Reality Crisis

N-no, please...

The words seemed only to fall on deaf ears.

A breath, a plea, then silence.

Eric was tired of hearing this man beg for his life when that same man had taken the life of another. Someone that had also begged to be spared, another plea that had fallen on deaf ears. And yet this man...this man whom had done an unspeakable act was begging to be spared, to be given another chance for breath.

For Eric to not end his miserable existance as this man had another.

Eric's mind was full of the image:

A young boy lay curled in the street, strangled to death by his father for crying too loudly. The man had had enough of the wailing. They had been without food and while the people around tended to be giving, they didn't give to this man and his son so the pair went without. And finally the man, the father of this child had had enough. He had chosen the easy way out, to play God and steal the very breath from the lungs of this child in penance for being hungry and weak.

Now the man was begging for his life, and Eric was tired of hearing it.

"Is this a familiar story to you? Or do you need me to spell it out for you, letter by letter?" Eric inquired, hand wrapped tightly around the throat of the squirming city-born male. Eric stepped up to a ledge at the top of the Chosen building, the tallest building in the area that was intact. With no remorse on his face, or in his eyes, Eric held the murderous human over the side of the building. The man's feet dangled in mid-air and the man's fingers struggled to pry Eric's fingers from his throat.

"Feels terrible, doesn't it? To be strangled. To have your very life hanging on the next breath of air, unable to be sure if you're ever going to take in that sweet oxygen."

The man choked, his eyes wide as Eric spoke to him in such a calm manner.

Eric smiled at the man, the corners of his lips curled upwards in amusemment. "Did he struggle too? The boy? I bet he did as he looked at you while you took his life with your hands. A boy unable to fight back, to push you away from him. Is that what happened?"

The man shook his head, gasping as Eric's fingers tightened around his throat.

"Playing God is never a good decision. Especially when your victim isn't able to engage you in a fair fight." Of course, Eric was much stronger and faster than any mortal man, but he never had a say in the hand he'd been dealt by the bird. He only knew that this was part of that hand, that burden. He had been dealt the Ace of Spades, and now it was time to lay all of the cards on the table for the world to see.

"Any last words?"

The man gurgled, struggling to speak as the moon lifted higher in the sky. A cloud ensnared the moonlight within in for the briefest moment, a sign of foreboading should anyone think to steal the breath of another. Especially a child.

"No? Well, that's probably for the best."

It was then Eric released the man, closing his eyes as he listened to the choked scream as the man plummeted to the Earth. The smack that came after, as the man met the hard pavement below, the body being pulled to the planet with Gravity, was music to Eric's ears. The bird cawed into the night and the cloud pulled away from the moon so that it might once more offer it's light.

Eric peered over the ledge at the mangled, bloody corpse now laying at the foot of the Chosen buildling. He frowned, but turned and made his way down to where the body lay, utilizing the stairs that went from the roof to the first floor.

When Eric was at the fallen man's side, he leaned over and grasped one of the man's broken arms, dragging the corpse towards the crack in the ground. Without another thought, Eric tossed the man like a ragdoll into the crack, allowing the body to be swallowed by the Earth. Eric would leave the bloodstain as a warning. Nobody in the city was safe as long as they meant harm to each other.

That was a guarantee.

Eric then faded back into the night, hiding in the shadows of the moon as it shone over the wall to wait. To watch. To listen.

Selina was not a coward.

Bane's words still touched places in her mind that she never knew existed. The depths of the very thought of herself backing down and running when everything was at stake was unacceptable. It was something she never wanted to consider, but now she didn't have the option. The thought was burned into her mind and it was all she could think about.

Slowly, Selina approached the wall of die Festung, a place that was familiar to her from her first visit. What she was planning, the cat burglar wasn't entirely sure but Selina knew that whatever it was it would be great.

Since meeting with Sam, and learning about Belia's library, Selina wanted to see the volumes for herself. If that meant breaking into the place where they were kept, then Selina would do that. Of course, nobody knew what the plan was for sure. Not even she did.

Selina scaled the outer wall, minding the large crack from the Earthquake, knowing she was going to have to avoid the guards (and most of all being seen) at all costs. It wouldn't do to be caught so early in the game, but stealth was what she was good at.

She descended the other side of the wall carefully, placing a foot, then a hand, so the climb would be well-thought out. Around her waist was her trusty bullwhip, and at her hip was the gun she'd been holding on to.

When her feet were on the ground, Selina turned so that her back was to the wall. She cast her gaze around at the silence, the stillness, and felt herself unnerved. She didn't like the quiet, but she would use that to her advantage.

Selina didn't notice the large black bird that was perched not too far from where she was standing as it was silent like the shadows that hid it. Only the reflection from the moon could be seen twinkling in it's dark eyes.

Licking her lips, Selina stepped forward into the city. Now it was her turn to play.

Fred's wedding had passed quickly and while there had been worries about an incident, nobody had gotten hurt. As far as Dinah was considered, a wedding without bloodshed was a good thing. Fred and Sam were clearly in love with each other and she believed that this world could use a little (or a lot) more love.

Once they'd made it back to Sanctuary, Dinah set off in search of Enigma. She was worried about the vampire for more reasons than one. Aside from being worried about how Enigma had fared in the earthquakes, Dinah knew that there would be temptations in the aftermath. So many people who were wounded and lost, people who might seem like easy prey.

She stopped by the hut first, hoping she'd get lucky and find the redhead without too much hunting. She was tired and wouldn't be able to sleep until she knew that Enigma was safe and the people of Sanctuary were also safe.

( Must be something in the water )

After receiving the good news from Enigma, Dinah thought it was best to stick around Sanctuary for a bit. She still felt a need to atone for her bout of indifference when the people of die Festung had needed help the most. There wasn't as much damage in Sanctuary, but she wandered around and found a few people in need of help. Small things, but she was trying.

She had other things on her mind too. She still hadn't found any answers about the possible future that she and Bruce had seen. And she felt like she'd been here for ages and still hadn't found a significant way to help this world with whatever was causing all of these disasters and moving it towards the potential end.

She felt like she was just spinning her wheels, putting out fires as they came along instead of being proactive and trying to do something. If the prophecy was right, she was supposed to be able to do something to help.

The walk helped to clear her head a bit, even if she didn't have any answers yet. She would just have to keep trying.

Evey'd been serious when she'd talked with Peter about winning die Festung over. But without action behind her ideas, all she had were her own thoughts. Change had to begin one person at a time. To win die Festung, she first had to win the Chosen.

That's one of the reasons why Evey stood knocking at Mag's door. There were many other things to do, but first, she'd see Mag. The woman had endured her helpless behavior after the earthquake -- she'd been kind and helpful, even when it was clear she felt out of sorts, herself. Evey owed Mag her gratitude.

And then there was the subject of Carlos. Evey hadn't seen the man since the earthquake, either, not with her own eyes at least. She knew her friend would be all right, at least physically. Peter had healed him. But as for the rest of him... It may have been that Evey was also at Mag's door because she was worried for Carlos and hoped for a read on him before she went to visit him as well.

She dropped her hand and waited.