The indignation was hidden by not quite entirely gone and it was enough for Brainy to make a judgment call and decide to start dangling things to see how the man reacted.
"I'm a supervillain, you know," he said quietly. "It's quite a ridiculous-sounding proclamation, but my teammates and find the word 'criminal' somewhat ineffective in describing the kinds of crimes we commit. When you're in brightly colored spandex and using a death laser to open the confiscated goods safe on a prison ship while flinging mini-black holes at the police, it seems the kind of very specific criminality that requires its own very specific definition."
He took one of Charles' knights.
"Yet despite that, we have always held crimes fueled by intolerance over genetic differences in...distaste. Many of us were considered aberrations on our homeworlds for various reasons, myself included."
He avoided Charles' eyes.
"What I'm trying to say is that I'm not a particularly soft-hearted man but I can appreciate it when I see sentients that understand the nature of hatred and fear and how damaging it is to those who don't deserve to be damaged. You've been guarded about it but you wouldn't call the time you come from a dark age if it was a time of tolerance and if you didn't value such tolerance. Don't ever lose that attitude. If more people had thought that way on my homeworld I might not have resorted to a life of crime as my only option for survival."
no subject
"I'm a supervillain, you know," he said quietly. "It's quite a ridiculous-sounding proclamation, but my teammates and find the word 'criminal' somewhat ineffective in describing the kinds of crimes we commit. When you're in brightly colored spandex and using a death laser to open the confiscated goods safe on a prison ship while flinging mini-black holes at the police, it seems the kind of very specific criminality that requires its own very specific definition."
He took one of Charles' knights.
"Yet despite that, we have always held crimes fueled by intolerance over genetic differences in...distaste. Many of us were considered aberrations on our homeworlds for various reasons, myself included."
He avoided Charles' eyes.
"What I'm trying to say is that I'm not a particularly soft-hearted man but I can appreciate it when I see sentients that understand the nature of hatred and fear and how damaging it is to those who don't deserve to be damaged. You've been guarded about it but you wouldn't call the time you come from a dark age if it was a time of tolerance and if you didn't value such tolerance. Don't ever lose that attitude. If more people had thought that way on my homeworld I might not have resorted to a life of crime as my only option for survival."