seven

i haven't got your blood sample yet.

i know. i haven't decided if i'm going to or not.

its important, i need you to trust me.

trust you? trust YOU? trust a guy who runs around in a costume, wont show his face, and beats up guys like me as a hobby? listen, pal. nobody trusts you. this whole damn city does not trust you. they are afraid of you. we are all afraid of you. and why shouldn't we be? you do whatever you want, the cops are your friends and let you get away with it, you answer to nobody, and you apparantly can't be stopped or killed. there is no other alternative, everyone fears you.

your perspective is limited.

what are you talking about? my perspective on a guy who lives in the shadows and comes out at night is limited?

you are afraid of me. criminals all over this city, even the powerful ones, are afraid of me. they are afraid, or else they are fools. they would be afraid of you, too, if you did what i do.

i'm nothing like you.

what about those gangbangers you scared off last week, the ones attacking that woman. they were afraid of you.

they were afraid of what i'd do to them.

but what about the woman? did you see her face? was she afraid also?

i didn't look. i just got the hell outta there. its not something i do alot, picking fights.

let me explain something to you. the thieves, the murderers, the gang kids, they are afraid. even the ones who use my name in their crimes, they are afraid. it doesnt always stop them, but when they see me, i see fear in their eyes. they know who i am.

but the other people...the victims, the old women out after dark, the mother who sends her kids to school in a rough neighborhood, the police who are in over their heads with organized crime...they are not afraid. they have no reason to be.

for you, for some who work in the shadows and hide like rats, there is fear. but for others, for the innocents, who are no more like me than they are like you, there is hope. they believe i will protect them. they hope i am looking over them at night, keeping their street safe. next time you are out, breaking up fights or helping some old woman, look at her face. they used to be afraid, but in time they learned. they know whose side i am on. think about it.