this is an early version of part of dogma...trying to find the one they used



LOKI

The Apostle is here!



BARTLEBY

I noticed.



LOKI

If that's the case, the chick with him must be...



BARTLEBY

The Scion, I'd imagine.

(leans against the wall; slides down)



LOKI

(in a panic)

Well, shit man! Maybe we should rethink this whole

thing! I mean, you heard the guy - he said there

were consequences. Azrael tells us we're marked.

Maybe there's more to this than we thought about.



Bartleby leans against the wall, sitting on the ground. His demeanor has changed. He stares into space.



BARTLEBY

There sure is.

(beat)

It's them.



LOKI

(beat)

What?



BARTLEBY

(shakes his head)

Them.



LOKI

(thinks)

The movie about the giant ants?



BARTLEBY

Them - the humans. It's what it all comes down to,

you know? Us against humanity... kind of like that

giant ant movie.



LOKI

(beat)

Are you alright?



BARTLEBY

I'm better than alright. I've had an epiphany, my

friend.



LOKI

An... epiphany. Yes, well... that'll happen.



BARTLEBY

When that sweet, innocent girl let her mission

slip, I suddenly understood it all - everything.

For the first time in all these eons, I get it.



LOKI

(beat)

Get what?



BARTLEBY

In the beginning, it was just us and Him. Angels

and God. And then He created the humans. And He

gave them more than He ever gave us. Ours was

designed to be a life of servitude and worship -

adoration. But He gave the humans more - He gave

them a choice. They can choose to ignore God,

choose to acknowledge Him. All this time we've

been down here, everyday I felt the absence of the

Divine presence. And it pained me... as I'm sure

it must have pained you sometimes, even though

you'd gloss over it with jokes. But we feel his

absence, and why? Because of the way He made us -

as servants. Had we been given free will, we could

ignore the pain... like them.



LOKI

You know - maybe you should take a nap or

something.



BARTLEBY

Loki, don't you get it? It's the humans - it's

always the humans. They were given paradise; they

threw it away. They were given this planet; they

destroyed it. They were favored best among all His

endeavors; and some of them don't even believe He

exists. Their ego-mania corroded Hell and made it

dark and crimson.

(looks at Loki)

I asked you to lay down your sword years ago -

why? Because I felt sorry for them. And where did

it get us? Thrown out.

(smiles)

We've paid our debt. Don't you think it's time we

went home? And to d o that, I think we have to

dispatch our would-be dispatchers.



LOKI

Wait, wait, wait - kill them?! You're talking

about the Last Scion, for Christ's sake! And what

about Jay and Bob - I mean, those guys were

alright.



BARTLEBY

Don't, my friend. Don't let your sympathies get

the best of you, as they did me way back when.

Scion or not, she's just a human. And regardless,

our sins are forgiven by passing through that

arch. No harm, no foul.



LOKI

That sounds thin.



BARTLEBY

Fine. We'll cover ourselves. We'll take out a slew

of people. Maybe amidst the body count, He won't

notice.



LOKI

Oh, that's being realistic.



Bartleby reaches out and grabs Loki, slamming him against the wall.



BARTLEBY

I'm going home, Loki. And nobody - not even the

Almighty Himself - is going to make that

otherwise.



Bartleby releases Loki and smiles. He exits. Loki watches him.



LOKI

Shit.



He follows.