TRIGGERFINGER (ORIGINAL STORY) - SEASON ONE

S01E06 A Bolt of Lightning! Welcome to The Neighborhood! (Part Two)

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The next day at the church service, the Minister was in the back room as he prepared for his second sermon that week. It was storming outside, thunder, lightning, lots of rain. Scabs leaned into Kore and made a joke, I didn't even know it could rain here in The Dome Sanctuary. Kore didn't realize either but he knew that the types of weather within the sanctuary were supposed to imitate what it could be like in the outside world. For example, it probably hardly ever rained in The Frontier due to its desert nature.

Bolt sat with his new friends, or old friends, depending on perspective. He smiled, it was nice catching up with them, even if he didn't remember them. He watched as his father came out of the back room, and called upon his wife to join him. He had a phone in his hand and put it away, as he briefly glanced over. His Ma and Pa were gone for a few moments, and when they came back, they were each holding a tray with cups of tea on them. Due to the storm outside, they probably thought it would be a nice gesture to give all the church goers, and their guests, a nice hot cup of tea to keep them warm.

They passed out the tea, and everyone began drinking. Ash took a sniff and turned his nose up at it, mustn't have been to his liking. Everyone else accepted the tea except for Marianne, who politely passed her cup to Scabs, who now had one cup in each hand. Now that all the tea had been handed out, the Minister took his place upon the stage in front of his podium. He smiled and bowed as everyone cheered.

"Thank you everyone," he said. "It's my delight to be here speaking in front of you tonight. And it's also my pleasure to announce we have some guests with us. More on that later. For now, I'd like to turn your attention to why we're here. As always, it's to celebrate the glory of our leader, Master Maximus Paige.

Long has it been foretold by many fortune tellers old and young, past and present, that a day will come when we see the end of the world as we know it. Hence the creation of our precious Dome Sanctuary. This sanctuary was built by Master Paige as a refuge in preparation of said fateful day. And when that day comes, we will follow our great leader Maximus Paige into a new era!

By then, the outside world may have changed but The Dome Sanctuary shall not, and will stand the test of time to become the new world. The outside world will be long forgotten and all that will matter will be the one within these walls. All that matters is that we stick together, as a family, and continue to devote ourselves to Master Paige, our lord, our savior."

The audience cheered, clapping, raising their hands to the ceiling. Bolt could once again feel the power coursing through his veins, the strength of faith. That is until he looked down the row, his friends were not celebrating like he was. Ash stood up with a puffed out chest, and a fierce look in his eye.

"That's a load of crap!" he shouted. "Maximus Paige is a bastard!"

Kore tried to tell Ash to sit back down but he wouldn't listen.

"No! These people need to hear it! Paige has kept my friend Marianne's grandson away from her for 11 years! He sent her a few photos and that was it! He wouldn't let her see him, talk to him, nothing! Not to mention, when we were in the Kingdom, there was this giant riot and he didn't even do anything to stop it! You think he cares about you?! Really?! Fat chance! He's playing some weird game and all of you are just pawns!"

"Blasphemy," the Minister snarled.

"It's all true!" Marianne stood up. "If you think for one second that Maximus Paige has your best interests in mind, then you're just as delusional as he is! No wonder Bolt doesn't remember his friends, you have him brainwashed!"

Suddenly, there was a smash on the ground. Bolt looked over to where it came from, Scabs had dropped his two cups of tea. He was leaning over, complaining he didn't feel so good. Then the same thing happened to Shade, and Meadow too. Kore looked down at his cup, and a look of realization came over his face. He tried to stand but instead fell backwards into his seat, his cup too hitting the ground. The Minister stared at Ash, then at Marianne and shook his head.