Written by Joe D Mercala. I commissioned the story from him, his discord is Joe D. Mercala#8764

Story by Ekroth (Me)

How does one judge oneself without the presence of others?

After all, if there are no standards one can live by set by others, then one might as well be a formless, shapeless blob meant for nothing but to view itself. Without the perception of other people, what we are is ultimately meaningless whether one is beautiful, ugly, less or more.

Nobody knows that fact better than Sweet Mask. No hero has spent more time tailoring his public perception…which is why he was a little bit uneasy about going to another world. He didn't like being sent off somewhere else when his identity was tied to this world…as well as the fact he liked constantly working to make sure the Hero Association and his image was kept to his high standards.

However, at the end of the day he could not fight the fact that he would be best for the job in question. He was very good at analyzing situations as well as heroes, so sending him along was at least a decent choice.

So, he spent the morning before going on over prepping to a massive degree. Heading out to a salon and getting his hair done before packing up two large bags full of everything he would need in case the other side couldn't provide him with what he needed.

He was brought to the gate while getting a bit of the stink eye from that fox woman who came from the other side as he passed.

Sweet Mask didn't trust her, not one bit…and he was pretty sure she knew that and was wary of him in the same way. He was good at evaluating people and the smug way that woman seemed to hold herself along with the little info she gave in return kept throwing up red flags in his head, but whether he liked it or not…the mission came first.

He had expected something a bit more flashy when he saw the gate. He figured it would be big and glowing with light…instead it simply looked like a bit of heat haze was concentrated into the center of a large metal ring…but he wasn't afraid to take the plunge here. If that fox could do it and King then so could he.

Speaking of, King was the first face he saw upon the other side…though the area he had been transported to was more than a little unsanitary, being a dirty alleyway.

"Ya, I know…I thought it would be connected to a different gate." King states, scratching the back of his head while letting off a small smile. "So anything new from command? Anything happen while I was gone?"

"No. No, and tell me you've done your job right and secured a place for us to stay?" Sweet Mask demands.

"Oh, ya…I got us a place, though if anybody asks…you're a building contractor and safety trainer."

The beautiful man didn't want to bother himself with caring what that would be all about. "Can we get out of this alleyway then? I feel like my body is getting dirty just from being here…"

"Oh, sure…let me help you with those bags." King turns to the side, yelling out at the end of the alleyway. "Darrel! Could use your help here, two of you would be nice!"

The A-Ranked hero watches as two robotic men march into the alleyway. Both single eyed machines with brains domed in glass on their heads with sharp teeth and red bodies. "Oh boy! Will this help us get more safety certified?"

"Yep yep, now help my friend with his bags, and be careful with them."

The two Darrel's nodded before tentatively taking the bags from Sweet Mask and marching away as he looked on at King. "You…better start telling me what's going on here. How did you get some robot helpers? How are you-"

"I AM JETHRO." The sudden voice below and to his side made the handsome here nearly jump back against a wall as King wanted to laugh at the site, sniggering quietly instead as he watched the little blue robot scare the veteran hero.

"Just ah…come with me, I'll explain everything."

After three hours of getting settled into a new apartment in Boxmore and listening to King explain absolutely everything that happened, Sweet Mask still felt massively confused about this world and how it worked.

"I still…okay, why are we in a villain's lair again?"

"It just sort of turned out that way, besides he's not really much of a threat." King states. "Sure, he's got a ton of robots, but the guy can't even blow up a bodega. In fact, from what I've gathered…a lot of villains aren't exactly focused on wanton destruction. Boxman just wants to blow up a bodega."

"And I don't get that…he has cash right? Why not just buy the bodega?"

"Well, then it would be his bodega, and then he would be destroying what's his, and that wouldn't feel right." King explains, following the line of logic that this universe had presented to him.

There were a lot of things that had to be explained to Mask over the next bit. Like how this world had its own ranking system for heroes as well as that point didn't represent all the heroes like it was presented to be. For the most part it seems like the heroes in this universe were a more reactive bunch than the heroes in their universe trying to prepare for problems more often.

"Alright then, I think I've had enough explaining done for me…I shall go off and see this world for myself." Mask states, heading out to leave.

"Wait, someone is gonna be coming to…and he's gone." King says to only himself…well, and Jethro sitting in the corner.

"I AM JETHRO."

"What? No…I think he'll do fine, he's a hero after all…not sure what we're gonna tell Elodie though."

Sweet Mask found the world he was now inhabiting to be a very interesting contrast to his own. It was far more colorful and upbeat. There were just as many fights as King had described but they seemed to have a much different tone to them. Most often they wouldn't end with the destruction of a city block nor any civilian casualties. Most battles were either personal or childish…and while he wasn't exactly a fan of those kinds of stakes he did have to admire that at least people were fighting for reasons that were much better than the monsters that had infested his world, mostly it was just goofy sort of enemies.

Speaking of those kind of goofy enemies, while Sweet Mask walked along the street catching the eye of many a girl that passed, another being was also preening while along the sidewalk.

Raymond was another one of Boxmore's robot's, though his personality could be considered to be a little…over the top compared to the others. Flamboyant and egotistical beyond a fault, the tall green, sharp looking robot considered himself more handsome and talented than most people he had ever met.

Of course, these two would cross paths on said sidewalks, giving one another only the shortest of glances. To anybody who watched, they wouldn't have noticed it…but both of them sized the other up in that one simple glance. Much like ancient samurai taking the first strike, the blades of their ego's meet one another and cross as they pass.

"Green priss." Mask stated.

"Blue haired baby face." Raymond muttered.

With every step made passing one another, the tension of their mental duel grew to the point that both of them simply stopped only fifteen feet away from one another only to turn dramatically to pose.

"Ha, you really think your hot stuff don't you?" Raymond states, drifting his fingers over his metal chest. "I was literally designed to catch the eye, meanwhile I bet your mother really likes that blue hair of yours, eh baby face?"

Sweet Mask countered, brushing said blue hair out to accentuate his eyes. "Oh please, you only catch the eye because of that sickly green color of your body. The only thing sharp about you is the angle of that prissy little nose of yours."

The green robot's eyes flare up with anger. "Nobody speaks about my nose! I throw the gauntlet down before thee sir!"

As the robot prepared to fight Mask smiled to himself, cracking his neck. He wasn't much one to enjoy a fight or want to get into one but when someone came out to challenge his standing and the beauty he built up for himself, well that was entirely different.

"I am gonna take you apart, bolt by bolt." He states, bending his knees to prepare for an attack.

"And I am going to ruin that baby face of yours!" Raymond shouts as his arms turn into baseball firing cannons.

Just as the battle of the beauties was about to get underway however, an arrow with a glowing heart at the end struck at the wall between them. For a moment it confused the two until it exploded into a heap of vision obscuring magic dust that blocked everything from sight in a haze of glowing pink glitter.

When the dust settled, Raymond looked around, his anger boiling over when he had seen that the blue haired baby face fool had escaped, but worse than that he had escaped in style and literally left the robot in the dust!

Dramatically, he falls to his knees and pounds down against the ground, pounding upon it with his robotic fists while cursing out to the heavens. "You glamorous fool! I will find you and make you rue the day you ever thought you could outmatch my beauty!"

He laughed to himself manically as people passed him on the sidewalk, trying not to look at the crazed robot declaring his revenge to the sky…as he sat there frozen, wondering how he would even track the man down.

Saving a hero is often something that changes a power dynamic. Of course in terms of a real fight it was a necessity as sooner or later one may come into a situation where they have to deal with something that they're not ready for and could use the help…it just made tactical sense.

However, in terms of optics? There was nothing worse in the world of heroes than being one and getting saved by one. It made you look incompetent and foolish. Like you couldn't handle the job and needed some bigger hero to come and save you. It invalidated your skills and ability to such a degree that it was one of the reasons Sweet Mask never wanted to be a part of the S-Class.

After all, in terms of support those idiots could never just take care of a situation themselves. They always basically had to support one another, it's why none of them ever went up in their own ranks and it was basically about perceived power. Heck, from what he knew King was only an S-Rank based upon things people had heard about him…though Sweet Mask wished he could have been the same. Rather than being a hero he would have rather liked to just be a celebrity.

However, still…he disliked being pulled out of the spotlight, even for a good reason, which is why when a girl in a skirt did that after causing that explosion of dust it didn't take him more than a few moments to pull his hand away from her once they had made something of an escape.

"Hey! First of all, I never gave you permission to touch me, not one bit." Sweet Mask states while straightening his clothes. "Secondly, I had that situation very much under control…so why did you interfere?"

The girl sighs as Mask measures her up. She was wearing tiny pink hat with a red feather and a velvet dress and carried a bow, so he figured that seemingly like most people in this world she was a hero, however the attitude she was exhibiting just looking at him seemed to tell him that she considered herself more important and well trained, much like the A-rank heroes he had cultivated in his universe.

"Ah, wait a moment…you're with that organization P.O.I.N.T, aren't you?"

That actually surprised her a fair bit. "I…well yes, I'm Elodie and I work for them…how did you know that?"

"I pride myself on my ability to size people up, not many people can judge a book by its cover my dear but I can look at you and see quite a lot of potential."

Ah, there it was, just the little bit of a blush from her cheeks as he gave her just the slightest bit of praise. Women can be pretty easy if you're a beautiful, charming man sometimes.

"Oh, uh…well, since you know I'm from P.O.I.N.T I don't have to explain that at least." She states before her bow disappears. "I spoke to the other agent who you have settled here, King, and he told me you left to look around?"

Ugh, of course King would forget to tell him someone was looking for him. "Ah, forgive me, I simply wanted to see this world for myself…it's not every day that someone gets to experience a brand new universe."

Elodie smiles. "Of course, actually…that's the reason I sought you out. Do you mind if we spoke over maybe a coffee or something?"

"Only if you know a place that makes a passable cappuccino."

"Luckily for you, I know two."

Being a celebrity was hard, being one that was a hero, an actor, a singer and more was even harder. It put a lot of pressure on one's life and for a man like Sweet Mask it made him a tightly wound workaholic. It was one of the reasons he didn't just want to sit around with King and just mill around Boxmore. He wanted to get as much info on this world as possible until this mission was complete so he could get back to the most important parts of his career.

However, in quiet moments he did like to sit down and enjoy a nice vanilla cappuccino…especially with a girl that was becoming a fast fan, but with how impressive the man is that wasn't a surprise to him at all.

"So wait…you don't only work as a hero, but as an actor, a singer and you even evaluate heroes too?"

"Indeed, it's a lot to take at once but I love my work," He states while taking another sip. He looks around at the bustling cafe around them, getting more than a few looks from the girls. He's not worshiped here like in the other world but his beauty can't be ignored…hmm, maybe he could cross promote across universes? After all, they never saw his academy award winning movie here, 'Handsome Love Story'.

"So…the Hero Association is basically the P.O.I.N.T of your world?"

"Well, from what you describe they seem to be a little different." Mask states before putting his cup down. "Heroes from my world are mostly adults. Some have powers, some don't. From what I've been able to glean from King and yourself, powers here are something people can get for themselves or train to achieve. Though our world has that too, it's not to the same degree…though I have heard both worlds have ninjas."

"Oh yes, actually a friend of mine is a ninja."

"Interesting, there's actually a ninja in my rank known as Shadow Ring, though the ninja of my world seem to be a bit more mysterious. From what I can understand one can't just become one out of nowhere…but I dislike speaking of things I don't know anything about."

Elodie was a little taken back by that, as well as feeling like the man before her was somehow being slightly bothered by the conversation but she couldn't be sure why. He was being nice enough and charming but…was he doing it for her or because he was just that way naturally?

Either way, her curiosity pulled her out of that line of thinking and onto another. "Tell me more about the heroes, ranks and all that. I want to know everything I need before I set off to your universe."

Oh yes, Mask had almost forgotten that was why they were even talking about all this in the first place. She had explained when she sat down that the reason she was trying to find him was to ask him more about their universe and how being a hero was there. Apparently King told her that Sweet Mask would be the one to talk to since the scarred man was so high ranked and didn't really rub elbows with the heroes around him, so his perspective wasn't all that broad.

"Well, while the Hero Association takes care of organizing heroes to deal with threats both small and large scale, we also work out of several different agencies that take care of public perception as well as equipment and other needs. Some heroes need support and transportation, others need better training from more experienced heroes. It also allows us to get a more general view of heroes that should move up the ranks compared to those that plateau."

"Do…a lot of heroes end up plateauing?"

Mask nods."It's a sad state of affairs but yes, not many of them are meant for the big leagues and where I come from the enemies we come across swing some pretty big bats. If I were to give you any advice going into my universe, consider that the enemies you face there will not pull their punches or give you a lot of chances. You have to be strong and resilient if you are to survive."

It was a lot to take in for Elodie, but she had always considered herself generally to be a winner. She had sacrificed a lot to get stronger and could at least say she was pretty strong and resilient herself, however the way Mask described his world and the heroes in it, it felt like something was strangely wrong about it all.

Though, that inkling didn't stop her from being excited about the prospect of being an actual celebrity. "So, if I was a hero on the other side, would I end up joining an agency?"

Putting his hand to his chin to consider things, Mask looked over at the girl…she seemed to have a good amount of competence to herself and while he hadn't been witness to all her abilities…it would be good to have someone from P.O.I.N.T in his pocket.

Reaching into his clothes, he pulled out a small, beautifully embroidered business card. "Here, take this. On it there is the address to the Handsome Castle Agency. Whenever you make the leap to our world, find them and show them the card. They'll get you set up."

"Just…from showing them this card? Why?"

"Because it's MY business card, and anybody I want to work with is immeasurably valuable to the agency. Plus, you would be surprised how much fangirls bid over these cards alone on the internet. Bootleg versions of it being sold are actually a problem." He remarks, thinking back to his own work once again.

"Wow…thanks, I really appreciate all the help you've given me."

"Think nothing of it, besides…I think a girl like you could go far even in my universe. You may end up becoming a highly ranked hero such as myself for everyone to cheer on."

Elodie really liked that idea, to be someone that others could see and believe in…but there was someone else who simply scoffed at it.

"Hero? Ha! Is that what you think you are?"

The two turned to see Raymond, looking utterly as angry as ever at them across from the cafe.

"You blue haired meat puppet of a human, you think because you look good compared to the rest of your fleshy companions that you're more elegant than others…but you cannot compare to the coldly rolled steel perfection that I, Raymond, have been crafted into!"

Sweet Mask's eye twitched once again, remembering the anger from not too long ago that rose from even being in the vicinity of this clanking bucket of loose bolts. He stood up and Elodie joined him, however that's not what he wanted at all.

"Please, take a seat my dear…if you'll allow me, I just need to teach mister pointy nose here a lesson."

"Ugh! Speaking of my nose again, blue hair!? Enough of your rabble, have at you!"

Elodie sat back, but was still on the edge of her seat as she watched the fight start off. Sweet Mask didn't prepare an attack as he walked across the street toward the robot. Raymond of course wasn't simply going to wait for the first blow from his opponent and took the moment to aim his baseball cannons and fire.

To a man as skilled as Sweet Mask however, dodging such projectiles was child's play. They were almost like dodging a ball someone had thrown underhand casually. So much so that he actually caught one of the two balls fired.

"Oh you wanna play a game huh, how about 'catch'?" Taking the ball, Sweet Mask pulled his hand back, pulling his leg up to get into a perfect pitching stance that he learned on the set of his Academy Nominated Sports film, Beautiful Baseball, he then brought his foot down to put all of his strength into his throw.

He nearly broke the leather off the ball as it fired out of his hands with the strength of a cannon. Sure, it missed Raymond but it ended up slamming into a nearby brick wall and cracking it open to imbed itself in.

At that moment, the green robot realized he might be just slightly out of his league, but he was desperate and angry enough to push on and continue the fight. "Oh ya, maybe I do want to play catch…how about you have fun with all of these!"

Bracing his shoulders, Raymond puffed his chest out as it split open to reveal small little cannon-like modules, each loaded with a hard black hockey puck. Smiling he dug his metal feet in before unleashing a halestorm of them firing at his chest.

Elodie gasped, thinking that now she should jump in and help as a wall of pucks was being fired Sweet Mask's way but in an instant both her and his enemy were surprised by Mask's elegant movements, rolling over to the side of the hail of pucks only to then stylishly almost dance toward Raymond before he could turn a deliver a well aimed blow at the robot's face, sending him rolling back against the ground while he stopped firing pucks.

The girl was ready to clap for the hero but the robot wasn't ready to give up just yet. Instead his arms changed, loading up footballs into the end of his arms cannons and spinning them to fire out perfectly spiked throws. This in of itself did nothing to stop Mask from simply dodging them, however Raymond had a hail mary in mind.

Upon the hero disappearing from his vision in a burst of speed, the machine changed his arms again, creating long thin needles to use as rapiers that he used to turn and strike behind him. He had guessed that his enemy would use his speed to elegantly attack him from his rear…and he was absolutely correct.

However, despite guessing correctly…the strike of the rapiers would not bring anything close to a mortal blow, but it would bring on the end of the fight as Raymond had left a small but shallow cut upon Mask's face.

At that moment, the robot saw the hero realize what had happened as it looked like the skin around even the small cut began to crack. Before he could see more the hero covered his face with his hand only for the green robot to see the utter and terrible hate being communicated by the eyes looking at him now.

He doesn't even have a chance now. Sweet Mask moved in, grabbing his arm and using his rage induced strength to rip it out at the joint of the elbow. Spinning in place Mask then uses the arm's still extended rapier to stab right into Raymond's chest.

"You piece of goddamn scrap metal…" The voice of the blue haired human grows dark and guttural. "Tell me…do you feel fear?"

Raymond was unsure of how to answer until the man grabbed his head. Despite still winning the fight already he lifted the robot and slammed him straight into the ground, cracking the pavement and denting that triangular head of his pretty bad.

Of course, the robot couldn't feel any of the pain, but even he felt something of a cold chill running through his transmission oil as the human unleashed his rage upon Raymond by stomping on his legs and arms, all the while the robot kept staring at his face, seeing the cracks start to go beyond the hand trying to hide them.

Maybe in his anger he wanted to cause pain to the robot, and to Raymond that was actually a rather strange concept…but looking at the human peeling his metal shell away slowly as if he was trying to take some sort of joy in it he realized something as Sweet Mask laid his heel down on the green machine's exposed core.

"You feel scared now?" Mask demands, getting ready to end this in one last brutal strike.

Raymond would have smiled if he had much of a face left, but his voice box was still very much intact along with his eyes, which he used to stare up at the man cracking before him. "Not as scared…as you seem to be."

With that, Sweet Mask raised his foot and with all his strength brought it down, breaking through his enemies chest and crushing the core and the metal under it so well that heaps of oil spurted out in all directions like blood.

The robot had ceased to function, and now Sweet Mask had something else to worry about…but when he looked to see that worry and dark thoughts manifested about how to deal with her…he saw that Elodie had disappeared, either having run when the fight started…or upon seeing him.

Either way, she would be a problem now…and he would make sure to deal with her later when the time came. For the moment, he covered his face and went into the closest alleyway to take care of the damage before anybody could discover the truth about him.

When confronted by perspective, one's world can shatter…and it can be rebuilt from the ground up into something stronger.

Before the gate to a new world and readying herself to jump into it, Elodie had tried to reconcile what she saw.

For about an hour of time, she was able to hang out with someone she considered to be the kind of hero she always wanted to be. Strong and charming…yet, all of that seemed to just reflect the heroes name too much in the end. Sweet Mask had been hiding a part of himself away and that part of him was defined by some sort of anger or fear that the girl could not help but be sickened by…but that wasn't the only lingering thought that had been brought up by what she saw.

She wondered if the rest of his universe was like that? Filled to the brim with heroes who didn't do what they did to help people…but only for their own selfish reasons and emotional problems? Worse yet…the perspective she has gained has made her question her own sense of self…she's sacrificed a lot for her place, to be a hero…yet where did it lead? Could she end up becoming someone like Sweet Mask?

"Agent Elodie? Are you ready?" A scientist asked her as she stood before the gate.

She nodded to him, asking if she could just have another minute or so to prepare herself. This place was a precipice that was unsure that she could pass. The other world could be far more violent and far more than she can take…and to survive it as a hero she may have to change in a way she doesn't really like…but if she doesn't do it, she would be ignoring her responsibility as a hero.

In the end, the girl found it within herself to pass through, promising to herself that she would try to keep herself the same even in dark moments.

With that, an agent of P.O.I.N.T moves to the other side.

Meanwhile at Boxmore, Raymond comes off the assembly line, unsure to think about what he saw…but sure enough to avoid the blue haired pretty boy simply for one little reason.

In his mind, he had won.

Sweet Mask had shown himself not to be an elegant or beautiful person, in the end trying to take all that ugly pain out on Raymond simply made the robot feel all the more superior. It did make him wonder what brought on the change and what happened to the fool's face, but those thoughts didn't matter as much as the fact he had been cranked out of the assembly line just as a Darrel and a Shannon were getting into a big fight, which he was about to step into to show his magnanimous and above it all attitude.

Sweet Mask on the other hand would sneak back into Boxmore at night, retreating to his room to reform his face to keep his dark, terrible secret. He would never fight Raymond again for two reasons of his own. One, fighting the machine is pointless, as he would find out the next day when he saw the factory simply produced more and more of them…and by the fact he thought he had won.

He had shown his strength and torn the robot apart, but also upon seeing that he was easily remade, told him that even if the robot thought he was elegant, he was simply one out of a thousand, while Sweet Mask was one of a kind.

Being himself was all that mattered to Mask…and all that mattered to his mask.