Episode 7: Villain Special (2)

 The villain lair’s steel doors screeched open, echoing through the dim underground chamber lit by flickering neon strips and far too many mismatched lamps.

Mira burst through the heavy doors first.

“I’m back!!”

Mira announced as if she had just returned from a light stroll instead of escaping a heavily secured academy dungeon.

Leno followed in behind her with a grocery bag slung over his shoulder, looking far too pleased with himself. “All thanks to us, might I add.”

Binlee leaned back against a long obsidian table, arms crossed. “Yes, thanks, strays.”

Minnie rolled her eyes. “It was easy. She could have gotten out of there on her own.”

“I doubt it,” Jin muttered, already stealing a piece of bread off the tray Leno had just set down.

Mira tossed her hair. “Binny, get your despicable strays out of here. They’re souring the mood.”

Hannah didn’t even look up from sharpening a dagger. “The only despicable one souring the mood is you.”

“Ugh! Why are there so many of you?!” Mira snapped.

Felix popped up from behind the couch like he’d been waiting for his cue. “To freshen up the mood.”

Somewhere in the back, Aiyen gasped dramatically. “Is that bread I smell? Is there bread?!”

“Yes!” Leno called from the stove. “And if someone doesn’t stop hovering, there will be slightly less bread!”

The kitchen area- if you could call a black stone counter with suspicious scorch marks a kitchen- was chaos. Ebony and Olivia were setting plates. Chanelle was shooing Mira toward the washroom. Jin had already been caught trying to “quality check” the sauce twice.

“I’ll go fetch some ingredients from the store!” Leno had said earlier.

And that’s when things had gotten… interesting.

---

The small 24-hour market near the academy was nearly empty. Fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead as Leno reached for his pasta—

—and collided with someone reaching for some as well.

“Oh! I’m sorry I was just trying to grab the pasta–”

“Oh no! I’m sorry, I was too. Capellini?”

“Fettuccine.”

They froze for half a second, hands brushing the same shelf. She had soft eyes but carried herself like someone who could probably throw him across the store if needed.

“Here,” she said, handing him the box.

“Thanks. What’re you making?”

“Shrimp Scampi. You?”

“A simple alfredo and garlic bread.”

“Yum!”

“You’re welcome to join.”

She slightly waved the capellini in her hand. “Can’t.”

“Right. Shrimp Scampi.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Another time then?”

“Sure.”

“Do you have a phone?”

“No.”

“Really?!” He blinked. “Um, well then, do you know where Thorn & Scorn Park is?”

“Yes.”

“Meet there tomorrow?”

A small pause.

“Sure.”

“Great! I’m Leno, by the way.”

“I’m… Sha.”

And then she was gone down aisle four, leaving him staring at the pasta like it had just predicted his future.

---

Back in the lair, Leno stirred the alfredo with perhaps a little too much intensity.

“I smell food!!” Mira declared, sweeping in with Ebony.

“It smells delicious,” Ebony said, smiling softly.

“Of course it does, Leno made it,” Hannah replied.

Olivia inhaled deeply. “What is that?”

“Just a simple fettuccine alfredo?”

“Alfredo…” Olivia’s voice went distant. “I haven’t had that in a long time.”

“He’s making it with garlic bread too!” Aiyen announced like a town crier.

“It’s done!” Leno said triumphantly.

“Sweet!” Felix cheered.

“What are the chances of desert too–” Jin began.

“Already in the oven, Jin.”

Olivia blinked slowly. “This is spectacular. Binlee, why have you been hiding him away?”

“I haven’t,” Binlee replied smoothly. “He has simply been doing other tasks that are needed to be done to align with our goals, Liv.”

Felix took another bite and squinted. “Leno, man. This tastes like ten times better than it normally does. What did you change?”

Leno nearly dropped the spoon. “I didn’t change anything.”

“Huh.”

He turned abruptly. “Oh! Desserts are done, I’ll be right back.”

The second he disappeared into the kitchen corner, Chanelle leaned forward.

“You know what can make things taste better? When the cook is in love.”

Olivia stiffened. “It’s never good for a villain to fall in love.”

Ebony tilted her head thoughtfully. “Is it ever good for anyone to fall in love?”

“No,” Olivia replied calmly. “But us especially.”

Minnie waved a fork dismissively. “Don’t tell Leno that. Let’s enjoy his enhanced cooking.”

Mira chewed thoughtfully, glancing around at the chaotic, loud, garlic-scented disaster of a group she had once despised.

“You know,” she said slowly, “I guess you strays aren’t half as bad as I thought.”

A beat of silence.

Felix pointed his fork at her. “Write that down. She said something nice.”

“Don’t push it,” Mira snapped.

Across the room, unnoticed by most, Binlee watched Leno return with dessert– watching the faint distraction in his eyes.

Thorn & Scorn Park.

Shrimp Scampi.

A girl named Sha.

And somewhere not far from here, agents were already piecing together missing cameras and broken barriers.

Love might make food taste better.

But in this world?

It made villains careless.

And careless villains didn’t stay on top for long.