The theater was filled with supernatural creatures. Their auras all emanated outwards, minimally restrained, applying pressure to the surroundings. Anyone here who was below the fifth stage would struggle to keep their countenance and their focus to sustain their consciousness. The weight of the people here… Their spirit and their deeds… Like in any place, it affected the world around them…

Johan gets on the stage and taps on the microphone. “Test one. Test two.” He says, his voice resounding throughout the theater, having a gentle calming affect on the tension that filled the room. He clears his throat, ready to speak when he suddenly senses someone become limp where he sat. “Ah, we got another one in the back. Someone take him outside. This is the last reminder; anyone here below the fifth stage has to get the fuck out. I don’t care who brought you here. The size of your balls isn’t going to help you in this place. No one’s testing your will. Just step outside and hear about the meeting later. You little turds probably don’t have anything useful to say anyways.” Johan says ruthlessly. As he saw it, he was helping the little turds out by telling them to leave.

Several people in the crowd stood up, moving slowly and struggling with each step to leave the theater.

“Alright. Let’s get this thing started. If you’ve been called here, your intentions have been filtered, or your honor has some worth. Many of you have been called through my connections or the connections of my late blood brother. You should know Jesse, his disciple. Jesse, stand up.” Johan says with a gesture to Jesse, who was in the front row.

Jesse stands up and waves to the crowd with a shy smile. Normally, she wouldn’t be able to stand it in this place, but for the people here, their spirits recognized her and did her no harm. The karma that they would touch and risk becoming volatile would not be worth any harm that came to Jesse.

“Yeah, lovely girl. She’s my fiancé now. So anyone eyeing the luscious and sweet karma can stop dreaming. It’s all for me to eat. Yeah, I can feel your jealousy. I don’t care though. This is true love, my friends. You can’t touch shit.” Johan taunts while gloating.

“Fucking get on with it!” A voice yells from the crowd.

Johan smiles and clears his throat again. “Alright. Enough games. As you may have previously heard, we have a vanguard joining us. His status has been verified by our very own, dear, sweet, lovely Jesse.” He says with a straight face.

“I’m going to puke!” Another voice calls out from the crowd.

“Alright, wise guy. Relax.” Johan says dismissively. “Anyways, you should recognize the importance of a vanguard in a tribulation. We’ve been watching this one for a while and he hasn’t been doing shit. He’s just following the flow, following orders, and doing the bare minimum. Yeah, if you ask me, he’s a little bitch.” Johan says, gestures clearly pointing Taylor out in the front row.

Taylor cringes and lowers his head while covering his face. Fucking Johan. He thinks, embarrassed.

“Well, recently, he happened to have made a decision, which on any normal day, we wouldn’t give a fuck about, but seeing as he’s a vanguard and this is a tribulation, his decisions tend to correlate with the general flow of this world trial. Do you know what he decided? Go ahead, guess.” Johan says, prompting someone from the crowd to say something.

“Just fucking say it!” A voice calls out once again.

Johan clears his throat a third time. “Alright. You assholes are no fun. Can I get a drum roll, please?” Johan says, gesturing to the dude on stage with a drum set.

The man sighs and begins the drum roll.

“Okay. What the vanguard has decided. Does he want to say it himself? No? Too embarrassed? Okay, I’ll say it. This dude wants to join the rebellion of the Naturalists!” He says, going along with the peak of the drum roll.

Immediately, murmurs resound throughout the crowd, before they became a chorus of conversation and debate.

“Does the vanguard wish to turn against the rest of the supernatural world?” A voice asks in a loud voice, quieting the surrounding conversations.

“Does the vanguard wish to speak? Come on up. If you’re whimsical wish is of any worth to anyone here, you’ll probably have to explain yourself.” Johan says, moving away from the microphone and gesturing for Taylor to get on stage.

Taylor looks to Sylvie, a little worried. He wasn’t really planning on speaking to a crowd today.

Sylvie gives Taylor a kiss on the cheeks for good luck before gesturing for him to get on stage.

Taylor sighs and gets up.

He gets on the stage and walks to the microphone before leaning in and saying, “What?”

“I fucking said, do you wish to turn against the rest of the supernatural world?” The voice says, a little annoyed.

“Man, I couldn’t give two shits about the supernatural world. My intent does not concern the rest of the supernatural world. It concerns the Naturalists. The little babies need a moment. If we can give them a few years before shit really starts to hit the fan, I’d be satisfied.” Taylor says, unhindered, making his thoughts known.

“Whether its your intent or not, this would pit us against the rest of the world. It really doesn’t seem to match up with your value as a vanguard.” Another voice calls out.

“First of all, fuck you, I don’t care. Second of all, this is a tribulation for all of us. In the end, our decisions are all fueled by something we all share; we want to come out on top. You can turn away if you want; I don’t care. But I’m sure you can all feel it, the world is watching, and its weighing our decisions in this place today. What each of you decide on this day could very well determine where you land at the end of this tribulation; whether you become part of the new order, or whether that order will be built on your corpse. Only a limited amount of people were invited to this place and I didn’t really set out to make a difference. But the second I stepped into this theater, I fucking felt it; we’re already being judged.” Taylor says, speaking the thought that was lingering on the edge of everyone’s minds.

Taylor watches as shock forms on many of the faces in the crowd. Taylor lets out a chuckle. “Everyone that has been invited here is a baller. And like all ballers do, they know how to play the fucking game. In that way, we’re all predictable, and as I see it, the second you stepped into this theater, we were already in this shit together.” He says before laughing out loud.

Oddly enough, this laugh was infectious, and many people in the crowd also began to laugh. Eventually, the theater was filled with laughter.

Jesse looks around, wide-eyed. A bunch of fucking lunatics! She thinks, not sure what else to say about it.