Rogues Gallery #4 - MR. TERRIBLE

Opal City

For a few moments he slept peacefully. A seemingly normal man in a small, sparsely decorated room. His normal life however, involved terrible nightmares. Nightmares of a strange man in white, with sunglasses that covered his eyes. In his dreams, he would watch helplessly as the man in the sunglasses would effortlessly kill the people the man cared about. Of course, he would rush to stop him. Sometimes he fought better then previous dreams, but it would always finish with the man in the sunglasses removing his shades. Revealing what he truly was, for the man in sunglasses wasn't a man at all. He was a monster, created by the minds of those who slept. To gaze into the monsters eyes was to look into two corridors of hundreds of small, razor tipped teeth. And to challenge the monster, was to feel the teeth bury themselves in your eyes. You wouldn't die, but you would feel the loss of your eyes, but strangely, not your sight. You could still see after all, but now you watched as you stumbled about, blinded. This is when you would realize that he was using your eyes! Soon, your eyes would turn away from you, and murder the one you had fought to protect. For this monster, had your eyes, forcing you to watch his acts of evil. Then, and only then, you would wake up. Much as this man had just done, much as he always did. Sweat poured down his body, unsure of whether what he had just experienced was a dream or not. That's the secret to a perfect dream, it was so impossible, you had to ask if it was real or not.

The man rose out of his bed, revealing his 6'1 frame, and his 200 lbs body. He was in great shape, and he was young. With his angular features, and dark complexion, he could be considered a handsome man. Were it not for his eyes that is. For his eyes shone not the light of hope, they did not shine at all. His eyes were that of defeat, hopelessness. Slowly he got dressed, once completed, he went into his small kitchen and started to make breakfast. The eggs were cracked and dropped into the frying pan, the bread being toasted; that's when his phone rang. Running quickly to it, he grabbed it off the wall and hit talk.

Gotham City, Fourteen years ago.

He was young then, only the age of eleven. He was rushing home to tell his father the good news. He had gotten an A on his homework, and the teacher had told him he was very gifted. He burst through the door, accidentally knocking a lamp onto the ground. His eyes widened in horror as it shattered on the ground. Within seconds his father was there, hitting him before he could even tell him what had happened.

“Ya little brat! Yuh think we're rich or something!? No way in hell can we pay for that!” His father screamed, whiskey on his breath. The first punch sent the boy to the ground. The second sent shards of his teeth flying out of his mouth. His paper fell out of his hand, and his father snatched it up. He smirked, and kicked his son in the stomach. “An A huh? And your teacher thinks that makes ya special? Bull, you aint special. Yuh never will be! All your life your gonna do things, and they'll end disastrous! Your terrible kid! Absolutely terrible at everything you do!” To this day, the boy, now a man doesn't understand why his father said or did those things to him. That night, was when he dreamed of the man in white. His father hit him in his dreams, and the man in white stood watching. As his father screamed those horrible things to him, the man in white sauntered up to the boy and whispered one thing to him.

“He's right kid, you are terrible. Mr Terrible, that's you. Be seeing ya,” And with that, the boy awoke. Drenched in sweat, unsure of whether or not he had dreamed the whole thing. That's the secret to a perfect dream, it was so impossible you had to question if it were a dream or not...

Gotham City, Seven Years Ago...

He had worked hard to be where he was. He was doing well in school, and also played for the football team. He, and his friend Johnny (who was the QB) both had a chance at earning a scholarship. And tonight? Tonight was the big game. He got dressed as his father stumbled into the room.

“Heh, big game huh? Well, I bet on the other team 'cause I know you aint gonna win. Wanna know how you aint gonna win?” His father asked.

“Don't tell me, it's because I'm a screw up right? His son asked.

“No, because your terrible at sports. I swear you run like a girl ya brat. Little miss running back. Your gonna make me rich by your crappy playing tonight, yuh know that right?” His father slurred. The boy's hands formed into fists, and he was never so tempted to strike his father. He was wrong, he knew that he was wrong. They were undefeated, and he was the starter for every game. No, he wouldn't strike his father, instead he would prove him wrong...

Gotham City, Game Night...

It happened all so fast. Someone on the opposite team hit his head, and caused his helmet to spin around as the ball he held flew out of his hands. He was blinded, that's when he heard someone running. He couldn't see, but knew that the team had already recovered his fumble. He wouldn't let his father be right, he drove his shoulder into the person he heard coming from behind him. With all his might he brought the man down, and then there was a strange popping sound. Where just moments ago, the roars of the crowd was nearly deafening, all had gone silent. He gripped the cage of his helmet, and righted it. His vision returned, and there he was. Johnny, his best friend laying limp where he had just tackled him. In disbelief, he brought his hand to his friends neck to check for a pulse. When he realized there was none, he vomited. To his horror, most of it fell on his friend. His friend that he had just killed. A thousand things roared through his head; his father, the mother who left him when he was still a baby, Johnny's laugh, and then the soft, near whispered voice of The Man in White.

“Your Mr Terrible kid. Ya know that right?”

Star City, Four Years Ago

He hadn't gotten his scholarship, and he hadn't finished school in Gotham. After what happened on game night, he had to leave town. Thankfully, he had finally gotten away from his father. And even the nightmares had gone away. He moved to Star City because he didn't know anyone there. No one knew him there either. It was perfect. He had even started seeing someone, and he was finishing courses in the community college. He drove home from work, nothing fancy, just a fast food restaurant, but it paid well. That's when he spotted something going on in a back alley. A woman was being attacked by two men. He swerved to the side of the rode and grabbed the tire iron he kept beneath his seat.
“GET AWAY FROM HER!” He screamed. The two men turned, and one pulled a knife.

“Who does this guy think he is?” The man with a knife laughed.

“Looks like he thinks he's the Green Arrow!” The other responded. Both men moved towards the man. With a surprising speed, he brought the iron against the jaw of the man who wielded the knife. He crumpled to the street, twitching. The other grabbed his wrist, and wrestled the iron away from him. The thug brought his knee up into the man's groin, and threw him to the ground. “Gonna kill you for this!” The thug screamed. Quickly, the man kicked out with his legs and tripped his attacker. Diving on top of him, he brought a flurry of blows onto the criminals face. He no longer saw the attacker, he saw the man in white. His tormentor, with incredible fury he continued his assault. That's when an arrow whizzed past his cheek. His eyes widened in surprise, as blood dripped down the side of his face.

“That's enough kid, let up before you kill him,” A voice from the shadows ordered.

He turned around to see who had stopped him from helping the girl. “I was trying to help,” He whispered.

“Help who? The only people I see, are you, and two guys that need to be taken to the hospital,” The voice replied. The man quickly looked to where the girl had been. She was gone. He rose to his feet, and approached this green clad man.

“There was a girl and...” He started to say. The man in green scoffed.

“Isn't there always?” He asked. Before the man could respond, a green gloved fist brought itself to the young mans jaw, and he fell to the ground. There was a blur of lights and shadows meeting as he drifted off into unconsciousness.

When he came to, he was in a holding cell. Unsure of what had happened, he called to the guard. “Officer? Where am I?”

“Jail kid, and get used to it. The two guys you tried to mug are pressing charges. Your going away for a long time kid,” The cop replied.

“But, I, I didn't try to mug anyone, I was trying to-”

“Give it a rest kid, theres two guys who are telling us what happened right now. So why not go to sleep and leave me to my paper work huh?” The guard ask.

There was no point, he had tried to help someone, and it ended with disastrous results. Would he ever be able to do the right thing without it blowing up in his face?

Blackgate Prison, Three Years ago

The woman he cared for left him after he was sent to jail. His father had actually attended the trial. For the briefest of moments, he thought that he was there to help him. Then, reality had sunk in when his own father spoke in court.

“Your honor, my son is a very dangerous man. He always got into fights at school, and I can remember several occasions I had to go the school about him having bruises all over his body. Not to mention, when he was in his senior year of high school, he intentionally tackled his own teammate, and killed him,” He hated that man. It was true, he had been called to his son's school about bruises he had sustained. But it wasn't from fighting, the bruises were from his father. And to say he planned on killing his best friend? He knew he was going away for a long time...

The judge cleared his throat before speaking. “In light of the evidence already present, as well as your fathers statement. I feel it is my duty to sentence you to five years in Blackgate Prison; you will serve a minimum of three years. Court is adjourned,” With that, the sound of the gavel came down. His life was over, he knew it. That night, he dreamed of him again. The man in white, laughing at him.

Blackgate Prison, Three Years Ago

He decided the only way to make it through this was to keep his head down, and go about his day. Never looking anyone in the eye, only doing what he had to to survive. It worked, no one bothered him, and he didn't give anyone a reason too. For three years he was in hell. Three long years, he was in prison for a crime he never committed. All he wanted to do was help, and his reward for doing the right thing? A three year punishment he didn't deserve. Could his life get any worse?