Sophronia, or Sophie as she usually went, sat in a corner of the community center while other people argued. She had been driving when the quakes hit. Luckily, she had just gotten off the overpass on her way out to visit her constituents (well, her bosses constituents), and was able to pull over and stop before the quake hit in full force. Living in LA, she'd always known that an earthquake was a possibility, but she'd never expected it to be as violent as it was. If she hadn't been wearing her seat belt, she would probably have been severely injured or even killed from bouncing around inside her car. As it was, she only ended up with extensive bruising.<br/><br/>The tremors had seemed to last<em>hours</em>, but by the time on her phone, the main shock seemed to only have lasted about thirty minutes. The roads behind her were a mess, so she had continued onward, hoping to meet with some of the community leaders she knew in the area.<br/><br/>The neighborhood was in relatively good shape structurally, but it was obvious pretty quickly that the utilities were out in the whole area. Sophie had made an effort to 'rally the people', but the bruising on her chest had been much worse than she thought, and the most she was able to do was lend some authority to others as a representative of the government. That had been two weeks ago. Things went okay for a few days, but as the days kept passing with no power, or running water, or help from the government, things started to get tense. After six days, one of the local gang leaders had decided to take things into his own hands and declared 'martial law'. They started confiscating the few remaining supplies for 'rationing'. Sophie had tried to take a stand, but had just gotten pistol whipped for her trouble. Other's got worse. There had been more than one gunfight. Now the holdouts were holed up in the old community center and arguing about what to do next while Sophie nursed her tired and battered body.<br/><br/>"We can't just let them win. They're the worst kind of people!"<br/><br/>"Well we can't fight them either. It's just a matter of time before they get tired of threatening us and just start shooting."<br/><br/>"We should just wait it out! It's been two weeks, surely the government will be here soon!"<br/><br/>"We haven't heard<em>anything</em>. For all I can tell, there is no government any more!"<br/><br/>"They're coming!"<br/><br/>The warning filled Sophie with dread.<br/><br/>"Open up the doors!" A voice echoed from outside. "We want to talk."<br/><br/>"He's full of shit! It's a trick!"<br/><br/>"A trick to do what? They can take us whenever they want. Maybe if we talk we can work something out..."<br/><br/>The voices lowered enough that Sophie couldn't hear any more.<br/><br/>"If you don't open those doors in ten seconds, we're gonna drive a truck through them and shoot every motherfucker in there."<br/><br/>They opened the doors on six. Winston Brown strolled in like he owned the place, a half dozen of his boys behind him. Michael, one of the people arguing before spoke up, his voice only slightly tinted by fear. "What do you want Winston?"<br/><br/>"You know what I want Mike. I run this place now, and you gotta fall in line, or my boys are gonna drop you in a line. You get me?" Sophie didn't even need to look to see his cruel smirk.<br/><br/>"So submit or die? That's really what this has come to Winston?" Michael's voice rose as he spoke. "We were your neighbors, Your friends! Bobby, you know better than this!" He spoke directly to one of the young men behind Winston. "You and my boy Roy went to school together. You used to play in my back yard! What are you doi~"<br/><br/>"Shut the fuck up!" Winston shouted. The building echoed with the sound of a jaw cracking and a scream of pain.<br/><br/>"STOP IT!" It took a few moments for Sophie to realize that she had been the one to shout. Everyone was looking at her in confusion. And yet, her aches and pains seemed to be fading away. She staggered to her feet.<br/><br/>Winston waved his gun at her. "What the fuck did you say bitch?"<br/><br/>Sophie felt no fear, which was odd, because she was fairly certain that she was terrified of Winston Brown. And yet, she did not. She took three steps forward, her posture straightening with each step. A fire was burning in her belly. "I said, stop it."<br/><br/>"Hey, didn't I slap the shit out of you just last week? You coming back for more? I told you before that I run this place, and that nobody tells me what to fucking do! So you sit the fuck down right now or I'm gonna put a bullet in you!" Spittle flew from his lips as he screamed in rage.<br/><br/>The fire grew within her. Sophie closed her eyes. The fire filled her, and serenity came with it. Sophronia opened her eyes, and saw the lines of loyalty and fear that bound them together. How the young men followed Winston, while the others split their trust and loyalty between Michael and the other leaders. The threads leading to Michael were already frayed and drifting towards Winston, but they had not yet connected. They drifted in limbo as their confrontation played out. "You will not." And she knew it to be true. A small smile graced her lips.<br/><br/>"FUCKING CU~" The report of the pistol echoed through the building, followed by the meaty slap of a bullet penetrating a human skull. Winston fell, dead before he hit the floor.<br/><br/>"It's dangerous to fire guns indoors. Ricochet's are unpredictable." Everyone in the room was staring at her in awe. Sophronia felt<em>amazing</em>. She strode over to Michael and helped him up. She was taller than he was, which was odd, since she was quite certain she had been several inches shorter before.<br/><br/>"Wh-what are you?" One of the others asked. Sophronia looked at her quizzically, tilting her head. As she did, she felt something up there tilt with it. She reached up to feel, discovering what could only be described as giant<em>rabbit ears</em>growing out of the top of her head. Confused, she looked down at herself. Before, Sophia had been pretty, but unremarkable. Now... It was like a dream. Her skin was smooth and practically<em>glowed</em>with health. She was taller, curvier, and fitter than she could ever have hoped to be. Her clothes had already been in rough shape, and now she was practically exploding out of them at every seam.<br/><br/>“I... am the one in charge.” The threads of loyalty snapped tight to Sophronia, as though she had gathered them all in a giant spectral fist. She felt the power coursing around and through her. Sophronia walked to Michael and knelt beside him, laying a hand upon his shattered and bleeding face. “Don’t worry. So long as you follow me everything will be fine.”<br/><br/>An invisible wave of energy swept out from her. Michael’s jaw knit itself together in seconds. Scrapes and cuts disappeared as fatigue fell away. Sophronia laughed with delight, and her new followers laughed with her.