The sound of a harmonica being played can be heard as a prison guard walks up to the jail cell that this sound was coming from.
“Hey!” A prison guard says as he bangs his baton against the bars of the jail cell. “Keep it down in there!”
Wattz nonchalantly tosses his harmonica to the side and folds his arms behind his head as he lays back on his cot.
“...Well, at least I’ll be out of here soon…” Wattz says with a sigh.
“...Lucky you…” Kurt grumpily mumbles from the top bunk. “...I don’t even know if I’ll ever get out of here at this point…”
“...I mean…you did assist the villain who ended up killing the most popular hero in the city…so…” Wattz says with a shrug.
“I was just doing the job I was hired for! How was I supposed to know that all of that was going to happen?” Kurt shouted in annoyance.
“Hey!” The guard from the hallway yells again. “What did I just say? Quiet down in there!”
Wattz and Kurt make sure they lower their voices as they continue to speak.
“...Well, if you ever get out of here maybe you should be more careful with choosing the clients you work with…”
“...If…I don’t like that word anymore…” Kurt says with a defeated sigh. “...It’s a word that dreamers use…nothing is guaranteed when “if” is the best that you can hope for…”
“...What led you to a life of crime anyway?” Wattz genuinely asks. “...I mean, you probably already know why I chose my path…”
“...All too well…” Kurt says as he rolls his eyes. “...My answer is money by the way…Typical, I know…Since those who have the most money are also those with the most power I thought that would be a good way to be set for life and get the things that I wanted…but that’s also the thing about money…You’ll never have enough…I guess I got too greedy…”
“...What exactly did you want out of life?”
“...I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a basic asshole, but I know who I am and what I like…so to answer your question…I want to be able to buy anything that I want whenever I want…fancy cars…sex…the most expensive watch that I could find…I also used it to silence anyone who tried to get in my way…Honestly, the only thing that I regret is getting caught…”
“...That’s about what I expected…” Wattz says as he rolls over onto his side.
“What about you? What do you want out of life Wattz?”
“...All I really want is to be noticed if I’m being honest…All my life I’ve felt like a…like a side character in someone else’s story…I don’t necessarily want the spotlight all to myself though…I just…want people to care…I guess…” Wattz pauses for a moment. “...If I were to die tomorrow…I don’t think anyone would miss me…They’d just be glad to have another villain off the streets…If there was one person that cared about me…I think that would be enough for me…”
“...You don’t really sound like the type of guy that belongs in a place like this…” Kurt sighs again. “...I mean, I know that this is where I probably belong…but you’re…different…You’re not only out for yourself like I am…”
“...I think that’s why I like the banter so much…That back and forth between a hero and a villain is what I live for…but…maybe it’s just because that means that I’m being heard…”
“...When are you out of here anyway?”
“...I’m going to be able to be on parole for my good behaviour in about a week…”
“...Must be nice…”
*BOOM!*
Sirens start blaring all throughout the prison.
“What was that?!” A guard shouts before getting punched in the face and flying into a nearby wall.
An eight foot tall man with spiky white hair, a white unbuttoned longcoat, black pants, and a lower jaw made of metal slowly walks through the halls of the prison.
After walking back and forth a few times he scratches his head.
“...Uh…I thought that this was the right place…” He says as he scratches his head and pulls a slip of paper out of his pocket to read it again to make sure he wasn’t mistaken.
Wattz hops off of his bed and quickly makes his way over to the bars.
“...Hey…”
“...Huh…What was that?” The metal jawed man asks.
“...Over here…”
Wattz gets the man’s attention as he walks over and puts one of his massive hands around one of the bars of the cell.
“...What are you looking for?” Wattz nervously asks.
“...Let’s just say that I’m looking for some of my co-workers…One of them is a black woman with a large black and white afro and the other is a tall pale skinned goth-looking woman with long black and blue hair…”
“...This is the men’s side of the prison…” Wattz says with an annoyed scowl that he was thankful that the taller man wasn’t able to see because of how dark it was.
“...Oh…that makes sense…” The man says as he starts to turn around.
“...Wait...Who are you anyway?” Wattz quickly asks the man before he’s able to leave.
“...Well, since you helped me out I suppose that’s only fair. I’m Windsor Stone, but my co-workers know me as The Rook.”
“...One more question if you don’t mind…What did your co-workers do to get locked in here anyways?”
“They got caught while they were…let’s just say that they were doing their jobs, but they were apparently apprehended by a couple of heroes and a few SUPER students.” Windsor says before turning around. “...Well…I need to go to the other side of the prison.”
Instead of walking out of the same wall he originally walked in from, he punches a hole in a different wall and leaves through that one.
“...What an odd fellow…” Wattz says with a shrug before heading back to his cot.
Just as the wizard said a week later he was let out of prison and put on parole.
A part of their agreement was that he needed to get a job. The prison was able to get him a position as a janitor at SUPER. Not everyone had what it takes to clean up after heroes (especially with how destructive some of their powers are), but someone had to do it and Wattz was willing to do the job.
One day as he was sweeping he accidentally bumped into someone in the halls.
“Sorry about that, man.” An oddly familiar voice says in an apologetic tone.
“...Don’t worry about it…” Wattz says as he turns around. “...Wait, I know you!”
“...That’s strange…” Ash says as he scratches the back of his head. “...Where do you know me from?”
“What do you mean! It’s your fault that I got arrested!” Wattz shouts before he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He really didn’t want to go to jail again and even went to therapy to try to get a handle on his emotions. He then slowly exhales before he continues speaking “I guess it has been a while, so here’s a reminder.”
Wattz snaps his fingers as a small sphere of electrical energy appears in his hand.
“Oh yeah! Now I remember!” Ash says as the memory comes back to him. “You’re the wizard! Watson…or something…”
“...Eh…close enough…” Wattz says with a slightly disappointed sigh before he strikes a menacing pose. “I am Wattz! The electro wizard! Reformed after months of therapy and on parole for good behaviour!”
“That’s great to hear, man!” Ash says with a genuine smile. “I love a good villain reformation arc…no hard feelings right…”
“...Yeah…water under the bridge…I kind of deserved it if I’m being honest…well, the old more villainous past self deserved it at least, but I don’t really think that I’m that guy anymore.”
“...Phew…” Ash says as he wipes his brow. “That’s good to know.”
“...So…how’s hero training treating you?” Wattz asks.
“I actually think that I’ve improved a lot since we fought!” Ash says with a big smile on his face. “This school is the real deal!”
After Ash spends a little too long infodumping about the school the conversation eventually shifts to what Wattz has been up to and the wizard eventually remembers what that prison breaker told him the previous week.
“Oh yeah! Before I forget, the most peculiar thing happened before I left jail last week. There was this guy who broke into the prison to free some of his co-workers who said that they were captured by a few students from SUPER who were assisting some heroes at the time. Would you happen to know anything about that?”
“...Oh shit…” Ash says under his breath as a worried expression appears on his face.
