An interview with a super villain

The blindfold felt tight across Violets face and it seemed to have been made for the soul purpose of being a blindfold. Its shape matched the contours of her nose and cheek bones perfectly and there was a curious smell of old cologne as if someone had worn this mask before, a man perhaps. She felt as if she should know the smell, there was something familiar about it.

The heavy hand of the man behind her pressed down on her shoulder, guiding her to wherever it was she was being led to. She had met him in the park at 20:43 exactly, because that was the time she had been told to be there. The man had riffled through her bag and then used a hand held scanner to make sure she wasn‘t concealing anything she shouldn‘t. He had looked Violet up and down with his cold grey eyes that blinked sideways with tiny aluminium looking shutters and then escorted her to a waiting car before placing the blindfold over her eyes.

He hadn’t said anything to her throughout the long car journey and even when they got to their next destination, he merely spoke in grunts that were even more muffled due to the heavy materiel of her tight mask. Violet wondered if he even had any kind of vocabulary programmed into him at all.

After being assisted from the car, she was led across what sounded like concrete under her heels and then suddenly onto metal. The man turned her around but now he held her tight by the arms and although a little afraid she remembered the strict instruction that if she were to remove the eye mask or try anything silly, she would be killed without question. The man behind her seemed the type to follow those orders. She could still hear the list of do’s and don’ts from the mechanical voice on her answer machine, just before it mysteriously burst into flames.

The metal surface she was standing on suddenly juddered and jerked her forward as the sounds of machinery hummed above her. The hands on her arms gripped even tighter at that point. There was a feeling in her head like she was elevating and this went on for what felt like forever. She could hear the muffled sound of the world becoming more distant and the increase in the breeze around her becoming colder. There was a sudden clunk as the lift stopped.

“Move,” ordered the man as he nudged Violet forward with a plate sized palm.

She stumbled a little as she walked ahead, but this time onto what sounded like a hollow metal walkway. The air felt chilled with a constant cold breeze like icy air conditioning as the sound of distant motors and engines rumbled from what appeared to be coming from below the gantry. The air smelt like sparklers.

The big hand suddenly grabbed Violets arm again, stopping her short. She heard a key code being punched in and then warmth gently caressing her face as a sliding door opened before her. Again she was pushed forward, this time onto a carpeted floor, there was a sudden rip of Velcro and the blindfold was pulled away from her face.

Once her eyes adjusted to the new lighting, Violet could see the place resembled someone’s living room, with beautiful dark wood panels lining the walls and an expensive carpet. There was even a log fire burning in the far wall. In the centre of the room was a table with a big, comfortable looking leather chair at either side, all ready for the interview.

“Sit down,” came the voice of the big man that had guided her to this room.

Violet looked over her shoulder at the man and put on her thick rimmed glasses, giving him a look, “Thanks,” and then she walked over to one of the seats. She heard the door open behind her as the man left the room. It shut with a whoosh and then a thud and then there was just the sound of the log fire, crackling and popping, it’s flames dancing like small spirits, leaping from the charred wood.

Violet sat down and took another look round, she noticed the painting over the fire place, it looked like the Chaveski piece that had recently been stolen from Megatropolis art gallery, it may have been a fake but she was pretty sure it was the real deal. She knew who she was dealing with. Other pieces of art work also lined the walls, classics mixed with contemporary.

As she continued to look around at the room, she noticed cameras in the corners of the room. They made her feel uneasy but then she was the guest here, she knew he was watching, he was always watching…

“This light brings out your features so beautifully.”

Violet nearly jumped out of her chair. Sitting opposite, in full light blue costume was Dr Bluesky. He was slouched back in the chair with an elbow resting on the arm of the chair and his legs crossed, as if he had been sat there all along. He smiled patronisingly at Violet as she fumbled with her pens and pad.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.” She blushed as she played with her fringe.

“It’s fine Violet. Please take your time. I didn’t mean to startle you.” He smirked and stroked his goatee beard. “I apologize for Kurt,” He gestured to the door, “His people skills leave a lot to be desired… But he is the only android I have that looks remotely human.”

Violet knew the Doctor was a genius when it came to cybernetics and she had to admit that the one he had sent to collect her had been pretty lifelike and at a distance he could have passed very easily as a human being. She looked at the Doctors’ pointy features, they were more defined up close and she could make out his incredibly blue eyes through his mask. She composed herself and tried to act professional, pushing her Dictaphone across to the centre of the table, “I don’t want to miss anything Doctor, I hope you don‘t mind?” she said, smiling sweetly. Being a reporter, Violet had done her research on Dr Bluesky. She knew how he rolled and she knew he liked to play mind games, she wasn’t about to be caught out.

“Very well. You may have your gadgets,” he waved a hand wearily in the direction of the cameras, “I will have mine.”

Violet noticed how his soft, well spoken words were almost hypnotic but yet strangely camp. She raised an eyebrow, “Oh you mean your cameras?”

“No! Lasers. The kind of lasers that can cut through iron like a hot knife through butter.” He raised a sarcastic eyebrow back.

She didn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction. She just poised her pen over her note pad and set her mind to work mode, with her list of questions memorized in her head, “Shall we start the interview Doctor?”

She wasn’t going to be intimidated by this man, even if he did happen to be the world’s most feared super villain.

“So Doctor. May I first just thank you for…”

Dr Bluesky butted in, an aggressive hint in his tone of voice, “Please Miss Waves, we both know why we are here. Enough with the pleasantries. Ask me some questions.” He smiled.

Violet felt her blood boil but she kept it in. She cleared her throat. “Fine. So let me cut to the chase. What drives you in your life of crime?”

The Doctor played with the large red jewelled ring on the middle finger of his right hand. “An intriguing starter…” He mused on the question for a few seconds, “Greed… Power… Hatred.”

“Tell me about that Doctor. You seem to already have so much and still you want more. Can you not just… stop?”

He laughed, “Stopping is no fun Violet. Why stop when I can feel the exhilaration of a bank robbery or the power of making world leaders tremble. I can’t stop, I suppose I’m just addicted to the rush of being bad.” A sly grin crept over his face and he winked.

“You mentioned hatred. Hatred for what? Do you have a pitiful past you don‘t want anyone to know about.” She watched the Doctors’ initial body language and could see him tense up a little, as if the question was dredging up something uncomfortable. Violet felt as if she was getting under the Doctors skin and it was only the second question. This was too easy, “Result.” She thought to herself.

Dr Bluesky suddenly became smug, seemingly snapping out of it, “Oh my hatred is merely for those fools that fly around saving everyone from me, the supposed, big bad villain,” he mocked, making quotation marks with his fingers.

“But you are a villain Doctor, you’re a super villain.”

Dr Bluesky pressed his hands together, steepling his long, gloved fingers and leaned forward, resting his elbows onto his thighs, “I don’t like the word super, it suggests I have something in common with those so called ‘superheroes’ out there.” His nostrils flared and he almost snarled a little as if the thought of crime fighters repulsed him. “And yes, I am indeed a criminal Violet, but ask yourself this. Am I any different from those criminals out there in our cities?”

Violet laughed, “Of course you are, look at this place, it’s full of things you’ve stolen. And what about the people you’ve hurt… and killed?”

The Doctor rubbed his chin with his fingers, “The homeless man steeling food to survive, criminal? The boy in his bedroom downloading illegal music, criminal?” He paused for a moment and stared hard into Violets eyes, “The young female reporter caught drink driving… Criminal?”

Violets face reddened with a mixture of anger and embarrassment, “How the hell did you know that?” She screamed.

The Doctor sat back in his chair, “I have also been doing my homework young lady. But if this makes you uncomfortable then perhaps we should abort this interview right now?” He leaned forward to turn off the Dictaphone.

Violet grabbed his hand to stop him and for a moment they stared at one another, “No it’s fine.” She blushed again, for the second time that day.

The Doctor felt the blood rush to his cheeks and his neck too, it had been a long time since another human had touched him so gently. Usually it was a hostage frantically gripping at his hands or one of the league punching him in the face, but Violets hand was so soft that for a moment something in his cold heart pumped warm. He moved back with a start and so did Violet.

“Ahem… So miss Waves… We are very similar aren’t we?” Continued Dr Bluesky, as if nothing had happened.

Violet hastily tried to continue with the interview and ignore the ‘moment’ too, but it was difficult. She had researched the life of Dr Bluesky for the passed two years, hoping that she would one day get the chance to make it in the world of journalism by getting the interview with him. He had almost become a part of her life, increasing the curiosity she already had about him. Since Dr Bluesky had come on the scene, Violet had had a thing for him. It wasn’t a crush of sorts, more of a fascination.

Unlike the Superheroes in the cities, the Doctor had something dark and sinister and mysterious that seemed to ignite her imagination.

And when she had received the message on her answer machine, strange as it had been, she was made up, it was like she had been chosen.

With a deep breath in through her nose, Violet continued.

“So your schooling? How was it? Were you the bully?” Her eyes narrowed, wanting to find the thing that made him ‘evil’.

The Doctor smiled, “Believe it or not I was the quiet child in the class, I bothered no one and no one bothered me. You could almost say I was invisible.” He looked up thoughtfully for a moment, “I wasn’t the athletic type, but then I found the sciences and computers…” He drifted off into his memories as he remembered, “That was where my genius came to light. I would get home and create miniature robots and fantastic tiny gadgets that I would attach to insects, I would be in total control. It was all so easy back then. They realised my brain was far too advanced for their school and so at thirteen I was sent to Cardovene university,” The Doctor wrinkled his nose like he had nasty taste in his mouth, “It bored me, so I left after a couple of years and went back home where I later created my own business. I would spend my days fixing and building computers. It was interesting and it paid the housekeeping for mother. But in the back of the shop…” He laughed to himself.

By now Violet was hooked, she would never have thought he would open up like this and reveal his past so easily. No one thought that a super villain would have had a life before crime, but then no one really cared. If anyone did wonder about his past, it was generally assumed he had spent his childhood under lock and key or at the mercy of strict parents. They saw the person destroying cities with whether machines, not the man behind the evil, but Violet was beginning to. She was learning more than any research would teach her. “What was out the back of the shop?” She said eagerly, eyes wide with wonder.

“My first creation, my one true love and the very thing that controls everything.” Dr Bluesky pulled the side of his mask up revealing the side of his head, “See the scar just below my hair line?”

Violet leaned over the table and could make out a thick, deep orange scar on the side of the Doctors head, nestled just beneath the right side of his receding hair line. It was shiny like a non-surgical wound, with a web of tiny deep red capillaries working their way out from it. She looked at the rest of his face that was now on display, his skin looked well cared for and his beard and hair were perfectly trimmed like he had spent the morning in a salon. “What is that? Who did that to you?”

Dr Bluesky pulled the mask back down, “I did it to myself. All those years spent in the back of my shop were not wasted and now I have a micro chip in my head… It gives me the ability to control anything I create. I’m like a god.” He gave his best evil genius laugh and then waited for a response.

Violet stayed leaning forward, “A chip that makes you control everything? Now I’m impressed.” And she was too. She felt herself becoming more enchanted by the Doctor with everything he said, like the pied piper with words.

She had entered the interview expecting to find a cold hearted man with no soul, but it seemed Dr Bluesky was like any other man but at the same time, unlike any man she had ever met before. He had a past and he had feelings and dreams, just like her.

He leaned forward and pressed the stop button on the Dictaphone, “Would you like to see the rest of the ship?” He stood and held out a hand.

Violet took his hand and stood up. The Doctor smiled and let go of Violets hand, then flapped out his cape as he turned, before walking to one of the wood panelled walls. He pressed his hand against it, there was a clunk sound and then the wall shifted back with a jerk before slipping sideways to reveal a metal walkway that spread out into darkness.

“What is this place?” Said Violet as she appeared at the Doctors side.

“This in the Pyramid. It’s where I have lived for the past thirteen years.” Again he flapped his cape theatrically and almost glided away. As he walked, lights began to come on along the walkway, as if they were following him, as if he was the switch, controlling the electricity with every step.

As the lights came on they illuminated the structures at either side. The Doctor stopped and turned, again showing of his most dramatic cape flapping. “You see either side of you?”

Violet looked at the massive metal figures. Four in total, two at each side. They were giant, forty foot high bullet shaped structures, bronze in colour with arms and legs resembling metallic vacuum cleaner hoses. She leaned over the barrier to get a closer look at the statues and could feel the ice cold draft from the darkness, blowing her long brown hair “Are these what I think they are?”

Dr Bluesky chuckled, “What do you think they are?”

“Robots?”

He chuckled again, “That is exactly what they are Violet. They took me eighteen months each to build. Impenetrable to most military standard weapons. Remotely controlled...” He tapped his head, “...By the chip in my head and totally water tight.”

He stood next to Violet and placed his hands on the barrier too, “Aren’t they amazing. All this from those tiny machines I made as a boy.”

Violet looked at the Doctor for a moment, he seemed so happy and full of excitement, something she had not seen in him yet and perhaps something that he had not felt for a long time. She looked away again, “I guess the interview is over now then?”

“If that’s what you want Violet. Come, I have something else to show you.” He threw his cape to the side and walked off into the darkness, the lights followed him again as they had done before. But now they illuminated more gantries, which seemed to interweave with one another. Even above and below there were more walkways, some had metal ladders leading down into the seemingly empty, black space below and some looked as though they had been melted or blown apart by some phenomenal weaponry.

Violet waited for a moment and watched the man walking. His boots clanking on the metal and his cape floating majestically behind him. But what had he got planned for her? He was baring his deepest, darkest secrets and she knew he wouldn’t just let her publish them to the world. She wondered for a second whether he was going to try to hypnotize or brainwash her. She had seen him do that to people before and it had worked. Well, that was until their brains melted.

Why was he doing all this? He knew full well that she had another Dictaphone in her pocket, he was a genius after all and he knew that she had a fantastic, almost photographic memory. He also knew that if she left, she could have his entire story on the news within the hour and it would also lead the League straight to him…

…Violet followed...