Villains among Heroes

Chapter Eleven

Hero-Con...

Alice stared at the crowd before her with wide eyes. She was thankful that her mask and hood was covering her face. Matt squeezed her hand reassuringly, his suits cowl covering his face.

"It's fine Sparrow," He murmured, using her code name since they were in public. "You can do this."

Alice nodded a thanks at him, taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves.

"So you're the famous Volt and White Sparrow?" a voice suddenly asked them as a new figure approached them. He was wearing a kind of red suit with black gloves, boots and a black mask that covered his eyes. The suit looked like it was somewhere between being made of rubber or fiber, but it was unclear about whether either or was true. Around his waist was a kind of utility belt that seemed to contain useful items like throwing knives, smoke bombs, and what appeared to be curved shurikens or... mini boomerangs? In his hand was a club-like weapon that had a curved, almost hook-like club head. The head of the weapon was a golden color and seemed polished smoothly, giving off a shine against the interior lights. The figure gave a small grin.

"Not to seem rude, but I expected ones with your reputation to look a little... older," he stated. Volt raised an eyebrow as he smirked.

"Age does not guarantee one any virtues, only their actions do." The speedster said wisely.

"Fair enough, I suppose," the mystery figure remarked with a nod. Sparrow raised an eyebrow at the hero.

"I'm still kinda new to this hero thing." Alice said with a smile. "And you are?"

The newcomer gave a grin, twirling his club around.

"I have been given many names, some becoming of me and some not so much," he replied. "But of them all, you may call me... Rango." He then added quickly as if speaking to someone else, "And yes, readers, I am well aware that he's a Johnny Depp character; it just sounded cool! Plus, I didn't really have any other name choices."

Sparrow raised an eyebrow at the hero before saying, "Nice to meet you, Rango."

"Heroes." Said a man with a clipboard. He wore a black jacket with 'Security' written on the front and back in yellow. "You'll be live in five minutes. Each of your seats are marked with name tags."

"I guess that means that we have to go." Volt mumbled before jerking a thumb towards the other powered humans who were exiting the waiting room. Sparrow nodded and they made their way towards the door that lead to the stage.

"Of course," Rango nodded. "That's my cue to leave then. Hero Con is not a place I like to be around in for too long. I've got a bad rep with some of the heroes there." He then smirked. "Plus, Villain Con is more exciting, if only to have the opportunity to beat the tar out of a few of them just to see who'd make a good sidekick."

"Well," Sparrow started. "I was a villain so I don't think many of these heroes like me either."

"Yeah, but which is worse? Being a 'villain' with superpowers and having a bad rep, or having no recorded powers and still having a bad rep?" Rango remarked. Sparrow thought for a minute.

"What made you have a bad rep?" She asked.

"Is it not obvious?" Rango chuckled. "Several reasons, actually. But I'll give you the main ones: the fact I've beaten some in personal combat without any powers of my own, the fact that I sometimes hang out with villains so long as our interests align, and the fact that in a sense I'm what one could consider a thief. Master thief to be precise. Meaning I steal only from those that I feel deserve to be stolen from, like people with no honor or who are downright cruel."

"So basically you have a Robin Hood or Catwoman rep?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I don't like to compare myself to them, considering their many flaws, but yes," Rango nodded, then smirked. "Maybe we'll run into each other again? Who knows? I may even prove an interesting challenge should we be forced to fight."

"Hopefully it doesn't come to that." Volt said. Sparrow nodded her head in agreement before remembering something.

"Have you ever heard of a villain named Tremor?" She asked.

"You mean that guy who can use your weakness against you?" Rango answered, then nodded. "Yeah, I've heard of him. Had a few encounters too. Strangely enough, he doesn't have much he can use on me. I assume it has to do with me not having superpowers, but it could simply be that he tries to mix things up too."

'Have you seen him recently?" Alice said in a low voice. "I haven't seen many of his men out on the streets, which means he's planning something."

"We should try to get some more heroes involved," Volt said, glancing at the other powered humans.

"Hmm... I could help out if you need it," Rango remarked. "I've got eyes and ears just about everywhere. Plus, I'm pretty rich; both from my secret identity's corporations and from inventing my own weapons. You name it, chances are I've got it." He frowned. "As for not seeing his henchmen, that is somewhat disturbing for me. They haven't just gone into hiding; they've vanished completely in most cases. When crime does that, it's a calm before the storm."

"Great," Matt grumbled. "More fighting."

"War is never pretty, but sometimes it's inevitable; especially when some people simply want to watch the world burn," Rango muttered, then sighed. "The reason I fight though is because of my parents. That same explosion which created you superheroes and villains... it killed them. They were trying to investigate some kind of conspiracy or evil plot in the area. The tip they had received was anonymous, but whether what had been told to them was true or not, I may never know. What I do know is that it's the reason I'm motivated to fight on for them and protect others from the conspiracies and injustice of this world." Another sigh escaped him and he managed a small smile. "When I was a little boy, I dreamed of becoming someone 'big and important' as I'd put it, because they seemed to have the best of lives and were adored by all. However, as I got older, I started to abandon that dream and the final nail in the coffin was when my parents died. I realized then that this world doesn't need more people who are 'big and important'. They need people who are kind, who are generous, compassionate, and who care about the welfare of both the strong and the weak. Some would say the powers we are granted, whether superpowers or not, are to be used to dominate the weak and extend our reach. I say we are given our powers not to subdue the weak and helpless, but to protect them; to use them in the service of others rather than ourselves." He gave them a serious expression. "I can't say for certain if any of us are the heroes this city- no, that this world deserves, but we're the heroes it needs, even if some of us are clearly unwanted."