"You recognize some of us, don't you, boy?" A gravely voice hissed at me from behind, making me whirl around to see a face weathered by age, one eye covered by a black eyepatch, the other's faded green color still managing to give me a sharp, stern gaze. The force of his voice and his look in my direction was enough to keep me silent, though I couldn't help but answer him with a quiet nod.

He exhaled softly in amusement, a metal hand gripping harder on a cane keeping him upright. "Does it surprise you, seeing our kind paying respects? Your grandfather was a good man, much to our consternation back in the days of our prime." He stroked his chin in thought, quietly reminiscing of moments long past. "I lost count of how many bank robberies and spying missions he managed to foil. For someone with barely any powers, he made good use of what he had..."

He walked a little past me, gazing first at the closed coffin and where it would be lowered into the ground, then at some of the others gathered around, some as old as my grandfather, others much younger. "Blue Baron, Darksider, Colonel Copperhead...there's some faces I haven't seen in ages. Then you have the new blood...Hyperdeath and Killjoy...hrm." It felt like he had more to say about some of the ones he recognized outside of their more villainous and recognizable appearance, but thought otherwise after another glance towards the future grave site.

"Your grandfather inspired a lot, you know. Some of us reformed or retired, but other times he inspired us to do our damnedest to try and win, even if we never could outplay the clever bastard." He said, a raspy chuckle forming before he cut it off with a cough and a clearing of his throat. "I'd say some of these young ones were inspired by watching us go at it, even if their egos wouldn't admit it."

"That's just the kind of person he was, wasn't it? Whether hero or villain, watching him in action made you wanna give it your all. So it makes sense most of us would pay our respects to someone like that, eh?"

I guess it made sense, but still, to think that most of the people here were villains of some kind made it a rather awkward feeling.

"Well, those 'heroes' will be busy with public appearances and secret identities and whatnot; those get in the way of being somewhere important. Besides, a hero has a plethora of villains dedicated to them, but for a villain, you often only have the one main rival in your life, two if you're lucky."

He turned away from me and started to traipse away with a slow, tired gait. "Whatever you think of us and our histories, know this, son...your grandfather was a shining beacon of good faith. And if he had this many enemies brought from his good deeds...just think about how many heroes he's inspired."