Choose (A Choose Your Own Story Adventure)

6. Go With Zander

Well, that's true. Mia could have made coffee at home. But she didn't, and now she is sitting in the living room of a supposedly fearful villain. Funny how things work out, huh?

Mia suddenly wishes she still had the coffee mug. At least then she could have something to fiddle with while she's waiting. This is so awkward.

"In around four hours Night Watch will probably show up. I'll bring you down to the main lair 'cause that's where he usually shows up and then you can go home. Just so you know," Zander says.

She nods. She silently takes a moment to look at the villain. He has piercings in his ears and a few tattoos lining his arms, but they don't make him look intimidating. Mia doesn't feel scared. Though at first he did, now he doesn't seem like anything but a normal guy. She wonders how he can possibly be the Malice.

Now that she's thinking about it, Mia doesn't know why everyone is so afraid of him. He hasn't destroyed any cities, and he hasn't killed anyone. There are surely things that the news has kept from the people, but has he done something that extreme?

Zander raises a brow. Mia turns, blushing, realizing that she has been staring at him for a while. "Do you want to watch something? We're going to be here for a while. I have Netflix, so we can watch whatever."

That surprises Mia. For some reason, she assumed that villains didn't have time to watch movies or shows. "Well, I haven't watched the second season of Stranger Things yet."

He slightly smiles and grabs the remote. After three episodes, Mia can tell that Zander is a huge Stranger Things fan. He mutters a few lines under his breath and occasionally tells Mia obscure facts about the show. At one point she stops paying attention to the show and instead listens to him. She doesn't know what it is, but there's something intriguing about the man. He has debunked all of her assumptions about him in the little time that they have been together.

After a couple more episodes, Zander goes back to the kitchen to make lunch. He throws together two turkey sandwiches. Though simple, Mia is more than happy to eat it.

"Is this what you do every day?" she asks him. "Just watch shows and wait for Night Watch to come?"

Zander shakes his head. "I have a day job. I just took the day off to focus on this."

A day job? "I thought that being a villain was, well, full time."

"Doesn't pay the bills. And it definitely doesn't pay for the mess I have to fix after any encounter with Night Watch."

Apparently (Mia now understands after a little explaining) Night Watch and Zander both pitch in to fix any damages that occur. Mia finds this to be an incredibly generous thing for a villain to do. If New York villains—or even heroes—helped fix the cities, then the state would look way better than it does.

Eventually, their conversation goes from hero and villain logistics to random topics. They talk about their hobbies, past pets (and current—Zander insists on seeing Benjamin one day), and their high school days. At some point, Zander slips that "I went to high school with Carson—I mean, Night Watch. We were close friends."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he was a new kid our junior year. I was the first person to talk to him. I was also the first person who knew that Night Watch wanted to be a hero."

Mia is amazed by this information. She doesn't know why, but she had thought that Zander and Night Watch had met as hero and villain, not sooner. "So what happened? Why are you guys enemies?"

Zander took a moment to think. He turns down the volume on Stranger Things, which has been playing throughout their entire conversation. "Well, I don't think we ever were enemies. I helped Carson get his name out by faking a robbery for him to 'save the day.'" He does air quotes with his fingers. "I was only going to help him once, but then he started asking over and over again for me to fake more and more crimes. He didn't have a villain and couldn't be a hero without one. Even now if I don't plot a scheme in two weeks' time, he'll call me and ask when I'm planning my next one."