Let's play a little game of imagining.

Imagine, one day all out of nowhere, earth gets ripped off from its original position. Width, height, depth, time, all four dimensions are torn appart and reformed in new coordinates.

Imagine a game-like pop-up suddenly told you you were chosen by God to fight evil... or goodness.

At first, you'd think you went crazy.

As the first impression runs out, you tap your foot in the floor. The pop-up is slowly replaced by a new one, telling you what the advantages of being God's Apostle were. Fame. Fortune. The power to change yourself, and overcome the threshold of the limits of mankind. All of that by accomplishing fairly simple tasks periodically.

You calm down. Breathe in and out. This has to be some sort of joke, you think. Your friends have a poor sense of humor. Yeah... Yeah, that must be it, you reckon. There is no other explanation.

Then the first pop-up comes out, explaining you that you have access to a Status Window, and that have been assigned this or that power that you can check on such window.

You start doubting this is a mere joke. Surely still nothing real, but maybe some kind of government thing? An experiment of sorts? Sounds crazy, but plausible compared to the other, crazier ideas. Skepticism quickly gives away to curiosity. If this is a government experiment, then it wouldn't do any harm checking out what the pop-ups said, right?

You spell the open command, and you widen your eyes in surprise as you notice a new, larger pop up stating your name, affiliation and the powers you have been assigned, including how they work. Along with some stupidly simple tasks.

Your heart starts beating faster. The part of you that thinks this could still be a joke or an experiment of sorts is muffled by the roaring of your soul. You are overwhelmed by joy. Is this real?, you ask. Am I truly special? And since nobody comes to tell otherwise, not even the pop-up, you raise your hands and start running around, letting out all the emotions at once. Joy. Excitement. Smugness. You don't care how, or why, this all happened. All you know is that you have the chance of becoming something more, something greater.

Then you check your morality.

Imagine you come out as a hero. You could do several things. You could start acting as an independant hero. Kinda like the friendly neighbor in red and blue suit. You could go to the government, show them you're special and request their help. Surely others would also think about it. They would back you up. You could choose to do nothing, although that's highly unlikely. Let others go through all the effort. You never signed up for any of this, they can't force you to do it.

But imagine you come as a villain.

At first, it's the confusion. But wait, weren't the heroes supposed to be the good guys? Then what, are you some kind of extra? Is you only purpose in life to be beaten by heroes? Then you start looking at it from a different point of view. Wait. This isn't sunday cartoons. This is the real life. Villains get away with theirs here. Look at the mafia. Cartels. Look at bank-robbers all over who were never caught. You could be one of them too, you realize. Greater. Better. You have something they don't: you have powers.

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And if you are smart enough, you will learn how to use them in your favor. Because you are God's Apostle, the chosen by the upper powers. You are destined to great things...

And so you begin your journey, with a single big ideal in your head:

World domination.

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In the year 2025, mankind was overwhelmed by the appearance of the so called God Apostles. Normal people who had been granted a power and a task from the heavens (or hell) themselves. Humanity's first reaction was, as expected, one of rejection. The man is an envious creature by nature. They can't stand seeing others in a better position. Governments officially expressed their will to reject any form of support to this 'horde of hoaxers' and encouraged the people to do the same.

As for general population, there were different reactions. Some thought it was a big joke. Others thought those so-called 'Apostles' were modified humans created by some secret organization to take over the world. Crazy theories ran rampant all across the internet... But the great majority supported the government's posture.

We don't want special heroes or supervillains. Give us back equality.

Some heroes dropped out after this. Most of them independent. Some decided the public eye wasn't for them, and instead started working in the shadows. Those were the altruistic and anti-socials, those who believed a real hero only helped without expecting nothing in return.

Most of them, however, regrouped. The saw comrades in each other, sharing a single fate and a single objective in life. They agreed to support each other, and if the government didn't help, they would help themselves...

And so the Law-enforcing Hero Union was born.

As for villains...

Most were heavily disappointing with the masses' reaction. They hung out their coat, took off their masks and went home. They would try again later, when the conditions improved. Some saw in the LHU an opportunity and decided to join despite the fact that they were villains. Their morality changed eventually to fit their new roles.

Some kept doing their own stuff how they wanted and when they wanted...

And some started planning ahead. preparing to take over the globe.

The First Wave wasn't much of an interesting one. People were far too busy dealing with the prospects of someone having powers to focus in anything else. Heroes and villains were all green and didn't know how to properly use their powers...

When the Second Wave arrived, it all changed. The government was forced to accept the Wakening Season was no longer a big hoax. The people started to support heroes. First Wave heroes supported their fresh allies... It was in 2032 when things got heated up. Big dramatic battles between powered people started every moth, every week, every day. Maps changed. Terrains disappeared and more came out of nowhere. It was the rise of the meta-humans, the Power Age.

It was then when the greatest, most influential villainous masterminds held a conference amongst each others. Heroes were growing too strong. The situation was out of control. They needed to do something fast, or else they ran the risk of seeing everything they worked for disappear...

And so, in June of 2033, the heads of all big empowered criminal organizations assembled in what would be later called the Concordat of Unity. They would all join together and form a single, big and branched organization to resist the LHU's growing menace. Each delegation picked their own leader, those who they saw fit to fulfill the role of world ruler...

And so appeared the Vigilantes.

The greatest criminal masterminds in the world's history.