More than two weeks had passed since he first felt the shift in the balance. There were actually constant shifts in the balance between Darkness and Light but this was a significant shift. The first signs came from the west in the capital city, the seat of power. Of course they would strike there first. Communications with Washington, DC were lost within the first few hours as hell spewed forth from the White House itself. The demonic power that radiated from from its epicenter interfered with all forms of communication. The Darkness had consumed the city within 48 hours. The more troops they sent in to take back the nation’s capitol, the quicker it spread. It appeared like the troops were actually feeding the expanse of the Darkness.<br/><br/>The next option of course, after billions of dollars worth of air to surface missiles were expended with no effect, was to nuke the capitol. The missile containing the nuclear warhead was deflected by some archaic means that they didn’t even begin to comprehend and Baltimore was turned into a wasteland. In the two weeks since, the Darkness had spread from the capital into the surrounding states. Reports of what seemed to be savage animalistic human looking beasts have been pouring out of the Dark Zone and attacking everything that moves. The victims then rise and join the ranks of these zombie-like creatures.<br/><br/>It seems that as more lives are lost to these creatures, the quicker the Darkness spreads. They have been dubbed Harvesters because it seemed whatever they are doing, it is feeding the Darkness The Military has set up a perimeter around the perimeter of the Darkness to try and hold back the hordes of creatures that attempt to spread from the city. They have had minimal success. The rate of expansion is increasing exponentially and it is expected that within another two weeks, the Northeast United States  and Southeast Canada will be lost; and within a month, the whole of North America.<br/><br/><a class="postlink" href="http://im.ziffdavisinternational.com/ign_es/screenshot/default/newmap-blood-1080-1445971012_6w8c.jpg"><span style="color: tomato">Bane’s</span></a>first intentions were too split the Disciples in half and bring half with him to the west to combat the darkness at its core. This plan changed immediately when small patches of the Darkness began to show in different spots throughout Europe and Asia as well as other portions of the world. He decided to travel to the west alone and leave his Disciples to defend the east. They were too small to face a threat of this magnitude and it was time to bring in more. He intended to find others in the west to help combat the rise of the Darkness with him and create an additional faction of Disciples.<br/><br/>It was not easy in this day and age for someone with no identity to cross the Atlantic in a timely manner. Flight was out of the question which left the water. Even then, North America was now a quarantine zone, nobody out and nobody in. He was forced to swim onto shore after being dropped off several miles off the coast. Another week was lost traversing the ocean before the Hunter Bane touched American soil in New York City.<br/><br/>Bane knew that in order to stop the spread of the Darkness, it would have to done at its core in what used to be the White House. He had seen the pictures on the newscasts taken from the air and from the satellites in space, nothing about the city was still recognizable. He didn’t know or understand why, but he had yet to see or feel any action taken yet by the forces of Light. The Army of Light had made no move it protecting its interest to slow the tipping of the scales.<br/><br/>He knows that maintaining the balance was his duty, his purpose, but he would think that an insurgence of this magnitude would evoke some sort of response. He wasn’t even sure who would have the power to pull off such a feat as melding the two realms but the list had to be short. He would find out soon enough. His next task was to get past the military as well as the hordes of Harvesters without becoming a target. As it was, he could hear the screams of the humans which indicated that the Harvesters had reached New York City. The population of a city like New York would increase the expansion considerably.<br/><br/>Bane knew that though many lives were being lost to the Harvesters, but he would be wasting his time battling them. He was sure that to end this that he would need to shut down the original portal. It was of course just a guess but it was a very educated guess. He had been traveling north through the city by rooftop to try and avoid being detained with cumbersome conflicts. he was making decent time leaping and teleporting from on roof to another but he wasn’t moving quick enough. He would need to acquire some form of transportation if he intended to reach the capitol in time to make a difference. It seems he would have to take it to the streets and try to commandeer a vehicle of some sort if he were going to make the kind of time that he needed to.<br/><br/>He didn’t drop to the streets immediately but instead traveled along the edges of the building’s roofs so that he could watch the streets below. it was then that he saw exactly the transportation that he needed to travel within the morphed land of the Darkness. He dropped down to street level in the next alley and was immediately set upon by a couple of stray Harvesters. Bane had battles demons and angels alike, the pair of mutated humans were no match for the Hunter. The wakizashi materialized from the black mist that formed around his hand and he drove it through the forehead of the first Harvester to reach him. The blade entered his forehead a little high and center of his eyes and exited the back of his skull.<br/><br/>Bane left the short sword in the head of the Harvester and spun around him towards the second. When he completed the spin he was wielding a katana which he used the decapitate the second Harvester. The sword shimmered and then seemed to waft away in the slight breeze of the alleyway as it transformed back into the black mist. if he had turned to look upon the wakizashi left in the head of the first Harvester, it had done the same. The streets weren’t complete chaos yet but a non-mandatory evacuation was in progress and the two Harvesters that he killed were a sign that many more would make it this far before too long.<br/><br/>Bane peered from the mouth of the alley and spotted the mounted cop that he had seen from the rooftops. The cop had stayed within the same five yard square directing traffic as best he could and keeping an eye out for muggers. Normally the cop would be watching for looters too but the people were more important that the insured merchandise from storefront windows. Being on horseback gave the cop a mostly unobstructed view of the area that he was watching. Bane could sense the balance of Light and Dark within the cop and knew his thoughts and actions were of the Light but he could not let that deter him from the path that was set before him. Perhaps this was the Light’s way of providing assistance in this war. Whatever the case, opportunity stood before him and he acted.<br/><br/>While the cop’s attention was drawn away from him. Bane covered the twenty yards or so between them in virtually the blink of an eye. When the cop caught movement in his peripheral, it was too late. Bane’s boot caught the cop on the side of the head and sent him sailing from his perch. using the kick to the cop’s head to slow his momentum, Bane settled down into the saddle of the horse. The cop looked up at the dark imposing figure astride his horse and hesitated for a second before reaching for his firearm though it would have done him little good against the Hunter.. In that second, Bane and the horse were galloping away towards the heart of the Darkness.