Meet Ozymandias, YunKu's Kickass Superhero...

Everyone in the proficiency class created amazing superhero origin stories last week, and we got to hear awesome stories about Captain V, Hibiscus Girl and The Target, but my socks have been knocked all the way off by YunKu's origin story for his hero, Ozymandias. Please enjoy it below!

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I am Ozymandias, king of kings. For over 3000 years I've lived and this is the story of how I came to be the wisest man in the world.



I was once a powerful commander in service of the Pharaoh of the kingdom now known as Egypt. As a budding soldier, I had always admired the ambition of the tyrant and had the same lust for power. Battle after battle, I grew stronger and the number of soldiers under my leadership doubled and tripled. I climbed the chain of command until there was no one greater, except for the Pharaoh, who never stopped keeping watch on me, therefore preventing any possible usurpation.



The king eventually sent me and my men to the southern lands to conquer the unconquerable: the Ethiopian barbarians. It was his ploy to eliminate me in fear of a coup, but I had no choice but to follow the order. It would be viewed as treason if we were to return unvictorious. The battle lasted for weeks, and our numbers diminished rapidly. When tomorrow comes, we would be outnumbered and annihilated. I figured that the only chance of survival was to silently ambush them in the middle the night. The desperate mission played out surprisingly smoothly, for the barbarians had been careless because of their impending triumph.



My archers took out the few patrols guarding the southern entrance to their camp. When the enemies realized what was happening, half of my men and I were already ravaging the site from the inside. At the sight of the rest of my soldiers attacking from the perimeter, the barbarians fell into a panic. I immediately found their ruler in his tent, who had just prepared himself for battle, and decapitated him with a single blow.



Then something fell onto the ground: an ancient artifact the warlord was carrying around his neck. I picked it up and instantly, I could see the entire battle surrounding the tent, the tides leaning towards our victory. It has given me the power of clairvoyance, the ability to see through far distances. It was what has been keeping the barbarians so invincible for so long. If the warrior chief had stayed vigilant, not falling asleep in arrogance, the barbarians would have known we were coming.

When we returned home, the surprised Pharaoh locked us out in the desert. But it was as expected, and I was prepared. Soon the king would dispatch an army to ensure our extermination. Before that could happen, we swiftly infiltrated our own palace. I knew what to do. I knew where to go and where to strike. With the artifact in possession, I was able to find the weak points of the king's new army and the fortress. The intelligence on the whereabouts of the enemies assisted me in quickly dispatching them little by little. Eventually, I had cornered the Pharaoh, and murdered him relentlessly.



I took the throne of the Pharaoh and called myself Ozymandias, king of kings, after Ramesses the Great. I ruled for decades with the aid of my precious artifact. All of Egypt came to fear me not only because of my savage command, but also because of my never changing appearance. I never seemed to age. In time I realized that it was because the artifact had also granted me immortality. I was worshipped like a god. There was none that could overcome me.



Then one day, during my daily psychic expedition, I learned that there was in fact a counterpart to my artifact. It was told that its wielder would be able to manipulate the thoughts of others near him, therefore directly controlling them. For the first time in decades, I feared. I feared that if anyone other than me acquires the counterpart, he would eventually defeat me. For years I searched the entire land, both psychically and physically. Graves were dug open, villages were torn apart. The artifact wasn't of much help when I didn't know where to look.



In the end, it was the magi who had fled the kingdom under my rulership that found the counterpart. They were coming for me, turning my men one by one to their cause with the power of their artifact. I did not know what to do. I did not know where to go and where to hide. So easily, I was overthrown, just like the barbarian warlord and the Pharaoh before me, and all the countless other tyrants I've since come to witness over the millennia.



But they didn't kill me. Instead, I was deprived of the privilege to die. After endless torture, as a final punishment, I was mummified along with the artifact in my hands so that I was kept alive, forever trapped and sealed away in my useless, broken body. They wanted me to eternally suffer and feel remorse for what I have done. Regret I did.



I saw the vanity of power only now that I have fallen myself. I felt limitless frustration that my time has ended. For years I hoped that one day someone would find my tomb, take my artifact away and save me from despair. I used the artifact to see if such an event would happen, but it would only deepen the agony. Rare passers-by never knew what was hidden nearby, which made me anguish all the more, because the mind-controlling artifact was lying right next to me, as if it was teasing me. It was there because the leader of the magi had stowed it away with me, and although he was brave, I regarded him a coward.



It was just within reach. If only I could get my rotten fingers on it...



Decades passed, and my mind was as close to a blank slate, with no desire. Just watching the outside world. Now my tomb was forgotten, buried deep in the middle of the desert. As all I could do was to make use of the artifact extensively, my affinity with the artifact grew over time. I became able to see many places simultaneously, and much farther: into the whole globe.



For centuries I have witnessed nations, religions, ideologies rise and fall. But the nature of men did not change. They continued fighting. Wars never ceased. All the while I began to also true happiness, hope, families and love. The slate was being filled with them. They were all there all along; I just wasn't looking for them. I started to genuinely repent my sins. I wanted to redeem myself from my crimes. I had a purpose.



It was just within reach. If only I could get my rotten fingers on it...



At first, I couldn't understand why such discrepancy existed among men, including myself in the past. But time has made me all-knowing, whose opposite is exactly the reason. The reason was their lack of knowledge. It took me millennia to gain so much wisdom and obtain my own unique sense of justice. How would such short-living lives be able to see what I see? Only I, the wisest being in the entire world, could help them. As I observed the revolutions, the technology, my mind became so brilliant that I could see the keen solutions to all of their unsolvable problems.



All the dilemmas except for one: how do I get out? I desperately desired to salvage the people out in the world from pain and misery. But I could see no way to help. For the first time in my prolonged life, I direly begged the gods for a way out. Then suddenly, I felt a tickle in my rotten finger. I was surprised that I had even felt something physically, for the nerves were dead. I realized that I was growing back my bones and flesh. My artifact has bestowed upon me immortality in the true sense. It was as if the artifact has been waiting all this time, testing its wielders to find someone qualified for its ultimate reward.



When my body had fully regenerated, with all the chemicals for the mummification process removed, I was briefly tempted by the counterpart item.



It was just within reach. And I could get my lively fingers on it...



But I did not require it. The wise mage leader had only utilized it to stop me, for the greater good. To use it upon others would be injustice. So I ignored it, and started to scrape away the tomb with my bare hands. Fingers were bruised and nails broke off, but soon grew back. I had to dig out for weeks, but it was a price I had to pay to set out for my path of redemption.



Now that I am free, I call myself again Ozymandias, king of kings, seeking to realize true justice in the world. There is none that can overcome me.