"Tell me this," he responded. "How many people have heroes hurt on accident? How many have been hospitalized? How many have been paid off to keep quiet? How many lives have been ruined, not by a villain's actions, but by a hero's?" He opened his eyes to watch her again. Where she was cold, he was heated. Not like Endeavor, not a burning, blinding rage, but a heated passion that made a different fire entirely swell in his heart. "I am no savior. Don't put words in my mouth. I don't claim to be the one that can save this world or its denizens. I am no All Might. But you're right--in the absence of black and white and all the make-believe differences the only real balance left is justice."<br/><br/>He leaned forward and toward her, far from intimidated. "Stain? Please. Stain was a madman. He thought he could kill his way to reform. We met before, a while ago, before he adopted the name you know him by. Our ideals are similar, don't get me wrong. We both understood that the hero society is corrupt. The thing is that we disagreed fundamentally about how it should be changed. But you don't care about that, do you? I'm just Rasputin, the villain. The madman. Right? Makino Kioshi and his views have no place on this grand stage." His voice had dropped to nearly a whisper. "My identity as Makino means nothing to you. Or to Endeavor, or to the public. The public fears Rasputin because they were told to. They revere you because your agency arranged for a trade deal--you endorse a product or products, and you're put out in the world as a friendly, noble spokesperson.<br/><br/>"You can trust this product, it's hero endorsed! Endeavor's Hemorrhoid Cream, because we've all got a little pain in the ass. Mount Lady brand bras, because every woman deserves to have her mountains taken care of. Selkie boats, because a half-man half-seal MUST know how to traverse the water. What if I'd written a book instead of resorting to practical means, hm? What if I had used the system against you, instead of rejecting the system entirely? Would I still be a villain, or would I just be a controversial figure? That's what I mean when I say that the only difference between us, the only<i>real</i>difference, is sponsorship. When I make a mistake and innocents get hurt I'm a villain. When you mess up, you have an agency with enough cash and sway to make the problem disappear just waiting in the wings to protect your public image and remind everyone; she's a hero! The mistakes she makes are okay, because she only made them to stop the bad guy!" He smiled at her, the expression full of bitterness. "But go ahead. Keep telling me I'm wrong. Take the moral high ground. Try not to think about it as you cash your next endorsement check."