“What is in a face?”
“A man’s face is the thing that humanity sees first when they set eyes upon them. They say you cannot read a book by its cover but any human can understand another by the movement of his lips and the twitching of his brow.”
“Those who understand the important of one’s features either embrace it.”
“Or fear it.”
“And those who fear it? They seek to hide it. Their true emotions, true intentions, all wrapped up neatly behind the façade of a mask upon their face.”
“A mask tells a story, it creates an identity completely separate of the man beneath it. They know that beneath the rubber and plastic is the truest form of self and it terrifies them.”
“These men, heroes and villains, are nothing without the masks adorning their faces.”
“Should they ever lose them, who would they be? What would they be?”
“Sharkman, Redwing, Mysterion.”
“At face value for any who see you, they would be remiss to believe you to be what it says on the tin.”
“A terrifying shark superhero with unmatched brutality and teeth sharp enough to tear through the flesh of the unjust?”
“A blood covered bat willing to do anything to rain down vengeance and retribution amongst the villains of the world?”
“Or even a psychotic and creative villain who can outsmart and outmaneuver even the most prepared of heroes?”
“These are true, but only if you believe in the mask on their face.”
“But beneath?”
“Sharkman is a former bus driver full of regrets and sadness at his failure to even be a simple bus driver.”
“Redwing? A simple family man who was unable to save his wife and child from the blade of Death’s Black Hand.”
“And Mysterion? A mere child who stood in his brother’s shadow, alone and afraid of what his life would become.”
“I may be blind, but I see beneath your masks, you know. You’re all frauds, failures, and cowards who hide behind those pesky things on your faces. They obscure the reality you try so hard to keep away from the eyes of reality itself.”
“They hide your weakness, but in doing so scream it all the louder.”
“I never had that issue, you know. My face was once like yours, one that showed weakness, that I wished to hide from the world.”
“But I realized something. I realized that I didn’t need a mask or face paint to change how the world perceived me.”
“I simply had to change my face itself.”
“I cannot simply take off my skin like you can your plastic. I am as you see me.”
“A terror.”
“A horrifying visage of death.”
“A monster.”
“None of you will be safe from my rampage. I’ll tear those masks from your faces to reveal the true you before I scoop out your eyes, yank out your tongues.”
“I’ll free you from your masks.”
“Save you from yourselves.”
“I’ll make you like me.”