The one true Pope, President Erin Terten of the Philippine Bayan
"When i was chosen by you, as a result of your faith in me that i can bring back the days of the lord back to the Bayan, back into the era in which degenerate filth does not stain the pool of RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THIS WORLD THAT IS THE PROUD CREATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!" Terten said as he pounded the table in front of him, the microphone nearly shaking with the mere strength of his voice. "I have taken this crusade upon myself knowing that it shall be a very daunting task but nevertheless i shall keep marching on until we shall be victorious!"
"GLORY TO OUR POPE!" The crowd fanatically cried out as they raised their Bibles in the air. Certain sections of the crowd however were not pleased with his words as evident in the frowns on their faces. They are mostly Generation Z children of conservative millenial parents who voted Terten into power. The Zers as they had been called, had long plotted to overthrow the Terten regime as the man had presented himself as an enemy of all things "degenerate" such as cartoons, sodomy and anime. Luckily, as of now, the man had not done anything concrete so far other than rhetoric. However, all that is about to change as a young man, clearly in his 20s stood up, grabbing a pistol from his right pocket, aimed for the True pope and pulled the trigger.
"SIEG KAWAII! SIEG KAWAII! SIEG KAWAII!" The young man cried out as he fired a few more shots before being taken down by the people just beside him. 4 brave men were able to pin him down and knock him unconscious as they seized the pistol from him. The bang sent plenty panicking as they immediately stood up from their chairs and frantically raced for the exit of the convention center where this mass was being held. Others however stood to watch how things would turn out but they too were quivering in fear that there may be other shooters. Much to everyone's horror since their attentions were fixed on the man who gave his crude Japanese chant, they turned back to the stage and saw Terten collapsed on the floor spreadeagled with blood pool underneath him. Paramedics were rushed to the scene as they had Terten being sent to a stretcher and ambulanced to the nearest hospital.
Meanwhile, those who had the shooter pinned down then brought him to the nearest KK station unconscious as they were able to retrieve several items from his possession from Hatsune Miku and Madoka Magica memorabilia to a manifesto called "THE VICTORY OF ANIME AND KAWAIISM" which contained plans to hijack the media and turn the Philippines into an "Anime State". Having not encountered crimes of this level of outlandishness before, the KK agents in charge of the investigation was nonetheless amused. First, that letter from the land of self described "non humans", now, a shooter who claims to hail from a movement that tries to install an "anime state" in the Philippines, whatever that means. Reports were beginning to flood into the Kalihiman's main office. The Kalihiman, the state intelligence agency that replaced NICA upon Terten's rise to power, was now the one handling this specific case having not seen action since the early days of Martial law. Trisha Rodriguez, their head, had just woke up from her afternoon nap only to find herself being stunned by the first news reports she saw on television. She frantically dug through her stuff in order to find her phone and contact her Kalihiman secretary.
"Hello?"
"Madame Rodriguez, good morning!"
"Yes, so, any news about the shooter?"
"He's been apprehended, a man in his early 20s, identified as Franklin Bugayong, we found several objects that might be of interest."
"Such as?"
"Well... we found several stuff related to anime specifically anime figures which go by the name of Hatsune Miku and another anime called Madoka Magica."
The Kalihiman head paused for awhile as her heart skipped a bit on the mention of her previously favourite anime, Madoka Magica. It took her 5 more seconds to regain her composure as she was completely blushing from the sudden guilt of feeling love for what should be considered as 'Satanic'. "G-go on..." The woman stuttered.
"We also found that the shooter had an anime manifesto." At the mention of "Manifesto" alongside the word "anime", Rodriguez had to pinch herself a few times to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. It seemed far too ridiculous for anyone to kill someone over anime and didn't expect to wake up hearing the words "shooter", "anime" and "manifesto" in the same situation let alone spoken in the same sentence. With this, Rodriguez immediately drove for headquarters.
Meanwhile in St. Luke's Medical Center
The "One True Pope" meanwhile woke up in a bed being surrounded by flowers and all kinds of gifts. He was nonetheless amused as he thought of himself being akin to a Christmas tree. He wasn't stupid because he had full recollection of what happened, he was preaching and then suddenly someone stood from the crowd, aimed a pistol and fired on his heart, his liver and finally, a bullet that struck him in the temple and suddenly, there was blackness which his mind dwelled upon for a few minutes, his eyes only started seeing again when he felt an injection being stabbed on his risk on the way to the hospital. It was a grueling experience that reminded him of nothing else than the war against China which he participated in. To think that he was able to be conscious throughout the whole experience without a single shard of it being lost to coma is incredible. It must have been the work of the lord that i had survived. Terten thought as the shot to his temple should have killed him and he should lose the capacity to think once his frontal lobe got annihilated by the bullet. He woke up facing the ceiling but he immediately sat up to see if anyone else was around. Apparently, there was no one. He looked towards the door and saw that the glass window was covered by a translucent sign which he was able to read as "DO NOT DISTURB". Apparently, even in this situation, the pope is still a sacred man and no one may be on his presence so casually. The president feeling his wounds which he was too afraid to even see in the mirror as he was worried they might have permanently disfigured him felt no pain at all on the sites of his bandages though looking down on the bandage on his heart and his stomach, it was evidently soaked in blood enough that it could probably paint the walls.
Turning to his side, there was a bell lying on the desk beside his bed, like the ones hotel receptionists have in their tables which he immediately pressed to ring and upon doing so, 10 heavily armed and uniformed guards march into the room snappily giving their clenched fist salutes high in the air in unison. "MABUHAY PAPA!" The guards cried. Immediately recognizing that they were from the KK, the signaled them to be at ease as they went to their parade resting positions while facing him. Afterwards, a familiar man in uniform stepped in the room. He was a tall serious looking young man presumably in his early 30s who donned the regalia of a KK General uniform, the man was none other than Alexander Karten Jr., the head of the KK paramilitary.
"We are hear to report on the identity of the man who shot you my punong and my holy father." The man said briefly saluting with a clenched fist raised in the air before kneeling on one leg to bow before his one true Pope. Terten signaled him to stand and the man reported.
"He goes by the name of Franklin Bugayong and is a member of the Anime Liberation Organization which we now simply identify to be "ALO" for the simplicity of identification's sake."
Terten quietly nodded as he signaled a few more men to come into the room. The members of his cabinet then came marching in, all his trusted advisors who had helped him into power and are now leading the country with him. The lot of them formed a semicircle around his bed as Terten signaled them to be at ease and observe what he was about to do.
"They still deny the lord is with us." The pope said as he reached out to his glasses the desk beside him.
"Yet hear is when i show you the true power of the lord." He said nonchalantly as his hand touched the bandage on his forehead and pulled slowly.
"MY PUNONG NO!" The others said as they moved forward in an attempt to stop Terten from clearly injuring himself but they were held back by the guards who were ordered that no one will touch the Pope without his explicit permission. "YOU'LL HURT YOURSELF" The others cried only to be ignored by Terten who was midway of completely removing his bandages. Much to everyone's surprise, his skin was clean, there were no wounds or scars, in fact, its as if that underneath the bloodied bandage of his head, nothing actually happened.
"I tell you, for i am the lord's chosen, i am unharmed. So have faith in me." He said as the bandage that once wrapped his head his now hanging on his right hand. He raised the bandage in the air for everyone to see and even gestured one of the members of the cabinet to approach and sniff if it was indeed blood to which the minister nodded in approval. It was indeed blood. Terten is the One True Pope. The minister fell on his knees as he began to be in tears while saying prayers in worship of the lord and in gratitude that his leader was still alive.
The others followed suit. Terten then ripped out the hypodermic needle and rose from his bed, without the aid of anyone else much to everyone's astonishment. It's as if Terten wasn't even shot at all. The rest of his bandages were torn off forcibly to reveal that there were no wounds underneath it. He immediately commanded the rest to leave as he changed immediately to his presidential uniform.
Meanwhile, upon hearing the news of Terten's supposed assassination and hospitalization, the whole of the Philippine Bayan went on a standstill as they were genuinely concerned about the news. Some cried as they thought it was the end of days while some jumped in joy that Terten might have been killed, the rest however, stood quivering in uncertainty that if Terten will die, who will replace him?
Much to the joy of his supporters and dismay of his rivals and doubters, it was not meant to be, for by the grace of God, they heard Terten's voice once more in his latest radio broadcast. "Good evening my people..." Terten said through the radio sending much of the Bayan cheering that he was still alive.
"Awhile ago i was carrying a mass and was giving my peaceful sermons when a man, an atheist amongst the crowd, rose up and shot by a terrorist who claimed allegiance to an insidious organization called the 'Anime liberation front' which, contrary to their name, does not stand for any liberation at all for their ideology has been insidiously been crafted to serve one mission alone, to one day amass enough forces to take control of this country and put forward what they call an 'Anime State'."
People who were listening to the broadcast were mostly attentive but some of them scoffed at the ridiculousness of the whole narrative that someone was willing to launch a rebellion against Terten's regime just because they wanted their anime fantasies to be realized.
"These insidious movement has its numbers around the country wishing to reverse everything we have worked for, everything we hold unto so dearly. They want to spread sodomy and promote immorality and fornication amongst our people. Well i tell them this, our days of standing so idly to these attacks on our peaceful movement to gather the forces of light to wait for God's second coming is over. This day will be the beginning we purify this country!"
"GLORY TO OUR POPE!" The crowd fanatically cried out as they raised their Bibles in the air. Certain sections of the crowd however were not pleased with his words as evident in the frowns on their faces. They are mostly Generation Z children of conservative millenial parents who voted Terten into power. The Zers as they had been called, had long plotted to overthrow the Terten regime as the man had presented himself as an enemy of all things "degenerate" such as cartoons, sodomy and anime. Luckily, as of now, the man had not done anything concrete so far other than rhetoric. However, all that is about to change as a young man, clearly in his 20s stood up, grabbing a pistol from his right pocket, aimed for the True pope and pulled the trigger.
"SIEG KAWAII! SIEG KAWAII! SIEG KAWAII!" The young man cried out as he fired a few more shots before being taken down by the people just beside him. 4 brave men were able to pin him down and knock him unconscious as they seized the pistol from him. The bang sent plenty panicking as they immediately stood up from their chairs and frantically raced for the exit of the convention center where this mass was being held. Others however stood to watch how things would turn out but they too were quivering in fear that there may be other shooters. Much to everyone's horror since their attentions were fixed on the man who gave his crude Japanese chant, they turned back to the stage and saw Terten collapsed on the floor spreadeagled with blood pool underneath him. Paramedics were rushed to the scene as they had Terten being sent to a stretcher and ambulanced to the nearest hospital.
Meanwhile, those who had the shooter pinned down then brought him to the nearest KK station unconscious as they were able to retrieve several items from his possession from Hatsune Miku and Madoka Magica memorabilia to a manifesto called "THE VICTORY OF ANIME AND KAWAIISM" which contained plans to hijack the media and turn the Philippines into an "Anime State". Having not encountered crimes of this level of outlandishness before, the KK agents in charge of the investigation was nonetheless amused. First, that letter from the land of self described "non humans", now, a shooter who claims to hail from a movement that tries to install an "anime state" in the Philippines, whatever that means. Reports were beginning to flood into the Kalihiman's main office. The Kalihiman, the state intelligence agency that replaced NICA upon Terten's rise to power, was now the one handling this specific case having not seen action since the early days of Martial law. Trisha Rodriguez, their head, had just woke up from her afternoon nap only to find herself being stunned by the first news reports she saw on television. She frantically dug through her stuff in order to find her phone and contact her Kalihiman secretary.
"Hello?"
"Madame Rodriguez, good morning!"
"Yes, so, any news about the shooter?"
"He's been apprehended, a man in his early 20s, identified as Franklin Bugayong, we found several objects that might be of interest."
"Such as?"
"Well... we found several stuff related to anime specifically anime figures which go by the name of Hatsune Miku and another anime called Madoka Magica."
The Kalihiman head paused for awhile as her heart skipped a bit on the mention of her previously favourite anime, Madoka Magica. It took her 5 more seconds to regain her composure as she was completely blushing from the sudden guilt of feeling love for what should be considered as 'Satanic'. "G-go on..." The woman stuttered.
"We also found that the shooter had an anime manifesto." At the mention of "Manifesto" alongside the word "anime", Rodriguez had to pinch herself a few times to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. It seemed far too ridiculous for anyone to kill someone over anime and didn't expect to wake up hearing the words "shooter", "anime" and "manifesto" in the same situation let alone spoken in the same sentence. With this, Rodriguez immediately drove for headquarters.
Meanwhile in St. Luke's Medical Center
The "One True Pope" meanwhile woke up in a bed being surrounded by flowers and all kinds of gifts. He was nonetheless amused as he thought of himself being akin to a Christmas tree. He wasn't stupid because he had full recollection of what happened, he was preaching and then suddenly someone stood from the crowd, aimed a pistol and fired on his heart, his liver and finally, a bullet that struck him in the temple and suddenly, there was blackness which his mind dwelled upon for a few minutes, his eyes only started seeing again when he felt an injection being stabbed on his risk on the way to the hospital. It was a grueling experience that reminded him of nothing else than the war against China which he participated in. To think that he was able to be conscious throughout the whole experience without a single shard of it being lost to coma is incredible. It must have been the work of the lord that i had survived. Terten thought as the shot to his temple should have killed him and he should lose the capacity to think once his frontal lobe got annihilated by the bullet. He woke up facing the ceiling but he immediately sat up to see if anyone else was around. Apparently, there was no one. He looked towards the door and saw that the glass window was covered by a translucent sign which he was able to read as "DO NOT DISTURB". Apparently, even in this situation, the pope is still a sacred man and no one may be on his presence so casually. The president feeling his wounds which he was too afraid to even see in the mirror as he was worried they might have permanently disfigured him felt no pain at all on the sites of his bandages though looking down on the bandage on his heart and his stomach, it was evidently soaked in blood enough that it could probably paint the walls.
Turning to his side, there was a bell lying on the desk beside his bed, like the ones hotel receptionists have in their tables which he immediately pressed to ring and upon doing so, 10 heavily armed and uniformed guards march into the room snappily giving their clenched fist salutes high in the air in unison. "MABUHAY PAPA!" The guards cried. Immediately recognizing that they were from the KK, the signaled them to be at ease as they went to their parade resting positions while facing him. Afterwards, a familiar man in uniform stepped in the room. He was a tall serious looking young man presumably in his early 30s who donned the regalia of a KK General uniform, the man was none other than Alexander Karten Jr., the head of the KK paramilitary.
"We are hear to report on the identity of the man who shot you my punong and my holy father." The man said briefly saluting with a clenched fist raised in the air before kneeling on one leg to bow before his one true Pope. Terten signaled him to stand and the man reported.
"He goes by the name of Franklin Bugayong and is a member of the Anime Liberation Organization which we now simply identify to be "ALO" for the simplicity of identification's sake."
Terten quietly nodded as he signaled a few more men to come into the room. The members of his cabinet then came marching in, all his trusted advisors who had helped him into power and are now leading the country with him. The lot of them formed a semicircle around his bed as Terten signaled them to be at ease and observe what he was about to do.
"They still deny the lord is with us." The pope said as he reached out to his glasses the desk beside him.
"Yet hear is when i show you the true power of the lord." He said nonchalantly as his hand touched the bandage on his forehead and pulled slowly.
"MY PUNONG NO!" The others said as they moved forward in an attempt to stop Terten from clearly injuring himself but they were held back by the guards who were ordered that no one will touch the Pope without his explicit permission. "YOU'LL HURT YOURSELF" The others cried only to be ignored by Terten who was midway of completely removing his bandages. Much to everyone's surprise, his skin was clean, there were no wounds or scars, in fact, its as if that underneath the bloodied bandage of his head, nothing actually happened.
"I tell you, for i am the lord's chosen, i am unharmed. So have faith in me." He said as the bandage that once wrapped his head his now hanging on his right hand. He raised the bandage in the air for everyone to see and even gestured one of the members of the cabinet to approach and sniff if it was indeed blood to which the minister nodded in approval. It was indeed blood. Terten is the One True Pope. The minister fell on his knees as he began to be in tears while saying prayers in worship of the lord and in gratitude that his leader was still alive.
The others followed suit. Terten then ripped out the hypodermic needle and rose from his bed, without the aid of anyone else much to everyone's astonishment. It's as if Terten wasn't even shot at all. The rest of his bandages were torn off forcibly to reveal that there were no wounds underneath it. He immediately commanded the rest to leave as he changed immediately to his presidential uniform.
Arrests were beginning in the Bayan as vendors of anime paraphernalia were arrested
with warrants that indicted them as supporters of "terrorism" and "indecency"
Much to the joy of his supporters and dismay of his rivals and doubters, it was not meant to be, for by the grace of God, they heard Terten's voice once more in his latest radio broadcast. "Good evening my people..." Terten said through the radio sending much of the Bayan cheering that he was still alive.
"Awhile ago i was carrying a mass and was giving my peaceful sermons when a man, an atheist amongst the crowd, rose up and shot by a terrorist who claimed allegiance to an insidious organization called the 'Anime liberation front' which, contrary to their name, does not stand for any liberation at all for their ideology has been insidiously been crafted to serve one mission alone, to one day amass enough forces to take control of this country and put forward what they call an 'Anime State'."
People who were listening to the broadcast were mostly attentive but some of them scoffed at the ridiculousness of the whole narrative that someone was willing to launch a rebellion against Terten's regime just because they wanted their anime fantasies to be realized.
"These insidious movement has its numbers around the country wishing to reverse everything we have worked for, everything we hold unto so dearly. They want to spread sodomy and promote immorality and fornication amongst our people. Well i tell them this, our days of standing so idly to these attacks on our peaceful movement to gather the forces of light to wait for God's second coming is over. This day will be the beginning we purify this country!"
As Terten gave his speech to light the fires of the people, KK battalions began driving through the streets of every city in the bayan in their motorcycles, police cars, trucks and armored vehicles which deployed fully uniformed and combat ready paramilitarates that were ready to ctu down anyone who stands in their way. They raced through the streets with civilian traffic being ignored and went for the anime shops and anime convention centers that existed in the big cities such as Rome 2 (Manila), Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga and Clark. THe KK was merciless as they broke through the glass windows of these establishments with bricks or mere gunshots sending shop owners cowering in the ground before they were seized by the wrists and pulled out of their shops and handcuffed. The shop owners were panicking in their confusion as to why Terten decided to have them arrested when all they were doing was peacefully selling anime to the public.
The war on anime has begun.
