Disclaimer: I don't own Metropolis or any of the characters from the movie. Halo, Jack, Tina, Doc Potter, and others mentioned later on are mine. All mine. ^_^ The plot is mine too. Enjoy.

The people watched from afar as the Tower began to fall to pieces and collapse. The ones that were too close were screaming and running in fear as the remains of the Tower tumbled to the ground.

The only one near this scene who didn't care what was happening to the Tower was above it, flying through the air, unconscious. Fingers pointed as she came hurtling toward the ground, completely oblivious to everything that was happening.

The Tower, still in flames with debris flying around, gave a final spout and exploded. The people hit the ground quickly as the bits went flying out. The sound was loud, fire whipping. The Tower threatened to bring down buildings around it but it collapsed from the inside, blowing around dust as it hit the ground.

The sky above it was red, a bloody red, charred from the radiation. The heat was unbearable, even people in Zone One were sweating. People around the site were clearing out quickly, evacuating before they too got caught in this mess. They were so busy to save themselves from the hell that the Zigguraut had been brought they didn't even notice the small body of a woman hit the ground.

Prologue: Past

The lights beaming down at her was invading her darkness, her privacy . . . Her sleep. It roused her quickly, though she cursed it for doing so. She didn't dare to open her eyes just yet, as if pretending to still be asleep, though she knew she had to at some point.

She tried to hang on to the last traces of her slumber, failing miserably, and opened her eyes slowly. Above her was a man who appeared to be a doctor, though she couldn't quite figure out why. Then the next thing she noticed was a needle coming towards her. Needles. She hated needles, but she couldn't move, and if she tried, she would end up screaming in pain. She just knew.

She couldn't even feel the needle going into her arm, but still, she concentrated on remembering how she got there. Okay, she remembered her name, Halo Kane, she remembered Rock, Atlas, the Duke . . . The Zigguraut. The radiation. The throne. Tima. Then the sky . . . Shot bloody red.

"Hey! I think she's awake!" piped a voice. She looked to her left and there was a blonde nurse, holding a needle up. The cartridge was empty, having been inserted into Halo, but the way she was holding it scared Halo a little . . . she was holding it a bit too carelessly for Halo's liking.

"Tina! Put that syringe down!" ordered the young doctor, snatching the syringe from her and setting it down on the metal pan. The doctor then sighed. "Well, I think we've patched her up as well as we could get it. Must've been hell falling from that tower."

Falling? More like flying, Halo thought bitterly. Halo Kane. Well, at least she remembered her name.

"Well, Tiff said it would be hard!" the annoying nurse said brightly.

"I did pretty good for a beginner," the doctor said indignantly. Their voices were getting louder and irritating. To Halo, at least. She looked over at the doctor, who was now sitting on an empty bed to her right. The nurse had moved on her left side to prod at her bandages.

"You're right, sir, you did do pretty good," she said in her annoying chippery voice.

"Make her be quiet." Her words came out as a whisper, as she couldn't muster much more.

"What?"

"Make her shut up!" Halo said more forcefully. She didn't mean to be rude or sound rude but really, nurses were supposed to be a little quieter. And while she was thinking about it, nurses were supposed to 'handle objects with caution' weren't they? Swinging that needle around just didn't fit in with hospital staff.

Now that Halo had found a little more of her voice, she asked the doctor, "How long have I been here?"

"Um . . . About two days. They say you were out cold when they found you. You were still out of it when I saw you. You've been kind of slipping in and out of consciousness for the past two days."

"The Zigguraut . . . Were there . . . any survivors?"

"I . . . I dunno. All we know of is you. There were bodies everywhere, scientists. We don't even know who all was in that blasted tower. Some of the bodies we picked up we weren't even able to tag and identify."

Halo slowly sat up, not taking her eyes from the doctor. "So you didn't find Rock of the Marduks? Or the Duke?"

"Well . . . No. Not that I know of. I'm limited. I've only been in this makeshift hospital since a little after you were brought in. I'm a beginner, I was just sent here. I'm not even a real doctor. Not yet anyway."

Halo bit her lip and looked down at her hand, which fell limply beside her leg. Hadn't anyone survived? A scientist? Anyone who had proof of Red's plan? Wasn't Rock alive? Atlas? No . . . Atlas was dead. And it was her fault. At this thought her hand began to slide down to her pocket, but the cap wasn't there.

"Where is it?" she demanded.

"What, this?" Tina slowly lifted the brown cap from the table beside where she had been sitting. She took it to Halo, who snatched it from the woman's hands and clutched it tightly to her chest.

"What's wrong?" The doctor had noticed a solitary tear sliding smoothly down her cheek.

"N-nothing," she choked. Kenna . . . Fern . . . They too had been in the Tower. They were dead, most likely, by murder or by the Fall of the Zigguraut. It wouldn't matter. She was the only one to make it out of that tower, and her word against most of Metropolis wasn't that promising. It was basically suicide. Besides, she was a robot supporter. She had saved them temporarily, but what if non-supporters rebelled because of the robots and the death of their leader, the Duke?

Karen, Halo thought lamely. Karen was still out there, somewhere, with the boys. Karen knew about it, maybe she could . . . No, she didn't know the full length. She hadn't heard, and the recorder had been burned along with the Zigguraut.

"You don't know anything that happened or why the Tower blew?" the doctor asked abruptly. Halo knew, but she couldn't tell him. No one knew about the Zigguraut, no one knew about what it was really for, no one but scientists that were now dead had ever seen the inside, and no one would believe her.

"No," she lied after a moment in thought. "No, I don't remember anything."

"Can't you remember why you were in the Tower in the first place? No citizens were allowed in there and you didn't look like you worked in there."

"No . . . I can't remember," she stated firmly. "Can I go now?"

"Nope," said the nurse from no where. "'Patients recovering from a comatose state, severe injuries, and critical bloodloss are not allowed to leave the facinity until partial, positive, or full recovery of their more serious symptoms.'" She was quoting a line from the nurse's handguide, which was laying on a table two beds away from Halo.

"I'm patched up, I'm awake, aren't I?" pressed Halo angrily.

"W- uh, yeah, but-"

"Just because you've been fixed up doesn't mean you're well enough to leave here. Besides, where would you go?"

Halo thought for a minute, looking hard at the doctor, then down at the cap in her hands. "I . . . I have friends . . . living around the east side of Metropolis."

Author's Notes: I know the name Tina sounds like Tima, but Tina was the only name I could think of that went well with how I pictured her and her personality ^_^