THE AUTHORITY AVERSION

Authority is a double-edged sword, and as a super villain I know that all too well.

I have hated authority for a very long time. Authority figures told me who to be, and how to live. Even when I was a superhero they told me to scram. They told me what I was doing was a nuisance. And when my world came crumbling down, what did authority do? Nothing. They let me crack into a million pieces, and then when I put myself back together and found Mysterion they told me I was wrong.

Authority broke me, then authority refused to let me heal myself the only way I could.

And so Mysterion came to be, and I had a funny realisation.

Now I’m the authority.

I want and expect people to follow me into the new world I’m building, but I’m the judge, jury and executioner. I call the shots. I struggled with that realisation for a long time.

It’s a tough line to balance.

I came to see that authority was necessary. But I believe in a truer justice. Those in need will always have a fair hearing in my court. Those who have been downtrodden by those who should have protected them have shelter in my sanctuary. Those who feel outcast from society have a place in my world.

I think you’d fit right in, Nightstick.

I think you struggle with authority as much as I do. You’re the kind of authority I grew up hating, but you don’t seem much fonder of it than me. I have seen you flout the rules because you see the best outcome and want it at any cost. I’ve seen you put the lives of others at risk just for a DNA test that would prove the outcome you want.

Tell me how is that any different than what I do?

It’s tiring isn’t it, Nightstick, trying to keep the peace? It’s like trying to put a raging fire out with more flames.

There is still a difference between us though, Nighty. You clearly have not come to terms with the line you stand on. You’re scared of straddling the fence of authority in case you get splinters, but let me tell you a secret. The fence is so comfortable. I have found my element up here, and I think you could be brilliant up here too.

Isn’t it crazy? We’re just two people at two different stages of acceptance, but people see the hero in you and the villain in me? And when you realise the same thing I did, and accept that you aren’t the hero they want because you have seen that sometimes the bad stuff needs to happen to make the world fairer, they’ll leave your side too.

And when they leave, you’ll realise their approval didn’t mean a damn thing anyway. Then you’ll be free.

And I for one will welcome such a resourceful man on the “dark side”…