26. Baal in Paris (5 pgs.) – Champions Renaissance

ACT I - CHAPTER 26

BAAL IN PARIS

Wednesday April 26, 2018

Louvre Museum

Paris France

“Do you see that sculpture?” Lenel asked Franco at the Louvre and added, “It represents a pagan and immoral Greek god, showing off his naked body and genitals. A shame for the human race and the true God whose body is everywhere and nowhere.”

“That’s why The Family wants to reward you,” Franco said.

Lenel would play along, but he was very clear that would kill Franco if necessary. As Boss of Paris, he had surrounded himself with young men who feared him and was placing them in strategic locations to carry out the purge when the time came. He made them swear that they would obey him without thinking, otherwise it was death.

“I am very grateful to The Family. What does the prize consist of? Lenel asked.”

“They will choose you as Imperial Master, head of The Family throughout the world,” Franco said.

Lenel said nothing and thought, My purge has come.

“If it is the will of The Family, I am here to serve it,” Lenel responded with absolute cynicism.

“Lenel, you will serve it blindly. You are nothing, just trash with no brain, no will, no future, no air, a slave, a coward, an imbecile, a miserable tool with no soul of your own, and this is how you will live the rest of your life. As a leader you have no brain. Capisci?” Franco said.

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“Capisci,” Lenel responded, hiding his anger as best he could. What do you think you are? he thought.

“You’re not going to fool me, you piece of shit, do you think I don’t have the powers to read your thoughts? Do you know what deities are speaking to you now? Damn! Do you know the legion of demons you’re dealing with? Do you want to challenge their general? You, miserable piece of meat! Haven’t you figured out who I really am yet? Stupid retard!” Franco finished insulting him as Genaro had indicated.

“I am the one who speaks, spoke and will speak, the one who speaks for Lenel and speaks to The Family. The one who spoke to your ancestors and now speaks to you. Can’t you hear my voice, little Franco, last link in the Gambino’s? Tell those who sent you! Whoever is not worthy of me, he is not worthy of The Family!” Lenel exclaimed with a different voice and his face transformed, half-crazy and half-saint.

Franco was stunned, his mind blank. He didn’t expect that answer. When his mind recovered, he thought, Is he really channeling?

Franco, an initiate, knew mysticism and magical rituals, but, although he venerated Baal, he feared the unpredictable designs of the god. Is that him? he thought and felt afraid.

“Do you recognize me?” Lenel asked him, after he had grabbed his cheeks with its hands, brought his face closer to his, and looked directly into his eyes.

“Yes, I recognize you” Franco said with a frightened face.

“What is my name?” he asked without letting go.

“Baal,” Franco said.

“Why do you pay homage to me?”

“To preserve the power of the Gambino’s Dinasty, Franco said and added. “I bow before you Baal! I worship you, god of the rain, thunder and fertility, god of my Babylonian and Chaldean ancestors, of Carthaginians and Phoenicians, of Philistines and Sidonians! I worship you, god of the fire that purifies! Show me the way to honor my ancestors who have honored you for centuries!”

“Go and speak to those who think they are speaking and tell them that I have spoken,” Lenel said and left.

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Franco was stunned and walked along the Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe to meet with Genaro and tell him about his meeting with Lenel. The day, was sunny; his soul, clouded. Despite the heat, he felt cold. Lenel’s response had left him paralyzed and he thought, Will we arouse the wrath of Baal if we sacrifice Lenel? Have you chosen him to speak through you? Will I risk the protection he has given my family for centuries? He felt lost. Where was he? How could he know? What should he do? He didn’t know it.

“You’re pale as a sheet. Did you see a ghost?” Genaro asked him and added, “What did the bambino tell you?”

“That he was the one who made it possible for The Family to speak. That I was not worthy of my blood if I did not recognize him and whoever did not recognize him, he would throw into hell. He spoke with another voice and his face changed!”

“The bambino is playing with you,” said the old man with a cynical smile.

“What if it’s the sign The Family was waiting for?” Franco asked with his face discomposed.

“Yes, the signal. There have been many signs. Why would it have to be this?” Genaro asked.

“And why not?” Franco asked.

“This is not a time for doubts, bambino. The dice have already been cast. “He will be crowned Imperial Master, the great leader of The Family in the world, and then sacrificed,” said Genaro.

“What if it is the deity we worship?” Franco asked distressed.

“Look Franco. The Family is The Family… and if The Family speaks, The Family listens… and when The Family listens, it does not speak, capisci? Is it not clear to you? What have you learned in forty years? Are you going to betray your blood at the last moment?” asked the old man.

“But if it’s the deity we can’t kill it!”

“What is death? What is life? Both cheeks from the same ass? One, the other and neither?” Genaro asked and Franco’s mind went off the rails. “The die is cast and Lenel will be sacrificed,” he added.

Franco felt like he was sinking into a thick fog and didn’t know what to think.

“What’s up bambino? Why are you so pale?” asked the old man.

“Nothing.”

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“Focus on what’s important! And about important things. Are you sure Lenel put out the fire and didn’t leave sparks on the road?”

“Yes.”

“Yes? And why does his footballer friend hang out with these famous people at Villa Ascolassi?” Genaro asked him, showing him a photo where Alexandre, Ricardo and Arturo appeared playing football on the field next to the mansion.

“Do you see the guards and tanks? Why so much security?” he asked again.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you know who the owner of this Villa Ascolassi is?”

“No.”

“Your friend Walker.”

“Ragnar Walker? It just can’t be! That cocky Viking never dies!”

“Did the matter get out of hand, Franco?”

“No. I won’t fail next time, if necessary, I will kill him with my own hands.”

“We cannot allow him to gain power. He wants to replace our Phoenician ritual with science. Do you understand? The Sinclairs and others in Edinburgh are helping him.”

“I already know that.”

“I think I’ll have to ask someone more competent to do the job.”

“It won’t be necessary. I’ll do it myself.”

“You did a good job with that hacker, what was his name?”

“Peter Bolt.”

“That same one.”

“It’s because I made it with my own hands.”

“Finish Walker! It is important! How do you not realize?” the old man exclaimed angrily and then continued speaking calmly, “You have failed since the bomb on the plane. You have one last chance. Capisci? When you cut off its head, that snake will die. Do you understand what I say bambino? You have to give them a clear signal.”

“Capisci,” Franco said and had an idea to kill his archenemy.

“And make sure that book is never written or it will wipe us off the face of the Earth! Capisci?”

“Capisci.”

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“Now do what you have to do and then go to South America or New Zealand to see the fireworks. The southern hemisphere will be the only safe place. “Everything up here is in good hands,” said Genaro, kissing him on both cheeks to say goodbye.

Franco felt better after having walked back from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre where he had left his car.

When he got to his apartment, he turned on the television and saw some news. “WASHINGTON DECLARE THE NEW RUSSIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM ILLEGITIMATE”.

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