[color=yellow][h2][center]The Cruelty of Man[/center][/h2][/color]


	A young girl, maybe three, sat cross-legged, staring intently at an animated cat trying his hardest to smash a mouse. Her giggles echoed through her home, a place that had never seen conflict. In the next room, her older brother, around five, was nothing short if head banging to a educational song. His room was adorned with posters of bands and women in provocative clothing. Even more laughter was heard down the hall was a young couple in their very early twenties baked a cake together. The man purposely making mistakes and the woman exaggerating her disdain for them playfully.

	The room had blue trim borders, the little girls favorite color and there were green vertical stripped wallpaper. It was assumed that the boy liked that color as his favorite poster had a woman wearing what we think is a bathing suit, one that amounted to two bandaids and a cork. This happy family went through their daily routine. Husband would go to work at the Hospital, taking the girl with him for the sitter. The wife would take the son to elementary school then continue on to Johnson and Sgargler'lawksr'ier and sons lawfirm, a Local family, khororitdkfod Johnson, a tall blue eyed alien (female? most didn't ask.) and her human husband Ed Sgargler'lawksr'ier. 

	When the day was done, the wife would call her husband to talk about their day as they drove to their kids. The Husband now picking up the son while the wife getting their daughter. The weeks seemed to mesh in to one long day as their routine became their life. They didn't hate it though. Their kids were kept healthy and they always made time for a night on the town at the end of the work week.

	When did this change? The Day the wife took the Oberon case. An out of town man who would visit his estranged wife who had long been a resident of this town. One day, the woman reported a domestic violence and won her case, showing up to the trial with a blackened eye and broken arm was more than enough to convince the jury. It seemed like it should've been over as the man was locked up. Days later he had escaped but were caught only fifty some kilometers from the prison, cowering in a drainage ditch.

	The Wife again prosecuted them and won, sending not just the convicted men to prison, but the one who had broken his friend out, to death. His rap sheet was a mile long. Rape, Murder, extortion, stealing candy. It was horrific how this man survived all this time with his conscience intact. It didn't matter though as when he died, instead of pleas for mercy or a sinister laugh at his jail mates beaten but recovering wife, he stared at the prosecutor, stared with a sickening smile until his eyes rolled into the back of his head. 

	That night was unsettling for her, the Husband had to work over at the hospital and the sitter was angry that they went way over the allotted time. The school was more forgiving but the son was not, he wanted his toys damn it! right now! But he got his desire, the husband returned home and all was quiet. But her mind was racing, the mans gaze had cut to her core. Time does indeed mend all wounds as months passed and nothing transpired. Peace had returned to the town.

	Until the note. The note on their vehicles windshield that had a simple red handprint, "Your next." It said in a sloppy but bold print. The Husband discarded it, failing to tell his wife as to not worry her. When he approached the authorities they said they couldn't do anything but bolster patrols, which he graciously appreciated. Weeks later, word of riots on their worlds capitol city (which was only fifty kilometers away) 
, things became hectic again. Law had appeared to break down across the globe as the riots continued. Local governments abdicated to this new movement and the Husband and Wife feared for their safety, being civil servants and all.

	The Wife secretly gained a weapon and had been training how to shoot it with her neighbor, a weapons enthusiast. When the Law office closed due to the burning of the worlds supreme courthouse, she had all the time she needed to practice. It meant nothing on the day, the Day of Days for her family. The Day she became next. It was dinner time now and the family sat peacefully around their kitchen table. Strange Blue cars drove by often, replacing the police that had long fled in the wake of the now violent riots. The Blue cars held men with strange arm bands. They claimed to be the new law and were surprisingly polite and nice so long as you abided by their laws which were, surprisingly lax and relative to their now deposed justice system. 

	Dinner time had just ended and the Wife made her way to a shower, washing any remaining filth of the day from her body. A loud crash drew her attention and with a quick turn, ceased the shower. Her hastily assembled attire felt loose on her body as she rushed towards the sound. There was nothing there but shattered glass and waving curtains at a now broken window. she placed her hands upon her hips, disappointed at this scene until the gargling sound caught her ears. There was a rush to her daughters room and inside a sight, a sight of her now dead daughter, half inside a squid like aliens maw. It's tentacle arms wrapped tight around the innocent child's collapsed neck. The Wife burst into a frenzy, eyes wide open and a quick swipe of a nearby plush toy, she assaulted the creature with all her might, Inflicting much pain upon it even with such a simple object. Her rage was pulled back when a large hand grasped her arm, throwing her out of the room. 

	As she gazed upon this new foe, she could see blood dripping from its chin and the remainder of hairs, hairs of her son. The rage filled her heart once more but the creature placed its foot upon her chest, nearly killing her but the quick attack by her husband, holding a lamp, had caught it off guard. It fought back though as with one quick swipe his head flew from his shoulders, Splattering against the wall. Her eyes went from rage to tears as her family was all around, dead. The Squid like creature had finished its meal and was now bearing down on her as well. Then her savior came, too late for her family. A close blast from a mighty shotgun had blasted the squids core, sending its innards in all directions. The creature then turned towards the new arrival and reared for an assault, only to be stopped by the sound of it firing again. 

	The Wife looked about, seeing lights passing by from waves of the blue cars, some now with machineguns attached to their roofs. Gunfire could be heard and the cries of men and the roars of aliens. Her attention changed from the outside to a now kneeling figure. "Thank- Thank you." she said, trying to talk through the blood that was in her mouth, choking her slightly. The figure removed its mask, revealing a male face.

	He looked about and signaled other men and women who came rushing in with more shotguns and a couple with medical equipment. "You will be ok." He said calmly and sincerely. "Never forget what you saw here this day. Never forget the horrors that came from outside of mankind. Your family should not be seen as victims but rather heroes, heroes in that they will never be forgotten, they will always be strength within you."

	The Wife tears turned to resolve as she did her best to rise. The man stood and replaced his mask and made his way out of the door. Screams filled the nearby house and that one word was shouted, "Medic!" 

	"Are you ok?" the nearby medics asked. She coughed but began to finally stand upright on her own. "Ye-Yes I am fine. Go help them." she said, hoping that who ever that was could be saved. The last selfless act of the night. She rushed through the house to her hidden rifle and upon grasping it, she heard that mans voice again shouting for reinforcements along a long picketed fence.

	The Widow now rushed to the front yard to see two creatures bearing down on the man's position. Blue cars were approaching fast but would never make it in time. She brought her rifle to bear and with a deep breath she placed her finger upon the trigger. Then she exhaled, and released her vengeance upon the beasts.

	Tears filled her eyes again, her mind couldn't process what had happened and now that she was a killer. The Man turned and saw the Widow collapsed on the ground, bloodied and broken. He walked to her and dropped his weapon next to her. "I-I cannot believe any of this. Please tell me this isn't real."

	"I'm afraid it is real. This is all too real." he said, speaking grimly. His voice perked up again as he reached out his hand. "I hail from another family who was murdered by vicious beasts. Like you, my pain runs deep. But will you let [I]them[/I] win? Will you let [I]Them[/I] Gain the last laugh at your family? or will you avenge them, take from these aliens as they took from you?"

	She gazed up, staring at his face and then his hand. "How are men capable of such hate?" 

	"It is not hate, it is conviction and the belief that we are not going to take the oppression anymore. It is the conviction that we save our fellow families from being victims." He nodded to her. "You saved my life, now, please.. You have helped me, will you help others?"

	There was a moment of silence and then thunder and lightning from a gathering storm. Her mind drew conclusions from all corners of reason but as she stared into his outstretched hand she made the choice. 

	"Yes."

	Years later in a dark alley, the Widow walked slowly towards four creatures clawing at a wall to escape the demon she had become. "Did you think you could get away?" She said with a smirk. The first creature turned, "You're.. You're a monster!" 

	"I know."

	With a loud bang, the first fell to the ground. Her smile grew larger, "I know." The Trigger was pulled until all the innocent creatures lay dead at her feet. Her face turned neutral once more as she leaned the gun against a wall. Her hand reached into the top of her shirt, pulling out gently a necklace with two rings and a heart pendant, the pictures of her family. 

	She pondered about the question she asked the masked man so long ago, [i]How are men capable of such hate.[/I] "I can still feel your warmth.. I can still feel your love. I miss you so much." she said softly, clinching the pendant. "I need your help. Do I know nothing but hate now? How did that man's words change me so."

	A voice creeped into her mind, it was her own voice. "Because you lost who you were."

	Time passed by and her deeds grew more dark. Hanging children in front of beaten parents to gain information. Empty promises that they would all live should they talk. A ferocious hunger for revenge had turned into bold apathy for most life, Even towards her own race. Maybe that is why she was favored so much, given so much attention and resources for her crusade against the galaxy.

	Later that same girl sat sobbing, feeling as if she was still in her home, staring at her dead daughter. The pain filled her mind as powers beyond her still spoke of grand deeds and glory for the family of mankind. She told herself that it was worth it, the lives that she had saved far outweighed her own. It wasn't enough anymore, the words were becoming as dull as her lust for vengeance. But she still owed the masked man, she still cared for him as if he were family. She had to. 

	In this land so far from her picket fence heritage, she stood up and clinched her fists, prepared to continue with her mission. The necklace still clung to her but was long abandoned to rust and dirt. Her mind drifted back to that day in the rain once more, with the masked mans hand outstretched. As she grasped it he asked, "May I know the name of my savior?" She took one last look at her old life, "My name is Morinth."  

	"Morinth." he said, "Such a uncommon name. In all honesty I have never heard it spoken before." He removed his mask once more, "I suppose I should return the courtesy, especially with our paths seemingly intertwined." He smiled, "I'd be humbled If we kept it simple, you and I, just call me Faust."