THE MOMENT
"Astounding...," Quinton was genuinely surprised when he walked into the diner. He was an eager apprentice and studied all he could about the villains he'd be up against. It was unsettling to see several recognized Supervillains in the restaurant along with many Heroes he recognized from the league.
"C'mon, it's time you met Glory," John, Quinton's mentor, walked into the diner and continued up to the counter, right next to a Supervillain. Then, John waved him over when Quinton lagged at the door; he was too busy taking it all in.
"Quinton, this L.S.. He's my best friend and a Supervillain; but, you don't have to worry about him, he's retiring any day now too," John introduced him to the grey-haired, blue-masked villain.
"Your best friend... is a Supervillain?" Quinton asked with a confused smile. He had several questions come to mind as he went through the handbook. He noticed a lot of rules seemed oddly specific and strangely limiting. There were certain parts of town he couldn't fight in, certain hours, certain villains he wasn't allowed to tangle with. The more he studied the handbook the more one unsettling question took root in his mind. Why does he have to follow such detailed rules when the villains likely didn't? But, the simple introduction of the villain as John's 'best friend', went a long way to answer that question. For some reason, the villains seemed to follow the rules too. Now that he was in the restaurant, it was easy to see why he wasn't allowed to fight on this side of town.
"And this is Glory Rose, the lovely owner of this fine establishment," John gestured at the green-haired woman who came out of the back kitchen. "Glory, we've got a new hero in the League; this is Quinton," he completed the introduction as Glory set a plate down in front of L.S.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," she smiled at him.
"Thank you," Quinton nodded. He tried not to show it; but, he was a bit disappointed. Glory was almost a mythical being the way the Heroes in the league talked about her; but, standing here in her diner, he couldn't help but feel she was just an average person.
"You in for lunch, or just taking a tour?" she asked him.
"Oh, uh, sure, I could eat," he nodded at took a stool next to John. The menu was waiting for him by the time he was settled. "Meatloaf sandwich?" he asked without bothering with the menu. It was a common enough meal and she nodded.
"You bet," she whirled around and returned to the kitchen. Quinton waited quietly as he looked around the diner. He didn't have a lot to say yet and John had fallen into easy conversation with L.S. He didn't want to interrupt the friends; but, that thought made him chuckle. Heroes and Villains were friends. On the one hand, it answered why the villains were abiding; but, it still didn't make a whole lot of sense to him. Why were they willing to play along at all?
"Something on your mind?" Glory startled him as she reappeared with his food. He hadn't realized how lost he was in his own thoughts.
"No, not really...," he shrugged. "It's not easy to put into words anyway."
"Try me, I've got a gift for intuition," Glory smiled.
"It's like...," Quinton sighed and shook his head to try and get an idea to fall into place. "... Villains are bad guys, right? The Heroes League is the good guys, I get why we're following the rules. But, why is the evil faction following the rules too?"
"That's not complicated," Glory said. "It ruins the game if one side doesn't follow the rules."
"But, it's not a game...," Quinton shook his head. "These are real Supers, real heroes and villains...,"
"Exactly," Glory nodded. "What's your power?"
"I can make anything weigh five tons, or I can multiply the weight of something by five times," he answered.
"Okay, well you're a bad example," she giggled. "The point is if everyone with Super powers just went crazy it'd be a mess for everyone. The best thing to do is assign teams and treat it like a game. Not everyone's going to want to play; but...," she gestured at the handful of villains in the restaurant. "It's enough to be worthwhile."