Rebirth

"What the hell is he...? Is he even human? It's been over 48 hours and not once has he slept, asked for food, even water...Does he require no substance at all?" Wondered the Senior Inspector out loud to the Prison Warden at his side. "I'm not sure what else to do at all, besides monitor and observe him. He's just been sitting there with that mask on his face all this time. And with those horrible green eyes...just staring at me, piercing my soul."

The Inspector had been called in on his week off and personally been handed the duty of monitoring the mysterious supervillain that had been delivered to their jail. He barely knew anything about him except the rumors that had been revolving around the globe. Both the Warden and him were quietly staring at the man confined in the 'Threat Level SSS' interrogation cell through the one-way mirror inside. "Heartless bastard. I've been with some supervillains that have some great powers but even they require some sort of nourishment, something, anything...he's just been kneeling there with a neck harness, both hands chained to the walls, energy shackles keeping him in place...and he has barely even spoken."

"Something is very off about him." grumbled the Warden in a low voice. "At least if it was some other villain, I'd know what his powers were...however, it seems like this one doesn't have any at all which is strange." He almost uneasily toyed with the emergency Extreme Red Alert button on his watch. "In just a matter of three years he was able to not only fool every single other villain and hero but he was also able to cause the most chaos, carnage, and destruction without doing much of anything. I don't even know what we're going to charge him with; there's almost no proof of his deeds. And most of the villains following him are mentally insane, yet he was able to make them listen and follow orders. He's the mastermind behind the masterminds. The real 'Supervillain'."

It was a chilling sight before the two officers. The supervillain confined before him was still clothed in his black leather trench coat, a metal mask covering his lower face forming that horribly sadistic smile that had become such an ominous sign around the world. His dark hair still standing like spears, shaping almost a crown on his head. And his green, empty eyes...

"This psychopath is responsible for the deaths of millions. Yet his eyes are so calm...like he isn't insane at all." Remarked the Warden slowly, minutely scrutinizing the villain. Even through the one-way mirror, he couldn't shake the feeling that Reaper could see him. "The only thing I think we can charge him for is assaulting an officer and resisting arrest. He critically injured and maimed over 60 officers and SWAT Members single-handedly."

"60?" whispered the Inspector in horror.

The Warden scoffed. "And did that all almost bare handed. It took at least 20 officers to remove that damn knife from his hands and he only stopped after the hero Bone Spider webbed him."

"But 60 officers...60 fucking officers...with no powers shown at that?" questioned the appalled Inspector. He turned to the supervillain with even more amazement "I don't even know what the fuck to call him, or if it is indeed a him, I only called him that after you told me he was indeed a male, even though his voice is very gentle. He sounds like if the most pure and softest silk in the world had a voice. Which is all the more unnerving...we tried removing his clothing and give him a jumpsuit as part of standard procedure and especially take off that damn mask....he almost ripped an arm off when one of the correctional guards just grazed it with a thumb."

"That guard came out with a broken hand and paid leave." Said the Warden. "We're lucky he didn't die."

The Inspector stared at Reaper in silence for a few moments. "I know it's wrong of me to want someone to just die...but he's responsible for so many lives lost...where the hell did he even get that nuke from...? He LEVELED the entire city of Huntsville."

"We're lucky we had Proton to erase the radioactive fallout that followed...even at the cost of his own life." The Warden slowly lit a somber cigar. "But they say it was a nuke with a very small yield...just a little bigger and even Proton wouldn't have been able to contain it."

The Inspector remembered the blazing headlines of that day 2 years ago when a literal nuclear weapon had been set off in the country. "The kids online and the news are calling him the most dangerous and infamous supervillain to ever exist... are they even wrong?"

"Reaper."

Suddenly inspired by his newfound burning anger and hatred, the Inspector leaned forward and depressed the intercom button. "Are you ready to talk now, Reaper?" His voice crackled over the loudspeaker. "We can do this all week if we have to."

A pause. Then a soft voice answered. "Very well."

The Warden and the Inspector looked at each other, then gravely nodded. "Come on." The Chief muttered. He swiped his card over the reader and the massive security door of the cell smoothly slid into the ceiling.

Both the officers entered the hauntingly white cell, completely devoid of any traces of life. Their prisoner still kneeled, completely still like a demonic statue.

"Are you ready to answer my questions now? How you were able to break into a secure facility and steal a thermonuclear weapon?" Demanded the Warden.

Reaper looked up. His cold green eyes almost evaluated the Warden standing above him; no hatred, no anger, no fear in them...just pragmatism. Under the metal mask, he almost smiled.

"Oh, in due time Chief..." he said with his silky voice. "But first don't you wanna know my story? Know me a little more? So you know why...I did what I did..."

The Inspector bit his lip. He was burning with an undying desire to know what drove a supervillain as vile as Reaper, "Fine...enlightenment us then..."

"My story started when I was young and innocent...my eyes full of wonder. I fell in love with the world of heroes, the fantasy had become reality. The strength, the determination of heroes. The ability to save someone's life...the willingness to fight against all the wrongs of this world. I used to watch them all the time and fervently DREAMT to be one...one day..."

"What the fuck does this have to do with how you end up here?" Demanded the irate Warden. He didn't like how calm Reaper was being.

"If you'll let me finish then I will tell you..." He said patiently. "My father was never around much...I never got to see him often as I'd liked...and my Mom was busy too...she was in the same line of work as my father. No brothers or sisters either...I was always alone growing up. Which was fine; it never bothered me much as I was in school most of the day anyway. Even there I always felt the need to help others...in any way I could...help anyone who needed it." Almost a tone of sadness came over his delicate voice. "However, everybody just laughed and ignored me...after all, my powers were so useless compared to theirs. That's the thing about kids," he added. "needlessly cruel. Especially this one kid...he used to pick on me all the time...bully me, beat me...told me I was worthless. A disgrace. He fucking hated me even though I admired him so much. I wanted to be him, if even for a day...he was so popular, so cool...his powers were so great." Reaper paused. "But he never liked me. Always humiliated me. Told me to go kill myself...and I'm not going to lie...I thought about it...for a while."

"And then one day, I met him...a poor abandoned kid about my age, crying in the rain by the side of the road." Reaper scoffed. "I always wanted to be a hero...and this was my chance. I ran over to him and put my raincoat over his shoulders as I sat down beside him. At first, he was shocked. But I didn't show any signs of leaving him alone in the rain, so he finally opened up and told me his story. Told me he had been an orphan all his life. Had always been forced to steal and beg by the slum villains...till today when he had finally gotten the courage and ran away...but now, the world seemed so strange. He didn't know what to do in the slightest.

Reaper almost genuinely smiled at the memory he was replaying so vividly behind his eyes. "I took him in...invited him to my house. My parents were rich and powerful...they'd look after him."

"For a villain who kills people just as easily as he looks at them, you're really trying to paint yourself as a saint now?" asked the Inspector. "None of this sob story bullshit will help you in court."

Reaper scoffed again. "I wasn't a saint...I was an idiot. That kid was...a hero through and through. Unrivaled powers, unrivaled looks...unending determination, and sheer willpower. He was the epitome of what a hero should be. And my father was ecstatic when he discovered that." Reaper looked up at the Warden, his sly eyes bright as his words slowed down. "Finally. Finally, my father had a worthy successor. Finally, ZEUS had a worthy heir."

A stunned silence rung in the air. For a second, nothing moved. Even the air seemed to stand still as the two officers stood overwhelmed with shock.

"Wait, Zeus...the ZEUS was your father?" asked the Inspector incredulously. The shining ex-Number 1 hero of the world was a man of legend. With a career spanning almost 4 decades, he was an icon in the world of superheroes. His feats as he fought against impossible odds were still given as example so many years after his retirement.

"But that means...it was TITAN you found that day!?" shouted The Warden in shock. Titan, the current Number 1 Hero of the World, son of Zeus. A man hailed as the 'Hope of the World'. The one man who had surpassed the symbol of Zeus. As an ocean of villains had risen after his father's retirement, only Titan had been the one who was strong enough to punch a hole in that tsunami of evil. Only Titan went against the most powerful villains and almost singlehandedly, he completely decimated the Supervillain Guild. Right now, he was not only America's, but also the entire world's shining icon of hope admiration...he was the World's Hero.

Reaper smiled. "Yes. Titan isn't his biological son." His eyes slyly shined once again. "Bet you never knew that, did you? Father took careful care to never let the world find out. Let the world believe that the Great Zeus birthed the Unstoppable Symbol of Hope, Titan." Reaper scoffed and his gaze fell "With a surrogate son like Titan...the shining promise he glowed with...I was quickly shown my place. I had always been his biggest disgrace after all...but now he could do away with me. My own father...the best of the best...the one person in the entire world I wanted the most to impress...told me I was no good. Instead, I got shipped off to a decrepit old town where the once great supervillain Retro lived in his seedy mansion."

"You're bullshitting. Zeus killed Retro."

Reaper almost laughed. "No. Zeus made a deal with Retro. The government gave Retro money and immunity for his crime, in exchange for retirement. A request. If Zeus would've fought him, the outcome was 50/50 in either direction...and if the Great Zeus had lost even a single fight, that would've tarnished the image of the World's Number 1 hero. A scratch on the Symbol of Peace. And so, a deal was made with a villain."

"You're bullshitting." repeated the Inspector, his voice hushed, unwilling to believe what he was hearing.

"Anyway, after I was out of the picture, my father started introducing Titan as his 'son'. Nobody knew he had two, so most thought Titan was the only and greatest son of Zeus. Titan went on to win many Junior Hero awards, enrolled in Ultra Academy and passed top of his class with honors. Then, as a professional hero, under the tutelage...and 'connections'...of my father climbed to the top of the Hero Hierarchy."

"As for me...well, the world quickly forgot about me. Retro was a bitter villain who had drunk all his fortune away years ago, and now regretted his retirement and powerlessness. And then, like a miracle, Zeus himself hands him his own helpless son to exact revenge on for all the bitterness he felt. Day after day...night after night...he beat me...abused me...raped me...and I bore with it...powerless. After all, my powers could never match his even with him being so old. Every day, I would pray that one day my father would come back and save me...hoped....begged. But with each passing month, each new newspaper headline highlighting Titan's climb as a hero...I lost a piece of that hope...again and again, till there was nothing left. Just a husk of my previous self. While Titan shone brighter than the stars, I was being sold as a child whore to pay for Retro's alcohol..."

The Senior Inspector fell quiet, but the Warden spoke in his usual grumbly tone. "So, just because you had an unfair childhood, it gives you the right to kill millions? Is that it?"

"No." smiled Reaper. "Even with the entire world devoid of hope, I never wanted to hurt others. But, there was no path left for me. One day as I shifted through the trashcans like a rag-picker, searching for a newspaper, I saw the week old headline...Titan had become the World Number 1 Junior Hero." He almost grinned. "The last ember of hope in me gave out. Everything got silent after that..."

"That very afternoon, I climbed on top of the dilapidated mansion where I had been abandoned by my family. From the edge of the roof, even the ever-overcast weather of that town seemed just a little brighter." Reaper paused. "There...everything was at peace...even me."

"And then?" whispered the Inspector.

Reaper looked up at him. "And then I jumped." He said simply. "I jumped off of the roof...and no hero was there to save me. Fell down five stories. That fall I didn't even scream for help...the wind was deafening as I was falling faster towards the ground...and I closed my eyes. I heard the violent thud when I hit the surface and then...darkness. Nothing. I thought for sure I was dead, that I was finally free."

Reaper chuckled. "But I couldn't be shown even that mercy. I didn't die from the fall...Not even death would take me...I had been abandoned by EVERYTHING. When I woke up, I was in a bed with IVs and blood bags around me. There was this girl there, she said that they were able to save me. The stench of my blood was disgusting as well as the pus I spewed; Retro had thrown my body in a sewer and I had rotted there for a week...denied the luxury of death. My pillow was covered in blood, a little pus, sweat, and soon enough tears. I tried screaming but the most I could I pull off something that sounded close to a death rattle."

"As I was calmed down against my will with drugs, I noticed that I wasn't in a hospital. Not a certified one anyway. This was a blackmarket clinic that the villains ran. It had been VILLAINS who had dragged my rotting carcass out of the body...cleaned me, nourished me...saved me. In that state of subconsciousness induced from the drugs, I had a lot of time to just...think. Think about heroes, villains, and our society. I realized that the Heroes were just a false symbol. All those valiant Heroes from the commercials...were just called Heroes as a franchise. They don't show up when all your hope is lost, when you're desperately begging for help...they show up when the politics are correct. If I had been Titan, the promising new rookie, suffering from depression, 50 so-called Heroes would've shown up at my door within the hour...but because I was a nobody...nobody did. My 'Heroes' instead, had been 'Villains'. I realized, in the end, heroes were just as bad as villains, and villains just as good as heroes...just different labels attached to them because they signed a contract. You don't become a Hero because you have a license...you become one through your actions. But this society...it has ruined the word 'Hero'. You need marketing, commercials, brand deals, policing..." Reaper started laughing in a low tone, his voice almost melodic. "In reality, there is no black and white...just gray. Heroes can be villains, and villains heroes; but society didn't want that. It wanted to live in a black and white lie." He suddenly stopped and his green eyes blazed. "Then it was simple what I should do. On that rickety hospital bed with the bloodied sheets, I had an epiphany. Flynn Ashworth was dead and Reaper was born. My reason for living from this day forth was finally clear. I had to DECIMATE this reign of false gods and icons...of labels. Of Heroes vs Villains. Rip off this veil of false security just like my dreams had been torn from me. I would destroy this symbolism and politics of heroes and villains...and start anew the cycle of society. I would kill all the heroes...kill Titan...and kill Zeus." He suddenly shot his head straight, his eyes burning with savagery. "Revolution was coming."

The Warden and the Inspector unintentionally took a step back from the madman. The level of conviction in his eyes, the hatred, the sheer burning passion he exuded from his presence...it was like a deranged predator.

The Warden calmed himself with a deep breath. "Heh, grand plans, Reaper. But how're you gonna do ANY of that? You're stuck in here with us, and we have no intention of EVER letting you see the outside world ever again."

The calm peacefulness returned over Reaper just as suddenly as it had disappeared. "No." he smiled politely. "I'm not stuck in here with you...YOU'RE stuck in here with ALL the worst villains of the world." Reaper smiled. "All that time you people have been watching me in these chains thinking that you're safe, I've been thinking a number of ways to escape. These heroes are smart but I'm smarter. You think I didn't plan for this...to be captured?" Suddenly, he started laughing almost maniacally. "You can't even tell if I'm bullshiting you or not. Did you believe that entire story I told you? Did you think I said it for pity or acceptance...or to stall?"

The Warden's eyes widened. The way Reaper was talking made his hair stand on end as cold sweat started to run down his back. Almost subconsciously, his fingers brushed with the Extreme Emergency Alert button on his wrist.

Reaper's eyes gleamed with the widest smile yet. "Get rid of the Chief first Roxanne."

"I thought you'd never ask, darling."

The Warden wheeled around at the voice, but all he saw was a quick slash of silver and he collapsed to the ground like a sack of rocks, helplessly bleeding out of his neck by the gallons.

"WHAT THE HELL I NEED BAC—" screamed the Inspector diving for the emergency alert button, but another slash and his hand fell off like butter.

"Don't try to scream, that'll only make it last longer. Now, let me see the light in your eyes be extinguished.", said the blonde girl who had suddenly materialized in the room. She put her arms around his neck, her psychotic blue eyes x-raying the Inspector as she slowly wrung the life out of his body as he clawed with one hand, hopelessly trying to get them off.

"Let me introduce you to Twilight. Her powers are invisibility. She can vanish into thin air leaving behind not even her thermals." Said Reaper pleasantly as the Inspector writhed in front of him. "She sneaked into the interrogation room with you two when you came inside. My right-hand man...is a woman." He chuckled.

Twilight dropped the Inspector at being addressed so lovingly and she shyly looked at Reaper, her wild blue eyes gleaming. The Inspector, his vision red from lack of oxygen, panting for breath on the floor, turned around, still desperately crawling towards the wrist watch of his dead chief.

Twilight kicked him and rolled him over, her blonde hair glimmering in the white light. "How?" asked the Senior Inspector hoarsely. "How!? How did you do all this? Without any powers!"

"Is that the impression I gave you?" asked Reaper curiously, still chained on his knees. "I am sorry about that. I DO have powers. My power is that I do not require sleep or food to survive...my body just...lives."

Twilight sat on the Inspector's chest and put her arms around his neck again, choking whatever little life was left in him. Reaper continued like nothing had disturbed them, his masked, metal smile glinting. "Of course, it does seem like a useless superpower at first. But, I, changed that. I turned it into a lethal weapon. You see, while other supers may have such glamorous powers...they can only do so much till exhaustion catches up and they collapse. But me, I ALWAYS have the whole 24 hours of a day to plan, scheme, invent, research. While all the heroes sleep, I work. No food, no sleep...just plans. I can keep working, keep learning, keep experimenting non-stop. There is nothing stopping me from doing so." His laugh picked up. "And so that's what I did all these years. Kept planning, kept inventing things. Read EVERYTHING. There is no piece of knowledge that I didn't pursue. And as they say, knowledge is the greatest power in this world...and I can get it twice as fast as anyone else." He chuckled melodically again. "My plans can stretch for days on end if I want them to. I have nothing stopping me. Heroes have physical limits...I don't. The hero Gunslinger once kept up with me for 36 hours straight...till his body finally gave out and he collapsed. Heh, what he didn't know was that my plan stretched for 48 hours...he was dead the moment he entered the building...he just didn't know it then."

The light from the Inspector's eyes finally faded as they stared into Reaper's cold, dark green eyes. Twilight got off his body and started to frisk the Chief's carcass. Reaper continued monologuing. "Of course, I had help on that. Without Twilight, I wouldn't have been able to hold him for 36 hours." He looked up as she walked up with a keycard. "She really is more useful than anybody ever thinks."

Twilight swiped the card on his shackles and neck harness. Both things fell away in a hiss of hydrogen as she helped Reaper up. "And she is madly in love with her boss." She smiled, as her lips started hungrily kissing his metal mask, almost ravenously trying to break it apart.