Villain of Crime: Chapter 3 – Rich Man of the People

Chapter 3 – Rich Man of the People

Today I meet with Lancetto apart from the others since I need a more casual meeting than the usual serious ones. We’re sharing lunch at one of his family’s office buildings that has a popular brunch restaurant in it. Even though I offered to pay for it, Lancetto says that the meal is on the house since his family owns the building that the brunch restaurant is in.

“How goes it with the chief? I hear nothing but positive news in the media,” Lancetto says.

“The work is starting to grind on me,” I admit. “We get rid of criminals on the street, and they keep popping up in different areas in and outside of the city, particularly in the suburbs.”

“Still, you’re doing a lot of good.”

“Sure. Have you heard what people are saying on social media and at the protests in the streets? They think L’Obscurité sold out to the government because he’s working with them.”

“Ah, I wouldn’t worry about them. It’s just a bunch of noise and anarchists who want nothing but to see those in power suffer because they don’t live like the rich.”

“But what he’s doing is supposed to be inspiring people to work within the law rather than be against it.”

“I get what you’re saying, but there are always people out there who say you sold out or are corrupt for one reason or another.”

“There has to be a middle ground.”

“There isn’t any. Despite what people say about believing in grey morality or being apolitical, people will always see things as being either good or evil. It’s best to just do the best you can and only worry about legitimate criticism from trustworthy people.”

“People such as yourself?”

“You know it, brother. I’ll always be rooting for you. Well, me, Darcy, and your parents, even though they don’t know about your other side. Speaking about her, is she still bothering you?”

“When does she not? She’s always texting or calling me, wanting to know how things are going and when we’ll see each other again. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me to see her in my room, watching me sleep.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me either. Be careful around that lady.”

“What about you? Do you have any lady trouble of your own?”

“No, and I don’t want any right now since I’m so busy with everything, including that day of appreciation.”

“How’s that going?”

“Good. I was able to negotiate a day off for most workers, and those who chose to work that day get overtime. All that’s left is arranging police and hero security, schedule of events, and other odds and ends.”

“Thanks. I owe you for this.”

“And other favors concerning law, business, and the Church. You can pay me back with a day of games and drinks. I still need to settle the score in a few kart racing and board games.”

“Well, when we do play, expect that score to stay unsettled because I’ll be winning most of the games again.”

“We’ll see about that. I’ve been practicing.”

Lancetto and I laugh before talking about our love of games and then going our separate ways for work. I visit Klinge as L’Obscurité and talk to him about any new information he might have found.

“I’ve heard from friends of friends that their possessions and wages have been taken by their debtors. I also heard that they were offered a way to pay off their debts in one sweep by partaking in ‘legit’ testing for powers, but most were smart enough to deny it and take the debt on the chin,” Klinge says, along with the locations at the where the stolen property may be.

“Seems simple enough,” I say.

“That’s where you’re wrong, because what was taken from the workers wasn’t exactly theirs to begin with. They bought stolen property and goods at a cheap price from the criminals since they’re short on cash and are under agreements that the criminals can take back whatever they sell and pay if the debtors don’t pay their dues with interest meaning that you’re going to have a tough time convincing the chief to give people what they bought and are owed.”

“I’ll see what I can do. The contract they gave me was…edited to be in my favor.”

“And they didn’t notice?”

“Not yet, they didn’t.”

“They will sooner or later, since those terms are how they keep powerful people like you under control. I hope you’re ready for the trouble you’ll be in.”

“I am. They’ll have to keep me after I’ve shown them how much of an invaluable ally I am to them.”

Klinge grunts and then says, “They’ve villainized more famous heroes for less. Be careful with them. Those in power can be more villainous than those who aren’t.”

“Hahaha! Isn’t that the truth?”

Klinge wishes me luck, tells me the location where this crime is happening, and the business that does. I then relay this information to Raymond, except I leave out the part about the people being paid in stolen property. He agrees to go with me to undercover this operation, and we meet there independently like always, however, before he gets there, I go through the area, disappearing some of the stolen property and giving it back to the poor of the city who are owed it, including some of the homeless on the street who get both money, clothes, and food. When Raymond arrives, he doesn’t suspect anything and just asks to be pointed in the right direction. I do so, and we go to the supermarket mall where the center of the operations is.

Entering the supermarket, some of the employees complain about “stolen” goods and are already at each other’s throats. The manager of the operations steps out and tries to keep the peace, but Raymond demanding to search the area and the employees to explain themselves further enflames tensions as people accuse each other of setting them up for the police. They then start firing at and fighting one another. In the chaos, Raymond calls for backup, which comes in seconds since they were just around the corner waiting for his signal. Because of the backup, I’m better able to focus on the criminals and keep the innocents who were working for them out of the way and a way out, so they aren’t implicated in their mess.

During the chaos, I find the manager and go after him. His superhuman bodyguards come after me to slow me down, but after taking away their powers and making them suffer the consequences of their sins, I’m able to go back after the manager and corner him in an alley.

“Hahaha! Cornered like the rat you are,” I say.

“A rat, you say? Do rats give people opportunities to advance in life? Make more of themselves?” the manager asks.

“You made people experiment on themselves and work in slavish working conditions and contracts to enrich yourself and make yourself more powerful.”

“You’re wrong. I did what had to be done to give people the opportunity to rise beyond the corrupt leaders we find ourselves under.”

“By being one yourself?”

“By making my own superhumans. Creating an industry for people who would get screwed over worse in more established industries. At least when I screw them over, they know ahead of time. You know, you were right in me wanting to make myself more powerful, and this is how I do it.”

The manager sticks himself with a needle, and his thin body turns muscular, and his light brown skin turns grey and black.

“Ha! Do you think your new powers will stop me? Do you know who I am?”

“I do. That’s why I have something that will stop you. Come on out, everyone!”

Before I can do anything, people start coming out of hidden doors that I thought were plain walls. Everyone here is innocent, so I can’t do anything to them, and in the few seconds that I lose sight of the manager, he disappears. The bastard either also gained super speed, the ability to turn invisible, or both, and I have no clue where he went. Seeing as how these innocent people helped him escape and have their hands dirty with his work, I try to make them leave, but Raymond catches them before they do.

“Do you think you can make these criminals leave just like you did the others?” he asks.

“Only normal, poor people escaped before things escalated,” I say.

“People whom you also gave stolen possessions and cash to. You’re not the only person who has secret contacts behind the scenes. We need to talk; you, me, and the mayor.”

I go with Raymond in his police car to the mayor’s office, and he talks about what I did.

“So? What do you have to say about this? You’ve broken the terms we agreed to,” Raymond says.

“I didn’t break any terms. You should read that long list of restraints that you put on me again,” I say.

“What? Bring in the paper he signed.”

Tim brings in the papers, looks them over, and says, “Nope. He didn’t break any of the terms.”

“Give me that.” Raymond looks over the terms and then says, “These are different than the normal terms given to city heroes and vigilantes!”

“They are?” Jeph and Tim say in astonishment.

“Don’t act stupid. You’re supposed to read these over in case someone changes them, and be familiar with them from top to bottom. Are you honestly saying that you didn’t notice?”

A few moments of silence pass until Tim admits that, “I did notice it after he signed, but because the terms-”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses, fanboy! Mayor Jeph, what are we going to do now that this kid couldn’t go a month without breaking the terms he signed for?”

“Nothing,” Mayor Jeph says. “I must also take the blame for not noticing the changes and doing nothing about them.”

“But you can still do something about it.”

“But I won’t. L’Obscurité has done nothing evil as far as I’m concerned and doesn’t need to be punished for it.”

“This isn’t about punishing evil. He still broke the law.”

“When did you lose your love for virtue?”

“What?”

“You used to talk to me about making the city a better place and adjusting the laws as one of the ways of doing this. You’ve lost sight of your goals because of legalism, Chief Raymond. Breaking the law can be evil or good, and in this case, L’Obscurité did something good. In fact, I think he did us a favor. Go and release those people you arrested who were forced to work for the actual criminals. If you want to punish them, tell the courts to make them work for however many days of community service. Tell them to work at one of the Severe charities. I hear they pay well and have nice places to work.”

“But Jeph-”

“But nothing! The government of a city should work for its citizens just as much as its citizens work for it. I don’t care how much it costs to give the poor people who got caught up with the wrong crowd a new beginning, just do it! I’m tired of the poor of this city either having to deal with squalor living conditions or being forced to be the lackies of some villain or crime boss.”

“…yes, sir.”

Raymond walks out of the room looking defeated and feeling as if he’s been shamefully exposed. I give him time alone while thinking about how to get back on the trail of the manager whom I saw and who is behind the superhuman drug. As if answering my want for an answer, I look at my phone and see a text from Darcy, asking how my day has been going since she heard about what happened on the news. After putting some distance between me and the mayor’s office and putting back my normal appearance on, I tell her what happened and if she has any information on who I saw. Hardly a minute passes before she says she knows and that I have to see her so she can explain everything, because of course she can’t simply email or call to tell me the information, so I agree and go to the art school where she’s teaching today.

Darcy dismisses the class when I arrive at her classroom and takes me to a private and wide-open room. The room is decorated with various kinds of art, both beautiful, horrific, ambiguous, and simple. In the center of the room is a large table with different kinds of papers, books, and canvases to draw on with various kinds of drawing utensils.

“Why are we in here?” I ask.

“You know me. This is one of my favorite rooms in the locations that my family owns. It’s so nice and quiet. Besides, what we need to talk about is a private matter,” she says.

Going over to a computer and speaker in the corner of the room, she starts playing slow dance music and holds out her hand. I roll my eyes, take her hand, and dance with her as she puts her head on my chest.

“We should dance like this more often,” she says.

“The information I came here for. Who is this manager I’m after?” I ask.

“His name is Derick, otherwise known as the Manager. He was an optimistic soul, thinking that he could change the system from within, but after so many years of getting nowhere, having to punish the innocent, ignoring the crimes of those in power, and allow the guilty to walk away from deserved prison sentences, so that he wouldn’t lose his job and life, he lost his mind. He quit and works in the poorer districts of the city, copying the corrupt leadership and clients he worked with, except he lets people know that he gives them bad deals and when he’s going to be unfair to them.”

“Why do people choose to work with him then?”

“He’s completely honest with people even when he’s being selfish. He also carried a lot of money, business secrets, and the formulas to create superhumans with him, along with many of the tools and chemicals needed to do so. When he says he’ll do something, he takes every risk to accomplish his goal, and if he fails, he’s honest about it without making any excuses. At the same time, he expects those he works with to do the same as him.”

“I see. Honesty is his only policy then.”

“He cares about that so he can show the corrupt that they can be powerful through honesty. It’s his only goal since he’s lost his moral compass after being broken down for so long.”

“Poor soul. I’ll say a prayer for him and have to bring an end to his suffering soon.”

“For now, let’s keep dancing together.” I try to let go of Darcy, but she tightens her grip on me. “I won’t let you leave me.”

“I could transform and enter the shadows or light to easily escape.”

“But do you want to? I can feel that you’re tired and overworked because of how much you’ve been running around, helping people, and stopping crime.” I grunt. “I’m right, aren’t I? Rest in my arms,” Darcy says and then kisses my face. “I’m here for you.”

I can’t help but do as Darcy says, as if my body prefers to listen to her rather than me. Of course, the dance isn’t the only thing she wants. She doesn’t let my hand go as we go out to dinner and spend some time walking around Meridian, looking at the towering buildings and walking through the parks. Am I doing this because I truly love her or because she’s a valuable ally and wouldn’t want to give her a reason to turn against me? Time will tell, but for now, I have to admit that spending time with her is nice and relaxing.