Though heroes are not made as easily here as in other cases... there are many times when we can look to our friends as heroes. Saving lives... changing them for the better, doing things you could only dream of accomplishing or even helping you out every step of the way.

Yet my friends have never called me their hero, and with good reason. I'm a great person and a great friend, I've done things for them that friends do, and I've accomplished note-worthy things in their eyes that have earned their respect. However, I've never impacted their lives like a hero should... I've never saved them-- and for that matter, I've never even saved anyone.

You know... I really was the hero once, back when I was taking tyrants like Galen down and standing strong against other federation's champions. When I beat Jeremy Diaz for the NLCW two weeks in a row, I was the hero. When I beat Shane Perry in the finals of R2S, I was the hero. I knew what it took and I did it willingly, but then the hero inside of me died and left me here to rot away.

And now here I sit, talking to all of you about my past as a hero and how I just want to be free of all of these problems that circulate through this head of mine. Freedom, I ask an unknown figure for a chance at freedom from my own mistakes... and as you all watch on in silence? I get smacked in the face with yet another answer that silences my plea.

Heroes are never free.

Heroes are always willing to throw themselves into the line of fire and take one for the team. When you're the hero, there's always a villain at your doorstep. No matter which way you turn you're always getting taken on by your arch-nemesis, or your most hated of rivals.

I've had my fair share of battles... but there have been times where I've broken free to carry on alone. It's not the best of options but to some people it might appear necessary... I know it did to me.

I know now that I was wrong-- I can't go at this alone.

So while I'm struggling to take another step, the heroes are passing me by, flying up the mountain and reaching the top with ease, further proof of how human I truly am.

A hero is someone everyone can look up to, but that is not the case for me. A hero is strong, a hero never gives up, never says die and always saves the world or the girl or whatever the hell there is to save by the end of the day. The hero is always getting better, learning more and more as time goes on and triumphing over the hardest of villains, no matter how powerful they may be.

Because in the end? The hero always wins.

And I've lost my fair share of matches here in the NLCW.

It's been that way for a long time, you know. Even when the villain has them on the ropes or taken down and out, the hero always makes his grand return and does what he never could do before. It may take awhile, but the hero has something that the villain does not.

The hero is always growing, always changing for the better. The villain is too consumed by hate, greed or desire for power to truly develop beyond the hero's abilities.

A man doesn't have these abilities... a mere man is confined by his limitations, whereas a hero has none and villains seem to blur the fine line between the impossible and possible, if only for a brief moment.

Sure, some men have the ability to triumph over villains... and I'll admit I'm graced to be among this group, but we're still held back by a force that won't allow us to be what we want to be.

That's the times when it hurts the most; when you're only a few steps away from being the hero-- to truly making worth of your dreams...

And yet it feels like you're never going to make it there, no matter how hard you try.