The kid in front of Mike stopped talking and looked concernedly at Mike. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Mike looked up at the mousey-looking kid. He had brown hair and eyes, didn’t look athletically built, and was, in fact, kind of short and dumpy. He didn’t look like a superhero. But Mike could tell by the gleam in his eye that he wanted to be. Mike gave him a small, wan smile. “I’m sorry…”
“Julian,” the kid supplied.
“Julian. I’m sorry, I’m not in the best of moods today.”
“We can do this another time,” he said, starting to get up from the patio chair.
“No, no. You’re here, I’m here, and I’ll try to pay attention. So tell me again why you want to join up with us?”
“Because I think that people might have made the wrong decisions in life, or were forced to go down whatever bad path they had to go down. I believe that everyone has the right and the ability to repent.”
“So being a villain is a case of a mistake?”
He shrugged. “They’re misguided, misinformed, mistreated – who knows? We won’t know until we talk to them, find out why they chose the villainous path, and then try to steer them in the right direction.”
“We’re not psychologists.”
“Yes, but we can stop them from continuing on their path.”
“How do you do that?”
“I use rubber bullets. I use a net. I’m working on tear gas. Things that hurt, that might stop a person, but not kill them.”
“So you don’t believe in killing.”
“Right.”
“Are you a vegetarian and a Buddhist?”
“Vegan, and yes, I am a Buddhist. I also take akido.”
“You’re how old?”
“18.”
“You’re not going to college?”
“I’m not really college material.”
Mike sipped his iced coffee. “Let me tell you something about our group. We’re close knit, a family. I’m the leader, and I set people up with missions and the like by giving you contacts. You’ll be travelling with other heroes to Canada and the Southwest. You’ll be under my guys, and they’ll watch you.” He sipped again. “And most of us are gay.”
Julian shrugged. “Nobody would be interested in me.”
“You’d be surprised,” Mike said. “Very surprised.” He held out his hand, and in his palm was a cobalt ring. He offered it to Julian. “Welcome to the team.”