Alex awoke to the notification sound on his phone and let his eyes adjust to his dimly lit room. Slowly he sat up, letting out a cough as he did so. His chest still hurt and the taste of stale beer was still in the back of his throat He reached for it, wincing at the still raw pain in his shoulders. Another anonymous text containing a link to a local news story: Family Homeless After Vigilante Thwarts Terror Plot in Suburbs. He sighed, putting his phone down and got out of bed.

His phone beeped again, another text, this time while he was getting out of the shower. It was the same number, but a new link to an older new story: One Dead After Thwarted Bank Robbery. He looked at himself in the mirror, taking particular notice to the bruising below his left eye. It felt like he’d fractured his cheekbone. That was fine, it’d go well with the missing tooth last month and the concussion from the month before.

He traced the scars across his torso. A bullet wound from Skinny Mike. Various cuts from altercations long since past. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember where he’d gotten the cuts along the left side of his rib cage. Was it from that guy in the park? He sighed. It didn’t really matter, no one else knew where he’d gotten it either. Nobody cared, including him.

He headed to the dresser, opening the top drawer, grabbing some underwear and taking a second to pause and look at the dusty service pistol and badge stuffed into the side, a family relic from a time when the world made more sense. A time when his hero was still around to show him what was right.

After getting dressed, he headed to his front yard to grab the paper. As he stepped out on his porch he noticed the family across the street getting into their car. He could hear the children whining to their mother about not getting the exact cereal they’d asked for. The world was full of them these days. Ungratefuls who didn’t know how good they had it.

Why did he even bother anymore? Perhaps it was time to accept that the world was beyond saving.

He went back inside and made his way into the kitchen. Grabbing a mug he poured himself some day old coffee and placed it into the microwave to warm up. A new alert popped up on his phone: Mayor Vows Justice After Attempt to Save Bus Fails. Alex sighed, grabbed the coffee and sat down at his table.

He sipped his day old coffee and rubbed his hands across his face. God he was tired. So tired.

Alex opened the newspaper, it’s top story: Mayor Declares War on Masks. Deploys CopBots Across City.

Another message, “The league is ready when you’re done playing hero.”

“Fuck it.” He’d tried. He’d given it his best.

“Where do we meet?” He replied.