Harold walks through halls littered with shattered glass. He hears his heart beating in his ears, he has no idea how he got here, as his eyes dart around the maze he’s been dropped into, as he pulls his sidearm a voice speaks to him.
“I’m so glad you could make it here. We need to talk. You act like some hunter, a stalker hiding in the shadows, but you’ve lost a step. Yes, something is well and truly missing from what you used to be. You’re a shadow of the man you were before.”
Attano slowly walks the twisting halls, glass crunching under his feet with every step when he moves to check his sidearm… it’s gone vanished from his hands.
“You keep yourself caged like an animal on display at a zoo. You may have left Deathrow, but you haven’t left the cell. When you close your eyes, what do you see?
Mr. Nobody then shuts his eyes and is flooded by the images of Michaela laid before followed by the thought of Jasper Redgrave standing over her body.
“You don’t hold the light, just the darkness underneath. A shadow darker the underside of a snake’s belly resides within you, while you insist on putting the weight of the kingdom upon your shoulders. All the while the lines are blurred, and you keep rubbing your eyes. Now, the tables are turned but will you survive?
The Ghost’s eyes snap open, and he realizes he’s been crawling on the broken glass as his hands are bloodied but what catches his eye is an illuminated mirror with his unbloodied reflection staring back at him.
“Well, it looks like this game of hide and seek is at its end.”
The mirror mocks Harold.
“Look at the little pet on his knees, bloodied, and broken. You’re no better than any other caged animals that takes direction from their keeper.”
The mirror morphs into each member of The Kingdom slowly and deliberately.
“But unlike those men, you can choose. So, when you look at yourself, are you a man or a monster?”
Harold sighs heavily, the weight of Arcadia on his shoulders before rising to his feet with eyes focused on the mirror before him as he speaks.
“I’m Harold Fucking Attano, and yes, I have the weight of The Kingdom on my shoulders because it’s my job to carry them to safety from their own Zookeeper. Willing to cut the head off the Python to save the rest of them. I’m not a man or monster, I am the survivor, and while I can’t take back the damage I’ve done. I’m not afraid of what I’ll become. So, I won’t be the one in the shadows this week. Instead, I will send the Yellow Python to meet his family, driving him into the darkness, and we’ll find out if a Python is immune to viper’s venom.”
The mirror before him emits a blinding light before shattering, and when the light dissipates Harold awakens backstage in Olympus being attended to after being knocked out by Jackson Cade.