The Destroyer's Tattoo Doesn't Mean What He Thinks It Means

Martin Ott

The Destroyer's tattoo could be the missing piece of a Mesopotamian treasure map, the hooks and squiggles of a fish in a net. The Destroyer's tattoo could be masking the birthmark of an angel or devil, camouflage for some ancient prophecy. The Destroyer's tattoo could mean baby man in some language as an occasional passerby will point at it and giggle. The Destroyer's tattoo was tiny on the birth of his kids, then expanded upon the death of his mother, home inked and shadow fueled. The Destroyer's tattoo helps him remember the pain of a transitory existence, a cosmos of unexplored possibilities, a permanent midnight bruise. The Destroyer's tattoo sometimes fades in his dreams when he rubs his arm before taking flight and trying to decide: hero, villain, human taking a leap.