It's time to face facts

...which might actually sound a little bizarre coming from a man in a mask, but that is besides the point.

It has been a rough and at times tortuous 4+ months but the Evil has been vanquished. I must admit to liking that word. "Vanquished" There is a nice sentiment of "squish" in there which is an activity very easily pictured when it comes to stomping out crime (and evil!). Squish it beneath my boot!

My mind, it seems, is wandering away from me. True, not an uncommon situation but tonight it has nothing to do with an overabundance of sugar. For once. Nay, it is merely the weary weight of the world on my shoulders causing my posture to sag a little.

Neither Orion or myself have had any time to update this blog. So, although I tell you now that I have been successful in my defense of the latest, greatest, and stinkiest of battles with the Ancient Evil, it comes with no information for you. There are 4 months of my life you were not privy to!

But that shall change. For I have accepted the truth that there are times when blogging comes in the way of my crime fighting. And thus, to allow communications to still be sent your way, I have agreed to share my blog. When I cannot speak with you but wish to share moments of my continuous battles, I will have my official biographer write in my stead. After all, he has well-documented my life and I trust him well.

For now, that is all I have to say. It's time to patrol!

Dreaming is Free

As someone who has had the privilege of spending time in the Dream State, I no longer approach dreams in the same way most people do.

Of course, the main point of being a super hero is that I am quite unlike "most" people. Still, that is not what I am trying to say.

I know, for example, that all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. Besides being a famous riddle, it is also a hint to the truth of nature. Let me put it another way. Dreams can come true (it can happen to you, if you are young at heart). I am certain you have heard that statement before. But have you really thought about what it means? Is it nothing more than a "fluff" piece about only children can properly hold onto dreams?

Yes, and no.

You see, the biggest problem that happens to children is... they grow up. And in doing so they are "molded" by society to forget what they knew in their hearts as children: that Reality is not the opposite of Dream. It is the flip side of it. Are your dreams any more real to your waking self as your waking self is to your dreams? Ah, the conundrum.

What does all this have to do with what I wanted to say tonight? I am actually not quite certain of that myself! Truthfully, I simply wanted to share the fact that I have recently found myself "chased" in my dreams. Every night (or rather, every evening) for the last week I have awakened with the feeling of something clutching my chest. My limbs, tired and shaky, feel as though we had run a city marathon.

If I were to dismiss this as nothing more than a dream, the question would be: "Why have I been dreaming of being chased?". Never once did I ask myself if I was the one doing the chasing. It has always been that I have been chased. Of course, as I attempted to explain at the start of this post, as a hero who has been on the Other Side... I know more about Dreams than I can publicly share. Thus, the true question I ask myself is, "Who is after me?"

I can only imagine it to be the Ancient Evil. Thus, the dreams are portends of doom. Hence, it is time for me to launch the offensive. My secret weapon must be revealed, soon, before the situation gets out of hand.

I must take a moment and ponder. For that, I have need of coffee. French Vanilla!

Battle Prep.

There is a lot to be said for being creatures of habit. When it comes down to going out on our nightly patrols, The Mysterious Minute-Men just do what they have always been doing. We split up, we head out, we patrol. When we encounter any evil-doers, we dispatch them. Naturally.

It is what we do, as heroes. It is as natural to us as breathing. Or drinking coffee. There is no real "preparation" routine that we go through. Just as normal citizens head out to work every morning, so too do we head out to do our "work".

But what of those unexpected villains, you might ask. And I know that you do, for those unexpected villains are indeed... unexpected. Well, we really have no choice but to trust our instincts, try some battle strategy, and find a solution that works.

There is, however, some preparation that we must go through whenever we expect to go up against a specific criminal. When we know that a villain is at large, we must review all we know of them in order to hone our senses. And, alas, when we learn of some extremely evil villain... an Ancient Evil... then our very survival depends on being as well prepared as possible.

Ancient Evils do not get to be Ancient by easily being defeated. No, they most often are simply beaten for a time. The best one can hope for is such a victory. Failure... defeat... would be disasterous. Fatal. Brutal.

Such is the ... "stench" of the Ancient Evil that has begun to poison our air recently that I retreated into my lair and studied, reviewed, planned, and made myself as ready as possible. After a full and intense day... a strategy was formed.

The strategy will be revealed... soon. For now, it must be properly shared and digested by all who possibly will be implicated in the coming battle. A group review will soon follow and then... once more into the breach!

An Ancient Evil

The streets were deserted tonight. Void of any living beings, the stillness in the air was definitely supernatural.

Taking a deep breath and allowing my mind to access that part of me that still has ties to the other side, I could sense the power keeping everyone away.

An Ancient Evil was loose.

A being so ugly, so malevolent, so impure, as to defy description. And still... I recognized it. I had... "smelled" its like before.

There had been a time... long ago... when this creature had more substance than it does today. That was before I had managed to banish it.

Tonight, it was letting me know that my city and my life was once more in its sights.

Preparation is required. Time to regroup, study my options, and build a strategy.

Tomorrow... or very soon... the games will begin. Again.

Appreciation

When it comes to keeping the streets safe, I and the rest of The Mysterious Minute-Men do what we do not because we need praise. We do it because it must be done. Because we CAN do it. And because we are compelled to do it. For the benefit of the city. Of the people. Of our way of life.

Regardless of what Orion may try to let you believe, it is not always fun and games. Well, actually, it is rarely fun and games. We deal in people's lives and livelihood. That is what protecting Metro City is all about.

However, I will say, that at the end of the day, or in the case of recent events, at the end of a very tiring week, there is an indescribable wave of joy that accompanies any unexpected word of thanks.

That is just what happened tonight. After another rough patrol, as I slunk into my booth here at Stan's, I was greeted by a message as soon as I got online. Someone praising me for what I do.

Those moments are magical and I treasure them always.

Thank you for your kind words. It makes the on-going battle with evil worth every drop of sweat.

No Crime Holidays

I have been informed that the roughest day of the week is Monday. This being due to the difficulty in returning to a regular work week after a weekend away.

If you thought the same were true for criminals, I must sadly advise that it is not so! Crime needs no calendars to do its deed! In fact, every day is just another "symptom" to the way of crime.

For example, again, the working person looks forward to Fridays and is generally in a happy mood come the end of the day. A criminal is also happy, but this is due to their ability to come in contact with more people on the streets to take advantage of.

As for Mondays, well, they are just as eager to get back out there and take advantage of those worn down from the return to work.

Case in point. It is no longer Monday. It is early Tuesday. I have just returned from finally completing my patrol. The sun, it stings my eyes. But before exhaustion claims me, I decided to pop in here and lay down these words.

And now, my bed beckons!

What were you made for?

I must thank Stan for jumping in here last night and informing you that I would not be able to update the blog. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but what can you do? Not every night in a super hero's life is filled with fun and adventure. Sometimes it does get a little... bizarre.

The Kissing Bandit? Can you believe it? Here I thought this flash-in-the-pan was nothing more than a gimmick used to sell extra papers during Valentine's day. After all, we had not heard from him in something over 7 years.

But, lo and behold, last night he decided he would jump back into the fray. I half expected to corner him in an old folk's home but he had decided to jump around the red light district. Really. Seems he wanted to make the working women feel loved and appreciated.

They accused him of trying to get some free sampling. Seriously.

He tried to claim that kissing women is what he was made for. We shall see how that holds up in court for him. But, it did get me thinking about what each of us inherently feels about our time here on earth.

There is no question for me. I am here to help the citizens of Metro City and, by extension, the world, when required.

How about yourselves?