๐Ÿ•

- Okay gals! We need to find villains' hideout, that's where they probably are keeping my son - Shaden said to his fellows.

- Why didn't you go to the meeting with Nightmare Plague? You would have retrieved your son and we wouldn't be here now - superhero Switcher noticed.

- I'm sure that wicked villain had set some trap. Otherwise, why would he want to meet one-on-one? - hero replied.

- Sinner Force is just a gang of kiddos who like to rob and cause small ruckus. They have no intention to actually hurt anybody - Mister W said.

- How would you know that?! - other hero, called Electric Wasp asked.

- Uhmm hello? Memory Access, does that ring a bell? - superhero answered.

- Ah of course! The most useless power in the world, which apparently is failing too! - Shaden smirked at the hero. Mister W kept silent.

- Anyways boys - Shaden turned to the rest of the group - We need to locate them as fast as possible, who knows what those monsters will do to my son? - he cried out. Heroes murmured sadly.

- We should do it with an old, proven way: If we were villains, where would we have our hideout? - hero Dragonloom suggested.

All of heroes (except for Mister W who simply rolled his eyes) agreed it was a wonderful idea and they proceed to think.

Their hard work was interrupted by knocking on the door and shout: "Pizza delivery!".

Shaden got up from the table and walked up to the front door. He opened them and saw the pizza guy with their order.

- It will be 50 dollars sir! - man said. Shaden pulled wallet out of his pocket and having grabbed the banknote shoved it in pizza guy's hand and took the boxes from him. Man frowned.

- And tip? - he asked.

- What about it? - Shaden asked nonchalantly.

- Come on, are you really so cheap that you regret one dollar for a guy who drove your pizza through the city, which could easily be picked up by yourself? - man couldn't believe this guy.

- You should be grateful that you got the privilege to deliver pizza to the best heroes in the city. Now go, I'm sure you still have a lot of deliveries to do - hero replied and just as he was about to go back to the table, he heard pizza guy's mumbling:

- Supposedly the villains are the bad guys, but at least they give me a big tip.

Pizza boxes slid from Shaden's hands. He pounced at the man and having pulled him inside, pinned him down.

- You deliver pizza to villains too? So you must know where they have their hideout, right? - he asked. Pizza guy gulped, but said:

- Yes I do, but what makes you think that I'll spill the beans?

- Do you know what can be the consequences of cooperating with the villains? - Shaden asked pizza guy.

- I'm not cooperating with them, I just deliver pizza to them - man replied.

- Well, we can convince police the otherwise - hero warned.

- Try all you want, I won't tell you! - pizza guy snarled.

- Then we'll have to bring out the big guns. I'm sure you have a family, right? - Shaden smiled devilishly. Man raised his eyebrow.

- What this has to do with them? - he asked.

- It would be a pity if something happened to them... Or you - hero said. Pizza guy turned pale.

- You wouldn't dare! You're heroes, it's scandalous of you to even think about it! - he growled.

- You don't want to test me, besides who would suspect city's beloved hero to hurt normal people? - Shaden said confidently and then took control over man's shadow, causing it to suffocate its owner.

- I'm asking only one more time: Where is the villains' lair?! - hero roared.

***

- Okay, now put this piece here very slowly - Milo said to Rico, glancing at the instruction.

Villain complied and he very gently put the roof on the building. He looked down - the Lego city they've been building for few past hours was quite impressive.

- Good job! - boy praised the giant. Rico was about to reply, when doorbell rang.

- Rico! It's your turn to collect the pizza today! - Connal's voice came to giant's ears.

- Okay! - Rico shouted back and turned to Milo.

- I'm going to leave you for a while, okay? I'll bring pizza, which one would you like to eat? - he asked.

- Margarita please! - boy politely replied.

- Okay - giant said and got up. He walked up to his desk, took wad of cash and headed to the front door. When he left his room, the whole facility expanded to his size - a modification made by Moder, which helped giant with moving freely around their hideout.

Rico opened the door and counting banknotes, asked:

- Hi Dave, how is it going?

- Hello there Enforcer - another voice said, causing giant to turn pale and to drop the money. Rico looked down and gasped, seeing pizza guy, heroes, police and TV reporters. Dave was looking in giant's eyes, his gaze full of regret.

Rico took few steps back and raised the alarm:

- Heroes are here! I repeat, heroes AH-! - he cried, feeling Electric Wasp zapping him. He was doing it for such a long time, that soon giant's vision darkened and he fell flat, causing the whole building to shake.

He heard screams and shouts of his friends and saw how their home was fading away before everything around him went black and silent.

***

Rico groaned, feeling how his body was aching. He blinked his eyes few times to get rid of the blurriness. When his vision sharpened, he got startled, as he wasn't in his room - he was closed in a small and weakly-lit room.

He got up and tried to move forward, but because he was chained, he didn't get far. His mind was racing, he didn't remember what had happened. Where are his friends? Where is Milo? What happened to Moder?

His gaze fell on a TV plazma, where replay of heroes' attack was being played. The recent memories flooded back as Rico saw how his friends got captured, how their home vanished into the thin air and how he was loaded onto a semi-trailer.

He heard a small creaking coming from the floor. His head turned to the source of it. He got surprised, seeing it was Mister W and not Shaden.

- How are you doing Rico? - he asked politely. Giant snorted.

- First: you are no friend of mine to use my true name. Second: how would you feel if your enemies kidnapped you? - he growled.

- You know it's not kidnapping if you are the criminals - Mister W said smugly.

- Whatever - giant scoffed and turned away from the hero.

- Don't you want to know why am I here? - man asked.

- I couldn't care less - Rico replied.

- I'm going to ignore your rudeness and tell you anyway. You and your friends are underaged, so you can't just go to the jail. So, Heroes' Council decided that you'll take part in Villain Rehab program and start to go to Uncanny Lycรฉe - Mister W said. Giant bursted out laughing.

- The school for so-called heroes? Thank you, but I prefer to rot in the jail for the rest of my life - he declared.

- Didn't you want to be a hero in the first place? - Mister W asked.

- How do you know that? - giant asked instead.

- Well, as soon as Milo told me about what is leading each of you, I used my power to confirm it. And I saw that you really tried to help people when you got your growth spurt, but it didn't go well - hero said.

- Of course it didn't go well, to them I'm nothing more than a monster! So I became one, to show them all! - Rico roared, tears appeared in his eyes.

- That's why we want to give you all a second chance - Mister W replied.

- I don't deserve a second chance. Don't you know what I did? - Rico murmured.

- I've read your files: Property damage, kidnapping and robbery. These aren't the worst crimes you could commit. Why didn't you kill anyone? You're a villain after all - hero was curious.

Giant was silent. That's true, he and other villains of Sinner Force never killed anyone. He always wondered why. In his case, whenever he tried to kill a person, something was holding him back. Probably the leftovers of his conscience he still had within him.

- Even if I agree to the Villain Rehab, it'll be all for nothing. Nobody will convince people we've changed - giant said.

- Leave that part to us. You're starting in two days, Moder will provide you with everything you'll need to start a new school year - Mister W said as he was leaving.

- You know about Moder? - giant asked.

- Let's just say that I've known her very well, before she became what she is now - hero said mysteriously and left giant's temporary prison.

Rico sighed as he leaned against the wall. He really preferred to stay in the jail. That's what everyone expected. And now, he'll have to prove that his not as bad as they assume him to be.

"Hope Uncanny Lycรฉe will disappear during this two days" Rico thought and not having much to do, he took a little nap.

Comment