Judy

I'm not sure what I'd do without her. No, seriously. These past few weeks have been trying, to say the least, and Judy, well, she's been my rock. She's believed me when no one would. She helped me find a solution.

The frame up, unlike my other problems, was worse than it sounds. But, of course, anyone with access to cable news knows what's happened the past couple of weeks. On July Fourth, a bomb nearly detonate under Jonathan Rake as he was giving his address. It was found by his security personnel just in time. This bomb, was you guys know, was Vaporizer Mk. II, one of the old doc's inventions. Suddenly, I was being accused of trying to kill the most beloved presidential candidate in the history of America.

I had stayed home that whole day. Hell, I slept through the address. So, suffice it to say I was taken a bit by surprise.

I mean, first my arm turns to stone and my lair gets flooded, and then suddenly a witch-hunt for something I didn't even do. Judgement and Stheno came to town to try to find me and bring me to justice. You know you have it bad when there's a Fury out for your head.

And the worst part, the worst part was the follow-up speech. "Doctor Cataclysm is just a product of his environment, he deserves pity more than scorn. He's the one who needs help." Blah blah blah blah. He forgave me. For something I didn't even do. Look pal, I'm me, and nothing can change that. And you can't even blame my environment. Look at who my dad was. Look at the example I grew up with. I'm nothing like him. Nowhere near as tethered by society as he was. I follow in my predecessor's footsteps not because I was from a bad family. It's because I'm free.

Anyway, my first instinct was to try to find out what really happened by watching the footage a few hundred times from different angles. That didn't help. Someone knocked out all security cameras in the freaking city during bomb set-up. No indication where the guy came from, who did it, nothing. And it's also a trick the old Doc did a couple times before. And no, it couldn't be him. He's dead. I buried him myself. And his grave was still in perfect condition when I paid my respects during the road trip.

Judy was the one who actually thought of how to prove my innocence. It took a lot of boring paper-work. But, the news says I'm innocent again.

See, I don't use those bombs anymore. Hell, the Doc stopped using the Mk II a long time ago. We were on Mk. IV during the Cataclysm Engine Incident. At any rate, through a big pile of beaurocracy I was able to prove that all of them had been sold off and I haven't made any of that model. I had to have Stheno listen as I talked, just so her wierd "guilt-sensor" could prove I was innocent. God I'm glad those two are gone. And you, of course, know where that paper trail led.

I swear, Operation Mayhem just has no respect anymore. Framing another villain. I mean, you have to be pretty depraved for Rakshasa to leave your organization. I thought that Op. Mayhem was supposed to be bringing us together.

But, then again, it doesn't make sense. Operation Mayhem doesn't mask its motives. It says, out front, that it has done something and why. It's full of some serious, old school villains.

Something here isn't adding up. It's almost like Op. Mayhem's being framed. By Rake? Maybe he's trying to make himself seem like he's more feared by villains than he is. But framing Op. Mayhem, that's, like, asking to be assassinated. So why haven't they gone after him again, if they ever did in the first place.

I'm getting the feeling I'm on the brink of some kind of understanding about all this. I wonder what it is. More importantly, I hope it doesn't drag me into it again.

Anyway, gotta go get ready to visit Judy's parents. Wish me luck.