By his own admission, Dave Montgomery was a functioning drunk who hated himself. Not that many years ago he might guzzle 30 Rolling Rocks to mask the memory of a hit-and-run life that included two divorces and a precious daughter who died in childbirth. After he quit boozing, his very existence bored him. Then one night in 2006 the suburban tattoo artist typed into a computer search the words he now says have made all the difference: “real-life superheroes.”

Since then, he’s joined a world of masked crusaders, morphing from flawed human to a fantastic creation straight out of his imagination. At least one night a month, he dons a black leather outfit that suggests pure urban menace, inserts blue contact lenses that give his eyes an eerie glow, and steps into industrial-goth boots that rise nearly to his knees.

Story length: 1,118 words

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