[It rings like a bell, the echo of a previous time. The Purple Tear, smiling from where she stood as the wreckage of the beautiful garden he had built was strewn around him like after a war.]

[Well, its a shame about those children...that's one less pretense for you to wear.]

[He could argue about this. Silco did take this from him, transform him into a vampire. But is this just who he is? He had decried the things as pathetic before. Strangled by their need for blood. Isn't, he, too, confined by his own deception and hypocrisy? He, who hated to kill, who killed anyways? He, who as Silco pointed out, decided to bite him?]

[Silco's beautiful jewel of an eye is an inhuman one. The other is far too human. What a mirror he is - another man who drowned in the muck but was conscious of all he could and wanted to be. He had no guilt holding him back, though. He looks for remorse, and finds none. Just his own voice hissing into his ear.]

[His own look falters - the nail digs in, the scar beading with blood. But at the same time, even as Silco seems to be gaining an edge, there's a renewed shock of defiance that comes. His fingers curl, Silco's wrists threatening to crack.]

[His sanity slips. But the coin will always flip heads.]

You really don't get it, do you? [A laugh against his lips, his own mouth curving into a cruel smile.] You think this is power? You caged yourself with a vulnerability that can be exploited. I could shackle you up and let you wither out for all your efforts. Congratulations.

[Applause for Mr. Silco. He fought Bloodfiends. In a way, they're the most backwards of them all.]

You took away my choice to be a slave to power. Or did you think where you are now is higher than you were before? Don't be so blind. I always thought you were powerful. You didn't need to do this to prove it to me.