"Hold on Vi, are you seriously just gonna do this? This is the first conversation we've had since your arrest, and this is how you want to end it?"
"What do you want from me, Evan? You just said we have to get out of here."
"Yeah, but shit… we can still talk for a bit? Hang out? Your curfew isn't for a while, so let's go get something to eat, or a beer, or something! I even put on a disguise so we could hang without drawing any attention."
"That disguise will do the complete opposite!"
"It'll still be better than if I wasn't wearing one at all!"
The two looked at each other, but Visuveus just shook his head and began walking off.
"Come on Vi, it's just an hour or two to catch up, what's so wrong about that?!"
Visuveus stopped in his tracks and looked back at Evan, and could clearly make out the desperation on his face, despite the disguise obscuring his face.
"Fine, okay… but you're buying."
"Yes! Fuckin A – wait, I'm buying?"
"Of course you are Evan, I don't have money to spurn and Sonny clearly isn't the type to give people advances on their salaries."
"Yeah, whatever! I'll happily pay, so let's get outta here quickly!"
Evan, who was unable to hide his excitement, practically hopped up to Visuveus and the two left the clearing. They were actually halfway down the street when a panel van with a custom paint job and speakers blaring some kind of cheesy sounding heroic music drove past them. Some people in brightly coloured spandex suits were hanging out from open doors, a large sunroof and even windows as they appeared to be headed in the direction of the clearing. Visuveus and Evan, who both acted like they hadn't even seen the van or heard the music, just calmly hailed a cab, and got in. Evan mumbled the name of some bar, and off they went. During their trip, Might City started to change and come alive. Bright neon signs illuminated the streets, the sides of buildings became massive screens which played all kinds of content, bars and restaurants began their dusk routines, sending out men and women to try and convince people off the street to come to their establishments, street food carts popped up in certain districts, and the city just became a different beast entirely. The pair sat in silence throughout the entire trip, with Visuveus just staring out of the window the whole time. The driver kept looking in the rearview mirror suspiciously as he tried to figure out just what these two were doing – especially due to the outfit Evan had on, but he could see that both men were well built enough that they could probably grind him to dust if he offended them, which prompted him to keep his mouth shut. They arrived at the Ale & Steak, the bar Evan had chosen, and after he paid the cab fare, they ascended the stairs. Visuveus looked at a number of notices that were posted at the door, and one in particular caught his attention.
"So, 'We do NOT scan for Alignment in this establishment' huh? Now I see why you chose this place."
Evan and Visuveus then entered the bar, and it looked as Visuveus expected it would. It was filled with characters who were clearly of a certain disposition, however it was surprisingly quiet for a place filled with obvious Villains.
"Are you going to be okay in here, Evan?"
"Huh? Why do you ask?"
"Look at this place – it's patrons are clearly the unsavoury type, and you are quite literally heralded as the Star of Justice."
Evan didn't appear to be listening as he signaled to the barkeep that he was going somewhere, before pointing to a booth. The barkeep smiled and nodded, before Evan led Visuveus up some rickety steps to a room. He placed his hand on the door which caused it to unlock, and as he opened the door, some lights came on. This was clearly a private booth, and the two men walked in as Visuveus looked around at the décor and such.
"This looks…"
"…bitchin', right?"
"Yeah, that's the word." Visuveus said as he continued to look around.
Evan gestured for Visuveus to take a seat, which he promptly did and then reached for an intercom.
"When last did you have a steak dinner, Vi?"
"You already know the last time."
"Damn… okay."
Evan got on the intercom and ordered two steak dinners with all the trimmings, along with a few bottles of beer. At the mention of the liquor, Visuveus' eyes grew wide and he sighed, before shaking his head.
"Beer… huh?"
"Of course dude, it's our first sit down in longer than I even want to think about."
Evan said this as he undid his trench coat and pulled it off. He was clad in just regular clothing, and while Visuveus was clearly the taller of the two men, Evan was no less physically fit than him. He also took the hat off, revealing his pristinely cut blonde hair – however he kept the eye glasses/nose/moustache mask on for a little while longer, and only once the food and drinks had been brought to the booth, did he finally take the mask off and sit down opposite Visuveus. Things were quiet and conversation was more than slow in the initial stages, with the only noises coming from either man were appreciative sounds of joy as they tucked into the meat – especially Visuveus.
"You have no idea just how good this tastes to me, Evan. I've been eating that awful food cooked by the owner of the halfway house for months, and I have no doubt that she's spiked my food with something every damn meal."
"I can only imagine, dude." Evan said with a chuckle. "Especially considering what she… you know…"
"Mate." Visuveus said as he rolled his eyes. "You have NO idea… like, if Sonny hadn't agreed to hire me, I would have been screwed. That woman has been pestering me to work for her in order to satisfy the damn parole conditions, and I just couldn't."
"Was she expecting…"
"Absolutely… and I just couldn't, Evan."
"Dude, having seen Ms. Mubi before, I'm totally with you there."
Visuveus rolled his eyes and nodded, before digging in to his food again. Despite it being a decade since they last sat down together, both Evan and Visuveus were clearly comfortable in each other's company, and there wasn't even a hint of awkwardness between them. Although the night was young, and there was still more than enough time for that to happen. Evan looked at Visuveus, who was clearly enjoying every bite of his meal, and raised the bottle he had been nursing.
"Hey Vi… here's to your release, your reform and your recently secured employment."
Visuveus looked up from his plate and nodded his appreciation to the statement.
"Hear hear. Thanks, Evan."
Evan took another swig of his beer, before speaking again.
"You know Visuveus, I actually broke into a cold sweat earlier as I watched you fight those thugs, dude. Like, sure, you weren't using the Reaper Style you developed, but I could still see you using all the Powers with each blow… Spear Bones, Diamond Knuckles, Hammer Heels, Scythe Feet, Vice Grip, Smoldering Palms… like shit, I saw not only the blows, but the results of the blows in my head… you killed those people so many times, I feel like they don't realise just how lucky they really were."
"Yeah, well… if I had any of those Powers, things would have been a whole lot worse. I lost control for a while there, and if I had any Powers, I'd probably be in a cell right now."
"I wouldn't have allowed that to happen, Vi. I was there to stop you from crossing the line and ruining things… for both of you."
"…yeah."
"…have the scars healed completely, yet?"
"You mean the Extraction scars? No, they're all still visible."
"Do they still hurt?"
"They used to sting every year on the Anniversary of the Extraction, but now… not really."
"Considering just how many Powers you had at the time, the fact that the pain of having just half of them removed didn't kill you was crazy enough to us."
"Well, that's just what happens when you make promises to Zura – you keep them, no matter what you have to go through."
"No lies detected, there." Evan said as he sniggered and took another swig.