A hopeless and troubled man sat on the park bench as the rain poured down on him. People in their cars or walking past with an umbrella stared at him but he didn’t care. He just took another drag and blew the smoke up into the air, watching it disappear into the heavy rain drops. There was something about the rain that calmed him. Outside, dark, silent and rainy. Perfect mind clearing night to make his last. He got up from the bench and walked along the dirt walkway. As he was walking along he was all of a sudden struck by lightning. The man woke up, he was lying in the mud. He hurt all over and could barely stand up. Once he could stand up, he noticed someone walking in the park. They looked at him and screamed, before running into the road next to the park and getting run over. Confused, the man walked back home instead, forgetting why he came out tonight. As he got to his house, the neighbour walked up to him. “Hey there bud, what are you doing out this late?” I looked at up at him but before I could say anything he screamed and shoved the hedge clippers he was holding into his neck and died on the spot.
“What an odd time to clip the hedges.” The man thought. He got inside, dropped his wallet and keys off next to the door and almost got to bed until it clicked in his head what had happened. He ran back outside. His neighbour was dead. He ran for help, approaching someone walking the street, the sun just starting to rise as the new day begun. “Please help! My neighbour is seriously hurt!” The woman took one look at me, screamed, and ran to the nearest house, jumped through the window. I ran and followed her to see she had gotten a knife and stabbed herself. Distraught, the man ran back into his house and ran into the bathroom to wash off his face. As he looked up into the mirror, he screamed at his own image. He was ugly in a way he could not describe. It was more than just disfigurement, he seemed to look like the embodiment of horror in a way he could not explain to himself. The lightning had given him powers. Terrible powers. The power to drive anyone to commit suicide out of the fear of looking at his face.
The man had a scheme to get revenge on the people that had made him feel like shit. The boss who just took his job away from him yesterday, the wife who left him moneyless and stole his kids. The people who beat him up and took his wallet walking home last week. He smiled, his twisted face making the most horrific smile imaginable. He grabbed an orange ribbon and tied it to his shirt. His calling card. His costume. He made his way out the door, and decided to start his mission. Smiling wider than he had in years.