Debt Repaid!

Giovanni had met a man that had close ties to James, the supposed twin of James Moore but never could he have guessed the connection between the two.

"It is an honor to see you again, Alex," Giovanni greeted with a slight bow but Alex was intrigued that he had the galls to come to him for help after the attempt on his life a few years back. Giovanni offered him twice the money and a favor just so he would let him off, an offer Giovanni grabbed as it became a reverse-hit meaning that Giovanni was sent to kill whoever hired him to kill Alex.

Money was the currency and Alex had a lot of it but with this favor, he would rid himself of Giovanni for what he hoped to be a lifetime.

"You're far too kind…" Alex responded with a smile, gesturing for both of his guests to take a seat, an offer they both accepted without resistance.

"What brings you here?" Alex questioned, his gaze focused solely on Giovanni.

"I'm here to turn in that favor, Alex. I need your help in tracking down a person named James Moore…" Giovanni didn't beat about the bush and told him what he was looking for.

"James Moore….? That name does sound familiar…" Alex responded as he stroked his chin in thought.

"What business do you have with him?" Alex questioned soon after, but this response could mean one of two things.

He knew him and wanted to know what Giovanni intended to do with him, or he didn't and simply wanted to know why he was important to Giovanni.

Giovanni hoped the former was the case.

"There have been rumors… There have been rumors in the underworld about a man by that name that is creating some sort of haven for villains," Giovanni was honest and upfront because he knew lying to Alex was pointless, to say the least.

"That sounds like a good thing in my books, should men like us not strive for more chaos in the world? I want to turn on the news and read about villains slaughtering these self-righteous heroes…" Alex blurted out, veering off topic for a bit.

"What are you talking about? The Four Kings wouldn't like it!" Giovanni barked, he didn't like how Alex was running his mouth carelessly.

"Do you speak for them now? Don't you think the man you're looking for would be dead if they disapproved?" This was the only thing that Alex said that made Giovanni keep quiet.

"The heroes have had their turn, I think it is about time we have ours," Alex said, unknowingly showing support for whatever his brother had going on.

"But I owe you a favor…. I have also heard the name James Moore but I don't know who he is, no one does but I do know about the project you're talking about…" Alex said as he scribbled something down on a piece of paper.

"That's the address, I think you should find what it is you're looking for once you get there," Alex said as Giovanni collected the piece of paper from his hand.

The deal was done, the one thing that bound these men was that one favor.

It didn't take long for them to say their farewells, this had the potential of being their last goodbyes.

-

Michael had returned to their academia to be, but he noticed the person that had confronted it moments ago tailing him and hiding very poorly behind objects to mask his presence.

Michael knew he couldn't risk him knowing where they resided so he walked past the building like it was nothing but this place was unfamiliar to him.

He couldn't kill him in broad daylight too or this area might be amped up in terms of security.

Michael didn't mind him following and figured he would leave when he got tired. Luckily, he spotted a park bench on which he could sit and just zone out.

He hasn't had time to reflect on his life, these past few weeks have been both the hardest and most exciting moments of his life but now he was taking it all in.

Michael was frightened, everything was changing too fast and he feared that he would get swept up in the tide, and he had no idea what he was doing.

He wanted to be the greatest supervillain but there has never been such a thing because supervillains don't get coverage and the media control killed any chance of publicity, things he was only coming to realize.

There was a man known as The Hero Executioner, he hunted down and killed heroes upon heroes.

He was so rampant that superheroes graded A and above were permitted to roam the streets.

He challenged and fought Apex Predator in a fight that was so grand that it threatened to restore an entire city but this wasn't the only highlight of their encounter.

He was the first man ever to wound Apex Protector but this wasn't enough for him to win as he was killed shortly after. Michael had noticed that the supervillains he had come across became villains for less ambitious reasons.

Michael always wondered what would have happened if it was Apex Protector that had fallen that day.

He was certain that things would have been different.

Michael wondered where Edward was, and hoped he was taking care of himself the way he was.

"Why am I thinking about all this now?" Michael thought out loud, he had heard about the grading system but had no idea how it worked.

He thought about asking Elizabeth but that would mean entering a conversation with her, something he didn't have the mental capacity for at this moment so he didn't bother.

For the first time, Michael gave what his ambition was a serious thought and before anything, he needed to get stronger but due to how unique and peculiar his ability was, he knew he had to choose the abilities he stole carefully as he didn't know the limit as to what he could absorb but for now, he was certain that he could handle at least two due to his intricate understanding of the ability he steals, potentially making him a better use of it than the original.

Michael knew the one thing that was essential to a supervillain was fear, something he has failed to install in others but luckily, he knew just the superhero with that power as Michael decided to take a different approach to his goal.