[right][sup][b]Gotham Central Station. Gotham City.[/b][/sup][/right][hr]Noel Wright muffled tears as the men in green and gold tactical armor walked around their hostages. The men's heavy boots echoed through the cavernous atrium of Gotham Central Station, the only real sound outside of the small sobs of the other would-be passengers. She hadn't been able to count all of them in the madness that had just occurred, but she estimated there were at least two dozen, probably more. They couldn't all be inside. There would have to be some patrolling the roof and outside. This looked like a professional operation, and that's how it always was in the movies.

She had come to leave Gotham for a bit and visit with her sister down in Metropolis. When she was in line at the coffee shop to get what she assumed would have been the worst cup of coffee in existence, the men in green and gold had burst through the doors, firing their automatic rifles into the air and herded everyone they could into the center of the atrium. Some people had been shot. Some of those ones had been killed. Noel didn't see that first hand, but when screaming stopped after a loud bang, it didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out what had gone down. 

The uniforms the men wore bore no flag or insignia that Wright was familiar with. The gold on the outfit was odd, almost like they wanted to stand out. Each wore a masked helmet, and each one was painted to look like a snake. If they were terrorists, they certainly weren't shy.

Noel sat comforting a girl no older than fifteen. She had told Wright that her grandmother dropped her off for a quick trip back to her parents in New York. Noel's heart broke for her and her parents, who must be worried sick by now. 

Suddenly, a man, in his twenties from the looks of things, stood and rushed at the nearest stormtrooper. Before he could get there, a shot rang out and his head exploded like an overripe melon. Noel pulled the girl in tight, shielding her eyes from the horror. Screams and cries rang out in a wave, as people truly began to panic. 

"ENOUGH!" a voice rose above the din, and somehow managed to quiet the panicked people. Noel looked up to see a man in the same colors as the men with guns, except he wore a long, flowing robe instead of tactical gear. The hood of the robe covered his head and made him appear like a large cobra, matching the snake motif seen in the soldiers. 

He made his way up to the level above the atrium, and opened his arms wide above the terrified crowd, "Fear not, my children. For you have been chosen. With your deaths, our god shall rise and this world will begin again. For all time hereafter, your names will be spoken with the utmost reverence on this, the holiest of days. So, I promise you, your deaths will not have been in vain."

At that moment, Noel couldn't keep the tears in any longer.