“I have a growth on my soul.”

“A tumorous, cancerous growth that’s wormed its way deep within my body and mind, tendrils choking me of happiness, healthiness.”

“I want nothing more than to dig my hands into my skin, to scratch and claw at the tumor until I can tear it out and leave it bleeding on the ground! Yet, no matter how bad it itches, how hot it burns, I’ve found that I’m completely unable to touch it. No matter how sick, vile, and fucking twisted that growth becomes, I’m not allowed to remove it.”

“Every day it sits there, festering, taunting me. It’s enough to drive a man mad, you know. I just want to be free of this curse, yet I must wait.”

“And with every day, second, and minute spent waiting I can feel it growing in my chest, the very thought of it tearing me apart.”

“You three don’t understand the agony, do you? The pain of having a growth, a Jasper Redgrave burrowed deep into your heart. Sure, all of you have had people you hate in your life, you all have people you can’t fucking stand even now.”

“Yet, you’re allowed to do something about it, aren’t you?”

“Felix, Friendly Felix… I won’t lie to you, I feel horrible for what your friendship with Doom has become. To give your body and soul to symbiosis only to find that he was bleeding you dry of your happiness for himself. Leaving the entirety of Arcadia in a hail of drone fire as he tries to finish what he started.”

“Still, you can fight back. You can take this sickness in your hands and work to cure yourself. As deep as he’s dug in, you’re still allowed to try and dig him out.”

“Grimskull, Muerte, you two aren’t simply digging into flesh are you? You’re digging into each other. Blaming one another for all the pain and strife that’s taken over your lives. I can see you ready, looking at one an other like the cancer that’s ruining your souls.”

“You’re allowed to dig it out. Right here, right now.”

“And, to tell you the truth? I’m jealous. No, I’m down right fucking envious of you three. I see the blood spilling from your wound as you dig at the growths that torment you. I see the tears, the agony… The release. The pure ecstasy of finally being allowed to itch that scratch deep in the back of your mind.”

“While all I can do is wait.”

“And I’m fucking tired of waiting.”

“I’m pissed, I’m tired, and that growth keeps fucking festering in my chest.”

“And I’m so sorry, but you three are going to be how I release this pain.”

“If I can’t tear at Jasper? Then I’ll tear at you. The moles in my arm, the scabs on my skin. All three of you are getting dug out by the long arm of the Law!”

“Because, despite it all? Despite the blood on my hands and the pain in my chest…”

“I’m still the Law.”