A crowd is gathered in The Slums. A man hangs from the edge of a high rise building, holding on for dear life. Tombstone soon appears in the crowd, watching with the rest of the onlookers.
A reporter for The People’s Choice is live on the scene. “A man hangs in a precarious position above the Slums here tonight. Rescuers are enroute but no-one is sure whether they’ll make it.”
The man desperately hangs on, his groans of tortuous pain heard echoing throughout the level.
“When a man hangs from a precarious position and his life is in the balance, he must make a choice. Does he will himself to survive, or does he submit to his fate.”
His grip slips slightly, causing him to fall, only he manages to place a hand on the next ledge down, preventing his death. The crowd gasps.
“You’ve placed yourself into a similarly precarious position, Harold Attano. Whether you realize it or not, you hang from the edge of a sheer drop and there’s a choice you must make.”
“It was one of those choices that placed you here. Your decision to interfere in matters Cade has toppled you over the edge and now you hang on for dear life.”
Tombstone begins walking through the crowd.
“But whilst a man’s choices are one thing. They are not everything.”
“Because in a moment like this, when you hang over the edge of a drop that will certainly end your life, the decision to fight and survive or be defeated and perish is not always entirely yours. Take this man, for example. He fights desperately in grasp of his life. He wishes to survive. Yet his fingers ache and his arms are heavy. The weight of gravity pulls him towards the surface.”
The Ferryman stops below, looking up.
“He’s made his decision, hasn’t he? He’s going to fight. I know that you’ve made your decision too.”
Suddenly the man plummets, slamming into the crowd with a terrifying splat. As people scream, Tombstone is transported away to his boat, in which the man now sits in confusion.
“I didn’t make it?”
The man cries out.
Tombstone shakes his head.
“But I tried… I didn’t want to die… I didn’t…. I just got too close to the edge and then I fell, or I was pushed… I just don’t know…”
To the man, Tombstone says nothing, yet we hear his voice in narration.
“You see Harold, sometimes the choice is made for you. Sometimes what you want doesn’t matter. Sometimes, the end is nigh, whether you want to survive or not.”
“Next week, you fall.”
“And in some ways, I’ll be there to catch you at the end.”
“You should never fear the end, Harold.”
“The end is where we meet… and I will send you on your way.”