We Don’t Need Another Hero: the Captain Australia Story (Chapter One)

Captain Australia’s Crime Fighting Journal, Entry#46

I’ve been told that my videographer will be off his feet for at least a week, so there will be no patrol this weekend.  That has turned me to thoughts about alternative ways I could use the time – and the first obvious choice was to throw myself into training.

Just to update on my physical training, I’ve been working hard since the start of the year, training daily.  I’ve shifted focus from skill based training to pure weightloss.  I honestly didnt notice that I’d slowly ballooned out.  Since leaving the military, I took up instructing ju-jitsu and kungfu, and the reduction in effort-level has allowed me to slowly put on weight (a little like Elvis in the latter years).  Since the start of the year, I’ve already lost 10 kilograms, the half-way mark.

I’ve realised, while training, that there are so many elements of what I’m doing and why that I have not told.  My story is completely out of context.  I’m also gravely concerned that people don’t understand what I’m trying to do, or distrust my motivation.

So, I’m going to document it here.  If I am to inspire you, you need to understand me, and to understand who I am, its only fair that I explain who I was.  I’ll make an effort to piece together the chapters of my life up until becoming Captain Australia – but before I start my story, first, a brief disclaimer:

All elements of the following story reflect the true experiences of Captain Australia, without embellishment.  Certain facts, identities and timelines have been distorted in the interest of preventing the criminal underworld from piecing together my secret identity, and targeting my family for reprisals.  Although distorted, please understand that this is my life, and every aspect of the story I tell you is the utmost truth.

Chapter One: Who is Captain Australia ?

I am a masked crime fighter.  I wear a costume, I have a utility belt, I go out into the real world hoping to make a difference.  Some days I honestly think I succeed – and some days people throw food at me.  This is my story.

My mission is simple – I stand against evil in all its forms, including the most insidious evil of all – the apathy that pervades our day-to-day lives like a numbing drug, deadening us to the world that surrounds us.
I assert that the world is slowly darkening like a rotten piece of fruit.  People are cynical, selfish and cruel.  We no longer trust, and no longer pursue moral excellence.  Society is slowly eating itself, but this cannibalism is reversible if we can only find a way to unify and take personal responsibility for bettering the world.  Humanity needs champions to who will hold themselves to a higher moral authority, who will stand as beacons for people to rally to.

It is my goal to be one of those champions.  To put the welfare of society ahead of my own life and personal safety.  To be a Hero.

I know evil.  Darkness has followed me all my life, trailing behind me like a toxic grey cloud, draining the colour from everything I did, rendering it shallow and pointless.  I saw this shadow and felt helpless to fight it, try as I might.  I saw no meaningful way to change the world, and no point in trying.  The days of my life stretched ahead of me like a barren desert, sterile and uninviting.

Then, my son was born.  He came into my life like a blazing light, making everything around me stand out with stark clarity.  Suddenly, the world was more beautiful, more precious and vulnerable – and my mission was clear: for him, and for all the future generations of the world, I must stand defiantly against darkness.  I must do everything that I can to make the world a better place.

You see, that day I realised .. the only way to fight darkness .. is to light a candle.

I am Captain Australia.