Entry for 2024 Writers Contest You’re on the news again. “World’s Greatest Hero Prevents Disaster Once Again!” What a laugh. You’re no hero. You save people because you like the rewards that come with playing the ‘good guy’. You fight villains because you like the feeling of crushing others… while being cheered for it. It wasn’t power that made you like this; this was always how you were. It’s just that power made it easier for you. Everyone talks about all the people you’ve saved, all the criminals you’ve stopped, the feats that you’ve accomplish. They never talk about the man who disappeared after he refused to sell you a priceless family heirloom. Or the woman whose livelihood you destroyed with a few malicious words, when she refused to go out with you. Or the child you couldn’t be bothered to save because no one else was watching. Or the elderly couple who were gravely injured due to one of your drunken ‘pranks’. Or the young aspiring hero who tragically died in an ‘unfortunate accident’, so that no one would ever learn where you’d really gotten your power from. My fist clenches unconsciously by my side. Old wounds, old memories. I still remember that smug look on your face when you shoved me backwards into the Abyss, so sure, so confident you’d get away with it. That even if anyone suspected what had truly happened, it would be ignored, just like all of your countless previous crimes. That everyone will pretend it never happened, like they always do. I’m not even sure if it’s because the public are truly blinded by your golden image… or if they just fear what would happen if they acknowledged you as a villain. But whatever it is, you won’t get away with it any longer. Your stolen power won’t protect you. I will take everything from you, just like you’ve taken it from countless others. Your wealth, your fame, your power. All things that are no more yours than that fake tragic backstory you plagiarized from others whose names you’ve long forgotten. Because I wasn’t the only thing that crawled back out of the Abyss you threw me in. And We are angry. We are the Whisper Men. We are the Guilt and the Conscience you never had. We are Revenge. We are Retribution. And now, We are BACK.