Caped Crusaders

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's...

I am vengeance. I am the night!! I... AM...

You're friendly neighborhood...

It's funny.

I always wondered what the thrill of being a "superhero" was all about.

Was it the attention?

I see them — Eating it all up.

The feeling of purpose becomes satisfaction.

To have all that power at your disposal, just so you won't feel disposed of.

You see, a hero's work is never done.

The purpose of concealing oneself isn't to protect your loved ones. It's because you don't know how to come out of your phone booth.

Though you leap buildings in a single bound.

Can soar across necklace diamond skies.

It’ll never be enough.

You will never be on time for love my Scarlet Speedster

Moments will forever pass you by — so long as you disguise your true intentions.

But who would love Bruce Wayne if they knew he was a vigilante?

Don’t be fooled by Miss Lane. She fell for the man of steel.

Not the ace reporter.

And miss Kyle found her desires in the coward behind the cowl.

She never cared for the traumatized little boy, still mourning the death of his parents.

There's no "getting the guy" or the "girl falling for you"

Regardless of who you save — someone will always curse your name.

But You have no time for personal affection anyway. Only affliction

Because although there are people screaming your name there's never anyone home to say, "I love you."

No one to confide in

So I hide in the confines of my cave.

Convincing myself that this facade of a fortress will bring me solitude.

Forgetting the other adjectives that define the word;

Seclusion, withdrawal, isolation, loneliness

Maybe that's why Peter could never marry Jane.

No matter how many times I came to your rescue.

No matter how many villains I’ve slain

I am not worthy of you.

The person under this mask could never be what you needed...

I used to blame uncle Ben for not being there.

Maybe he could've helped me sculpt my feelings into something contrary to this dichotomy of a figure 8 that "be stills my beating heart"

But I'm not allowed to feel that way.

With all this power, my responsibility is to the people.

Never myself. Fighting evil. Watching good girls turn bad.

Young men turn to villainy.

As I, “The People’s Champion,” Continue the fight internally

So I can be the hero you deserve and not the one you need right now.

But what if...

What if I were to finally hang my cape and relinquish this responsibility back to the gods from which they came;

Who would rescue me from a tree?

Catch me from falling off a balcony?

Save me from a burning building?

Save my soul from being flooded with the forces of the dark side? This feels like the greatest Jedi mind trick ever.

Imagine.

Drinking water from the river Styx out of a holy grail

Then rushing to save others from their end, Whilst at my wits end,

All for the hope of a happy ending.

But that's what it means to be a hero.

To burden the hate, fury, and pain of the world because no ones is capable of saving themselves.

The irony,

“No one is capable of saving themselves.”

I've yet to find someone who can save me.

But all heroes know that that day is nigh

And that our salvation only comes in death, and our legacies with those we've touched.

So I'll dawn my cape one last time

I'll wear this mask you see before you

Because this is is face that faces adversity.

This is the face of a true hero.

Always smiling, never wavering,

Forever hiding the sorrow that stains the path laid out before us in a heroes death.

Waiting for my hero to save me

But would you save me knowing my true identity?

I am... (Suffering)