I stopped walking, stuck in place as I stared at the man. "Miss Edwards?" Lyla, the girl I was tutoring, said.

But I couldn't talk. I just could not believe what I was seeing. "Lyla . . . do you know what your father does for a living?"

I looked into her eyes and saw it immediately. She did know. And it wasn't a lie that her father told her. She knew. "He works in an office," she replied, trying to look confident in the fake answer. "Anyways, I see him there right now. I'll see you later!" She walked off to the car, where her wretched father leaned against. He was staring at me, and I could tell he recognized me as well.

"Hey, Dad!" Lyla told him. He turned his attention to her and greeted her.

"Baby, can you wait in the car? I'm going to speak to your teacher." Lyla nodded, and I grew tense as the man walked towards me. "Well, what do we have here?" he said, slightly smirking.

"You have a kid? I thought you were too sinister for that!"

"And I thought you were smart enough to get a job that pays higher, but oh well. You settled for teacher."

"So what? You rob banks for a living."

"That's not what I do, and you know it. Very common misconception about villains," he looked down at my school-provided ID, "Diane."

"Shut it. Now, I don't feel very comfortable with you having Lyla as a daughter."

His face dropped. "And why is that?" he said sharply.

"You know why. She's a very sweet girl and-"

"Yeah, I know that. She's my kid. And, not that it's any of your business, I treat her well. I give her what she needs and way more. I spoil that girl, okay? So don't assume I'm just a cold-blooded being living only to fight you. There's life in everyone, not just you. Even if you can't see it, we're all conscious, we're all alive and trying to get by. I do what I need to do to survive, and provide for Lyla, so just stay out of it if all you're gonna do is criticize."

I stood staring at him, feeling strangely guilty. I didn't really like the idea of this man being a person too, which was a weird thought, but true. I was making everything harder for him. "I'm sorry," was all I could say.

We stood silent for a few seconds that felt like hours, and finally, I looked up at the villain. Maybe I was his villain. I made his life worse, and before I knew it, I spoke. "What if we team up?"

"Team up? With you? No, thank you."

"No, I mean . . . if you become a hero, you'll be famous for being good and you'll get a bunch of money and even things for free too."

He shook his head. "They wouldn't let me. No one would trust me. Not after all these years."

"Well, I'll make them." I had a strange determination to get the people of the town to accept him. I needed them to. "They'll see you, I bet they will."

He squinted his eyes. "Why are you doing this? Why are you saying this?"

"You deserve to be forgiven. Everyone wants a life that they can enjoy, but I can't keep letting you steal things that don't belong to you, which is what's giving you the money to enjoy your life, so this is the solution. Switch sides."

He didn't speak for several seconds. "Thanks. No one's ever . . . Thanks." He turned and went into his car, and I watched him drive out of the parking lot and out of the school area.