“Maxwell was a fearful man. Ever since the arson attack, it only seemed natural that he would become one.”
“Gone was the legendary hero that would brave anything despite fearing it. In its place was a coward that couldn’t look at an open flame without being reminded of the attack that nearly wiped out the Rijen name.”
“The fire acted as a shovel that buried him into the grave where the headstone identified him as the Burned Man.”
“However, something unnatural crawled out that nobody was expecting. A being that was obsessed with delivering the justice that Maxwell was too scared to bring about himself.”
“Once I emerged from his grave, it became clear that I’m not the paranoid man that was afraid of combusting. Instead, I embrace the flames because I know that they don’t signal the end.”
“They signal the beginning of something new.”
“I rose from the ashes, unafraid of whatever or whoever might try to make me meet my end. I’m free of the weight of fear that was once bound to the Burned Man, allowing me to focus on bringing justice to those that need to be punished.”
“Maxwell met his end twice already, Tombstone. Neither time never really killed him. In truth, they merely evolved him from a lackadaisical hero, to a cowardly mummy, and finally to the embodiment of vengeance you see before you.”
“As I stare you down with fire in my eyes, I smile to myself, knowing that nothing you could do to me would end me. You see, I’m not just the manifestation of Maxwell’s vengeance, the fires his rage.”
“I’m the spirit of every unjustly killed citizen of Arcadia that you dragged to the afterlife against their will.”
“The raging inferno of their grief, the personification of the justice you refuse to serve. Despite all the power that you wield, all you do is ‘your job’. Just like the fire that took Sarah and disfigured Maxwell, all you did is what you were ‘made’ to do.”
“You and the flames work in harmony. It kills, you ferry. You do your jobs in tandem and don’t challenge what’s considered natural.”
“But I do. I’m an unnatural being that’s not afraid of fire like Maxwell was. I was born after he died, using his body as a vessel to carry out the justice that the dearly departed deserve.”
“There was a time where he would’ve feared meeting you again, Ferryman. There was a time where the fight in the mortuary scarred him and made him afraid of facing you. But this time you face a being that fears no flame and will not allow you to ferry it.”
“But you have to try. It’s in your nature to try and ferry me to the afterlife.”
“However, you will fail. You will fall into the fires of the inferno and face a new beginning. One where you will be judged by the scales of justice, which are unnaturally tipping in my favor.”