Terrerorist?

That would be mark's Super-villain moniker. it was given to him by the French Media

Hmmmm, with the way Mark cold-bloodedly disposes of Ralph, the distinction between avenger and villain seems blurred don‘t you think?

what do you mean?

The bombardier wearing the uniform of his country pushes the drop button which results in the atomizing of an enemy city of tens of thousands of civilians from an airplane. He gets a medal for doing it because he was authorized to do the mass-killing for his nation by the representatives of his nation. He is a hero.

The man in civilian clothes who pulls the trigger and shoots a store clerk is judged a murderer because he did the deed entirely for himself and not society.

An avenger generally does harm to “bad guy(s)” for reasons of Right and Wrong recognized by the group on whose part he is appointed to act on their behalf. Villains do harm to the “bad guy(s)“ for their own personal reasons, regardless of Right or Wrong or any group, but seek to justify it on the basis of what they, the villain, proclaim their personal understanding of the unasked group‘s wishes.

There must be some tacit consent on the part of the group to “legitimize” the deed.

Mark wanted Ralph’s death for his own personal “repayment” of Steven’s death, no one else wanted it or asked Mark to commit the deed.

ahhh. ok.


I think it might have something to do with the way Mark's sanity might have died with Steven

Although we may be horrified by the act, or even be the victim of the act, everyone does what they do for a justifiable reason -- even “insane” villains.

In the majority of instances, the villain or criminal justifies their criminality due to their personal interpretation of reality or personal history as somehow having been victimized.

Steven was unjustly “taken” from Mark by Ralph, hence in Mark’s mind he has been victimized by Ralph.

Once one dons the cloak of victim-hood for one’s self (or for others in the case of politicians), one eventually casts off the common morality that binds and equalizes each of us with the other, or in the victim‘s eyes, holds them back from seeking and achieving justice. Hence they become righteous in what they do, at least in their own minds.

kindar chuckles

ok, at this point I'd normally say that I need to call you to discuss this, cause I can't tell if you saying there's a problem with the fragment, or not

Oh no! Not a problem at all!

The fragment was excellently done. It carried the story very well. If it hadn’t then I would not have been able to proceed as I did off into the abstract of moral relativity.

I find your description of the action to be top notch (particularly since I have difficulty with action sequences myself). Clear and concise -- what more could a reader ask for?

Looking forward to your next fragment.

ahh, ok :) that's cool. I'm glad you enjoyed it