Villains wear Masks *sequel to Heroes Wear Capes

Chapter 8 - Choosing the right path

"I have seen your heart and it is mine."

~ Tom Marvolo Riddle (Lord Voldemort)

"What about adulthood?" April asked the most high profile villain in Alcatraz, "If you don't want to talk anymore about your childhood, we can move on to there."

X leaned back in his chair, smirking. "Well, we both already know how that turned out. I'll be spending most of it in here."

She heard the accusation in his tone and backed off, shaking her head, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before. Every person who comes in here just loves to shove it in my face that I'm a prisoner in here until I die. It makes them feel better about themselves if they can belittle someone they view as a criminal."

April leaned forward on the drab grey table that separated them. "X, I can assure you that I'm nothing like them."

He shrugged. "Sure you aren't. No one admits to being prejudice outright. People frown at people imprisoned because it reminds them that they are law-abiding citizens. Somehow people feel justified in looking down at criminals because they were smart enough to follow the laws of the land. People never stop to question if the rules regulating their life are fair or just until they apply to them, but by then it's too late."

"You're in here because of your crimes against the people of Kingdom City, not because you questioned the system," April argued.

"Oh? Am I?" X questioned. "Is giving the people what they need such a bad thing? It wasn't like people were jumping at the chance to arrest me anyways."

April crossed her arms and lifted her eyebrows. "You mean until White Knight came along and defeated you?"

X bit his lip. "So you defend your boyfriend when it's convenient to you?"

"What?"

A sigh. "I'm nothing if not perceptive after years of nothing else to do in this place. You justify White Knight's actions when they match up to your own views, but when they clash with your need to be independent, you suddenly can't stand him. You're as much of a hypocrite as the rest of your family."

"Isn't that what everyone does though?" April defended.

X shook his head. "Not me. I always tell the truth nowadays. I hate everyone equally, so how can I ever be a hypocrite?"

April shrugged.

"Now, back to this White Knight thing. Do you feel like it's okay to switch between approving and disapproving of the guy? Because I don't think that's fair."

"We're here to talk about you, not me."

Rolling his eyes, X sighed. "Fine. I got involved in the underground drug trade after high school and made my way through the Black Tiger gang with the intention of leading it. But, as most people know, they ended up just being a piggyback into greater ventures. It was one of my only choices in life seeing as no deadbeat from Oakland was going to get anywhere societally acceptable in life."

April was surprised at the information he had just told her. Most of the public was aware that X used the Black Tiger gang to do some of his dirty work once he was in power because of the police manhunt for them after X was taken down. April only thought he paid them, not that he used to be one of them. You didn't need to buy loyalty if you had brotherhood.

She had already deduced that X hadn't had a great life until his rise to power. He didn't talk about his parents and most days deflected questions about his childhood. If he joined a gang, it would explain where he learned to use a weapon and why he used to have so much respect amongst the criminal community. It also explained how he was able to distribute The Pill to so many Kingdom City residents so quickly without detection. The gangs in the city were the only reason drugs grew to such huge epidemics. They knew how to avoid cops and get their stuff to the right people. It was insane the damage they were able to cause.