a man in his early sixties with a long black beard with some gray wakes up in a prison cell. his hair is gray and short. he has one light blue eye and one honey brown eye. the man has a muscular body. the man is like 6'2 tall.
the old man stands up as he walks slowly out of his prison cell someone calls him 'Dark Archangel' he turns around and looks at the fool. he walks towards him and he tells him to be careful with his words. Dark Archangel keeps walking and he is stop by a guard. he is told that someone wants to see his face.
Dark Archangel is taken to a room in which he waits until Chiko steps in front of him. Dark Archangel isn't surprise to see the old face of a friend of his past. Dark Archangel asks for his son. Chiko looks around to make sure that no one is watching them.
"I have been searching for Lucky-Hit everywhere but I have failed to find him. if he finds your son, he is going to use him to destroy the city. Julio I know that the government failed you when they killed your first son or when they send you here to die. they failed you, but your son can be saved. I am trying to make a team capable of bringing you the freedom you deserve."
said Chiko with a tone of voice full of anxiety and desperation.
"you don't have to worry for me. when I lost my oldest I lost my mind, but in the end this small hell has become a place in which I have been able to recover the soul I saw lost once. thanks for your loyalty & friendship. you are a great guy and I don't want to see you in the same place in which I once was."
said Julio Aguirre who is able to notice how much Chiko's personal mission is affecting his mind.
"I need you out of here. I need of your help to correct this corrupted world."
"I am not sure if I am Dark Archangel or I would ever be him again. it has been so long since I put the cape & the costume behind me. with all honesty I can't be that helpful, but I would give my all."
Chiko talks about other themes with his old friend. Julio Aguirre lose many years of his life in this prison. he lose the opportunity to see his little boy turn into a man. Julio lose so much time that at some point he thought that it was pointless to think about getting out of jail. he gave up on life outside of the cage in which he lives.
the prison in which they are is a maximum security prison. only the worst criminals on the whole country are taken in this prison with the hope that they would never be free ever again. the visits are restricted to a visit per year, but of course Chiko has privileges for been a Former Hero he can visit any villain at any time or any day.
when the system at first accepted the Heroes & Villains in society the Heroes didn't have any privilege nor it was profitable to be a Hero. there were veteran Heroes who ended on the streets once they lose the capacity to fight. it was after seen that Heroes didn't have the compensation that they deserved for their sacrifice that the government decide to do something about it and now Heroes or Former Heroes have equal or more privilege than a politician or celebrity.
later Julio was in the cafeteria of the prison. he was eating peaceful. someone calls his name. Julio looks up to see Alyona Sokolov AKA Techno-Virus sitting in front of him. she is talking to him. Julio asks her if her pet isn't with her today. Alyona tells him that she fought with Harold, so she haven't seen him.
the prison is divided in two parts. part A is where the female prisoners are taken. and part B is where the male prisoners are taken. male and female prisoners don't see each other in normal conditions because the prison is literally divided in two. they only share the cafeteria and the gym but because of the schedule they only can see each other in the cafeteria.
since the first day in which Alyona arrived on the prison she has been in contact with Gluttonyc Justice and she has been giving information to Julio about the people that they have on their side inside and outside of the prison. some of the guards where people who had grudges against criminals who Julio rightfully punished on his days of vigilante.
Julio Aguirre is now friendly and has a lot of people at his side protecting his back, but when he first entered on this prison there where many who didn't like the idea of a vigilante. a former man of justice sharing the same roof as them. in those days Julio send many to either a hospital in critical condition or an early grave.
Julio has a few scars on his whole body. he even has a small scar under his left eye. things might be peaceful now but even in the better days of this prison there were many incidents including body bags or hospitals. after all this is a prison for the worst criminals in the whole country.
"you told me before that you were an old friend of my son. I was curious if you can tell me more about him when he was younger and now. I want to know how he was then, and how he is now."
said Julio feeling guilt for not been there for his only living son.
"sorry, I don't want to interrupt the friendly talk in between two villains, but you see I am new in here and I wanted to know if I can sit with you guys."
said Bandit Cadaver as he walks closer to them.
Julio tells to Alyona that it makes sense for her and her pet (Harold) to be in that prison for the chaos they created with the bank heist, but how in the living hell was a guy like Bandit Cadaver in that prison, a guy who seems like a joke in comparison with other villains/criminals.
Bandit Cadaver explain that his ability is rare and because is associate to a darker type of power the politicians thought it was correct for him to be in 'Odin's vision' (the name of the prison) he explains that if he proves to not be a threat he is going to be put in a less dangerous prison.
Julio is eating a piece of bread with two cooked potatoes. he drinks milk. Alyona tells him that the time for him to be released is coming soon. she didn't say when but it was clear that soon meant in about a week or two.
Julio finish eating and he walks back to his cell. he stays in there for a moment thinking about his past, present and future. the biggest reason why he is not sure about leaving the cage is because he is afraid of what his son might say once they are face to face. he failed to his son and there are no words that can do right to what is already broken.
Julio asks to his cellmate if he has a family (Vladimir Petrov is the cellmate.) he looks awkwardly at the floor as he tells him that he loved someone once but at the time he was a young man who belonged to a powerful family that generation after generation has dedicated themselves to the mafia lifestyle.
Vladimir enters into details as he specifies that at that time there were two paths to chose. to either be the leader of a mafia which meant that there would be enemies ready to attack him and the idea of a family wouldn't be appropriate for the situation or he could run away far to the end of the world with her. the path that he took is obvious by now.
Julio tells him that he had a family and he lost his elder son and his wife (of course he omitted the fact that the Government was involved in his tragic life.) Vladimir asks him if he wants a beer. Vladimir has become part of a Russian gang in prison named Brothers of the Red Shoes (they are good at getting cigars and beers inside of the prison.)
"a beer sounds nice.... but wait did they put those beers inside their butt-hole?"
"wait... what? how can a hole beer bottle get inside of a human's ass?"
"I don't know before coming in here I saw many crime movies and shows, in those they always get things inside of the prison by putting it inside their butt-holes."
Vladimir couldn't believe how a man who has spend many years in prison think that everything is like in the crime shows and movies. Julio accepted the beer. Vladimir takes two beers from bellow his bed. they start to drink without saying more words.
there wasn't much to talk about with a person you barely know, but is different when you are drinking with that person. it feels more familiar when you are sharing a beer with someone else. Julio talks about how in his country a man drinking with another man is seem as an act of friendship.
Vladimir agrees with the idea of two strangers becoming closer by a beer. Vladimir tells him about some events that were meaningful on his childhood, he even talks about his regrets on this colorless life.
"but no one put this on their butt-holes, right?"
asks Julio once more with doubt as he looks at the beer with suspicion.
they drank a few more beers as the conversation became more and more personal. Julio is the type of man who hides his feelings with an emotionless face. only some of his closest friends are able to see his true emotions, but after some beers he revealed the face of a man who is broken in pieces by the weight of the years & eternal days of regret.
"a man once said that in their right mind, a man can never question the things that they get to know by seen, hearing or touch. that same man said that it was until a man was drunk, that they start to question everything from their existence to the meaning of the truth. same man use to drink in order to get inspiration for his art."
said Vladimir after noticing Julio's face.
Julio makes sure that there is no one else with them. he walks close to Vladimir and he whispers on his ear letting him know about Chiko's plan to break him out of prison. Julio asks him if he wants to get out of prison with him and the others. Vladimir thanks him.
"I, I want to be there for my boy. I want to be there for his future birthdays, I want to be witness of his marriage, I want to be present in the birth of my first grand kid.... there were many important dates of which I wasn't able to be part of in his life, but I want to be there for the future important dates in the life of my boy."
said Julio barely holding the tears that come when he thinks about the son that he unintentionally left alone in the world with no one to care for him.
Vladimir tells him that he is in good terms with all the other members of Brothers of the Red Shoes, so if there is anything that Julio can need for the escape he can bring it to him. Vladimir lies down on his bed as he tries to sleep.
Julio lies down on his own bed as he tries to not sleep. mostly when Julio falls asleep he has dreams. that shouldn't be call a dream and it is too cruel for the word nightmare to fit. every time he dreams those dreams are twisted versions of his memories that only come at night to torment his already broken soul.
Vladimir omitted to admit that he has in fact a kid. a son of who he knows nothing. the mother of the kid isn't the woman of the tale, but a woman with who Vladimir had a night of passion like six years ago. he never knew what happen to her after that night of passion until some days ago when he received a letter in which he received the news of his son.
"sweet dreams compadre. we have to dream with being young, so we can forget about the old scars life left on our skin."