The Red Light District.
Or what remains of it.
Slowly panning across the destruction, we settle on Grimskull, standing amidst the ruins, his skeletal visage a stark contrast against the dim, flickering lights.
“Here we stand,” He begins with a resonant, haunting voice, “in the remnants of what once was a haven for the doorway to unbridled truth. Charlatans like Drexl believed all they needed to do was build a den of iniquity to hide that truth.”
He looks towards the door revealed at Red Snow, revealing that he is not alone.
War has come with him.
Drewitt.
“But it’s all so brittle, isn’t it? All it takes is the wrath of pestilence to strike, and all of their work comes undone in an instance. The truth, like the dirt beneath these shattered streets, will always remain.”
Kneeling down, Conquest reaches between pieces of rubble to let loose dirt slide between his fingers.
“Reminds me of the Arcadian Censorship Authority. In their misguided crusade, they believed they could bury the essence of our existence beneath layers of false morality. They laid their roads, their rules, their restrictions, in a vain attempt to smother the fire of reality. But just like the ruins around us, their roads only serve to reveal the power they seek to hide.”
Rising to meet his partner, Grimskull grins.
“For every rule they impose, the truth seeps through the cracks, uncontainable, undeniable. Like the dirt beneath their roads, the raw, unbridled truth of existence endures, indomitable.”
Placing a hand on the unsure Drewitt’s shoulder, Grimskull speaks with conviction.
“You and I, Horsemen of Apokalypsis, will tear down their roads of deceit, exposing the unyielding dirt of reality beneath. Their censorship is but a fragile mask, a veneer over the eternal nature of pain and truth.”
Adding his other hand to the other shoulder, Grimskull looks deep into the eyes of his partner.
“Their arrogance blinds them. They see not that in their quest to control, to censor, they have only amplified what they fear most. We will not rest until their illusions are shattered, until the foundations of their hypocrisy crumble like these walls around us.”
He motions around them to the destroyed Red Light District.
“The road the ACA builds is meant to lead us away from truth, to a world sanitized of reality. But they forgot the indelible nature of existence. No road can destroy the dirt; no censorship can extinguish the flame of truth. Just as this District fell to reveal its underlying strength, so too will the façade of the ACA fall.”
Smiling, Grimskull seems to revel in the stench of death around him.
“In the end, the truth will prevail. The roads of deception will crumble, and the enduring dirt of reality will be all that remains. You and I will ensure it. You are the beginning, the alpha, and I am the ending, the omega. War and Conquest. The ACA will learn that their attempts to censor, to control, are futile against the relentless tide of truth.”
His violet eyes find John the Revelator walking among the rubble.
“So it has been revealed.”