“It’s all about balance, and scale.”
Reporter Andrea needed a minute to process such a statement.
Doctor Deathrax allowed Andrea this time of contemplation as he himself looked on at the funeral procession. El Reptilio, PhD, was at the podium, sobbing as he delivered a surprisingly heart felt eulogy filled with hissing.
“Tell me, ma'am, what makes a super villain ‘super’?” Deathrax asked. Without waiting for a response, he answered his own question, “It is only with superior foes that one can rise to superiority, that one can be ‘super’.”
Andrea nodded, slowly and carefully as if she were negotiating trade tariffs with a tiger.
“You don’t believe me. Of course you don’t. You’re simple. My apologies, that was a touch insulting. It’s more that you are 'normal'.” Deathrax clicked his tongue, careful not to let any of his toxic saliva drip. “How hard is it to kill a man, really? A sock full of marbles can do the job. A sponge stuffed down the throat, or the ever accessible firearm. Point, shoot, kill two dozen people in less than ten seconds. Simple, yes? But a ‘normal’ person would not consider such an act or to use marbles in such a manner. So with this in mind, villains want power because greed is insatiable. You want power because you want power. You cannot fathom the depth of difference between a million and a billion dollars. And so, what do these alleged ‘companies’ and ‘corporations’ do with their billions of dollars? Hoard it. Unnecessarily so. While a super villain, such as I?”
Deathrax glared at Andrea from the corner of his blood red eyes and asked, “What do you think people are more likely to react to- mustard gas that has instantaneous effect, no warning, maiming hundreds in a literal instant, which is child’s play to Agent Orange’s effects. Or my ‘deathrax’, a poison that is dispersed via a small box that has an adjustable timer to allow for total prevention of any dispersion? Or let us make it more simple: One armed gunman in a building full of toddlers, or my ‘deathrax’ with a 60 minute timer and my 55 minute monologue filled with gloating of my nefarious scheme?”
“Y-you’re still killing people,” Andrea sputtered. “That’s- you’re still killing children.”
“Yes, but everyone has banded against ‘deathrax’ and the Geneva convention has gotten actual teeth thanks to proper international recognition. However, prior to villains such as The Killinator, you could have shoot a dozen or so children with a 2nd amendment and there was actual discussion on the ethics and the morals and the rights of the people and human rights versus constitutional rights. You can see it even now, this simple idea becomes a debate. It just becomes statistics. I at least have the decency to make it personalized. And with Miracle Man’s help, he makes it- made it, known. Not debatable, because who would be caught dead defending the legality of ‘deathrax’? And we could make this world a superior world to live in.”
“How can you say th-” Andrea started, but was cut off by Deathrax pointing at the people he named.
“El Reptilio’s serum has no patent so any pharmaceutical can create and provide it despite having his own pharmaceutical companies under his name. How many people die of infection world wide now?”
Andrea’s eyes went wider and wider as realization set in. “One percent. It’s fallen to one percent.”
“Give or take an error of unknown margin, yes. The Ashen Phoenix, the anti-hero, She Who Burns the Wicked, up on the stand there. What happened to environmental policies after-?”
“Global warming was fully acknowledged in the US after she used her powers to accelerate it to create a focal point of burning US senate house, but Miracle Man was able to reverse her effects by absorbing the carbon dioxide and deflected the focused sunlight radiation by using...your technology.”
“Indeed. Technology which cost nearly $150 billion to develop because we were able to convince the US military to actually give out a loan and pay it out of their budget,” Deathrax admitted with a hoarse laugh. “Because Miracle Man and I ‘teamed up’ to ‘face a greater threat’. It was a one time deal, because we are- were, enemies, not allies. And it would never happen again. We teamed up 52 times in total with the same promise of not being allies.”
“But- that means, you two had to have worked together.”
“Absolutely. That is why we are superheroes and super villains- we coexist and acknowledge the other with a mote of respect.”
“But you are a villain. You’ve killed-”
“Yes, I have. And how many people have I killed with my formula that could wipe out...” Deathrax snapped his fingers in contemplation, trying to remember the approximate number. “A thousand adults per milligram?”
Andrea stopped to think about it, and slowly answered, “Five.”
“Really, just five? When I have an alleged weapon that can erase entire cities? And those five I killed- infections that needed to be excised. You cannot tell me the world is not a better place without them.”
“The ends don’t justify your means,” Andrea shot back, not realizing just how much courage she gained over the course of conversation.
“Of course they do. Name one situation in which the ends do not justify the means when it has benefited you. You do not have to use ‘evil’ means for a justifiable end. At least my ends extend beyond simple corporate greed.” Deathrax looked off to the side, wistfully staring into the distance, his red eyes dripping with tears. “It extended to making sense in the world.”
Andrea looked back towards the funeral, silent for a moment as the realization set in. “Why did you tell me all of this? What do you expect me to do with it?”
“Finally, relevant questions.” Deathrax gestured towards the casket and asked, “And I am afraid I must annoy you by answering your question with a question: With the death of super-heroism, how will you combat against normal villainy? Where is your hero now?”
2087
blakekathryn
gamechangershow
tangentwithtanner
romaincrisis
izzy806
