But before the fall… there was a rise. And before the rise… there was peace.
Scene 1: Elias's Quarters – Watchtower
The door shuts behind him.
Outside, the world trembles.
Inside? Silence.
For the first time in days, Elias isn't mocking anyone.
No jabs. No jokes. No venom.
He walks over to a drawer. It's locked.
He presses a sequence of symbols only he remembers.
It clicks open.
Inside…
A photo.
Worn. Torn at the edges. The ink fading, but the memory sharp.
A boy—maybe 12—with wild hair and mischief in his eyes.
A mother beside him, smiling despite the exhaustion.
A father in uniform. A sister holding a wooden sword.
They were poor. But they were whole.
Scene 2: Memory Triggered
The world melts away.
The cold of space is replaced by a warm summer breeze.
Elias is no longer on the Watchtower.
He's back in the fields of Kansas.
Flashback – Years Ago
Laughter.
His sister, Lyla, is chasing chickens with a wooden sword yelling,
"I'm Diana of Themiss-cara!"
Elias (12, grinning):
"It's Themyscira, dork."
Lyla:
"Shut up! I'm majestic!"
Their mother watches from the porch with a lemonade in hand.
Their father, returning from work, lifts Elias onto his shoulders.
Father (gruff but kind):
"One day, you'll do something big, kid.
Just don't lose your heart in the process."
Young Elias:
"Even if I get strong like Superman?"
Father:
"Especially then."
The sun sets. The wheat sways. The world is good.
Scene 3: Back to Present
Elias stares at the photo.
Eyes harden. Jaw clenches. Voice cracks.
Elias (whispering):
"You were right, old man.
I got strong.
And I lost everything."
He taps the photo once.
The system flashes:
[New Emotional Core Accessed: "Anchor Fragment – Family"]
[+2% Resistance to Sanity Drift]
[Suppression Ends in: 2 Days]
[Emotion Conflict Rising…]
He closes the drawer.
The smile never returns.
Scene 4: Council of Gods – Silence
The gods whisper among themselves.
Unnamed Celestial:
"He still mourns. This… is dangerous."
Watcher-God:
"Mourning can lead to madness…
Or to purpose."
Scene 5: The Public Turns
Across Earth, the public begins noticing something:
Superman hasn't smiled in days.
Wonder Woman is silent in interviews.
Batman is off-grid.
And Elias?
He appears in holograms, whispering truth.
He hacks feeds, airing secrets.
He shows memories—real ones—of the League's failures.
He doesn't even insult them anymore.
He just lets truth do the work.
"They are symbols.
But symbols cast shadows.
And in those shadows... people suffer."
Scene 6: League Meeting – Fractured
Flash (nervous):
"He's turning the world against us."
Cyborg:
"And worse... he's not lying."
Diana:
"If we silence him, we prove him right.
If we do nothing, he wins."
Superman:
"He's planting doubt like seeds.
And it's growing."
Batman:
"He has one piece left to fall."
Diana:
"What?"
Batman (grim):
"Us."
Scene 7: Elias Standing Alone
Overlooking the Earth, Elias whispers:
"Two days.
Then the leash comes off."
He reaches into his coat… and pulls out a second photo.
One the League never saw.
His mother.
Smiling.
He taps it gently against his forehead.
Elias:
"Don't worry, Mom.
I'll burn it all down… so no one else gets broken the way we did."
He pockets it.
And walks into the dark.