Another night in this city, and there is nothing but crime. It seems during all this time away, nothing has changed. Hope was gone, and I failed to notice.
Criminals still prey on the weak and the vulnerable. Trying to eek out whatever existence they may have had. A villain will take whatever opportunity there is to come out and take control.
I’ve seen them creep out of every corner since all the heroes left.
Since I left. I thought my work was done, that I’d finally put to rest the worst of the worst out there. I thought that my message was loud and clear, that heroes were still out there. That all it’d take is for good people to stand up, and push back, to stop the rise of crime and villainy.
I underestimated the fear in the hearts, and the lack of hope. I failed to see that while I was out there fighting the good fight, other heroes had fallen. That I had failed more, and villains were preying on that fear.
I thought the good people would rise up and fight back at the first sign of emerging darkness. That I had provided enough of a guiding light to the path of fighting evil.
But you were shining a brighter light, weren’t you?
A light for the criminals. I may have gotten you to slink back into the shadows, to lick your wounds. But what you did was a strategic retreat. You went back into the darkness, to wait.
Like a coiled snake, you waited for the right time to strike. And strike you did, harder than I had ever anticipated.
Once the last hero stood down, you came back out of the shadows to bring back the villains. You danced to the sound of the cries of the innocent, you created a symphony of suffering.
You amplified the cries for a hero to come and rescue them. You believed we were all gone and you had nothing left to fear.
I ignored those cries, believing when they fell silent that the good people had stood up to comfort the hurting and fight the evils.
But what it was, was you killing them. Was you finally having enough of those cries and taking their last breath, their last hope, and snuffing it out.
Those cries have risen again, a call to the heroes of this world. A call for help, from the darkest pits of despair.
They cried out for a hero, and I’ve begun to listen again.
I hear their cries, and I hear their pleas. It’s time for me to shine the beacon once more, and show them that we have not all abandoned them.
That we are still out there, listening. That in their darkest hour, a hero will still come and answer their cries. That they aren’t being ignored, or silenced any longer.
That their hope for a hero, is still worth something.
So, Mysterion. No Face.
Know this.
When darkness falls,
A HERO will RISE!