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You only just manage to close your eyes before the liquid in them boils away and when you reopen them again you find yourself standing now. In the center of that road. The sky and strangle cloud remains but the only trace of the entity before are wisps of night colored smoke that fade away. The crushing sense of fear that muddled your mind before is gone and it is now that you realize where you're standing.
You survey slowly, small pockmarks in the street burn with miniature fires like old braziers, the street is lined with pale trees in wrought iron baskets and old Victorian street-lamps fill the space between. Without even meaning to you walk forward, with each step you watch the trees wither and the glass compartments of the lamps fill with that same black smoke. The trees take strange forms the further you walk, their leaves disintegrate and fall to the ground like specks of grey snow, it's only as you near the end of the street that you notice the open doors of a building ahead. As you reach it you turn and look back down the road.
The dried jutting structures are no longer trees, from ground to branch tip, you notice small red tubes running all over the bark. The scent of charred flesh is overwhelming and with an ache in your gut you start to realize these more resemble exposed nerves than trees, with your realization comes a throbbing sharp pain in your head. You put a hand gently to your temple and retreat into the open door to escape this nightmarish parody. As you step in bright light overwhelms you and your eyes squeeze shut tight, that's when the air goes cool and refreshing, you smell the gentle scent of perfume and feel a delicate touch working it's way up your arm until it rests on your cheek.
"Mark?" You hear a female voice say.
You open your eyes and find yourself only a foot or so away from a woman in an elegant black dress criss-crossed with lines of gold. Her features are sharp and her dark brown eyes stand out against her pale skin and raven hair, but as you look closer you notice something about her proportions isn't right..
You take a step back out of reflex and gently push away the hand from your cheek. Her eyebrows knit together in concern but she only nods and takes a half step back. You look over her more fully and see her legs and arms are too long for her body, but you still can't help but to think about how beautiful she is, you pull your eyes from her compelling form and cast your eyes around you. The sky is a deep purple and stars twinkle in tandem with the lights of the city, you notice now you're standing on a balcony overlooking Gotham, looking straight down you see the courtyard below empty save for a single soul. A man in a grey hoodie looks up, his face obscured by shadow, the only thing visible being rows and rows of glowing white tally marks.
"It's a beautiful night tonight." The woman says quietly, her voice gentle but commanding. "I've never seen the moon so big."
