“The thing about adrenaline that no one tells you is what happens once it runs out.”
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
“As I wail away at the metal door in front of me, my fingers scratching against the rivets, blood seeping forth from my wounds, I know that I’m running entirely on that adrenaline. As the sweat drips down my face, my heart beats faster in my chest, and that adrenaline very quickly begins to turn into anxiety.”
“What if I never get free from this iron walled coffin Tombstone locked me in? What if I never see Joey again? What if Arcadia falls into disarray without the APD to protect it?”
“A plethora of ‘What-Ifs’ swirling in my head. Every time my fist meets steel I can feel that anxiety reverberate through my body. My strikes get weaker, my conviction fades, and as I squeeze the last bit of that adrenaline from my blood I collapse in front of the steel lined door set before me.”
“Exhaustion.”
“The tail end of all of that anxiety, all of that fear, all of your fight or flight… Is exhaustion. The inability to fight any longer.”
“Finding yourself slumped in a heap, shaky breaths forced from your lungs.”
“No one is immune to the crash that adrenaline brings, no matter the source. Aurora, you’ve been a thrill seeker for as long as you’ve been alive, haven’t you? Whereas I’ve been constantly avoiding those horrific moments, trying my best to not only prevent them but to cut them off at the source… You’ve been diving head first into the abyss for the sheer excitement it brings.”
“Yet, despite you craving the feeling of anxiety in your veins, I realize something sets us apart.”
“Because I saw what happens when your adrenaline crashes, Aurora. When you have nothing left to give and the excitement is gone, all that’s left is fear. Tears stream down your face, the frustration builds, and you crumble under the pressure once you realize you don’t have any control over what’s happening to you.”
“Jasper broke you down into nothing.”
“Gravedigger left you frightened of your own shadow.”
“You stopped fighting. You took the hits, and you gave in.”
“No one would blame you for cracking, Aurora. But I simply can’t give in like you have. No matter how tired, how scared, how utterly defeated I may feel… I can’t give up. As far as I’m concerned, I have Arcadia on my shoulders I can’t let our world down.”
“So, even when the tank is empty and my body is begging for safety?”
“I fight.”
“I’m going to escape the boiler room even if it hurts. I’m going to burst forth from my early grave even when my body tells me to give up.”
“Because I have no other choice.”
“Even when I take on you, Calypso, and Captain Arcadia, I’ll never bow to my limits.”
“I simply can’t afford to give in.”
“No one is above the Law.”
“And I am the Law.”
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!