air there. He coughs and begins crawling under the pew ablaze. He continues this way all the way to the front of the stage. He stands up and looks around. He sees the huge firepits are pushed to the center. The smell of burning wood fills the nose of Hysteria. He looks at the center of the stage and sees his banners have been yanked from the walls. Hysteria clenches his fists and is enraged. His podium is nothing more than a smoky stump where it used to stand. Hysteria thinks back to where the book had been left, but the smoke seemingly is clouding his ability to remember. Hysteria falls to his knees and begins uneasily breathing. Spots begin appearing in front of his eyes as Hysteria begins falling for what seems like forever…

White. Blinding white. Hysteria is hovering in the air. He looks ahead… into the void… a voice. A booming voice fills the empty air.

HYSTERIA.

Hysteria looks around and sees a large body directly in front of him. The large body is seemingly floating as well as Hysteria is. The two stare at each other. Neither moving forward nor back.

NO NEED TO SPEAK. I CAN UNDERSTAND YOUR THOUGHTS. IT’S NOT YOUR TIME HYSTERIA.

A brief moment of pause.

YES. I AM THE HIGHER POWER. I HATE WE KEEP MEETING UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES. HOWEVER, THIS IS NOT YOUR TIME. THIS… THIS IS THE TIME OF THE ASYLUM. THIS… THIS IS THE TIME WE TRIUMPH. YOU WINNING THESE BELTS IS A PROPHECY IN ITSELF. MY FEARLESS COMMANDER. LEAD THE MARTYR AND THE VIOLATOR INTO THE ABYSS. LEAD THEM TO THE GOLD. LEAD THEM… TO ENLIGHTENMENT. MY COMING WILL BE SWIFT AND MY COMING WILL BE JUST.

A brief moment of pause, once more.

YES. LEAD OUR PEOPLE TO WAR. AVENGE MY HOUSE OF WORSHIP!

The white light fades to black… the black turns to a red tint. Hysteria’s body rises from the smoke and his mask transforms to not a black on white ink blot, but a red splatter mark across the mask of Hysteria. Hysteria looks to the left and instantly remembers where he had left The Book of The Higher Power. In his study. Hysteria begins to move at a speed all new to him. He hits the door hard, and it flies off its hinges before falling into the ground. The room is erupt in flames! Flames everywhere. Hysteria looks through the flames and sees the table has been upturned. Hysteria rushes over to the table careful to avoid too much contact with the flames. He glances over the table and sees the book! The Book is on the floor! Hysteria leaps on top of it and stashes it away in what’s left of his jacket. He begins taking off running through the door! He gets into the main room and is surrounded by fire! He looks around and isn’t sure where to go…

Hysteria is trapped.

He puts his hands together…

“Oh Higher Power, how blessed we are to follow one so just.
We shall follow your guidance that'll lead us to a new generation.
Bless us with your shining serenity and show us the way to eternal enlightenment.
In your holy name we say... Nema”

Hysteria takes a deep breath and begins to move forward. Suddenly a huge wave water flood through the center of the cathedral drowning out the flames. He looks through the smoke and embers to see Frodo wearing a fireman’s helmet and shooting the flames down with a fire hose!

Hysteria! If you’re in here, you really need to get out! I mean… you could use a tan, but there are certainly better ways to get that!

Hysteria begins laughing wildly and rushes down the middle of the aisle completely uncaring of getting drenched. Frodo and Hysteria leave out of the church together laughing crazily. Hysteria exits the church wearing nothing but rags for his former coat, his gloves although burnt horribly, his burned black pants, burned and holey shoes, and his mask. His mask if still perfectly intact as well as his hat. The ink on the mask has changed back to black instead of the weird momentary red.

Hysteria walks up to his group and calls them together.

As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…

Hysteria begins laughing wildly and slaps Frodo on the back as Frodo just shakes his head with a smile on his face. Hysteria looks at his fellow Asylum members as he opens the book.

Now if we look at Verse 26 in…

He looks at the book. It’s completely empty. He flips through the pages disbelieving what he’s seeing. He opens the front cover and that’s when he sees…

Hello Asylum ,

If you’re reading this, then you had the balls to enter the house the temple aflame and retrieve this book! How quaint! Now, if you want the real thing… come and get it. You can find me at the Westboro Baptist Church at 3701 SW 12th St, Topeka, KS 66604. Bring a friend or two. Don’t think I’ll be alone.

With love,
WOE

Hysteria begins seething. He hands the note around and lets Manson and Frodo read it. They finish and they each share a look. They look towards the van with fury in their eyes.

Load up boys. We’re heading to fucking Topeka.