Villain at Night *Third Book To Hero by Day

Chapter 23 - Obstructing Justice

"Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So, we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark Knight."

~ James Gordon (Temporarily Batman at one point)

:Oliver:

"I don't think I'll ever understand." I replied. "It wasn't like I chose to get these powers. It wasn't like I sat outside by that metal pole just waiting for lightning to strike me. But, because I got these powers, I decided to do something good with them. Daniel Jackson showed me just how to do that. Hell, I thought I was going crazy before he showed me my powers. He helped me become a hero, become someone good. The only other outlet for me wasn't an option. I couldn't become a villain, and I couldn't just sit idly by with my powers and not do anything. I had to use what I'd been given to help those who couldn't help themselves. And, I don't see how you could twist that into something bad."

The Obstructer looked up at me, their face still covered by shadows. "You aren't in the wrong, Oliver. It's your entire kind. Having powers can twist your mind into something it isn't. Becoming a super changes your DNA, literally. And, that doesn't make you safe. How can we trust supers if they aren't like us? If they're genetically different?"

"But, you can trust us. Well, you can trust the heroes." I argued. "We fight the villains who decide to use their powers for bad because they were never taught anything else. We're trying to make the world a better place."

The Obstructer walked up to me sharply. "You don't know what I've been through. Someone I loved died because a hero was too busy fighting a no good villain the next street over. He couldn't be trusted to do his duty and save a citizen of the city he swore to protect because he was too busy having a pointless long fight with a villain he could've defeated with one punch. He was showing off while he should've been saving someone in need."

I flinched. Captain Impossible used to love to show off. He was basically unbeatable, since his indestructability meant he couldn't be hurt by conventional means. Before I came along, he was a bit like Golden Eagle of Iris City (the retired super that went crazy after the Nemesis attacks). Golden Eagle was only a hero for the fame and thought he was the best. I liked to think that I taught Daniel the more heroic sides of being a superhero. I liked to think that I helped to make him focused a little less on the fame.

Superheroes were supposed to save their city, not show off to it. I could see where The Obstructer's grievance was.

"And then it came to me." They continued. "How many near death experiences has the world had since the first appearance of the supers? Well, before the supers all we had were world wars and threats of nuclear bombs. Now we've had hundreds of threats. Supers trying to destroy the world or take it over. Supers trying to defeat other supers by eliminating entire cities. Don't you think that the world would've been better off without these superhuman threats?"

You could hear the sinister smile in their voice. "Without the possibility of supers?"

I scoffed. "You're just as crazy as Nemesis was. The only difference is that you think you can actually get rid of supers all together."

"I picked up where Nemesis left off." The Obstructer argued. "You see, he was only researching how to make the perfect super with his experiments. He wanted to know what balance of chemicals and reactions could make someone a super. It's no secret that half the time when a big faceless company tries to experiment on some poor old chaps that making them a super doesn't work, but why is that? Why do the same experiments and chemical reactions only work on one subject and not the other?