The Rise of a New Evil

First of all, a brief update: The Paragon City Council has pushed back their vote on strengthening hero registration for another month. That's great news, and I like to think that it is because many people have written to the City Council expressing concerns echoed in my last column. At any rate, whatever the reason, I am still a little nervous. The City Council merely pushed back acting, not killed the idea altogether. Still, it is a step in the right direction, and I hope that my readers continue to contact the members at City Hall to keep the pressure on.

Speaking of the City Council and its members, I had a chance to talk with Hayley Christian, the representative from Steel Canyon, today. He had some good news and some bad news, both of which have been apparent to the people who live and work in Steel Canyon for some time. The good news is that the presence of the Fifth Column has been extremely curtailed in Paragon City. The bad news is that the presence of a new organization known as the Council has been growing. (Not to be confused with the City Council which, of course, manages the government of Paragon City.)

Personally, I think that the bad news is very bad indeed. The Council seems to be just a retooled version of the Fifth Column without all of the Nazi trappings. This is a lot more dangerous; when the bad guys are wearing swastikas on their shirt sleeves, its pretty easy to tell who they are. The Council manages to keep a somewhat lower profile. Do not be fooled, however; word on the street is that most of the former members of the Fifth Column have now joined the Council, and many of their activities remain the same, including their horrific experimentations and, most importantly, their attempts to supplant our way of life with one of absolute rule at their hands.

The persistence of evil in Paragon City never ceases to amaze me. I'm not talking about the so-called "normal" evil, such as street thugs stealing purses and the like, I mean the way that following battle after battle, it seems that the heroes hardly make a dent in the crime committed by super-powered villains. A couple of months ago, I was on a task force assigned the difficult mission of defeating Dr. Vahzilok once and for all. It was a very difficult mission. We planned on encountering many enemies, but we had not planned on the incredible regenerative abilities with which Dr. Vahzilok had imbued himself. The final battle was fought for over half an hour in the sewers, and three of Paragon City's finest were forced to make emergency medical evacuations. When all was said and done, I was completely out of ammunition and forced to use the butt of my assault rifle to fend off cadavers from a couple of hand-to-hand combat experts taking on Dr. Vahzilok. We only barely survived thanks to the good grace of our two empaths, one of which avoided evacuation but still ended up at Cygnus Medical Center after the battle.

But it was worth it, right? We saved the day, and the citizens of Paragon City will no longer have to worry about being stalked by horrific reapers to which the adjective "grim" simply does not do justice. Or so we thought.

Earlier this week, I stopped by Cygnus, where we took the remains of Dr. Vahzilok for analysis and study. Dr. Jaren, the chief specialist on the Vahzilok there, told me that some parts of the body that we brought in were old and dead, some parts were new as if freshly grown, and some parts were missing altogether. I asked how that was possible, and he said that it seems that another group of heroes found out that Vahzilok has been working on creating another body for himself. Could it be possible that he has found some way of psychically transferring his consciousness from one husk to another, thereby allowing the world to think him dead while he in fact lives? In studying a few corpses that Statesman brought in while cleaning up the remnants of the Vahzilok in Kings Row, Dr. Jaren discovered some of Dr. Vahzilok's primary DNA sequences in cells less than three days old.

It gets worse, too. Dr. Jaren told me that there were bits and pieces of DNA from many sources contained in the cells of the corpse we brought in. This DNA gives Dr. Vahzilok a high degree of resistance to the powers of heroes he has fought in the past. He asked me if we left any traces of our own DNA at the site of the battle. Traces such as the gash of skin from my leg? Such as the blood seeping from The Catalyst's arm when it partially dissolved in the acid vomit of one of Vahzilok's enbalmed minions? Such as the three teeth that Catharsis lost when she caught one of Vahzilok's haymakers on the chin?

Dr. Jaren strongly warned me that we cannot face Dr. Vahzilok again. In fact, now that the new DNA has been propagated to Vahzilok on the streets, we would do well to avoid this enemy altogether. To face Dr. Vahzilok again would mean certain death to us, and would surely jeopardize the efforts of other heroes who can hopefully take him out one last time.

I guess the reason I am writing about this today is that fighting the forces of evil seems like an uphill, sometimes even losing, battle. The heroes of Paragon City cannot give up and admit final defeat, but every once in a while, it would be nice to have some sort of reassurance that what we are doing matters, to see some sign that our efforts against the forces of evil are doing more than merely balancing a scale of destruction.

Until that sign arrives, I call out for other heroes to seek out Dr. Vahzilok and put an end to his reign of terror forever. I implore that my readers avoid these abominations at all costs. And I hope with all my heart that everyone can find their own source of encouragement in these trying times.

Toño "News Man" Vasquez