"Nazarene, " said Swamp Thing.  "I bow before you. "

Jesus Christ watched as Swamp Thing dropped down to a knee.  He smiled and reached out a hand, touching Swamp Thing 's head.

"Come brother, " said Jesus.  "Stand back up on your feet. "

Swamp Thing did as he was asked.  He towered over the Messiah.  He looked down into the beautiful face of Jesus Christ.  He felt moved by the color of his eyes that were as blue as melted Scandinavian ice and the golden ripe corn color of his hair. 

It all made him feel so ugly.

"You are not afraid of me, " said Swamp Thing.

"Of course not, " replied Jesus.  "Do I have a reason to fear you? "

"It 's just that ... I 'm ... so different. "

"You are different in appearance, yes, but we are all God 's creatures.  Do not think anything of your façade.  I love you. "

Swamp Thing felt moved.  Tears coursed down his face.  He smiled.

"I love you, too, " he said.

"Now, " said Jesus.  "What can I do for you? "

"I 'm here to help you, " said Swamp Thing. 

"There 's nothing you can do for me, " replied Jesus.  "My fate has already been sealed. "

"Indeed. "

"Come, " said Jesus.  "Walk with me. "

He did as the Nazarene asked.  They walked through the Garden of Gethsemane.  Both of them enjoyed the fauna that was growing there.  Jesus turned and looked at Swamp Thing.  He reached out and touched one of the flowers that were growing on his chest.

"May I? " asked Jesus.

"Of course, " replied Swamp Thing.

Jesus pulled the flower from Swamp Thing 's chest.  He placed it up to his nose, deeply inhaling.

"It smells wonderful, " said Jesus.  "Tell me, " he asked, "what exactly are you? "

"I 'm a plant elemental.  I 'm a guardian of The Green. "

Jesus laughed.  "That 's what I get for asking, " he said.  "I 'm sure there 's a long story that 's attached to that? "

"Oh yes, " smiled Swamp Thing.  "And it 's a long boring one. "

They continued to walk through the garden.  Up above them, a full moon lit their way. 

"Stop Nazarene! " a voice shouted out.  "Your time has come. "

In the distance, Artimus stood on a hill.  He held out his sword.

Swamp Thing pushed Jesus behind him.  He ran out, meeting Artimus on the mound.  He ignored the flash of the blade that cut across his chest, spilling green blood.  Instead, he took the gladiator into a choke-hold.  He wrestled him to the ground, forcing Artimus to drop his sword.  And then he twirled him away into the garden where he landed with a resounding THUD!

Swamp Thing went to tower over him.  As he raised back a fist, prepared to deliver an awesome blow:

"Stop, " said Jesus.  "Do not harm him. "

Swamp Thing stood back.  He shot Jesus a quizzical look.

"But he 's here to kill you, " he said. 

"Show mercy on the creature, " replied Jesus.  "I may know how to take care of this problem in a more ordain fashion. "

Jesus walked forward and bent down beside Artimus.  The gladiator was lying sprawled out on the ground.  He was dazed; confused.

"Just as I feared, " Jesus told Swamp Thing.  "The poor soul is possessed. "

 Swamp Thing watched Jesus bend down.  He hovered over the gladiator, reaching out His hands to steady Himself on the body.  Then He began to utter a language that the Swamp Thing did not understand.  The only thing he could truly comprehend was that Jesus was tugging on the man 's ear.

And then, in a blinding flash, the gaseous crimson whisper of Perpetua evacuated Artimus 's body.  It swirled into the cool night air, hovering above both Jesus and the Swamp Thing.

"You can 't leave well enough alone, can you? " asked Perpetua. 

"Leave here, " said Jesus.  "Let this poor man 's soul rest. "

Perpetua threw back his head and laughed.  "You 'll never understand, will you, Nazarene?  Your fate is already sealed.  It 's no matter whether I was victorious, or not. "

"I will accept that when the time comes, " Jesus told him.  "Until then, be gone with you. "

Again, Perpetua let loose with a bone-chilling laugh.  But no matter how he scoffed at the situation, he knew that he couldn 't defeat the Nazarene without a human body.  His powers simply wouldn 't work on him any other way.  The gladiator would have succeeded, bringing Him down with his sword, but black magic was useless in this situation.  Jesus was still protected by His father.

"I 'll see you die, " said Perpetua, "and laugh when your soul burns in the black hole of Hell. "

Swamp Thing watched as Jesus turned his back.  Jesus looked at him and smiled, winking.

"Go now, Perpetua, " said Jesus.  "I 've grown tired of your antics. "

Surprisingly, to the Swamp Thing, Perpetua did as he was asked.

"I don 't know how you do it, " said Swamp Thing.  "For a man facing death, you 're extremely calm and serene. "

"My human shell is facing extermination, " said Jesus.  "Not my soul.  I will, one day, again, walk the earth. "  He looked at Swamp Thing, a quizzical look passing over his face.  "Are you not the same? "

Swamp Thing pondered this for a second.  Only recently Pilate Voorhees had him murdered in cold blood, and he had been able to build himself a new body.

"I do understand, " said Swamp Thing.

"Good, my friend, " said Jesus.  "Now, I don 't have much time left.  Let 's enjoy this garden while I still have time. "

Swamp Thing nodded.  And with a wave of his hand, he made the garden grow larger.  He smiled at the Nazarene.

"There 's nothing wrong with more beauty, " he told Jesus.

"Certainly not, " He replied. 

Swamp Thing looked at Him.  No matter how he made the garden grow, no matter how pretty he could make it, it would never surpass the beauty of Jesus Christ.

Swamp Thing followed Him into the bowels of the garden.  Slowly, they got lost in the fauna that grew so abundantly.  And, for a fleeting second, Swamp Thing hoped that they were never found again.

Jimmy Coffey had admitted himself into the Ravenwood Sanatorium in Baltimore, Maryland.  After his encounter with Goregog, he needed time away to think and put himself back together.  Here, he would have plenty of time to do both.

He sat in the garden and watched the other patients.  In the corner, a black man was purporting himself to be Muhammad Ali  He was going to break out of the hospital at midnight.  Another said he was the son of the governor and that he wanted amnesty from the sanatorium. 

But Jimmy 's attention was drawn to a shriveled old woman who was walking through the flower patch.  She could see dead people hiding beneath the flowers, and was begging them to take her soul.   

"Am I crazy? " Jimmy asked himself.  And then he laughed.  Of course he was.

He lit himself a cigarette and took a drink of the lukewarm decaffeinated coffee that the hospital afforded its patients.  He grimaced.  He could use some delicious bourbon about right now.

He picked up the dull pencil that the doctors had given him and rifled through the blank sheets of typing paper.  Most of the other patients were given crayons, if they were lucky, to write with.  But Jimmy wasn 't a threat to either himself or anyone else.

Was he?

Jimmy began to write:

I 'm lost inside the decaying shell of myself.  I feel trapped, as if I 'm suffocating.  What is wrong with me?  If there 's anything, at all, mind you.

I feel like I 'm losing my mind.  Sometimes, at night, it screams to me.  It doesn 't talk, per se, just screams and screams like there 's no tomorrow.  Thankfully, I don 't answer it back.  I 'd truly become crazy if I started talking to myself.

Wouldn 't I?

Isn 't that what I 'm doing now?  Aren 't I talking to myself, only quietly?  Oh, shit fire and save the matches.  I just need a bit of time to recollect my thoughts.  They 're just a bit jumbled.  I can find them.  They 're just playing hide-and-seek with me.

Sitting here in this garden reminds me of the Swamp Thing.  Where has he gone?  The reports I 'm hearing are that he 's left the bayou.  Shouldn 't he be there protecting The Green instead of out galloping around?  Or is he doing the same thing I am?  Is it possible that he 's losing his mind, too?  I 've heard rumors that that is the case.  I wish him the best of luck.

The funny thing is that I once told him he 'd need my help.  Ha!  How in the hell could I help anyone if I 'm stuck in this place?  Of course, that 's all by my doing, again, mind you. 

And then there 's the problem of his daughter.  I hear she 's out running around the country like a chicken without its head.  She turned down The Green to destroy the earth.  Hmm ... that is very interesting.  One day I 'm going to have to meet up with this little gal.  Tefe is her name.  It 's a pretty name. 

But so is Mary ...

Oh, how I miss you.  There is no one else who can wash my feet as good as you can.  But there was so much more to you, my love.  You were my partner.  You followed me where no other man would go.  And you did it silently.  You did it because you loved me.

I will never find another like you.  Nor will I look.  I feel as if I need to be alone.  The things I do I need to do by my lonesome.  Never again will I endanger one that I love.

No, never again.

If you were here, you 'd help me.  You 'd soothe the screams inside my brain.  You 'd know what to do.  There wouldn 't be any need for me to be in this loony bin.

But you aren 't here, are you.

Instead you 're rotting inside the grave I dug for you. 

If only I could switch places with you, I would.  But I can 't.  And now I 'm alone.

Oh, so alone ...

Jimmy used the stub of pencil to scratch at the bottom of the last page.  He scribbled so hard that the pencil broke into two.  Then he wadded up the pages and threw them at the waste basket.  It went in neatly.  2 points for Jimmy Coffey, yay!

He took another pull of the coffee, finishing it.  And then he crumpled up the paper cup.  Again, he aimed at the waste basket.  This time he missed.  One of the orderlies went over and picked it up, waving a finger at him. 

Jimmy smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

He didn 't know how much longer he could stay here.  It was as if he were losing more of his mind by being in the hospital than he was out on the streets.  But, he had to admit, the medication they were given him was some top-notch shit.  He liked getting high every day.

"What are you going to do with your life? " he asked himself.

He picked up the broken pencil and began to draw.  He scribbled out Mary and the Swamp Thing.  And then he did a self-portrait of himself crying.

That 's when the screams inside his head began, again.  And this time, Jimmy screamed with them.  It felt good to let it out.

He was still screaming when they led him to the padded cell ...

"How long did you know Tefe? "

Nicko McBrain smiled.  He liked thinking about her.  He really missed Tefe.

"I only knew her for a few days, " he said.  "But it seemed much longer that.  She 's a really nice girl. "

"I 'm sure she is, " said Ingrid Romero.  "Did you notice anything strange about her? "

"No, " said Nicko.  "Like what?  Is there anything particular? "

"No, " she said.  "I was just interested. "

It had been almost too easy for Romero to track Nicko McBrain.  She had met him in a coffee shop where he was working on a novel.  She had introduced herself and started a conversation.  Soon after, she was in his messy apartment. 

She knew what he wanted: the same thing all men did.  But there was no way in hell he 'd be getting it.  Not sex, anyway.

She stood up.  She took her coffee cup and walked past Nicko, putting it in the kitchen sink.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about her? "

"No, " he replied.  He scrunched up his features.  "Why are you interested in her?  How do you know her, anyway? "

"She 's an old friend, " said Romero.  "And I need to find her. "

"Oh. "

And that 's when she grabbed Nicko by the hair.  Quickly, she slashed out with her knife.  She made a decent cut across his throat.  But she didn 't stop here.  As soon as the blade had cut through his flesh, she jerked on his head, swiveling it around on his shoulders.

She let the corpse fall onto the floor.

Then she went to the kitchen sink and began to wash off her hands.  She watched as the blood swirled down the drain.

It wouldn 't be the last time that innocent blood was to be spilled ...