Alright guys, I thought for a long time and I've come up with two stories I'm going to do here, for a change of pace I thought I would begin with a Villian story during the Rikti war and see what kind of trouble I can bring about with it. After that I plan to do a hero story, but I wanted to do the Villian first because I just really didn't see anyone taking up their cause as it were. Well, here it goes:
"Your not serious, that maniac hasn't agreed to do one of the survivor interviews has he?"
"Yes, he agreed to do an interview while in Founders Falls, I'm not about to ask him why he's here, and I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, He's a documented survivor and nobody has interviewed one of them from his side yet."
"That's because he's a stone cold killer, Hello!!!!! You don't interview killers even if they agree to come in and play nice, a hero could show up here any moment to bust them, then the office would be a mess and I don't know how high the repair bill could go!"
"Oh, I already thought of that, I have signed Documents from every hero group around including Statesman that while he is in here doing his interview nothing will happen, and I managed to even get him agree to the terms and promise not to do any attacks while he is in the office or before his interview and after. Besides, the last hero battle he was involved with didn't go too good for the hero in question and while their pretty ticked off about it all they think these interviews are pretty important. Just do us a favor, don't call him Mad or anything like that when he comes in for the interview, I happen to like you Jack and he's liable to rip off your head if you insult him."
"Alright, I'll keep my mouth shut when High-Tech is here, but I still don't know how you talked him into doing this interview.."
"He's a mercenary, I paid 3 million inf out of my own pocket to secure the interview, it's the only way I could get him here, Money talks, especially with villians.."
"THREE MILLION!!! I didn't even know you had three million inf, these interviews are that important to you?"
"I'm betting my life on it, especially with this one."
"Better your life than mine, better your life than mine.. So, how long till he gets here?"
Looks at watch, "Three days, and seven hours, He's even agreed to let Manticore meet him at the transport and walk him to the studios. Figures it would keep down the bodycount if Manticore was waiting at the exit when he left so no new heroes will try anything. The guy covers all the bets when he agrees to things. for the money Im shelling out he wants to make sure their are no problems, he's even promised not to attack any of the buildings or rob the bank while he's here. Just a quick interview and straight back to the transport."
"Wait, Manticore is going to be here also, what about his wife?"
"No, she has a job she has to do that day, Manticore is going to be here with 250 Longbow agents and 80 Enforcers."
"You think it would be enough if he went back on his word?"
"I don't know, I just don't know, but I think it might."
Three days later Longbow officials arrive at the studio in a maximum security transport along with heavily armed troops setting up a full security perimeter. Ten minutes after the perimeter is secured a figure in bright red steps out of the vehicle with a bow strung on his shoulder. he is a tall man with an arched chin but an extremely tense action to his movements.
"Relax Manti, I'm keepin my drones put up, for the cash their offerin me fer this interview I ain't goin ta cause trouble."
From out of the security van a massive figure emerges. As he steps down onto the ground the vehicle lifts upward drastically. His massive metal frame lifts upward and looks down at what is now no doubt a much smaller man before him. The Metal is a cool icy cold color with etched circuitry covering every inch of it.
"It's not you I'm worried about. You've ticked off over half the heroes of Paragon city, burned down homes, destroyed property, and made just a royal mess of any area you've decided to leave your mark in. I'm half tempted to bust you here and now if it wasn't for the fact that I know your going to keep to your side of the bargain."
The nearly full mechanical man before him laughs deeply. In some ways it's a blood curdling noise, in some it's not totally unpleasant, "Fine then, you feel better if I activate my shields bub, I promise not to use any other power, and I'll keep the force walls down unless you say otherwise."
"Just the shields.... I'll be watching you close High-Tech, I want you out of here as soon as possible as it is."
"Alright, I can live wit that bub, I can live wit that."
"This is Jack Naidal here speaking with the super villian High-Tech. Were going to cover his life before the first Rikti invasion and what happenned during the invasion from his point of view."
"ya ya, get to the point Bub, ya want ta know what I was before I became a Master Mind. I was a common thug. I used ta break legs fer tha Gambini family. I made a good livin as a mob enforcer. Hey, don't judge me like that boy, I come from a six generation mob family, even if I wanted ter go straight ain't no way anybody would be willin to trust me as anything good no matter what youse boys say."
"So basically your saying you were doomed before you started and you wouldn't be anything but criminal even if you had the oppotunity to be a hero??"
"Maybe if I was born into a different life, yeah, maybe then I'd be somethin else. But in my position I didn't have much choice. Oh I had relatives who were mages and such, but they were far removed from the part of the family I was born into. i grew up on the hard streets of Independence Port. Those were different times back then. I had this cousin, Tony Defrizio, he was't a good kid. We was about the same age me an him. Tony was a hard case, it's the reason I liked him so much. We were a pair of hard shells me an him, born on the same day to different parents, it was part of our bond ya know. Tony was a good kid, but neither of us had a chance, we was both busted before we was eight years old. That's when our first records were recorded. Oh you won't find the files now, I had them erased for a little cash. Ya can say I knew the right person ta talk to at tha right time."
"Alright, so what was so important about Tony to you?"
The cold eyes bore through Jack Naidal for a moment, almost like he isn't even there. He shifts for a moment in extreme discomfort as those intense eyes bore into him. Then the matallic face smiles in an almost unholy light. "We shared a grand aunt who worked for Recluse back then, She was a member of the Mu. That's the bond we shared. We was mob, but we had Mu connections. Neither of us ever spoke of that, and now he can't speak of it anyways, I'm the only one left ya see."
"How did, exactly how did Tony die..."
"Ya got a death wish boy, I like that. alright I'll ya about the rikti, that's why were here ain't it? ya know I came from a bad neighborhood an all, so what, that ain't the real point is it? Were here about them, the fellas what changed my life."
"I take it the Rikti invasion is how you lost Tony then."
"Ya, you can say that, we was talkin to a guy about money he lost on the horses when it started. Tony was kickin his ribs bout the time the sirens started off. We didn't pay no attention at first, after all what did sirens ever have to do wit us except trouble."
"Um, yeah, I can see what you mean there Mr. High-Tech Sir."
An uneasy look passes over the troubled eyes for a moment, "It's Mr. Newport, call me Sherm. This ain't a villian thing, this is a Rikti thing. I'm takin tha inf, an all, but this is about family Jack. It's not about anything else. Ya can call me Sherman, then. But when were done here you ain't gonna say that name not even to tha man outside. Ya got me bub."
"Yes sir, um, Sherman sir-"
The massive metallic hand moves swiftly in a negative fashion, the voice is sharp and exact. "Forget the sir thing. We ain't here for all this villian crud Bub. I'm tryin ter make ya feel more comfortable here Jackie boy, I ain't out to rip ya a new one or any other such thing."
"You have to admit though that your reputation is well, extreme if nothing else."
"Ya, I have a bad rep, we already covered that Bub. What we was talkin about is Tony. We weren't saints me an Tony, We was roughen up a lousy scum who wouldn't pay his bills an was gamblin wit money he couldn't afford ta lose. I hated folk what did that, my dad did that all the time, it's why I chose the livin in the first place, and Tony, he joined me cause when his folks died he lived wit me and our family. We raised tha kid and maybe that's what made him what he was too. But at any rate as I was sayin, we was smackin the deadbeat aroun and the sirens went off. me and Tony thought the cops was comin and that maybe even a damn hero would show up ter hassle us. That's when I first saw that unreal light. We was near the magic store near Brickstown. Ya know tha place, tha store what 's near the gate to Brickstown now. Tha Rikti first started attackin tha magic shops, I've had a bit a magic in my blood, Tony did too. But we couldn't use it very well, neither of us. I remember seein this fella with a big ray gun and one hell of a bad outfit sense. He turned his gun on Tony, an.. Tony wasn't there no more, I never felt hate like that. Oh I never liked heroes, but they never killed one of mine before, least not out right like that. I felt somethin strange in me when Tony died. Felt like my insides was twisted, I could feel my skin redden and my skin blackened , me and Tony was that close together when he got killed..."
"What did you do when Tony died?"
"I drop kicked the mook wit the ray gun so hard it snaped both his legs like they was twigs. Never felt that kind of power before, I think when Tony died since we was blood it did somethin. I might have worked a spell of some sort, don't really know ya see. I never really been able ter use much magic sense then till I investigated my Mu roots. I still can't use much in the way of magic, but I have a little of it. Naw, most of my powers are all Technological, except maybe my bond with my drones, I can call them even when I ain't wearin the watch...."
"So um, Sherman, you kicked the Rikti gunner who killed Tony, and broke both of his legs?"
"Yes, he went down like a ton of bricks, kinda funny considerin how close we were to Brickstown. ya, I kicked him and his legs went like twigs. My leg felt kinda funny afterward. I think I might have busted my kneecap, I ain't real sure, when all tha stuff went down all I could think about was Tony. I wanted blood far that, I took his gun and blasted him in tha face wit it. A bunch of his buddies showed up and I just started firin' at em, I saw this fella in red wit a bow bout then, My leg was mangled, but I didn't stop shootin, bout that time one of tha critters apearred behind tha red clad fella. It was Manticore tha fella outside. we was back ter back fer a while, then I took a solid hit from them, I ain't sure why they wuddn't able ter hit me fer a while......"
The silence holds for a few moments, it stretches as a far away look moves in the human eyes still seen in the metal shell before him. "What happened when you were shot?"
"Somethin I never expeccted. I was saved by a hero of all things. You know about him a course, that damn fool went through a portal and stopped the first invasion, but he manged ter save me back then. Hero 1, I seen him take down tha alien what got me, then he managed ter get me ter the evacuation location. Their wuddn't much in the way of a body left of me after that. I opted fer experimental surgery after that. I wanted ter hurt tha Rikti back fer whut they'd done. I became a soldier after that, a merc fer higher, I wuddn't fully human anymore. Tha's how I got my replacement heart. Ya know....... In some ways I owe the Rikti, I wuddn't have the power I do now if not fer them, but I wuddn't of lost one of my only friends if not fer them."
"So they turned you into a cyborg and you took out your frustrations on the Rikti when you became, um, when you became..."
"A bit of a monster? Maybe I am at times. I ain't never been a nice guy. oh I do my fair share of damage, and yeah I ain't no sweetheart when it comes to battle, but when it comes ter folk like tha Rikti, I ain't goin ter fight tha heroes on that one, it's one of the few things I'll join tha heroes on, and I have a few times. No, tha Rikti are a common enemy. I put aside my differences when their involved, and ter be honest even when I do, rob and pillage as it were it's to get more funds for bringing a few more Rikti down. Those mothers started a war with me and mine, I ain't goin ter lose it, an i'll do anything I can ter get the inf I need ter take down one more of em, just one more, till their ain't none left."
"So how many Rikti have you managed to kill in your, um, war with them?"
"I don't keep count, I just get rid of em. besides, I may have started countin when it began, but I've taken down too many of them ter keep count anymore."
"Well, that pretty much wraps up this meeting, um, is their anything else you'd like to add to this chronical?"
"Ya, their might be one thing, but it ain't ter you. I want ya ter send a message ter Citidel. Tell him I hope his jaw heals soon, I'll pay fer the replacement parts if he wants. I may not be a nice guy, but when he got in the way durin my last job I wuddn't goin ter let him stay there."
The menacing figure stands ponderously to his feet and looks down at the reporter below him. He walks smoothly toward the door and opens it he steps through keeping his word and turns to look at the reporter. "Ya know that inf you was suspsoed ter send me fer this interview Bub, forget it, i told ya before, this ain't a villian thing, it's a Rikti thing, ter me that's somethin that can't be bought, tha only thing i don't trade on inf fer. The Rikti destroyed me, and because of them i was remade inter whut you see here. I was a minor thug, probably ain't never goin ter be anything more even with the Mu heritage. But now, I'm an Arch-Villian, hey, I can live wit that. Give Citidel my love, hope he heals soon, Gotta rock wit him again, last time was a real kick."
Manticore walks alongside High-Tech as they head back down to the lobby, "You know, Citidel is liable to get annoyed with that message of yours."
"Ya I know, but I figure he might get the joke behind it and laugh, you never know, that boy has potential, he just has ter relax a bit, cyborgs and robots, me and him ain't too different ya know."
"Yeah, I remember fighting with you Sherman, you should have tried being a hero, during the war you were heading in the right direction."
"Maybe, but you know I ain't never had that hero stuff in me. I am what I was born to be, a bad egg, I ain't never been anything else."
"Tony always hoped you would find another way."
"When did you ever meet Tony?"
"Actually, he isn't dead, he just chose a different path."
"That means the same thing now don't it, if he went hero, he's dead ter me, we both died that day, I just went a little less organic, I don't care which way he went, it's his death that keeps me goin, if he was alive though, tell him I'm proud he didn't turn out like me after all. He was always a good kid when he was alive."
"now that is funny, he says the same thing."
Fin
