The burning cigarette smoke wafted up my nose and stung my throat, forcing me to cough. I looked at the man across from me. He's about 5'6, dark hair. He's wearing a kevlar reinforced upper body suit coated in the newest liquid body armor solution. The facemask has been pulled down for his comfort, and his large energy guantlets sit on the table ominously next to my tape recorder and his glass of bourbon. He's leaning back in the chair with his arms crossed while his feet are kicked up on the table. His body armor appears to stop at the waist, but underneath his tanned cargo pants I can make out small bulges of technology. The dark boots he wears also show the same hidden tech, with shock absorbers on the bottoms. I'm Patrick Higby and I'm a reporter for the Paragon City Times. The man across from me calls himself Wave Surge, but his real name is Victor James, and I'm conducting a rare interview with a villain.
"We gonna start this f*&%ing thing or what?"
"Uhm, yes, sorry, the recorder is on already. Can I get you anything else?"
"Nah. Go ahead then. Shoot. Ask what ya gotta." He takes another drag on his cigarette and follows with some bourbon, staring at me. The anger on his face only belies something else.
"When did you start your criminal career Victor? Can I call you Victor?"
"I'd rather you didn't. Call me Wave Surge. Or Wave, or Surge, hell even #$$hole is fine. Just don't call me Victor." he took another sip of bourbon and gazed back for a moment. "Almost a year before the Rikti. I uh, I was pretty hard up on my luck. Got laid off from the company I worked for, had to do a lot of odd jobs to keep alive. Dishwasher, janitor, construction, even Positron Pizza at one point. Anything for cash ya'know? It was really hard, with my kid an' all."
"You have a son?" I asked. "What's his name, how old is he, where does he-?"
"Had." Wave Surge cut me off "I had a son." I clammed up quickly. "He died. See... he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, ya know? Like that Steven Hawking rube." he finished off his drink and poured another. "'Cept he wasn't smart either, had some downs syndrome or some such along with it. It's hard taking care of him by yourself, and I loved him so much. Ida done anything for my son. My wife left me after she had him, she didn't want no retarded baby she said. So I raised him myself, best I knew how. Anyhow... times were rough. Working two jobs jobs full time barely left me any sleep, let alone anytime with him. And sitters want lots to take care of a special kid like him." Wave Surge drank more bourbon.
"What happened to him?"
"It was getting harder and harder to make the money I needed, and keep sitters around. I knew a few guys who were doing some side work for the Family and the Tsoo. The kept offering me small time work for big time money. Rough a guy up here, deliver a package there. Eventually, I caved, gave in. Started picking up some small tasks, and making more money. I only needed to work one job after a while, and then only needed to work the side work. The Family really liked me, I fit in wit' those guys, ya know? My kind of people. They're good guys deep down, just some of 'em go too far, give 'em all a bad name."
"I was running a delivery job for the Tsoo when I got this suit. I drove a truck down ta' a Talos Island warehouse. When I got there, cops were all over tha place. Turns out a cape busted in a busted some heads, and broke up whatever they were doin'. I acted casual, and drove the truck back to tha guy I got it from. I came in an' he figgered I didn't know about the bust up, thought I delivered and paid me. I took the cash and took off."
"You didn't tell him about the package? How come?"
"I dunno. Didn't want him angry ya know? I took it home, and opened it up and found the suit. It had some fancy legs and boots too, but those got trashed a while back during the Rikti thing. I put it on, and it auto fit me. the gloves, the suit, it felt powerful in it. Figgered I could make a lot of dough and not have to worry about side jobs, or two jobs or anything for a while."
"I went ta King's Row for a few nights and learned how to use it, then just started knockin' over stores. Jewelry, electronics, 7-11, anything I could. I didn't wanna do anything crazy, like a bank, 'cause ya never know when a nutjob in a cape will appear. The Tsoo picked up I had their tech gear, and weren't all that happy. Said since I was usin' it I might as well keep it, and pay it off. So I was workin' for them again, just this time the big stuff. They didn't pay me, and Victor was gettin sicker, so I had to hit up stores 'n such like I was before. The Tsoo... they are slave drivers I tell ya."
"Victor? Is that your son's name?" he looked me straight in the eye when I asked, and seemed pretty upset I even mentioned it. He polished off another bourbon.
"Yeah. Yeah it is." he stayed silent for a moment just glaring at me. "Anyhow, I worked for the Tsoo for a good while, doing pretty much everything, never killed a guy or fought a cape though. I refused to on tha' first, and the second, guess I just got lucky a lot. Anyhow, like, 2 months before the Rikti came 'round, my luck ran out. I was guarding a shipment out in Independence Port when a pair a' capes showed up. Blasted their way through, and before I knew what was going on they were on me. The first one just blew me away with fire, the second one punched me right in tha' head and that was the last I remember."
"I woke up in a jail hospital a while later. They asked me what day it was, I told 'em Tuesday. They told me it was actually Friday, more'n two weeks after I got laid out. I panicked, cause didn't know how Victor was. They told me they were sure the police had taken care of him, or that the sitter had. I didn't know that, how could they? They had ta' release me though, didn't have anything on me except I was in a warehouse with an unregistered tech suit. They gave me my gear and I took off. Ran home as quick as I could, I ran until my lungs hurt and I couldn't feel my legs. Faster than I ever have." Wave Surge leaned forward in the chair and put his drink down. His elbows on his knees he leaned forward and held his head, covering his face. He didn't say anything for a while.
Without lifting his head, he quietly picked up. "I... I got home and... it smelled in the hall outside the apartment. I thought maybe he had just messed himself, maybe a dog or dead rat or... I dunno. I opened the door and.. he..." His voice choked and he struggled to speak. "The sitter had just left my son, my poor baby boy... she just left him there. He... she didn't care nothin' about him an' just left when her time was up. I sat there with him for almost the entire day, till some police showed. They had to drag me away from his body when the coroner got there. Told me he'd starved to death within a day or two. Tried to tell me he didn't suffer but... I could see the look on his face... frozen when he died. He died not knowin where I was or why I wasn't there. Why his Daddy didn't take care of him or help him. He didn't deserve to die like that. Die alone, hungry. Cold. Oh god." Wave Surge began to quietly sob to himself. I took the bottle and poured myself a drink, and tried to get the image of a starved child out of my head.
It was a while before he spoke again, and only after another drink and a smoke. "I can't really blame no one but myself, ya know? I shouldn'ta been out doin' those jobs, shoulda' tried to stay legit. Those damn capes though... I don't even know who they were, they were doing what they do, they didn't know. That babysitter... the cops took her in for child abandonment, some other bull$*&%. I drank for a while... then the Rikti attacked. I dodn't really care, King's Row ain't that big a target to them. I stayed in my apartment for a while, watching it on the news like most folk. I saw a lot of fighting, a lot of people suffering. Thought ta myself I wonder how many kids are out there with their Dads laid up, or fighting these godd*mned alien b*$tards. I still had my suit. I looked out the window and saw fighting past those walls they had laid down. I felt bad, so I put it on, and left my place."
"Thats when you became a hero? Awarded medals for Honor, and a Paragon City Hero Badge, right?" I looked over the small file I had obtained from my PPD contact.
"What mook didn't get those? Almost everyone who picked up a stick or a gun to fight them did. I only helped where I could. I ran over to Baumtown, Boomtown whatever, and saw stuff burnin' and blowin' up. I just ran through buildings, helped where I could."
"Theres a photo of you in costume leaping out of a building with several children in your arms, and a Rikti attack drone firing at you." I pulled the photo out of the file and showed it to him. "Was a full page photo in one of the history books that came out recently. I know the man who took it, he died the day after exposing this film."
Wave Surge glanced at it briefly. "Whatever. Anyhow... after that thing was over I tried turning legit. But everytime I see a hero, or a cop, I can't think of anything but my boy. How I let him down, how they let him down. Cops didn't care enough to run my profile and see I had a kid, heros didn't care enough to pull their punches to just knock me out for a while, babysitter didn't care enough to take care of him when I didn't show, or even check up on him. Everyone in Paragon City, I feel like they let me down, ya know? The ordinary, the extraordinary, everyone. I feel like I let him down myself fer doin' the work I did. I don't deserve to be with the heroes. I told Miss Liberty that once."
"How did you come to being in the Rogue Isles?"
"I just left. Got sick of trying to do good, and everything there reminding me of my boy. Stole a Longbow speedboat, never looked back." Wave Surge stood up and finished his drink. He pulled his mask over his face, and lit a fresh cigarette before putting on his gloves. The rhytmic hum of energy flowed as he powered up his suit.
"Are you happier here? Is this the best life for you?" I asked him. He just shrugged back.
"I'm where I belong, with the rest of the scum of the world." he started to walk out, and then paused by the table. He picked up the picture I showed him earlier. "Can I hang on to this? I..." he paused and sadly smiled "I think my boy would have liked it."
I nodded at him, and watched him stick the picture in a pocket on his belt. He took the stairs out of the basement, and I watched from the distraught buildings' window as his power suit activated, and he leaped away. I gathered the tape recorder and my notebook and jacket, then pulled out my transmitter. As the hum of the teleporter surrounded me to bring me home to Paragon City, I thought to myself that maybe not everyone in the Rogue Isles is a freak, murderer, or mentally disturbed individual. Maybe some just can't get over their own grief and guilt.
Wave Surge, level 15 Stalker (Energy Melee/Regen)
Comments welcomed! (please?)
Posted
All I can say is... wow. Just... wow. That was incredible. My own villain is kinda like that. Except his son is alive. And trying to kill him. But yeah... wow.
The burning cigarette smoke wafted up my nose and stung my throat, forcing me to cough. I looked at the man across from me. He's about 5'6, dark hair. He's wearing a kevlar reinforced upper body suit coated in the newest liquid body armor solution. The facemask has been pulled down for his comfort, and his large energy guantlets sit on the table ominously next to my tape recorder and his glass of bourbon. He's leaning back in the chair with his arms crossed while his feet are kicked up on the table. His body armor appears to stop at the waist, but underneath his tanned cargo pants I can make out small bulges of technology. The dark boots he wears also show the same hidden tech, with shock absorbers on the bottoms. I'm Patrick Higby and I'm a reporter for the Paragon City Times. The man across from me calls himself Wave Surge, but his real name is Victor James, and I'm conducting a rare interview with a villain.
"We gonna start this f*&%ing thing or what?"
"Uhm, yes, sorry, the recorder is on already. Can I get you anything else?"
"Nah. Go ahead then. Shoot. Ask what ya gotta." He takes another drag on his cigarette and follows with some bourbon, staring at me. The anger on his face only belies something else.
"When did you start your criminal career Victor? Can I call you Victor?"
"I'd rather you didn't. Call me Wave Surge. Or Wave, or Surge, hell even #$$hole is fine. Just don't call me Victor." he took another sip of bourbon and gazed back for a moment. "Almost a year before the Rikti. I uh, I was pretty hard up on my luck. Got laid off from the company I worked for, had to do a lot of odd jobs to keep alive. Dishwasher, janitor, construction, even Positron Pizza at one point. Anything for cash ya'know? It was really hard, with my kid an' all."
"You have a son?" I asked. "What's his name, how old is he, where does he-?"
"Had." Wave Surge cut me off "I had a son." I clammed up quickly. "He died. See... he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, ya know? Like that Steven Hawking rube." he finished off his drink and poured another. "'Cept he wasn't smart either, had some downs syndrome or some such along with it. It's hard taking care of him by yourself, and I loved him so much. Ida done anything for my son. My wife left me after she had him, she didn't want no retarded baby she said. So I raised him myself, best I knew how. Anyhow... times were rough. Working two jobs jobs full time barely left me any sleep, let alone anytime with him. And sitters want lots to take care of a special kid like him." Wave Surge drank more bourbon.
"What happened to him?"
"It was getting harder and harder to make the money I needed, and keep sitters around. I knew a few guys who were doing some side work for the Family and the Tsoo. The kept offering me small time work for big time money. Rough a guy up here, deliver a package there. Eventually, I caved, gave in. Started picking up some small tasks, and making more money. I only needed to work one job after a while, and then only needed to work the side work. The Family really liked me, I fit in wit' those guys, ya know? My kind of people. They're good guys deep down, just some of 'em go too far, give 'em all a bad name."
"I was running a delivery job for the Tsoo when I got this suit. I drove a truck down ta' a Talos Island warehouse. When I got there, cops were all over tha place. Turns out a cape busted in a busted some heads, and broke up whatever they were doin'. I acted casual, and drove the truck back to tha guy I got it from. I came in an' he figgered I didn't know about the bust up, thought I delivered and paid me. I took the cash and took off."
"You didn't tell him about the package? How come?"
"I dunno. Didn't want him angry ya know? I took it home, and opened it up and found the suit. It had some fancy legs and boots too, but those got trashed a while back during the Rikti thing. I put it on, and it auto fit me. the gloves, the suit, it felt powerful in it. Figgered I could make a lot of dough and not have to worry about side jobs, or two jobs or anything for a while."
"I went ta King's Row for a few nights and learned how to use it, then just started knockin' over stores. Jewelry, electronics, 7-11, anything I could. I didn't wanna do anything crazy, like a bank, 'cause ya never know when a nutjob in a cape will appear. The Tsoo picked up I had their tech gear, and weren't all that happy. Said since I was usin' it I might as well keep it, and pay it off. So I was workin' for them again, just this time the big stuff. They didn't pay me, and Victor was gettin sicker, so I had to hit up stores 'n such like I was before. The Tsoo... they are slave drivers I tell ya."
"Victor? Is that your son's name?" he looked me straight in the eye when I asked, and seemed pretty upset I even mentioned it. He polished off another bourbon.
"Yeah. Yeah it is." he stayed silent for a moment just glaring at me. "Anyhow, I worked for the Tsoo for a good while, doing pretty much everything, never killed a guy or fought a cape though. I refused to on tha' first, and the second, guess I just got lucky a lot. Anyhow, like, 2 months before the Rikti came 'round, my luck ran out. I was guarding a shipment out in Independence Port when a pair a' capes showed up. Blasted their way through, and before I knew what was going on they were on me. The first one just blew me away with fire, the second one punched me right in tha' head and that was the last I remember."
"I woke up in a jail hospital a while later. They asked me what day it was, I told 'em Tuesday. They told me it was actually Friday, more'n two weeks after I got laid out. I panicked, cause didn't know how Victor was. They told me they were sure the police had taken care of him, or that the sitter had. I didn't know that, how could they? They had ta' release me though, didn't have anything on me except I was in a warehouse with an unregistered tech suit. They gave me my gear and I took off. Ran home as quick as I could, I ran until my lungs hurt and I couldn't feel my legs. Faster than I ever have." Wave Surge leaned forward in the chair and put his drink down. His elbows on his knees he leaned forward and held his head, covering his face. He didn't say anything for a while.
Without lifting his head, he quietly picked up. "I... I got home and... it smelled in the hall outside the apartment. I thought maybe he had just messed himself, maybe a dog or dead rat or... I dunno. I opened the door and.. he..." His voice choked and he struggled to speak. "The sitter had just left my son, my poor baby boy... she just left him there. He... she didn't care nothin' about him an' just left when her time was up. I sat there with him for almost the entire day, till some police showed. They had to drag me away from his body when the coroner got there. Told me he'd starved to death within a day or two. Tried to tell me he didn't suffer but... I could see the look on his face... frozen when he died. He died not knowin where I was or why I wasn't there. Why his Daddy didn't take care of him or help him. He didn't deserve to die like that. Die alone, hungry. Cold. Oh god." Wave Surge began to quietly sob to himself. I took the bottle and poured myself a drink, and tried to get the image of a starved child out of my head.
It was a while before he spoke again, and only after another drink and a smoke. "I can't really blame no one but myself, ya know? I shouldn'ta been out doin' those jobs, shoulda' tried to stay legit. Those damn capes though... I don't even know who they were, they were doing what they do, they didn't know. That babysitter... the cops took her in for child abandonment, some other bull$*&%. I drank for a while... then the Rikti attacked. I dodn't really care, King's Row ain't that big a target to them. I stayed in my apartment for a while, watching it on the news like most folk. I saw a lot of fighting, a lot of people suffering. Thought ta myself I wonder how many kids are out there with their Dads laid up, or fighting these godd*mned alien b*$tards. I still had my suit. I looked out the window and saw fighting past those walls they had laid down. I felt bad, so I put it on, and left my place."
"Thats when you became a hero? Awarded medals for Honor, and a Paragon City Hero Badge, right?" I looked over the small file I had obtained from my PPD contact.
"What mook didn't get those? Almost everyone who picked up a stick or a gun to fight them did. I only helped where I could. I ran over to Baumtown, Boomtown whatever, and saw stuff burnin' and blowin' up. I just ran through buildings, helped where I could."
"Theres a photo of you in costume leaping out of a building with several children in your arms, and a Rikti attack drone firing at you." I pulled the photo out of the file and showed it to him. "Was a full page photo in one of the history books that came out recently. I know the man who took it, he died the day after exposing this film."
Wave Surge glanced at it briefly. "Whatever. Anyhow... after that thing was over I tried turning legit. But everytime I see a hero, or a cop, I can't think of anything but my boy. How I let him down, how they let him down. Cops didn't care enough to run my profile and see I had a kid, heros didn't care enough to pull their punches to just knock me out for a while, babysitter didn't care enough to take care of him when I didn't show, or even check up on him. Everyone in Paragon City, I feel like they let me down, ya know? The ordinary, the extraordinary, everyone. I feel like I let him down myself fer doin' the work I did. I don't deserve to be with the heroes. I told Miss Liberty that once."
"How did you come to being in the Rogue Isles?"
"I just left. Got sick of trying to do good, and everything there reminding me of my boy. Stole a Longbow speedboat, never looked back." Wave Surge stood up and finished his drink. He pulled his mask over his face, and lit a fresh cigarette before putting on his gloves. The rhytmic hum of energy flowed as he powered up his suit.
"Are you happier here? Is this the best life for you?" I asked him. He just shrugged back.
"I'm where I belong, with the rest of the scum of the world." he started to walk out, and then paused by the table. He picked up the picture I showed him earlier. "Can I hang on to this? I..." he paused and sadly smiled "I think my boy would have liked it."
I nodded at him, and watched him stick the picture in a pocket on his belt. He took the stairs out of the basement, and I watched from the distraught buildings' window as his power suit activated, and he leaped away. I gathered the tape recorder and my notebook and jacket, then pulled out my transmitter. As the hum of the teleporter surrounded me to bring me home to Paragon City, I thought to myself that maybe not everyone in the Rogue Isles is a freak, murderer, or mentally disturbed individual. Maybe some just can't get over their own grief and guilt.
Wave Surge, level 15 Stalker (Energy Melee/Regen)
Comments welcomed! (please?)