"Ladies and gentlemen, the truth is that mutants are very real, and that they are among us."
-Edward Kelly, X-Men
Demigods, freaks, metahumans - call them what you will. He's right, you know. Mutants are real. They've been around for years, so don't just try to blame this on the government, or the bourgeoisie, or the Man, or any one else. Mutants exist and there's very little you can do to stop it.
But more than that, people gain powers every day, be it through genetics, science experiments gone horribly wrong - or maybe just terrifically right - or scientific marvels light years ahead of NASA. Be it for good or bad, superheros - and supervillains - are walking among us. They have for years. Since the first cities and metropolises were built - Egyptian settlements, Athens, Rome, London - there have been protectors lurking in the dark, waiting to strike. These first superheroes were not glamorous (some evidence even suggests not all of them had superpowers), they were simply effective. No flash, all substance. A cape and tights were little more than deadly weapons in the right - or wrong - hands.
For centuries - perhaps even millennia - those who walked the fine lines of heroics and obsession, justice and insanity were hidden, never to be heard from or seen but in the faintest of whispers from those in the know, and even then, the stories were just that: unrecorded fictions and passed down verbal histories. In the last two decades, though, all has seemingly come to light.
With the passing of several key acts of Congress in the United States and a United Nations-backed legislative form touting truth and equality, the world spoke up. Masked heroes - and villains - became known as much more than just comic book icons or blockbuster surefire's; they were real men and women, and the world loved them.
From the nineties onward, superheroes were the best you could be, and while most were impassive and kept to a code of conduct benefiting them and their all-important alter-egos, a charismatic few did step into the limelight, and eventually influenced the last generation.
Now, in the beginnings of the twenty first century, heroes are outed, and for better or worse, the world loves them.
You will become the protectors (or the executioners) of Earth and all its denizens, and whether you're up for it or not, you'll face challenges unlike anything you've seen before.
Masked is a brand new world, full of possibilities and promises. It can be anything you like, if you've got but the will to accomplish it and the means to be known.
