Hero: Trail

September, 2 years ago: Tank Red, one of the founders of Trinity Inc., was institutionalized  with symptoms of a acute paranoia. For two weeks he claimed he was frequently visited by a huge moth-man who drank his blood.

April, 8 months ago: bank robbers jumped into the harbor after being chased by a six-eyed fire-breathing insect.

Today: John Mesmer is revealed to be the mysterious protector of Pulp City, Trail. Pulp City’s crime lords set a bounty on Trail’s head of 3 million dollars, as they can’t take the offense of being publicly humiliated.

John Mesmer  became an overnight celebrity and his home town’s prime target right after his second book came out. “Of Insects and Men”, a provocatively titled book, described the extremely time-consuming research of Dr. Mesmer. The book sold out but its contents were so bold that most academic circles rejected it and exiled it to the realm of science fiction. One of the most common criticisms was that the research methods were at least  questionable and strictly unethical.

Mesmer claimed that the hive mind theory, of which plenty of examples could be found in the insect, animal and alien kingdoms alike, was applicable to human race as well. He discovered that the hive mind in most cases was able to plant trail marks in the brains of its subjects, effectively influencing behavior and perception even years after the actual programming. Dr. Mesmer named the entire process “trailblazing” as the hive mind prowled through the subject’s thoughts and memories, leaving its marks only to come back to them when a need arose.

Some would have claimed this is all just stuff of cheap pulp books if not for the fact that the bulk of “Of Insects and Men” described Mesmer’s nightly outings when he tested the “trailblazing” theory on human subjects. But not his regular patients that frequented doctor’s little loft office in Pulp City’s downtown – they were safe from the new vigilante.  Mesmer claimed he had a good sense of what is good or wrong.

What some perceived as unethical and inhuman methods, appealed to most of the Pulp City citizens, making Trail’s exploits the stuff of tabloid legends. John Mesmer chose his targets carefully, picking out criminals, usually in the process of committing a crime. He would carefully plan every action, planting the so called marks and blazing the trails. His victims, depending on the gravity of the crime, would either suffer a night of humiliation by ending up at the police station or be burdened with a lifetime of haunting hallucinations.  Dressed in a long cape that would turn into nightmarish creatures and otherworldly shapes in the victims mind and a mask studded with hypnotizing gems, Mesmer was anything but merciful to villains while he  pushed his research to the limits.

The limit was the life but the sanity of his test subjects wasn’t. In many ways, the sight of the flowing cape and six glowing eyes would make petty criminals run faster than if they had seen a Necroplane golem. Mind over muscle mass, as Mesmer would mention to Six Feet Under.

These days, quite voluntarily, John Mesmer polarized people, they either loved or hated him. Many wannabes are out there who try to emulate his methods, but Trail wasn’t that stupid to hand out the most powerful mind controlling methods to eager villains. He is still the only and unequaled master of “trailblazing”, and he is really good at it.

His somewhat drastic methods aligned him with Pulp City vigilantes, so Trail is often seen by the side of Dead Eye or the Blood Watch. Some of them don’t even realize that somewhere deep in their minds, the trails were already blazed, as Mesmer made sure that no enemy or friend would ever stab him in the back before his great project is fully researched and handed over to a next generation of Pulp City heroes.