Slaughter let out a booming chuckle, his sparkling white fangs on display. “Our kind doesn’t work for anyone, Manny. You know that. No, this was meant to be more of a temporary alliance. You see, if you surrender of your own free will, there’s no glory in it for the department, but if they orchestrate your capture, they become heroes. Well… so to speak. So, long story short, we help them catch you and they look the other way on some future schemes of ours. Not all of us are on that precious ‘Do Not Apprehend’ list you know. In fact, none but you are.”

“You know, you’re supposed to be wearing that wire underneath your shirt, right?” Bernie asked.

“Quite right, but what does it matter? I’m not exactly undercover.” Slaughter replied.

“Fair enough.” Bernie said. “What I really want to know is why the police think they can trust you more than me. It’s pretty insulting.”

“No idea!” Slaughter chortled with the authentic surprise of someone who had considered the question himself. “Poor judgement, I guess. Actually, that leads me to why I’m really here. You’re a super villain. You don’t get to put in your two weeks and buy a rancher in the burbs. You have to be killed or severely crippled into retirement. That way, you can admirably pass your glory onto your killer, perpetuating villainy for the rest of us. This voluntary imprisonment plot is just plain selfish. To that end, our friend Famine over there has altered the chemical composition of your coffee into less of a breakfast stimulant and more of a death cocktail. It won’t kill you of course. You’re special. But I’m betting it will slow you down enough to make your dispatch pretty easy. That said, I have no intentions of sharing this glory with Famine so I’ll likely have to kill him too, despite his efforts.”

“Actually…” Famine called, still behind the counter. “I was double-crossing you too. I haven’t poisoned Manny’s coffee. I figured that, with Manny at full strength, you two would incapacitate each other and I could finish you both off.”

“Dang, I’ve got to admit, that’s a good one Bob.” Slaughter replied, smiling and invoking Famine’s real name in a moment of true admiration.