Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

7 years, 11 months B.F.D. (before first date)

(Shut up, so what if this is how Gary marks time?)

(Avocato thinks it’s cute)

Gary Goodspeed sighed. He had his head on his desk, tipped to one side. At the front of the lecture hall a Durgalian was droning on and on about proper evil lair design.

The lecture hall was unlit save for the hologram the professor was using to highlight the do’s and don’ts of mobile base construction. Gary could feel himself drifting off to sleep. Who thought it was a good idea to lecture overworked university students at 7pm in a dark room? Oh yeah, his freaking professor, that’s who.

When Gary entered the Tera Con Prime school of Villainy he had expected there to be more theatrics and artistry. Instead, it was memorizing tables of space gems and their properties. It was studying the organizational structure of various hero and villain agencies. It was learning tax law and how to dodge it.

“Blech.” That part he said out loud, getting a couple looks from the students sitting next to him.

Gary wanted real world experience. He wanted to practice escaping from SuperDuperMax™ prisons. Or how about a hands on superweapon building class? That would be soooo cool! But nooo, school had to be all theory and no fun.

The only thing Gary had to look forward to was his internship at the end of the semester. He was going to be working for the infamous Invictus. Against all odds, Gary had landed a prestigious position that had over one hundred applicants.

Interning for Invictus was a big honking deal. Several of the biggest up-and-coming villains had henched for him, including Lord Commander and The Magnificent Clarence. It was a great way for Gary to start making a name for himself.

When the lecture eventually ended Gary followed the throng of fellow students out into the space station. He walked to the nearest pod stop that would take him surface side. Thirty minutes later Gary disembarked the pod and headed to his favorite ice cream parlor: The Inside Scoop . He heard they had some interesting new flavors this month that he was itching to try. Gary entered the shop and walked to the end of a rather long line. It looked like it was going to be a while before he got to order, so he got out his phone and started Villain Quest IV . 

While he waited for the game to finish loading he looked up to see a male ventrexian who was sitting by himself enjoying an ice cream cone. The ventrexian had dark teal fur with a vertical white stripe going up his face and over his head. And the cutest pink nose. He looked to be close to Gary’s age. Gary stared transfixed as the ventrexian licked delicately at the ice cream. He idly wondered if Ventrexian tongues were as scratchy as cat tongues, which wait.

Huh. Gary had never really seen ventrexians as anything other than adorable cat people, but there was something about this ventrexian that had his hands getting clammy and his heart beating faster. Then Gary noticed that the ventrexian was wearing a too-tight t-shirt with the words “LUHA: Lightopia University Hero Academy” on it. Phooey. That put a damper on any fantasies Gary was starting to build.

Gary ordered his ice cream and walked out of the shop, putting the ventrexian out of his mind.

7 years, 8 months B.F.D.

Ok. Soooooo. Interning for Invictus turned out to be nothing like Gary expected.

First, Invictus was evil. Like, for real evil. Don’t get Gary wrong, he knew when he signed up to be a villain that he would never be square with the law. But trying to take over the world by invading the minds of its inhabitants. Too far, dude. Too far . He got into this for the flair. The costumes. The dramaticsss .

Second, Gary was realizing very quickly that he did not like working under other people. Too easy to stifle his creativity. His genius . Gary needed room to flex his thinking muscles.

Third, being a henchman meant getting beat up. A lot. It was… notfun ! Gary was currently having his ass handed to him by a hero who seemed new on the scene. This surprisingly  acrobatic hero was a ventrexian who had decided to go with the full body suit and mask option, which Gary could appreciate. Not exactly his taste in accessorizing but he could admit it worked on the hero. Especially with how well it highlighted his built physique. Gary made a mental note to hit the gym more.

Across the lair Invictus and a few other henchmen were battling it out with Nightfall and Tribore, who were veteran heroes well on their way to achieving “super” status. What started out as a stalemate was slowly turning to the advantage of the heroes. Oatmeal Cookies! Gary was not looking forward to spending a night in the slammer covered in bruises.

Eventually the villainous forces were defeated. Invictus had escaped to leave his minions to soak up justice’s punishment. Gary’s expectations were subverted, however, when the ventrexian didn’t place him in cuffs at the end of the fight. Instead, he sat down next to Gary and started a conversation.

“You’re not that bad of a fighter.”

“Ha!” Gary laughed, then winced in pain. Who was he to refuse this overture of kindness? “Not as good as you unfortunately. Where did you learn those sick moves?”

The ventrexian shifted nervously. “Um. Well. The thing is. I actually used to be a villain myself.”

“Oh. Really?”

“Yeah. I was working for Lord Commander. But things went south between us. I had to get out. I was lucky that Nightfall was willing to take me under her wing.”

“You went good?” Gary stared at the hero sitting next to him. “Why are you telling me this?”

“You don’t seem like a typical villain. The whole time we were fighting it felt like you weren’t really trying to hurt me.”

“Ouch! Is that your way of telling me my fighting sucks?” Gary joked, trying to mask his discomfort.

The ventrexian huffed. “I just said you weren’t bad.” He gave Gary a considering look. “Look, is this really what you want to be doing with your life?”

Gary really didn’t want to be having this discussion. “I mean, yes? But not exactly like this.” Gary paused. “At least. I’m not about to join up with a bunch of lame-o’s like the League of Heroes.”

The vetrexian sighed. “Suit yourself, but if you ever change your mind, ask for Clawmaster.”

Gary chuckled. “That your name?”

“What about it?” The ventrexian demanded as he stood up.

“Nothing. You’re really going to just leave? Not put me behind bars?” Gary placed his wrists together in front of himself. “For great justice?”

Clawmaster shook his head and turned to the exit. “You’re just a henchman caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Locking you up won’t change the world.”

“Clawmaster, huh,” Gary said under his breath as he watched that sweet booty walk away.

Chapter Text

6 years, 9 months B.F.D. (part 1)

Gary sat at his desk in the heart of his lair. Ok, fine. He was in his run down studio apartment that could generously be called an oversized walk-in closet. And by “sat at his desk” he was laying on his twin bed that took up a quarter of the room. The glow of the laptop screen illuminated his face in the darkness.

A brand spanking new diploma in Villainy sat underneath his “desk”. Not that it did him much good. When word got out that he turned down a full time position with Invictus all of the villain agencies which belonged to The Syndicate closed ranks against him. He was having a seriously hard time finding “legitimate” villain work. Soooo, ramen with stale bread again tonight. God, he could feel his hair drooping at the situation. Same, hair. Same.

It was just as well. Gary had known in the back of his mind that he always wanted to strike out on his own anyway. He was just going to have to forge a criminal empire himself. One with the kind of values he shared. He had even chosen a villain name for himself. Doctor Evildeed. A bit on the nose perhaps, but he liked the way Evildeed was a play on his surname. The “Doctor” was added to instill an air of gravitas and awe. He wanted to be taken seriously, dagnabbit!

Gary scrolled through the Potential Hits topics on his favorite villains message board. Ooh, there was a quantum gemerald on display at the Museum of Rare Space Phenomenon. The Magnificent Clarence knew all the best fences in the system and would probably not honor the blackballing of Gary, greedy con man that he was.

Regrettably, Gary was lacking in the funds department so he couldn’t afford the latest in heist equipment. He was going to have to get creative. Lucky that he managed to “acquire” some equipment from his time as an intern. He searched for holos of the interior and exterior of the museum on the galactic net. Not that there would be much. Security surrounding these types of places could be pretty tight.

Over the course of the next several nights competing schemes began to develop. Now this was what Gary was all about! He weighed the pros and cons of the various plots taking root in his mind.

The first point of consideration was ingress. The museum was under heavy guard, as it held precious artifacts from all over the galaxy. At night it was a veritable fortress, outmatched in impenetrability only by the GigaVault where The Magnificent Clarence kept the stolen valuables he was unwilling to part with. Whispers among villains had it that there was a rotating schedule so that there was a hero patrolling its titanium halls at all times. Infiltration alone would put Gary’s name on the map.

The second point was actually retrieving the gemerald. No doubt it was surrounded by a multitude of security measures. Gary read the two or three reports posted by those undercover villains who had cased the joint without detection. It seemed he could count on thermal imaging, infrared lasers, automatic lockdown procedures, and more. Fortunately, Gary was an expert at coming up with possible scenarios and their countermeasures.

The final point was egress. At this stage of the plan, one had to assume something would have gone upside-down. Exiting the museum the same way he came in would not be a safe assumption. It seemed that all access points required some sort of biometric scan. That would make things a little difficult; he absolutely refused to do something like cut off a poor museum guards finger to get past them. Boundaries, bro!

Gary also doubted that taking a tour of the facilities during open hours himself was an option. He was pretty sure his face would show up on some database for criminals and get flagged. Going in disguise was also probably a no go.

He stared at a holo showing a robot docent guiding a tour. Hmm. Unless. Maybe there was a way to get into the museum incognito.

* * *

After another week of planning and preparations Gary was itching to initiate his inaugural heist as a lone villain. Soon, the local system would know the name Doctor Evildeed . And after that — the galaxy! Cue heist montage music!

The local sun sat high in the sky as Gary approached a lesser guarded annex of the museum. This small, unassuming building was where the robot docents were repaired and stored when they weren’t fulfilling their programmed duties. Gary was wearing a standard engineer’s uniform (disguise) he kept from his days as an intern, a tool belt slung on his hips. Technically he was supposed to have returned the outfit when he finished the internship, along with a whole host of other supplies. But he was a starving nobody. Screw the man! Invictus could afford the loss.

Standing at the entrance was a ventrexian guard. The ventrexian had dark grey fur that had a bluish sheen when the sun hit it at just the right angle. She looked bored, as if she was paying the bare minimum attention required by her job. Gary could definitely relate.

“ID pass?” The guard said lazily as Gary approached. Gary fished out a forged identichip from his jacket pocket. Another holdover from his internship days.

It took a few tense moments for the identichip to be validated. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the telltale ring that his forgery was accepted. The ventrexian waved him through without fanfare.

Walking into the building, Gary immediately felt a drop in temperature. Made sense, since there would be a lot of electronic equipment stored inside. He walked deeper into the building and observed his surroundings. The interior was sterile, no evidence of dust or grime on its gleaming metal walls and tiled floor. As if answering an unspoken question, a small, circular cleaning robot turned around a corner from up ahead and zipped toward Gary, beeping and booping and gracefully avoiding his legs as it traveled around then behind him.

“Okay. If I were a robot storage room where would I be?” Gary asked himself out loud. The pristine metal doors on either side of the hallway all had placards saying such helpful things like Maintenance Room 10A and Maintenance Room 6B . Gary tsked at the lack of creativity. When he eventually got around to building his own evil lair he would make sure it wasn’t such a sad state of affairs.

Winding his way through the corridors, He eventually came to a door that had a numeric keypad. Bingo! This had to be his target. He pulled a hand-sized can from his utility belt and sprayed a fine mist onto the keypad. Brushing the surface revealed fingerprints over the numbers 0, 2 and 4.

Gary wracked his brain for the significance of these numbers. Hmm . During his research into the Museum of Rare Space Phenomenon he learned that it had been relocated from another city only a decade ago. If he recalled correctly, the old address had been 4200 Sagittarius Street. Gary keyed in 4200 . The keypad beeped and a mechanical lock from behind the door clunked heavily. Oh this was too easy!

Opening the door revealed a long rectangular room. In the center of the room stood several steel tables arranged in a line. The tables had various mechanical and electronic parts strewn across them. Lining both sides of the room were thirty or so stalls. A few of them contained identical robots that were powered off and standing upright, their unlit eyes eerily staring forward at nothing. The robots each stood at about six feet tall. They were humanoid shaped and used bipedal locomotion, which was ideal for the plan that Gary had hatched.

He cleared one of the tables, then carried a robot over and, with a fair amount of exertion, managed to lift it onto the chosen table. He carefully placed his toolkit on the table next to the robot. He unfastened the external plates that contained the electronic innards that would need to be removed. Once he had cleared out the chassis he prepared himself for the hardest part in this stage of the plan.

Lifting the robot back to an upright standing position, Gary carefully crawled his way into the exoskeleton, his legs and arms filling up the now empty appendages. He fit, but just barely. It was uncomfortable to be surrounded by sharp, hard, cold metal. Several screws and joints dug into his skin. As he squinted through the still intact eye pieces, he reminded himself that it would be worth all the pain and inconvenience, that is once he stole and sold the quantum gemerald.

Gary moved and flexed his arms and legs. His mobility was going to be limited, and walking was going to take some getting used to, but he was sure that he would be able to pass off as one of the robot docents. If this particular docent had mild motor issues. Whatever. He would make it work.

Fastening the external plates back on took a few tries and more than a little frustration. The robot docents were clearly not designed with fine motor controls in the hands. Once he finished piecing back together the exterior of the robot he was ready to infiltrate the museum proper. Then he merely had to find a decent hiding place and stay there until closing time.

Just as Gary was about to step out of the room he could hear voices from the hallway approaching. He waited for them to pass by, but was instead greeted with the beeping of the keypad on the other side of the door.

“Oh my crap,” Gary whispered as he stood there momentarily paralyzed by panic.

Chapter Text

6 years, 9 months B.F.D. (part 2)

Not good not good not good Gary repeated as a mantra in his head. Judging from the conversational tones he could hear through the thick metal door, there were at least two people on the other side of the door. If they found out he was stowing himself away in one of their robot docents his plan was finished before it even began. His mind raced to find any way out of this predicament, but it was too late. With nothing else to do he stood tall and tried his best to imitate the stance of a powered off robot.

With a slight squeeeee the door opened and two humans walked in. One was tall and hunched over, expression anxious. They were wearing an engineering uniform not too unlike the one Gary had on. The other was shorter and more composed. They wore a gray herringbone blazer with matching slacks and walked with an air of authority, speaking in clipped tones.

“I don’t understand how this keeps happening,” the shorter individual said. “If this keeps up, we will have to annul our contract with Sirius Cybernetics.”

“What exactly was the problem this time, sir?”

“One of the guide bots was experiencing an existential crisis in the middle of giving a tour. It was scaring our guests! Honestly! Why anyone would think to give a robot the capacity to feel existential dread in the first place is far beyond me.”

“I’m sure we could get Sirius Cybernetics to provide a mass software patch to remove that particular defect,” the taller one said before noticing the robot standing in the middle of the room. He stopped short and gave the Gary-bot an analyzing look. “Hello. What are you doing out of your stall?”

“No matter,” the shorter said. He walked around to Gary-bot’s back and flipped a switch. The eye plates lit up. Oh hot mama! Gary was momentarily blinded. “You. How are you feeling today? Haunted by the inevitable march of time?”

“No sir! Everything is just peachy sir!” Gary chirped, improvising his way through this detour in the plan.

The shorter man turned toward the other. “Must they all have so much... personality?” He turned back to face Gary. “Right. Well, you shall be leading a school group through the standard tour. I trust you are programmed to handle children? I have been told they can be a bit much.”

“Yes sir! It would be my pleasure!”

The shorter man eyed him warily. “Good. Well, get to it then.”

“Right this way.” The taller man grabbed Gary-bot by the arm and led him out of the room, appearing relieved to have an excuse to escape the shorter man’s presence. “Please don’t screw this up for me. I’m already in hot water with the director as it is,” he said nervously. “Not that you can help it, I suppose. You’re only able to follow whatever programming you were given. It’s not like you have free will, haha!”

And great. Now Gary was going to have an existential episode. No! Think happy thoughts! Stealing the quantum gemerald! Making big cash! Getting out of that crappy apartment! Eating real food! Starting your own criminal empire! Living the dream!

He was led out into the lobby of the museum where a group of twenty to thirty young children were waiting. Well, not so much waiting as screaming, laughing, crying, crawling all over each other, and in general making a scene. A harried looking older man who Gary assumed was their teacher looked on helplessly as a couple of other adults (their chaperones, maybe?) tried to wrangle them.

Gary was immediately nervous. Don’t get him wrong! He liked children. Their boundless enthusiasm. Their wonder at the world. The things they said. But, like individually. Two dozen children all at once? That was a bit much. He got the vague, uneasy feeling that he was marching towards his doom.

“Good luck,” The man leading Gary-bot whispered ominously. “Don’t worry. I can make any repairs that will be needed.” Gary gulped at that.

As soon as they were within ten feet of the crowd the man hastily left Gary-bot to himself, who was swarmed by several children. They pulled on his arms and clung to his legs. One was pushing the buttons on his chassis that were within reach.

“Oh-ho-ho! Ouchie! Hey there!” he said as he tried to gently let a child that was hanging from one of his arms down. “Personal space, little buddies!”

“What’s spersonuh space?” A bespectacled child asked.

“It means no touching the nice robot who’s going to show you all the cool stuff in this place,” Gary answered.

“Spersonuh space sounds stupid,” the child replied.

“Yes well you’re all hurting the poor little old me,” Gary said.

“I didn’t know robots could be hurted,” the child doubted.

Okay, Gary could see this was going nowhere. Time to try a different tact. He backed up a bit and said loudly enough that all the children could hear over the din they were creating, “Hey kids, watch this!”

He spent the next couple minutes dancing for the children, which was no mean feat. With the limited mobility afforded him it was a miracle he was able to dance as well as he did. Showing off his sick moves seemed to pacify his audience somewhat, especially after he performed a enthusiastically requested encore. Although now he was sweating and feeling stifled in the confines of his robot body.

With that, Gary was able to finally get on with the tour. Luckily, with the amount of research he had done on the museum, he was fairly familiar with most of the exhibits. If he had to maybe bullcrap his way through a couple of explanations nobody in his group seemed the wiser.

Toward the end of his tour, Gary led the group to a room that had several glass cases, each containing some fragment of a rare space mineral. In the center of the room was an elaborately carved wooden pedestal. Floating in a glass clase atop the pedestal was a shimmering green gem the size of a fist: the quantum gemerald. Every few seconds the gemerald flickered from view, only to appear an inch from where it was momentarily  before, but always seeming to stay within a range from some anchoring point.

“And this is the most prized display at the museum today,” Gary announced to the enthralled class. He took the opportunity to scan the room for security measures.

“What’s so great about a fancy rock?” A hooblot child asked skeptically.

“Well, it happens to be one of the rarest naturally occurring precious stones in existence. It is said-” Gary stopped as he saw a familiar figure weaving among the museum goers. Oh no . It was that ventrexian hero from last year. So that was who was on guard duty today. Great. Focus, Gary! Just… ignore the swaying of his hips… and his biceps… and the plane of his back… and... dangit! Stop ogling the enemy Gary!

“I think the robot’s broken,” the hooblot said out loud. That snapped Gary back, thank the stars.

“It is said,'' he recovered, turning his attention back to the hooblot, “that under the right circumstances, one could use this gemerald to travel through time. Of course this is all hearsay. No-one actually knows for sure that it can do that, but it is the only one of two of its kind in the known universe and that fact in itself makes this the most valuable display at the museum by far.”

His explanation was greeted with a chorus of “woahs.” The children seemed to be soaking in the awe surrounding the quantum gemerald. It was with great reluctance that they allowed themselves to be led out of the room. Now that he thought about it, it might not have been part of the plan, but Gary was actually starting to enjoy himself. Just don’t tell anyone that.

He led the tour group back to the lobby of the museum. The children seemed upset that it was over and protested, but he was able to assure them that they could always come back to visit. After more than a few hugs and some tired gratitude from the adults he was able to free himself from his duties as a docent and get on with the plan.

Now that the tour was over Gary was able to roam the museum as he pleased. He did a final count of the entrances and exits of each room between the chamber that held the quantum gemerald and the door to the robot maintenance annex, as well as the distances between them. By his estimate, if he tripped the alarms when retrieving the gemerald, he would be able to make it to his chosen egress point in under a minute. Of course, that was not factoring in any obstacles that would appear in his way. His knowledge of the security measures of this place was frankly limited, but operating under adverse conditions was his specialty. He would make it work.

Finding a supply closet to hide in was easy. Confident that he wouldn’t be interrupted, he extricated himself from the robot, which he folded into a sitting position in a corner. He hid himself between two shelves and waited.

***

The sounds of the lights being shut off room by room alerted Gary to the closing of the museum. He took ten extra minutes before opening the closet door and peering out. The museum was dark and quiet, a peace far unlike the preceding hours. Carefully, Gary made his way to the chamber containing the quantum gemerald, vigilant for any signs of the masked ventrexian.

When he reached his destination he checked for the usual preventative measures. Infrared lasers, pressure plates, sound detectors, etc. Whatever they threw at him he was determined to get through. Utilizing all of the skills and gadgets at his disposal he was eventually able to retrieve the quantum gemerald without tripping any alarms. Triumph!

Now, it was time to make his exit.

“What the hell?” A voice called out from a fair distance behind him, making him jump. Gary turned around to see a young serpentian and tryvuulian duo standing in the doorway.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” the serpentian said. She was a young looking girl with vibrant pink hair and a lightly armored suit. “Our first unsupervised mission and this happens.”

Gary turned around to run when he heard a mechanical whirring. The tryvuulian, a boy, who also had to be several years his junior, raised an arm to reveal a prosthetic minigun. Well, surprise raisin cookies!

“Nuh-uh!” The tryvuulian said. “You’re not leaving here with that gemerald. That belongs to us!”

So they were here for the gemerald too. Great . As much as he would have liked to stay and bond over what was an apparent mutual love for heisting, Gary had places to be. “Um. I do have it. Here. In my hand.” Gary waved the object in question to prove his point. “I think you’ll find that it is very much mine, finders keepers and all. Soooooo, I think I will just-”

The serpentian girl growled low in a way that made the room around her resonate. Her eyes turned black and purple energy surrounded her. Several throwing stars detached from the belt on her waist, also swimming and the purple energy. Okay, these kids are obviously not civilians!

“Hand it over!” the serpentian demanded, and hoo boy she sounded pissed.

“After all the trouble I went through to get it? Does that seem fair to you? Because that doesn’t seem fair to me,” Gary stalled for time as he tried to think his way out of this predicament. But the answers just weren’t that forthcoming. He was outnumbered, and likely outgunned. The irony of possibly being foiled not by heroes but by fellow villains was not lost on him.

“Do you think infiltrating this place and getting this far was a walk in the park for us?” the serpentian asked. The throwings stars bobbed menacingly up and down in the air.

“Yeah, I concede the point. I still would like to be the one to leave with the gemerald, if you’d be so kind. Hey! Maybe we could team up some time. You help me I help you. That sort of a deal,” Gary tried diplomatically.

One of the throwing stars flew towards him and embedded itself a mere foot from where he was standing.

“Hey! Watch it!” Gary snapped, dancing on his feet.

“Don’t think I recognize you,” the serpentian said dismissively. “I’d say you are a two-bit criminal but I doubt you even rate that much.”

“Ouch,” Gary said, his hair drooping slightly at the comment.

“One last time. The gemerald.” And that was an ultimatum if he ever heard one. Well then . It was time to use his last resort.

“Smoke bomb!” Gary yelled as he threw just that on the ground. A burst of baby blue smoke erupted around him as he sprinted to one of the exits. The sound of gunfire echoed throughout the room as klaxons blared painfully loud in his ears. A throwing star zipped a few inches past his left ear. Great! Alert the whole museum that you are here why don’t you!

Gary had barely made it out of the room before he was unceremoniously clotheslined by an outstretched armored arm. Even under duress, he would never admit it, but he fell backward and hit his head on the floor and passed out.

***

When Gary came to he was cuffed and sitting next to the two jerks who had prevented his heist from being a success. Standing before him was someone wearing a full armor suit, brown cape and imposing helmet included. Nightfall . What were they doing here?

As if on cue, Nightfall spoke up. “Good to see you’re still alive.” Was that sarcasm? And yeah, Gary was pretty sure that was a woman’s voice. Huh. “This is what I get for taking over his second shift I guess.”

Gary could only assume she was talking about the ventrexian hero. Part of Gary was disappointed that it wasn’t the ventrexian that had him in custody. The other part was glad the ventrexian wasn’t there to witness Gary’s embarrassingly easy takedown.

Before he was able to gain full composure he was being taken outside and dumped into the back of a police truck. Well this was a great way to end the night. On the way to the local police station he was seated opposite both the serpentian and the tryvuulian. They gave him matching looks of contempt. The feeling’s mutual , he thought bitterly.

The three of them were all pushed roughly into a jail cell and Gary resigned himself to wait for the inevitable interrogation. The other two didn’t seem at all phased. Had they been arrested before? They seemed so young for it, if that was the case. Gary would have tried to strike up a conversation but it seemed like a non-starter, so they all sat there in silence.

It wasn’t even an hour before a squat brown-gray alien walked up to the cell. He was wearing a drab robe and tunic that made him look like a medieval monk. Adorning his face was the ugliest pair of goggles Gary had ever seen. At the sight of the alien the serpentian and tryvuulian perked up.

“Kids!” the alien greeted. “Papa’s here to bail you out!”

Gary gaped at the alien. Those two were his kids? And he sent them out to do his dirty work for him?

“Finally,” the serpentian said in monotone.

“Dad!” the tryvuulian exclaimed.

“I was so absolutely worried about the two of you! Imagine my distress when I heard that you were caught!” Ugly and Apparently Morally Bankrupt simpered.

“It was all this asshole’s fault,” the tryvuulian jerked a thumb at Gary, who responded with his best affonted look. Well, I never!

“Language!” their father admonished. He turned a considering gaze at Gary. “Was it now?,” he said dangerously. He looked at the tryvuulian. “Explain.”

“We followed the plan, just like you said. Then this guy shows up and he already has the gemerald. We tried to get him to hand it over but he refused. Then he smoke bombs the place and alerts the whole city to what’s going on!”

“Hey! That was on you when you opened fire!” Gary said, crossing his arms. He was maybe pouting. Maybe. Just a little bit.

“Interesting,” Ugly said. “You’re saying he got through the museum security and managed to steal the gemerald before you?”

“I guess you could say that,” the tryvuulian grumbled.

“Hmmmmm. You have a name?” Ugly asked Gary.

“You can call me Doctor Evildeed. What’s yours?”

“An interesting name, to be sure. As for me, I am The Magnificent Clarence. No doubt you have heard of me.” Double irony! This was The Magnificent Clarence? Had he just stolen a stolen item from the very same person he was planning on selling said stolen stolen item to? Wait, did that sentence just now make sense?

The Magnificent Clarence stroked his chin. “You must have some skill, to get as far as you did. Some skill indeed. Perhaps if you can make up for the fact that you landed my precious children in jail, I might arrange for your immediate release. I do have some pull around here, after all. What do you say?”

“Wait, you can do that?” Gary asked in disbelief.

“Oh to be sure.”

“And what exactly did you have in mind for my repayment?”

“Oh nothing much,” The Magnificent Clarence answered magnanimously. “Just steal an item for me here and there when you have the chance.” He steepled his gross little fingers. “And there will of course be a monetary reward. I assure you I can make it worthwhile.”

“And you’ll get me out. Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

Had Gary thought past the notion of getting out of jail with so little hassle he would might have pondered on the ramifications of striking up such a deal. As it was, he was just glad to have someone nominally on his side.

Gary walked up to the cell bars and stuck a hand through. “Clasp on it and it’s a done dealio,” he said.

The Magnificent Clarence completed the ritual clasp with a grin. And so a tenuous alliance was formed between Doctor Evildeed and The Magnificent Clarence and children.

Chapter Text

6 years, 7 months B.F.D.

True to his word, The Magnificent Clarence had secured Gary’s release from the jail cell. Promising to give him a ring, Clarence let him return to his apartment to nurse his wounds. What Gary was absolutely not expecting was to find that sometime between being let out of the cell and parting ways with the other villains, the infamous thief had been able to sneak a credstick into his jacket. Likely an attempt to butter him up for whatever favor he was going to ask, but who was Gary to turn down such a sorely needed gift?

Humbled by his experience at the museum, he decided to start smaller this time. He wasn’t about to rob some mom and pop shop. Stealing from people trying to make an honest living really wasn’t his style. The upper rungs of high society were a much more acceptable target. At the same time, he didn’t want to become known as some sort of Robin Hood-like figure. That strayed too close to hero territory. He was a gosh darned villain!

Of course, before getting to the actual villainy, there were more mundane tasks to see to. He needed to work on his persona; present a cohesive front to the public. To be a truly great villain he would need to become a household name. That required working on his brand recognition. Eugh. Who would have thought those business courses would have come in handy? Part of him felt a little gross, but what could you do?

The holonet was a great resource for looking up what other villains had done to sell themselves to the galaxy at large. Hmmm. The Magnificent Clarence’s… whole deal... was a little flashy for his taste (he realized belatedly that he had not recognized Clarence initially because the master thief was wearing his street clothes.) Lord Commander was on the other end of the spectrum: a bit too drab for Gary’s tastes. Invictus was mostly incorporeal, so there was not much inspiration for Gary to take away from him.

Gary eventually settled on a tasteful but recognizable presentation. Using the credits so kindly provided by Clarence, he created an outfit consisting of a white lab coat and boots, gray engineer’s pants, oversize gloves, and safety goggles. He spent a few days perfecting a method of styling his hair that screamed “mad scientist!” At last, the world was ready to meet Doctor Evildeed!

Now, he only needed to plan his evil debut!

But Gary was unsure how to proceed. Knowing himself, he would get carried away and try another daring heist that would only end in misfortune. Perhaps he could get an outside opinion. He opened his laptop and sent a message through an encrypted villains chat app to The Magnificent Clarence.

Gary waited impatiently for a response. When none was immediately incoming he sighed and went for a walk in the park nearest to his apartment. It was late evening, the sun taking its final bow behind the curtain of the city center skyline. The air was warm but not unpleasantly so.

Getting started as a villain was turning out to be more of a pain than he had anticipated. Sometimes it felt like his career was over before it began. He gathered his wits and slapped his cheeks.

“No! No death spiraling Gary!” he said out loud as he walked. “You are smart. You are resourceful! You have someone powerful helping you out. You WILL make it! Before you know it you will have the entire city in the palm of your hand!”

He clenched his fist in front of his face. Then more softly, “Ignore the people staring at you. They can’t appreciate your genius. Boy, that is a lot of people staring. Maybe you should stop talking to yourself in public Gary. Okay Gary. Good point. Shutting up now.”

When Gary returned to his apartment the first thing he did was check his laptop, and sure enough there was a response.

Gary opened up the attachment to see several newspaper clipping style images talking about the upcoming shindig. Apparently the who’s who of the world of gadgets, electronics, and even (sanctioned and officially licensed, an idea which Gary scoffed at) semi-mad scientists would be in attendance. This was the perfect opportunity. Not only could he pay back Clarence, but he could also get inspiration for some new inventions of his own.

There was also a floor plan of the convention hall, complete with the layout of the booths. One of the booths was circled in red. It seemed The magnificent Clarence wanted Gary to secure a particular invention. He was not provided much information other than a blurry picture of a green, vaguely shaped blob; and that the target was semi-organic in nature, and thus needed special handling. Right. Gary could do that.

He set to work in a furious storm of planning out his heist. Should he enter disguised as a fellow inventor? Or as a caterer? Maybe a member of the security staff? Decisions, decisions.

***

Nightfall was patrolling the rooftops of the Lightopia Arts and Entertainment district. Clawmaster was as well, moving unseen somewhere else in the neon illuminated night. The two heroes were on high alert. There were two major social events taking place: an inventor's fair and a meeting of the local chapter of the Adventurer’s Society. They were both potential targets for villainous activity.

“See anything?” she said quietly into her transceiver.

“Nope,” Clawmaster replied after a beat. “A quiet night so far. Looks like the villains are laying low this week.”

“Okay now, let’s not jinx it,” Nightfall said.

A chuckle came from the other end. “I’ll try not to.”

The streets below were buzzing with activity, the lights of the cars below moving through the streets like ants marching to and fro. It was hard not to be transfixed by the city’s beauty at night.

Nightfall came to rest on top of a movie theater complex. She observed the surrounding blocks from her perch. Clawmaster was right. The night was turning out to be unusually devoid of villainous activity. She had a suspicious feeling. She didn’t trust this quiet.

A crackle. “I heard through the grapevine that you were passed for promotion again.”

Nightfall sighed. “Yeah, but it’s not like we weren’t expecting that. You know as well as I do that we’re not exactly welcome among ‘official’ circles.” She tried her best to keep the hurt out of her voice.

“The price of doing ‘right’ as opposed to doing what is ‘good’, it would seem,” Clawmaster concurred. “Still. I’m sorry to hear it.”

“Thanks. If you’re free, would you like to come over tomorrow? I could use a distraction.”

“Not like I have anything better to do-”

“Ouch! Glad to know you value our friendship!”

“Sorry. You know I didn’t mean it like that,” Clawmaster said, sounding a little guilty over his choice of words.

“Hey! Before you start beating yourself up, I know you didn’t. I was just ribbing you.”

“Right. Well. You know I-”

“-don’t have a life outside of work. Yeah, I know that.” Nightfall interrupted, adding a hurried “Sorry sorry just feeling a little punchy tonight I guess.”

“-and I’ll always be there when you need a friend,” Clawmaster continued unphased.

Nightfall wondered how long that would be true. Clawmaster was still young and finding his way in the world. Nightfall couldn’t help but feel that at some point he would outgrow her. Was that being uncharitable? It was hard to tell how much of their relationship was that of mentor and mentee and how much was that of true friends.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the crackle of the radio on her belt. “All units be advised, possible villain incursion at Fifth and Babylon.” That was Adventurer’s Society gathering.

“Well so much for peace and quiet,” Nightfall muttered.

“I’m two minutes away,” Clawmaster said over the transceiver.

“I can be there in four,” Nightfall responded. “You can take the lead on this one.”

Before she could reach her destination, though, another message sounded over the radio. “Attention all units. Reports indicate a second incursion at Quark and Odo.” They were hitting the fair as well? Nightfall was almost certain this wasn't a coincidence.

“You go on ahead,” she told Clawmaster. “I’ll head over to the fair.”

So much for not jinxing it.

***

“Doctor Evildeed” snuck into the inventor’s fair disguised as… well, mostly himself. He did make some modifications to his outfit so that his identity wasn’t immediately burned if things went south. He hadn’t quite made it to the level where being recognized from previous wrongdoings wouldn’t end up being a liability.

Getting past the guards with his forged convention pass was child’s play. It probably helped that he looked the part, but still. Gary scoffed as he entered the hall. Honestly, was it any wonder that villains thrived so much on this planet, and in the galaxy at large, when incompetence was in such high supply?

He had been right. There was much insight to be gained here. Maybe he could take his time on this one. He took in the sights as he idly strolled past the tables demoing various contraptions.

There were pills that claimed to stop aging. Meh. That was a fool’s errand. A hat that supposedly allowed you to talk to animals. Hmm, that could be interesting if it worked. Gary was already formulating several variations on the basic premise that might prove interesting to design and implement.

There was a duo that was hawking a device they called the “Parallel Universe Provider”, or PUP. They claimed it could tap into dimensions filled entirely of one particular item and bring them to this one. That was the most interesting invention yet. He took a note of their names in case he wanted to discuss things later. Or, heh, just steal the device outright.

When Gary finally arrived at the booth that was his target he was taken aback. The target was a living being? It was green and round and had two large beseeching eyes and a mouth, as well as two antennae and what appeared to be feet dangling from the bottom. It was suspended in mid air inside a metal cage.

He took a look at the booth’s signage. This creature was being advertised as a living battery slash powerplant. There were diagrams that showed how it supposedly gathered and stored energy.

“Choooookity,” the creature said melancholically, causing Gary to take a step back.

“Woah. You can talk?” Gary asked in wonder. He looked at the person currently manning the booth. They were deep in conversation with who Gary assumed was a fellow inventor, giving Gary no mind.

“Chookity! Chookity pok!” the creature said with more enthusiasm, seeming to enjoy the attention. It did a flip in mid-air.

“What are you?”

The creature turned toward the diagrams behind it. “Chookity!”

Oh no. This creature was intelligent. Gary might not understand its language, but that much was clear. And it was being kept in a cage. Is this really what The Magnificent Clarence wanted? Gary shuddered as he thought about the possible consequences of handing the creature over.

No. He was going to liberate it. This would not stand! Not while Doctor Evildeed had anything to say or do about it!

“How long have you been kept like this?” Gary asked.

“Chooooookity,” came another downtrodden reply.

“Oh you poor thing.” Gary grinned mischievously. “How would you like to get out of here?”

“Chookity,” the creature said in a tone that Gary could only describe as judgmental. He assumed it was questioning his ability to pull off such a feat.

“Don’t you worry. This kinda thing is exactly my area of expertise. We’ll have you out of here in no time, little buddy.”

“Chookity?” the creature asked hopefully.

Change of plans. Gary was going to heist The Magnificent Clarence’s heist a second time. Wow, oh wow, was this dangerous territory. But he had made up his mind on the matter. Still. Now, on top of his original plan of theft, he needed to formulate a procedure for beguiling Clarence into thinking that he was unable to obtain the target.

He was yanked out of his thoughts by a commotion from the entrance of the hall. There was the sound of explosions and screaming. Within seconds, people were running away from the source of the disruption. In the direction of Gary. Who was staring down a stampede of panicked attendees. Holy crapola.

Thinking fast, he ducked under the booth table. He heard the creature above him give out an anxious, “Pok! Pok!”

Gary watched the feet of fleeing passers-by. Then he heard a gravelly voice.

“There you are,” the voice drawled from overhead. From his vantage point, Gary could not see its source. But there was something familiar about it. He was sure he had heard it before. “After all this time it seems my funding has come to fruition. And to think your creators were simply going to sell you to the highest bidder. Disappointing.”

“It’s not what it looks like Lord Commander!” a voice from behind the booth pleaded.

Oh my double crap! That’s who the voice belonged to. The The Lord Commander, who headed a force of unknown power on his fortress asteroid Terra Con Prime. Who had the powers of telekinesis at his disposal. Who was a grave threat even to the greatest heroes. That The Lord Commander. And he was only a few feet away where Gary was hiding.

“Oh? Isn’t it?” The Lord Commander said, a hint of danger in his voice.

“No! I swear! We were just demonstrating its potential!”

“So that everyone else could steal my idea? I believe my exclusive rights to any intellectual property or patentable results was a part of our agreement, yes? This is unacceptable!”

“Sir! Please! I beg- augh!” There came a wet squelching sound that Gary absolutely refused to give imagination to what it might be.

“Heh. I think you will not be heading this operation, or any operation in the future,” The Lord Commander bit out. There was a pause, then, “Now, my little pet. Let’s bring you home.”

“Pok! Pok! Chookity pok!” the creature screamed.

The sounds of the creature’s terror motivated Gary into action, even against his admittedly very limited better judgment. He stood up abruptly, lifting the table over his head. The creature’s cage fell to the ground in front of him.

“WHAT?!” The Lord Commander bellowed.

Gotta move fast, Gary! Gotta move fast! He picked up the cage and ran down the convention hall, not daring to glance behind himself. He rounded a corner as a beam of telekinetic energy blasted a table at high speed just inches from his back.

“THAT THING BELONGS TO ME!” The Lord Commander’s voice boomed preternaturally loud, echoing throughout the hall.

Gary searched for any possible exits, but there were none in the immediate vicinity. It seemed they were in the interior of the building. He spotted a restroom up ahead and bolted inside, not even sure if The Lord Commander had seen where he’d gone.

“Ok little buddy, hold tight!” Gary did his best to reassure the creature, even as his own hands were shaking.

“Chookity!” the green blob exclaimed.

Gary ignored it, trying desperately to think of any way to extricate himself from this situation.

“Chookity! Chookity!” the creature said again, turning left and right in agitation.

The approaching sound of the ripping metal and wood alerted Gary to The Lord Commander’s presence bearing down on them. Shoot! It sounded like the other villain was tearing the whole building apart in his search for his prize.

“I don’t understand you!” Gary said frantically at the creature, which responded by bashing itself against the cage bars. The blue staticky flicker of a force field appeared where the creature hit the edge of its enclosure.

“Pok! Pok! Pok!” it screamed with each hit.

“Stop! You’re hurting yourself!” Gary implored, to no avail. “What? Do you want to get out of there?”

“Pok! Chookity pok!” the creature said in affirmation.

Gary tried his best to steady his hands as he worked to undo the forcefield. He didn’t have access to the precision tools he would prefer for such a job, so it was far more slow going than he liked, especially with his life on the line. How did he manage to continually make enemies of his fellow villains?

The rending apart of the wall behind him alerted him to the fact that he had been found. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he scrambled to undo the last of the locking mechanism.

“I don’t know who you think you are, but you will die for your insolence,” The Lord Commander said, levitating above the debris. “Now. Hand specimen E-351 over, and I’ll make it quick.”

“Never!” Gary shouted as the creature burst from the top of its cage, flight into the air with a look of unbridled fury.

“You fool! You let it out?!” The Lord Commander bellowed.

The creature responded with a thunderous “Chookityyyyyyyyy!” before spitting out an acid green beam of energy that struck The Lord Commander, knocking him through two sets of walls.

“Oh my crap,” Gary whispered.

“Chookity!” the creature said as it flew through the air and out of the destroyed restroom, indicating that Gary should follow. He was more than happy to oblige, thankful that a creature with such tremendous power was on his side.

As they ran, the creature blew holes through wall after wall until they were finally outside. Freedom! Gary’s excitement was short lived, though, as a familiar caped figure landed on the ground in front of him.

Nightfall!

***

Nightfall was able to make her way to the inventors fair with no problem. It was simple, really. Just follow the screams of fleeing civilians.

What she arrived to, however, was an unexpected sight. Smoke rose from the convention hall. A large hole had been blown through the exterior of the building. Nightfall switched to a more cautious approach. Whoever had done this was powerful, and not to be trifled with.

She leapt from the top of the building she was perched on to land in the middle of the street. Before her stood a blond man in what appeared to be a scientist’s outfit. Next to the man hovered a… well… she wasn’t sure what it was.

“Are you the villain behind this?” Nightfall demanded of the man. Something in her gut told her that something was off about him.

“Please! You’ve got to help us!” the ‘scientist’ said urgently. “The Lord Commander is after this little guy!”

The man placed a hand on the green thing, which nuzzled into the touch and added a “Chookity!”

Here is where Nightfall would pinch the bridge of her nose, if she weren’t wearing a helmet. God. This night was proving to be trying.

“The Lord Commander? He’s here?” She asked. If it were true, she would need backup. She pondered on if she should divert Clawmaster from the other crime scene. Thanks to his unfortunate past as a former henchman, Clawmaster knew The Lord Commander better than any other hero.

Her questions were answered by a bellow emanating from within the building. Well that was just great, she thought as she activated her transceiver.

“Clawmaster!” she said urgently. “What’s your status?”

After a few moments came the reply. “The incident here seems to have been a decoy. By the time I arrived, the villains responsible had left.”

“New priority. The Lord Commander is in the convention center at Quark and Odo. I’m gonna need your help on this one.”

“Copy that.”

Nightfall turned to the man as she walked towards the opening in the building. “Think you can stick around? I’d like to ask some questions when I’m done.”

“Sure thing,” the blond responded. “I’ll, uh, just be down the street by the corner. You know, to keep a safe distance and all.”

“Good idea. Be careful, citizen. I’ll be back later,” Nightfall said. Somehow she knew that he wouldn’t be there when the fight was over, but she had bigger fish to fry. Bigger, uglier, and far more cranky fish who could tear her limbs off with just a thought.

She sighed as she braced herself. Yeah, tonight was just not her night.

Chapter Text

6 years, 7 months B.F.D (continued)

Panting heavily, Gary stood with his back against the interior of the front door, his arms and legs splayed out. “I. Cannot. Believe. We. Just. Did. That.” he said between breaths to his new… sidekick? Minion? Henchthing? No, buddy. His new buddy.

He looked at the green blob floating in front of him. It was giving him a look of concern.

“No! I’m fine!” Gary assured his new friend, throwing an arm out in front of himself. “Just.” He wheezed. “Just a little out of breath.” Another wheeze. “Man, I should really work out more. Or at all.”

“Chookity,” New Friend commented helpfully.

“Thanks for the support, little buddy,” Gary said sarcastically. “By the way, do you have a name?”

“Pok,” New Friend said in what was a very clear ‘no’.

“Well, you gotta have a name! Hmmm.” Gary scratched his chin as he walked further into his apartment.

It couldn’t be something that sounded like a name for a cat or a dog. This creature was more than just a pet. But giving it a human sounding name felt wrong as well. What kind of name would befit a small, green, cute new friend? Hold on a minute. Small, green, and cute? An old memory of a caterpillar surfaced.

“Mooncake!” Gary said excitedly, startling the creature. “What do you think of that name?”

“Chookity!” the newly christened Mooncake confirmed that it liked that name.

“Mooncake it is, then!” Gary grabbed Mooncake in his outstretched hands and spun it around.

“Wheeeeee!”

6 years, 6 months B.F.D

Mooncake turned out to be the ideal roommate. It didn’t need to be fed. It was never in the way. It was also affectionate as all heck, which was a relief for touch starved Gary.

Feeling high off the success of stealing Mooncake from the clutches of The Lord Commander, Gary was ready to up his game. First he had to convince Clarence that it wasn’t his fault that he failed to procure the target. Which shouldn’t be hard, given that The Lord Command had very publicly barged onto the scene and almost ruined everything anyway.

If anything, creating some animosity between the two notorious villains might actually work to his advantage. Play them against each other. No honor among thieves and all that.

Woah! Now Gary was really scheming!

Gary grinned as the seed of an idea for the next job formed. He pulled up a map of the road network of Lightopia.

“Chookity?” Mooncake said in concern at the look on Gary’s face.

“Don’t worry, little buddy! I have it under control!”

Mooncake made a face at that. “Chookity.”

“Hey! A villain has to eat. And it’s not like stealing from a fellow villain is going to hurt anyone.”

“Ooooh?”

“Yeah! I happen to know that Clarence is going to be shipping a load of valuables through the city to his vault. I’m thinking I could maybe-,” Gary made air quotes, “‘divert’ some of that cargo.”

Mooncake zipped in a half-circle and landed on Gary’s head. It leaned down to peer into his eyes. “Chookity pok?”

“Don’t worry! I’ve got a plan to disguise myself as one of The Lord Commander’s henchmen for this job. That way, Clarence will think The Lord Commander is responsible!”

“Chookity,” Mooncake said doubtfully.

“It is a dangerous gambit,” Gary conceded. “But just think about it. Pitting villain against villain. Leaving a power vacuum for Doctor Evildeed to take his rightful place! Mwahahaha!”

“Pooook,” Mooncake replied judgmentally.

“You’re right,” Gary said. He tapped his chin, looking pensive. “Mental note to self: workshop evil laugh.”

“Chookity!” Mooncake said as it flew into the holographic projection, staying there. It looked meaningfully at Gary.

“What’s that? You want to help?”

“Chookity!”

Gary sat down with his head resting on his chin. “Hmmm. I suppose I could come up with a disguise for you. Are you sure you want to get involved in this? After all. The Lord Commander is looking for you. It’s going to be a lot less safe for you than it is for me.”

“Pok! Chookity pok pok!” Mooncake exclaimed.

“Very well then. Let’s get to work!”

***

Gary went through his mental list one last time before heading off with Mooncake into the night.

Disguises? Check.

Gizmos and gadgets? Check.

Contingency plans? Double check.

A proper villain’s laugh? Hmmm. Still in progress...

The two headed downtown to the main thoroughfare that bisected the city of Lightopia. As always, the city was alive with the hum and buzz of traffic and pedestrians and ad-vids playing from the gigantic technicolor displays attached to the sides of the tall, imposing buildings.

Gary marvelled at the normalcy of it all. How in a world so plagued by villainy everyone could carry on with their daily routines; when just beneath the society’s placid surface, there was a roiling ocean of criminality. It fascinated him. He wanted to pick at it – like a loose thread – just to see it unravel.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Gary walked across an intersection to the grassy promenade that ran between the two sides of the thoroughfare. He sat down on a wooden bench and pulled out a pair of binoculars, scanning the street in front of him.

Mooncake hovered nervously beside him. No doubt this was the creature’s first time doing a crime. Well, everybody has to start somewhere!

“Gotcha!” Gary crowed, spotting a truck approaching with the words Crimson Light Exchange, Ltd painted on the side.

“Chookity?”

Gary shrugged off the coat he was using to hide his stolen uniform. He reached into the bag tied to his waist belt and pulled out a grappling hook gun. “Get ready, Mooncake. This is where the action begins.”

“Chookity,” Mooncake said apprehensively, but moved to follow Gary as he walked to the edge of the road.

“Ready,” Gary said in his Serious Business voice. “Aim.” He peered down the sight of the gun. “Fire!” he shouted.

The grappling hook whizzed through the air, latching onto the back of the truck. Gary tapped his heels on the ground, and tiny wheels sprang from the bottom of his shoes. A couple seconds later the rope attached to the grappling hook drew taut, pulling Gary down the road a good thirty feet behind the truck. Mooncake flew behind him, struggling to keep up.

“Whee-hee-hee-heeee!” Gary hollered amid the air rushing past him, his hair fluttering in the wind. Now this is what being a villain is about! Mooncake did not seem to share his enthusiasm, but that was something they could work on.

Gary pressed the retract button on the gun, and was slowly pulled toward the truck. As he passed by a car in the lane to his right, his eyes met with the driver, who stared incredulously at him. Gary waved a hand. The driver blinked, then seemed to remember to pay attention to the road, swerving a little as they returned to the center of their lane.

As he turned back to look at the truck, Gary realized he saw a face looking back at him in the driver’s side-view mirror. Oh snickerdoodles.

He braced himself as the truck began accelerating and veering to the side, trying to throw him off. “Woah there!” he said, then snorted at himself for treating the truck as if it was an out of control horse.

The truck weaved in and out of traffic, pulling Gary from side to side. This must be quite a sight, he thought as he hopped on one leg, struggling to maintain his balance. Hope these bystanders are appreciating the free entertainment.

There was a honk to his left, and he realized he was about to be pulled directly into the side of a car. No good! He jumped at the last second, landing on the hood. The car’s driver laid down on the horn for what Gary felt like was an unnecessarily long time.

“Sorry!” he called out as he slid on his wheels across the car and onto the sidewalk. Pedestrians leapt from his path of carnage. Wow, it really is like in all those cartoons. People yelled in surprise. Dogs barked. He barely dodged a baby stroller. Classic, he grinned.

The grappling rope retracted further and he was pulled back onto the road. He was eventually able to reach the back of the truck, levering himself up and crawling ungracefully up to the top. Was he in over his head? Possibly. But there was no turning back now.

Holding on for dear life while the truck tried to shake him off, Gary slowly but surely worked his way to the front. “Oop!” he said as he dumped a can of goop on the windshield.

The driver was forced to pull over. As soon as the truck stopped the driver-side door opened with a bang and the driver exited with a shotgun trained at the spot where Gary had been just a moment before.

Now, what kind of villain would I be if I wasn’t able to think a couple moves ahead? Gary rushed the driver from where he was hidden in front of the truck. What followed was a bit of a scuffle, but Gary was able to quickly subdue his opponent.

He poured a special solvent onto the goop that was adhered to the truck’s windshield. A hopped up into the driver’s seat. Mooncake followed him in and sat down in the passenger’s seat.

“Wow! That actually worked!” Gary crowed as he drove off.

“Chookity,” Mooncake said.

“Jinxing it? Nah.” Gary looked in the side-view mirrors. “I don’t see any cops or heroes, so all that’s left is to drive our loot to the storage unit. What could possibly go wrong?”

“Chookity,” Mooncake warned.

“Pffft. Sure, whatever.”

***

Deciding to tally up their haul later, Gary was walking back to the truck, Mooncake by his side, thinking about how to dispose of the evidence (abandon it in a parking lot? Drive it into the river?) when he bumped into a rather large form that was standing in his path.

“What are you doing all the way over here recruit?” a strict voice asked him.

Gary looked up into an imposing beaked face. Well, as imposing as such a ridiculous face could be. He fought back a giggle as he pondered how a being with the head of a bird could ever be taken entirely seriously. They even had a little colorful crest at the top of their head. It was almost adorable.

“Well?” the bird-alien asked.

“Sorry? Didn’t catch that,” Gary admitted truthfully.

“The orientation session is down that way,” the bird-alien pointed to the side, indicating a large warehouse.

“The what?”

The bird-alien narrowed their eyes at Gary. “Orientation,” they said, flicking a feathered finger against Gary’s chest. “For the new recruits.”

Gary looked down. Oh right, the uniform! Wait–

“What?”

“You are here for induction into The Lord Commander’s army, are you not?” Birdy narrowed their eyes at Gary.

Just my luck! A hundred feet from the finish line and I get mistaken for an actual goon! Mooncake is never going to let me hear the end of it! Keep it together Gary! he berated himself for almost giving himself away. “Right! The orientation. That I’m heading to.” He smiled and pointed to where the bird-alien had indicated. “Right now.”

“Is he with you?” Birdy asked as he pointed at Mooncake.

“Sure is!” Gary said quickly.

“Why is he not in uniform?”

Ah, right. The trench coat. Didn’t have two Lord Commander uniforms so we had to make do.

“Oh he is! Don’t worry! He’s wearing it underneath the coat. He just runs a little cold,” Gary lied through his teeth. Eh, it’s probably good practice.

“Mmm,” Birdy hummed skeptically. “Hurry up, or you’ll be late. Trust me, you don’t want to be late.”

“Sure thing!” Gary said as he ran towards the warehouse, wondering what he’d gotten himself into.

***

Rox Ch’thorrek had been a captain in The Lord Commander’s organization for over five years. It was a demanding job. Tolerance for failure was nonexistent; as was evidenced by the fact that she had outlived many of her subordinates and peers, and even a few of her superiors.

She was proud of her job. Forged through the fires of adversity she had risen the ranks. If things kept going her way, she was due a spot on the inner council, and a direct line to the ear of their leader. Her lips upturned into a smile at the thought, which dissipated as she walked from her office out onto the catwalk which hung over the concrete floor below.

Standing at attention were the warehouse guards and eight potential recruits. They were all young. The Lord Commander wanted them that way. It made them easier to manipulate. Make them think the organization was a family. Ensure their unwavering loyalty, which was a must that The Lord Commander had made abundantly clear time and time again. Rox suppressed a shiver at the memories of what had happened to those who faltered.

This was a crucial moment. The performance of one’s subordinates reflected directly on oneself. If they disappointed, it was your head on the chopping block. Selecting the right candidates to join the organization was critical.

“Alright! Listen up you criminal scum!” Rox’s rough voice boomed throughout the open space, commanding full attention to herself. “You’re here because you wish to join The Lord Commander’s forces. And because you have been deemed fit to make it this far.”

Rox jumped down from the catwalk. She extended her insectoid wings to increase the awe of her presence. First impressions were everything. Speaking of, she eyed the line of potentials. They were not very promising. Especially the two on the right.

She walked to them. One was dressed in what could only be described as an ill-fitting cross between a cloak and a trench coat. They wore a large brown hat that obscured the top half of their face. The other was a plain looking blond human male who looked as if he had never been in a serious fight before.

“What’s your name, recruit?” Rox barked out at the one in the coat. She caught a tense look from the blond man standing adjacent and made a note to question him next.

“Pok!” the individual replied.

“And what makes you think you deserve a spot among the worthy, Pok?”

The individual did not answer right away, drawing Rox’s ire. Before she could say anything the blond man blurted, “He has the ability to fly. Handy for infiltration!”

Rox turned her gaze toward him. “You two know each other?”

“Yes! My name is – uh – Barry. I specialize in mechanics and robotics! And I’m also a decent pilot!”

Rox stared at him. Such a cheerful attitude was unbecoming of a potential henchman of The Lord Commander. “The first answer would have sufficed,” she said coldly.

The human flinched. “Sorry! Sorry!”

Rox turned back to the figure in the trench coat. “You can fly? Demonstrate.”

The figure bagan to rise from the floor. The end of the trench coat dangled in the air, revealing nothing underneath.

“Useful,” Rox said. “You may yet prove worthy.” She paused. “Remove your hat.”

“Let me get that for you,” the blond said quickly, taking the hat into his own hands.

The alien that was revealed had a medium gray-blue skin tone and a large smooth round head. They had a pair of large eyes and no discernable ears or nose. The goatee was… disturbing... to look at. If anything, they gave the impression of a much taller and (older? And yet younger?) Lord Commander. She was not familiar with the species, but a foot soldier that could fly might prove to be a worthwhile addition. If they survived the orientation.

“Very good.” Rox said, then moved down the line.

***

Gary was sweating bullets. On the outside he had a wide grin. On the inside he was screaming. How the crap is this my life?! Was it too much to ask for to have just one plan – just ONE! – go off without a hitch – or without getting completely FREAKING derailed?

He sat next to Mooncake in the back of an open top cruiser as it sped down the desert highway, the unreasonably dry-hot evening air whipping past them. The driver was a dark-haired woman who introduced herself over-enthusiastically as “Thunderfist! Need something smashed, I’m your dude!” In the front passenger seat sat a lanky man with unkempt brown hair that was seriously in need of a wash and a face that looked like it had never known happiness. He had called himself “Hush.”

As part of their orientation, “Barry” and “Pok” had been paired with two seasoned henches from the organization. The job was simple. Steal a sample from some chemicals factory out in the middle of nowhere.

Success meant officially joining the ranks of The Lord Commanders organization, which they had been assured was one of the top villain groups that was on track to surpass even Invictus in prestige. Gary did not stop to contemplate what failure meant. As it was, he was preoccupied keeping Mooncake’s true identity hidden while in the metaphorical belly of the beast. At least his mission companions didn’t appear to be too bright.

Thunderfist hooted as she drove at what had to be well over the speed limit. Gary kept looking over his shoulder expecting sirens and flashing lights. Hush held his head in his hand as he stared moodily out into the open expanse. Mooncake seemed to be thoroughly enjoying itself.

When they finally parked in the lot next to the factory Gary sighed in relief. Hush pulled some badges and clipboards out of a bag and handed them to the group. Gary helped Mooncake clip its own on while he listened to Hush explain the plan.

“As far as the people at the plant are concerned, we are inspectors sent in to determine whether the factory is following safety and environmental guidelines. Once we’re inside we will be led on a ‘tour’ of the factory.”

Hush pulled a sheet of paper with a floorplan printed on one side. “Barry, once we get to cryogenic storage unit zero-two you will split off from the group and disable the local security measures.”

“Can do,” Gary said coolly, giving Hush finger guns.

“Without triggering the alarms,” Hush added with emphasis.

Gary frowned. Who does this jerk think he is? I am more than capable of doing this job!... that is... not that job that I started out doing…

What even is my life?

“Pok,” Hush continued, directing his attention at Mooncake. “You will infiltrate the storage unit, retrieve the cask labeled ‘Project Titan’ and use your flight capabilities to carry it out the side of the building, as it can’t be taken out the front without triggering the alarms. I will distract the tour guide so that they do not notice our missing comrades. Thunderfist, your job is to get us out in case anything goes wrong.”

“Yeah! There’s no problem that can’t be solved by punching!” Thunderfist made a show of punching the air around her.

“I’m sure,” Hush said with clear disdain that went clear over Thunderfist’s head. “Let’s head inside.”

***

The infiltration and retrieval portions of the mission had gone far more smoothly than Gary had expected. Why can’t my plans work out this well!

Gary was walking back to meet up with Thunderfist, Hush, and the tour guide when he heard voices approaching from up ahead. One of them was dressed in a lab technician’s coat. The other was–

“Oh gingersnap,” Gary whispered to himself.

Walking with the technician was none other than Nightfall. What was she doing here?!

Gary quickly looked left and right for a place to hide. A vent, an alcove, anything? Then he remembered he was in disguise. As the two approached he pretended to be very busy with his clipboard.

Nightfall stopped the technician as she spared a glance at Gary. No no no no!

“Do I know you?” Nightfall asked as Gary watched her stare directly into his soul. Okay, maybe that last part was a bit of an exaggeration. Just a bit.

“Who, me?” Gary said, hoping against hope that he exuded nonchalance. “Don’t think so.”

“I could swear I recognize you from somewhere.”

“Nope! Don’t think we’ve ever met! I just have one of those faces, you know,” Gary insisted as he pointed at himself.

“No. I’m sure of it? Was it at some conference?”

Gary turned to face to the side. Dang, she wouldn’t stop staring at him! “Pretty sure I’d remember meeting someone like you.” That last part came out a little more truthfully than he’d like to admit.

Nightfall raised a judgmental eyebrow at that. Then her other eyebrow joined in as dawning comprehension led her to the unfortunate conclusion, “You’re that guy from the inventor’s fair!” She paused with a frown. “Hey! You’re a person of interest in the disappearance of one of the inventions!”

“Oh my crap,” Gary squeaked.

Nightfall put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re not getting away a second time.”

Gary winced. “Ooh! Wow, that’s a tight grip you got there!”

Nightfall’s expression softened, as did her grip. “Look, you’re not in trouble. I just want to ask you a few questions.”

Just as Nightfall began leading him away Gary heard Hush call out from behind, “Are you freaking kidding me?”

“It’s not my fault! I swear!” Gary yelped over his shoulder.

“Thuderfist!” Hush shouted.

A large section of the wall flew into the hall with a large bang. Thunderfist stepped through the hole left behind with a gleeful expression. Gary gulped. He did not want to get caught in the crossfire.

Nightfall leapt into action, throwing a ball that exploded into a net that ensnared Hush. At the same moment, Thunderfist slammed her palm into the ground, causing a section to peel up. With her other fist she punched the curled up section at Nightfall, who Gary could swear moved to dodge it before it had even begun flying at her.

“A little help, Barry,” Hush yelled. He pulled at the netting to no avail.

Gary ran over, pulling a knife out of his belt. He furiously cut the net while Thunderfist had Nightfall preoccupied.

“Watch it!” Hush snapped when the knife slipped and almost cut his arm.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Gary said. He sign-songed, “I’m under a lot of pressure right now!”

There was a loud resonant clang as a pipe smashed into the wall three feet behind Gary. He jumped and hunched over to make himself smaller. Just a few more seconds and Hush was free.

“Quick!” Hush shouted, sprinting away from the fight between Nightfall and Thunderfist. “This way!”

Gary was quick to follow, more than ready to put some distance between himself and the flying chunks of metal and laminate. A door further down the hall opened as a janitor popped their head out to see the cause of the commotion.

“Nothing to see here folks!” Gary shouted as he ran past them.

Up ahead, Hush made a sharp right turn into a narrow hallway. Gary struggled to follow, his feet slipping on the floor with a painful squeak. They ran into a set of double doors that was locked behind a biometric scanner.

“Screw this,” Hush growled. He kicked the plating off the scanner and grabbed Gary by the arm. “Fix this!”

Gary’s hands shook as he observed the multicolored wires in front of him. An older model, with outdated security measures. He could do this.

“Hurry,” Hush said. He was sweating profusely, his foot restlessly tapping the floor. “She can only hold Nightfall back for so long.”

“Not helping,” Gary said, his voice strained. He pulled the wires apart to make sure he didn’t miss any in the back. Confident that he knew how to work the configuration, he closed his eyes and took a calming breath, the visual playing out in his mind. He carefully cut three of the wires and reordered the connection. With a chirp the doors opened.

“You’re welcome,” Gary muttered as Hush barreled his way through the doors.

“Shoot!” he heard Hush shout before he saw that they were at a dead end.

They were standing on the second floor or a two story room. Their way forward was on the other side, but the catwalk that would lead them there was retracted. Large vats of lime green liquid lined the floor below them, bathing the room in a sickly glow.

Hush pressed a button on a console next to him. As the catwalk slowly extended toward them he kicked at the console’s stand. “Come on!”

The wait for the catwalk was excruciating. Seriously! Who designed this place? A villain?

Just as the catwalk made it within jumping range Nightfall rolled through the doors behind them, Thunderfist following closely behind. Hush and Gary jumped onto the catwalk and began making a break for the exit. Gary couldn’t help but spare a glance backward.

He watched Nightfist dislodge one of the doors from the wall and hurled it at Nightfall with a “Hraaaagh!”

There was a subtle vibration in the air surrounding Nightfall as she expertly ducked under the doorway without even looking in the direction of the attack.

Does she have eyes in the back of her head? Gary briefly mused in the second it took him to realize the door was still sailing along its arc directly at him. He ducked at the last second, feeling his hair whoosh as the door passed just inches above him.

Hush was not so lucky. Unaware of the impending projectile, the door smacked into his back with a brutal crunch. He was lifted up and over the railing of the catwalk. There was only a second for him to scream before he fell into one of the vats.

Gary watched with horror as Hush disappeared beneath the surface of the green goo. When Hush didn’t immediately resurface Gary made a snap judgement to bail. He felt guilty but also didn’t want to wait around for the same thing to happen to himself.

Nightfall and Thunderfist continued their dual behind him as he made it through the exit. He followed the emergency exit signs as he made his way out of the building, somehow lucky enough not to run into any security, or, heaven forbid, another hero.

The cruiser was still waiting in the parking lot. There was a brief moment of terror when Gary couldn’t see Mooncake, but as he approached he discovered that his friend was simply hiding on the floor of the back row, wedged between the seats.

Gary belatedly realized he didn’t have the key to the cruiser. Well, if he could hotwire a biometric scanner he could hotwire a car! Fifteen seconds later he was peeling out of the parking lot and back towards Lightopia.

Later, after he returned to his apartment, after ditching the cruiser, after leaving this whole crapshow of a night behind him, Gary became aware that he and Mooncake had just absconded with an unknown experimental chemical compound.

Ooh, looked like there was some sciencing to be done!

Chapter Text

6 years, 4 months B.F.D

“Uh-oh! Looks like this is A Major development!” the villain known as Dischord shouted from the stage as Clawmaster entered the performance hall. “So glad you could join us!”

Clawmaster groaned. This is just what I needed. He scrubbed at his face with a paw. He hated the campy villains. They always thought they were so clever with their quips and their puns. They also tended to be just capable enough to be a nuisance, but not strong enough to merit the big names from the League of Heroes, leaving them to outsiders such as himself.

“Give it up Dischord,” Clawmaster called out. He didn’t know why he bothered. He already knew the answer he was going to get.

“And give up the chance to make such beautiful music with you?” Dischord grinned down at the ventrexian intruder. “Allow me to introduce my ensemble.”

A dozen or so people in black and white dress clothes filed onto the stage. They were each carrying a musical instrument.

“Do you like them?” Dischord asked as he pointed to the instruments, which had all been modified to become deadly weapons. “They are my original designs. You may have defeated me once before, but there will be no recapitulation.” He pulled out a baton and raised his hands. “And now, the opening bars!”

“B Sharp now, my minions,” Dischord commanded as he waved his arms. His henches ran at Clawmaster.

One played a short melody on a flute and a dart shot out. Clawmaster dodged it easily, spinning to the side as he threw a smoke bomb in the middle of the crowd. There was a low note from a tuba and with a strong gust of wind the smoke was cleared within seconds.

“You’ll have to do better than that!” Dischord shouted. “I think we can elevate the bass line of your expectations.”

Clawmaster inwardly cringed as he charged the saxophonist lobbing grenades at him. He regretted his choice in learning the piano. A less informed person might be able to endure Dischord’s lines unscathed. Honestly, sometimes being a hero was more treble than it was worth.

“No!” Clawmaster whispered in horror. Dischord was getting into his head.

“What’s that?” the villain asked.

“Nothing,” Clawmaster responded through gritted teeth. A hench carrying a crank ratchet that was modified into a machine gun opened fire. Clawmaster ducked behind a row of seats, crawling along the floor. He listened to the whine of bullets as small chips of the chairs flew around him.

“Say. If I kill you twice, does that mean they’d have to send you back in a re-hearse-al.”

Clawmaster could feel himself taking mental damage from that truly awful attempt. He really needed to end this as soon as possible. “Your puns are bad and you should feel bad!”

“Now, now. That’s no way to entr'acte,” Dischord said with an amused smile. “I find a firm hand is necessary fermatas as serious as these!”

A trombonist shot a rocket out at Clawmaster. It hit one of the chairs, sending shards of wood and metal in all directions. Clawmaster hissed as he felt something embed in his shoulder. He jumped from his hiding spot onto the trombonist, who was easily subdued. Where did he find these chumps?

Dischord kept at his taunts as Clawmaster took out his henches one by one. After taking care of the last one he flung a throwing star at the light installation hanging above Dischord’s head.

The villain managed to neatly dodge the falling lights, but was momentarily blinded as the lights flashed and faded. “So this is what happens when an unstoppable sforzando immovable object collide!” He blinked into the auditorium.

“You give yourself too much credit,” Clawmaster said as he rose from the shadows behind Dischord.

“A surprise attacca,” was all that Dischord was able to gasp out before Clawmaster delivered a swift blow to the neck. Dischord crumbled to the floor, his limbs splayed out.

“Alas. It appears that this is my final movement,” Dischord said as he fell unconscious, his head turning to one side.

“Oh, shut up,” Clawmaster bit out. He gave the passed out villain a kick in the side for good measure.

***

Clawmaster returned to his apartment after having his wounds attended to at the local emergency center, glad that his night was over. His place was modest, but it was his sanctuary. Here, Clawmaster could just be Avocato: another ordinary citizen whose “job” didn’t involve regularly getting himself into dangerous situations. Here, Nightfall was Quinn: his close friend and confidant, not his mentor who once had to keep him on an uncomfortably tight leash.

They didn’t actually share the apartment, but Quinn was over often enough that Avocato had given her a spare key. As he approached he saw that the light was on, which could only mean that she was inside.

Speaking of: “You knew it was Dischord behind the incident at the performing arts center,” Avocato said as he walked through his front door and pointed an accusing claw at Quinn, who shrugged without a hint of remorse from where she was sitting on the couch.

“You know how he is.”

“Yes. I do. I got to spend fifteen minutes fighting him and listening as he practiced his new material on me.”

Quinn grimaced. “Were they as bad as they usually are?”

“Worse,” Avocato said darkly. He stalked to the kitchen.

“I made your favorite cold brew,” Quinn called out from the living room as he surveyed the contents of his refrigerator with a petulant frown. She probably thought that made them even. “I can tell you’re pouting!”

Avocato hissed under his breath. Sometimes there was a downside to being as close to someone as he was to Quinn. As much as he loved her, she could be a real pain in his rear. He imagined that this must be what having a sibling was like.

He mumbled his displeasure as he poured himself a cup of the peace offering. Returning to the living room, he sat heavily on the couch beside his friend.

“Looks like he got a couple hits in,” Quinn observed as she poked at one of Avocato’s bandages.

“Ow!” Avocato batted her hand away. “He’d acquired a few henches since the last time we fought.”

“Really,” Quinn said with a raised eyebrow. “Who could possibly want to work for him?”

“Takes all kinds I guess,” Avocato sighed. His tail curled over his lap.

Quinn picked up on his discomfort. This conversation was veering into dangerous territory. Avocato was averse to talking about his past as a hench. And not just any hench. One of the Lord Commander’s favorites.

It wasn’t that Avocato wasn’t open to Quinn about the fact that he was a hench to one of the most notorious villains. It was what Avocato had done as a hench. It may have been under orders, but he had killed innocents. That wasn’t something one could easily atone for.

Don’t get Quinn wrong. She thought Avocato should feel guilty. But poking at that particular wound wasn’t productive. At least, it certainly wasn’t going to change anything for the better. That was up to Clawmaster.

“Oh!” Quinn said, glad that she had something legitimate to distract him with. “When I arrived, there was an envelope left at your door.” She picked the thin package up from the coffee table and handed it over.

“That’s strange,” Avocato said, slicing the envelope open with a claw. “I wasn’t expecting anything in the mail.”

Quinn watched as he pulled something out. It was the right size and stock for a postcard. She was curious who would send a postcard to Avocato, but respected his privacy enough not to take a peek. She immediately regretted the decision when Avacato went slack-jawed, his pupils dilating. His tail jerked out of his lap and slapped onto the couch, the fur standing on end.

“What is it?” Quinn asked, almost afraid of the answer. For Avocato to get this spooked, it had to be very bad.

Avocato stood up abruptly. “I have to go,” he said curtly. He walked to his bedroom.

“Avocato–”

“I need to go. And I need you to not follow me. I’ll know if you do,” he said from the other room.

Quinn knew he wasn’t bluffing. If there was anyone it was impossible to tail without their knowledge, it was Avocato. She had never found out if his heightened senses were natural, or if they were an actual power. Either way, she knew better than to break his trust. Still, she was frightened for his friend.

“If you need backup–”

“I’ll let you know.” Clawmaster walked back out of his bedroom in a fresh suit. “If you’re not here when I get back, I’ll call you.”

“You better,” Quinn said as she watched Clawmaster walk outside and slam the door behind himself. “$%&#.”

***

Under the cover of night Clawmaster climbed up the side of the concrete structure. On the roof was a mishmash of trees, sidewalk, and restaurants and shops known as Goodspeed Plaza. It was part of a long-running urban greening process. The name came from the previous generation’s most venerated superhero.

John Goodspeed was a household name. Under the alias Captain Chronos, he had used his abilities to manipulate the flow of time to save Lightopia and beyond from countless existential crises. Unfortunately, during a fight with the supervillain The Arachnitect a malfunction of his abilities caused his disappearance, along with the disappearance of his son and his wife. It took years for the world of heroes to recover from his loss.

That was all well before Avocato became a hench. He had to have been around eight years old at the time of Goodspeed’s loss, so he hadn’t really registered it at the time. It wasn’t until he began training as a hero under Nightfall that he read up on Captain Chronos’ legacy. The latter had become an idol of sorts for himself.

Clawmaster stared out at the cityscape as he reminisced. Traffic was light in the plaza; probably why it was chosen as the meeting place. He pulled out the postcard. Printed on the front was a picture of a place he never wanted to remember. Clawmaster shivered as he stared at the image of a lush planet, knowing full well that it was now a pock-marked wasteland. He turned the postcard over. On the back were written the words–

“Hello, Whisper,” a voice said from the shadows underneath a nearby tree. Clawmaster turned toward the voice, trying to make out any details that might identify its owner. But all he could see, even with his advanced senses, was a stocky silhouette and the light reflecting off of three eyes behind a helmet.

“How do you know that name?” Clawmaster hissed. His hackles were raised in alarm. The only person who should be able to connect him to his old villain’s identity was Nightfall.

Three eyes blinked lazily in succession at him. “Wouldn’t Lord Commander be soooo disappointed to find out that his right hand man hadn’t actually died in that accident, but had actually turned to the other side,” the voice drawled.

“Who are you?” Clawmaster demanded.

The voice chuckled. “Impatient as ever. Good to see some things haven’t changed.” The owner of the voice walked out from the shadows to reveal a full set of reflective silver-black armor, a red cape, and olive green skin where it wasn’t covered by the armor.

“Phase,” Clawmaster breathed, momentarily winded. Of all the people!

“Whisper, my old friend.” Phase walked easily up to Clawmaster. He removed his helmet, his spiky hair springing up now that it was no longer restrained. “It is good to see you again.”

“The name is Clawmaster now,” Clawmaster said, not returning the greeting.

“So it is.” Phase smirked. “Didn’t take you as one for punny names.”

Clawmaster narrowed his eyes. “What do you want from me?”

“Oh how you wound me! Can’t a person simply want to catch up with a friend, especially one he had thought dead?”

“Cut the crap!” Clawmaster spat, which only made Phase smirk even more. “We both know you don’t do friends.”

“That is true.” Phase’s smirk morphed into a frown. “But you were a respected comrade. Someone I actually looked up to.”

“Then you needed better role models.” Clawmaster grimaced. Am I really feeling remorse on behalf of this scumbag?

“Well now I am the role model. For quite a few new recruits, actually. The Lord Commander’s family is thriving now more than ever. Perhaps you leaving was actually a good thing.”

“It certainly was for me,” Clawmaster said. He scanned his surroundings as they talked. From what he could tell, Phase had not brought back-up.

So. It was personal. Clawmaster was unsure that didn’t make things worse.

“It was for me as well.” The smirk returned. “There was a quite the power struggle to fill the vacuum you left. In the end, I took your place.”

“Did you now? Congrats.”

“Thank you. You know, it certainly is a lofty position, which I’m sure you remember all too well. I’ll never understand why you gave it up.” Phase gave Clawmaster a once-over. “The new outfit isn’t half bad. It suits you.”

Phase’s tone turned mocking. “But from what I hear, you’re a two-bit vigilante now. What? Did the precious League of Heroes reject the poor little kitty?”

“I turned them down actually,” Clawmaster said. It came out more defensively than he wanted.

Phase’s eyes gleamed in the lamp light. “Did you now? Well, I guess you were never destined to be the golden boy.”

“This has been a wonderful chat, but if there is nothing else you–”

“Actually, there is something you could do for me,” Phase said.

“Why would I help you?” Clawmaster growled.

“Because. You don’t want your past to become public gossip, now do you?”

Clawmaster felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over him. “What do you want?”

“Oh, nothing much.” Phase pulled a piece of paper from inside his armor. “You are the best tracker I’ve ever known. I watched as you followed targets through time. Even across dimensions.”

“What’s the target?” Clawmaster asked even as he ripped the paper from Phase’s grasp. On it was a grainy photo of a blond human in a dark blue suit, wearing goggles and holding a clipboard. Their pose suggested they were running.

“This individual has something the Lord Commander wants. All you need to do is locate them and report back to me. You don’t even need to kill them, so your conscience–” Phase snorted “–can rest easy. I trust you remember the old secure channels we used to use.”

Clawmaster nodded. There was something about the person in the photo that intrigued him, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what it was.

Phase turned and walked back into the shadows, donning his helmet. “I’ll send you the rest of the info we have.”

Clawmaster watched as Phase sank into the inky black ground.

“It’s nice to work with you again,” Phase said before his head disappeared below the surface.

Clawmaster scoffed, then looked back down at the photo. “Who are you?”

***

“Brrr!” Gary felt a shiver travel down his spine. He chalked it up to the chill in his new inventor’s space. The haul he had stolen from Clarence had proved to be quite lucrative, enough that he was able to move into a much nicer apartment and rent out an old abandoned office space wherein he could concoct his devious machinations.

“Chookity?” Mooncake asked with a slight frown.

“Don’t worry,” Gary assured. “Just a slight draft in here. Now then.”

He attached a collar-like device to his companion. It had a small voice box and logic unit that would hopefully translate Mooncake to English. He fiddled with a few dials as Mooncake hovered patiently.

“Okay, little buddy. Give it a try.”

Mooncake opened its mouth. “Are you sure about this?” The voice box lit up as Mooncake spoke. Mooncake did a double take. “Wooooah.”

“Ahahahaha! It works! I am a genius!” Gary shouted as he posed.

“You’re a dork,” Mooncake said wryly.

“Hmmm.” Gary scratched at his chin. “Maybe this was a mistake.” He moved as if to snatch the device.

Mooncake flew out of reach and did a flip. “Nope! Too late now!”

“Get back here you little scamp,” Gary called playfully as he chased Mooncake through the open space.

Chapter Text

6 years B.F.D (part 1/2)

“Mooncake, have you seen my hyperspanner?” Gary asked. He was hunched over with his hands deep in a metal crate, picking up and tossing random doodads over his shoulders without looking.

Mooncake weaved in the air as it dodged a battery pack. “You know I’m not picking this mess up for you.”

The evil genius turned to his partner in mayhem. “Could you even?” He wiggled his thumbs. “No opposable thumbs.”

Mooncake was not one to back down from a challenge. It flew over to a table and grabbed a serrated knife in its mouth.

“Hey, careful with that buddy!” Gary called out nervously.

Mooncake spit out the knife. “Maybe if you built me an exosuit, I could be more helpful.”

“Hah! I’m already regretting building your voicebox,” Gary joked.

Mooncake gave him a forlorn look.

“No! Not the puppy eyes!” Gary shouted. He grabbed his chest and fell to the floor. “My one and only weakness! How did you know?”

Mooncake giggled at the display. “Come on, Evildeed, it would be a good project for you. Unless… you think you’re not up to the task?”

“I see through your mind tricks.”

“Sounds like a no to me,” Mooncake teased. “Imagine that. The great genius laid low by such a simple challenge.”

Gary scoffed. “It would be child’s play. Too easy. I need a real challenge. Like, say, making a robot army.” He stared into the distance. A robot army would be nice.

“If you promise to make me an exosuit I’ll tell you where I hid your hyperspanner,” Mooncake said with a mischievous smile.

“Where you what?” Gary choked out. “Where is it you little rascal? You thief!”

Mooncake cackled as it flew up towards the ceiling, out of reach. “I’m not telling!”

“Fine! I’ll do it! Another thing for me to regret but by gods I’ll do it!”

Mooncake flew off into the vents and returned with the missing tool, spitting it onto the table.

“My precious!” Gary cooed, taking the hyperspanner. Then he got a suspicious look on his face. “Wait. What else have you stolen from me?”

“Nothing!” Mooncake sing-songed, flying around Gary’s head.

“Hmph! We’ll get back to that later.” Gary stomped over to where two tattered leather chairs were placed in front of a large vintage television set. He used the hyperspanner to fiddle with the television. With a click it came to life, some daytime soap playing on the screen.

“Let’s see what’s in the news, shall we?” Gary said. He sat down in one of the chairs, picking up a remote as Mooncake hovered over the other chair.

Changing the channel, a Thumid news reporter sitting behind a desk appeared, their four long gelatinous limbs clasped together. “–an outbreak of some unknown origin, the apparent effect of which is sustained and uncontrollable laughter. It is unknown if it was caused by a pathogen, but the planet’s health ministry says that containment has been achieved, and that no new cases have been observed since then.”

“Wonder what that’s about,” Gary pondered aloud. “Eh. World could always use more laughter.”

“In other news,” the reporter continued, “reclusive media mogul Alec Cern has thrown his hat into the ring for the upcoming gubernatorial election. He’ll be running against incumbent Mariphex Lok and fellow challengers Caiteb Ovet and Bjerk Burke.”

Gary stroked his chin. Election meddling: evil, or too evil? The current governor was relatively inept when it came to dealing with villainous activity. Gary had no doubt the governor was in the pockets of the Syndicate. The same syndicate that had snubbed him.

Perhaps if one of the other candidates could be persuaded to crack down on Syndicate activity, Gary could fly under the radar and fill the power void. His turning The Magnificent Clarence and Lord Commander against each other was already paying dividends. He had never thought of political machinations as one of his strengths, but who knew? Maybe he had talents he was not aware of.

Gary sent a quick message to Clarence. He was well connected and probably had some dirt on the political candidates. Also, it was good to keep up appearances. To keep Clarence thinking the two of them were still (heh) thick as thieves.

***

Clawmaster was staked out on the rooftops opposite a perfectly ordinary looking office building. Tracking down the person in the photograph Phase had given him had turned out to be easier than he expected. It turned out that the target was one Doctor Evildeed, a villain registered with the Counter-Villainy Task Force. Evildeed had been booked after an attempted robbery some months prior, so obtaining a mugshot and verifying it matched the figure in the photograph was child’s play. Tracking the villain to his lair did require a fair amount of sleuthing, but it was nothing Clawmaster couldn’t handle.

Technically, Phase had told him to locate the target. He was under no obligation to interfere any further, and he had a suspicion that any such attempts were actually unwelcome. It was that suspicion which had brought him here. Why was the target a fellow villain? What offense had Evildeed committed that had the Lord Commander so worked up? Why was there something vaguely familiar about the villain in question?

Clawmaster took his time as he carefully surveyed the office building. Infrared and x-ray visions showed some basic security measures: laser tripwires, rotating blades, nothing too out of the ordinary for a starter villain. He was surprised that such a young villain was able to muster such a large lair. But apparently not much more than that, as Clawmaster had not counted any henches during the two hours he had been observing. In fact, there had been a curious lack of activity. No snipers on the room, and such.

With his trademark stealth that had earned him the villain name Whisper he jumped down to the street below and ran through the shadows to an alcove in the side of the office building. His ears twitched as he listened for any civilians who might get caught up in his little operation.

Once he determined that the coast was clear, he scaled the outside wall. Clawmaster always had preferred infiltration from the top. It felt safer to enter unfamiliar territory with the tactical and visual advantages of height.

The roof itself was not trapped, much to Clawmaster’s relief, even if he was a little disappointed with how smooth progress had been. He walked up to the roof access door. Pulling out a bit of copper wire, he jammed it in the keyhole, checking for an electric shock. Satisfied the lock was not trapped, he let his claws out and with a snick he picked the door’s lock. He quickly made his way inside, making sure to let the door close behind him as quietly as possible.

The first thing Clawmaster noticed was what a mess the place was. There were boxes piled to the ceiling in the hallway; peering into the adjoining rooms, they didn’t look much better. Metal scraps and electronic parts were laid out on long tables. Probably pieces for some nefarious device.

He made his way down two floors, cataloging in his head the various materials. So far, nothing had jumped out to him as being particularly dangerous. He came to a stop when he heard the sound of voices coming from an open door.

Peering through the door, Clawmaster saw what looked to be a large, open two story workshop. The second floor had catwalks suspended over the first floor, where there were tooling machines and cluttered workbenches haphazardly arranged. Standing at one of the workbenches, holding some sort of metallic cube in one hand, was the man known as Evildeed. He was talking to a floating green blob.

The moment Clawmaster snuck onto the catwalk, Evildeed said something to the green blob, making it float out of the room through one of the first floor exits. The ventrexian hero crept forward, slowly and carefully, stalking his prey. Evildeed was none the wiser as he lowered his welding visor and took a blowtorch to the cube. Taking advantage of Evildeed’s impaired senses, Clawmaster crouched his way directly over the villain.

He took a moment to observe what Evildeed was up to. While Clawmaster had plenty of gadgets at his disposal, he wasn’t the most technologically inclined. Just what Evildeed was working on, he couldn’t be sure.

“Eureka!” Evildeed shouted triumphantly, setting the device he was working on carefully down on the workbench. “Now, let’s see where you’re pointing.”

Clawmaster watched with bated breath as Evildeed pressed a button on the device. There was a fzzt! sound and a flash of blue light and a purple balloon appeared just above. The balloon lifted up toward the ceiling.

“Huh. Free party favors,” Evildeed muttered. “I guess that’s cool, but I’ll have to see if I can point it somewhere more useful.” He picked up the strange device to observe it more carefully.

“And who do we have here?” a voice said loudly from behind Clawmaster.

Clawmaster jumped into the air, his fur poofing out and his tail sticking straight out. He was so shocked that someone was able to sneak up on him, overcoming his preternaturally advanced hearing, a feat that not one person had accomplished in years, that he didn’t realize he was falling onto the railing and over the edge until it was too late. He landed on all fours next to Evildeed, who shrieked and threw the cubic device in the air as he flailed his arms.

Clawmaster watched as the device sailed through the air, landing on the face that contained the button. Flash after flash of blue light produced balloons by the dozens.

“Who are you?” Evildeed screeched as he searched around for a weapon. His hand landed on the blow torch, which he pointed menacingly at Clawmaster. “You better answer me!”

Clawmaster held his hands up. “Hey! Take it easy there,” he said. He backed up a few paces until his back hit something soft. He turned around.

The green blob from earlier looked up at him with a mean face and said, “You’re in big trouble, mister.”

In the background, balloons were still spawning and floating upward. They were fighting against each other to cover the ceiling.

“How did you get in here?” Evildeed demanded.

“What? Was it supposed to be hard?” Clawmaster scoffed. “Your defenses are seriously lacking.”

Evildeed waved the blow torch. “Don’t mess with me, pal. What are you doing here?”

“I’m a hero. Stopping villains is my job?”

Evildeed stopped. “Wait. I know you from somewhere.” He squinted at Clawmaster. “Yeah. I’m sure I do. Did we clash somewhere?” A pause. “Please tell me I defeated you.”

Clawaster also drew up short. That feeling that there was something familiar about the villain standing in front of him came back.

“Wait!” Evildeed shouted, causing Clawmaster to flinch. “You’re that hero from a couple years ago. What was your name again?” Evildeed frowned pensively, snapping his finger. “Hold on. Don’t tell me. Hnnnng. It’s coming to me.”

Clawmaster mirrored Evildeed’s frown. Had they actually met before? Not that he could recall.

Evildeed brightened. “Aha! Clawmaster! That was it!”

“What.” Clawmaster said.

“Yeah, I was interning for Invictus,” Evildeed said. Then he frowned again. “Wait, you defeated me then.” He held the blowtorch out. “Well not today! It’s payback time!”

Evildeed lit up the blow torch and rushed Clawmaster as Mooncake shouted, “Get him, sir!”. Clawmaster dodged easily and turned around to deliver a blow to the back of Evildeed’s head, but the green blob was in his face.

“Gah!” Clawmaster batted the blob off to the side, but it flew back around behind Evildeed as he made another pass at Clawmaster.

Clawmaster dodged again, and as the villain ran past his blow torch lit up one of the balloons. The balloon burst in an orange, red, and black bubble of flame, which licked upward, setting off another nearby balloon.

“Oh no,” Evildeed breathed. “Those are not helium balloons.” He followed the path of the flames, looking up at the ceiling, which was by now covered by at least a few hundred balloons.

He ran toward the nearest workbench. “Mooncake! Get to cover!” was all he managed to shout before the balloons at the ceiling burst in a chain reaction of flame and smoke.

Clawmaster, realizing belatedly what was occurring, ran for the same workbench where Evildeed was huddled and slid underneath, holding his hands over his head. There was an explosive shock wave that shook the room. Slabs of metal and concrete rained down upon them. There was a heavy thud as the workbench was covered in rubble, blocking any attempt to get out. Particles of plaster rained down on the scene below with a skshhhhh.

When the explosion subsided, Evildeed attempted to push his way through the fallen debris with a grunt, but to no avail. “Oh no! We’re stuck!” he panicked. His breathing started to quicken. “Mooncake! Mooncake are you there?”

“I’m here! I’m okay!” the voice that belonged to the green blob (Mooncake? What kind of name was that?) called out through the rubble.

“Oh thank god!” Evildeed sighed with relief.

“Stand back. I’m going to blast the debris,” Mooncake said.

“No blasting!” Evildeed yelped, holding his hands in front of his face.

“Are you sure?” Mooncake asked.

“Yes. I am very sure. We’ll just have to figure some other way out.”

“Okay, if you say so.” Mooncake sounded doubtful. “If I had an exosuit I could get you out of there.”

Evildeed groaned. “And I’ll get right on that once we get out of this mess. Mooncake?”

“Yes?”

“See if you can get us some help.”

“On it, boss!” Mooncake chirped, his voice trailing away.

Clawmaster pulled out his comm. He brought up his contacts. For a hesitant moment his thumb hovered over “Nightfall” before swiping up and tapping on “Phase”. He really hoped he wasn’t going to regret this. He held the comm to his ear.

“Clawmaster,” a voice crackled. “How good to hear from you. How goes the search?”

“Who is that?” Evildeed asked suspiciously.

Clawmaster brought the comm down before saying, “A friend who can get us out our mess.”

“Your mess,” Evildeed mumbled as Clawmaster brought the comm back to his ear.

“Look. I’m going to send you some coordinates. You're going to want to get here ASAP. There’s been a building collapse. I need your help to get out.” Clawmaster paused. “Also, I found what you were looking for.”

“‘Here’? ‘Building collapse’?” Phase asked. Clawmaster grimaced. “Someone’s been a naughty little kitty. Don’t you worry. Send me the coordinates and I’ll be there shortly.” Phase disconnected the call.

Evildeed was furiously typing away at his own comm. “Can’t believe you don’t remember me,” he pouted when he realized Clawmaster was done talking. “Can’t you at least bother trying to remember the face of a guy you’ve thrashed.”

“I’m sorry,” Clawmaster offered, wondering why he was actually feeling sorry. What? “Was it that bad?”

“It was pretty bad.”

“Sorry,” Clawmaster repeated.

“A hero apologizing to a villain,” Evildeed chuckled. “What has this world come to?”

Clawmaster stared at his hands, wondering the same thing.

“Now that I think about it,” Evildeed said. “You told me you used to be a villain.”

And this was exactly what Clawmaster did not want to be talking about. Being ensnared with the likes of Phase, when he thought he had actually put that life in the past where it belonged, was twisting him up inside.

“Did I?” he asked.

“Yeah. What made you go good?”

“It’s not that interesting,” Clawmaster said. “How about you? What made you decide to become a villain?” He hoped the deflection would work.

“Oh. I’ve been a criminal for as long as I can remember,” Evildeed said.

This surprised Clawmaster. “What?”

“Yeah. When I was little, like five or so, my mom would have me doing little cons for her. Pickpocketing and stuff.”

“Are you kidding me?” Clawmaster was aghast. What kind of mother was capable of using her child like that?

“Eh. We had to survive somehow,” Evildeed said as if that was any excuse.

“Well you had a terrible mother,” Clawmaster said, then berated himself for his lack of tact.

“Oh, no doubt. She left me to get picked up by the fuzz when I was nine,” Evildeed said. When he saw Clawmaster’s jaw go slack he hastily added, “Job gone wrong. Can’t totally blame her.”

“No,” Clawmaster growled, surprising Evildeed. “Don’t defend you mother. She doesn’t deserve it.”

Clawmaster watched as Evildeed smiled beatifically at him. “You know, despite the fact that you’re a goody-two-shoes hero, I like you.”

That lit a fire deep in Clawmaster’s stomach that he absolutely refused to interrogate.

***

The two of them spent the next half hour trading stories and fighting the urge to fall asleep, when the sound of footsteps in the debris approached.

“Clawmaster?” Phase called out.

“Here,” The hero responded. He coughed. It sure had been getting dusty in there.

“Heh,” Evildeed said. “Looks like your friends got here first.” He looked at Clawmaster. “They’re going to be chill, right?”

“Sure,” Clawmaster said around the lump his throat.

Phase and a few of what Clawmaster assumed were the Lord Commander’s goons gradually lifted the debris off the workbench.

Liberated, Evildeed let out a loud breath. He crawled from beneath the workbench and stood up and cracked his back. “Freedom!”

“And captivity,” Phase said coldly as he snapped handcuffs on Evildeed. “Yeah, this is the guy. Good job, Whisper. I’ll see that you are appropriately compensated.”

“Woah! What the hey is this?” Evildeed asked. He shot a betrayed look at Clawmaster, who looked away. “I wasn’t even doing anything wrong!” When Clawmaster didn’t respond he continued, “Clawmaster! Say something! What’s the big deal? What did I do?”

Clawmaster didn’t respond. He watched pathetically as Phase led a loudly protesting Evildeed away.

Chapter Text

6 years B.F.D (part 2/2)

Gary was forced into the back of an unmarked truck, where he was secured to a bench lining one of the sides. There was a grill separating the open area in the back from the cab. He hung his head as he listened to the cab’s doors slam closed and the engine start up.

This did not bode well. There wouldn’t be such extreme measures needed for a simple booking at the county jail. No, this was something else entirely. Gary ’s stomach turned in anxiety as the truck pulled away from his lair.

What he wanted to know was what Clawmaster’s part in this was. Gary could only surmise that he must have crossed the hero gravely in some way. As he wracked his brain he kept coming up empty. It just didn’t make any sense.

The restraints jangled as the truck bounced over a bump in the road. Gary turned toward the grill. All he could see through the grill was the outline of two figures. One of them – the driver, presumably – was wearing some sort of reflective armor, the city’s night lights reflecting in a stream of neon colors. The other was some hulking mass, appearing to be almost twice the size of the first.

“I don’t suppose you could tell me where we’re going,” Gary yelled over the background din.

“Shut up,” the driver snarled back.

Gary muttered “Jerk” under his breath, but decided to leave it at that. The truck drove for what seemed like a good hour, maybe two, before it came to a stop. He was roughly led out into a dimly lit concrete structure, and then through a labyrinthine series of narrow tunnels, before he entered a long rectangular room. At the back of the room a short figure sat in a comically large throne, chin resting on their hand.

“The thief, Lord Commander,” one of his captors announced.

Double crap. Gary was really in it now. It was well known that the Lord Commander stood at the apex in the world of villains. His star had risen especially fast in the last year as Invictus had become more and more irrelevant, eventually fading from public view. The Lord Commander’s power and influence cast a long shadow over villains and heroes alike, gaining him an almost mystical air.

There were whispers that he was poised to upset the delicate balance that had kept good and evil locked in battle; that he was ready to take control of Lightopia for himself. But so far, for whatever reason, the Lord Commander had not yet made his move. The public, for the most part, stuck their heads in the sand, perhaps believing if nothing had happened yet, it would not come to pass.

“So. You’re the one responsible for the loss of the Titan Project,” the Lord Commander said imperiously from his throne. “Come. Let me get a better look at you.”

***

Clawmaster’s stomach roiled with guilt as he examined the mess that was once Evildeed’s lab. Maybe selling out one villain to another didn’t even come close to the heinous acts he committed as Lord Commander’s hench, but he still didn’t feel right about what he had done.

But what choice did he have? His reputation was on the line. If Phase revealed that he had once been Whisper, that he was responsible for the deaths of thousands, it was over for him. If law enforcement didn’t get to him first, the Lord Commander surely would. His former master would be most displeased to learn that his favorite subordinate had left his fold.

“Oh you got out!” Moocake’s voice called out from behind him, startling the hero for the second time that night.

“Good– good grief you are quiet,” Clawmaster said as he fought to regain composure.

“Silent but deadly,” Mooncake giggled as it did a happy flip in the air. Then it frowned as it looked around the rubble. “Hey. Where is Evildeed?”

Clawmaster looked away, but Mooncake floated into his face, its large eyes boring into his.

“Where. Is. Evildeed?” the green blob repeated. It was starting to look very upset.

“It doesn’t matter,” Clawmaster muttered.

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter?” Mooncake insisted. “Where is he? Is he okay?” It zipped around the room in quick and frantic movements, looking for any sign of Evildeed.

Then it returned to Clawmaster with a furious expression. “Tell me now, or I will blast you.”

“What?” Clawmaster said in alarm.

Mooncake turned to the side, and with a VRRRM! It let out a beam of sickly green light that punched through three sets of walls, all the way to the exterior of the office building.

It turned back to Clawmaster. “Don’t make me. I don’t want to have to, but I will do it.”

When Clawmaster explained what had happened Mooncake predictably flipped out. The ventrexian hero found himself on the receiving end of a litany of increasingly graphic and detailed threats.

“It’s not too late!” Clawmaster said. “I can get him back!”

“You better!” Mooncake said.

“But it’s the Lord Command. It’s not going to be easy.”

“You’ll have me.”

“That still might not be enough,” Clawmaster hesitated. “I have someone I trust. She can help us.”

***

Quinn was enjoying a relaxing evening reading a good book in the bath. The pleasant odor of jasmine filled the bathroom from the lit scented candle sitting on the sink’s counter. Her muscles were still sore from her fight against the villain Starfall, which had ended in an ambiguous draw. Well, you couldn’t win them all, but she had still earned this.

Anticipation mounted as the novel’s protagonist confronted his nemesis. There had been a tension between them that was ready to burst and–

Her comm rang. Quinn sighed and put her book down, picking up the comm. She looked at the caller ID. “Avocato, I’m a little busy right now.”

“How busy– wait! No, this is important! I messed up, Nightfall.”

Quinn was about to respond with a soothing comment when she noticed her friend and colleague had called her by her hero name. “Who’s with you?”

“It’s… complicated.”

“Complicated?” Quinn sighed again, getting up out of the bath. She had a feeling her night was about to be taken up by heroic theatrics yet again. “Walk me through it.”

By the time Avocato had finished running her through the scenario she was suited up and dashing out of her home.

***

“Come. Let me get a better look at you,” the Lord Commander had said.

One of the guards pushed Gary forward with the butt of a shockstick, almost causing him to trip. He righted himself before taking a few hesitant steps forward. His eyes darted around the room, looking for any opportunity for escape, but none presented itself.

As The Lord Commander regarded him from his throne his already sour expression grew even darker. “It’s you!” He bellowed and pointed a shaking finger at Gary.

“Me?” Gary shrank back, voice strangled with panic. He had no idea why the Lord Commander would recognize him personally.

“You’re the one who did this to me!” the Lord Commander levitated into the air, his eyes glowing with a sickly purple light. “You’re the Arachnitect!”

Gary blinked. “Sorry? Excuse? I’m what?”

“You think I wouldn’t recognize you, The Arachnitect? Do you take me for a fool? After you killed Captain Chronos and gave me this power?”

“I what?” Gary’s mind reeled. None of this made sense. “Wait. I’m not the Arachnitect! I’m Doctor Evildeed!”

The Arachnitect. The villain that had once terrorized Lightopia. That had defeated Captain Chronos, then disappeared entirely, never to be heard from again. But that had all happened nearly two decades ago. Gary had been barely a child. There was no way he could have any connection to the Arachnitect!

“No!” the Lord Commander shouted as he came to rest in front of Gary. “You are most certainly the Arachnitect! The bane of my existence! The reason I built this empire!” He grinned a sickening grin. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Gary gulped. “You have?”

“Yes. And now I’ve found you. I don’t know how you’ve managed to stay off the radar for so long, but that hardly matters now that I have you.”

“Um, I really think you have the wrong guy.”

“Silence!” The Lord Commander coughed. A black sludge dribbled from his mouth. “Tell me where Project Titan is.”

“But you just said–”

“Enough!” The Lord Commander’s eyes glowed more brightly. “I’ll just take you apart limb by limb until you either tell me, or you die!”

There was a burning pain at Gary’s left shoulder and he watched in horror as his arm was ripped off. He fell to the ground as he screamed in agony.

The doors to the throne room burst open and a figure in silver-black armor that Gary recognized as one of his captors walked briskly in. “Sir, there’s–”

The Lord Commander turned his ominous gaze to the figure. “You better have a good reason to interrupt me, Phase.”

“Intruders, sir. Two of them. They’ve made it to the inner sanctum.”

“Do you know who it is?” The Lord Commander motioned to one of his guards, then pointed at Gary. “Put him in the cells.” Gary felt himself being lifted up and quickly snatched his detached arm before he was carried away toward the room’s entrance.

“It’s Nightfall and Specimen E-351, sir. But there’s something you should know–”

“Do a sweep for explosives. I’ll handle the hero and recover my property personally.”

“Sir–”

“Go!” The Lord Commander shouted. He levitated out of the throne room past where Gary was being carried.

Behind him, the armored person apparently named Phase turned to Gary. “He’s here for you, isn’t he?”

“What?” Gary asked, only half aware of what was happening around him.

“Why the fool would get himself killed over a nobody like you... I would kill you myself, but…”

Gary was carried down a long staircase that led to a cold, damp, and dimly lit hallway. Cells lined the hallway on either side. They were all empty, save one, where a small, orange-furred ventrexian was curled up in sleep. Gary was dumped unceremoniously in an adjacent cell. He huddled against the transparent wall, holding his arm to his chest.

The ventrexian stirred, sitting up when he noticed Gary. “Woah. What happened to you.”

Gary breathed through clenched teeth as he staunched the wound. When he had that situation under control he rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “What do you think?”

“Angered the Lord Commander too? What’d you do?”

“Stole something from him.” Gary regarded his fellow captive. Jeez, the ventrexian was just a kid. He couldn’t have been more than seven or eight. “What is a kid like you doing in a place like this?”

“Stole something from him too,” the ventrexian replied with a wry smile. “I’ve been in here for…” he trailed off with a vacant expression, then snapped back to attention. “Well I don’t know for how long, but I haven’t seen another face except those guards this whole time.”

“That’s awful,” Gary said.

The ventrexian shrugged. “What can you do? It wasn’t like my life before was much better. I was running with a gang, stealing and stuff, when I got caught. They left me behind.” Gary’s heart stung at that, not least because in some twisted way, he could understand that sentiment. The ventrexian continued, “Sounds like there’s a commotion upstairs.” He looked up at the ceiling.

“Yeah, sounds like some hero got in.”

“No kidding?”

They sat in shared silence for a few moments before the ventrexian spoke up. “Name’s Catspaw, by the way. What’s yours?”

“Doctor Evildeed.”

Catspaw’s eyes widened. “No freakin’ way! Are you a villain?”

Gary sighed. “For not much longer, apparently.” He couldn’t believe he was going to die in a place like this.

Catspaw seemed not to pick up on Gary’s morbid mood. “That’s so cool! I want to be a villain when I grow up! They get all the cool costumes and lairs and stuff!”

Gary smiled at the kid’s enthusiasm, then got a brainwave. “Say, how about if we get out of here, I teach you a few things? You could be my apprentice!”

“Serious?” Catspaw squealed. “Oh man oh man oh man!”

“Super serious,” Gary chuckled. He was prepared to hold onto that ray of hope until the very end.

At that moment, there was a flash coming from the direction of the stairs. A blast of smoke burst into the hallway, obscuring the room. A shadow emerged in the midst of the smoke. A shadow with the unmistakable silhouette of a certain ventrexian hero.

***

“Right, so everyone is good with the plan?” Clawmaster asked into his transceiver as he crawled through the vents in the Lord Commanders vast subterranean headquarters.

“We’re good,” Nightfall responded. “Distraction is ready at your word.”

It was to be a quick and dirty extraction. In and out as quickly as possible. Nightfall and Mooncake would serve as a decoy. Diverting the attention of the Lord Commander’s forces was an extremely dangerous gambit, and it would only become more deadly by the second. Clawmaster had to act fast.

Fortunately for him, the headquarter’s layout hadn't changed much since the last time he had walked these halls. He fought back a tidal surge of memories. When he had commanded hundreds of those beneath himself. When he would return from a mission well executed to accolades. When he would walk side by side with the Lord Commander, ever confident that he belonged at his master’s right side.

Kicking open a grate, Clawmaster levered himself down into what he knew to be a spillover storage area. This place would be lightly guarded, containing only random trinkets that were of little value to the Lord Commander. He hugged the wall next to the steel door, testing the handle. Good, it was unlocked. He inched the door open, praying the hinges were well oiled.

He peered outside. Nobody yet. He stalked the halls, being careful to navigate his way out of sight of the security cameras. The Lord Commander had never had his headquarters infiltrated by someone with Clawmaster’s talents and abilities before, so it stood to reason that security would not be at the level required to match him.

A quick glance around the corner. Three guards. They looked bored, conversing among themselves more than they were paying attention. Clawmaster knew he was close to his target. It was go time.

“Now,” he whispered.

After a tense lull there was a thunderous boom from elsewhere in the compound. Clawmaster could only assume that Mooncake had let out one of its powerful beams. The guards, momentarily distracted, fell quickly. Clawmaster ran past the fallen guards. Up ahead, a large blast door was sliding down to the floor. Clawmaster easily slid underneath, jumping back up and turning a corner.

A security turret overhead whirled toward him. Clawmaster threw a catarang at the turret, severing the cords that held it to the ceiling. He stopped when he got to a T-junction, flattening himself against the wall and in the shadows. Several shouting guards rushed past. As soon as they were gone, the hero took the right passage and came to the stairwell he knew would lead him to the prison area.

He threw a smoke bomb at the bottom of the steps and heard coughing. His ears pricked as they discerned the number and location of the people coughing. It took only seconds for them to be subdued.

Clawmaster scanned the row of cells, eyes falling upon the sitting form of Evildeed. He walked up to the cell and opened up the control panel.

“What are you doing here?” Evildeed said accusingly.

Clawmaster’s ears fell flat over the top of his mask. “Getting you out of here.”

“Why?”

“It wasn’t right, what I did.”

“Just figuring that out now?” Evildeed sneered. “You have some pretty funny habits for a hero.”

Before Clawmaster could respond, a voice in the cell next to Evildeed’s said with a reverent tone, “Woah. You’re Clawmaster.”

Clawmaster turned to see a ventrexian child standing with his hands pressed against the forcefield. Great. There was no way he was leaving behind a child, but escaping with Evildeed alone was going to be difficult enough. Now he had a kid to look after.

It took a good minute for Clawmaster to get the two prisoners out of their cells, Evildeed snarking at him the whole time.

“Follow me and don’t fall behind,” Clawmaster told the others.

“Oh no problem!” the ventrexian chirped. He ran to the stairs and back in a barely discernible blur. “See?” he said proudly. So, the kid was a super. That would make things easier.

Clawmaster led them back the way he had come. Making a detour around the closed blast door, he ran into a long corridor. Standing at the other end was a familiar figure.

“Phase.”

“Whisper. I knew you were behind this.” Phase ignored Evildeed’s surprised gasp as he pulled out a dagger in each hand. “I tried to warn the Lord Commander, but he has his own priorities. I can’t believe that not only have you brought us the thief, but you found Specimen E-351 as well. You really haven’t lost your edge, have you?”

Clawmaster lowered himself into a fighting stance as Phase leisurely approached. “Don’t worry,” Phase said, mirroring Clawmaster’s posture. “Neither have I.”

Phase rushed at Clawmaster, who got ready to parry the first blow. He realized belatedly that it was a feint when instead Phase threw one of the daggers up at the light above them. The light hissed with sparks as it blew out, casting their section of the corridor in darkness.

The point was not to blind Clawmaster. He could see quite well in the dark, and Phase knew this. No, the point was to give Phase the ability to attack from any angle. His armor and his own powers combined gave him the ability to sink into any shadow and emerge again from shadow elsewhere.

Assuming that Phase would attempt to attack his weaker side, Clawmaster turned to the wall at his left and just barely managed to dodge a sharp dagger thrust at his chest. He responded by trying to kick Phase’s legs from underneath him, but Phase was already sinking into the shadows. He emerged from the ceiling, dropping on top of Clawmaster with a yell.

Clawmaster rolled Phase off of him, knocking the dagger from his grip. He grabbed it from where it had clattered onto the floor before whirling around to face Phase. Phase pulled out another dagger, having a seemingly endless supply of the dang things.

The two traded blows a few times before Clawmaster found an opening. “Evildeed! Cover the kid’s eyes!” he shouted before he parried an incoming lunge and struck at his opponent, his dagger finding true.

Phase went down with a sickening gurgle, and Clawmaster motioned for the escapees to follow. He led them back to the storage area and up through the vents, telling Nightfall to get the %&*@ out of there as fast as possible. They all regrouped at the agreed-upon rendezvous point and Clawmaster drove them all back into the city, making sure to drive a circuitous route to throw off any tails.

***

The ride back had been a tense one. Only Catspaw seemed to offer up conversation, giving up when it became clear the other three were not in the mood to chat.

When Clawmaster discretely parked the car a few blocks from his lair, Gary got out, saying, “Come on, Catspaw.”

At this, Clawmaster also exited the vehicle. “I’m not letting the kid go with you.”

“Too late,” Gary bit out. “I already took him under my wing.”

Catspaw looked between the two anxiously.

“He’s just a kid. A villain’s life is not for him!” Clawmaster said.

“And your life? Cavorting with villains and backstabbing your– well, we weren’t friends, but still, you’re certainly no role model!”

“Nightfall?” Clawmaster said to the hero in the passenger’s seat.

“Oh no. I’m not getting involved in your mess,” Nightfall said back.

Clawmaster turned back to Gary. “You don’t understand–” he began to plead.

“No! I don’t understand! And I don’t need to! From now on I declare you my arch nemesis!” Gary put on his most dramatic airs. “From now until death, I swear eternal enmity!”

“Woah,” Catspaw breathed, looking as if he was watching some historical moment unfold before him. Which, he probably was.

“Evildeed–”

Gary took a couple menacing steps toward his newly minted rival. “You know what?” Gary stopped short. “I should thank you. What kind of supervillain would I be if I didn’t have an arch nemesis?”

“Arch nemesis?” Clawmaster asked. He looked doubtful.

Gary really wished he had a cloak. Then he could swish it dramatically as he turned and walked away. “You heard me, arch nemesis!”

“Catspaw! With me!” Gary ordered over his shoulder.

The last thing he heard as he walked out into the night was Clawmaster uttering, “Are you for real?”

Oh yeah. He was for real, alright. He was as real as it gets.

Gary returned to his lair, still in ruins, Catspaw in tow. “Huhn!” He walked through the door and slammed it closed, never mind the giant hole in the wall next to it. “Hnn!” He flopped dramatically onto a chair, pressing the back of his disembodied hand to his forehead. “Oh cruel world! If only there was some handsome genius who could rule you and make things better.”

“Rough night?” Mooncake asked as it floated into the room. “Oh %$&*! What happened to your arm?”

“Mooncake! Not in front of the kid!” Gary hissed.

“Since when do you have a kid?” Mooncake asked, regarding Catspaw with a frown. “I thought I was your hench.”

Catspaw stuck his tongue out at Mooncake.

So much for hoping the two of them got along. Gary sighed. “He’s more like… an apprentice? Don’t worry! I’m not replacing you.”

Mooncake looked dubious. “If you say so. Oh right! Your arm.”

Gary waved the arm he held in his remaining hand. “No evil deed goes unpunished. Heh!”

“Are you okay?” Mooncake flew to him and nuzzled the top of his head.

Gary sighed. Thank the stars for his one true friend. “Yeah, I’ll be alright. Nothing some good old fashioned cybernetics can’t fix.”

He rose from the chair and started clearing off one of his workbenches. It wasn’t easy with one arm, but hey! He now had Catspaw to help. He ordered his protégé to aid with the clean-up, which Catspaw did after a little protest.

Alongside his hench and his apprentice, Gary fashioned a crude robotic arm from spare parts he had stolen. Then he did some surgery to implant the cybernetics in his wound. He almost passed out from the pain, but he pushed through. Mooncake and Catspaw had looked away for that part.

He attached the metal arm to his shoulder socket and flexed it, pleased when it responded to his commands. The sound of rain falling outside started up, sending a delicious musky smell into the lair. He walked over to a wall mirror that was cracked in several jagged lines. He regarded his broken reflection.

A bolt of lighting stuck in the distance. The lights in the lair dimmed and brightened again, and the figure in the mirror started to laugh. The laughter grew more and more maniacal, reaching a terrifying crescendo.

As far as he was concerned, Gary was dead.

Long live Evildeed!

Chapter Text

5 years 10 months B.F.D

“What’s this do?” Catspaw asked curiously as he tapped a claw on a shiny metallic disk sitting on the table before him.

“Hey! Don’t touch that!” Evildeed cried out as the disk grew four legs and stood up. An eyepiece-slash-turret sprouted from its top, zeroing in with a laser sight on Catspaw.

The disk fired a red laser bolt at Catspaw and the most curious thing happened. Evildeed watched helplessly while everything around him seemed to slow down. As the bolt shot at Catspaw it decelerated. The ventrexian ran around the bolt, his body was blurred but he appeared to be moving at a normal speed, despite his powers of super speed. Then everything sped up again as Catspaw came back to his original position with a hiss to slice the turret off with his claws.

“Hey! Those things are expensive to build!” Evildeed exclaimed, already forgetting what he just witnessed, having chalked it up to adrenaline.

“Sorry,” Catspaw said sheepishly. The small ventrexian hunched in on himself with drooping ears and looked down at his paws, his head turned away. Evildeed recognized that stance. He recognized it from his younger self. It was the posture of a child expecting corporal punishment.

Evildeed felt conflicted, torn between the need to teach his new charge but not wanting to recreate whatever broken relationship Catspaw had with the crew he used to run with. He had never worked with children before, and his own experiences as a child was not a well he was about to draw from.

He walked over to his apprentice – frowning at Catspaw’s flinch – and gave his apprentice a few gentle pats. He smiled when Catspaw relaxed into the touch. Stars, if he ever found out who was responsible for Catspaw’s trauma, there wouldn’t be any bodies left to be found.

He said softly, “That’s ok, bud. Your safety is more important than a silly little robot. Just. Be careful in the future?”

“Yes, sir,” Catspaw mumbled, chastised.

“Now, I sure could use someone to help me build Mooncake his exosuit.” Evildeed smiled at Catspaw. “What do you say?”

Catspaw perked up at that. “Yeah? Can I?”

“Sure thing! But first we’re going to go over basic safety.”

“Yes, sir!” Catspaw chirruped with a salute.

Now that his lair had been relocated and restocked, there were a multitude of devious projects Evildeed had lined up. His newfound rivalry with the hero known as Clawmaster had stoked a fire inside him that was lacking before. Only now did he realize how listless he had been. How feeble his ambitions. If he was to become the most feared supervillain of all time he needed to take things to the next level!

As it turned out, Catspaw was a good helper. Evildeed felt bolstered by his eagerness; the kid’s enthusiasm only fed into his own. And he looked darned cute in an oversized white lab coat and behind a pair of safety goggles. When Evildeed had cooed at his apprentice, Mooncake had initially appeared jealous of the attention the young ventrexian was receiving. But it became short-lived when Evildeed gave it its own pair of specially modified goggles, prompting another round of coos from the others.

Evildeed made sure to show Catspaw every step that went into wiring and soldering the components that went into the chassis. He told Catspaw, “I’m going to have to teach you how to read a circuit diagram so you can do your own wiring.”

The ventrexian grinned from where he was watching Evildeed work with rapturous attention. “Really? Sweet!”

“This can only end well,” Mooncake added, eliciting a swipe from Catspaw, which it dodged with a cackle.

***

The wind whipped around Nightfall as she stood on the rooftop. She surveyed the city around her, the moving and stopping lights of vehicles a thousand feet below her circulating throughout. It was a beautiful sight to behold, but one that she had seen many times before; a sight that for her, held less fascination than it once had. That and she was on watch duty, keeping a view of the larger picture.

Tribore had roped her into an official League of Heroes operation. It wasn’t often that she worked with the “official” heroes. There was still a lot of bad blood between the organization and herself; a disagreement held over both means and ends. She sighed into the wind.

“Nightfall, hun, I can feel your gloom from a mile away,” Tribore said into the transceiver. “It’s really harshing the mood.”

“Sorry, Tribore,” Nightfall answered, her eyes scanning the streets below. “It’s Clawmaster.”

“Of course it is. What’s he done this time?”

Nightfall didn’t care much for the implied accusation, both on Clawmaster for having a complicated history and on herself for not keeping him on a tight enough leash. “Nothing wrong as far as I’m concerned. But you know how he is. He keeps to his own moral code, and he’ll beat himself up over the tiniest slip-ups.”

“Sounds like him. Have you tried talking to him?” Tribore suggested. “I know you two are close.”

Nightfall was unsure just how much Tribore knew about Clawmaster. Sometimes she acted like she had suspicions about the ventrexian hero’s past. It was a sensitive topic, and while Tribore could be an empathetic friend at the best of times, at the worst of times she could be a bit of a nosy gossip. It all depended on the day you found her.

“I tried to reach out to him, but he keeps brushing me off,” Nightfall said, crestfallen at the thought that her former mentee wouldn’t reach out to her for help. “I’m really worried about him. He hasn’t been like this for a long time.”

“Sounds like a bad sitch. Didn’t the two of you get in a scrape with a villain a while back?”

“Yeah. The Lord Commander,” Nightfall said, already rolling her eyes at the response she knew–

“Oh honey you did not,” Tribore’s voice crackled loudly into Nightfall’s earpiece, making her wince. “Just the two of you? Of course you did, you sillies.”

“It was a personal matter,” Nightfall asserted.

“You had a personal matter with that little grey beanhead?”

Nightfall grinned at the descriptor. “It was mostly Clawmaster. Well, it was all Clawmaster, really. I was just tagging along as backup.”

“He sounds like he’s a little more trouble than–”

“I’m gonna stop you right there. You know better than to go there,” Nightfall interrupted.

She could hear Tribore’s long exhale. “Of course. You know what’s best for you. I’m just worried you’re going to get pulled under by the current. I heard through the grapevine that things are about to get messy for a while, and not the fun kind of messy.”

“The League know something the rest of us don’t?” Nightfall asked. If they were hiding something from the greater public–

“You know I can’t tell you League secrets, hun,” Tribore said, sounding regretful. “Just be careful who you cross. Your vigilante status isn’t going to give you any protection if things go south in a big way.”

“I’m aware,” Nightfall responded dryly. “Thanks, Tribore. It means a lot to me that you keep in contact. I can’t imagine it makes you very popular with the League.”

“Hey, no skin off my back, boo.”

Nightfall grinned as she pulled out a pair of binoculars. Thank the stars for good friends.

***

Mirage was alone in her cell as she exercised. She huffed as she did a second set of fifty push-ups. The room’s surrounding field which suppressed her powers hummed, an ever present reminder that she was fettered in this awful place. Not that she could blame the authorities. She had been a thorn in their side for years, pulling off the most elaborate heists the galaxy had ever seen. It didn’t hurt that she had once been a hero, and knew the ins and outs of how they operated.

Counting fifty, Mirage stood up and sat on her bed, then pulled the book she was reading into her lap. It was hard copy, blegh. She wasn’t allowed anything remotely technological, even though her powers had nothing to cracking do with tech! If she ever got out the joint she was going to have a field day absconding with as much tech as she could get her hands on. She missed the crime vids she used to watch, laughing and picking at all the inaccuracies. They should have hired her as a consultant; she’d show them what a real criminal was capable of.

The book was a real page turner, though. It delved into the meaty and often mercurial subject of powers; about how they manifested and were passed on from parent to child. There was something the master thief wanted, but couldn’t take by ordinary means. Mirage had to hold out for hope in the smallest of margins, hoping that the fates would align. She figured that after the hand the universe had dealt her, she was owed at least this much.

Yes, there was a way that she could move forward with her plans, but it would require for him to have inherited… well, some things were better left unsaid; no need to tempt the universe. And should that plan not work out, there were other, more risky avenues she could pursue. But first she needed to escape from this place.

She didn’t bother to look up at the sound of approaching footsteps tapping out a steady rhythm on concrete – not until the footfalls stopped right outside her cell. Mirage looked up to see a ventrexian woman in civilian clothing standing next to the forcefield. Interesting.

“Can I help you?” Mirage asked, her tone projecting that she was not someone to be trifled with.

“As a matter of fact, I think you can,” the ventrexian said. She eyed the prisoner as one might an animal in a zoo.

Mirage bristled at that. “Well, are you going to stand there all day staring at me like a creep, or are you going to tell me what you want with me?”

The ventrexian looked unimpressed. “So impatient. I’d have thought your time here would have taught you the lesson of biding your time,” she said coolly. Mirage clenched her teeth at the lecturing. Her visitor continued, “I work for a very powerful benefactor, one who has a vested interest in keeping certain… materials out of the hands of those who would use them for ill gains.”

“Then why’re you talking to one of the most infamous criminals in the galaxy? Or are you really fool enough to trust me?” Mirage asked. She eyed the ventrexian warily, doing a quick mental check on who her greatest adversaries were and how likely they would be to try and off her in a place like this. “And do you think I’d be fool enough to trust you?”

“That is to be expected,” the ventrexian said, then brushed a lingering hair off her suit. “We will establish trust by way of demonstration.”

Mirage stood up at that. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up something fierce.

The ventrexian blinked slowly at her. “No need to be so alarmed. I merely mean that we can prove that we can be of such use to each other that there would be no gain in betrayal.”

“And what use is that?”

“We can break you out of here–”

“Is that all?” Mirage interrupted.

“–and we can help you recover that which you desire most,” the ventrexian continued as if she had not spoken. “Who you desire most. I do think it’s about… time.”

Alarm bells went off in the back, middle, front, top, and bottom of Mirage’s mind. “You know who I am?”

“Yes, Flicker.” The ventrexian threw the name out so casually that Mirage took a step back in panic. “We know your past identity.”

“How?” Mirage demanded. Her previous identity had been carefully scrubbed from the records of her arrest, trial, and incarceration. Something about public morale.

“The how is not important.” The ventrexian pulled out a plastic cylinder from a pocket. Then she pulled out another plastic piece from a different pocket and began fastening them together. “What’s important is that we have the means to bypass the time lock. Or we will, if you can recover three particular items for us.”

That got Mirage’s attention. “You can really get him back?”

“You can get him back. We will simply provide the means.” The ventrexian finished piecing together whatever contraption she was working on. “All that we require is that you do a simple favor for us.”

“A favor.”

“Yes, a favor. A small one, really. Also behind the time lock there is a certain individual we would like you to… dispose of.”

Mirage weighed her options. Murder really wasn’t in her wheelhouse. Too messy, left too many clues. On the other hand, it was unlikely that she was ever going to escape on her own. If this mysterious benefactor was the real deal, the asking price didn’t sound too high. And it wasn’t as if there weren’t alternative contingencies if this plan fell through.

“That’s all you want? No other terms or conditions?” Mirage asked.

“None,” the ventrexian responded. “Well? What’ll it be?”

Mirage walked up to the forcefield. “Deal.”

***

The newscaster announced over a breaking-news chyron, “There was a prison escape at the Sorbo maximum security facility. Several high profile villains escaped, including notables such as Mirage, Werthrent, and Zargon.”

“Oh boy, this is going to be interesting,” Evildeed said to himself. He settled himself further into the couch.

The newscaster continued, “Fortunately, the League of Heroes managed to recapture Zargon within hours of the prison break. Mirage and Werthrent still remain at large. Mirage is known as the master thief believed to be responsible for the disappearances of the Jupiter Eye and the Nymerian Cube . Werthrent is a super-class villain known for having the power to drain the life-force of those around him.”

Two mugshots appeared on the television screen. Evildeed did a double take. There was something familiar about the mugshot on the left, the one of Mirage, but he couldn’t quite piece together why.

“–while measures are put into place,” the newscaster said. Realizing his distraction, Evildeed snapped back to attention. “Citizens are urged to exercise caution in public spaces as the League of Heroes works to apprehend the escapees. A curfew has been–”

“I finished my homework,” Catspaw announced loudly from right behind Evildeed’s head.

He flinched. He turned around to look at his apprentice. “Wow! That was fast! Great job, bud!”

Catspaw beamed. “What? Pffft. It wasn’t hard.”

“Wasn’t hard? Then maybe I need to start assigning you some more advanced lessons.” Evildeed grinned at Catspaw, who made a disgusted face.

“No! I lied. It was actually realllllly hard. Like, super hard.”

“Then I guess I’ll just need to assign you more homework until you get it.”

“Noooo,” Catspaw whined at Evildeed’s wicked grin. He climbed up the couch and formed an upside-down U-shape over the back, his head hanging down next to Evildeed. “You promised me we got to watch a vid when I was done.” When Evildeed said nothing he added a plaintive, “Pleeeeease.”

“Fine!” Evildeed feigned an aggrieved huff, but his smile betrayed him. “But first! We can’t watch a vid without popcorn.”

Catspaw followed him to the kitchen area and watched with interest as he went to make the prerequisite vid-watching snack. “I’ve never had popcorn before,” he admitted.

Evildeed turned to Catspaw with a frown. “Well, that simply won’t do! A double batch it is, for my favorite ventrexian!” Catspaw grinned up at him. Adorable little rascal. “Mooncake!” He called out. “Vid time!”

A few moments later Mooncake flew into the room. “Ooh! A vid? What are we watching?”

Evildeed asked Catspaw, “What do you feel like?”

“Something with action,” Catspaw said excitedly. He waved his hands in the air. “And explosions!”

Evildeed chuckled. “Okay, little dude. I think we can arrange that. Mooncake, sound good?”

Mooncake bobbed once in the air. “No complaints here, boss!”

“Excellent!”

With the popcorn finished and poured into a large metal bowl, Evildeed headed back toward the television. The moment he sat down in the middle of the couch Mooncake and Catspaw were jockeying for the spot on his lap.

“I’ve known him longer!” Mooncake insisted.

“Well I was captured for a long time!” Catspaw snapped back.

“Kids! Stop fighting!” Evildeed said. He cried out in pain as he felt a jab to his kidney in the midst of the tussle. “If you don’t stop it right now I’m revoking lap privileges for the both of you!”

That got them to stop. They looked up at him, Mooncake with a determined expression; Catspaw at least had the decency to look cowed.

“That’s better! Now how about we let Catspaw sit in my lap – no pouting Mooncake, it’ll be your turn next time – and Catspaw, you hold Mooncake,” Evildeed proposed.

“Fine,” Mooncake and Catspaw grumbled in unison.

Evildeed set the popcorn bowl to the side as they formed the Evildeed-Catspaw-Mooncake stack. “Alright. Vid time!”

Chapter Text

5 years 8 months B.F.D

“Ahahahaha!” Evildeed cackled as electricity arced along the metal of his newly designed Catspaw-powered generator. The ventrexian in question ran at the bottom of a large wheel – a scaled up version of a hamster wheel – using his power to turn it at great speed. “More! More power!” Evildeed roared above the din.

Catspaw put on a burst of speed as Evildeed watched the bobbing needle of the voltmeter swing further to the right. Evildeed was pleased. In the past month, his apprentice had managed to increase his top speed by ten percent. He wasn’t exactly well versed in training individuals with powers, being without any himself, but Catspaw was making steady progress, which he decided was a sure sign of success.

Mooncake was off in another room working on one of its pet projects. Now that it had an exosuit with which it could manipulate small objects, it had taken to obtaining work of its own. Evildeed had of course offered to help, but Mooncake was adamant that it wanted to work on its own and jealously guarded its work space. Catspaw had tried to sneak a peak one night only to run face first into an anti-grav trap. Evildeed had found him floating – asleep and slowly rotating in mid-air – the next morning and deactivated the trap without warning, laughing up a storm when Catspaw landed on the floor with a startled mrow.

Catspaw gradually slowed his pace before coming to a stop in the generator wheel, panting with his whole body. “That’s it. No more. I need a break.”

Evildeed looked down at the stopwatch. “Thirty seconds. Not bad!”

Catspaw coughed and punched at his chest. “That’s all? It felt like an hour,” he whined.

“Hey! Don’t sell yourself short. You’re improving, that’s good!” Evildeed assured Catspaw. He had learned early on that Catspaw thrived on positive reinforcement. No surprise, as it sounded like he hadn’t gotten much in his previous life.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Catspaw wheezed as he walked out of the wheel and over to a table, where he picked up a water bottle and chugged the whole thing down in one go. “Look at you, do you even exercise at all?”

“Hey! I exercise plenty!” Evildeed squawked. “Just here,” he said as he pointed at his head.

Catspaw rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever,” he said sullenly.

Evildeed furrowed his brows. “It’s something wrong?”

“Nothing,” Catspaw sighed. “It’s just. My clothes itch really bad after I use my power for too long.” He emphasized this by raking his claws along his sides and back. “Eck! Can’t freaking reach!”

“Let me help you out there,” Evildeed said as he walked around Catspaw and started scratching his back.

Catspaw arched his back and gave a contented sigh. “Thanks. That’s much better.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this problem sooner?” Evildeed asked carefully, not wanting to sound as if he was upset.

His apprentice shrugged. “Didn’t wanna bother you.”

“Hmm. I’m not the most well versed in material science, but I suppose I could look into designing an outfit tailored to your abilities.”

“That would be a-mazing!”

“And I am really proud of you,” Evildeed said. “You’re doing well in your studies and your training.”

Catspaw froze. His posture became timid; his eyes were on the floor, his ears pressed back, and his tail hanging low.

Evildeed frowned. What had he said? “What is it? What’s the matter?” he prompted when Catspaw didn’t say anything. Every now and then the kid would clam up, usually when he was about to ask for something. Evildeed waited patiently as Catspaw took a few deep breaths.

Catspaw turned around. “Um.” He nervously held one arm in the other. “Do you think,” he started. “Would it be alright for me–” He huffed, clearly frustrated with himself.

Evildeed smiled encouragingly at him. “That’s alright. Take your time.”

Catspaw stared at his feet, then looked up at his mentor, his expression unguarded and his eyes shining. “Can I have a hug?”

Evildeed’s heart broke into a thousand pieces at the request. He didn’t hesitate to bend down and wrap his arms around Catspaw. “Any time, little dude. Any time. Consider me a hug machine that operates twenty-four seven, three-sixty-five, here for all your hugging needs.” Small arms wrapped around his back and spiky hair tickled his chin. He very intently ignored the noise of stuttering breaths coming from directly below.

“Thanks. I needed that,” Catspaw said when he let go.

“No problemo. To be honest, I did too,” Evildeed shared so that Catspaw would not be alone in his vulnerability. “I haven’t had a good hug in such a long time.”

“That’s so sad,” Catspaw said with a wavering smile.

“Hey! No feeling bad for me! That is verboten!”

Catspaw screwep up his face. “What’s verboating?”

Evildeed chuckled. “Forbidden. Not allowed. Banned for all time! Thou shalt not feel sorrow on behalf of Doctor Evildeed, world’s greatest villain!”

“I don’t know about that last part,” Catspaw teased.

“Oh you little rascal you,” Evildeed said. He started chasing a giggling Catspaw throughout the lair. Just when he was about to catch Catspaw, the wily ventrexian disappeared around a corner in a burst of speed. “Hey!” Evildeed shouted. “That’s not fair! No using your powers!”

Mooncake flew in from a side room. “Hey! No having fun without me!”

“Oh. Is that so?” Evildeed said with a wicked grin. Then he ran up to Mooncake and tapped him on the top of the head. “Tag! You’re it!”

“I’m what?” Mooncake asked, clearly lost.

Evildeed was already halfway down the hall when he shouted over his shoulder, “It means you’re supposed to chase us until you can tag one of us!”

What followed was an epic half-hour long tag session wherein Evildeed learned the difficulties of playing with two others who could either run at super speed or fly freely. At least they were gracious about letting themselves be caught every now and again. He resolved to build himself a jetpack for the next time.

It was just as well that they engaged in such frivolous activities, Evildeed thought to himself. In three day’s time he was going to embark on his most ambitious nefarious scheme yet. He could feel his nerves rising as the date drew closer; anything able to draw his anxious mind away was a welcome distraction.

***

3 days later

It was time. Time for Doctor Evildeed to enact his first scheme as the new and improved Evildeed – the Evildeed who was playing for keeps. As he stood in the front door he said, “Alright Mooncake. Catspaw. I’m heading out. Be good for me, okay?”

“Awww. Can’t I go with you?” Catspaw pouted. Mooncake mirrored his expression.

“Love the moxie, kid, but you’re not ready to hop along on one of my evil schemes,” Evildeed said.

“I am a thief, you know,” Catspaw pointed out.

“And you got caught,” Evildeed said.

“So? You did too,” Catspaw shot back.

“Yeah,” Evildeed admitted. “But that was different.”

Catspaw pouted even harder at that, looking unconvinced, but no matter how much he tried he would not sway Evildeed’s heart; it didn’t matter how cute he was, dangnabit! Thank the stars he wasn’t enough of a pushover because the ventrexian’s bright, open eyes were weapons-grade.

“Nice try,” Evildeed told Catspaw. “But I really need you to sit this one out.” He knelt before his protégé and put his hands on his shoulders, looking at him at eye level. “This is the big leagues. It’s going to be dangerous.” Catspaw tensed up. “–but not too dangerous!” Evildeed amended, feeling guilt at the half-lie. “Tell you what, after this we’ll go on a smaller mission. One that I can bring you along on.”

Catspaw furrowed his eyebrows. After a moment of staring at the floor he looked back up and muttered, “Promise?”

Evildeed lowered one of his arms, holding it out with his elbow bent. His hand was curled open. “Clasp on it.”

“Clasp?” Catspaw asked.

“A clasp is a sacred bond between men. One that can never be broken. It is the ultimate form of a promise.”

Catspaw looked skeptical, but he returned the clasp. Evildeed squeezed his hand and let go.

“How long are you going to be gone?” Mooncake asked, deciding that it was done watching the scene play out.

Evildeed took a moment to consider. “Probably until early morning, maybe noon-ish if things go sideways.”

“Be careful,” Mooncake said.

Evildeed nodded. “I will.” He turned around and headed for the door. “Oh! And Mooncake? Look after Catspaw while I’m gone. Make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble!”

“What? Wait! I didn’t sign up to be the kid’s babysitter!” Mooncake sputtered as Evildeed made his exit with a cackle.

***

Avocato was curled up on the couch, burritoed tightly in a fleece blanket. The television was playing an old Ventrexian space comedy serial vid, one that had been produced before he was born. He watched as two of the vid’s protagonists were trapped in an alternate dimension where their thoughts were made reality. He smiled when one of the characters, in a fit of hunger, thought about tuna, causing fish people to rush in. The other character yelled at the first, causing the fish people to start wielding pitchforks and chasing the hapless protagonists around a physically impossible maze structure.

“This is so ridiculous,” he said to himself. This particular serial was his comfort vid. He had gone through the serial once already in the past month, and was now on his second watch-through.

His comm beeped. Its surface lit up, indicating that there was a message waiting for him. For a solid ten minutes Avocato debated with himself over whether he should pick it up. On the one hand, the comm was out of reach, so retrieving it would require leaving the comfort of his blanket burrito. On the other hand, it was almost certainly Quinn – he had very few people he let have this kind of access to him – and there was no stopping a Quinn on a mission. His decision was made for him when it beeped three times in rapid succession.

With great reluctance he disentangled himself from the blanket and walked over to the stand where he had left his comm.

Avocato sighed as he went about making his place presentable for his incoming guest. Quinn had been persistent in her efforts in lifting him from his despondency. To be honest, he didn’t mind. Quinn had been very understanding about his need to take some time for himself, even if it was turning out to be more time than was probably healthy. He sighed as he picked up three half-full glasses of water; he dumped them in the sink and then set them in the dishwasher.

He had all of fifteen minutes before Quinn was letting herself in through the door. “We’re going to watch your favorite episode of The Three Meowsketeers and eat ice cream, and then we’re going to go on patrol together,” she announced, not even waiting for him to respond before she sat down on his couch and added, “Just a couple rounds. No crime fighting. We’ll pass it on to the League if there’s anything serious going down.”

Resigned to his fate, Avocato dropped heavily onto the couch. He accepted the paper bowl piled high with three generous scoops that Quinn handed him: cookie dough, his favorite. He gave Quinn a grateful smile and dug in while the adventures of Cathos, Pawthos, and Arahiss – of course narrated by d’Artagnyan – carried out on the vidscreen.

When the vid ended Quinn gathered the empty paper bowls and plastic spoons and made her way to the kitchen. “Suit up, Avocato!”

Avocato threw his head over the back of the couch with a huff. “Okay, but let me shower first,” he said as he reluctantly stood up with a stretch and a groan.

“Fifteen minutes then, no stalling!” Quinn called out across the apartment.

Avocato rolled his eyes, even if in the moment he had really wanted to do just that.

***

“Hehehe, too easy,” Evildeed chuckled as he deactivated the electro-grate that barred entry to the archives below City Hall. His backchanneling efforts uncovered some very interesting information about a possible connection between the planetary governor and Project Titan. A possible connection between the governor and the Lord Commander? This morsel was simply too juicy to pass up.

Beyond the electro-grate was a series of concrete hallways. It gave the impression of an underground bunker. Evildeed slinked his way through the maze of corridors. Peering around a corner, he saw a rudimentary security camera. He tossed a small device onto the floor in front of him, which sprouted four metal legs and began scurrying to the wall behind the camera, climbing its way up and onto the camera before attaching to the lens and projecting a feed that would blank out Evildeed’s body.

He strutted his way past the camera and to the door at the end of the hallway. The door itself was thick metal, the words “ACCESS LEVEL 3” painted across in bold white letters. It was entirely too enticing to pass up. Evildeed snapped a finger and four more spider bots scrabbled out of his coat and attached themselves to the surface of the door. They fired bright orange lasers that slowly carved a hole small enough for one of the bots to crawl through. A few seconds later there was an electronic beep and the door slowly slid open.

The room beyond was sparsely illuminated by overhead spotlights. The walls were lined with glass display cases, each of which was cryptically labeled. The spider bots scurried along the floor, following Evildeed as he walked with his arms behind his back, methodically observing each display case in turn, ducking his head forward when he saw something of potential interest. Most of the displays appeared to be outdated tech. Probably not terribly dangerous, but also not something to be let into enemy hands.

“Is someone there?” a voice called from ahead.

Evildeed quickly darted behind a display case and crouched low, hiding himself in the shadows. He listened intently to the sounds of servos and metal scraping against concrete. A squat robot walked past him, seemingly unaware of his presence.

“Hyahh!” Evideed screamed as he threw himself at the robot.

“Oh no!” The robot said as Evildeed started dismantling it. “Please don’t do that. It took me forever to convince them to give me a body.”

“Wait.” Evildeed stopped twisting one of arms out of the robot’s sockets (the irony!) and gave it a more thorough evaluation. “You’re not a security bot.”

“No. I am an heuristic analysis artificial intelligence. You may call me HUE. Judging by the fact that you have attacked me I calculate a thirty-seven percent chance that you are not staff.”

“Just thirty-seven?” Evildeed asked in dismay. “They treat you that bad here?”

“Let’s just say I’m not very popular.”

“Look, that sounds real sad HUE, but I’m afraid I can’t exactly let you go.”

“Are you a villain, then?” HUE asked, sounding resigned to his fate.

“Got it in one!” Evildeed snapped a finger. “But really, I can’t have you foiling my plans.”

“In this economy, with this body?”

Evildeed regarded the quite frankly shabbily constructed frame that was HUE’s body. Oh dear, he actually felt sorry for him. “Got a point there. How about I tie you up to the nearest pipe or something?”

HUE bent forward. “Please don’t. In fact, you should take me with you. Anything to get away from him.”

“Away from who?” Evildeed asked.

“He means me!” another voice called out brightly from directly above Evildeed.

Evildeed screamed. He looked up to see a floating metal sphere with two stubby arms that was hovering in mid-air. “Who the heck are you?”

The sphere waved his arms. “Hi! I’m KVN! And I am your new best friend!”

“You should escape while you can,” HUE said morosely. “Once he decides he likes you – and he will – it’s impossible to get rid of him.”

“Nonsense! We can all be best friends together!” KVN said loudly. He flew over and smashed himself against Evildeed’s face, wrapping a metal arm around the back of his head. “Best friends forever!”

Evildeed decided then and there that he didn’t like KVN. “Off!” he pushed KVN away and threw a spider bot at him. The spider bot landed on the middle of KVN’s face and let out a massive electrical discharge.

“Bayayaya!” KVN said as bright blue arcs crawled around his body. “That tickles!”

“Could everyone please just shut up!” Evildeed hissed. “This was supposed to be a covert operation!”

“Ooh! Like spy stuff?” KVN asked. He twirled around in the air. “I’m really good at doing spy stuff!”

“He really isn’t,” HUE stated.

“Nonsense! Trust in your pal KVN! Whatever you need, I can help!”

“You can help by going into the corner and not talking to me ever again,” Evildeed suggested.

“Okay!” KVN said cheerfully and flew off down the corridor.

“I can’t believe that worked,” HUE said.

Evildeed started walking and had made it a good thirty feet when he noticed HUE was following him. “Listen, I appreciate your predicament– how long have you been down here?”

“My best guess would be twenty years,” HUE said. “Please. Don’t leave me,” he added pitifully.

Evildeed sighed. “I’m not sure I can afford to take a stray robot back with me.”

“At least let me help you. I know all the security measures in this place. And if there’s anything in particular you're looking for I can help with that as well.”

Evildeed stared at HUE. HUE stared back. “Alright,” Evildeed said reluctantly. “I guess you can tag along. You wouldn’t happen to know where I can find anything on something called Project Titan?”

“I remember there being an entire room devoted to that,” HUE said. He waddled in front of Evildeed and led him down the hallway. “A lot of stuff that was kept there was moved out a couple years ago. I don’t know how much you’ll find,” HUE’s voice echoed throughout the corridor, the walls of which were cast in long shadows. It was a little creepy, and Evildeed kept his guard up.

Eventually they reached a small, dark chamber that split off from the main hallway. HUE pointed at an open archway. “Through here.”

When Evildeed walked inside, fluorescent lights automatically lit up overhead with a little flicker and buzz. HUE was right. There were obvious empty spaces in the fine dust that covered the floor.

Off to one side where a row of metal file cabinets. He opened one drawer to see a stack of manila folders, stuffed to the brim with papers. “Ugh. Hardcopy.”

The first few files he skimmed through appeared to be medical documentation. Evildeed frowned. “There’s no way I can carry this all back.”

HUE walked to his side. He opened a panel on his chest, revealing an empty cavity inside. “I can carry some of them. If you take me with you.”

Evildeed took a minute to consider. “You win,” he said as he started stuffing files into HUE.

“Hey new friend,” KVN yelled as he flew into the room.

“I thought I told you to leave me alone!” Evildeed snapped.

“Yes. I was doing that. But then this scary person started chasing me– oh no they’re here!” KVN flew around Evildeed, hiding behind his back. A second later and someone wearing a red and black motorcycler’s suit and helmet ran into the room. They carried in one fist a long dagger, the edges of which glowed with an ominous red light.

“The $&#%?” The person said, their voice muffle within the helmet. “They told me there wouldn’t be anyone here.” They stalked towards Evildeed but stopped short. “You! Of course it had to be you!”

“What?” Evildeed yelped. “Stay back!” He pulled out a spider bot and held in front of him, perhaps not being as menacing as he would have liked.

“Yes! Save me!” KVN said.

“And me,” HUE added as he joined KVN behind Evildeed.

“Kiddo. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you force my hand.” Something about that voice was familiar to Evildeed. The gravelly quality and accent. But he just couldn’t place it.

‘Who are you?” he asked. “Do I know you?”

The stranger sheathed their dagger and slowly raised their hands to the helmet, lifting it off and revealing an older woman’s face. Long platinum blonde hair fell around rounded shoulders. Bright blue eyes peered out from a weary expression. There was a small scar on one cheek that hadn’t been there the last time–

Wait. Evildeed felt his blood run cold. His hands trembled. There was no way. There was no way the woman standing before him– it was impossible, okay? There was just no freaking way.

The woman looked gravely at Evildeed, who felt his throat close up and open again before he let out a hoarse, “Mom?”

“Mom?” KVN repeated. He looked out curiously from behind Evildeed.

“Heh. Looks like we’re after the same thing,” Sheryl – no, Mirage – said wryly. She nodded at the room behind Evildeed.

He turned around. Laid out beneath a glass cover was a table, upon which rested a very elaborate looking suit. The kind of suit a super might wear. There were small metal tubes running across the thick fabric, hooking into the suit every few inches. The material looked advanced. More advanced than anything Evildeed knew how to work with. And yet this was supposed to be old tech...

“What is it?” he asked.

“If my sources are to be believed,” Mirage said as she walked over to the display. She ran her hands over the glass. “And I have good reason to believe they are, that suit belonged to the Arachnitect.”

“The Arachnitect? Wait!” Evildeed shouted. “That’s the guy the Lord Commander thought was me!”

Mirage snapped her attention back to him. “He what?”

“The Lord Commander accused me of being some guy called the Arachnitect!”

Mirage smiled. It was not a nice smile. “Interesting. Very interesting,” she drawled. “Perhaps we could help each other. Quid pro quo.”

“What makes you think I’d ever work with you again, after what you did?” Evildeed demanded.

“I know I’ve made some mistakes–”

“Mistakes, she says,” Evildeed scoffed. “Where were you?”

“Locked up. Didn’t really get to have access to the outside world.”

“Would you have contacted me even if you had?”

“I don’t know. Look. I was a terrible mother. I’ll admit that,” Mirage said through gritted teeth, as if it was such a pain for her to admit that. As if it hurt her more than him.

“Just the tip of the iceberg,” Evildeed muttered.

“Ooh! The family drama!” KVN said.

Evildeed swatted him with a quiet, “Shut it!”

“Look. The people I’m working with know a lot about this stuff,” Mirage offered.

“And why’s it so interesting to you?” Evildeed asked. “A petty thief like you?”

“I am an accomplished thief, thank you very much. And my reasons are personal.” Mirage was clearly holding something back, but it looked like she was unlikely to back down. “And last time I checked, you were a villain as well.”

“Like mother, like son, I guess,” Evildeed said. He sighed in frustration. “You’re really not going to let me leave with this, are you?” he asked as he gestured at the Arachnitect’s suit.

“No. I need it,” Mirage insisted.

“This is just great. I keep meeting up with people from my past only to have things go south.” Evildeed glared at his mother with suspicion. “You aren’t going to betray me the moment you get what you want, are you? People have a history of doing that with me, yourself included.”

Mirage grimaced. “Fair. I’d have nothing to gain from that,” she said. “Besides, if this doesn’t work out, I may need you.”

“Need me. Glad to know the only time you show up is when you need me.”

“Well I’m here now.”

Evildeed stared at Mirage. He hated her so much in the moment, but fighting her wasn’t likely to get him anywhere. At least, not anywhere good. “I suppose I can work with you,” he offered petulantly. “For now.”

“So gracious,” Mirage said. She walked around the room. “Get the suit.” She placed several explosive charges along the walls and on the file cabinets.

“Whoa! Hey! What are you doing?” Evildeed asked.

“Covering our tracks,” Mirage said.

“Well that’s certainly one way to do it,” Evildeed commented.

HUE piped up, “An explosion will certainly trigger seismic alarms. I estimate we’ll have a mean time of four minutes before heroes arrive.”

Evildeed retrieved the suit and slung it over his shoulder. “Then we better get moving,” he said as he hightailed it out of the room.

Kevin danced in the air next to him as he followed. “This is the most fun I’ve had in… in ever!”

“I’m not sure I like having fun,” HUE supplied from where he was falling behind. “Wait up for me.”

KVN flew back to HUE and picked him up by the arms. “Oh great,” HUE bemoaned. “Even though I’m escaping I’m still stuck with you.”

“Less chatter, more running,” Mirage said as she ran past them.

The four made their exit from city hall as Mirage detonated the explosive charges. She turned to Evildeed, “How’d you get here?”

He grinned at her. “Like this.” He fired his grappling hook at a passing vehicle and tapped his heels and was pulled into the road.

“Wait for meeee!” KVN yelled as he followed.

Evildeed turned to see Mirage jumping onto a motorcycle and revving into pursuit. And some people actually look forward to their family reunions, he thought grimly.

***

Clawmaster followed Nightfall as she rappelled down the side of a building and into a side street. She had been roving across the cityscape much faster than her usual pace. Clawmaster took it as a sign that she was trying to run him ragged. Maybe she thought she could make him too tired to feel sad for himself.

The night was a cool and calm one. On the main streets people were milling about under the neon glare that advertised the many distractions Lightopia had to offer.

Nightfall led Clawmaster through a small park surrounded on all four sides by tall residential complexes. He jumped at the sound of loud, unrestrained laughter. Carefully he turned toward the noise and saw it was coming from a rusted merry-go-round. Four young people, a mix of human and alien, were sitting or laying down in various languid poses, passing a glass bottle between them. He had no doubt they were drinking the night away. And that they were underage.

He hesitated as he grappled with the urge to lecture them, but Nightfall pulled him away, saying “Not tonight. Tonight is for you.” Clawmaster did not fight her on that one.

They had walked another four blocks when Nightfall put a finger to her ear. “Update from the League,” she said as she tilted her head at Clawster.

Nightfall had specifically forbidden him from bringing his own transceiver. He felt his hands clench at the loss of his connection to that network, his anticipation of the unknown rising, as he waited for his companion to continue.

After a moment, Nightfall sighed. “Sounds like trouble at city hall.”

“They might need us,” Clawmaster said urgently. His claws itched as they begged to come out.

Nightfall shook her head. “This is supposed to be a patrol only, remember?” Then her eyes widened. “Oh %&@$.”

“What?” Clawmaster demanded.

“Your friend is there. And someone else too. Unclear if they’re working– hey!” Nightfall shouted as Clawmaster sprinted in the direction of City Hall.

It took him eight minutes of all out running and climbing through the city before he arrived on the scene. Occasionally, Nightfall had called out to him from behind, but he was too focused on getting to the scene of the crime. This was why he did what he did, he was reminded.

By the time he got there, it was apparently too late. There were police vehicles lined around the block, their lights flashing into the dark of the night. Clawmaster recognized a couple of supers from the League. They were interrogating a cluster of security personnel. A news crew van was just pulling up.

City Hall. This was serious. If this was truly Evildeed’s handiwork then Clawmaster’s guilt over his past actions were assuaged. As far as Clawmaster was concerned, the two of them were now even. He cursed to himself, promising that the next time Evildeed dared to show his face, he himself would be the one to take the villain down.

Chapter Text

5 years, 7 months B.F.D

Evildeed pored over the Project Titan dossiers he had stolen. On the counter to his left, a centrifuge worked on a sample of the substance he had recovered from the chemical plant almost a year ago. Mirage paced from wall to wall in the background. She had been for the last hour.

“Would you cut that out?” Evildeed snapped. “Or go to another room.”

“Don’t take that tone with me, son,” Mirage returned. She had been impatient ever since the heist at City Hall. Whatever was going on with Project Titan, she knew something she wasn’t letting on, yet she was desperate as all get-out for Evildeed to make a breakthrough. Why wouldn’t she just tell him?

Evildeed slammed his fists onto the counter. He took several calming breaths before he said, “Look. I can’t concentrate with you hovering over my shoulder. Why don’t you spend some time with Catspaw. He seems to like you.” That last part he added resentfully. He knew it was petty, but he had been hoping his apprentice would share his disdain for the mother who had abandoned him.

“Fine,” Mirage said before she stalked out of the room. Tensions were high, sure, but you couldn’t rush genius!

Evildeed continued his research, the hours passing without his notice. The biological sciences weren’t his strong suit. He had managed to suss out some of the less technical details. One: Project Titan was a joint venture between the Lord Commander and elements of the government. Two: members of the League of Heroes were involved. Three: the names Bolo and Oreskis kept showing up in files backdated as many as fourteen years ago. The name Invictus – could it be the infamous supervillain? – appeared only on more recently dated documents, within the last few months or so. Four: the project involved the manipulation of powers. To what end was still to be determined.

With a frustrated growl Evildeed planted his forehead on the counter. Things were going nowhere fast. He racked his memory for any clues as to who Bolo and Oreskis were. Those names were unfamiliar, but they were obviously significant. When Evildeed lifted his head from the counter, the paper it had landed on stuck to his forehead. Annoyed, he blew at it. It fell off and back into the pile in front of him.

Looking down at the offending sheaf of paper, he saw several diagrams of complex molecules. He stared at them, the letters swimming around in his vision. The centrifuge beeped as it started to decelerate and Evildeed turned his attention to it. Something buzzed in the back of his mind. He looked back at the molecular diagrams, then to the centrifuge, then back at the diagrams.

“Amino acids,” he whispered in awe. He had a hunch, and he hoped to the sun and back that he was right.

***

Catspaw was practicing on a climbing wall that Evildeed had installed in one of the taller open rooms of their lair when Mirage walked into the room.

“You’re quite the climber,” she observed just as he reached the bell at the top of the wall. Ding!

“Thanks,” Catspaw huffed out before working his way down. He had raced Evildeed once, but his claws had given him an unfair advantage. (“Faster and more acrobatic,” Evildeed had laughed once they had finished.) He grinned. “Got kicked out again?”

Mirage grinned back. “Don’t feel like I’m getting anything done if I’m not making a nuisance of myself.”

“Me too,” Catspaw said. He fidgeted when he noticed that Mirage was staring at him curiously. “What?”

“Does my son teach you any fighting techniques?” Mirage asked.

“Not really,” Catspaw said. His tail drooped slightly. “He says I shouldn’t need that stuff yet anyway, I guess.”

“Pshaw! You’re never too young to learn self-defense.”

Catspaw grew quiet. His ears flicked nervously.

Mirage frowned at him. “What? C’mon now, spit it out!” She had little patience for his antics.

Catspaw hesitated for a moment. Then he looked up at her and asked, “Can you teach me?”

Mirage hadn’t even finished saying “Sure thing, kiddo” before she knocked hip prone with a leg sweep.

“Ow!” Catspaw groaned from the floor, his tail still puffed out from the surprise attack.

“Get back up, kid!” Mirage said without mercy. She briefly reflected how it should be her own son she trained – from what she could tell he was mediocre at best in hand-to-hand combat – but she quickly pushed that thought away. She barked, “No time to dilly-dally! And no using your powers! You can’t always rely on them in a fight! We’re going to turn you into a proper fighter!”

Catspaw’s tail swished from side to side excitedly as he levered himself back to his feet. “Oh it’s so on!”

They spent the next hour training, with Mirage repeatedly humbling Catspaw. Though he wasn’t able to get so much as a claw on her, Mirage could tell the young ventrexian was an adept learner. Already she could track his progress.

In the middle of the proceedings HUE and KVN came to watch. HUE was mostly silent, content to simply observe from the sidelines. KVN was raucous in his cheering on Catspaw, occasionally mock-punching the air in his excitement.

They were winding down when Evildeed ran into the room. “There you are!” he cried out. “I might have figured it out!” He beamed at Mirage.

Catspaw cocked his head. “Figured what out?”

“Ooh! Yeah! I want to know too!” KVN exclaimed.

Evildeed did a flourish and bow. “Yours truly mayhaps made some headway on this Project Titan business.”

“About time,” Mirage drawled. “What did you find out?”

“Well, I need to perform a few more tests– which! That reminds me! I could use some blood samples.”

“Why?” Mirage asked, dubious.

Catspaw rubbed his arm. “That’s with needles, right? I don’t like needles.”

Evildeed walked over to Catspaw and rubbed his head, and Catspaw leaned into the touch. “Don’t worry, little bud. It’ll only take a moment! And it’ll really help me.”

“I guess,” Catspaw said reluctantly, then put on an innocent, wide-eyed look. “If I can have cookies for dinner tonight.”

Evildeed laughed. “Of course you can!” Catspaw blinked at the unexpected answer. Evildeed clapped his hands once. “This is going to be an auspicious day!”

“I can give some blood too!” KVN said.

Mirage frowned. “Do you even have blood?”

KVN opened up a hatch on his side and produced a small vial which was probably once filled with a dark red liquid, but was now caked dry on the inside. “See?”

Evildeed made a face of pure disgust. “That’s– you know what? I’m not gonna ask where you got that. Or from whom.”

“That’s probably for the best,” HUE commented at the same time that KVN brightly said, “That’s alright! I don’t remember!”

“Right. You can just put that away,” Evildeed said. “Well, if Mirage and Catspaw will join me in the lab!”

***

5 years, 6 months B.F.D

Evildeed watched from his perch high on the rooftop as planetary governor Mariphex Lok gave a campaign speech from a makeshift platform on the street below. Behind the governor were members of the political elite that were endorsing him, as well as a twenty-person marching band. On the roof behind Evildeed lay the unconscious bodies of four security agents. He sneered as the crowd below erupted into cheers at something the governor said.

“Let’s see how long they like him when they find out he works with villains,” Evildeed said under his breath as he prepared his extendiglider. He was waiting for the perfect moment. Judging from the reactions of the crowd below, the governor was reaching the climax of his stump speech.

The day was sunny and clear. That was important, because the villain wanted to be easily visible when he stole the show; in the limelight, all cameras on him, as it were. He crouched low in anticipation. Everything was setting up for a theatrical reveal!

There was a click from behind. Evildeed snapped around.

Clawmaster stood there with a catarang in each hand. “Found you, Evildeed,” he growled.

“Zooks! That’s Doctor Evildeed to you,” Evildeed said dramatically. He raised an affronted hand to his chest, noticing that Clawmaster tracked the movement intently. So a distraction it is. “You got me, Mr. Big Muscly Buff Man Hero.”

Clawmaster tilted his head behind his mask. “What?”

“I said,” Evildeed repeated with mock patience. “You got me.”

Clawmaster audibly cleared his throat. “That’s right! No sudden moves!” he warned. Ever so slowly, one cautious footstep after another, he approached Evildeed.

Evildeed scoffed. “I suppose it was inevitable. How could I have possibly thought myself equal to such a hero as yourself.” He watched as Clawmaster drew near the critical spot. Just a few more seconds! “I have seen the error of my ways! To think that I thought I could best you, fool that I am!” Do you seriously not see that I am monologuing right now? Haha!

Clawmaster took the (not-so-)fatal step. Now! A spiderbot launched itself from its hiding spot and attached itself to the hero’s back.

“Grr! Getitoffme!” Clawmaster tried and was unable to reach the bot, which let out an electric shock that had the hero dropping to the ground. Incapacitated, but not unconscious, Clawmaster looked helplessly on as Evildeed extended his glider.

“Better luck next time,” Evildeed smirked as he turned around and stepped to the edge of the roof. He picked up a large burlap bag and jumped off.

Evildeed dropped a few stories downwards before leveling out. He followed along the street, flying in the direction of the governor’s bandstand. As he did, he opened the burlap bag. Hundreds upon hundreds of papers fluttered in the wind, slowly falling toward the people below. Faces and cameras turned upward, some in curiosity, some in alarm. Bystanders were pointing upward, no doubt asking what was going on. Those on the edge of the crowd peeled away. A couple of agents ran towards the governor and carried him off the platform.

As the first papers reached the ground a few people picked them up. More were snatched from mid-air. More and more citizens joined in, until the crowd was a frenzy. Evildeed cackled to himself at having successfully wrecked the party. Soon they would realize what the papers meant. He couldn’t wait for the inevitable media firestorm and a public outcry.

Evildeed glided off into the distance, pleased with the mayhem he left behind.

***

***

Catspaw huffed. “I can’t believe you’re not taking me again.”

“Sorry, bud,” Evildeed said. “I promise we’ll get to that next time.”

Catspaw furrowed his brows, then held his hand out. “Clasp on it.”

Evildeed chuckled. “Okay, Catspaw.” He completed the sacred clasp. “But keep in mind, clasps are super serious business. You can’t use them for every little thing.”

“This isn’t little. It is serious!” Catspaw insisted as he stamped a foot.

Evildeed held his hands up. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to suggest it wasn’t. I know it is, and that’s why we clasped on it.”

“That’s right!”

KVN flew next to Catspaw. “Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of him.” He pet the ventrexian on the head, who shoved his arm away with a “No touchie!”

“Don’t worry,” HUE said. “I can take care of them.” Evildeed looked doubtful.

“I don’t need to be taken care of. I’m not a child,” Mooncake sniffed. It hugged Evildeed’s face. “See you soon?”

“Soon,” Evildeed agreed.

Mirage took that moment to walk in, rope slung over her shoulder and various tools equipped to her belt. “Ready?”

“I think so,” Evildeed replied. “Alright. I’ll see you all later!”

“Godspeed!” HUE called out, and for a brief moment Evildeed stopped in his tracks, his shoulders tense. No. He can’t know. Shaking his head he relaxed, focusing on the task ahead.

Evildeed followed Mirage to her motorcycle. The ride to the production facility was uneventful, save for Mirage’s driving. She had Evildeed holding on for dear life – not that he wasn’t having the time of his life! – weaving through traffic with practiced ease. Evildeed watched as the high rises gradually turned into three-story residential complexes to non-descript industrial metal blocks, the neon lights giving way to sparse street lamps then dark roads and alleys.

They stopped outside an abandoned train depot. It was a ugly, squat wooden building. The yellow-painted walls were chipped and faded; the windows were cracked or smashed in places. It also provided an excellent vantage point of the facility.

Mirage pried off the wooden board that covered the main entrance. Evildeed followed her inside, sneezing at the dust they kicked up. He unrolled a blueprint of the facility onto the table. “Okay, this is a quick job, in and out. Our objective is to replace the master chip that controls the nano-fabrication process.”

“What are the obstacles?” Mirage asked as her eyes traced over the diagram.

“There’s pretty decent perimeter security, but once we enter the facility itself we should be in the clear. That said, we’ll want to make this as quick as possible, while leaving no traces. Clarence assures me that the switch won’t probably be noticed for a while.”

“Access points?”

Evildeed pointed at the blueprint. “There’s a drainage pipe that empties here, if you can hold your nose.”

“Eh. I’ve been through worse,” Mirage assured. “Equipment check?”

Ten minutes later the two were climbing a concrete wall using modified handheld suction cups. Once they climbed over, Evildeed led Mirage to a lake of nasty sludge. They crept along its bank, avoiding the roving search lights. Evildeed stopped when he heard a small splash nearby. He looked down and a large two-headed salamander crawled over his boots.

“Hyaaa-mmmmmmm!” Evildeed clapped a hand over his mouth as he shrieked.

Mirage looked at him with disappointment. She raised a finger to her lips.

Evildeed rolled his eyes even as his whine was dying out behind his hand. They continued onward and approached a tall ledge that lined the side of the facility. The ledge led them directly over the drainage pipe. Evildeed’s spider bots made quick work of the thick grate at its end. He and Mirage put on filtration masks and plastic boot covers.

Making their way up the pipe was slow going. It was barely large enough to crouch in, and rose to a step angle before leading into the facility. Once they reached the other end they disposed of the boot covers and leapt down from the pipe to the floor below. The room they had ended up in was dimly lit, long conveyor belts snaking above the floor.

Evildeed raised an electronic box with a few knobs and a small square screen. When Mirage raised her eyebrows he whispered, “Infrared sensor.”

“Good idea,” she whispered back.

Evildeed stumbled for a brief second. That was the first time he had heard his mother praise him as far as he could remember. He looked at her, but she only impatiently motioned for him to go on.

Together, they snuck through the facility. Mirage stood guard as Evildeed tiptoed into the control room. It looked to him like the control room of a nuclear reactor; a large panel of switches and buttons ran along two walls. Using his spider bots, he quietly subdued two technicians who had been standing in the room, facing away from the entrance.

A quick search and Evildeed found where the master chip was locked behind a latching mechanism. He nimbly worked the latch and replaced the chip, pocketing the old one. He let out a heavy breath at having accomplished the mission. As much as he hated to admit it, he and his mom made a great team.

They retraced their steps back towards the room with the conveyor belts. Evildeed was about to turn the corner when a worker coming from the other side ran right into him. The worker fell to the floor in a shower of papers. When they looked up, their eyes widened.

“Y-you’re… w-who are you?” they stammered.

Evildeed quickly pulled out a spider bot but before he could throw it at the worker they yelled, “Guards!” and pressed a button attached to their belt. A klaxxon blared.

“Well you really stuck your foot in it,” Mirage growled as she pulled out her knife.

“No! Wait!” Evildeed pleaded as Mirage lunged at the worker. This was not how it was supposed to go!

The stampeding sounds of many sets of running footsteps approached from further down the hallway. Evildeed shut his eyes tight. He tried to mentally map his way out of the situation. Lights floated behind his eyelids. The lights grew in intensity and he felt a tugging sensation. There was a POP! Evildeed opened his eyes again.

“Well?” Mirage asked. “Let’s get.” She was standing next to Evildeed in the hallway. Nobody else was in sight.

“What?” Evildeed said, dazed and feeling a slight case of vertigo.

Mirage crossed her arms and huffed at his antics. “You replaced the thingy, right?”

Evildeed turned around. He was standing directly in front of the doorway to the control room. Through it, he could see the two unconscious bodies of the technicians. He shook his head, but the fog in his head wouldn’t completely dissipate.

He breathed, “Yeah. I did.”

“Then let’s get a move on,” Mirage urged.

They ran back towards the room with the conveyor belts. When they approached a familiar corner, about fifteen feet ahead, Evildeed hissed “Wait!” and grabbed Mirage by the arm, pulling her into a side closet. He closed the door and listened intently. Soft footsteps passed by them, the shadows of someone’s legs stretching and moving across the floor underneath the closet door.

“That was a close one,” Mirage remarked. She brushed Evildeed’s arm away.

“Yeah,” Evildeed said, distracted. “A close one.”

“Son, is everything all right?” Mirage asked. To Evildeed, it almost sounded like concern.

“A-OK,” he responded, and satisfied that the immediate threat was no longer in the vicinity, led them back out into the hallway.

They made their way back to the lair without further incident. Well, without further major incident. Evildeed tripped up a few times, lost in thought about what had occurred. What he thought had occurred. What he imagined to have occurred?

***

5 years, 4 months B.F.D

Mooncake sang a happy tune as it put the finishing touches on its project. With great care, it wrapped the metallic cube in a thin paper and placed a bow on top. It hoped that the present would go over well with Evildeed. Mostly, it wanted to show its friend that it could hench with the best of them. Beyond being a friend and a babysitter for Catspaw, Mooncake wanted to feel useful. It had been created to be a tool; it wanted to be so much more than that. It wanted to be a discoverer and a creator.

As it hummed, Mooncake flew through the lair, looking for the elusive Evildeed. The villain had been very active lately, moving from one laboratory set-up to another to the armory to the rec room and so on, almost every hour. Mooncake took it as a good sign. A sign that he was making progress on a variety of projects. It was either that or Evildeed was rotating between projects he was stuck on, and his mood was far too upbeat for that.

Mooncake found Evildeed sitting on the couch in the break room. He was watching the news on the vidscreen. Mooncake flew in front of his vision.

“Hey, I was watching that!” Evildeed complained. He tried to look around Mooncake, but every time he moved his head, Mooncake moved to block him.

Mooncake dropped the gift in Evildeed’s lap, who exhaled with an “oof!” Oops! The device was heavy, wasn’t it?

“A present? For Me?” Evildeed asked excitedly. His hands twitched over the wrapping paper.

“Yep!” Mooncake chirped. “It’s what I’ve been working on. Go on! Open it!”

Evildeed no further prompting. He gingerly plucked the bow and placed it on Mooncake’s head, soliciting a giggle. Then he absolutely destroyed the wrapping paper with manic glee, revealing a familiar metal cube. He looked up at Mooncake. “You fixed it?”

Moocake did a flip. “And more! I found out how to give it finer control. See the screen on the side?”

Evildeed turned the cube over in his hands and sure enough, there was a digital display on one surface. It was lit up with a picture of a pair of glasses. “Huh.” He pressed the big red button on the top of the cube. Fzzt! With a flash of blue light a pair of black-framed glasses popped into existence and fell on top of the device. “Neato,” he beamed at Mooncake.

“You like it?” Mooncake asked hesitantly.

“I like it a lot,” Evildeed assured. “This is such a wonderful present!”

“Aw, shucks.”

Evildeed motioned for a hug. “C'mere!”

After they finished hugging it out Mooncake left to go back to its workspace. Evildeed placed the device on the floor, feeling pretty swell about the way things were going. Between Mooncake and Catspaw, it was like they had a happy little family. Evildeed leaned back on the couch, closed his eyes, and smiled to himself.

There was a thump and he turned to see Catspaw sit onto the couch next to him. He frowned. “You’re not supposed to be up.”

“Can’t sleep,” Catspaw said, his voice raspy with exhaustion. He yawned, his mouth opening wide and his tongue curling out.

“No?” Evildeed prompted.

“Too excited.”

“For the mission tomorrow?”

Catspaw grinned at Evildeed. He kicked his legs as he enthused, “Yeah! I can’t wait! It’s going to be so awesome!”

Evildeed bumped his apprentice’s shoulder with a fist. “That it is, Catspaw. That it is.” He turned back to watch the news bulletin on the vidscreen. An announcer was going through the election results for planetary governor. Thanks to Evildeed’s efforts, the incumbent Mariphex Lok had been disgraced and wound up in third place.

Catspaw drolly said, “I can’t believe you watch this stuff.”

Evildeed rolled his eyes. “Hush, you. Someday you’ll be an adult too and care about these things.”

Catspaw looked at him in mock horror. After a long pause, the two of them devolved into fits of laughter.

Distracted by their mirth, Evildeed missed the announcer saying, “At first, Caiteb Ovet was favored to win the election, but recent setbacks in interstellar trade, caused in part by faulty lightfold engines, launched the status of Alec Cern’s platform. In the end it was enough to push him past Ovet and to victory. Alec Cern, former CEO of Vervesten Communications Interplanetary, is set to be inaugurated in four month’s time.”

Chapter Text

5 years, 4 months B.F.D.

The Magnificent Clarence had come through with his end of the bargain, sending Evildeed his files on Bolo and Oreskis. Apparently those names were the alter egos of two very famous, very powerful superheroes. They had been from long, long before his time, disappearing from the scene around two hundred years ago. There had been rumors at the time of their disappearance that the government was responsible, a government too afraid of their fearsome might. To Evildeed, it all sounded like bunk.

Bolo had been Repeater, a hero capable of summoning physical duplicates of himself. He had been most well known for his work in search and rescue operations. News articles from the time of his vanishing claimed that he was able to summon as many as a hundred versions of himself, but the true nature of his power remained a mystery.

Oreskis had been the hero known as The Singularity. His power was the manipulation of the very fabric of space. At the height of his career there had been mass protests against him by certain segments of the populace, who had come to believe that he was capable of summoning a black hole capable of destroying the entire planet.

That was about it. Clarence had apologized that he was unable to turn up more. He claimed that any further information was probably not hidden by higher levels of secrecy than he could reach – which he claimed was none – but most likely had been destroyed altogether. That particular possibility had attracted Clarence’s interest, and he had taken to needling Evildeed for more details on what he was doing that required such elusive information. Evildeed for his part had ignored or outright rejected Clarence’s requests.

From what threads he was able to gather, Evildeed had come to the conclusion that the protein solution he had recovered was extracted from either Bolo or Oreskis, or perhaps both. These proteins presumably had a connection to supers and their powers. Evildeed had initially theorized that Project Titan was an effort to give powers to people who had none, but that wouldn’t explain why the Lord Commander was so involved. He already had powers. Incredibly scary powers at that.

“C’mon, Evildeed! Let’s go!” Catspaw whined, breaking him free from his thoughts.

He laughed, delighted at his apprentice’s eagerness. “Alright! Alright! So impatient!”

Catspaw was already wearing the new suit Evildeed had made for him using some of the materials tech from the Arachnitect’s suit. It was a camouflage pattern of varying shades of gray, the nanofiber specially designed to accommodate Catspaw’s extreme speed and repetition of motion. When Evildeed had presented it Catspaw looked like he was almost about to cry (“This is the best present ever!”)

When Catspaw saw that his mentor was taking his sweet time he zoomed out into the hall and back into the room several times. “Let’s gooooo.”

“Hey! We aren’t all as fast as you!”

Catspaw stuck his tongue out at Evildeed. “That’s because you're old!”

“I’m not old!” Evildeed said with mock hurt.

“You’re right,” Catspaw said. “You’re ancient!”

“Why you…” Evildeed chased Catspaw all the way to the armory before he realized Catspaw had tricked him into getting ready faster. “Hey! You manipulative fiend!”

Catspaw beamed at him. “Got you!”

Evildeed sniffed. “I’m so proud! My little apprentice is growing up into a fine young villain!”

“Aww geez, dad,” Catspaw blushed, then froze, his whole body rigid with tension.

It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. The silence seemed to stretch on forever. KVN bobbed into the armory. “Hey! Heading out?”

“Not now, KVN!” Evildeed snapped. Catspaw flinched at his tone. He looked like he was waiting to be chewed out for his transgression. KVN for once seemed to read the room and left without another word.

Catspaw spoke first, “I’m sorry–”

“No,” Evildeed said.

“No?” Catspaw squeaked.

“Don’t be sorry.” Evildeed walked to Catspaw and knelt before him, looking him in the eyes; or tried to, but Catspaw kept averting his gaze. “Hey, I’m not mad.”

“You’re not?” Catspaw’s voice was so small.

“Look, I know I’ve been calling you my apprentice, but I’m not going to ditch the moment you turn eighteen or anything.” Evildeed placed his hands on Catspaw’s shoulders and gave them a quick squeeze. Catspaw finally mustered the courage to look up at him. “I’m in this for the long haul. If you see me as a dad, well, I would be so, so, happy to call you my son.”

“Really?” Catspaw croaked.

“Really. Through high and low, thick and thin.” Evildeed said with utmost sincerity. He raised a hand. “Clasp.”

“What?”

“Clasp with me and complete the supreme epicness that is the father-son bond.”

Catspaw clasped with Evildeed. No sooner had their hands connected than Catspaw was breaking down in full body sobs. Evildeed pulled him in a tight hug, rubbing the top of his head.

“Heck yes. Family,” Evildeed said softly.

When Catspaw finally let go he looked over Evildeed’s shoulder and winced. “Wow, that’s embarrassing.”

Evildeed looked over his shoulder. Mirage, HUE, Mooncake, and KVN were all standing in front of the doorway. Mooncake looked like it was about to cry; Mirage looked bored; HUE watched passively; and KVN was blowing into a tissue (“It’s so beautiful!”)

“Still feeling up for the mission?” Evildeed asked his… his son. Oh stars, he had a son. He was officially a dad now.

Catspaw nodded, rubbing the tears from his eyes. “I think so.”

Evildeed gave him his brightest smile. “Double cool.”

Mirage spoke up, “Just don’t call me grandma.”

Evildeed rolled his eyes. Moment ruined. Thanks, mom.

***

“Well, this is the place,” Evildeed announced in front of the warehouse in front of them. He was flanked on either side by Catspaw and Mirage. “Are we feeling ready?”

“Aw yes!” Catspaw jumped in the air.

Mirage raised an eyebrow. “Ready when you are.”

Evildeed walked up to a fire escape and threw a grappling hook at the top of the adjoining ladder, pulling it down. The ladder hit the ground with a clank! Evildeed looked back to the other two and half-whispered, “First step: Infiltration.”

They all climbed up the fire escape to the second floor. Evildeed placed a spider bot on the window next to the landing. The spider bot cut through the large pane of glass with ease. Before it was done, Evildeed attached a hand-held suction cup to the pane. When the spider bot was finished with its task, Evildeed gently pulled the pane outside and placed it on the landing.

“Ladies first,” Evildeed said to Mirage. She grumbled at him, but deftly climbed through the window and inside the warehouse. Catspaw followed her with Evildeed in the back.

They had ended up in a narrow hallway, which they crept along until they reached a corner. Peering around the corner, they saw a wall-mounted security camera; it slowly panned back and forth.

“Catspaw,” Evildeed whispered, handing out a small electronic device.

“On it,” Catspaw responded. He took the device and waited until the camera’s arc was pointed as far away from their position as possible. When it was, quick as a flash, he ran up to the camera and planted the device on it. The flashing red light on the camera turned off as it stopped moving.

“Good job.” Evildeed ruffled Catspaw’s hair as he passed by.

“Thanks dad,” Catspaw said. Evildeed felt a rush of affection at that.

After descending a staircase the trio found themselves in front of a large metal door. Next to the door was a keypad, the kind that would have been moderately secure a decade ago.

“Just like I showed you,” Evildeed told Catspaw, who approached the keypad propped off the cover. He carefully observed the tangle of wires before him.

With a snick! Catspaw let out a claw and cut three of the wires. He rearranged the wires, tying them back together. The keypad beeped and the door opened.

While Catspaw was busy Mirage whispered to Evildeed, “Does he know this is all just for show?”

Evildeed elbowed her and hissed, “Shhh! Let him have this.” Mirage rolled her eyes.

When the door opened Catspaw made to walk right through but Evildeed pulled him back by the collar.

“What gives?” Catspaw asked. Evildeed silently handed him a pair of dark visors. When he put them on he saw a dozen infrared lasers, the ends of their beams travelling over the walls and floor at a speed that was difficult to track. “Oh.”

“Think you can get through?” Evildeed challenged. “They’re going pretty fast.”

Catspaw smirked. “No problem.” He sped his way through the maze of lasers, sidestepping and doubling back and weaving his way to the far side. It only took him a matter of seconds. He reached a control panel and flipped a large switch. The lasers deactivated.

A wooden pedestal stood only a few feet away from the switch. It was covered in a black cloth. Atop the pedestal sat an airtight glass container, inside of which a small translucent glass teardrop with a helix formation floated enticingly.

“Ooh,” Catspaw admired the display.

“This is it. The dimensional key,” Evildeed said as he handed Catspaw a hand crank drill. “Go get it, champ.” What Catspaw didn’t know was that the ‘dimensional key’ was actually just a prop that he had acquired in a flea market a week back. But it did look shiny, and great men of evil could never resist a shiny.

Catspaw frowned in concentration as he slowly opened a hole in the pedestal from underneath. It was slow going, as he didn’t want to trip any alarms. After a few minutes, with the hole complete, he reached though and plucked the dimensional key. He pulled in back through the hole.

“Got it!” he crowed.

BRONK! BRONK! BRONK! declared an alarm that sounded like some sort of horrific mecha-goose. A panel in the wall opened and an old-school security robot that ran on treads entered the room. It’s upper torso swiveled to point two laser pistols at the intruders (they were actually modified stun guns, just in case.)

Catspaw ran in a large circle around the robot, which tried in vain to track his movements. When he was at the robot’s back he saw there was a sealed control panel. He sliced through the seal with a claw and the panel fell to the floor. From there it was literal child’s play to deactivate the droid.

“Excellent work, Catspaw!” Evildeed shouted. “Now let’s get out of here.”

The three of them made their way out of the warehouse without issue. When they reached their getaway vehicle Evildeed high-fived Catspaw. “Heck yeah! Your first successful mission!”

“Settle down boys,” Mirage drawled as she sat in the driver’s seat. “It’s not over until it’s over.”

When they got back to base Catspaw spent a good half hour regaling an attentive KVN and a patient Mooncake and HUE with the story of his adventure.

***

5 years, 1 month B.F.D.

“What do you say,” Evildeed said. “Wanna show me what you look like underneath the mask?”

He was facing off against Clawmaster on the deck of the small commercial boat he had commandeered. Something about the foggy day had him itching to do some water-based shenanigans. The boat’s civilian crew were cowering below decks as the hero and villain fought it out.

Clawmaster hissed at him. “Not gonna happen.”

Evildeed frowned. “Aww. You’re no fun.” He looked in the direction the boat was headed, down the river that ran through Lightopia. There was a dock in the distance. “I must admit. I am intrigued by the man behind the mask.” He sighed wistfully. “Someday I’ll get you to show me.”

Clawmaster just stared at him.

“What? Cat got its tongue got?” Evildeed taunted. He laughed at his own joke.

“I’m not a cat,” Clawmaster growled before launching himself at Evildeed.

Evildeed raised his metal arm. The hand flipped up, revealing a hollow space in the arm. He cackled as his arm launched an electric net at Clawmaster, who dodged it by throwing his body to the side in an elegant horizontal roll. Like it or not, Evildeed had to admit that the ventrexian hero was as graceful as he was built. He was also proving to be an inescapable pursuer. Evildeed was under the impression that the only reason he had bested the hero during their previous encounter was the element of surprise. No such luck this time.

“Like my new toys?” Evildeed asked.

“I see you’ve been busy.” Clawmaster threw a pair of catarangs at Evildeed’s legs. They wrapped a thick metal wire around him, locking his legs together. Unable to stay balanced upright, Evildeed fell to the floor (“oof!”). He looked up and realized they had reached the dock.

One of the fingers on Evildeed’s metal arm popped open to reveal a small serrated saw blade. He cut through the wire before Clawmaster could reach him. “Look like this is my stop,” he said as he raised his metal hand and shot a grappling hook at one of the cranes that hung over the river. Clawmaster followed suit with a grappling hook of his own, and their pursuit was taken to shore.

Their game of cat and villain took them through the dockyard to an unlit drainage tunnel. Boots splashed through a thin layer of water, the sound echoing of the stone walls. Evildeed could hear Clawmaster gaining on him. Curses! He put on a burst of speed as he neared the end of the tunnel, but he realized belatedly that it wasn’t going to be enough.

There was a sudden pressure that squeezed along his entire body followed by a loud POP! and Evildeed was at the tunnel’s entrance, having crossed the final distance in a single instant. Huh. He looked behind himself. Clawmaster had momentarily stopped his pursuit, looking at Evildeed with his head cocked. The hero shook his head and ran full-tilt at Evildeed.

“I’ve been wanting to show you this!” Evildeed shouted as he threw a brown ball of goopy material at the ground. On contact with the water a chemical reaction caused the ball to expand like a balloon. Within three seconds it had sealed the tunnel’s entrance. Evildeed predicted it would take Clawmaster a minute – at minimum – to get through.

Having bested the hero, he made his exit into the night.

***

5 years B.F.D.

Mirage walked into the lobby of 250 Truelight Ave, a massive skyscraper that was home to the offices of many a prominent mid-sized firm. She felt out of place among the suits and ties. It was clear that a lot of money moved through this building. A Ksess lobby clerk sat behind a polished marble desk.

Before Mirage could make it to the lobby clerk, a Delgan approached her. Mirage recognized him as the ventrexian’s secretary. He led her to the bank of elevators. The ride up to the offices of Stephenson & Cephei was silent; the Delgan didn’t even bother to look at her.

When they exited the elevator, the Delgan led Mirage to a conference room. Chairs of various shapes and sizes, apparently meant to conform to the body shapes of various species (one even hung from the ceiling!), were lined around a glass table.

The Delgan gestured at a human-compatible chair. “Have a seat. Antimewny will be with you shortly.”

Antimewny. The name of the ventrexian liaison that had visited her in Sorbo prison. And a constant thorn in Mirage’s side. Antimewny had the detestable habit of calling her into meetings at the most inconvenient of times, demanding updates on her progress. So far she had managed to avoid the suspicions of the other residents of Evildeed’s lair, but she didn’t know how much longer she could keep up the charade.

Mirage also didn’t appreciate being made to wait like this. She knew it was a power play, a way for Antimewny to remind her where her place was. Mirage tapped her fingers on the glass table impatiently. As she waited, she idly watched a magnetic sculpture in the corner rotate over a pedestal. She never cared for such displays of opulence. It was always the thrill of the heist that excited her. She spent the next several minutes thinking back to her greatest hits.

Finally, Antimewny walked in with her usual clipped efficiency. “Thank you for meeting with me.”

Mirage just barely managed not to utter ‘Not like I have a choice’, instead standing from her seat and saying, “What did you want to talk about.”

“Your progress is impressive,” Antimewny stated. “You have exceeded expectations.”

Mirage didn’t know if that was a backhanded compliment, but she decided to take it that way anyway. “Thanks.”

“It was very serendipitous for us that two of the required materials were already together.”

Mirage felt unease at her son being called a required material. “Yes.”

“Have you figured out how to synthesize the superproteins?”

Mirage suppressed the urge to shiver. The way the ventrexian scrutinized her had her feeling like a lab specimen. “Yes. We should have enough in a few months. Then I can get my husband back.”

“Not quite. There’s still one more thing you need,” Antimewny reminded Mirage. She produced a metal canister, perfectly cylindrical and only six inches tall. “This is the final piece of the puzzle. It is incredibly valuable. We cannot make more should you lose it.” Antimewny waited a moment to let the seriousness of her statement sink in. “And then all would be lost.”

Mirage took the canister. Her hand tensed as she felt that it was cold to the touch. “What is it?”

“Something to help with the process of unsticking from the flow of time. Make sure it is on his person when he does so. You must keep it within the temperature range indicated–” Antimewny pointed at the side of the canister “–for it to remain viable.”

“Then we’re almost set to go.”

Antimewny shook her head. “You must wait for our go ahead. The reality bender must come fully into his powers before we can be sure your husband can be rescued safely.”

The reality bender. Her son. He had opened up to her about the strange phenomenon he had been observing. Together they had worked out that he was manifesting some sort of power. It was unusual. Powers usually began manifesting much earlier in a person’s life, which was likely why he had yet to be able to control them. Evildeed had been excited by the news, Mirage muted in her response. She hadn’t told him where he had probably got them from.

“More waiting?”

“You must exercise patience,” Antimewny said. “We must wait for all the pieces to converge. Only then will success be guaranteed.”

“I can’t help but feel you’re stringing me along.”

Antimewny stroke a whisker before she said, “We’re only asking for another year; two at most. That might sound like a lot, but we’ve been waiting decades for this moment, as have you. You’ll get what you want. We’ll get what we want. And all our preparations will have been worthwhile.”

“They had better be,” Mirage said as she pocketed the canister. She crossed her arms and took a step closer to Antimewny. “I’m this close to being able to do it on my own.”

Antimewny was completely unphased. She blinked slowly. “I assure you, that without our support, it would not be guaranteed to do more harm than good. These things are delicate.”

Mirage sighed in frustration. “If you say so. Is that all?”

Antimewny didn’t even bother with a parting handshake. She gave Mirage a very professional smile. “That is all. Fendek will see you out. Have a nice day.”

Chapter Text

“Countdown”

4 years 11 months B.F.D.

Clawmaster crossed his arms in front of his face, blocking a blow from the humanoid-shaped robot. He dodged an incoming uppercut and wrapped an arm around its arm and pulled hard. The arm detached with an electronic buzz and split wires spilled out of the opened ends.

“Hey now!” Evildeed yelled. “Careful with the merchandise! Those weren’t cheap to make, y’know!”

“What even are they?” Clawmaster asked as he dodged another robot’s flamethrower attack.

“You like them?” Evildeed grinned imperiously from his perch on top of the water sculpture in the lobby of the helium production facility he had infiltrated. “They’re my S.A.M.E.S.”

Clawmaster picked up a brass sculpture that went up to his knees and swung it like a baseball bat at another robot, knocking its head clean off “Sames?” The headless robot started randomly swiping at the space around it, eventually finding another SAME and attacking it.

“No Danny! No attacking you brother!” Evildeed admonished. He pressed a button on a remote and the headless robot crumpled to the floor. He said to Clawmaster, “Yeah. SAMES. My Super Awesome Mega Elite Strikers.”

“That’s an awful lot of superlatives,” Clawmaster pointed out as he ducked under a SAME that had come at him with a rotating saw blade for an arm. He tripped its legs and knocked it prone. The SAME struggled on its back like a turtle, trying to right itself. “Don’t seem all that awesome to me.”

“So the software could use some improvements,” Evildeed admitted. “Look, they’re still in beta. Give them time. Go Wendy!”

Clawmaster turned around to see who Evildeed was cheering and saw a SAME try to hit him with an electric baton. The hero was too fast for the robot and grabbed ‘Wendy’ by just below the elbow joint, sticking the baton in the robot’s own face. “You named them?”

Evildeed winced. “Sure. Why not?” he said with a shrug. “I gave each of them a rudimentary personality. It only seemed fitting to give them each a name.”

“Am I supposed to feel any more guilty about dismantling them because they have names and personalities?”

“Not particularly. And you are doing an admirable job at destroying them.”

Clawmaster felt a SAME grab at his head. He pulled away, but not before a chunk of his mask was torn off, exposing his right cheek.

“So close!” Evildeed hissed.

Clawmaster body slammed the SAME that had ruined a perfectly good mask. Great. He only had a couple spares. He foresaw ordering many more in his future. “What is with you and unmasking me?”

“What? A guy can’t be curious?” Evildeed cocked his head. “What is it? You got scars? Burned by acid? A horrifying lump on your face in the shape of butt? What are you hiding?”

“Just my identity,” Clawmaster said as he took down the last of the SAMES. Only Evildeed was left.

Evildeed, who jumped down from his perch, landing on one knee. He stood up, frowning at Clawmaster. “That’s no fun.”

Clawmaster stared at the villain. “You’re having fun?”

“Well. I’m certainly not bored, and that’s saying something.” Evildeed bounced on his feet. “C’mon. Come at me! I’ve been working on my fighting skills!”

Clawmaster could not believe the man who stood before him. Not that he was terribly well versed in the psychology of villains or anything, but Evildeed was certainly in a class of his own. No matter how much time he spent trying to analyze his opponent’s strategies, no matter how much he tried to discern his motivations, Clawmaster was at an absolute loss as to what made Evildeed tick. It was irritating to say the least, making the skin beneath his fur itch with an unnamed anticipation.

“What are you waiting for? I’m right here,” Evildeed goaded. “I beat you last time. Bet I can outdo you again.”

With a ferocious (okay, maybe not so ferocious) feline growl Clawmaster ran at Evildeed, unhooking a catarang from his belt. Evildeed detached his metal hand tossing it in the air at his side. A metal wire that connected the hand to the exposed socket at the end of the arm pulled taut, causing the hand to arc in a large circle. Clawmaster, not expecting an attack from the side, failed to notice the hand as it sailed palm-first into his check.

Clawmaster let out an involuntary “Mrow!” before pivoting to his side to keep himself a moving target.

“Aww! That was such a cute noise you just made!” Evildeed taunted.

Clawmaster clenched his teeth against the pain in his cheek as he threw his catarang at the wire that connected Evildeed’s had to his arm. The catarang easily sliced through it and the metal hand flew uselessly to the ground.

“Oh no!” Evildeed wailed. “You’ve unhanded me!”

At that pun, Clawmaster rallied forth whatever effort he had been holding back. He came at Evildeed again and again, throwing catarangs and punches alike. He could tell he was wearing the villain down bit by bid. Evildeed’s eyes betrayed him. They both knew where this fight was headed.

There was a beep at Evildeed’s waist and he smiled. “Looks like we’re done here!”

“Oh no we are not,” Clawmaster ground out.

“Sorry I can’t stick around!” A drone crashed through the lobby’s skylight, raining down shards of glass, and Evildeed shot a grappling hook at it. The hook wrapped around it twice before pulling taut.

Clawmaster grabbed Evildeed’s legs and was lifted into the air as the drone flew into the night sky. As they cleared the ceiling, he could see that there were more SAMES exiting the production area of the facility, entering trucks and driving away from the scene of the crime.

“Bad kitty!” Evildeed shouted, looking down at Clawmaster, who let his claws sink into his legs at that. “Yeowch!” he screamed. He started kicking, causing the drone to weave erratically through the air. “Off! Off! Off you demon!”

Evildeed only had to land one good kick at his head before Clawmaster was falling. He wasn’t too worried, though. Ventrexian’s were masters at landing on their feet. Upon hitting the ground he looked up, tracking the villain’s flight. For the next minute he tried his best to pursue from the streets below, but the drone pulling Evildeed along was too fast.

Next time, he told himself as he came to a stop and bent over, panting. Next time.

***

4 years 10 months B.F.D.

“Where are you going?” Catspaw asked from where he sat on Evildeed’s work desk, swinging his dangling legs and tapping out a rhythm on his lap.

“To the aircraft hangar,” Evildeed said brightly as he put on his uniform and goggles.

Catspaw’s eyes went wide with wonder. “We have an aircraft hangar?”

Evildeed chuckled as he mussed Catspaw’s hair. “That’s right, son. I’m building a mobile base.”

“That’s so cool! Can I come?” Catspaw looked beseechingly into his dad’s eyes.

Evildeed already knew his defenses had been breached. “Yeah. You can come.”

Catspaw grinned. “So what do you have? A fighter jet? A rocket ship?”

“A dirigible!”

Catspaw tilted his head. “What’s that?”

“You know. Like a blimp?”

Catspaw screwed up his face, sticking his tongue out between his fangs. “That sounds stupid. Blimps aren’t cool.”

“Hey!” Evildeed gasped. “Blimps are totally cool! Well, it’s technically a rigid airship so not a blimp–”

“Okay, but why do you need a blimp?”

“So that I can reign down terror from the skies themselves!”

Catspaw jumped down from the desk and followed Evildeed out of the office. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. It even comes equipped with a catapult!”

“What? No way!” Catspaw jumped with excitement. “Can I try it out?”

Evildeed winked at him conspiratorially. “Just between you and me, I filled a couple dozen giant balloons with paint. Care to paint the town with me?”

“Yes!” Catspaw said with a skip in his step.

It took the city of Lightopia two weeks to clean up all evidence of what became known as the Paintbomber incident.

***

4 years 9 months B.F.D.

Quinn and Avocato had a few things in common. They were both heroes with serious baggage in their past who tread off the beaten path. They preferred to seek justice rather than simply enforce the letter of the law. They also shared an annoyance: Doctor Evildeed.

Avocato slouched low on the couch in Quinn’s apartment, one arm dangling over the armrest. “...Oh right, I’m sorry. It’s Doctor Evildeed. Is he even an actual doctor?” he groused to Quinn, who was in the kitchen preparing some tea. “Like, does he have a doctoral degree? I can’t imagine him making it through graduate school, or any school at all for that matter.”

“Maybe he got one out of a magazine,” Quinn joked as she walked into the living room, setting two mugs on the coffee table.

“That sure sounds like him.” Avocato picked up his tea and took a sip, placing it back down when he burned his tongue with a quiet “meow.”

Avocato continued his ranting. “I don’t get it. He used to be some third rate villain. Suddenly he’s everywhere. Just two days ago I stopped him from stealing a Lazarus Trap.”

“Oh yeah? How’d that go?”

“It was easy. Too easy. Like he wasn’t even trying. I think something’s up.”

“Huh.”

“And get this. When I asked him why he was after the Lazarus Trap, he said he wanted–” Avocato brought out the air quotes “–‘the shiny’. What is with that guy?”

“Classic Evildeed,” Quinn commiserated with a wry grin. “He used to be the same way with me. Although I seem to be running into him a lot less lately.” There was a heavy implication in her tone. What it was, though, Avocato wasn’t sure.

“Glad I could take on your burden,” Avocato snarked. He picked up his mug of tea and blew on it, taking a cautious sip. “That’s good stuff.”

“Thanks.”

Avocato set his tea back down and huffed. “And he won’t stop asking me to take my mask off for him! I swear he’s obsessed with me.”

Quinn peered at him over her cup. “Uh-huh,” she said, judgment clear in her tone.

Avocato scrunched his face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Quinn said innocently. “It’s just you’ve just been talking about him a lot lately.”

“It’s because he won’t leave me alone.”

Quinn at least had the good grace to look sympathetic at that. She patted his arm. “Poor thing.” She chuckled to herself. “Hey, it could be worse. I heard through the metaphorical grapevine that the Magnificent Clarence has been making new waves. Wouldn’t want to be that guy’s nemesis.”

“Ugh! I hate that guy.”

“Same.” Quinn shuddered. “That guy is such a creep. Like, there’s evil. Then there’s evil evil. And then there’s Clarence evil.”

“Amen to that,” Avocato said. He picked up his mug and clinked it with Quinn’s. “To a better tomorrow.”

“To a better tomorrow,” Quinn echoed. “And if you like, I could tag in for you next time Evildeed does one of his schemes.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Avocato said with a rare smile. “Now, tell me about Thunderfist. Sounds like the two of you have been duking it out lately.”

Quinn threw her head back and groaned.

***

4 years 8 months B.F.D.

Lightning flashed in the background as Evildeed stood on the roof of a tall office building, holding on to a large weather balloon. His hair and his lab coat whipped in the wind as rain drizzled down on the city. He released the weather balloon with a cry, watching it rise against the backdrop of dark clouds.

When he was certain that the balloon had reached a sufficient height, he activated a radio signal, which would transmit through the balloon’s antenna and from there to large portions of Lightopia. At this very moment, hundreds of thousands of households were receiving an override transmission. Its contents? Why, nothing short of the most villainous monologue Evildeed could come up with, complete with diabolical threats and a demand for large amounts of unmarked credits.

From his vantage point he haughtily stood over the city, wondering how long it would take for news to spread. In other words, how long it would take for Clawmaster to show. The ventrexian hero’s response time was slowly shortening as the two of them danced the dance of hero and villain, of crime and justice.

“Stop right there,” a familiar voice called out, audible even over the noise of the rain and thunder. A familiar voice, but not Clawmaster’s voice. Evildeed turned to the source and was disappointed to see Nightfall standing there.

“We meet again,” Evildeed spoke, pitching his voice low for dramatic effect. “It has been awhile.”

“Don’t think because we have history that I’m going to go easy on you,” Nightfall declared. She widened her stance as she grabbed something from her belt. “Or because you have a thing with Clawmster.”

Evildeed scoffed indignantly. “A thing? A thing? I do not have a thing with Clawmaster! I have an archrivalry! We are fated enemies, destined to face each other time and time again on the battlefield, the battlefields of both athletics and wits.”

Nightfall muttered something to herself, just quiet enough that Evildeed couldn’t understand it.

“What was that?” Evildeed demanded. “Something you’d like to share? Do go on.”

“Listen, I get that this whole rivalry thing is really invigorating for you and Clawmaster, but it’s starting to get a bit tiring for the rest of us. You can just tell him already.”

“Tell him what? How much I despise his goody two-shoes mannerisms. How much I will never forgive him for his betrayal? Or how about how I will become a far greater villain than he will ever be as a hero?”

Evildeed was almost certain that Nightfall rolled her eyes behind the plate of her helmet. Whatever. She was not even worth his consideration for rivalry.

“You know what?” Evildeed announced to the metaphorical crowd. He spread out his arms and turned in a circle, facing up toward the sky. “There’s no point in an evil scheme if you don’t have the appropriate audience to appreciate its genius!” He turned to Nightfall. “If it’s you what even is the point?”

“I’m sorry?” Nightfall said. She took a step forward, holding up some sort of weapon.

“I’ve lost my interest.” Evildeed clicked a switch on the remote he held in his hand. “There. The signal has stopped transmitting.”

“Are you serious right now?” Nightfall sounded incredulous. Well, it wasn’t as if Evildeed had expected her to understand. Villains had to have standards, after all.

Evildeed placed a palm over his heart. “I am only ever serious.” He walked backward until he reached his extendiglider. He clipped it to the harness he wore over his lab coat. “And with that I bid you adieu!” he shouted before falling over the edge of the roof.

Nightfall sighed to herself, resting her head in one hand. “Dorks.”

***

4 years 7 months B.F.D.

By now, the epic rivalry between Evildeed and Clawmaster was common knowledge among the populace of Lightopia. Every time they clashed in public it made headlines. Evildeed was somewhat chagrined that Clawmaster was gaining notoriety off the back of his genius, but he supposed it couldn’t be helped.

“After all, this is me we’re talking about,” he explained to the unfortunate citizen he’d tied to a chair. “Any hero worth my rivalry would have to be worth talking about.”

“Why am I here?” Random Citizen pleaded.

“You.” Evildeed grinned menacingly. “Are bait.”

He laughed maniacally from where he stood with his victim atop the five story scaffolding he had set up. It was a hastily constructed circular tower of wood and metal pipes. The tower had been strategically placed; it stood in one of the parks he knew was in the middle of one of the patrol paths Clawmaster frequented. On the ground below, the park’s visitors, who probably had probably thought the tower was some temporary festival installation, looked on in horror, no doubt waiting for some hero to save them.

Speaking of: “Let them go!” Clawmaster commanded as he finished climbing up the side of the makeshift tower. He puffed his rather broad chest out in a display of authority.

“Oh thank the stars!” Random Citizen exhaled in sheer relief. “Does this mean I can go now?”

Evildeed gave them a flabbergasted look. “Why would I let you go?”

“You got Clawmaster here. That was the point right? So you don’t need me anymore?” At this point Random Citizen didn’t look the least bit scared. If anything, Evildeed would say they looked annoyed. Pressed for time.

“I think you’re forgetting who’s the villain in charge here, pal.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Random Citizen rolled their eyes. Evildeed’s mouth dropped open as he gasped in offense. The gall!

Clawmaster pulled out a catarang. “It’s time to bring you to justice!”

Random Citizen made a disgusted face. They mumbled something under their breath. Evildeed knew he had misheard because it sounded something like “This has got to be the worst display of flirting I’ve ever seen.”

“You’ll try,” Evildeed responded to Clawmaster, for the moment ignoring Random Citizen. He walked around and in front of the chair and struck his villain’s pose: he cocked his hips and pouted his lips. “But you can’t defeat this genius!”

“Oh gouge my eyes out! Please!” Random Citizen groaned.

Evildeed whipped around. “Do you want me to gag you? Because this is how hostages get gagged!”

Random Citizen motioned their head toward Clawmaster. “I think you should save that for him.”

“Yes. I would love to shut my rivalest of rivals up. His quips are less than mediocre,” Evildeed agreed, completely missing the point. Random Citizen made a sound not unlike that of a dying moose.

“Just because you bested me the last two times doesn’t mean you’ll beat me this time!” Clawmaster declared. “I’ve been training hard for this!”

Evildeed returned, “Oh yeah? Well I’ve been training even harder! I’ll show you how hard!” Another dying moose noise from behind him. He turned around. “Would you stop that?”

“This is even worse than the being kidnapped,” Random Citizen whined. “Why meeeee?”

“Prepare yourself!” Clawmaster warned.

“Oh I came prepared!”

“I’m totally fine with you killing me now! Any time you feel like it!”

Clawmaster threw his catarang at Evildeed, who pressed a button on the back of his mechanical hand. A staticky red force-shield extended in a circle. The catarang bounced uselessly off it, but Clawmaster was already maneuvering himself to Evildeed’s flank.

He said, “And now to end your little scheme!”

“I’ll stop if you take off your mask!” Evildeed offered.

“Oh for the love of– just do it!” Random Citizen shouted at Clawmaster.

“Yes! Do it! Show us your pretty face!” Evildeed jeered.

“Never!” Clawmaster growled. “That would be tantamount to admitting defeat!”

There came an ear-splitting metal-on-wood scraping sound. Evildeed turned to see Random Citizen rocking back and forth in their chair, making it move inch by inch towards the ledge. The bystanders below were pointing upward and making a commotion.

“Woah!” He shouted as he ran to the chair and dragged it back towards the middle of the tower. “Can’t have you hurting yourself!”

“Nooooo!” Random Citizen keened, their voice high. “I was so close!”

“Now where were we?” Evildeed said. He strained every muscle in his body and concentrated on Teleport! Teleport! Teleport!

POP! Evildeed’s initial elation at having successfully teleported was tempered by the belated realization that he was now laying horizontally in the air a good five feet directly above Clawmaster. And falling fast. So, his control still needed work. Evildeed landed roughly on his hapless rival, knocking him to the floor. He quickly scrambled off and sat in a squat, leaning over Clawmaster’s face. Scrabbling at Clawmaster’s chin, Evildeed ripped the mask off his head with a triumphant shout.

Utterly disbelieving what he saw, Evildeed cried out, “Did you seriously wear a second mask underneath?” Clawmaster reached an arm out and pulled at one of Evildeed’s legs, and he felt himself joining the hero on the floor.

Clawmaster growled, “I figured this would happen! You won’t shut up about taking off my mask!”

“I hate you so much!” Evildeed angrily proclaimed, shaking his arms and kicking his legs in what was totally not a tantrum. “Soooooo much!”

Clawmaster flipped himself forward to a standing position and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. From his spot on the floor Evildeed could see Random Citizen in the background, a smirk plastered on their face. They said, “Finally! You don’t even have to free me, just go! Trust me, we’re all so very happy for you. Please! Just go!”

Temporarily distracted by their remarks, Clawmaster took his attention off of Evildeed, who had flipped open his metal arm. “Smoke bomb!” he yelled before shooting a smoke bomb at the center of the floor. In the resulting confusion he climbed his way down the makeshift tower. While he conceded the tactical victory to Clawmaster, he claimed the moral victory for himself. Seriously, what kind of hero wears two masks, one over the other, just to spite the villain?

***

4 years 6 months B.F.D.

Mirage walked into the study where Evildeed was sitting at his desk, a desk which was cluttered with stacks of books and ancient disk drives. Evildeed was clearly lost in thought, having not noticed her entrance as he toiled away. As she discreetly approached she peered over his shoulder at the schematics on which he was scribbling away, his pen scurrying about as it scratched on thick paper.

“Whatcha workin’ on?” she said, and Evildeed jumped in his chair, hands moving to shield his work from prying eyes. “Oh come on son. You know I don’t understand that gibberish. No need to hide it from me.”

“Sorry.” Evildeed scratched the back of his head. “Force of habit. You really scared me mom.”

Mirage smiled down at him. Or, well, she tried to at least. It was a foreign feeling, and the muscles in her face ached at being contorted in such a shape. “Sorry for spooking you, son.”

“Gary.”

Mirage started. “What?”

Evildeed turned his chair to face her. “You know? In the entire time that we’ve been together since you came back, you’ve never called me by my name?”

“I don’t understand.” Mirage hoped to the stars that Evildeed wasn’t trying to use psychology on her.

“It’s just something I noticed.” Evildeed shrugged. “Never mind. There something you wanted to see me for?”

“Well, Gary. I thought I would tell you what I am working on. Why I have been bothering you so much.”

“You haven’t been that much of a bother, mom.”

Mirage was taken aback. She didn’t like this level of familiarity. It felt dangerous, like a promise. A promise she wasn’t sure she could keep. It was time. Time to set things in motion, before the situation became more complicated. “It’s about my husband. Your father.”

Evildeed stared at her, his expression unreadable. “You told me he left.”

“He did. But not voluntarily. He was taken from me. From us.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Arachnitect,” Mirage stated.

When she provided no further explanation Evildeed said, “What about the Arachnitect? And what is it about that guy? It always seems to come back to him.”

Mirage sighed. “When I told you that John left us, I wasn’t entirely truthful. There was a villain. He came out of nowhere. Started causing mayhem. Eyewitnesses would report a person who travelled in blue light. He’d show up. Do his thing. But before the authorities could get to him he’d be gone.

“He was so elusive that he got his name from the press. They called him the Arachnitect because he was an architect of chaos, weaving webs of destruction wherever he went. It sent the entire planet into a panic. Those were dark days for the world of heroes. For us.

“Then one day while your father was on patrol, the Arachictect appeared. Your father tried to use his powers to subdue the Arachnitect, but it was not enough. The Arachnitect disappeared with them both, never to be seen again.”

“Wait. Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait.” Evildeed said. “You’re saying my dad was a hero?”

Mirage looked solemnly at her son. “We kept it from you to keep you safe. You were the son of two of the world’s most prominent heroes. There was… a lot of scrutiny on us.”

Evildeed coughed, thumping his chest with a fist. “You were a hero?”

“I was. Once,” Mirage said wistfully. She looked to her side. “My name was Flicker.”

Evildeed bent over, head in his hands. “And you never told me.”

“As I said, it was to keep you safe.”

Evildeed looked up at his mother, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Then why’d you go villain? Why’d you use me the way you did?”

Mirage sighed. “I wanted to punish the world that treated us as expendable resources. It was shameful, the way that everyone immediately gave up hope of finding John. And when the checks stopped coming and we were evicted from our home, well,” she shrugged. “What was the point?”

Evildeed’s mind was reeling. Everything he knew; everything he had believed in… was a lie? “Why are you telling me this now?”

“Because this is the purpose of Project Titan. To bring your father back. But to do that I need you.” When Mirage looked at Evildeed, she saw a child, out of his element. It was clear to her he had not truly come into his own yet. Maybe, then, this would give him the necessary push. “Will you do it? Will you help me get John back?”

For a full minute Evildeed just sat there, staring into space, his expression slack. Then, “Fine. I’ll do it. If it means I’ll get my dad back, I’ll do it.”

Then it was settled. Everything was taken care of. Mirage was done waiting for Antimewny and her starsforsaken benefactor. It was time to pull the trigger and get her husband back. As far as she was concerned, there were no more obstacles. Now was the time for action.

Chapter Text

4 years, 5 months B.F.D

Evildeed walked into Workshop 3 to see Mooncake and Catspaw resting on the floor as they reconstructed one of his destroyed S.A.M.E.S. “How’s it going?” he asked as he approached.

Mooncake held an upper and lower arm piece as Catspaw sealed the joint between them. “Looking good. This one should be salvageable.”

Evildeed beamed at them. “I’m so proud of my little evil geniuses.” He was also glad that the two of them were getting along. It had been rocky the first few months, Mooncake afraid that he was being slowly replaced by Catspaw. Apparently, those fears had been put to rest. As they should be: Evildeed had more than enough love to go around.

Catspaw hid his face in the crook of one of his arms at the compliment, but the end of his tail flicking off the floor betrayed his happiness. Evildeed bent down and gave his head a quick pat, getting a bashful “daaaaad” in response. He felt a rush of affection. Not for the first time he realized that if he were forced to choose between his villainous empire and Catspaw he wouldn’t hesitate to pick the latter.

Mooncake gave the side of Evildeed’s head a tight hug. “You’ve been out so much lately. I feel like I hardly ever see you these days.”

If things were to continue that way, Evildeed was sure he’d liquefy to a puddle on the floor. He sniffed. “Awww. I miss you too. That’s actually why I’m here.”

“Oh?” Mooncake said.

“Indeed. I’ve decided to take the whole week off so I can spend it with you and Catspaw.”

“Really?” Mooncake and Catspaw said in unison.

“Really.” Evildeed smiled warmly at them, then put on an evil smirk. “And I thought we might begin with a game of tag!" He poked Mooncake and shouted, “You’re it!” before teleporting away.

***

Standing before the kitchen counter, Evildeed shimmied to the music playing from his comm. He poured flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and a dash of salt to a bowl, which he placed in his ultra-mixer. He covered the bowl with a metal hood. With a flick of a switch the mixer whirred into action, mashing the ingredients together. Evildeed laughed maniacally over the roar of the mixer. Was it a little overkill for baking? Maybe. But what was baking but edible science?

As he turned off the mixer Catspaw walked into the room. “Hey dad.” He sniffed the air. “Are you making dessert?”

“Excellent powers of observation!” Evildeed said brightly. “That indeed I am. And no ordinary dessert either.” He held his comm out, which projected an image of three layer cake, along with a list of ingredients and instructions. “It’s my death cake!”

Catspaw’s eyebrows pulled down in confusion. “Death cake? What? Like some kind of weapon?” His eyes lit up in excitement. “Does it blow up or something?”

Evildeed laughed. “Oh no! Nothing like that. It’s just a really filling cake. Trust me on this! One slice of this baby and you’ll be out like a light!”

“Oh.” Catspaw sounded disappointed. “Why are you making a cake for?”

Evildeed raised a spatula and held it out as if leading troops to battle. “For my birthday!”

“Today’s your birthday?” Catspaw asked. “Oh.” He sounded even more disappointed at that news, his shoulders hunched and his tail curling around his legs.

Evildeed frowned, thrown off by his son’s gloom. “Hey bud. What’s wrong?”

“I– I don’t know when my birthday is.”

Evildeed’s heart clenched. The kid didn’t even know his own birthday? He asked hesitantly, “Do you know how old you are?”

Catspaw frowned in thought, scratching at a cheek. “I’m… ten? I think?”

Evildeed hummed thoughtfully. “Well that’s no good.”

Catspaw flattened his ears. “No?”

Evildeed gave his head a reassuring pat. “Nope. This is unacceptable! Everyone should have a birthday to celebrate, even if they don’t know when they were really born!” He twirled the spatula in his hand, then slapped the counter with it, making Catspaw jump. “Aha! Tell ya what. We’ll say today is your birthday too. That way we can be birthday twins!”

Catspaw’s face lit up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah! And do you know what that means?”

“No. What?” Catspaw’s eyes were wide open with expectation.

Evildeed grinned. “That just means this birthday shindig needs to be twice as epic.” He pressed a button on his comm. “Mooncake!”

Mooncake’s tinny voice answered through the comm’s speaker. “Heyyo! What do you need, Evildeed?”

“Oh hey that rhymes!” Evildeed said, distracted, then shook his head. “Right! I need streamers! Balloons! The whole works! Get the S.A.M.E.S. to set everything up!”

“Sure thing boss!”

Evildeed pressed the button again and urgently added, “And lots of glitter! I’m gonna make us a glitter cannon!”

“Oh wow!” Catspaw bounced on his feet and punched a fist in the air. “This is going to be the best birthday ever!”

“It sure is.” Evildeed smiled at his son, then put on a somber look. “But we can’t have a birthday bash without making you your favorite dessert.”

“Cookies!” Catspaw shouted.

“Cookies it is! Tell me what kind and we’ll set up the ingredients!”

Catspaw looked doubtful. “You want me to help? I’ve never baked anything before.”

Evildeed started pulling bowls from the cabinets. “Well now is as good a time as any to learn! And the best part is: you’re supposed to make a mess. It’s part of the fun!”

***

“How much longer are you going to put it off?” Mirage asked as she looked at the cards she was holding.

“Put what off?” Mooncake asked curiously.

“Just a little project my mom and I are working on,” Evildeed said. He looked at Catspaw. “Got any fives?”

“Go fish!” Catspaw said with a cheeky grin.

“Raisins!” Evildeed said. He drew a card from the messy pile on the table.

“You haven’t answered my question,” Mirage pushed. She frowned at him. “You’re not thinking of backing out, are you?”

Evildeed sighed in frustration at his mother’s impatience, then stopped when he noticed Catspaw looking between the two of them with a tense look. “No. I’m just taking some time with the two most important people in my life.”

Only Mirage seemed to catch the weight of the implication that she wasn’t one of those two, which was just as well. It was best that Mooncake and Catspaw didn’t get drawn into residual family drama. But Evildeed still wanted to send the message that Mirage wasn’t completely in his good graces. Yet. The true test would be seeing if she stuck around after she got what she wanted.

“Got any kings?” Mooncake asked Mirage. She grumbled as she handed over two cards. Mooncake crowed victoriously as he laid down a set of four kings.

***

Evildeed fiddled with the valves on the Arachnitect’s suit as he pulled it up his legs. He had restored it, and had even made some modifications of his own. “Well, this is it,” he said as he slid his arms into the sleeves. He zipped up the front.

From behind, Mirage secured a flask of Project Titan to the back of his suit, which was designed to give him a slow drip of the ability enhancing biological material.

“Everything looks secure,” Mirage said. She walked around to in front of Evildeed. “Are you ready to save John?”

Evildeed nodded. Of course, he was nervous as heck. They were playing with some very powerful forces. They hadn’t done a full test run of what it would be like for him to have his powers juiced up to eleven; they couldn’t have, as they had too little material to work with, and producing more was time consuming and expensive. For the last six months, two-thirds of his budget was going into this operation. But if he could get his dad back, all the toil and expense would be worth it.

He was also nervous because he didn’t know how his dad would take the news that his wife and son had gone villain. That was sure to be a complicated mess, and the talk they were going to have would probably be awkward, but they would make it work. That’s what you did with family.

Mirage attached a vial to a clip at Evildeed’s waist. Evildeed looked curiously down at it. “What’s that?”

“Just in case.” Mirage gave his arm a pat.

“Just in case of what?” Evildeed eyed her suspiciously.

Mirage huffed at the unspoken accusation. “I’m not sure exactly what it is. My associates tell me that you might need it. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Really would like to know who you’re working with.”

“Me too, to be honest.”

Evildeed balked. “Well that sure doesn’t inspire confidence.”

Mirage looked at him, then pulled him into a hug. Evildeed squawked, his arms pinned to his side. Mirage broke the hug, not waiting for Evildeed to reciprocate. “I’m proud of you. Everything you made here, you did it yourself. You’re going to do just fine. Now and forever. I believe in you.”

Evildeed felt his eyes burn. Part of him hated that he was responding this way to the woman who had abandoned him as a child. Another part sincerely hoped that with his father back, they could be whole as a family again. With the addition of one Catspaw, of course. Evildeed idly wondered what his dad would have to say to the news that he was a grandfather.

“You’re daydreaming again,” Mirage said.

Evildeed smiled sheepishly. “Sorry! Just have a lot on my mind, is all.”

“Understandable. Shall we say goodbye to the others and head out?”

“Let’s do it.”

***

“When do you think they’ll get back?” Catspaw asked. He was hanging out in front of the vidscreen with Mooncake and HUE. The company wasn’t bad, but he was already missing his dad. They had been building an obstacle course for him over the last week, and normally they’d be spending the afternoon on that, but apparently whatever was going down took precedent.

“Evildeed said it should only be a few hours,” Mooncake replied.

“I’m bored,” Catspaw grumbled. “I coulda gone with.” He fell forward from the couch into a handstand and walked around on his hands. “Mirage said I was doing really good with my training.”

“You’re still very young,” HUE pointed out. “He’s just trying to keep you safe.”

“I’m old enough to go!” Catspaw insisted as he righted himself.

“But you’re so tiny!” KVN said from behind him.

Catspaw jumped. He turned around and hissed at KVN. “Don’t do that!” he yelled as he jumped on top of KVN, latching on with his claws.

“You’re scratching me!” KVN said as he flung himself around the room, trying to throw off the stowaway ventraxian.

“Like you’re in new condition!” Catspaw retorted. He scrambled to KVN’s front as he dodged an incoming pillar.

“Hey! Watch it!” KVN shouted. “I can’t see!” He did an aerial flip, but Catspaw had securely fastened himself to his chassis.

Catspaw’s tail puffed out. He cried out, “Wall!” but it was too late. He jumped off at the last second as KVN crashed face first into the wall, leaving a circular impression, and fell to the floor.

“I don’t feel so good,” KVN moaned. “Fzzit-snerrk! Tronk! Zoog!”

As Catspaw inspected him HUE and Moocake approached and looked over his shoulders. There were sparks spitting from the cracks in KVN’s chassis as he gibbered. Catspaw put a hand on him, and received a minor electrical shock. “Meow! There’s something seriously wrong with him.”

For once HUE didn’t make a quip about that, instead walking up to KVN and poking at a recess in the metal near his antenna. KVN’s chassis opened up, revealing a tangled bundle of wires. Catspaw realized that the sparks were coming from a chip that fitted into a slot on the inside. Using his superior speed he quickly grabbed the chip and pulled it out, throwing it behind him.

KVN stopped sparking, which was a marked improvement. On the other hand, KVN’s eyes dimmed to darkness.

“Oh no did I kill him!” Catspaw panicked. “KVN!” He knocked the outside of KVN’s chassis with a fist. “Wake up!” When KVN didn’t respond Catspaw ran out of the room.

As he left Mooncake asked, “Where are you going?”

“I hafta fix him!”

A minute later Catspaw ran back into the room carrying some tools. He set to work, performing robotic surgery as best as he could. Mooncake and HUE did their best to help.

Without warning KVN’s eyes lit up and he jerked upright. “Ahhhhhh!” he screamed.

“Ahhhhhh!” Catspaw and Mooncake echoed as they jumped back.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh,” HUE said flatly, not wanting to be left out.

Catspaw cautiously approached KVN.

KVN clamped his arms at the ventrexian’s cheeks. “Evildeed!”

“Ewildeewd?” Catspaw asked through his smushed face.

“What about him?” Mooncake asked as it flew to Catspaws side.

“We have to stop him!” KVN shouted frantically. “He’s in big trouble. Big, big, trouble!”

“Rewlax,” Catpaw said. He pushed KVN’s hands off his face. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Doooooooom!” KVN screeched. Catspaw covered his ears.

“I think I might actually miss the old KVN,” Mooncake stated.

“You don’t understand! You have to listen!” KVN beseeched.

HUE said, “This should be fun” and sat down.

KVN practically vibrated in mid-air. “I met him before! I met Evildeed before!” He turned to HUE. “Before they dumped me in with you–”

“I feel like I should resent that statement,” HUE said.

“–I was working at an intelligence agency – I’m a good finder you see, there’s no secret I can’t suss out – but that’s not the point! The point is that when I was working there Evildeed showed up. Poof! There was a flash of blue light, and then there was Evildeed.”

“I’m not sure we’re supposed to buy this,” Mooncake said out of the side of its mouth to the others.

“It’s true, you guys! It’s why I have this!” KVN procured the old vial of dried blood from his side compartment. “We ended up getting into a fight and he dropped it.”

At Catpaw and Mooncake’s skeptical looks he added, “It’s also why the intelligence agency put the memory inhibitor chip in my processing core. I wouldn’t stop going on about what happened and no-one believed me. They thought I was defective.”

“I don’t understand why this means we need to stop him,” Mooncake said.

KVN did a frustrated circle in the air. “Evildeed didn’t look good when I saw him. He was coughing up blood and looked delirious. We have to get to him!”

Catspaw and Moocake looked at each other with matching anxious expressions.

HUE said, “For what it’s worth, I’m ninety-six percent sure that he’s not lying. Either what he said happened, or he was programmed to believe it happened. Either way, he truly believes what he’s telling us.”

Catspaw started toward the armory.

“Where are you going?” Mooncake asked.

“I need to get to him,” Catspaw answered. “Just in case. I’m the fastest, so I can get to him soonest.”

“Do you even know where he is?” HUE asked.

Catspaw turned around and walked backwards. He grinned mischievously. “I made a copy of the map they were using.”

Mooncake flew after him. “Why?”

Catspaw shrugged. “‘Cause.” He turned back around, walking into the armory. He quickly changed into his specialized suit. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this. I’ve got this so good.”

***

“Reach out with your senses,” Mirage said as she held onto Evildeed’s shoulders from behind. “Search for anything that feels like it’s pulling you.”

“I have to say this is weird, especially coming from you,” Evildeed commented. He closed his eyes as he tried to do what Mirage told him. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be feeling.”

Mirage pushed him through an open park. “Think of it as if you were laying down at the top of a hill. If you were to start rolling, you would naturally fall towards where the hill went downward. Try to find that ‘downward’ with your powers.”

“Okay, Yoda.”

Mirage stopped moving, causing Evildeed to jerk in her grasp as he tried to walk forward. “What?”

“Sorry. Old vid reference.”

“Oooookay. Do you feel anything yet?”

Evildeed walked in a large arc across the grass of the park. Through his boots he could feel the moisture of the late evening’s dew. He took in a deep breath and sighed. Everything smelled new. It was a good smell.

Mirage’s friends had provided her with a heat map they claimed showed where the boundaries between dimensions were weakest, and where they’d have the best chance of success at breaking through the time lock. However, her friends weren’t able to measure such things as precisely as Evildeed could with his powers. So, he and Mirage had a general area, but needed to narrow it down, the more the better.

For just a second Evildeed’s stomach did a small flip. “I felt something,” he said quietly.

“Where?”

“I don’t–” Evildeed huffed, frustrated with himself. “I can’t tell.”

Mirage pulled at his shoulders. “Walk back.”

Evildeed did so, and the earlier feeling briefly returned. “There it is again. I think it’s pulling me this way.” He turned and began walking, relying more on intuition than anything else.

A sort of prickly sensation spread across Evildeed’s skin. It felt like anticipation. It felt like possibility. “I think we’re getting closer.”

He steadily zigzagged for a few more minutes, listening to the sounds of distant traffic and of the wind blowing through the trees. There was a sensation of foreboding in his core that grew and grew, until body felt like it was preparing for a fall, as if he was reaching the crest of the first hill of a roller coaster, or approaching the edge of a waterfall. “This is the place.”

Mirage’s grip on his shoulders tightened. “You sure?”

Evildeed shrugged her off. “Definitely.” He opened his eyes and turned around to observe his surroundings. He was standing in an open area set with wooden bench tables and barbeque grills for public use. There were a dozen people milling around a couple of the tables. They were looking at him and Mirage with interest, no doubt intrigued by his get-up. “What now?”

“Face the direction where the barrier feels weakest,” Mirage instructed. Evildeed did a full three-sixty before turning to face away from her. When he came to a stop Mirage added, “Now, just like we practiced, slow down relative time. Release that power, and as it rubber bands outwards punch your way through with you teleport.”

“That only ever created very small pockets of time that immediately burst.”

“This time, with the help from your suit and the juice it’s been feeding you, it should be enough to fully open up a longer lasting bubble.”

“My powers have been feeling more immediate. More of it there. This Project Titan stuff is some serious mojo.”

“Good. You can do this. I believe in you.”

Evildeed took a few calming gulps of the warm evening air, letting them out in drawn out breaths. He closed his eyes, clenched and unclenched his hands, feeling his awareness ripple out from him.

Thwoom! He opened his eyes as all activity in the park around him came to a near standstill. A frisbee glided painfully slowly through the air. A cloud of smoke from one of the grills unfolded in wispy tendrils like some ancient sea beast arising from its dark slumber. He closed his eyes again, focusing on the interplay between his two powers, the way they felt connected spatially in his mind. He mentally counted down. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

He let go of time as he thought Teleport! with all of his will that he could muster, envisioning a point ten feet in front of him. There was a POP! and he felt himself pushing forward as if through a thin veil of water. The sensation of something slapping against the entire front of his body was interrupted by a second POP!

Evildeed opened his eyes to see a large circle cut into the air in front of him, a portal surrounded by swirling streams of air that created visual turbulence. There was a figure standing on the other side in the same park, but not the same park. The trees were shorter, the skyline behind them subtly different.

The figure turned around to face Evildeed. They wore a blue and white uniform. A vintage style eye mask. Thick white gloves and boots. A clock was printed on the chest.

Evildeed heard Mirage make a wounded noise from behind him. She pushed him aside as she ran towards the portal. “John!”

Her husband. His dad.

They had done it.

“Sheryl?” John said with trepidation, and in this moment it was clear that he was John, not Captain Chronos. That Mirage was Sheryl. John’s posture turned wary. “What happened to you? What’s going on?”

Before Sheryl could answer the air inside the circle of the portal began to ripple out, before becoming opaque with visual noise. “No! John? No!”

The portal seemed to collapse in on itself before opening up again. This time the other side was a tunnel of swirling blue light.

Mirage turned to Evildeed. “What do you do?” she shouted with anger, her hair whipping around as the wind in the immediate vicinity picked up speed, the sound crescendoing into a dull roar.

Evildeed felt a tugging sensation deep in his gut. “I don’t know!” His feet dragged on the ground as he inched toward the portal. “What’s happening?”

“You idiot! How did you manage to mess this up?” Mirage spat, and Evildeed felt like the helpless little boy struggling to survive on the streets once again.

Evildeed felt himself being dragged faster and faster toward the portal, his feet slowly lifting off of the ground. He thought Teleport!, trying to get away, but it was as if his powers had left him. He tried to slow down time, but that didn’t work either. “I can’t control it!”

***

Catspaw’s vision tunneled as he raced along the city streets, weaving through traffic like a spaceship through an asteroid field. He mentally crossed his fingers as he tried his hardest not to run into anything. There hadn’t much training in getting his reaction time to match his speed. He found his movements were being more reactive than anything else.

Still in his youth, and in the youth of his powers, Catspaw could feel himself flagging after only the first couple miles, but the thought of Evildeed coming to harm had him powering through the building exhaustion. He passed by the towering architecture of downtown as he followed the directions of the map he had covertly copied.

Muscles aching and chest pounding, Catspaw came to a lightly forested park. He slowed down to normal speed as he entered the park, his ears swivelling to take in the noises around him. Through the treeline there was a flash of blue light and the commotion of several people crying out. He ran in that direction. As he made his way through the trees, he could see people fleeing in panic in the opposite direction. Bingo.

The moment he broke into the open clearing, he saw a large vertical disk of blue. Mirage and Evildeed were standing before it. Mirage was yelling something at Evildeed, clearly upset, but Catspaw couldn’t make the words out over the windy roar of the disk.

Catspaw felt a wave of dread wash over him. Something was clearly not right. He put on a burst of speed as he ran to them, just as Evildeed was whisked upward and towards the disk. Catspaw tried to run even faster, but he had already spent too much energy getting here. He looked on helplessly as Evildeed was sucked into whatever the blue thing was, his arms outstretched. Mirage teleported to the edge of the disk, falling back as if she had hit a solid wall.

Just one more second. Just one more second. With dawning horror, Catspaw realized the disk was closing. He reached a hand out as he approached, ready to jump in after his dad.

But it was too late. The disk winked out of existence with a THWIP! , the air where it had been shimmering ominously.

***

Mirage looked helplessly on as her son was sucked into the vortex. Evildeed flailed his arms as he accelerated away from her, his face a mask of sheer terror. She tried to teleport her way into the swirling vortex but was rebuffed. Mirage coughed, frightened to see blood. She doubled over in pain. It felt as if all of her internal organs were on fire. When she looked up, she saw that the wormhole had vanished, but in its place was a wall of shimmering air, clumps of dirt and grass floating in the air around it as if gravity was a concept they had decided to reject.

Catspaw came to an abrupt halt next to Mirage. His eyes were bugged out and his breathing was heavy. He stared at the place where the wormhole had been, now replaced with some inexplicable physical phenomenon. “Where.” Pant. “Is.” Cough. “He?”

“You’re too late, kid,” Mirage replied, already feeling numb with shock. “He’s gone to stars know where. $#^& him!”

Catspaw looked up at her, his face contorting into the best glare he could pull off. “What did you do to him?”

“Nothing,” Mirage bit out. She shook her head, her expression becoming darker. With a clenched jaw she added, “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. He wasn’t supposed to be so weak.”

Catspaw’s mouth dropped open at that last part. “He’s not weak!” he insisted. “He’s super strong!”

Mirage held back a retort. Arguing with a kid certainly didn’t make her look good in this situation. And what a situation you’ve gotten yourself into, Mirage. She realized belatedly that they had to get out of dodge before the authorities showed up. “Look, kid. Let’s take this back home,” she coaxed.

“No!” Catspaw started hitting her with balled fists, surprising her and causing her to take a step back. “Bring him back. You bring him back!”

Mirage grabbed Catspaw’s arms, but he struggled against her grip. It would do him no good. As he currently was, he was incapable of overpowering her. When Mirage looked down, tears were streaming down his face.

“Bring him back,” Catspaw said weakly. He sagged in Mirage’s arms. “Please.”

“I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do,” Mirage admitted, more to herself than anyone else. It burned her up inside. They had come so close. “Come. Let’s go home.”

This time when Mirage tried to drag Catspaw to her motorcycle, he didn’t resist.

Chapter Text

Evildeed screamed as he was pulled through the wormhole until he found himself falling a couple feet onto hard ground. He sucked air through his teeth as he fought through the pain. A gasp nearby alerted him, and he looked up. Looking up, he saw that he was in downtown Lightopia, but– but it was different. There were missing buildings where he knew they should be there. People walked along the sidewalks wearing fashion that had gone out of style decades ago.

A hooblot woman clutched her child close to her as she stared at Evildeed fearfully. The kid didn’t look too concerned, instead staring with fascination. There were other people in the area who had stopped what they were doing to observe the situation. Evildeed had to admit, seeing a man in a futuristic suit flung out of a wormhole had to be quite the shock.

“Hey,” Evildeed called out to the woman. “What– oh stars I can’t believe I’m asking this. What year is it?”

“Stay away!” The woman shouted. She reached into a bag with one of her hands, rummaging around, not taking her eyes off of Evildeed.

He held his arms out in front of himself, taking a few steps forward. “Woah! Hey! I mean no harm!”

The woman pulled something out of her bag. “Get back!”

Before Evildeed could react, something was sprayed in his face and there was an immediate and overwhelming burning sensation. He shut his eyes, digging the heels of his palms into them. “Augh!” he shouted. “Did you just mace me? I wasn’t gonna do anything! I swear!”

“Someone get help!” the woman yelled, her voice growing more distant. “It’s him! I saw him on the news! The one who destroyed all those fighters!”

“I what?” Evildeed said, bewildered. “I’m just– ow! I need help!” He stumbled around, unable to open his eyes as they seared in agony.

This hadn’t been the plan. Evildeed replayed the last minute in his head. One minute, his dad had been there, and the next– well, he wasn’t sure what had happened. He did everything right. He did everything right. It wasn’t fair!

In the distance he could hear the footsteps of people hurrying away from him. He blinked rapidly, his vision blurry to the point he could hardly make out his own hands in front of him. “Can I get some water? Or milk? Oh stars! It burns!”

Evildeed spent the next few minutes bumbling around, his vision slowly returning. Sirens wailed as they approached, and he could only assume they were heading for him. Looking around, he ducked into an empty side alley. Steam hissed from a vent from one of the walls. Trash was strewn about, pushed against the sides of the alley, bringing with it a plethora of unpleasant odors.

“Oh boy, Evildeed. How’re you going to get outta this one?” he said under his breath. “Things aren’t looking up for our favorite villain– urk!” A sudden flip of the stomach. “Woah! Settle down there!” he said as he patted himself.

As he made his way down the alley, he felt the wind pick up, pulling at his hair. The air around him started to feel charged. There was a muffled boom, almost like distant thunder, and the alley was lit up in blue light which cast a shadow in front of him, meaning– meaning the source of the light was directly behind him.

Just as Evildeed turned around to find that the wormhole had returned, he felt himself being pulled forward. He scrabbled at the wall, trying to find purchase, but to no avail. He wailed, “Oh no not again!”

⬇

“I think I’m gonna hurl!” Evildeed cried out as he flew through the swirling vortex of light and wind. He waved his arms about uselessly. The other end of the wormhole opened up before him, revealing a marbled floor. Oh great, another hard landing.

“Oof!” he let out as he fell flat on his butt. He shook his fist at the closing wormhole. “You better stop screwing with me buddy!”

When the wormhole vanished, the light and sound dissipating, Evildeed took a moment to survey his new surroundings. It appeared to be some sort of museum. Artwork hung on the walls. A pedestal stood to the side, a marble bust placed on top.

His blood turned to ice. “No,” he whispered. “No. Please no.” He stood up and walked forward down the hallway.

This place was familiar in the absolute worst way possible. This was where he was first arrested all those years ago. When his mom had left him. Being here again made him feel sick to his stomach.

Low voices echoed lightly from ahead. Evildeed pressed himself against the wall, inching along forward with caution. He reached an ascending stone stairway. He walked as quietly as he could up the stairs on hands and feet. When he reached the top he peeked his head just high enough that he could see.

He drew in a sharp breath. Standing maybe fifty feet away were two people he was all too familiar with. It was his mom. And himself, age nine. What a cruel universe, he thought sadly, to take me to this moment.

Then he got an idea. He got a brilliant idea. He could change the past! It was perfect! Evildeed filled with elation as he realized what an opportunity he had been given. He was practically giddy with it.

Evildeed matched the pace of his former self and his mom as they walked away from him. They turned a corner, and he slowly moved along the wall toward it. He peered around and saw his mom inaudibly saying something to Young Gary. Evildeed knew what it was. She was telling him to stand guard in the hallway while she pilfered a jeweled necklace from an adjoining gallery.

He remembered what had gone wrong. Young Gary had been startled by a noise, and had accidently knocked a vase off its stand, causing an alarm to sound. In the ensuing chaos, it had become apparent to his mom that there was no way for them both to escape, so she had used him as a distraction. As bait. His mom had escaped. Young Gary had not.

As Evildeed watched his younger self pace back and forth nervously, he rubbed at his forehead, noticing that there was a barely perceptible pressure behind his eyes.

His stomach caught.

“No no no,” he whispered. He walked back the way he came, hoping to buy some time before he was whisked away again. Maybe he could circle around to the other side of where Young Gary was on watch. Lure him away from the vase.

He was only feet from the stairs when a bright blue vortex formed right in front of him. “No! Not yet!” he shouted.

As he heard the sound of something shattering in the distance, Evildeed could feel himself being pulled toward the wormhole. Klaxons rang out as metal grates slid down, sectioning off the rooms of the museum. He was lifted into the air, turning about, until he was flying feet first into the wormhole.

⬇

The light of the vortex faded as it disappeared. Evildeed took stock of where he had been unceremoniously dumped. It was a bedroom. Warm. Cozy. Something about it was comforting, domestic in a way that made his heart ache. Dark. It had to be night. In the center of the room stood a king-sized bed, headboard pushed against the wall and made up in floral patterned sheets and pillows. Evildeed noticed there was someone stirring on the far side of the bed.

The figure on the bed turned around underneath the sheets and two eyes gleamed yellow in the dark. There was a faint intake of breath, then the figure pushed itself up into a sitting position and softly said, “Gary?”

“Who are you?” Evildeed panicked. “How do you know my name?”

“That’s right, you’re still Evildeed.” The figure chuckled. “You told me that. Sorry, sometimes I forget.”

As Evildeed’s eyes adjusted to the darkness he realized he was looking at a dark-furred ventrexian. A very old looking ventrexian at that. His fur was shabby, frayed at the ends. His ears drooped, one of which had a chunk missing from the end. There was thin, wiry white fur surrounding his mouth and nose, going up in a broad line over the top of his head.

“I’ve been waiting these last few months for this,” the ventrexian said. He sounded relieved, but there was also a hint of sadness in the rasp of his voice. “I miss you so much, Gary.”

Evildeed stood there, rooted to the spot in shock. Was this ventrexian senile? Evildeed didn’t know him. And yet. And yet, somehow the ventrexian knew his name. His alias as well.

The ventrexian continued, “Oh right. The speech. Look, things are about to get really hard for you. You’re going to feel helpless. You’re going to wonder what’s the point in going on. I need you to know that it will get better. That there are people who care about you.”

The ventrexian smiled serenely as he stared through Evildeed. “And many more who will care about you. You’re stronger than you know, Gary. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known. And I’ve loved you so much for it. No matter what the world throws at you, you’re there for the people you care about. Please. Remember. When you need it, they’ll be there for you too.”

Something in Evildeed’s throat caught. He shouldn’t be here. It felt wrong, like he was intruding on another person’s life. Like he was stealing their moment. Their time. Why was he being told these things? The ventrexian had the wrong person. He had to have. Evildeed so badly wanted to be yanked back into the vortex, every second causing his entire body to ache that much more for reasons he couldn’t begin to comprehend.

The ventrexian patted the bed next to him. “Please. I want to hold your hand one last time.”

Transfixed, Evildeed felt his legs move without his permission. His knees hit the side of the bed, and he pushed himself up and over the edge. The ventrexian held out his hand, elbow bent, almost as if to clasp. Evildeed took the proffered hand in his own.

The ventrexian sighed contentedly, closed his eyes, and said, “The kids are doing great, by the way. The grandkids, too.”

“The what?” Evildeed choked out.

The ventrexian chuckled. “Never gets old.” Eventually, his breathing evened out, chest steadily rising and falling in sleep once again.

Evildeed mused that he had never seen something so peaceful. Some instinct deep within was telling him to memorize every detail of this moment. As he did so, he felt a tear fall down one side of his face. Why? he berated himself. What do you have to cry about? Evildeed rubbed at his face with his free hand. Was it just him or did he have a migraine coming on?

Get out of here. He needed to get out of here. Move your feet Evildeed. %#^@ it! Move your feet! With great effort, he pried his finger’s free from the ventrexian, backing out of the bedroom, through a living room, and out the front door, running into the night with tears streaming down his cheeks. He barely made it into the street, panting out of breath despite the fact he had barely run, before he felt the now-familiar pull as he was bathed in blue light.

⬇

Evildeed landed on asphalt in an open space. It was dark, the stars clearly visible in the night sky. From high up in the distance, a bright spotlight swiveled in his direction, scanning the ground with a few sweeps before landing on him. He held an arm up to shield his eyes against the glare. Alarms blared over a speaker system, and as Evildeed picked himself up he sighed heavily. Here we go again.

He ran towards the shadows nearby. When he turned around, he realized what was casting the shadow. It was a two-pilot interceptor. A Talon Mark IV, no less. When he was a young child, he had gone through a space combat phase, fascinated by the shapes and designs; the famous aces whose names were written in the annals of history. Of course, the Mark IV was in the process of being phased out in favor of the Mark V, but Evildeed was less interested in space combat than he once was.

Still, he contemplated, who was he to pass up the opportunity to… ‘appropriate’ one of these beauties? You might never get another chance, Evildeed.

Barking voices could be heard in the distance. Evildeed peered around the nose of the interceptor. There were lights bouncing around in the dark, no doubt attached to the ends of rifles. Yeah, there was no explaining how he accidentally broke into a secure military base, was there? Might as well!

Evildeed saw a mobile stairway and pulled it next to the interceptor’s cockpit. He dashed up the stairway two steps at a time, fumbling around for the controls. It took a few moments, his adrenaline spiking as he realized that his pursuers were drawing close, but he managed to gain entry, closing the cockpit’s window over him as he buckled himself in the forward pilot’s seat.

He stared at the controls in front of him. You really didn’t think this through. He gasped as a piercing pain stabbed at his forehead. He shut his eyes, but still saw bright light. Holding his head in his hands, he waited for the pain to pass. He felt something wet pass over one of his hands. Opening his eyes, he saw blood running across his fingers. A nose bleed. Great.

A bolt of laser fire flashed across the cockpit’s window. Evildeed jumped as far as the seat belt would allow as he yelped.

As the chaos of the scene around him unfolded, Evildeed wiped his hand on his suit. He strained to remember the initiation sequences he had watched so many times in vids as a kid. Flipping switches, pressing buttons, running his hands in designated lines along the controls, he got the interceptor to move forward with a jerk.

He turned the spacecraft down the runway, intent on making his escape, but another burst of pain in his head distracted him. This time the pain traveled down his spine, nearly paralyzing him in his seat. He cried out in pain, his arm slipping and hitting the throttle.

Before Evildeed had time to react, his interceptor was accelerating forth, listing to the side and crashing into another spacecraft on the tarmac. There was an explosion, throwing his interceptor back. Bright flashes of light filled his field of vision, but he couldn’t tell if it was due to what was happening outside the spacecraft or inside his head.

There was a heavy crunching noise, the sides of the interceptor imploding, then exploding in a sonic blast before a blue light enveloped him, dragging him out of his harness and up into the sky.

⬇

Evildeed landed on a linoleum tile floor. His vision swam as he struggled on all fours to get up. His head felt as if it was being squeezed in a vice. With great effort, he stood up, resting an arm on a metal desk. He wasn’t sure how much more of this abuse his body could take.

“Intruder!” a voice yelled. “Intruder!”

Evildeed looked up to see an unfortunately familiar metal sphere staring him down. “You!” he coughed. He looked down. There was blood on his glove. He fell to his knees as his body was wracked by pain.

“Begone, foul evildoer!” KVN said as he started flailing his arms at Evildeed’s head and back.

“Ow! Ow! Quit it KVN!” Evildeed snapped.

KVN let up, gazing curiously down at him. “You know my name? Are you a spy?”

“What? No!” Evildeed stood up, but his legs were still feeling shaky. “Why would I– you know what? It doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll take care of you, spy!” KVN shouted as he rammed himself into Evildeed’s chest.

The canister that Evildeed carried popped out of its harness and fell to the ground. Upon impact the cap flung open and a vial of dark red liquid flew out. Evildeed watched helplessly as it was flung upward and then fell back down. He grimaced as he waited for it to shatter on the floor, but KVN plucked it from the air just in time.

“What’s this?” KVN asked, shaking the vial.

“Don’t do that!” Evildeed reached for the vial, but KVN flew upwards, holding it out of reach. “I need that! Give it back!”

“I don’t think I shall,” KVN said as he pocketed the vial in a compartment in his side.

There was a blinding flash of pain in Evildeed’s head and he keeled over. Something wet ran over his lips. He ran a hand across them. It can back smeared in blood. It’s getting worse.

“Hey, you’re not looking so good there,” KVN observed. “Maybe you should let me subdue you so I can get you the appropriate medical attention.”

Evildeed said, “Don’t you dare touch me,” before collapsing back to the floor. Yeah, he was not making much of a case for himself here.

“That’s not going to happen, pal. If someone dies on my watch it’s going to look really bad for me.” KVN drifted out of the room, saying, “I’ll be right back. Don’t you worry, spy!”

“Not a spy,” Evildeed said weakly, not sure if KVN even heard him. His arms slumped at his sides as he breathed heavily. He could feel sweat forming on his brow. This is really bad.

KVN returned with a medical kit and started pulling out random tools. “Now I’m not good with human physiology but we’ll figure this out together, okay?”

Evildeed’s eyes bulged when he saw KVN pick up a scalpel and look at it speculatively. Then there was a flash of blue light. “Oh thank the stars!”

KVN looked up. “Oh no! What’s this?” He flew to Evildeed and pulled on one of his arms, fighting the pull of the wormhole.

“Ow! Let go!” Evildeed yelled as he was stretched between KVN’s surprisingly solid grip and the swirling vortex behind him. “Let! Go!” He kicked KVN loose and flew backwards toward his next destination. “I knew I was right to hate youuuuuuuuu!”

⬇

Evildeed woke up groggily on a soft surface (finally!) His mouth felt dry as a desert. He turned from his stomach to his back, looking up at a sky that was awash with painted colors, as if he was floating in the middle of a nebula. He sat up, then coughed wetly, his whole body wracked with the muscle spasms. He dug his hands into the ground as he tried to regain composure.

The ground underneath him was grass, the blades tickling against his skin. He looked up. He was sitting in a garden. There was a row of apple trees in front of him. To his left there was a hedge row; to his right, a squat off-white stone building.

“Well that is new,” an echoing voice said from behind.

Evildeed flapped his arms in surprise. He turned himself around on the ground, not trusting himself to be able to stand up without being sick. Two humanoids stood before him, wearing clothing from an obviously bygone era. They regarded him curiously.

“It has been a while since we’ve had visitors,” one of the figures, not the same voice as the first, said. “Could it be?”

“You shouldn’t be here,” the first voice proclaimed. “How did you break the dimensional seal?”

“The what?” Evildeed asked. His head was fuzzy, and he had to concentrate to parse the words being spoken to him.

The second figure said, “You must be the courier. Did you bring the blood sample?”

The first person snapped his head towards the second. “Courier? Blood sample? What blood sample? What did you do, Oreskis?”

“Oh, nothing you need concern yourself with, Bolo,” Oreskis said lightly.

Bolo regarded Oreskis with suspicion. “It shouldn’t be possible for anyone to get here from the other side.”

Oreskis clicked his tongue. “I suppose not.” He sighed with his whole body. “Well this is inconvenient.”

Oresksis walked up to Evildeed, looking down on him with a cross between pity and disdain. “Sorry for bouncing you around like that. It took a fair amount of effort to guide you here.” He tilted his head to the side. “I assume it’s because your powers are not fully developed. Of course I’ll have to punish whoever is responsible for that lapse in judgment.”

Bolo walked up to Oreskis, putting a hand on his shoulder. “What is the meaning of this?”

“I suppose the cat’s out of the bag,” Oreskis said. He placed a hand on Bolo’s, removing it from his shoulder. “Back when we entered our ‘voluntary’ confinement I made sure to provide a path to my release.”

“What?” Bolo breathed.

Oreskis frowned. “What? Did you think I was actually planning to spend eternity in this pocket dimension, Bolo?”

Bolo’s expression turned dark. His voice boomed, causing Evildeed to flinch. “We agreed to remain trapped here because our powers threatened the very fabric of reality!”

“You agreed. I didn’t want to, but you had already spoken for me,” Oreskis said. “By the time I had figured out the arrangement you were making with the government, the choice was either imprisonment, or being hunted down.” Oreskis turned back to Evildeed and held out a beckoning hand. “The sample.”

“The–the sammle?” Evildeed slurred. He was having difficulty concentrating on the conversation as his head pounded as if a supernova was going off in there.

“You have a sample of my blood, yes?” Oreskis demanded. “Containing the anti-retrovirus?”

“What?” Bolo shouted. “Are you seriously trying to undo the inhibitor?”

Oreskis turned to bolo, gesticulating with his arms. “You might be content to stay here for the rest of your life, but such was never my intention!”

Bolo pointed at Evildeed. “That’s why he’s here? How? How did you do this? We have no ability to manipulate normal space!”

Oreskis smirked. “Before they sealed us away, I had enough time to make some… arrangements. It was simple, really. Secret away a sample of my unadulterated blood, have it infused with antigens so that when reintroduced to my bloodstream, the inhibitor would be destroyed.”

He turned to Evildeed. “Manipulate the bloodlines of the heroes across the generations until they produced a being capable of both temporal and spatial abilities, thus affecting total timespace control. Then use our enhanced genetics to supercharge their powers, allowing them to break through the seal.”

Evildeed’s head rang. He could feel the wormhole was about to return, but something felt different this time. The pull was there, yes, but it was warm, as if he was soaking in a hot bath.

“You can’t be serious!” Bolo said. “We’re talking about the destruction of the entire universe!”

Oreskis sneered, “I am not content to be confined here forever!”

Evildeed broke the fog in his mind. “I– I don’t have it!” Evildeed he fearfully. Something told him that upsetting Oreskis was bad news. “I dropped it back in the last time jump!”

“The last what?” Oreskis demanded. His eyes widened. “No!”

The vortex started forming around Evildeed. Oreskis clenched a hand in his direction. It was as if he was being squeezed from the inside out. Evildeed screamed as a fresh wave of nausea hit him.

Bolo launched himself at Oreskis, tackling him to the ground “Don’t!”

Evildeed gasped for breath when Oreskis’ grip over him subsided. As the wormhole engulfed him he watched as Bolo and Oreskis fought one another, vanishing beyond the vortex’s horizon.

⬇

Evildeed was drifting slowly in and out of consciousness, distantly aware that he was probably dying. At this point he wasn’t sure he cared. The last few forevers hadn’t made any sense, and he was tired of being jerked around. He just wanted to sleep. Yes, sleep sounded good.

Hands pressed at his face, his chest, his–

“–don’t touch him!” a distance voice yelled, almost attenuated to inaudibility.

Evildeed’s head lolled to the side. He opened his eyes just in time to see a child-sized person flying back, wreathed in a halo of blue light and landing roughly on the ground a good twenty feet away. He would try to get up, try to help the unfortunate person, but his arms weren’t responding, being too weak to move.

“–this suit off of you!” the same voice said urgently. “You’re experiencing an overload of your powers!”

Evildeed looked up into a masked face. It took him a moment to realize it was a familiar face. One he had seen on statues and in books; one that resembled his own. And if his mother had been telling the truth–

“Dad?”

Chapter Text

Jack Goodspeed, Age 4

“Mom, where are you going?” Jack Goodspeed asked as he watched Sheryl and John Goodspeed walk out the front door. He didn’t actually know too much about what his parents did when they were away, other than that they helped people. But that didn’t make him any less anxious every time they left. It was anyone’s guess whether they’d be back before he was put to bed. He had trouble sleeping the nights they weren’t.

“They’re going out to protect the city,” Uncle Jack said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him into a loose hug from behind. Uncle Jack was always the one who was called upon to look after Jack Goodspeed, being the person Jack’s parents trusted more than anyone else to keep their child safe. He was old friends with Jack’s father, so much so that he was named after his Uncle.

Jack wasn’t sure how he felt about his namesake. On the one hand, he was kind and warm, he was there whenever his parents needed him, and he never yelled when Jack got into mischief. On the other hand, he was short and looked kinda funny and wasn’t a fan of cookies. Jack didn’t understand how anyone could not like cookies.

Uncle Jack had probably picked up on his nervousness. He gave Jack a quick squeeze and said, “Why don’t I teach you how to play Go Fish?”

Jack Goodspeed, Age 5

His parents had kept him sheltered. They had told him it was to keep him safe.

Then one day his dad left. That’s what his mom had said. Jack was so young and it had happened so suddenly that it took him weeks to understand that his dad would not be coming back. He’d ask his mom when Dad was coming home and she’d get this hard look on her face. Then Jack would break down crying, demanding an answer, and she’d leave the room without a word.

Later, she would tell him that his name was no longer “Jack”. That had belonged to a friend of his father. A friend who had also gone missing. They both had abandoned Jack and his mom. And anyway, the name “Jack” was too much of a reminder of what was lost. No, he was Gary now, named after his maternal grandfather.

And so it was.

Gary Goodspeed, Age 7

Gary’s mom was home most of the time, but it wasn’t like she was spending any of that time parenting him. She was, more often than not, passed out on the couch in a drunken stupor, the television playing quietly in the background.

One day a man in a cheap suit came to the house. The man sat in the dining area with Gary’s mom, who told Gary to go to his room. It had been quiet at first, but soon his mom got into a shouting match with the man that had Gary scrambling into his closet in fear. He had seen her upset before, angry even. But never like this. He jumped at the sound of something being smashed to pieces.

A few minutes later Gary’s mom ran into his room, calling for him. She found him huddled in the closet. Without a word she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out. Gary sat on the edge of his bed as his mom started packing his clothes into a suitcase.

“We’re going to go away for a while,” his mom explained.

“Why?” Gary asked, his voice small.

“That’s not important,” his mom said in a tone that brooked no further questioning.

“Why not?”

His mom rounded on him. “Because I said so.” She stood before him and grabbed his shoulders. “I need you to do as I tell you. Can you do that for your mom?”

Gary nodded dutifully. He was a good son. He would always be a good son, for his mother.

“Good,” his mom said. “Now come with me.” She led him to the living room, where there was a large hole in the wall next to the front door. Another suitcase lay waiting there.

Gary wanted so badly to ask what had happened, what was happening, but he bit his tongue as his mother took the suitcases and wheeled them outside to the car. The man who had come to the house was laying face down in the front lawn. He wasn’t moving.

Gary’s mom loaded up into the car, and as they drove away Gary looked back at the house. It would be the last time he ever saw it; the place where he had grown, the place where his father had disappeared from, the place where his mother drowned her sorrows away. He placed his hand on the window, watching it disappear into the distance.

Gary Goodspeed, Age 9

Gary and his mom had spent the first week away from their house living out of their car, which was more than enough time for the newly renamed Mirage to steal enough valuables to afford them an anonymous tenement apartment in a seedy part of the city. There, people either looked away in earnest disinterest or stared at you like a predator eyeing its next meal. Gary learned very quickly how to tell the difference.

While Mirage sequestered him in the confines of their cramped home during the day, there was a lot of time for Gary to explore the urban wilderness at night, familiarizing himself with Lightopia’s dark underbelly. Sheryl was as absent a mother as she ever was, and usually didn’t mind if he went missing from dawn until dusk, apparently not concerned for his well-being. That was, except the nights where she needed him for a job.

They were on one such job now. It was at an art museum. As time had passed Mirage became dissatisfied with simple burglary. The only apparent way for her to feel any pleasure in life was to pull off increasingly elaborate and daring heists.

As he played lookout in the hall he heard the telltale pop of Mirage teleporting from the room behind him. Mirage’s power was the crux of her success. It was also her most closely guarded secret. She only used her power when she was on a job; otherwise she was a perfectly ordinary if not fully upstanding citizen.

Gary’s attention was drawn by a flash of blue light down the hall. There was something soothing about the way the color played along the wall, almost like looking at an underwater scene. He started walking towards it curiously when he heard a scream. Gary flinched, knocking into a stand with a vase on display.

Alarms sounded, almost deafening as they reverberated through the stone architecture.

“What the %#@& did you do?” Mirage demanded as she ran into the hall.

“I’m sorry!” Gary squeaked. He could feel his breath hitching.

“Sorry ain’t gonna cut it, kid,” Mirage said. She looked down each direction in the hall, making a snap decision and charging into a sprint. “Follow me!”

Gary chased after her as best as he could. He watched as up ahead a gate was sliding down from the ceiling. Mirage easily ran underneath it with a crouch. By the time Gary got there he had to slide underneath it on his legs.

“Keep up!” Mirage snapped.

“I’m trying!” Gary wheezed painfully, his lungs struggling to keep up with the rest of his body.

They took a right turn, followed by a left. Down the hallway three guards held up their tasers, blocking Gary and Mirage’s exit.

“Woah!” Gary said as he felt himself being lifted into the air.

From behind Gary heard his mother yell, “Think fast!” as she threw him at the guards.

He flew into one of them, knocking them back as they grunted at the impact. The other two guards, momentarily distracted, completely missed Mirage teleporting past them as she made her escape.

“Mom!” Gary shouted as he was tackled to the ground, a heavy weight pressing down on his back. “Mom!”

He strained his neck to look up, but she was already gone.

Gary spent the next three years bouncing around programs for “troubled youths.” Not that they actually seemed to care for Gary’s well-being. The bullying by his peers was relentless, magnified by the fact that he didn’t have any powers. That was a sure way to end up at the very bottom of the social hierarchy. Not a good place to be in the social pressure cooker that was an all-boys dormitory.

Figuring it was all for appearance’s sake anyway, Gary eventually ran away, a decision that was vindicated when no-one came looking for him. Dumpster diving and pickpocketing was all he had to sustain himself as he moved from one temporary shelter to another.

The transients in Lightopia were extremely territorial, and scraps were often hard to come by. So Gary learned how to use other people’s prejudices against them. As a small child, he was often underestimated, and he used that to his advantage. It was a bleak existence, but at least he wasn’t dependent on anyone who would end up disappointing him.

Gary, Age 13

“Hands where I can see them!” a voice commanded from behind Gary.

He spun around, soup can in hand, to see a girl in a grey cape flanked by two younger looking boys. The girl flashed a dagger as she took a step toward him. Gary noted that she couldn’t have been more than a couple years older than him. So, a fellow scavenger, then.

“Who’re you?” Gary asked, widening his stance, preparing to run at first provocation.

“That stash belongs to the Friends,” the girl said, pointing to the back of the truck Gary had managed to pry open. Inside were all sorts of goodies, the most important being nonperishable food, enough to last a growing boy a couple months.

“The who?”

“Us.” Behind the girl, the two boys swung their weapons menacingly. “The Friends of Flame.”

Gary eyed them warily. “Never heard of you.”

“Well you have now,” the girl said. “Now drop the can and back away from the truck.”

Gary felt his stomach rumble. Dang, what a waste. Making a snap decision, he made a break for it, running around the truck.

“Get him!” the girl yelled. She was answered by matching hollers. Stars, the kinds sounded almost feral.

Fortunately, the kids chasing Gary were shorter than him, and he easily outpaced them. He rounded a corner into an alley. There was a metal fence up ahead, maybe eight feet high. Gary threw the can over the fence as he jumped up against the wall, punching off it and halfway up onto the fence. He scrambled over it landing on the other side and picked up the can.

Behind him, the fence rattled as the kids chasing him climbed up. Gary glanced back, and saw they were already making their way over the top. He swore as he put on an extra burst of speed. He led them on a chase for a few blocks, trying his best and failing to shake his tails. Spotting an opening the direction he was running, he rounded another corner and ran headfirst into a body.

Gary was on the ground before he could get a good look at who he ran into.

“Wow! Not bad for a kid!” his assailant said, and oh great, it was the girl.

Gary sulked. “I’m not a kid.”

The girl snorted at that. “Sure you aren’t. What are you? Ten?”

“I’m thirteen,” Gary said defensively. “I’m plenty old.”

“Sure you are.” Gary sensed rather than saw the girl roll her eyes. “What’s your name, kid?”

“What’s it to you?” Gary spat as the other two kids caught up to them.

“What’s it gonna be, Nightingale?” one of them asked.

The girl, apparently named Nightingale – a code name? – looked down at Gary. “Y’know. I’m thinking we could use a new recruit.”

“Nuh-uh,” Gary said. He crossed his arms as he stared into Nightingale's eyes. “I don’t work with nobody.”

“Is that so?” Nightingale asked, pulling her dagger out of her cloak. She grinned wickedly. “Sorry to hear that.”

Gary gulped. “Ok. So where do I sign up?”

Gary, Age 14

As Gary scrubbed down the tables in the cantina he looked longingly through the open doorway at Shadowstalker and the raiding party he led to the compound's entrance. He had been with the Friends of Flame for a year at this point and they still wouldn’t let him join on a raid.

“Stop your pouting,” Nightingale said from where she was leaning against the wall, reading a well worn paperback titled The Lost Spy. “You’ll get your chance soon enough.”

“They have kids younger than me going though,” Gary whined. “How am I supposed to get any good at that stuff if they keep me on cleaning duty?”

“Patience,” Nightingale intoned.

Gary snorted. It was always patience with her. As Gary’s “sponsor”, it was Nightingale’s duty to not only train him, but also to determine when he was fit to take on a name, becoming the real deal and eligible for raiding parties.

Nightingale continued, “You have to remember that most of these kids have been Friends for longer than you have. They’ve had more time to train.” She looked up from her book and winked at him. “But don’t worry. You have the best teacher in the entire camp.”

Gary rolled his eyes, even if he knew it was probably true. Some of the other sponsors could be indifferent to their charges, but Nightingale was nothing if not devoted to showing Gary the ropes and toughening him up. He had the sparring bruises to prove it. She had also insisted that Gary continue his education, and had procured textbooks on a variety of subjects for him to study, which he did with great reluctance.

Gary moved to another table and asked, “Where is it they’re going, anyways?”

“Big moolah,” Nightingale said. “Scouts found a massive stash of treasures in some vault thingy. It’s gonna be the biggest hit since Whitestripe was the chief.”

“Whitestripe,” Gary breathed in awe. The name was legendary, as was the Ventrexian it belonged to. It was said that Whitestripe could sneak his way through any security system, avoid any trap, and always found the mark. Flush with credits, he had left the Friends of Flame to become a legit villain.

“Yeah. Whitestripe. One of the greatest chiefs the Friends ever had. Last I heard he’s working for some big name baddie, but that was about the time I took you under my wing. Since then it’s been zip, nada. Like he vanished into thin air.” Nightingale peered assessingly at Gary. “You know, he’s only a few years older than you.” She grinned and teasingly said, “Who knows. Maybe someday you’ll become leader of the Friends. One just as good as him.”

Gary puffed his chest out defiantly. “Maybe I will! And then I’ll become a villain too! The greatest there ever was!”

Nightingale chuckled. “Keep up that attitude and maybe you will.” She stood up from the wall, walking toward the door. “Well I’m gonna check the perimeter. I better not see any spots when I get back.”

Gary grumbled at her back. He worked as he daydreamed of future possibilities. He was going to do big things, he just knew it.

Gary, Age 15

Gary was abuzz with Nervous energy. It was the night of his naming ceremony, when he’d be officially inducted into the ranks of the Friends of Flame. He had spent the last few weeks waffling between three different names but had ultimately decided to go with his original idea.

He looked up the rusted sheet metal stairs to the makeshift platform, in the middle of which a column of fire rose a good five feet into the air. Standing on either side of the fire were Razorfang, the new chief after Shadowstalker followed Whitestripe’s footsteps and left to go villain, and Nightingale, Gary’s sponsor who would in a few minutes be his equal.

Around him, the entirety of the Friends of Flame stood in a large semicircle, numbering about two dozen.

“Approach the fire,” Razorfang called out so that the entire gathering could hear, “and claim your name.”

Gary swallowed thickly. He ascended the stairs, focusing very hard on not tripping and eating the floor in front of everyone. He passed by Nightingale on his way to Razorfang, who held a long metal staff in one hand and a glove in another.

Nightingale whispered so that just Gary could hear, “Nervous?”

“Heck no,” Gary lied, his voice cracking. He flushed at Nightingale’s wry grin. She had been teasing him over his indecisiveness over picking a name.

When Gary stood before Razorfang he was given the glove. It was thick, but surprisingly light, made of some fuzzy material that itched against his skin.

“Put on the glove,” Razorfang ordered.

Gary did as he was told. He had seen two inductions during his time with the Friends of Flame. He knew what was coming next.

“Put your hand in the flame,” Razorfang said.

With trepidation, Gary extended his gloved hand until it was fully in the fire. He was shocked when he only felt a moderate lick of heat, uncomfortable but not painful, though the fire was burning bright enough to cause him to look slightly to the side.

Razorfang began the oaths. “Here before and within the flame that has never been extinguished since the founding, do you swear to uphold the honor of the Friends of Flame?”

“Yes,” Gary swore before the gathering.

“Do you swear to abide by the principles of acquisition and distribution?”

“Yes,” Gary said. The heat inside the glove was rising, causing him to break out in a sweat.

“Do you swear to keep the safety and anonymity of our home?”

“Yes.”

“Do you swear to protect your sisters and brothers, with blade and body?”

“Yes!” The heat was bordering unbearable. Gary could feel the nerves in his fingers buzzing.

“Then tell us who now joins us as a Friend.”

With a cry, Gary announced before himself, his chief, his sponsor-now-comrade, and his fellow Friends, “Thunder Bandit!”

“Remove your hand from the flame,” Razorfang commanded.

Gary gasped gratefully as he pulled his hand back. Immediately the pain in his hand began to subside. Razorfang put a hand on Gary’s shoulder with enough force to turn him toward the crowd and guide him to the front of the platform. Gary watched the onlookers, the bright glow and flicker of the fire playing across their upturned faces.

“Friends,” Razorfang shouted. “I present to you: Thunder Bandit!”

“Thunder Bandit!” the crowd below responded, the power of two dozen voices nearly bowling Gary over in shock.

Razorfang slammed his staff on the floor of the platform, the clang of metal on metal ringing out into the night. “Thunder Bandit!” he shouted a second time.

“Thunder Bandit!” the crowd echoed. They alternated between stomping their feet and chanting.

“Thunder Bandit!”

“Thunder Bandit!”

“Thunder Bandit!”

Thunder Bandit, Age 17

The compound had been hit. How it had been discovered or who was attacking were anybody’s guess. Friends scurried through the ramshackle and makeshift structures, their shadows playing across timber and corrugated metal against the backdrop of the fire that raged and threatened to take over, their shouts muddled and unintelligible in the confusion.

It had happened fast. One moment, Thunder Bandit was discussing a potential raid target with Razorfang and Nightingale, the next there were several loud bangs that flashed bright in the night, embers falling in smoking orange arcs from the sky. Thunder Bandit had to admire the irony, taking out the Friends of Flame with incendiary weapons.

In the ensuing chaos Thunder Bandit was split up from the others. Nightingale ran toward the barracks. Razorfang headed to the vault. Thunder Bandit made his way to the armory. When he made it inside he rushed to his locker, ripping the door open. He hastily put on a cobbled together set of leather armor and padding, listening to the pandemonium outside.

A kid with spiky red-dyed hair ran into the armory, shouting, “They’ve got us surrounded!”

“How many?” Thunder Bandit said as he pulled out a baseball bat wrapped in a spiked chain.

“Not sure! Maybe five? Maybe ten? Hard to tell.”

Thunder Bandit cursed. This was serious. He ran out of the armory and straight for the nearest commotion. As he approached a figure wearing an all black outfit and gask mask outstretched the palms of their hands and a gust of wind knocked several Friends on their backs. The wind fanned the surrounding flames, adding to the conflagration.

It was even worse than he thought. These were professionals, no doubt about it. Thunder Bandit raced at the figure, rolling to the ground when they moved to blow him back. He leapt into the air and pulled the baseball bat down onto the figure’s shoulder. There was a yelp of pain, and the figure clutched their new wound.

Thunder Bandit turned around to face his Friends, who were still standing up from the ground. “Get out of here!” he ordered.

They didn’t need to be told twice.

“Why you little brat!” a muffled voice growled from underneath the gas mask.

Thunder Bandit squared himself as he faced his opponent. He knew he probably couldn’t win, but he had to buy time for the others to make their escape. He sneered. “Why don’t you see just how much of a brat I can be!”

Thunder Bandit staggered down the dark alley. He had barely escaped his encounter with his life. He suspected that whoever had attacked the Friends, they were professionals. Probably villains, or henches at the least. He stopped short when he heard a pained moan from up ahead. He squinted into the darkness. There was a figure standing with their back to the wall.

He walked forward and looked into a familiar face. “Nightingale? Oh thank the stars you made it out!”

“Did any of them get a good look at your face?” Nightingale asked urgently, cutting Thunder Bandit off.

Thunder Bandit replayed the last few minutes in his head, but it was fuzzy, the details lost in all the action. “I don’t think so. But I’m not one hundred percent on that.”

“Good.”

“What are we going to do?” Thunder Bandit asked desperately.

“Run,” was Nightingale’s unexpected reply.

Thunder Bandit looked at her in disbelief. “Run? But what about the oath? Friends don’t run.”

“There’s nothing left to come back to,” Nightingale said. “And I’m not sure they won’t hunt down those of us that escaped.”

It didn’t sit right with Thunder Bandit, that he should just abandon everyone. After all, they were more than just Friends, they were Family. He had practically grown up with them, taken care of them when they were injured or sick and had the same done for him.

He looked at Nightingale as she hugged her side. “What about you? Are you going to be okay?”

“I can take care of myself,” Nightingale assured Thunder Bandit. When she saw his look of doubt she huffed, then winced. “It’s not as bad as it looks. Look, we can’t be seen together, it’ll only make us more vulnerable. ‘Sides, I’ll only slow you down.”

“I can’t leave you behind,” Thunder Bandit said.

Nightingale’s face turned hard. “You can, and you will. I’m not having anything happen to you on my account.” Her expression turned fond. “You’re gonna do great things, kid.”

Thunder Bandit frowned. “I’m not a kid.”

Nightingale chuckled weakly. “That’s the first thing you told me when we met? Remember?”

Thunder Bandit did. Doing so made him feel a pang of nostalgia. So much had happened in only four years, and yet those four years felt like an entire lifetime. An entire lifetime that he was leaving behind, like so many other things he had left behind.

“Say, you should think about going to Tera Con Prime Academy,” Nightingale said, breaking Thunder Bandit free from his thought spiral.

“The villain school?”

“Yeah. Almost all the biggest villains went there. Invictus, Werthrent, Nullpoint, you name it.”

Thunder Bandit had to admit he was impressed by what he had heard about the school, but he was doubtful. “I don’t know.”

“Trust me. You’d do great there. And someone with your talents should have no trouble getting in.”

“I guess. If you say so.”

“Good. Now go,” Nightingale said, her tone brooking no argument.

As Thunder Bandit left he spared Nightingale one last parting glace, thinking that if there was any justice in the universe she would be okay and they would meet once again some day.

Gary, Age 19

Tera Con Prime was kicking Gary’s butt. The classes and homework were brutal and unceasing. He wouldn’t mind as much if there was more fieldwork and less theory. Gary had a pet theory that the course load was structured the way it was to give washed up villains a place to score an easy salary. At least it seemed that way with how tediously some of his professors lectured.

That said, he was legitimately learning useful stuff that would help him in his dastardly career. And the opportunity for networking was nothing to sneer at. One of his professors had put him in touch with the hench in charge of hiring interns for Invictus. If that panned out, well, Gary would be in a very advantageous position for his inevitable rise to glory.

Gary was eating lunch with his friends Henry, Jeff, and Frank at their usual spot. The round table they sat at provided the perfect view of Lightopia through the habitat dome that surrounded the satellite station, that in turn housed the Tera Con Prime Academy as well as the few local establishments that catered to the mostly financially struggling students. For Gary, today’s meal was street meat, as it was almost every day. It was just as well that he liked his food extra greasy.

“So what do you think about ‘NoScope’?” Henry asked the group. They had been discussing potential villain names, even though they wouldn’t be putting on the mantle of an officially recognized name until they graduated in two years.

Jeff and Frank made matching faces of distaste. Jeff scoffed, saying, “That’s the kind of name a kid who wants to be a villain would pick. Can you imagine that being your name when you achieve super status? No-one would take you seriously.”

Henry responded with a snort. “Says the guy who wants to just be called ‘Jeff’.” He took a bite out of his roasted mega-ant on a stick. “It’s like you want to be a hench forever.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Jeff defended. “That way you never get locked up for the big stuff.”

“Sure, you won’t get locked up for the big stuff,” Frank said. “But you also have a much higher casualty rate. Unless you’re working for the Lord Commander and working at least middle management, you’re not likely to last more than a couple of years.”

“And what about the recognition? The adulation? The fear,” Gary added.

Jeff rolled his eyes. “It’s always you and” – he brought out the air quotes – “the fear.”

“What else is the point of becoming a villain?” Gary asked earnestly. By now he had become notorious among his friends for his grand ambitions. They knew about all the notebooks where he kept his ideas for villain names, costume and lair designs, and potential starter plots to get himself on his feet in the cutthroat world of villainy.

“The money?” Henry said.

“The plots,” Jeff said.

“The babes,” Frank said with a grin.

Gary made a dismissive face at that. Typical Frank. “Ehhh. That’s so– so pedestrian.”

“That’s so pedestrian,” Frank repeated in mocking falsetto. “You think you’re all that, Mister Top Of The Class.”

Gary blushed at the teasing even though he knew to expect it by now. He shrugged off his embarrassment. “I can’t help that I want it more than you.”

“Yeah? Well, when you make it to the big leagues, you keep a spot open for your friend Frank, okay?”

“Sure. Whatever,” Gary said, then grimaced. “But I’m not doing that nasty hand shake thing you do.”

Frank grinned at him. He stood up from the table and bowed toward Gary with an exaggerated flourish. “Just as long as I have a future spot working for the future greatest villain of all time.”

Gary groaned as he buried his head in his arms.

Doctor Evildeed, Present

Evildeed looked up at the masked face. “Dad?”

“Dad?” Captain Chronos repeated. “I think you have the wrong person there friend, but first we need to get you out of this suit.” Off to the side, a stout figure in a white and blue suit and cape moaned from where it lay on the ground. Captain Chronos turned his head to the figure. “Don’t worry Jack, it’s going to be okay.”

“N-Need the suit,” Evildeed slurred. His vision swam for a second and he coughed wetly.

“Nope,” Captain Chronos insisted as he started unding clasps and zippers. “Your powers are overloading and it's killing you. I’ve never seen someone with this level of time warping energy. This is way beyond even me. It’s a miracle you’re still alive.”

“No. Don’t,” Evildeed said weakly. He was in no condition to resist as he couldn’t even lift his arms, so exhausted he was. “Need it to save you.”

Captain Chronos paused. “Save me?”

“Yeah. From the Arachnitect. He gets you.”

Evildeed felt a tug on his arms as Captain Chronos went back to undoing the suit, saying, “I– aren’t you the Arachnitect? At least you’re dressed up as him.”

“What? No, I’m Doctor Evildeed.”

“Who?” Captain Chronos said before pulling the suit down Evildeed’s legs.

“Nevermind, you wouldn’t know. Ugh! Everything hurts,” Evildeed said. He frowned, something in his subconscious warning him that he was getting sidetracked. “Wait! Forget all that! I’m your son! I can prove it!”

“I only have one son,” Captain Chronos said as he finished removing the suit. “And he is a lot younger than you.”

“I’m Gary Goodspeed,” Evildeed blurted out.

Captain Chronos stilled. “Gary?” he said doubtfully.

“Wait,” Evildeed said. “That was after. I’m Jack Goodspeed. Your son.”

“So you know my son’s name,” Captain Chronos said, his voice hard. He looked like he was considering whether or not he’d need to kill Evildeed for the sake of his son’s safety.

Evildeed continued, “I had a pet caterpillar named Mooncake. You had to hide the cookie jar a bunch of times because I kept finding it, even if it was up high. When I had trouble sleeping you sang me that song about how many stars there are.” Evildeed started humming a tune, one that his dad had made up on his own. One that only the two of them could know.

Captain Chronos stared down at him. For a while, he said nothing. Then he took Evildeed’s chin in his hand, turning his head left and right. “Son?” He gasped. “Oh, it’s really you.”

“Dad.” Evildeed croaked, a tear sliding down from one eye. “It’s really– Augghhh!” Pain wracked his body into a fitful spasm.

Captain Chronos placed hand over hand on his chest, a stern look of concentration on his face.

Almost immediately Evildeed could feel the pain lessening. “What’re you doing?”

“Siphoning your temporal energy. You have too much of it,” Captain Chronos explained, as if that made any sense. Stars, Evildeed’s head really hurt. It was difficult to keep any thoughts in his head. Captain Chronos continued, “It’s fortunate you got your time powers from me. I don’t know that anyone else could do this.”

“Oh.” Evildeed lay there as searing pain blended into a slow burning warmth that radiated from his bones and out through his skin. “Wait. What about you?”

“I’ll be fine,” Captain Chronos said. “Anyway, a father has to protect his son.”

An image of Catspaw flashed in Evildeed’s mind. “Yeah. I understand that.”

Captain Chronos arched an eyebrow. “Do you now?”

“Yeah.” Evildeed smiled. “Got one of my own. Gotta say, he’s quite a handful, but I’d do anything for him.”

“Is that so?” Captain Chronos said. His whole body was wreathed in a faint halo of blue light. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You’ll have to tell me about him some time.”

Evildeed frowned. Finding he had more strength than before, he lifted himself onto his elbows and looked at his father. “Dad? What’s wrong?”

“Son. I’m so proud of you. I always knew you were going to do great.”

“Dad, what are–”

Captain Chronos rested a hand on Evildeed’s shoulder. “I’m going to send you back.”

“Already? Okay,” Evildeed said reluctantly. Then his eyes widened as the halo surrounding his dad burst like a supernova, bathing the entire clearing in blue light.

Captain Chronos doubled over in pain with a cry.

His cry was echoed by that of the stout figure, which stood up. “What did you do to me?” it demanded as it looked at Evildeed, eyes radiating a bright yellow light.

Captain Chronos tore his gaze away from Evildeed, regarding the figure. “Jack?”

“Dad?” Evildeed said, panicked.

Captain Chronos collected himself, turning back to Evildeed. He put his other hand on Evildeed’s other shoulder. “You take care of your son, okay?”

“Wait! Dad!”

The blue light surrounding them started spinning in sweeping arcs, faster and faster. The wind picked up around them and Evildeed was lifted off the ground.

“Dad!” Evildeed reached for Captain Chronos.

“Guess this is where I get off,” Captain Chronos said. “Be good and do good, son. I believe in you.” The corona of blue light imploded and Captain Chronos disappeared with a deafening crack.

“Dad!” Evildeed shouted as he was pulled into the temporal vortex. “No!”

The last thing he saw was the stout figure levitating upward with a growl. “I’ll get you, Arachnitect! I’ll get you if it’s the last thing I do!”

Evildeed landed on his back. When he opened his eyes he saw a dim fluorescent light shining down on him.

“Ugh.” He swayed as he stood up, resting his hands on his knees. He took a few deep breaths to settle himself.

“Oh my stars! Are you okay?” A grey tabby ventrexian in a blue security uniform rushed to him.

Evildeed realized belatedly that he wasn’t wearing anything but an undershirt and briefs, but after the day he’d had, he didn’t have the wherewithal to feel embarrassment.

The ventrexian helped Evildeed stand, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and walking him to a door. “It looks like the anomaly’s gone! I saw! It just spit you right out and disappeared!”

“What?” Evildeed said foggily. He looked forward and saw a metal door set in a cement wall. The wall curved up into a dome around them. “Where are we?”

“They had to put a biological shield around the anomaly. Can never be too safe!” the ventrexian said, sounding far too cheerful for Evildeed’s taste.

As the ventrexian pushed open the door, they said, “We have to get you to a medical center. You look fine, but they’ll probably want to run some tests to make sure.”

Evildeed balked at that, stopping dead in his tracks. “I’d rather not.”

The ventraxian looked at him with curious eyes. They flicked an ear. “I’m sure it will be alright,” they said as they pulled Evildeed along.

“Wait.” Evildeed stopped again, and the ventrexian let out an annoyed huff. “Do you know who I am?”

The ventrexian blinked. “I’m sorry. Should I?”

Evildeed looked warily at their surroundings. It sure looked like the same park where everything had initially gone to pieces. In the distance he could see the buildings that he definitely recognized as being Lightopia.

“Look, I should really go,” Evildeed said. He shut his eyes tight as he tried to teleport away, but nothing happened. He clenched his whole body as he tried again. No effect.

The ventrexian hummend nervously. “Look. I’m going to have to report this to my superiors. And I’ll get in big trouble if I just let you go.”

Evildeed sighed theatrically, waving a hand in front of himself. “Lead the way.”

When the ventrexian walked in front of him, Evildeed knocked them out with a decisive blow. Always too trusting.

“Honey, I’m home!” Evildeed called out as he walked into Evildeed HQ. After what he had just been through, he was desperately in need of the comfort and familiarity of his home. Having his family to commiserate with would help a lot – he might have teared up a little at the thought that despite losing his dad for a second time, he still had a family to come home to.

Evildeed was a bit nonplussed by the silence that followed. What’s a guy have to do to get some attention around here?

“Little Cato? Mooncake?” his voice echoed through the lonely hallways. “Anyone home?”

There was a crash in the distance. “Who’s there?” Mooncake’s voice rang out. There was another crash, this one sounding closer. “Whoever you are, you better not be messing with me!”

Evildeed was unsure what to make of that statement. Did Mooncake not recognize the sound of his voice?

Mooncake turned around a corner and into view at high speed, giving Evildeed barely a second to react before it was barreling into Evildeed’s chest and knocking his breath out. “It’s you! Oh my stars I can’t believe it’s really you!”

Evildeed chuckled. “Of course it’s me. Who else would it be?” He frowned when he realized that Mooncake was sobbing. “Hey buddy?” He wrapped an arm around his companion. “I know what happened was scary, but I’m okay, see?” He held Moocake out at arm's length so it could get a good look at him.

“I’m sorry,” Mooncake said. It looked up at him with tears in its eyes. “It’s just– we didn’t know if you’d ever come back.”

“What? Why wouldn’t I come back?”

“We waited. Some more than others. But we waited for so long.”

Evildeed could feel the blood rushing from his face. His heart rate picked up, beating a warning in his ears. Something was not right. “What do you mean ‘for so long?’. ‘Some more than others?’”

Mooncake looked reluctant to answer. It turned away from him.

That’s when it occurred to Evildeed that his home was far too quiet. There should be evidence of family, of life. “Mooncake? What did you mean by that? Where is everyone?” he asked, already knowing that he was dreading the answer.

Mooncake looked at Evildeed’s feet forlornly. “Mirage left a week after you disappeared.”

Alarm bells rang in Evildeed’s head. “What do you mean a week after?”

“Evildeed.” Mooncake sounded helpless. “You’ve been gone for two years.”

“I– what?” Evildeed breathed, all the air punched out of him. His ears started to ring.

“I’m sorry. Catspaw tried to stick around. He really did. For six months he hardly ate, he hardly slept, so focused on finding a way to bring you back. It was all he would talk about.” Mooncake warbled a sad note. “But it became too much for him. In the end, I think he blamed himself for not saving you, and he left. I haven’t heard from him since.”

“Why didn’t you stop him?” Evildeed yelled furiously at Mooncake. He knew in his heart that it wasn’t Mooncake’s fault, but he could feel a helpless fury raging inside himself, and Mooncake was the nearest and most convenient target.

Mooncake didn’t flinch. It spread its robotic arms out beseechingly and asked, “How?”

That was the last straw. It was too much for Evildeed to process. Not only had he lost his parents, but he had lost his son. The world turned to static before his eyes. His knees buckled underneath him. He could feel more than see himself fall to the floor on hands and knees. This can’t be happening! This can’t be happening! This can’t be happening!

Evildeed was distantly aware that Mooncake was shouting his name in distress as he passed out.

(2 years, 5 months B.F.D)

Chapter Text

2 years, 5 months B.F.D.

“Why does the sun go on shining?
Why does the sea rush to shore?
Don’t they know, it’s the end of the world
’cause you don’t love me anymore?”

Skeeter Davis sang loudly over the loudspeakers in the bridge of Evildeed’s dirigible fortress, the Crimson Dark, as Evildeed rained hellfire on the panicking populace below. After everything that had happened to him over his years of living in this corrupt city, he had come to the realization that it was what they deserved; it was time they understood his pain.

Outside the window the sky was clear, giving everyone on the ground a clear view of his ignoble airborne bastion. Evildeed cackled as he pulled a tall metal lever, lobbing another bomb. Five seconds later there was a flash of bright light in the distance.

Let those fools think that these little towers they built meant anything. He would show them how truly meaningless their accomplishments were, how much of society and its products were insubstantial, were mere artifice. Evildeed had seen into the void that everyone else conveniently ignored.

And he was ready to spread the good word!

“Why do the birds go on singing?
Why do the stars glow above?
Don't they know it's the end of the world?
It ended when I lost your love.”

That morning had been tense.

“Where are you going?” Mooncake had asked, pestering Evildeed as it followed him through his headquarters.

“Out,” Evildeed had grit out as he put on his suit. He fastened the clasps on the front.

Mooncake flew nervously beside him. “Out where?”

“Out,” Evildeed repeated. He reached down to his boot where it was resting on the wooden bench, pulling the string tight, then did the same to his other boot, his motions exaggerated in his fury.

“I’m going with you,” Mooncake said with determination.

Evildeed strapped his mask and goggles on, giving himself a look in the mirror. “No.”

“Evildeed,” Mooncake pleaded. It flapped its mechanical arms. “Let me come with you.”

The villain turned around and strode out of the armory with purpose, the tail of his coat billowing behind him. “No. I have to do this alone.”

“But you’re not alone! That’s the whole point!” Mooncake flew around and in front of Evildeed, blocking his path.

Evildeed callously grabbed Mooncake’s harness and threw it to the side, not even bothering to offer any more words.

“Evildeed!”

He didn’t spare a glance back as he left his headquarters for the hangar.

“Why does my heart go on beating?
Why do these eyes of mine cry?
Don’t they know, it’s the end of the world…”

“It ended when you said goodbye,” Evildeed sang along. There was a faint clunking noise. “Eh?” Evildeed reached for the controls and turned down the music. He cocked his head, wondering if something was wrong with the dirigible’s engine. When he didn’t hear anything further, he walked to the helm, steering the airship to the left. There was a juicy target just one mile in that direction.

“This is one heck of a way to announce you’re back.”

Evildeed whirled around. Standing in the doorway to the bridge was a familiar ventrexian hero.

***

The sudden disappearance of Evildeed had knocked Clawmaster’s world off its axis. He hadn’t noticed, at first. That his work was keeping him much less busy than usual. It took him an embarrassing amount of time to realize it was because he wasn’t thwarting an Evildeed scheme every week.

Initially, having the extra time had been a nice reprieve. But life felt less colorful without his self-proclaimed archrival. Nightfall was of course giving Clawmaster a hard time for his listlessness. Clawmaster had tried to tell Nightfall that he was simply going through an adjustment period, but she was having none of it.

“I’ve seen the way you two fight. It’s like you both actually look forward to it,” Nightfall had told him one night while they were on patrol.

“What? I don’t look forward to it,” Clawmaster said as he waved a hand dismissively. “It just that Evildeed’s creative. He forces me to think outside of the box, so fighting him is more interesting than other villains.”

“Did I just catch you complementing a villain?”

Clawmaster could hear the grin hidden behind the helmet in Nightfall’s voice. “Shut up.”

“You’re really worried about him, aren’t you?”

And that was just it. He was worried about Evildeed. He looked up at the sky. “Where is he?”

So imagine Clawmaster’s surprise when an all-alert called every available hero and vigilante into Lightopia in response to a very familiar (at least to Clawmaster) dirigible laying waste to the city center.

Clawmaster was even more astonished when he arrived on the scene. It was absolute chaos. People were running in all directions in their confusion. Smoke billowed from buildings. Overhead, the dirigible loomed ominously, launching small objects that were silhouetted against the daytime sky.

“Nightfall! You there?” Clawmaster called into his transceiver.

“Clawmaster! This your boy?” Nightfall’s crackling voice responded.

Clawmaster ignored her question as he ran against a retreating crowd, scanning for anyone needing immediate medical assistance. “Got your jetpack?”

“Sure do! Why?”

“Where are you?” Clawmaster asked urgently. There was a loud boom a block over, followed by a fresh wave of screams.

“Heading up Auriga... I just passed Ninth.”

Clawmaster altered course, sprinting as fast as he could. “I’m on my way.”

Throughout the streets there were piles of burning rubble, trails of smoke rising into the air. He was glad he had the foresight to tell the kid to stay home. Poor thing did not need to see this.

Two minutes later he met up with Nightfall. “Give me your jetpack,” he shouted over the commotion as he motioned impatiently.

“Okay! Okay!” Nightfall shrugged off her jetpack and handed it over. “Clawmaster. Go talk to him,” she said solemnly. “I know you can get through to him.”

Clawmaster turned around and let Nightfall help strap the jetpack on. “I’ll try.”

Once the jetpack was secured Nightfall gave it two good-to-go pats. “You know how to use this thing?”

Clawmaster hopped on his legs a few times to psych himself up. “I think so.”

Nightfall took a few steps back. “Hah! Well best of luck to you!”

“Thanks!” Clawmaster said before launching into the sky.

Infiltrating the dirigible had proved to be easy work. Clawmaster entered from below the decks and fought his way through a dozen SAMES before making his way to the door to the bridge. He could hear music playing through the wall.

Clawmaster burst in, confronting his rival.

Evildeed turned to face him. “I should have expected you. I see you got past my SAMES.” He pulled out a comm, tapping it. “Note to self: Full refresh on the SAMES firmware. They seem to have degraded in the last two years.”

Clawmaster fully entered the bridge, taking stock of his surroundings. The room was sparse, save for a few control consoles. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Evildeed asked with a smile. He splayed his arms out at his sides. “Or have you already forgotten my name?”

Clawmaster frowned. “This isn’t you”. He walked forward, stopping only a few paces from Evildeed, and looked into his rival’s eyes. He was scared when he realized he didn’t recognize them. They were hard, and yet somehow also hollow, like staring into the eyes of a statue.

“This isn’t you,” Clawmaster repeated, perhaps more for himself this time.

Evildeed’s expression hardened even further. “Screw you! You don’t know me! You don’t know what I’ve been through!”

“You’re right. I don’t know what you’ve been through.” Clawmaster held out his arms in placation. “But this isn’t the Evildeed I know.”

Evildeed crossed his arms. “It’s been two years, yeah? A lot can change in two years.”

“You’re hurting real people,” Clawmaster pointed out. “Real, innocent people.”

“I’m a villain. That’s what I do,” Evildeed said coldly.

Clawmaster slowly circled around Evildeed. “Not you.”

Evildeed rotated where he stood, keeping his front facing toward the hero, and reached with his flesh hand to twist a dial in his metal hand. “Why not me?”

Clawmaster growled in frustration. “What has gotten into you?”

Evildeed raised his metal hand and pointed it at Clawmaster’s chest. “Don’t make me.”

Clawmaster didn’t like that what he felt at that wasn’t anger, but pity. It made what he had to do that much harder. Clawmaster said, “I’m sorry” before launching himself at Evildeed. He dodged an incoming shot from Evildeed’s metal arm with a spinning flip. There was a bright flash and a loud buzz from where the shot had landed.

This wasn’t like old times. Their fights then had an almost choreographed feel to them, like a dance between two partners who had trained together. This was nothing like that. This was primal, two beings locked in a contest to prove their dominance.

Clawmaster extended his claws through the tiny holes in his gloves. Evildeed kicked at him but Clawmaster caught it. Without missing a beat Evildeed stepped up using his held foot and aimed another kick with his other leg at Clawmaster’s face. Clawmaster arched backward, Evildeed’s boot sailing through the air a mere inch from his face, and launched Evildeed backward and up.

Realizing he was vulnerable while in mid-flight, Evildeed adjusted the dial on his metal hand and shot a smoke bomb at the ground. The larger part of the bridge was quickly engulfed in thick smoke.

Clawmaster grinned to himself. Evildeed had miscalculated. In these obscuring conditions Clawmaster’s superior powers of hearing would hand him the advantage. His ears swiveled as they focused around the room.

There. Eight feet forward and slightly to the right: the sound of heavy breathing. Clawmaster slowly crept forward, making sure to keep his steps silent. The source of the breathing didn’t move. Clawmaster got within striking distance and–

A blunt blow hit him in his side, knocking him to the floor. Clawmaster gasped for air, his side burning with pain.

“Thank the stars for infrared vision!” Evildeed gloated.

Clawmaster cursed, realizing he had been outplayed. He vaulted back onto his feet just as Evildeed appeared through the smoke, holding a metal pipe in his hands. Clawmaster spun to the side and blocked another blow before countering with a slash at Evildeed’s face that connected, tearing shallow gashes through his masked cheek.

Evildeed hissed. He clapped a hand to his cheek. “You @^%#!” When he pulled his hand away there was a faint smear of blood. “How dare you ruin my beautiful face!”

Clawmaster used Evildeed’s distraction to rush at him, trading a couple blows before tackling the villain.

Evildeed grunted as he was pinned to the floor. He looked up at Clawmaster and sneered. “Don’t think this means you’ve won.”

Clawmaster’s eyes widened when he realized there was a knife held at his throat. He stilled, hardly daring to breathe. “That’s… new.”

Evildeed grinned and quickly tilted the blade back and forth. “New dog. New tricks.”

“I see that,” Clawmaster said hoarsely. “I don’t suppose we could talk this out.”

“Talk! He wants to talk!” Evildeed replied scornfully. “You certainly weren’t talking before. Unless you’re counting with your claws, which I most certainly don’t–”

“I’ll take off my mask!” Clawmaster blurted, interrupting Evildeed’s rambling.

“What,” Evildeed said flatly, clearly caught of guard.

“I’ll take off the mask.”

Evildeed blew a puff of air that, were it not for the mask, would have tickled Clawmaster’s ear. “And then what?”

“And then we talk.”

“Talk.”

Clawmaster counted the seconds in his head as Evildeed took his sweet time to come to a decision. Evildeed’s eyes flicked between his own and the blade. Everything went silent, the smoke slowly thinning out into wisps around them.

Fifteen... Sixteen... Seventeen... Eighteen...

“Fine,” Evildeed said before pulling the blade back and pocketing it.

Clawmaster let out a harsh breath and took a few moments to calm himself. He willed his heart to stop trying to escape from his chest as he brought his hands to the sides of his head. When Evildeed tensed he said, “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

Evildeed nodded. He looked up at Clawmaster in anticipation, his eyes searching. “I can’t believe this is actually happening.”

“Well, you didn’t exactly leave me much choice,” Clawmaster huffed as he gripped at his mask, his claws digging in, and slowly pushed it upward. He lifted the mask off of his face and stared down at Evildeed, wondering what the villain would say.

He didn’t expect the laughter.

***

Evildeed watched, rooted to the spot, as Clawmaster took his mask off. It clung tight to the ventrexian hero’s fur as it was removed. There was something so vulnerable, so intimate, about seeing Clawmaster’s real face. But Evildeed didn’t have much time to dwell on that thought. Not much time at all, because...

Yellow eyes. Dark fur. A white patch over the mouth, the nose, and up and over the top of his head. A chunk missing from the left ear.

“No,” Evildeed breathed. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be! But as impossible as it was, it was him. Sure, Evildeed could try to lie to himself, but it wouldn’t be much use. There was no denying it. Kneeling over him was the same – albeit a younger version – ventrexian as the one he had visited during his episode in the time vortex.

“Heheheh,” he gasped, he hiccuped. “Haha! Ahahahaha!” Clawmaster’s expression turned from one of openness to one of confusion, and finally to one of alarm as Evildeed broke down in a crescendoing fit of laughter.

Evildeed brushed away one of Clawmaster’s arms that was reaching out for his shoulder, crying, “No freaking way! Hahaha! No freaking way! Ohhhhh stars… this can’t be happening to me!” Evildeed stood up and bent over, curling his arms around his stomach. He laughed so hard he could feel himself on the verge of retching. “Of course it’s you!”

“I’m sorry? It’s me what?” Clawmaster asked. His hands were hovering over Evildeed, as if he wanted to comfort him, but was also afraid of touching him. “Are you okay?”

“Ahahahaha! I’m just fine! Absolutely peachy over here!” Evildeed giggled. He reached up and placed a hand on each of Clawmaster’s cheeks, squeezing his face. “You magnificent $%@#!”

“Look, I think you’ve had a very rough day,” Clawmaster consoled softly, pushing Evildeed’s hands away. “And also need a lesson in boundaries.”

“More like a very rough life!” Evildeed yelled indignantly at the ceiling, shaking a fist. He looked back down and poked at Clawmaster’s nose with a pointer finger. “Boop!” Evildeed broke down into more giggles at Clawmaster’s affronted expression.

Clawmaster rubbed at his nose in vexation and muttered, “Definitely need that lesson.”

“I’m sorry,” Evildeed cry-laughed, not sounding the least bit remorseful. “I really am.”

Clawmaster stood there helplessly as he watched Evildeed continue his hysterics. From nowhere he said, “Why don’t you come back to my place? We’ll call it neutral ground while you’re there. Take a night to rest and recuperate, away from all this villain business.”

Evildeed immediately froze. He glanced up demurely at Clawmaster. “Why, Mister Hero. Are you coming on to me?” He made an embarrassingly terrible attempt at fluttering his eyelashes and broke down into another fit of giggles.

Clawmaster’s ears pointed straight up and his tail swished nervously. Evildeed assumed this was the ventrexian version of blushing.

“I didn’t– I didn’t mean it like– like that,” Clawmaster stammered. Oh yeah. Definitely flustered. Evildeed had to admit, it was a cute look on the ventrexian. “I would never!”

“Yes, of course you wouldn’t,” Evildeed drawled as he rolled his eyes. “You are such a gentleman.”

“I– I just meant–”

“It’s cool. Sure. I accept your invitation,” Evildeed assured swaying his hips as he walked over to the helm. “It would be nice to get away from my lair, actually. Right now it’s kind of a reminder of what I’ve lost.”

Clawmaster froze. He stared into space with an expression of sheer panic. “Oh crap!”

Evildeed wheeled around and narrowed his eyes at the ventrexian. “What? Changing your mind already?” He was startled to realize that he hoped the answer was no.

“It’s not that,” Clawmaster hastily insisted, pulling out a comm and retreating to the corner of the room. Evildeed looked on curiously as Clawmaster hunched over and started whispering something into the comm.

“Oh my stars! Don’t tell me I’m the mistress!” Evildeed shouted with mock outrage, hoping whoever was on the other end of the call could hear him.

Clawmaster turned around and gave him the stink eye. Evildeed smiled sweetly back at him. Clawmaster returned to his original position and continued his frantic whispering, his voice alternating between softer and louder.

Feeling only slightly guilty, Evildeed did his best to eavesdrop on whatever juicy conversation was happening a mere fifteen feet away. He caught only snippets – “It’s not like that!” – “He’d kill me if he knew” – “Just for the night, please?” – before Clawmaster ended the call and stood fully upright, striding back purposefully to Evildeed.

Clawmaster coughed into his fist once and announced, “Everything’s settled. You can come over.”

Evildeed grinned at him. “Had to kick out a roommate?”

Clawmaster scratched at the back of his neck as he looked away. “Something like that.”

Evildeed didn’t press further, as much as he itched to. Instead, he linked an arm in Clawmaster’s and brightly said, “Lead the way!”

“Um… where are we going to park this thing?”

Evildeed waited as Clawmaster turned the key and opened the front door to his apartment and stood aside to let him in. He noticed with a frown that the interior was minimally decorated. It seemed that Clawmaster didn’t allow himself many creature comforts. The most extravagant decoration was the potted fern that stood in one corner.

This would not do. Evildeed made a mental note to buy some knick-knacks for Clawmaster to spice up the place with.

“I’ll be a minute. Make yourself at home,” Clawmaster said as he disappeared around a corner.

Evildeed stood there awkwardly, not knowing exactly how one went about the business of making themself at home in an archrival’s home. He was still standing there when Clawmaster returned, having changed out of his uniform and into a tight-fitting tank top and baggy sweatpants.

Evildeed took a sweeping look about the room, if only to avoid staring at Clawmaster (he told himself the staring was simply because seeing the stuffy hero dressed so casually was dissonant.) “Pretty modest place you have here,” he commented, then winced. It had come out more dismissively than he had meant it.

But Clawmaster seemed not to take offense. He shrugged, saying, “Well, without the full backing of the League of Heroes or law enforcement, the life of a vigilante can only afford so much.”

Evildeed snorted. “And they say crime doesn’t pay.” He glanced toward his feet and his eye was caught by something bright yellow poking out from beneath the couch. He reached down and pulled out a shirt that was far too small for Clawmaster. “You have a kid?”

Clawmaster’s head snapped up to where he held up the shirt. “... I had a friend with a kid stay over recently,” he said after a suspiciously long pause. “Must’ve forgotten some things when they left.”

“Uh-huh. Tell me more about your friend. What are they like?”

Clawmaster’s eyes darted around the room. “I– it’s complicated.”

Evildeed was almost certain Clawmaster was hiding something – a potential other evil rival, perhaps? “You can tell me. If anyone understands complicated, it’s me.”

Clawmaster shifted uncomfortably. “They needed a place to stay. Just for a few days.”

Evildeed nodded thoughtfully. “Sure. I understand.” He decided it wasn’t his place to pry into the business of whoever Clawmaster was helping. “I picked up a few strays myself. Had a nice little family going.” His face crumpled. “I still can’t believe they’re gone.”

Clawmaster pointed to the couch. “Have a seat.” After Evildeed sat down heavily with a grunt he added, “You look like you could use a drink.”

Evildeed smiled wryly, holding his forehead in his hand. “Boy could I ever.”

“Whiskey good?” Clawmaster asked as he headed into the kitchen. Evildeed very pointedly did not stare at his defined back muscles.

“That sounds great,” Evildeed said. He snorted at a sudden thought. “Though I gotta say I took you for a teetotaler.”

“After dealing with you? How could I not be driven to drink?” Clawmaster’s teasing voice carried into the living room.

“Hey!” Evildeed exclaimed. “I might be evil, but I’m not that bad!”

There was the sound of clinking glass from the kitchen. “I’d have to disagree.”

“Bah! You’re just saying that because I bested you more times than you bested me.”

There was an audible scoff from the other room. “You’re keeping count?”

Evildeed grinned to himself. “You’re not? I don’t believe that for a second.”

There was a long pause. “Okay, maybe I am. But by my count you’re only ahead by two.” Clawmaster walked back into the living room, holding two rounded glasses, each filled with a generous three fingers of whiskey. To Evildeed’s raised eyebrow he responded, “You look like you need it. Just, take your time. This wasn’t cheap.”

Evildeed snorted as he took the proffered glass. “Thanks.” He took a sip. “Oh wow! This is the good stuff!”

“Some things are worth splurging on,” Clawmaster explained. “I might not have your setup but I still like to have nice things for myself.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Evildeed realized he had been looking into Clawmaster’s eyes for the last several seconds and tore his gaze away, feeling embarrassed and hoping the other man hadn’t noticed. He cleared his throat. “Hey. Thanks.” He cringed internally at himself. “For this.”

“No problem, baby.”

Evildeed looked up in time to see Clawmaster take a turn in the internal mortification zone. “What?”

Clawmaster faced very resolutely forward. “I said ‘no problem.’”

“Ah. That’s what I figured.” Stars, this was awkward.

“Want to watch something?” Clawmaster asked.

Evildeed was glad for the distraction. “Sure. What did you have in mind?”

“Ever seen the Three Meowsketeers?”

“No. Can’t say that I have. What is it?”

Clawmaster grew increasingly animated as he described the classic Ventrexian vid series. Evildeed listened, enraptured by his companion’s enthusiasm. They watched a couple episodes before Clawmaster revealed that the couch was also a folding bed. He gave Evildeed sheets and a couple pillows and bid him goodnight.

Being in an unfamiliar place, on an unfamiliar bed, surrounded by unfamiliar (yet strangely acceptable) scents – and all in the home of his rival, no less! – Evildeed slept far more soundly than he should have.

***

In an abandoned warehouse, industrial vents hummed over the noise of subdued laughter. A man in a red costume suit that wouldn’t look out of place on the set of a children’s show placed a white and black-spotted rat into a plastic cage. He sealed the lid of the cage with a barely constrained giggle. The rat squeaked as it looked through the transparent plastic at the man’s rictus grin.

“No need to worry! No need to feel down!” the man sang as he attached a modified air filtration device to a straw-sized hole drilled in the wall of the cage. As he turned the device on, a gaseous chemical began pouring into the cage. “We’ll make a smile out of that frown!”

The rat began to pace back and forth in its cage, nose twitching at the foreign smell. After a few moments it started to curl up in a fit. The man watched as the rat danced around in circles, squeaking uncontrollably.

“Yes,” the man said gleefully. “This new formula will work. I will make everyone… happy!”

He was about to wrap up his work when he was rudely interrupted by a hench. The hench was wearing the standard uniform: a purple costume suit that covered the body and head. A single antenna with a crescent moon at the end sprouted from the top of the headpiece. A handkerchief with a star printed on it hung loosely around the neck.

The hench looked at the man through the costume’s smiling yet eerily blank expression. “There is someone here to see you, sir.”

“I have no meetings scheduled for today!” the man said irritably, even as he smiled. “Who could possibly be important – or impertinent – enough to trifle me?”

“She said she has information on the Enemy,” the hench said nervously.

At that the man’s smile widened inhumanly. “Is that so?” He put on his suit’s headpiece before following the hench outside. “This should prove interesting.”

They exited the warehouse. In the street outside, a woman in a tight-fitting black and red body suit leaned casually against a motorcycle. She stood up straight when she saw him.

“Heard you’re looking for info,” the woman said without preamble.

“I am,” the man in the red suit said. “But I don’t like having my time wasted.”

The woman approached, a sway in her hips. “Trust me–” the man scoffed “–the info is good. I know him personally.”

This got the man’s attention. “Do you now?”

The woman nodded. “And I hear you got cash.”

The man's grin matched that of his mask. “Well, then. I think this is the beginning of a mutually beneficial relationship.” He led the woman into the warehouse to discuss terms.

Chapter Text

2 years 3 months B.F.D

Mooncake floated into Evildeed’s bedroom, carrying a tray with a simple breakfast of buttered toast and orange juice. “Good morning, Evildeed!”

Evildeed groaned from underneath the covers. Only the top of his head was visible, his hair sticking up in every direction. “No it’s not.”

“The temperature is currently seventy-four, the sun is out in full force, and I let you sleep in until eleven.” There was a clatter as Mooncake set the tray down on the nightstand. “I think that qualifies as a good day.”

“Any day I have to leave my bed is not a good day.” Evildeed pushed himself just far enough out of the covers to give Mooncake a tired glare.

Mooncake smiled slyly at Evildeed. “Not even if you’re scheduled to meet with Clawmaster tonight?”

Evildeed’s expression lightened. One might even say it grew a little fond. Then again, one might have to get zapped by a disintegration ray for suggesting such a thing. Evildeed schooled his expression back into a scowl, but it was too late.

“I knew that would cheer you up,” Mooncake sing-songed as it left the room. “I’ll set up your workshop for you.”

“I’m not cheered up,” Evildeed muttered before he stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth, not minding that he was getting crumbs all over his bed.

Evildeed had an arrangement with Clawmaster wherein they had dinner every other week to catch up. They took turns picking a venue, showing up in civilian clothes so that no-one would realize a hero and a villain were spending their time together so casually. Though at times Evildeed was tempted to show up in his villain outfit just to start a scandal.

It was about as good as therapy as he was likely to get, too. Not a lot of therapists were willing to deal with villains, not that Evildeed could blame them. Evildeed had not expected Clawmaster to be as easy to talk to as he was. The ventrexian was a good listener, and gratifyingly nonjudgmental.

In the deepest recesses of Evildeed’s mind a new feeling was growing. What it was, he didn’t know, but there was definitely a thought that these meetings were building towards something. The last time the two had met, it seemed as if Clawmaster had wanted to tell Evildeed something important but had chickened out, all awkward fumbling over his words. Maybe it was time for Evildeed to start helping Clawmaster out with his own demons, whatever they may be.

Evildeed sighed as he got out of bed. Might as well get the day started.

***

Clawmaster breathed heavily as he ran along the rooftops. The pursuit had lasted ten minutes already, and he could feel himself getting winded. His quarry was dressed in a red costumed suit that by all logic should not allow the person inside to be running this fast. A power? No, they were merely matching pace with Clawmaster, not putting more distance between them.

The pursuit had begun when Clawmaster had gotten a tip that there was a break-in at the local water treatment plant. Security had already detained several intruders, but there was one that was giving them trouble. Clawmaster had figured it was someone with a power – nothing he couldn’t handle – but now he wasn’t so sure. If anything, this chase reminded him vaguely of Evildeed, who relied on clever contraptions, and may have been all the more dangerous for it.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on ridiculously endearing villains who had nothing to do with this job.

Nightfall’s voice crackled in Clawmaster’s ear. “Need help?”

Clawmaster vaulted over an air conditioning vent. “I. Got. It,” he said, each word followed by a labored breath.

“Mmm. Sure sounds like it.”

Clawmaster would have growled his displeasure were he not in hot pursuit. Instead, he made a mental note that he owed Nightfall a good one for bothering him while he was in the middle of action. Was she bored? Things had been quiet in her neighborhood lately. And that was never a good sign. Evil didn’t go away; it bided it’s time.

The rooftop ended abruptly ahead. Clawmaster felt a rush of relief. His target was trapped.

Or so Clawmaster had thought. The person in the red suit jumped off the edge of the roof without a moment’s hesitation. Clawmaster gasped. He slowed as he approached the edge, dreading what he’d find when he looked over, when the red suit bounced back into his vision. A fuzzy smiling face and the vacant eyes of the suit looked back at him as the person inside waved cheekily at him. At their feet comically large springs jiggled in the air.

Now this definitely seemed like something Evildeed would do. Clawmaster watched as his quarry fell down the six stories and bounced across the narrow road to the roof of the building across. He snarled, feeling as though he was being messed with.

“You alright there?” Nightfall asked into his ear.

“Now’s not the time,” Clawmaster said in a clipped tone.

“Alright. Alright. I can take a hint.”

Clawmaster surveyed the gap between the building he was currently standing on top of and the one where the culprit was escaping. He took a few steps back and with a running leap was sailing above the street below. While in mid-flight he realized that he wasn’t going to be able to reach the lip of the approaching roof. Clawmaster pulled out two catarangs and dug them deep into the stonework, growling through the pain as he fought to keep his grip on the catarangs.

By the time he made it up to the roof the target had disappeared from sight. Dang. If Nightfall found out Clawmaster let a perp go he would never hear the end of it.

Clawmaster pricked his ears, listening for any indication of movement. Nothing. He breathed in deep through his nose, but all he got was the tangy smell of the city. Cautiously, he crouched and walked forward, one had at the side of his utility belt. He passed a water tower, looking for any shadows that didn’t belong; he passed a bank of solar panels, holding a hand of his eyes against the glare of the reflected sun.

A crunch of gravel. There. To the left behind that chimney. He threw a catarang so that it flew in a wide arc around the obstructing architecture. A yelp indicated the catarang hit its mark. Clawmaster ran around the chimney so that his target would come into view before he got into melee range.

The person in the suit was holding something in his hand that glistened in the sunlight, but Clawmaster was unable to make it out as he approached. Which was unfortunate. After trading a few blows Clawmaster felt a sting in his neck.

“What the $%@# was that?” Clawmaster growled.

He was only answered by an unhinged giggle.

Clawmaster leapt at his opponent, bringing out his claws. Now he was getting serious.

The two fought for another minute before Clawmaster was able to subdue his foe. He ripped off the suit’s head to reveal a human man. And one of the most unfortunate looking humans he had ever met at that. The man’s hair was a matted brown mess. There was a noticeable gap where two front teeth were missing. And the facial hair situation was… well, a situation, if one were being very, very charitable.

“Why are you not happy?” The human demanded through a grin. The dissonance of his anger against a gleeful expression filled Clawmaster with unease. “You should be happy.”

Clawmaster stared blankly at the human for a moment, not knowing how to reply to that inanity. “What?”

The human’s eyebrows drew down into what would have been a frown if not for the smile. “Oh, right. You’re a ventrexian. That was the wrong dosage.”

“What did you do to me?” Clawmaster growled as he proceeded to tie the human’s hands together. The human, who was at this point not putting up any resistance. Weird.

“Hahaha! Everything would be so much better if we were all happy!” The human cackled. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

It was as if Clawmaster was looking at a dark version of Evildeed, the one that almost came of the villain's epic meltdown. He felt a chill at the realization. Thank the stars he had gotten to the villain when he did.

Clawmaster pulled the human to his feet and led him away. “Sounds like you need some help.”

The human tilted his head back and laughed. “Help? Why would I need help? I’m happy!”

Before Clawmaster could respond there was a crackle in his ear. “Everything alright?” Nightfall’s voice came through, sounding concerned. “Haven’t heard from you in a hot minute.”

“All clear here,” Clawmaster responded.

He conversed with Nightfall as he brought his captive to the local precinct. They kept the banter light while the human criminal was in hearing range. When Clawmaster finally left the precinct after filling the requisite paperwork, which was always a nightmare, Nightfall commented, “Sounds like you have a little more pep in your step.”

“Yeah. Just took down some villain wannabe,” Clawmaster said.

“Sure. That’s why. I bet it has nothing to do with your… ‘meeting’ tonight.”

Clawmaster rolled his eyes. Ever since he and Evildeed started their regular get-togethers Nightfall had been needling him for details. Clawmaster was beginning to regret having told Nightfall about them in the first place.

“Lay off,” Clawmaster said moodily.

“Woah! Where’d that come from?”

Clawmaster winced. He hadn’t meant to say it like that, but Nightfall sounded like she wasn’t too affronted, just worried about his downward turn in attitude. “Sorry. It’s just–” he held his head in his hand “–I’m bringing the kid along today.”

Nightfall audibly breathed in over the transceiver. “That’s a big step. Is he finally ready?”

“He says he is.”

“And you’re both worried about how Evildeed’s going to take this?”

“Yeah. With Evildeed, it feels like I never know how he’s going to react.”

Nightfall chucked. “He does keep you on your toes, I’ll grant you that. I can see why you like him,” Nightfall said with an audible grin, ending the connection with a click over Clawmaster’s indignant spluttering.

That was twice now that Clawmaster owed her.

***

It was Evildeed’s turn to pick the venue for his meeting with Clawmaster this time, which could mean only one thing: street meat! Evildeed was waiting in line outside his favorite food truck, Meat and Greet, his face lighting up when he saw Clawmaster approaching. The ventrexian hero was dressed in a maroon button-down shirt and fitted slacks, and Evildeed found himself struggling not to let his eyes wander. Then he frowned when he realized there was someone much shorter walking next to Clawmaster, their face covered by a tan hooded cloak.

“Hey.” Evildeed waved a hand uncertainly at Clawmaster, his smile faltering despite his best efforts not to show his confusion. “I uh… thought these meetings were just for the two of us?”

Clawmaster rested a hand on the head of the figure standing next to him, which hunched over slightly. “We thought it was time.”

“Time?” Evildeed’s confusion turned to unease. “Time for what?” There was something about the word “time” that made his stomach roil. He would be fine going the rest of his life never hearing that word again.

Clawmaster gave the cloaked figure a light push at their back. “Go ahead, kid. It’s gonna be okay.”

The cloaked figure turned their head back toward Clawmaster, then to Evildeed. Their arms reached for the hood and pulled it slowly, hesitantly back. Evildeed watched with bated breath as at first two ears poked out from the hood before the face of a familiar orange-furred ventrexian was revealed.

Evildeed exhaled sharply. “Catspaw?”

“Hey... dad,” Catspaw said quietly, his voice caught on the second word.

Evildeed choked back a sob. He held his arms out. “Well? What are you doing standing all the way over there?”

Catspaw hesitated for a moment before running full tilt into Evildeed. “Daaaaad!” he cried.

Evildeed was pushed back as he was hit with more force than he expected. “Oof!” He chuckled wetly as he wrapped his arms around his son. As they separated he rubbed his hand over Catspaw’s hair. “Wow! You’ve gotten tall!”

“Daaad,” Catspaw whined.

“And you dyed your hair!”

Catspaw reflexively ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah. Do you like it?”

Evildeed gave him two thumbs up. “Dude! I think it’s awesome!”

Catspaw grinned at him, then his smile disappeared. “You’re not mad at me?”

Evildeed was taken aback by the question. “No! Of course not! Why would I be mad at you?”

“Because I left,” Catspaw said sadly.

“You left because I wasn’t there for you,” Evildeed assured his son. “If anything, you should be mad at me. I’m so sorry.”

Catspaw sniffed and wiped at his eyes. “‘S’not your fault.”

Evildeed and Catspaw’s tearful reunion was interrupted when Clawmaster made a noise Evildeed had never heard before. He stared at Clawmaster for a long moment before he realized the ventrexian hero was laughing. Sure, he’d heard Clawmaster chuckle now and then – a low rumble that made Evildeed feel… things. But this was a full body laugh.

“Way to read the room,” Evildeed said sarcastically, actually grateful in the moment to have a distraction from all the sadness.

But Clawmaster didn’t stop laughing. Not when Evildeed elbowed him. Not when Catspaw asked if he was okay. Not even as his expression turned to one of panic.

Evildeed was on full alert. Something was not right. “Clawmaster? Buddy? You okay?”

Clawmaster took in a heaving breath, tears forming in his eyes, before he doubled over, laughing as if he was trying to draw the attention of the whole city. Which, in fact, it looked like he was. Evildeed looked around nervously as a few passers-by looked warily at Clawmaster.

“Dad?” Catspaw whined. “What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t know,” Evildeed breathed. He slung an arm around Clawmaster’s shoulder, pulling and guiding him towards the car. “Let’s get him home.”

“Home?” Catspaw said uncertainly.

Evildeed looked down at his– his still-a-son, right? “My place. I should be able to diagnose him there.” Catspaw looked uncertain, so Evildeed added, “Hey. You know it’s still your home too, right?”

Catspaw looked up at Evildeed, hope in his eyes. “If that’s okay.”

Evildeed beamed down at Catspaw to let his son know he was pleased, which Catspaw returned with a small smile, looking like he was about to say something. Clawmaster took that opportunity to guffaw loudly, followed by a concerning choking sound.

“Right! Let’s get him out of here!” Evildeed scrambled down the thoroughfare, struggling against the bulk of his ventrexian charge, his anxious son in tow.

***

Catspaw rested against the wall, occasionally nodding off to sleep only to jolt awake a few seconds later. When it became clear that recovering Clawmaster from whatever had taken a hold of him would take more than a few hours, Evildeed had been adamant that Catspaw get some shut-eye. But Catspaw had found himself unable to rest; not when he knew that Clawmaster was suffering. In the early hours of the morning he had made a nest of pillows and blankets in the hall outside where Evildeed was treating Clawmaster, the sounds of laughter barely audible through the door.

It had been a year and a half since Catspaw left Evildeed HQ, his tail tucked between his legs, not knowing if his dad was even still alive. Losing his father had been a terrible blow. Just when he thought he had found a stable home, the universe had to kick him down.

The next couple months were spent living on the streets. Those had been some of the worst days of his life. When Catspaw was with the gang he was working for before he met Evildeed, he had at least had a permanent roof over his head and a stable source of meals. At least with his power, he was able to steal scraps and evade the law.

Which was how Clawmaster had found him one day running off with a bag of goodies he stole from a supermarket. There was no way the hero could hope to catch up to Catspaw, and that would have been the extent of their interaction if Clawmaster hadn’t plaintively shouted after Catspaw, asking about Evildeed’s whereabouts.

Catspaw still didn’t understand why he had stopped. Why he had let Clawmaster approach him. Why he let the hero hold him as he cried into his arms.

Or why Clawmaster took him in.

It had been awkward at first, living with the man Evildeed had declared as his archrival. But Clawmaster was a very patient and caring guardian. As each day ticked by and any hope of Evildeed returning dimmed, Catspaw increasingly saw Clawmaster as a surrogate father. Not that Catspaw would ever be able to replace Evildeed in his heart. But Clawmaster was responsible in a way that Catspaw could now understand Evildeed was not.

Now that Evildeed was back Catspaw was at a complete loss for where he stood. He didn’t think Clawmaster was about to let him go back to the villain, even knowing their history as father and son.

But that’s not important right now. Worry about it later, Catspaw thought to himself as he waited in the hall for any updates on Clawmaster’s condition.

Catspaw awoke to a light touch to his shoulder. How long had he been out? He chirped as he rubbed the exhaustion from his eyes.

“He’s made a full recovery,” Evildeed said with a tired smile. His hair was a messy tangle and there were dark circles under his eyes.

Catspaws gazed up at his dad. “Can I see him?” He put a hand on his throat when he heard how raspy his voice came out.

Evildeed frowned, and for a moment Catspaw thought Evildeed was going to decline, but he sighed and said, “Just for a moment. He’s been through quite the episode. He’s very tired.”

Catspaw was already shoving his shoulder into the door, opening it with a bang and running to the table where Clawmaster lay.

“Hey kid,” Clawmaster said weakly. He looked like he was on the edge of death, his fur matted all over and his eyes struggling to stay open.

“What was that?” Catspaw squeaked in distress. Two small hands grabbed at one of Clawmaster’s.

“Evildeed says it was some kind of toxin.” Clawmaster coughed wetly, and Catspaw crowded into his side as best as he could, resting his head against the hero. “Probably from the guy I was fighting earlier today.”

“Are you going to be okay? Is it going to happen again?”

Clawmaster pulled his hand from Catspaw’s grip and rubbed the top of his head. “Nope. Looks like I’m all better.”

Catspaw shuddered. “Good.”

There was the sound of a throat clearing behind them, and Catspaw turned around to see Evildeed standing by the door awkwardly. “Let’s give him some rest.”

Catspaw gave Clawmaster’s hand a quick nuzzle. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said quietly and walked off with Evildeed.

“Me too, kid.”

***

Four nights after Clawmaster’s “episode” Evildeed found himself on the observation deck of one of the skyscrapers in the city center, at the intersection of wealth and power. Normally he avoided such places. Opulence by itself made him uncomfortable. Opulence in the service of the autocrats that ran society made him furious.

But Evildeed had been summoned by The Magnificent Clarence, and now stood between two ornate wooden chairs that had been arranged to face each other. Clarence himself stood tiptoed on a box at the edge of the deck, peering over the railing at the city lights below, his back to Evildeed in a manner that practically screamed “You’re only here because I deign you to be here.”

“The city is beautiful this time of night, don’t you think?” Clarence said by way of introduction.

“I suppose,” Evildeed allowed. “It is when I see it most.”

Clarence hummed, running a hand along the railing. “I was so upset when I heard you had disappeared so suddenly.”

“I’m sure you were,” Evildeed said deadpan.

Clarence turned around and stepped off of the box, walking over to one of the chairs and sitting down gingerly. “I won’t lie, your absence did usher in a period of relative stability. Infighting between villains has since experienced a marked decline.” He crossed his legs and steepled his fingers, regarding Evildeed coolly. “Interesting, that, wouldn’t you say?”

Evildeed shrugged, doing his best not to reveal that underneath his neutral facade, he was sweating bullets. Dang that perceptive jerk! “I suppose. I’m glad that the last two years were good to you. I wish I could say the same for myself.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Clarence simpered. “If there’s anything I can do for you…”

“You could tell me why you asked to meet me.”

Clarence frowned, his forehead wrinkling in a way that made him even more unappealing to look at, if that was at all possible. “Ah, yes. I guess we should get down to brass tacks.” Clarence waved a hand at the empty chair. “Have a seat.”

Evildeed sighed as he sat down. So it was to be a whole thing.

Clarence cleared his throat. “Your return has created quite a stir.”

Evildeed rolled his eyes. “As you’ve already implied.”

Clarence scowled at the interruption. “Eheh, if you’d let me continue. You probably don’t realize this, but you’ve been under heavy surveillance from the Syndicate these last few months.”

Evildeed felt a tinge of dread at that. “What? Why now? Why are you telling me this?”

“To the first: the circumstances of your disappearance and return are of interest to the Syndicate. It seems that there were players in the scene that we were unaware of. We do not like that. To the second, well, because I’ve always had a soft spot for you.”

Evildeed scoffed, not even bothering to hide his disbelief.

“It’s fair for you to be skeptical, but against my better judgment I’ve developed a keen interest in your continued well being.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And that’s why I find it time I intervene.”

Evildeed balked at that. “An intervention. What for?”

Clarence leaned forward. “For who you appear to be associating with. You certainly have developed a particular attachment to this– who was it again?” He waved a dismissive hand. “Clawmaster? It’s not a good look for you.”

“Not a good look for me.” Evildeed repeated blandly. What am I, a beauty pageant contender?

Clarence leaned back, looking to the side and scratching at his forehead, peeling away a flake of dead skin. Evildeed grimaced. “You should be careful not to get too close. If you do, it may compromise your position as a villain. And it would be most unfortunate if the Syndicate had to get involved.”

Evildeed narrowed his eyes at Clarence. “Why do you care so much if I talk to him? Which is all I’m doing by the way. It’s not like I’m giving him trade secrets. And I’m certainly not about to go good.”

Clarence shivered. “Good novae! I should hope not! That would put me in an awkward position, seeing as I am responsible for your ascendancy.”

“I would have gotten here without your help,” Evildeed said mulishly. Sure, Clarence had helped him out a few times, but to take credit for his success– it ground at Evildeed.

“Perhaps. Perhaps not.” Clarence pulled out his comm and looked down at it, swiping at it with a finger. “However, the past is not as important as the present, and the present is in a precarious state. The balance that has allowed heroes and villains to coexist has been threatened. Naturally, there are elements on both sides that are in a heightened state of vigilance.”

“So… wouldn’t having an in with the heroes actually be a good thing?” Evildeed asked slowly as he thought it out. “If tensions are running so high we should maintain an open line of communication.”

Clarence frowned at him. “Exactly. You and Clawmaster are unaffiliated. That makes you both volatile elements, and the powers that be do not like volatile elements.”

If Evildeed was wary before, he was downright upset now. He didn’t appreciate that he was being made to feel like a child being chastised. “I never seemed to be a problem for you guys before.”

Clarence hummed. Evildeed couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad hum, but he didn’t like Clarence’s patronizing tone either way. “I’m only suggesting you put a little distance between the two of you. Trust me, it’ll be better for everyone involved.” Clarence got out of his seat and walked over to Evildeed, resting a hand on his knee. “Please. Just give what I said some thought.”

Evildeed sat completely rigid at the touch and did his best not to rudely brush off Clarence’s arm in obvious disgust. “Sure.”

“You’re a smart boy. I know you’ll do what’s best,” Clarence said as he walked away.

Evildeed shuddered. Something about that conversation sat with him in a bad way. Maybe it’s time to cut ties. Evildeed wondered if Clawmaster had received a similar ultimatum. He’d have to ask his erstwhile rival at their next meeting.

Chapter Text

2 years 1 month B.F.D.

“Protests continue against the Powers Identification and Registration Acts in the streets of Lightopia,” the Hooblot news anchor announced. “This is the thirty-fifth straight day of demonstrations. How are conditions on the ground Sal?”

The vidscreen switched to an Arachnid beat reporter. “Things continue to be orderly and peaceful,” the Arachnid said into a microphone as a throng of people marched in the background, thousands of voices roaring like a crashing wave along the downtown avenues. “Tensions have of course risen after the arson at the Hall of Heroes, and additional peacekeeping forces have been deployed, though they have apparently not been instructed to use force.”

The vidscreen switched back the news anchor. “The Powers Identification and Registration Acts, also known as PIRA, is a bundle of legislation designed to–”

“Daaaad!” Catspaw whined as he hopped onto the couch. “You said you were going to teach me how to use the grappling hooks today!”

Evildeed didn’t take his gaze off of the vidscreen as he absently said, “In a few minutes. This is important.” On the vidscreen the news anchor was saying something about an agreement reached between the Syndicate and the League of Heroes.

“That’s what you said yesterday! And the day before!” Catspaw humphed as he hunched forward and crossed his arms. “You’re always busy.”

Evildeed looked at Catspaw. He had been busy for the past week. And he did feel a little guilty over not giving his son enough attention. But there was a lot on Evildeed’s mind, which was already a whir of racing thoughts at the best of times.

First, he was trying to countersurveil whoever Clarence had sent after him. This was proving to be a Sysiphian task: as soon as he was able to make out one tail they disappeared, only to be replaced hours later by someone new. Apparently Clarence had an entire army of spies at his disposal. If Evildeed could capture even just one of his watchers…

Second, he had recently acquired a lead about the whereabouts of his mother, who had apparently been very busy during his absence. And don’t forget the shadowy group she had been working with. Based on his conversation with Oreskis, Evildeed was sure they were still active. He felt he was allowed a little petty revenge. As a treat.

But that was no excuse to ignore his son, who was now looking at him with imploring eyes and yeah there was ignoring Catspaw when he was in full pleading mode.

Evildeed and Clawmaster had come to an arrangement, alternating custody of Catspaw every other week as part of their regular meetings. It was a strange feeling, sharing parenting duties with another person, particularly with his former enemy.

Clawmaster had argued that Catspaw should see the life of both a hero and a villain, so that when it came time he was able to make an informed choice as to which path he would follow. If he should even decide to join their world. The life of a civilian was always a valid option. Evildeed would be most understanding if that was the direction Catspaw wanted to go in, considering everything he’d been through. Regardless of hero or villain, it was a demanding life.

Evildeed sighed as he stood up. “Alright. Let’s go and suit up.”

Catspaw cheered as he ran for the armory, an orange blur. A second later there was a pair of surprised shouts and a crash.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” “Sorry Mooncake!”

Evildeed shook his head and ran after his son. Missing out on two years of Catspaw’s childhood was a wound unto itself. But watching him grow more and more independent, all while spending half his time with Clawmaster, it was made clear to Evildeed how much had changed between himself and his child. How much there was no going back to old times. Just how badly he wanted to keep Catspaw in his life, no matter the cost, at least while he knew he still had him.

“Hurry up you old fart!” Catspaw shouted from two rooms down the hall.

“Who taught you to talk like that?” Evildeed yelled as he ran into the armory. He slowed down, to a trot, entering the armory and giving his son a scrutinizing look. “I know it wasn’t Clawmaster.”

Catspaw mock-glared up at Evildeed. “Jeez, dad. It’s not a big deal. I’m almost fourteen. Take it easy before you have a stroke.” Yep. His son was definitely a teenager.

“Well I never!” Evildeed declared in a falsetto voice. “My own son, treating his beloved father with such disrespect!”

Catspaw stuck his tongue out. “That’s what you get for being so slow.”

Evildeed took his time walking over to his locker, taking each step with exaggerated deliberation.

“C’mon dad!” Catspaw whined, but there was a smile behind it.

Evildeed groaned. “Sorry. My old man bones just don’t move like they used to.”

Catspaw rolled his eyes with his whole body. “Alright! Alright! I’m sorry I called you an old fart!”

Evildeed sniffed. “I’m not even thirty.”

“Ugh. I said I was sorry.” Catspaw smirked at Evildeed. “Do you need a shoulder to cry on about it?”

“You think you’re sorry?” Evildeed uttered darkly. With a flourish he whipped on his lab coat and laced up his boots. “Well you’re not as sorry as you’ll be after I put you through training.” He walked over to one of the equipment lockers and pulled out two grappling guns. “I’m not going to go easy on you.”

“Whatever,” Catspaw said as he made grabbing motions at one of the guns.

“Ah-Ah-Ah!” Evildeed held the guns out of his son’s reach. He was met with an indignant glare. “First we have to go over safety. You could do some serious damage with these things.”

Catspaw crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “And yet you’re the one letting me play with one.”

“Not play. Train,” Evildeed corrected. “Using one of these babies is more than just aiming skill. You kept up your climbing exercises with Clawmaster?”

“Ugh! He is the worst when it comes to training.”

“The worst, huh? Sounds like I haven’t been pushing you hard enough, then.”

“Daaad!” Catspaw groaned. “No fair! Having two dads doesn’t mean you should get to compete over who trains me harder.”

Evildeed started. He knew that Clawmaster was also raising Catspaw, but to hear the words “two dads” like that. The truth was he didn’t know how he felt about that. Part of him was jealous at having to share custody. Another part, though… well, it was best not to go there.

“We all weep for you,” Evildeed said, his expression all false sympathy.

“Thanks for your understanding,” Catspaw grumbled sarcastically.

Evildeed smiled down at Catspaw. He wouldn’t admit it – at least not out loud, Catspaw didn’t need the encouragement – but his son was well on his way to being able to trade insults with the best of them. He imagined Clawmaster wouldn’t be too thrilled, but not every hero and villain could pull off Clawmaster’s gravity of demeanor, in which case witticisms were a vital skill.

Who knew? Maybe it was time Evildeed start letting Catspaw tag along on his schemes. The young ventrexian was certainly showing drive and promise, the kind that reminded Evildeed of his younger self. He caught himself reminiscing of times over a decade past and had a brief panic. Oh stars, am I getting old?

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Catspaw tugging on his coat sleeve. “Thinking about Clawmaster again?”

Evildeed spluttered. “Absolutely not! How– how– how dare you insinuate something so outrageous!”

Catspaw gave him such a judgemental look that Evildeed had to resist defending himself further and digging himself into an even deeper hole. “Then let’s get gooooing! Jeez, I’ll be as old as you by the time we start!”

Just for that comment Evildeed made sure to mess up his son’s hair before leading him to the training room.

***

2 years B.F.D.

“And now an update on the situation brewing in the entertainment district. Our very own Fjerbeak has the details. Fjerbeak?”

“Good evening Sklerrblah,” the Chthidion field reporter said into the mic she gripped in one of her tentacles. Across from her the camera person held steady. “As you can see I’m currently on the observation deck of the Luquari Tower.”

“And what’s the situation over there? I hear there’s quite a stir in the area.”

“Indeed. As you know, there was a hijacking of the Mosverra Flotilla Parade earlier today, with dozens of drift-jets stolen by an unknown criminal.” Fjerbeak walked to the side so that as the camera operator panned to keep up the missing Flotilla came into view. Thirty or more metal kite-like objects, steely tendrils trailing off in the breeze, sailed in lazy circles.

“I see you found our missing Flotilla,” the news anchor said in that obnoxious light humorous tone (you know the one.)

“Yes. As you can see behind me–” Fjerbeak looked to the side at something off camera. “Ah. I see,” was barely audible as she spoke away from the mic. Fjerbeak looked back into the camera with not even an iota of change in her demeanor. “The situation has developed even further.”

“How so?” the news anchor prompted.

“It appears I have been taken hostage,” Fjerbeak stated plainly.

Evildeed took this opportunity to step in front of the camera. “Hi! Hello! Welcome, Lightopia. It is I! The nefarious Doctor Evildeed.” He took a moment to laugh maniacally. “That’s right! Your favorite villain is back, baby! And I’d like to introduce to you my sidekick, Catspaw!”

Sitting on the couch in his apartment, watching the news as an orange masked ventrexian popped on camera and waved, Clawmaster spit out his drink in a wide spray. “Mother%#$^!”

Evildeed fidgeted as Fjerbeak regarded him and Catspaw passively. Something about her expression made him feel like she was observing a zoo exhibit. “You’re very calm,” he pointed out to his hostage.

“This isn’t my first time,” Fjerbeak said. “I know when a villain is an actual danger, and sweetie, that you aren’t.”

“I could be dangerous,” Evildeed said, trying to put a threatening edge in his voice. Fjerbeak looked at him judgmentally. “Yeah, that wasn’t it,” Evildeed admitted. “Sorry. I’ll let you go soon, just gotta do my thing.”

“I understand. Take your time,” Fjerbeak said patiently. “It’s not like I have anyone waiting for me at home.”

Evildeed winced. “Sorry! Sorry!”

“Oh, that wasn’t sarcasm. I really don’t have anyone. You could kidnap me right now and I doubt anyone would come looking for me.”

Evildeed’s heart sank. “No family?”

“No.”

“Not even your work?”

“Especially not work.”

“Ok. I’m going to need you to stop talking. You’re really bringing me down here during what’s supposed to be my triumphant return.”

Fjerbeak mimed zipping her beak with a tentacle.

“Hey dad?” Catspaw spoke up. “I think we have company.” He pointed at the doors to the observation deck.

Two spandex clad figures posed heroically. Evildeed didn’t recognize them. “Are they sending newbies? Am I being insulted?”

The fight that broke out was over in less than a minute. With the heroes tied up back-to-back, Evildeed took the time to practice his monologing on them. He finished with, “Don’t you worry. I’m sure that with enough practice, you’ll be able to take down the best of us.”

One of the heroes spat. “We don’t need your kindness. Not that you’ll be around much–”

The other hero knocked the back of their heads together. “Quiet! You’re saying too much!”

Evildeed cocked an eyebrow. That was interesting. Just what were the heroes hiding from him?

“I was wondering when you were going to feel well enough to go back to your scoundrelly ways.”

Evildeed turned around to witness Clawmaster dropping down from on top of the observation deck’s fence. “Clawmaster!”

“I see you’ve been busy,” Clawmaster said from behind his mask, motioning his head towards the bound heroes.

Now that Evildeed knew what Clawmaster looked like behind the mask, it just didn’t have the same effect. Before, it provided an air mystery; presented a tantalizing secret to be uncovered. These days, it covered what Evildeed knew to be an unfairly attractive face. Which was just as well, he supposed. Better not to have the distraction of Clawmaster’s face when he was fighting him.

Evildeed shrugged. “Not really. They weren’t much of a fight.” He turned to the heroes and added apologetically, “No offence.”

One of the heroes cursed at him. Most unherolike behavior, Evildeed mused.

Clawmaster interrupted his thoughts. “Can I talk to you privately for second,” he said as he glanced at Fjerbeak and her camera operator.

“Sure!” Evildeed said. “Catspaw, stay there and make sure our lovely heroes don’t escape.”

“Will do!”

Clawmaster led Evildeed to the side where they could converse in confidence. He spoke lowly. “To be honest, I thought I’d have more time, so it didn’t occur to me to ask you not to involve Catspaw in your schemes just yet.”

Evildeed gasped. “Are you questioning my parenting style?”

“It’s not that I don’t think he’s ready. You’ve obviously trained him well.” Evildeed’s chest puffed out in pride. “But you put him on camera. The whole city knows him now.”

“Psh! He’s got a disguise on! His identity is safe,” Evildeed assured.

“He’s an orange ventrexian with a neon blue mohawk. I don’t think the mask is going to suffice,” Clawmaster pointed out. “At least tell me no-one saw him use his power.”

Evildeed deflated, realizing his mistake, and that he might have put Catspaw in danger. He scuffed a boot uncomfortably. “Yeah. I was clear about that with him. ‘No using your powers in public.’ The recent developments with PIRA have been… something.”

Clawmaster tilted his head thoughtfully. “It’s not that I necessarily hate government regulation, but creating a database of everyone who has powers? I don’t trust it.”

“You and me both, buddy.”

Clawmaster heaved a reluctant sigh. “Look. If you are going to take him with you on these things, just keep him safe.” He looked over to where Catspaw was pacing in circles around the heroes. “He’s still at that stage where he thinks he’s invincible. I don’t think he realizes that being officially labelled as a villain is going to put a mark on his back. He doesn’t understand the repercussions.”

Evildeed had to concede the point. He put a hand on Clawmaster’s shoulder. “No. You’re right. I’ll be more careful from here on out.”

Clawmaster nodded. “See that you are. I know you’ve been a good father to him, and I’d never take that away. From either of you.”

Evildeed’s throat clicked at the thought of losing his son. “Clawmaster–”

“He’s my son now too. You get that, right? I’m not going to take him from you, but I am going to look out for him. I need to know you’re going to do the same.”

Evildeed felt thoroughly chastised. For a brief moment he question whether he really was the father Catspaw needed.

Clawmaster, perhaps sensing his doubt, returned the hand-on-shoulder gesture. “You’re doing fine. You’re a good dad. I just need you to be more mindful in the future.”

“Yeah,” Evildeed said. “Yeah. I can do that.”

Clawmaster looked past Evildeed to the flotilla that sill glided in the sky. “What were you up to anyway?” he said to change the subject.

“Oh!” Evildeed said brightly. “I loaded them up with manure. I’m going to dung-bomb city hall to protest the new bill.”

Clawmaster twisted his mouth. “I can’t tell whether you’re trying to be a villain or an activist.”

Evildeed hummed. “Maybe the line between the two is finer than you give it credit for.” He smirked. “Or are you saying I need to get more dastardly in my deeds?” He pounded a fist in his other hand. “You’re right! I’m getting to soft! After this I’ll have to plan a real evil scheme.”

“And I’m regretting this little pep talk already,” Clawmaster sighed.

“Too late! You’ve revived the wind behind my diabolical sails!” Evildeed said with a grin.

Clawmaster had made a show of “stopping” Evildeed’s scheme. The two of them made sure to play it up for Fjerbeak and the camera, evidence that they were still mortal enemies and not at all getting along.

Back at Evildeed HQ Catspaw was changing back into civilian clothes, excitedly babbling to Evildeed about the day’s exploits. “And then when you knocked them down with that sonic mine, that was so tight!”

Evildeed grinned at his son. Oh yeah. He’s caught the bug.

Catspaw said more quietly, “I’m really glad you didn’t fight Clawmaster. I mean for real.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Catspaw smirked at Evildeed. “Because then I wouldn’t know who to root for.”

Evildeed scrubbed his son’s head. “I see how it is!”

“Daaad!”

***

1 year 10 months B.F.D.

Evildeed strutted into his workshop, whistling a happy tune and holding a small package that had been left outside the door to his base over the previous night. The package had a tag taped to the top that said “To: Doctor Evildeed. From: A Fan.” Evildeed crowed to himself. Yes! Fanmail! It’s about time people recognize my genius!

Setting the package on his workbench, he tore the wrapping off with wild abandon. Evildeed cocked his head at the small metal cube that was revealed. On one of the sides of the cube there was a crank. A small bit of string was looped around the crank and through another tag. Evildeed lifted the tag up to read what was written on it. “Round and round it goes. Where it stops, nobody knows.”

Evildeed shrugged at the curious expression. “Welp. Might as well see what this does.” He turned the crank, feeling a small amount of resistance. There was the sound of clicking gears. Eventually he was unable to turn the crank any further. As he let go, the crank started to turn backward and an internal music box plinked out what sounded like a children’s lullaby, simple and bright.

“Dad? Mooncake hid the vidscreen remote again!” Catspaw’s voice called from the hallway outside the workshop.

Distracted from his gift, Evildeed walked toward the doorway to greet his son when there was a loud SPROING! Evildeed turned around in his tracks to see that a clown’s face on a spring had burst from the cube, playing a recording of someone’s high pitched laughter. With a puff, a cloud of green smoke burst from inside.

The cloud expanded for a brief moment before the workshop’s contamination system went off. Lights flashed and klaxons blared. Evildeed could hear Catpaw’s panicked cry as an orange blur rushed under the automatically closing door.

“Get out!” Evildeed shouted as he grabbed his son by the back of his shirt and threw him under the door just before it sealed itself.

There was a banging sound coming through from the other side. “Dad!”

With a deafening roar of wind the filtration system kicked in and started sucking all of the air out of the room. Evildeed could feel the breath leave him as he began asphyxiating. He struggled to crawl towards the locker where he kept the emergency oxygen masks.

“Dad? Are you okay? What’s going on? Dad? Dad! Dad!”

Chapter Text

1 year 8 months B.F.D.

Evildeed hummed happily as he polished his newly-perfected handheld mustache ray. Mooncake was off somewhere else in the base, probably muttering curses as it shaved off its new whiskers. What was the practical use for a raygun that caused mustaches to spontaneously grow from whatever skin it hit? Oh, none at all to be sure, but what evil genius could say their diabolical arsenal was complete without such a prank device? None, that’s who!

Catspaw was working on his studies nearby. Since the incident with the “gift” he had refused to let Evildeed out of his sight while he stayed with him. After the second time Evildeed had woken in the middle of the night to find his son sleeping on the floor next to his bed he added an air mattress to his room.

Evildeed suspected that his son had told Clawmaster about the whole ordeal. The ventrexian hero had taken to checking in on him more often as of late. Evildeed had to admit… he didn’t exactly mind.

“Bleep!”

Evildeed shrieked at the unexpected noise.

Catspaw jumped out of his seat. “Dad?”

“Bleep!”

Evildeed swiveled his head, searching for the offender, ready to obliterate whoever or whatever dare spook him in his own sanctum. There. At the end of the work station. Evildeed felt absolutely mortified when he realized– “It’s just my comm, Catspaw. Nothing to freak out over.”

Catspaw arched an eyebrow. “Are you saying that for me? Or for your own benefit?”

“Bleep!”

Evildeed stuck out his tongue as he picked up his comm to answer the call. There was a crackle on the other end before a familiar hologram said, “Going to have to take a rain check on tonight.”

And that feeling was Evildeed’s heart sinking faster than a SAME wearing cement shoes. “What? Why?”

Clawmaster’s breathing was audible over the comm. “I’m in the middle of something.”

“Oh. Sorry to hear that,” Evildeed said. Truth be told, he was more sorry for himself. “Anything I can do to help?”

“No. I got this,” Clawmaster said.

Over the comm there was the screeching sound of metal sliding against metal. Evildeed winced. “Sorry. I must be distracting you. Be safe man.”

“I will.”

Evildeed was about to end the call when he heard Clawmaster let out a pained yowl. With one hand hovering the comm he debated the pros and cons of fighting alongside a hero. If he was caught, well, Clarence and the Syndicate had already made their thoughts clear on the matter.

Over the comm there came a worryingly loud, “Argh!”

Evildeed hesitated only a moment longer, his mind rapidly coming to a conclusion, before saying, “I’m on my way.” He wasn’t going to stand around idly as his best friend – no!, his regular friend – that wasn’t much better!, his… neutrally aligned acquaintance was injured by whatever mysterious force had him occupied when it should be Evildeed who had the hero occupied–

“Nope! Not going there!” Evildeed told himself. Crap, his thoughts had really been straying lately. He should get that checked out.

“Sorry?” Clawmaster asked.

“Nothing!” Evildeed yelped. Stupid Evildeed! The comm’s still on! “Absolutely nothing going–”

Clawmaster interrupted, yelling, “Oh stars, there’s more of you?”

“All hail the KVNs!” a chorus shouted as one, their voices peaking over Evildeed’s comm.

Wait. Evildeed recognized that voice. “Clawmaster. Who are you fighting?”

“Just a bunch– oof! Of these– mrow! Stupid robots.”

Evildeed felt a twinge of dread. No. It couldn’t be. “Are they spherical and painted gray and yellow?”

“Yes?”

“And on a scale of one to ten, how annoying would you say they are?”

“We will never die!” the chorus said. “All glory to the KVNs!”

There was a series of metallic clangs followed by a short pause. “One thousand.”

“Crap. I’m on my way,” Evildeed said.

“I really don’t think that’s a good–” Clawmaster began.

“I’ll find out where you are. With or without your help,” Evildeed said over Clawmaster’s objections. “With will be faster.”

A pause. “Fine,” Clawmaster said, relaying his location and ending the call.

“I’m coming with you,” Catspaw informed Evildeed as he materialized at his side.

Evildeed knew there was no turning Catspaw down. Not when he had heard the conversation and knew one of his dads was in danger. “Alright. But remember–”

“No using my powers in public,” Catspaw droned with impatience, already heading for the armory. “C’mon slowpoke!”

By the time Evildeed and Catspaw arrived on the scene, there was already a very noticeable amount of property damage. Windows had been blown out. Chunks of concrete littered the road. A streetlamp with a KVN-sized dent bent over as if it was giving up on life. All of the nearby civilians had already evacuated, leaving the fight to resolve itself.

There were indeed a lot of KVNs. One was already too much, but there had to be at least a dozen of them tormenting poor Clawmaster, who was fighting alongside… was that Nightfall? Evildeed felt jealousy burn its way into his stomach, then shook his head. That was stupid. He had no reason to be jealous.

“KVNs! Assemble!” The KVNs pulled together, arranging themselves into a recognizably bipedal form. It was quite possible the most terrifying thing Evildeed had ever seen.

“Dad?” Catspaw prodded as he hopped from foot to foot, itching to enter the fray.

“Take a moment to observe,” Evildeed told his son. “Look for any advantage the terrain might afford. For any weaknesses the enemy might have.”

“You’re sounding more like Clawmaster,” Catspaw pointed out.

Evildeed turned hesitantly to Catspaw. “How so?”

Catspaw shrugged. “I dunno. You just are.”

Evildeed looked back up to watch the mega-KVN throw an arm at Clawmaster, who was just barely able to dodge, landing on the ground in a roll to cushion himself. Nightfall was holding her own, firing a couple shots that bounced off the KVN’s armor. From what Evildeed could tell the battle was at a standstill. Fortunate that the heroes had himself and his son to help.

“Son, do you know what a clothesline is?” Evildeed asked lightly.

Catspaw grinned. “Heck yes!”

Evildeed pulled out a steel cord and handed one end to Catspaw. “Excellent! Let’s do this.”

Catspaw tied his end of the cord to his belt. “We’re gonna get them so good.”

Evildeed and Catspaw broke out into a run. Noticing the new challengers, the mega-KVN turned toward them and an arm of KVNs came down upon them from above. Evildeed dodged left while Catspaw dodged right. As they regrouped the KVN at the top of the mega-KVN detached and flew towards Catspaw, who jumped up and with both hands vaulted over the KVN as it flew underneath him.

Over the din of the fighting Evildeed heard Nightfall shout to Clawmaster, “What are they doing here?”

Evildeed grinned. This was his chance to show off his sick moves for the heroes. He shot for the nearest leg of the mega-KVN and ran around it in a tight circle. “Catspaw!”

“On it!” Catspaw circled the other leg. As the mega-KVN tried to move forward, it’s legs caught on the cord.

The mass of KVNs fell to the ground. “No fair!” “That hurts!” “I will have my revenge!”

One of the KVNs was rolling on its back, pincers clamping uselessly at the air. “Help! Help! I can’t get up!”

Another KVN smacked him. “You idiot! You can fly!”

“Oh!” Just as the KVN started lifting off the ground Evildeed grabbed him by the arm. “Curses!”

Evildeed spun around faster and faster, holding to the KVN. Building up momentum, he flung the KVN into a pile of six other KVNs. “Stee-rike!”

Not too far away, Clawmaster and Nightfall were chipping away at the army of KVNs. Catspaw was clawing at a KVN that had grabbed his tail. The KVNs were resilient, but it was apparent that they were being worn down just as much as the organics. Evildeed took the lull in his corner of the battle as an opportunity to grab a KVN and pull him to the side.

“Hey! What gives!” the KVN shouted as Evildeed opened up his chassis and carefully rooted around. “Hahaha! That tickles!”

Evildeed hummed curiously. These were KVNs all right. But there was something about them that was slightly different, at least with the internals. The tech was more sophisticated than his KVN’s had been.

“Dad! Duck!” Catspaw shouted as a KVN came hurtling toward Evildeed’s head.

Evildeed rolled onto his back, throwing the KVN he had grabbed into the air. The two KVNs collided midair with a metallic crunch, small parts flying out in all directions. Turning his head toward the others, Evildeed saw that most of the KVNs were out of commission. Good. He was ready for this ridiculous fight to be over.

“Father! Help us!” one of the KVNs implored.

“It appears my designs require further iteration,” a voice mused from above.

“Who was that?” Clawmaster asked aloud, adopting a ready stance.

A blond-furred ventrexian wearing an oil-stained jumpsuit jumped down from the roof of a nearby corner store. The fur of his face stuck out in a way that resembled an unkempt beard. His tail was cybernetic, reminding Evildeed of his own left arm.

“It is I! Baron von Mewton!” the blond ventrexian said with a bow. As he bent back up there was an audible crick. “Ow! Ow-ow-ow!” He bent his back, eliciting more cracking of bone. Evildeed winced. “Hooey! I need to get out of the lab more!”

Nightfall called out, “Baron who?”

“Baron Kevin von Mewton! At your service!” the Baron tilted his head. “Well. More like at your doom, hahaha!”

“And don’t forget his sidekick, Biskit!” A small creature – ventrexian? Was that a ventrexian? – flew from behind von Mewton. Evildeed cocked his head. Biskit was wearing a harness that was attached to twin helicopter blades that spun above his head, allowing him to fly through the air. Evildeed had to admit this Biskit character was kind of adorable. Not at all what he’d call threatening.

Evildeed looked von Mewton in the eyes. Woof. Those eyes looked like they hadn’t seen sleep in a week. “While I appreciate your moxie, your evil laugh leaves something to be desired.”

“Oh? Then let’s hear yours,” von Mewton challenged.

“Gladly.” Evildeed drew in a deep breath. “Mwahahahahahaaaaa!” His laughter echoed down the street. No doubt had any civilians stayed behind, they’d be running for their lives.

Catspaw looked at his dad with awe in his eyes. Clawmaster rested his forehead in one hand. Nightfall simply observed the situation with cool professionalism.

The Baron raised his eyebrows. “Impressive.” He reached into a leather satchel and produced a small bird-shaped object. “But we’ll settle this on the battlefield of brains! Behold my beautiful sparrow-bots.” He threw the object into the air and it started flapping its wings, fluttering through the air towards Evildeed at an alarming speed.

The nerve! Evildeed pouted inwardly. Inventions are my thing! I will not be shown up by this upstart! He produced his own gadget. “We’ll see how your sparrow-bot holds up against my spider-bot!” He tossed the spider-bot on the ground, which grew four legs and began skittering to meet the sparrow-bot. The spider-bot shot a laser beam at the sparrow-bot but the smaller machine was too nimble, easily dodging to the side.

Meanwhile, Clawmaster and Nightfall had flanked Evildeed and were now running towards the newcomers in a pincer attack. Clawmaster threw a catarang at Biskit. The smaller ventrexian pressed a small red button on his harness and a metal barrow flipped open, which shot a small grey pellet. It collided with the catarang, engulfing it an a rapidly expanding thick goo.

Evildeed grit his teeth. That’s also one of my old tricks! “Who are you?” he demanded of von Mewton. And why haven’t I heard of you before?

“Just a humble man of science,” von Mewton replied. The sparrow-bot shot a bright blue bolt of electricity at the spider-bot, disabling it. As smoke billowed upward from the spider-bot von Mewton added, “I can see that you are one as well.”

“Don’t you dare try to compare yourself to me,” Evildeed said. He pulled out his remote and pressed the button labeled “SAMES.” Ten minutes. If he could stall for ten minutes, the victory would be his.

The fight continued, a dragging dance of destruction. Evildeed, Clawmaster, Nightspaw, and Catspaw on one side; von Mewton, Biskit, and the handful of still functioning KVNs on the other. It was truly one of the most slog-like fights Evildeed had ever been in. Combat with Clawmaster at least proved stimulating. This was just work.

As both sides wore each other down, a long shadow was cast over the group. Evildeed looked up along with the others, gratified to see the Crimson Dark looming overhead as a dozen SAMES descended down long ropes to join the fray. With their help the battle was turned.

“It seems you have the advantage,” von Mewton eventually said. “I admire your robots. They’re not as good as my KVNs, but to be fair that’s a very high bar to clear.”

Evildeed would have argued with that assessment, but his mind was stuck on a small detail. “Wait. Your KVNs?”

Von Mewton flicked his tail. “Oh yes. They’re my design.”

“But I met a KVN. He said he was at least twenty years old.”

Von Mewton got a wistful look in his eyes. “Those were the days, working for the intelligence arm of the Planetary Bureau.”

“You used to work for the government?” Clawmaster asked, mouth agape. Evildeed had to share his surprise. The ventrexian before them seemed more than a little unhinged.

The Baron sniffed. “I may no longer be a spring chicken, but I can still tinker with the best–” he stopped short and gave Evildeed an appraising look. “You said you met one of my KVNs?”

“Yeah. And I must say, I can see where he gets his personality from.”

The Baron grinned and clapped his hands. “Oh! You must be Evildeed!”

Evildeed glared at von Mewton. Did Baron von Mewton just admit he didn’t recognize me before? He stomped a foot in indignation. “I am famous, I’ll have you know.”

Von Mewton waved a hand. “Oh, I’m sure you are. I just don’t get out much these days.” He stroked his beard fur. “I had a KVN wander into my workshop about a year back. An older model. He mentioned you. I can’t believe I didn’t put two and two together until just now.”

Now Evildeed wasn’t so sure how he felt about being recognized. “...Did he now?”

“Yes! He seemed quite fond of you.” Von Mewton’s cybernetic tail curled up as he stood there considering. “Tell you what. We’ll call a truce. I think that KVN would be delighted to be reunited with you.”

Evildeed felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. “Oh. You really don’t have to do that. Tell you what. If you pretend we never met and never mention me to any KVN ever again, I’ll be willing to make that truce permanent.” He ignored the incredulous stares Catspaw and Nightfall were shooting him. Hypocrites. They had just fought a bunch of KVNs. Imagine having to live with one.

“It’s a deal,” von Mewton said with a wink that Evildeed did not like one bit. “Biskit! We’re leaving!”

“Wait.” Clawmaster took a step forward. “Are we letting them go?”

“Trust me,” Evildeed said darkly. “It’s for the best.”

One week later Evildeed stepped outside of his headquarters to see KVN tucked in next to the front entrance. The robot awoke with a start, flying up to Evildeed’s face. “Evildeed! It’s really you! You’re back! I knew our friendship was destined to be eternal!”

Evildeed shook his fist at the sky and vowed his revenge. “Von Mewtooooooon!”

***

1 year 5 months B.F.D.

Evildeed smiled when he saw Catspaw and Clawmaster through the diner window, sitting at a booth and locked in animated conversation. He clutched tightly at the box he held behind his back. When he walked through the door he was greeted with the greasy smell of fried food and the aroma of coffee. With a happy sigh he approached the booth.

“Dad!” Catspaw called out when he saw Evildeed. He jumped up and ran to Evildeed, giving his torso a tight hug.

“Good to see you kid. How was Claw– uh, I mean–” Evildeed lowered his voice to a whisper “–Clawmaster.” Evildeed and Clawmaster had to be careful about using their professional names when they were together in plainclothes. “He behaving?”

“Nice recovery,” Clawmaster’s eyes twinkled with mirth over the glass of water he held to his lips.

Before Evildeed could be caught staring Catspaw pulled him by the arm to the booth, indicating that they were to sit next to each other. “He’s teaching me tracking!”

“Is that so?” Evildeed said with a grin. He looked up at Clawmaster, who had a fond expression on his face as he looked across the booth at Evildeed and Catspaw.

Clawmaster seemed to notice at the same time as Evildeed that they were inadvertently staring at each other. He tore his gaze away with a cough and slid a menu over to Evildeed. “The fish and chips are really good.”

“Oh. Nice!” Evildeed said, painfully aware of how awkward he sounded.

Catspaw, bless him, was blissfully unaware of how uncool his dad was acting. He pointed to the box Evildeed was holding. “What’s that?”

“Oh! It was our birthday yesterday! So I got you a little present.” Evildeed held the box out to Catspaw. It was thin, pale blue, and wrapped in a bow.

Catspaw’s face fell briefly before he put on what was clearly a forced smile as he took the offer. “Thanks, dad.”

Evildeed frowned. “What’s wrong?”

His son looked guiltily down at the table. “I haven’t really been celebrating–” Catspaw stalled for a moment “–I mean, it was only a few days after my birthday when you disappeared.” He sighed, a weary thing that no kid his age should have been able to produce. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t really feel like celebrating all that much. It reminds me.”

Soggy cookies! Evildeed felt his stomach tie in knots. He had totally forgotten that it was also the anniversary of his whole time travel ordeal. And as difficult as the memories were, he was sure it was just as bad, if not worse, for Catspaw.

Resting a hand on Catspaw’s shoulders, he said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. It’s okay for this to be a difficult time for you. If you don’t want to celebrate, that’s totally cool.”

“Didn’t mean to be such a drag,” Catspaw said with a weak chuckle.

Evildeed pulled Catspaw into his side. “No problemo. How about we order all the most unhealthiest foods and eat ourselves into a coma–” Clawmaster, the little fitness freak, looked like the thought was making him physically ill “–and then when I take you chez Evildeed we do popcorn and whatever movie you want to watch?”

Catspaw nuzzled into Evildeed’s side and said, “Yeah. That sounds good.”

If Clawmaster had looked ill before, he looked positively stricken when Evildeed proceeded to order for the group: four double bacon cheeseburgers, a plate of fried toast sticks, three plates of fries, brownies, ice cream sundaes, and more; and then again when the plates were brought back to the table, a smorgasbord of grease and fat and sugar that could surely knock out a dozen people.

***

1 year B.F.D.

“Tribore?” Quinn said in surprise when she opened the front door to her apartment and saw her friend standing outside. He had gone totally radio silent a couple months before; dropped off the face of the planet without so much as a goodbye. Part of her was upset. Another part was sure Tribore had good reason and deserved a chance to explain himself.

“Hey boo,” Tribore said as he strolled briskly inside. “I can’t stay long.”

Quinn eyed tribore. She looked him over, feeling relief when there were no obvious signs of physical injury. “What’s going on? I’ve been worried about you.”

“Sorry about that.” Tribore cast his gaze around the room and pulled out a small electronic device, placing it delicately on an end table. “Things have been getting wonky.”

“My place isn’t bugged,” Quinn said with disapproval.

Tribore shrugged apologetically. “Can’t be too careful. I’ve been hunting down some big game.”

“What are you talking about?” Quinn really wished he would get to the point already.

“There’s something fishy going on in the League of Heroes. And who best to figure it out? Me, Tribore, of course. I’m like a fish-detecting machine.”

“The League of Heroes?”

“Yeah. Word has it that the governor has the higher ups wrapped around his finger. And the things he has them doing… I don’t like the looks of it, and you know I’m all about the looks.”

Quinn frowned. “Are you spying on your fellow heroes?” The thought only made her more worried for her friend.

Tribore waved a hand. “Don’t worry about me, hun.”

Quinn crossed her arms. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s happening.”

“If you're gonna do it anyway, maybe shine some of those worry rays on yourself. I’ve heard rumors that the law might start cracking down on unaffiliated heroes and villains, something about responding to potential dissidence.”

Quinn thought on all of the protests, the demonstrations, the political unrest that seemed to bubble up so suddenly. The situation was changing so quickly, and most concerning of all, she had no idea where it was heading. “Just what’s going on, Tribore?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out. Will I succeed? We can only hope so.”

Chapter Text

10 months B.F.D.

Clawmaster stared at Evildeed over his cotton candy. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about the recent wave of vandalism of the city’s security cameras, would you?”

Evildeed watched Catspaw play one of the carnival games. The evening was pleasantly cool, the city in a relatively festive mood all things considered, and the three of them were having a nice night out. Catspaw cheered as he hit a target with a pellet gun. “No clue.” Even though he was avoiding Clawmaster’s gaze, he knew precisely which one of his approximately six hundred judgmental looks he was wearing.

“Right. You have no idea,” Clawmaster drawled. “Because the description passing through the grapevine sounds a lot like your spider-bots.”

Evildeed sniffed. “Well I admire whichever conscientious citizen is fighting back against the surveillance state.” He was expecting some remark on that, but there was none forthcoming. A glance at Clawmaster showed that the hero was focused on something down the lane. “What is it?”

“It’s probably nothing,” Clawmaster said distractedly. “Just have been getting strange feelings lately.”

“Like you’re being followed?” Evildeed prompted.

Clawmaster turned to him, surprise evident on his face. “Yes. It started a few months ago, but it’s been getting worse. Why? Have you noticed anything.”

Evildeed bit on his finger. “Mmm. Pretty sure I’ve picked up a few tails as of late, but every time I try to track them down they just vanish.”

“Who’d you peeve off this time?”

Evildeed gasped at the suggestion. “Excuse me! What makes you think it’s anything I did?”

Clawmaster gave him judgemental look #386.

“Look! I’m just an ordinary villain going about my ordinary villainous ways.”

Clawmaster muttered, “I wouldn’t say ordinary.”

Evildeed started. “What was that?” His head snapped to look at Clawmaster, trying to get a read on him, but he was already looking away.

“Nothing,” Clawmaster responded quietly as he chewed into his cotton candy.

“Nothing. Right.” Evildeed looked at his companion. There was a fluff of pink caught on his– “You’ve got something here.” Evildeed motioned at the side of his own face.

“Here?” Clawmaster plucked at his own fur, missing by a mile.

“No. Let me.” As soon as his hand was on Clawmaster’s cheek Evildeed knew he had made a mistake. Hanging out with the hero was one thing. But touching him like this was crossing another boundary altogether. “Sorry,” Evildeed said hastily. He pulled his hand back, revealing a small tuft of cotton candy. “Got it! Hehehe.”

If Evildeed was surprised at his own impulsiveness, it was nothing compared to the shock he felt when Clawmaster ate the cotton candy from his fingers. It seemed to take Clawmaster a second to register what he’d done. He snapped to attention with a look of horror on his face. “That was weird! I’m so sorry I don’t know what I was thinking!”

“Tha- that’s okay,” Evildeed said weakly. He could feel his knees buckling, his cheeks burning. In that moment all he could think about was how nice it would be to jump into the ocean. Maybe live the rest of his life there.

“Dads! Look what I won!” Catspaw exclaimed as he ran up to them holding a stuffed animal that was half his own size.

“Wow! That’s great!” Evildeed said with a beam, grateful for the interruption. If the look on Clawmaster’s face was anything to go by, he was feeling the same. Evildeed let out a sigh of relief. Disaster averted.

Though, Evildeed did notice that Catspaw spent the rest of the night darting glances between him and Clawmaster.

***

7 months B.F.D.

“Hey dad!” Catspaw chirped from the doorway to Evildeed’s workshop.

Evildeed put down the soldering gun he was using to repair the rooftop infrared sensor. “What can I do for you Catspaw?”

Catspaw walked in and stopped next to Evildeed, rocking back and forth on his feet. Always a good sign. “I was doing some reading on the history of heroes and villains.”

“I don’t remember assigning you any history homework,” Evildeed remarked.

Catspaw hunched his shoulders. “What? I can read stuff if I want to.”

Evildeed smiled with pride. “Doing some independent research? That’s good.”

Catspaw stared at the floor shyly and rubbed the back of his head. “I guess.”

“Well?” Evildeed prompted. “What were you reading about?”

Catspaw’s eyes went wide as he launched into a spiel. “Okay so I was reading about rivalries between villains and heroes. There are so many stories. Like, there was Voxel and Earworm. Their fights launched a whole genre of vidmusic! I was listening to some and it’s so weird! But also really cool! And then there’s Glaivestrike and Storm Chaser. One of their fights shut down most of Lightopia airspace for a whole freakin’ day. And–”

“Woah there!” Evildeed said with a chuckle. “Sounds like real fascinating stuff.” He indicated toward his project. “But I have to finish this up. Maybe you can tell me later? Let’s say in an hour.”

“Okay,” Catspaw said reluctantly. Then he perked up, asking, “Just one quick question. Have you ever heard of Gatekeeper and Psyclone?”

Evildeed searched his memory. The names were vaguely familiar. “I’ve probably heard of them. Why? Who are they?”

“Oh! They were a villain and a hero way back in the day. I think from before you were even born, hard as that is to believe.”

“Hey!”

“Anyway. Point is, they were totally rivals and their showdowns were famous. Like, super epic.” Catspaw mimed with hands and made some explosion sounds.

“Cool. Having a rival is an important part of being a villain. Otherwise you can get complacent. Too easy to plateau.”

Catspaw huffed. “Yeah, but I’m not done.”

Evildeed sighed. “You’ve got one minute, little dude. And then, like I said, I’ve got to get back to work.” He put on his best “I’m Listening” face for his son, resting his head in his hands.

“Yeah. So they were both at the top of their game. No-one could face them but each other. It was like the showdown between good and evil, but just between the two of them.” Catspaw got a glint in his eyes. “But then one day they stopped.”

When Catspaw looked at him expectantly Evildeed asked, “Well? What happened?”

“It turns out they got–”Catspaw cupped his mouth and rocked forward on his feet, whisper-shouting as if revealing some scandalous secret “–married!”

Evildeed blinked. “What? No freakin’ way.”

Catspaw hopped on his feet in excitement. “Yes freakin’ way!”

“Huh. Wild.”

“Interesting, huh?” Catspaw waggled his eyebrows. “If those two could make it work… makes you think.”

“Think what?” Evildeed asked with a frown. It was an interesting story, to be sure, but he wasn’t sure where his son was going with this.

“Oh. You know.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know. Is there more to the story?”

“Oh my stars! It’s like you’re not even listening!” Catspaw stomped his foot and pulled his ears down around his head, doing an abrupt about face. As he stalked out of the room he shouted, “How are you both this stupid!”

“Hey! Watch your language!” Evildeed called after him. Something had obviously gotten into Catspaw. Evildeed blamed the teenage hormones. He shrugged as he went back to work, humming a deviously cheerful tune. Then his hands stilled. “Wait. Both?”

***

5 months B.F.D.

“Oh wow you can see the whole city from up here!” Catspaw said excitedly. He had just crested the rocky hill that looked down from the outskirts on all of Lightopia. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he yelled into the wind, “Wahoo!”

Evildeed smiled from a few dozen feet behind. They had been hiking for the last two hours, and he was ready to lay down and become one with the dirt. Keeping up with Catspaw’s youthful spryness and Clawmaster’s ridiculous athleticism had proven futile. At least Clawmaster was gracious enough to match pace with Evildeed, keeping him company as he let Catspaw go on ahead.

“Almost there,” Evildeed panted as he took the last few steps to the top. “Remind me again who thought this was a good idea.”

“I think it was you,” Clawmaster said wryly as he handed Evildeed a water bottle. He had insisted on carrying everyone’s snacks and water in his backpack and Evildeed was only too happy to oblige.

“Thanks,” Evildeed said and took a generous swig. “And remind me never to suggest a hiking trip again.”

“Duly noted,” Clawmaster said. He stood next to Catspaw, the two silhouetted by the mid-afternoon sun.

Evildeed took a moment to appreciate Clawmaster in a tank top and basketball shorts. The way the light of the sun passed over him, illuminating the furred edge of his silhouette in a full-body halo, made Evildeed think of angels.

It was strange. Evildeed had always found both men and women attractive, in an abstractly aesthetic sense. But Clawaster was different. Something about him made Evildeed want to appreciate his beauty in… a more intimate setting. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had made him feel this way. Sometimes just being in the same room with the hero was more than he could handle. A couple weeks ago Clawmaster had given him a hug out of nowhere and Evildeed could’ve sworn he had spiked a fever.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Clawmaster said as Evildeed came to stand next to him.

“Yeah,” Evildeed breathed as he looked out at the city. It stretched out for miles, the distant downtown scrapers glinting in the sunlight.

A flash of light momentarily blinded Evildeed, followed by a loud crack as rock and dirt were ejected into the air.

“Get down!” Clawmaster shouted.

Evildeed felt a hand grab his arm and pull him to the ground. A mechanical hum passed overhead and Evildeed looked up to see a small jet-like drone turning to make another pass. “I didn’t bring anything!” he said in a panic.

“Dad?” Catspaw whined, hands covering his head as he lay prone.

“Stay calm!” Clawmaster said, and something in his voice had Evildeed unconsciously obeying. Clawmaster pulled out a catarang from his backpack and crouched low on the ground, minimizing his targetable area. “Come on. Just a little closer,” he muttered.

As the drone made another pass at them Clawmaster flung the catarang. It swung in a tight arc. Just as it looked like it was going to connect, the drone rolled and dove sharply, the catarang narrowly missing. The drone fire a couple more shots, one of them landing where Catspaw had been just a split-second ago.

Evildeed did a quick inspection of the area around them. There were five or six other hikers in the immediate vicinity, but they were all to busy fleeing the scene to have noticed Catspaw’s use of his power. Or Clawmaster’s use of his catarangs for that matter. Thank the stars for small mercies.

Clawmaster dug a hand into his backpack, pulling out two more catarangs. “Two more shots.” He shouted out to Evildeed and Catspaw, “Disperse!” They followed orders, running in different directions.

Evildeed watched as the drone followed Clawmaster’s retreating back. He felt utterly helpless as he watched Clawmaster stumble as one of the drone’s shots landed in front of him, spraying debris into his face. Evildeed’s hand hovered over the comm on his wrist. Should he summon his SAMES? That was an incredibly risky move. But it was also possible that his identity had already been spoiled.

Clawmaster ran in a circle around a small mound. The drone flew to match his movement. Clawmaster abruptly twisted in midair, throwing both catarangs. The drone once again attempted to dodge, but Clawmaster had anticipated its movement. The first catarang flew high. The second lodged itself directly in its center. Sparks flew from the drone as it dropped from the sky, careening uncontrollably toward the ground and landing a few hundred feet away in a small explosion.

Evildeed and Catspaw both ran toward Clawmaster, Catspaw shouting, “Are you okay dad?” He didn’t even wait for a response before he started checking Clawmaster for signs of injury.

“What was that?” Evildeed asked. Adrenaline still pounded through his veins as he searched around for anyone who might was waiting around to witness the results of the attack. Or remotely flying the drone. But the are was clear. The three of them were the only ones who hadn’t evacuated.

Clawmaster held his chin in his hand as he thought aloud. “I don’t know. This was obviously a planned attack. The work of villain?”

“A villain? But why would they target us?” Evildeed clutched at his chest. “Did someone figure out who we are?”

Clawmaster paced in a tight circle. “And judging by the design and capabilities, that was no civilian drone. It looked like military tech.” He walked over to Catspaw and put a hand on each shoulder. Catspaw looked up at him expectantly. Clawmaster looked Evildeed in the eyes. “You should take care of him for now.”

“What?” Evildeed and Catspaw said together.

“That drone was focused on me. It’s likely that I was the target. I can’t be sure that I haven’t been compromised.”

Catspaw hugged Clawmaster, his ears pinned back. “I don’t want you to go.”

“It’s just for a little bit,” Clawmaster soothed, petting his son’s head. “Just until I can be sure you’ll be safe staying with me. After all, I don’t have a defensible lair like your dad over there.”

“Why don’t you stay with me?” Evildeed offered.

Clawmaster shook his head. “I don’t want you caught up in whatever this is.”

Evildeed crossed his arms and stood his ground. “I think that’s already too late, friend. Whatever this is, we tackle it together. That’s what family does.”

Clawmaster eyebrows almost flew off his head. “Family?”

Evildeed had to fight hard not to blush. He’d thought of them as a small, if untraditional, family unit for some time now, but saying it out loud… that made it feel all the more real. “Yeah. A family. And family means–”

“–nobody gets left behind,” Catspaw finished with him.

Clawmaster tilted his head. “Was that a reference to something?” He sighed. “Nevermind. All that matters is that you two are safe.”

“I understand where you’re coming from, but I think your logic is off. We’d be safer together,” Evildeed argued.

“Yeah dad,” Catspaw said, looking up at Clawmaster. There was genuine worry in his eyes. “Dad has been working really hard to make sure his base is extra secure.”

Evildeed smiled at his son’s vouch, but it faded when he saw the look on Clawmaster’s face. He could tell there would be no convincing him. “Are you sure?”

Clawmaster looked resolute, almost as if he was steeling himself to go into battle. “If we’re together, we’re a larger target. If whoever’s behind this is after you as well, putting us together only puts Catspaw in more potential danger. This is the best option.”

“We could send Catspaw to stay with someone else. Get him far from here. Nightfall?” Evildeed hazarded.

Clawmaster shook his head again, not backing down. “I want him with you.” He walked up to Evildeed and put a hand on his shoulder. “I only trust you with him.”

Evildeed could feel something deep inside himself chipping away. Something that felt like it had been buried underneath layers of anger, frustration, and denial. It felt like he was excavating some long lost part of himself. It felt like hope. It felt like fear. “Fine,” he said with an aggrieved huff. “But you get one month.”

“Two,” came Clawmaster’s immediate reply.

“Six weeks,” Evildeed grit out. He made a show of tapping on his comm. “And I’m marking it on my calendar. And Clawmaster?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful. Please.”

***

4 months B.F.D.

Clawmaster was heating up leftover takeout when there was a knock at the door. The fur on the back of his neck raised in unease. He had taken a (very) temporary lease on a second apartment while he did his little investigation. The only people who knew where it were Nightfall and Tribore. And they had a rigid system of scheduled visits. Neither of them were expected to show up today.

The knocks grew louder and more frantic. Slowly, carefully, Clawmaster grabbed a catarang he had taped to the side of the fridge. He approached the door, his ears pricked forward, and peered through the door’s peep-hole. “Evildeed?”

“Hiya. It’s me. Can I speak with you?”

Clawmaster opened the door, the cool night air greeting him. “How the blazes did you find this place?”

“It wasn’t easy,” Evildeed said with a nervous smile.

That’s when Clawmaster noticed that their son wasn’t there with him. “Where’s Catspaw?”

“He’s back at my lair.”

Clawmaster started. It wasn’t like Evildeed to leave their son unsupervised. Something was not right.

“Can I come in?” Evildeed asked. He stretched his neck, peering over Clawmaster’s shoulder and taking in the interior. “Not as nice as your other place.”

Clawmaster frowned as he let Evildeed inside. “Yes. Well, this is supposed to be my secret hideout.”

“I’ve missed you,” Evildeed said.

That also wasn’t like him. Sure, he could be expressive, but to be so casually sentimental. Was Evildeed being forced to do this? As the villain had stood at the doorway Clawmaster had done a quick scan and didn’t detect anyone in hiding. Clawmaster found himself wishing he had set up some secret phrase with Evildeed in case they needed to know if the other was being coerced.

“Well?” Clawmaster said. “What did you want to talk about?” He sighed wearily as he placed the catarang on a cardboard box that served as a makeshift dining table.

“Were you really gonna fight me with that thing?” Evildeed asked. Again, something in his tone was off. Clawmaster felt his anxious energy building.

“I wasn’t expecting company. You know we’ve been on high alert lately.”

“Heh. Yeah. I suppose it can’t be helped.”

Clawmaster headed for the kitchenette. “Can I get you anything to eat or drink while you’re here?”

“I’m good, thanks.”

Clawmaster scooped some leftovers into a bowl. He took a fork that was laying in the sink and rinsed it off before sticking it into the bowl. “How is Catspaw holding up?”

“The kid is doing fine.”

And that was it. That dismissive tone. Referring to Catspaw as “the kid.”

Clawmaster slowly set the bowl down. It clinked softly against the counter, the only noise other than his breathing. He spoke aloud his fear. “You’re not Evildeed, are you?”

His hand flew to one the drawers where he kept another catarang. From behind he heard the distinct electrical whine of a laser pistol being primed.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you,” Evildeed said. But it wasn’t his voice. “Turn around nice and slow.”

As Clawmaster did so he heard a sickening crunching sound. When he came to face Evildeed he gave an involuntary yelp. He watched in horror as Evildeed’s body rippled and transformed. Not-Evildeed’s metal arm fell to the floor with a dull thud as a pallid gray new limb grew where it had been.

“That’s a good kitty,” Not-Evildeed said.

“What are you?” Clawmaster breathed.

The stout figure opposite him grinned malevolently, his gun still pointed at Clawmaster. “You may call me The Magnificent Clarence.”

Chapter Text

4 months B.F.D

Evildeed vaulted over the living room couch. “KVN! You hand back that magnification ray this instant!”

“Can’t catch me! Wheeeee!” A dozen paces ahead, KVN rounded the corner into the hallway. Evildeed heard him shout, “Catspaw! Catch!”

“I will put you down KVN!”

When Evildeed ran into the hallway he saw Catspaw standing in the center, holding the purloined device. The look on his face was angelic. Evildeed’s trouble radar pinged big‐time. One hand held out, he said in a carefully neutral tone, “Catspaw. Hand me the ray. Nice and slow.”

“Sure thing dad.” Catspaw made to hold the ray in front of him. Just before Evildeed could grab it, Catspaw dashed around him in a blur. “Sike!”

“Hhhhwwnnngg!” Evildeed sagged in defeat. He called out to the circus, “That’s expensive and dangerous equipment, by the way! In case anyone actually cares!”

In the distance he could hear Catspaw say, “Mooncake! Catch!”

“Wait! My harness can’t handle that weight– ooof!”

There was crash, followed by a rising electronic FWEEEEEEN, and then a ZAAAAP!

“Wooooooah!” Catspaw called out.

Dreading what he was about to see, Evildeed walked toward the source of the commotion. He turned a corner and saw a large orange tail sticking into the hallway from the doorway to Mooncake’s work room. When he walked up to the doorway he was greeted by a five‐plus meter tall Catspaw who was sitting hunched over as he struggled to fit inside the now‐cramped space. Mooncake was resting on one of his arms, looking thoroughly nonplussed.

Catspaw’s sheepish grin was disconcertingly large when he said, “Oops!”

Evildeed held his forehead in his hand as he tried to gather his wits. “This is why we don’t play with the evil machinery.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Catspaw said. “I think it’s just a growth spurt.”

Evildeed gave him an unimpressed look. “Really? Is that the best you can do?”

KVN came bobbing down the hall. “Hey what’s going on why’d we all stop– woah! Catspaw! You got biiiiig!” Catspaw’s tail flicked at KVN, knocking him upside‐down and sending him flying back down the hall. “Wheee!”

“Hey! Watch it with the tail!” Evildeed cried. “You could seriously hurt someone with that thing!”

“Sorry!”

“Hmph!” Mooncake grumbled, and Evildeed and Catspaw turned their attention toward it. “I’d like to know when I can get back the use of my workspace!”

“Erm. The thing about that is...” Evildeed hedged, nervously pointing two index fingers together.

“What,” Mooncake said flatly.

“Dad?” Catspaw asked from above.

Evildeed averted his gaze from Mooncake and looked at Catspaw instead. “You do realize I have no way to get you back to your original size.”

“%#^% @*$#!” Mooncake cursed.

“Mooncake!” Evildeed gasped. “Not in front of the kid!”

Catspaw looked alarmed. “Wait! You mean I’m stuck like this? How am I supposed to get out of the room!”

Evildeed could tell he was working himself into a panic. He flopped himself over Catspaw’s leg in a gesture of comfort. “I… uh… maybe you’ll just go back to normal over time?”

“That’s not very reassuring!” Catspaw whined.

“Oh for star’s sake!” Mooncake burst out. “Just take the magnification ray and reverse the polarity or whatever!”

Evildeed groaned in frustration. “That’s not how that works!” There was a sudden BEEP! from his comm. He looked at the incoming caller ID. “Clawmaster?”

A large finger poked the back of Evildeed’s head. “Dad?”

“Ack! Gimme a second, Catspaw,” Evildeed said before accepting the call. “Yello! This isn’t really a good time Clawmaster–”

“This isn’t Clawmaster,” the person on the other end said. And it certainly didn’t sound like Clawmaster.

Wait. Evildeed knew that voice. “Nightfall?” he guessed.

“I need to talk to you.” Nightfall’s voice sounded urgent.

Evildeed’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why are you calling from Clawmaster’s comm?”

“Something’s happened.”

“On a scale from ‘you scraped your knee’ to ‘a giant meteor is heading straight for Lightopia,’ what are we talking? I only ask cause I’m kinda busy here.”

“What does ‘I’m pretty sure Clawmaster was abducted’ rate?”

The pit dropped from Evildeed’s stomach. “I’m sorry. Clawmaster’s been What?”

“Dad? What is it?” Catspaw asked, picking up on Evildeed’s distress. He shifted, jostling Evildeed off his leg and bending his head down further to listen in.

“Woah there Catspaw!” Evildeed said as he righted himself.

“Evildeed!” Nightfall said shortly, bringing Evildeed’s attention back to the matter at hand.

“Right! Clawmaster! Abducted! Are you sure?”

“We were supposed to meet tonight, but he didn’t show. So I went to his place and the door is open. He left without taking any of his stuff, even his comm. He would never do that. I know that I’m a hero and your a villain blah blah blah but I need you to trust me.”

A man like Clawmaster had to have a plethora of enemies. Evildeed’s heart raced as he imagined a dozen different scenarios, each worse than the last. Curse his impressive imagination! “What do we do? Oh crumbling cookies what do we do?”

“We get him back.” Nightfall sounded a lot more confident than Evildeed felt.

Evildeed pulled at his hair. “Do you know where he’s been taken?”

“No. But I did manage to collect some samples from the scene. Whoever did this left a fair amount of evidence.”

“Okay?” Evildeed said, his mind stalling.

Nightfall sighed. “I was thinking maybe you would be able to analyze them?”

“That… I could do that. Sure. Let me give you coordinates to a meeting place close to my place.”

“Thanks, Evildeed. I really appreciate it.”

Evildeed couldn’t believe he was about to let a hero waltz right into his most sacred sanctum. Then again, for Clawmaster he’d turn the whole dang planet inside‐out.

Evildeed paced nervously next to the dilapidated storefront where Nightfall was to meet him. For Clawmaster to get himself kidnapped – catnapped? – it would indeed have to be a formidable opponent. He really hoped he wasn’t about to face the Lord Commander this night.

“Evildeed,” a voice said from nowhere.

“Gyah!” Evildeed yelped, clutching at his chest. “Stars, you’re just as bad as Clawmaster.”

Nightfall’s helmet tilted to the side, and Evildeed was convinced she was smiling behind it. “So. You’re place?”

The way she just said it so casually made Evildeed start. “Yeah. Follow me.”

Evildeed led Nightfall through the back alleys, keeping an eye out for any would‐be spies. He sent out a few spider drones to cover the perimeter as they made their way in the shadows. Given the fact that Clawmaster had been taken, Evildeed was on super‐duper‐mega‐ultra‐high‐alert. The sounds of traffic burbled in the distance, but here it was mostly peaceful, save the occasion rat searching for its next meal.

After they strolled through the heavily armored entrance to Evildeed HQ, past the auto‐turrets that tracked their movements, past the bio‐scanners and metal detectors, Evildeed took Nightfall to his lab. It was well‐kept enough, just don’t open any of his tools drawers or you might become lost in his particular organizational methodology. Evildeed had also made sure ahead of time to move into deeper storage any particularly incriminating contraptions he was working on. By this point Mooncake and KVN had joined the procession, with Catspaw still sullenly stuck in Mooncake’s workshop.

“Ooh! What are we up to?” KVN asked excitedly.

“We’re going to find out where they took Clawmaster,” Nightfall answered. “And who ‘they’ are.”

KVN spun in a circle. “Oh no! Somebody took Clawmaster? But then who will Evildeed pine–”

“KVN!” Evildeed barked. “Could you find me my hyperspanner? I think I left it in the reactor room.”

“Sure thing boss!” KVN chirped as he flew out of the room his voice diminishing into the distance as he sing‐songed, “Going to find to find the hyperspanner! Going to find to find the hyperspanner!”

“Thank the stars,” Evildeed muttered.

“What’s a hyperspanner?” Mooncake asked curiously from where he floated in the air at Evildeed’s side.

Evildeed snorted. “Oh. Just something I made up to get KVN out of our hair.”

“Good thinking, sir.”

Off to the side Nightfall took off her helmet with a pleased sigh, setting it down on a metal counter. It occurred to Evildeed he had never seen her actual face before, and it wasn’t lost on him that this was a show of great trust.

Evildeed took one look at her face and blurted out, “You’re pretty.” He grimaced at himself. Really, Evildeed? That’s what you have to say?

Nightfall looked taken aback. She took a moment to smile bashfully. “Thanks, I guess?” Then she straightened herself, holding out several plastic bags filled with various materials. “Can you analyze these?”

Evildeed scoffed. “Can I analyze these? Can I analyze these? Can I analyze these?” He grabbed the bags with an indignant sniff. “I’ll have you know my equipment is top shelf. Actually, scratch that. Better than top shelf. All my equipment is made by yours truly.” He shook his head in feigned disappointment as he walked over to his mass spectrometer. “This is going to take a while. Got any good Clawmaster stories while we wait?”

Nightfall regarded him coolly with one eyebrow raised in speculation. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Of course I can!” Evildeed placed a hand over his heart. “I solemnly swear!”

“You can’t ever let him know I showed you this.” Nightfall fished out a small wallet from inside her suit. She pulled out a color photograph with a conspiratorial grin. “This is from the time he accidentally ate a bee.”

KVN bobbed along the twisting hallway, poking his head into each room as he passed. “Hello? Hyperwhatsit? Are you in here? Hello? Hellooooo?”

“KVN!” Catspaw called from down the hall. “KVN!”

As KVN scanned the room he was in he answered, loud enough to be heard by Catspaw, “Sorry! I’m busy right now! I have to find something for Evildeed!”

“@%#, KVN! Get over here!”

KVN pressed his clamps to himself, his eye going wide as the lid pulled up. “Did you just say a swear? For shame! What would Evildeed think?”

“Ugh! I hate you so much!”

KVN was pretty sure that between Catspaw, Evildeed, and Mooncake, none of them actually knew what the word “hate” really meant. That was okay. He still loved them all the same, even if they could be a little silly at times.

Eventually KVN made his way down the hall to the room where Catspaw was jammed into. “Do you know if there’s a hyper–” he faltered. “A hyper– a hyper‐whatwasitagain? Oh dang! I forgot what I was looking for.” He started to head back the way he came so he could find Evildeed and ask him what it was he needed again.

Catspaw groaned in frustration. “Wait! Just one second! Please?”

Something desperate in Catspaw’s voice tripped one of KVN’s pesky empathy circuits. He stopped in his tracks – not that he left any, heh – and circled back. “What is it?”

“I haven’t heard news from anyone for a while,” Catspaw explained as KVN dodged a nervous twitch of his tail. “Did they find out where Clawmaster was taken?”

“Not yet!” KVN chirped. “But have no fear. Evildeed and your pal KVN are on the job!”

“Hey,” Catspaw said before KVN could make his leave. “Tell me if they find anything, okay?”

“Okie‐dokie!” KVN called out as he headed back to Evildeed’s lab. What an exciting night! First, Catspaw blowing himself up. And then the drama with Clawmaster. Also there was someone new in the base. KVN wondered who they were and if they were here to stay. Oh, that would be fun! KVN always liked making new friends.

As he returned to the lab, said new friend was standing over Evildeed’s shoulder as he peered into a microscope. “–are you sure?”

Evildeed adjusted the dials on the side of the microscope. “Yes. There’s cells from at least three different species here.”

“Can you identify them?”

“One of them no, but there’s definitely Tryvuulian and Serpentian cells for sure– wait!” Evildeed stood up abruptly.

Nightfall gripped his arm anxiously. “What is it?”

“There’s something familiar– at the back of my mind.” Evildeed balled a hand into a fist and hit his own head. “Stupid Evildeed! Think!”

“Hey. Take it easy,” Nightfall encouraged. “When was the last–”

KVN was tired of being ignored here. “Hey guys! Looks like you could use my help!”

“Dangit, KVN!” Evildeed shouted. “Now I can’t remember what I was trying to remember!” Next to Nightfall cross her arms.

“Don’t worry!” KVN flew up to Evildeed and put a hand on either side of his forehead. He leaned in, just a couple of inches away as he stared into Evildeed’s eyes. “Remember. Rememmmmmmmber.”

Evildeed knocked KVNs arms away. “It’s no use! The train of thought has been derailed by Hurricane KVN.”

“What about the the other evidence?” Nightfall asked.

“It’s all a mish‐mash of extraordinarily rare materials. Diamond stardust. Chelonium. Tritanium.” Evildeed mussed his hair in frustration. “It doesn’t make sense. There’s no reason to find them together like this. Even on their own, you’d only find them in a…” Evildeed trailed of as he stared into space.

When he stayed like that for a few seconds Nightfall and Mooncake shared a bewildered look.

“Does he need to be turned off and on again?” KVN asked.

Nightfall sighed. She stood directly in front of Evildeed and prodded, “In a what?”

“A museum. Or.” He drifted off again before coming back, his eyes wide. “Or a vault.”

Mooncake moved next to Evildeed. “A vault?”

Evildeed smacked his forehead. “Of course! It all makes sense!” He started pacing in a tight circle. “That’s why there’s Tryvuulian and Serpentian cells! It’s so obvious! I can’t believe I didn’t see it before!”

Nightfall raised an eyebrow. “Care to explain for those of us who lack telepathy?”

“Oh right! Sorry! It’s The Magnificent Clarence!” Evildeed counted off using his fingers: “He has that fancy vault. He’s been giving me ominous warnings about Clawmaster. And he has a Serpentian daughter and a Tryvuulian son!”

Without warning Evildeed ran out of the room. Nightfall stared in confusion for a second before following him. Evildeed led the group to the “war room,” which was really just a glorified second dining room. Dozens of maps were taped to the walls, multicolored pins stuck through them. In the center of the room stood a sturdy wooden table, a deck of cards fanned out on one side next to a still half‐full coffee mug.

Evildeed pulled out a tack from one map and stuck it in another. “Here! This is where Clarence’s vault is. Now. We’ll need a plan for how to–”

And it was getting boring again. For someone who often told KVN to shut up, Evildeed sure did like to talk a lot. Leaving the thinky stuff to the others, KVN flew down the hallway back to Catspaw to fulfil his promise. When he got there he announced, “We found out where they’re keeping Clawmaster!”

“Really? Where?” In his excitement Catspaw tried to adjust his posture in the cramped room, but only ended up looking like he was in an even more uncomfortable position, his head mashed against the floor.

“The Magnificent Clarence’s top secret vault!” KVN spun around. “It sounds dangerous!”

“Clarence?” Catspaw repeated in a panic. “That creep? Seriously?”

“Yeah, I think they’re about to leave,” KVN said. He crossed his arms in front of him and pouted, “They probably won’t take me. Even though I’m so awesome and great.”

“They’re leaving?” Catspaw shrieked. He started moving inside the room, his legs and arms slamming against the wall.

“Woah! Earthquake!” KVN said as the building around them shook.

Catspaw broke through the doorframe to the room, material crumbling to the floor around him, and crawled into the hallway. Barely able to fit, he ambled his way forward on elbows and knees, a determined look on his face.

“Catspawzilla incoming!” KVN shouted as he flew ahead of the approaching giant of a Ventrexian.

Up ahead Evildeed poked his head out of the doorway. “KVN what did you oh my craaaaa–”

“Dad!” Catspaw’s voice boomed as he came to a stop.

“Catspaw? How did you get out of–”

“No time to explain! Here! Get on my back!” Catspaw grabbed Evildeed and reached behind himself, dropping the villain unceremoniously.

“Nightfall! You too!”

With a shrug Nightfall picked up Mooncake and climbed up Catspaw to join Evildeed.

“And Meeeee!” KVN cheered.

“Wait!” Evildeed said. “How are you planning to get out of here?”

The apparent answer was by causing a great amount of structural damage to Evildeed HQ.

“Notfun! Notfun! Notfun! Notfun!” Evildeed wailed, clinging tightly to Catspaw as the city whooshed by too fast for him to even make out where they were. Next to him, Nightfall and KVN were doing the same.

With Catspaw having interrupted their planning session, it looked as if this was going to be a very improvised rescue. And Evildeed hadn’t even had time to gathering any helpful gizmos. He and Catspaw were going to have to have a talk when all this was over. He could understand his son’s impatience, but sometimes the impulse to act needed to be– oh who was he kidding. This was peak Evildeed. Like father, like son.

Several car horns blared in a downward glissando as Catspaw passed through a busy intersection. Oh stars, this was going to be all over the news. Not that easy to conceal a fifteen foot orange blob speeding at over two hundred kilometers per hour through the city.

Catspaw came to a sudden halt. “Which way dad?”

Evildeed climbed up Catspaw’s back and peered over a shoulder. It took him a few seconds to get his bearings. “See that river up ahead? Follow it upstream until you get to the hills– woah!” He tumbled back down Catspaw’s back as they accelerated forward before regaining his grip. “Aaaaaaah!”

It wasn’t much more time before Catspaw stopped again. “I think we’re here.”

Once again Evildeed took a peek over Catspaw’s shoulder. Maybe a hundred meters ahead stood a tall metal wall circling a cube‐shaped building in the center. There were flood lights dotting the top of the wall, which was no doubt patrolled by guards.

Evildeed spoke to Catspaw, “You stay here with Mooncake.”

“But dad!”

“There’s no way you’re getting in without attracting all the attention.” Evildeed patted Catspaw’s arm. “If Nightfall and I don’t return within an hour I want you to return to HQ.” Catspaw looked like he was having none of that. Evildeed said, “I can’t have anything happening to you.”

“Dad.”

“Please, Catspaw. Promise me you’ll go back if something happens to us.”

“Dad,” Catspaw rasped in distress.

“Promise.”

For a minute, Evildeed wasn’t sure he was going to get his son to cooperate. When he was about to repeat himself Catspaw reluctantly said, “I promise.”

“Good. Nightfall? Let’s go.”

Infiltrating the outer defenses of Clarence’s fortification took time, but proved to not be intractable. Mostly thanks to Nightfalls quick thinking and wide array of gadgets, but Evildeed like to think he helped. To be fair, the outer wall and courtyard were sparsely guarded, which didn’t exactly track with the reputation this place had acquired.

The two had snuck their way in the vault building itself, avoiding security camera, laser tripwires, and even more guards, and eventually found themselves on a second‐floor balcony in a large hall‐like chamber. This room would not have been out of place in a royal palace. The walls were trimmed with gold; the ceiling was painted with frescos depicting epic battles. On the opposite side of the chamber was another balcony, which presumably led deeper into the vault.

“Look at this place,” Evildeed said with a low whistle as he rested himself against the marble balustrade. When he heard the sound of incoming footsteps he ducked low. He whispered to Nightfall, “Guards!”

Together they peered through the gaps in the railing. Two figures came into view, walking from left to right across the opposite balcony.

“Wait a second,” Nightfall hissed. “The one on the left. I recognize her.”

“Fought her before?” Evildeed ventured.

“Fought together with her,” Nightfall revealed.

“Together?”

They watched the patrol cross the balcony and out of sight, their shadows cast long against the walls and ceiling by the oblique angle of the lanterns that floated in mid‐air. Nightfall said, “She’s called Dune‐imight. She can control sand.”

Evildeed twisted his mouth as he twisted his head to look around. “Doesn’t seem that useful here.”

“She carries it with her,” Nightfall said. She added with a shudder, “Have you ever seen a person’s flesh picked clean by a localized sandstorm?”

Evildeed had to admit he never had. And if the stars above were benevolent, he never would. A thought came to mind. “Wait. You’re saying she’s a hero?”

“That’s the conundrum,” Nightfall said. “What’s a hero doing working security for Clarence? It doesn’t make sense.”

Nightfall and Evildeed stealthily grappling‐hooked their way to the other side. They didn’t encounter additional patrols in the time it took them to reach their next obstacle: a door with a keypad that Evildeed was able to crack while Nightfall played lookout. But when they passed through the opened door he realized there was no access point on the other side.

“I’ve heard of this lair configuration before,” Evildeed said. “Back in villain academy.”

“Oh?”

Evildeed pointed an accusing finger at Nightfall. “Whatever you’re about to say, don’t.”

Nightfall shrugged innocently. “Wasn’t going to say anything.”

“Right. Anyway, if I’m correct, this hallway is one giant circle that rings around the center of the vault. These doors only open from one side, so you have to go around the entire building in one direction to get back to where you start.”

Nightfall sighed. “Sounds like trouble.”

“You’re not gonna like this,” Evildeed started, “but one of us needs to stay behind to keep the door open.”

“You’re right. I don’t like it.”

“It’s the safest way. The less distance we traverse, the fewer opportunities there are for us to be discovered.”

Nightfall procured a small plastic bead from a pouch secured to her belt. “Put this somewhere safe. It’s a locator, so I’ll at least be able to track your movements.”

“Good idea,” Evildeed said as he slipped it into one of his boots. He gave Nightfall a sulate. “Be right back.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you better make sure you are.”

The innermost section of Clarence’s vault was a whole freakin’ maze. There were painted lines running along the walls, but they were labeled with things like “Cryogenics” and “Foundry” and “Satellite Comms” which, not helpful. Evildeed went up a flight of stairs, taking them two at a time. Coursing with adrenaline, he could feel his anticipation reaching the point of distraction, pricking along his fingers and toes, in the back of his head.

At the top of the stairs a red line advertised “Living Specimens.” It ran down the hallway towards a four‐way junction.

Evildeed clenched his fists. “Bingo.” He barely had made it ten more steps when he heard voices conversing ahead. Pressing himself to the wall, he unclasped his belt buckle. Always carry a spare on you. The clasp unfurled into a miniature version of his classic spider‐bot. Evildeed dropped the spider‐bot onto the floor. It shook itself disapprovingly before scurrying down the hall.

The video feed from the spider‐bot was relayed to his wrist comm. The comically distorted wide‐angle view showed an empty hallway. When the bot reached the junction it turned left. Nothing. Then Right. For a second Evildeed saw two amorphous figures before the feed cut out. He looked up to see the spider‐bot hurling backwards in a beam of magenta. Something nagged at the back of his mind, some distant memory.

Evildeed considered doubling back. He was so close though. If it was just two people, there was a chance…

The two figures rounded a corner; a Truyvuulian and a Serpentian. A memory clicked into place. Clarence’s children. Although they were now older, fully grown.

“You,” the Tryvuulian said. He raised his minigun arm.

Evildeed decide to try for casual. “Oh? You remember me?”

“Clarence told us all about you. Stay back!” the Tryvuulian ordered.

Evildeed raised his arms. “Woah. Take it easy there.” He wiggled his fingers. “I’m unarmed.”

The Serpentian’s eyes glowed a dark purple. “Detach your arm.” When Evildeed looked down at his right arm speculatively she added, “Your metal arm.”

Evildeed slowly reached for the shoulder of his metal arm. He pushed the three pins that kept it attached and it came loose. Evildeed hissed. Removing his left arm was never a pleasant sensation.

The Tryvuulian said, “Kick it over,” never once moving the minigun trained on him.

That was a tactical error, but they didn’t know that yet. Evildeed set the arm down on the floor and kicked it toward them. As soon as the Serpentian used her telekinetic powers to lift the arm up for inspection it exploded, throwing Evildeed’s two would‐be captors into the walls.

It was by no means a fatal blast, just enough to knock a person out for a few minutes. Evildeed ran past the Serpentian and the Tryvuulian, mutter a quick apology.

“Wait,” the Tryvuulain moaned from where he lay on the floor.

Against his better judgment, Evildeed stopped in the middle of the hallway. The Tryvuulian was clearly disoriented, not quite yet a threat. The Serpetian appeared to be down for the count.

“You don’t understand,” the Tryvuulian said. “Dad is– he’s... obsessed.”

Evildeed felt sympathy for them. They were still so young, about the age when he graduated from Tera Con Prime. And from the looks of things, they didn’t really have much choice in the life they were leading. “Once we finish what we came here for, we can help you. Protect you.”

The Tryvuulain shook his head. “Not from him.”

Evildeed gave them an assuring smile. “Trust me. We’ll take down Clarence once and for all.” With that he ran off in the direction of the holding cells.

The Tryvuulian was hoarsely calling after him, something that sounded like, “Wait! There’s something you need to know about–” but the rest faded into the distance.

Following the red line painted on the wall, Evildeed turned a corner. The hallway ahead was empty. Evildeed continued on for ten meters before taking another turn. Again, empty. Metal doors lined the left side of the passage, but on the right...

A single beam of bright light spilled from an opening in the wall. Evildeed walked cautiously up to it. The red line he had been following stopped at an open door. He quickly ducked his head to check out what was beyond, then pulled it back, just to be safe. In the brief glimpse that he got, he didn’t see any guards. Curious. Were the kids the last line of defense? Where was Clarence in all of this?

Evildeed entered the room. It stretched into the distance, with each side lined with three floors of cell after cell, each blocked off by a forcefield. Some of them were empty. Even more were occupied. It made Evildeed feel sick to his stomach that Clarence was keeping prisoners. Who knew how many people had disappeared into this place, never to be seen again?

As he passed by the cells, some of the prisoners took notice of his presence. A few looked resigned to their fate. Other walked up to the forcefields penning them in, banging their fists and shouting, their voices muffled.

It didn’t take long before Evildeed found who he was looking for. In one of the cells a familiar Ventrexian was slumped against the wall. Even from a distance, it was obvious Clawmaster was in bad shape.

“Clawmaster!” Evildeed shouted, trying to get his attention. There was no visual or audible response. “Clawmaster!” Evildeed fumbled with the controls to the cell’s forcefield. After a few bumbling attempts the forcefield dissipated with a ZRRRN. Evildeed ran inside, fearing the worst.

Clawmaster held an arm tightly around his stomach. He was covered in scrapes. One of his eyes was bruised half shut. Splotches of blood marred the sheen of his fur.

Evildeed knelt over the battered body of his partn– his friend, and cupped his head in his hands. “Clawmaster. You there bud?”

Clawmaster groaned weakly as he began stirring. “I’ve been better.” He tried to sit up further but stopped with a wince. “Worst. Kidnapping. Ever.” He looked pretty beat up, but if he was cracking jokes that had to mean that his condition wasn’t too critical.

Still. Evildeed felt an upwelling of emotion at seeing Clawmaster in this state. With a soft sob he said, “Don’t you ever do this to me again.”

Clawmaster smiled wryly up at him. “In this line of work? I can’t make any promises.”

“I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

“Hey. It’s okay. You got to me.”

Still cradling Clawmaster’s face, Evildeed ran his thumbs through his cheek fur. It was so soft. Evildeed idly wondered if he used product. “Do you use product?”

“What?” Clawmaster said with a scrunched nose.

Evildeed chuckled. “Never mind.” He looked Clawmaster in the eye, making sure the hero was completely lucid. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

Looking back, Evildeed didn’t know what he was thinking, if he even was thinking at all, when he lowered his face to Clawmaster’s.

“Evildee–” Clawmaster’s question was cut short as their lips met.

Something in Evildeed settled as everything clicked into place. In a single second a hundred scenes played in the back of his minds. Encounters, fights, conversations. With Clawmaster. With Catspaw. With Nightfall. It felt impossible. It felt inevitable.

When Evildeed pulled back he saw that Clawmaster was looking up at him in surprise. Then Clawmaster’s surprise turned into a leer that didn’t look right on him at all. “Ehehe. So I was right.”

“What?”

“I knew there was something between you two,” Clawmaster crowed victoriously.

Evildeed was dumbstruck at the one‐eighty in attitude. “What are you saying?”

“I’m sorry–” Clawmaster’s face said with a suddenly different voice, the wrong voice. It was the wrong voice. But a familiar voice. Dreadful recognition dawned on Evildeed. “–but your prince is in another castle.”

Before Evildeed could react he felt a sharp electrical shock in his abdomen that radiated outward, travelling down his arms and legs. He doubled forward, letting out an involuntary gasp. Looking down, he saw that Clawmaster held a baton against him. Clawmaster pushed a button on the baton and Evildeed fell onto his back as another blast of electric pain surged through him.

Clawmaster sat straddled over Evildeed with victorious grin. “It was so nice of you to follow my bread‐crumb trail. For a moment there I was afraid you wouldn’t be able figure it out.” From just below his arms, Clawmaster sprouted two elongated limbs with spiked club‐like appendages at their ends. “But then again, you always were too clever for your own good.”

Evildeed tried to dodge as one of the appendages flew towards his head, but found himself too weak to move. The last thing he heard was Clawmaster, with Clarence’s voice, triumphantly saying, “Lights out!”

(To be continued in Part 2...)

Chapter Text

4 months B.F.D

(Part 2)

Evildeed woke up with a splitting headache and a dull soreness that permeated his entire body. “Ugh! Did I drink Warbelian ale again? I really gotta lay off the sauce.”

“Good,” a familiar voice said from not too far away. “You’re finally awake.” Evildeed’s eyes shot open. Standing behind a glass desk at the other end of an office was Clarence, in all his repugnant glory.

Evildeed realized that he was upright, chained tightly to some vertical surface. His cybernetic arm had been removed. There were ornamental statues and even a fountain sculpture. On one wall rested a bronze plaque featuring the emblem of the planetary government. A groan from his side alerted Evildeed to the presence of a third party. He looked over to see Clawmaster also up in chains, though the hero didn’t appear to be conscious at the moment.

“Don’t you worry. You’ll be seeing your friends soon enough,” Clarence announced.

“I don’t get it. Why are you doing this?” Evildeed’s mind fished for any hints from past encounters, conversations, but other than Clarence’s warning… “Is all this because I hang out with Clawmaster?”

Clarence tutted as he shook his head. “Oh dear boy. You flatter yourself.” He walked up to Evildeed, carefully keeping a couple feet’s distance despite the fact that Evildeed could hardly move. “This is about far more than yourself.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t suppose you would,” Clarence said, and judging from his tone it was monolog time. Evildeed couldn’t remember the last time he was monologed at, if he was ever. He didn’t know how he felt about being on this end of the stick.

While Clarence paced in front of his captives he continued, “The existence of beings with superior abilities has been a bother for quite some time. It makes for an unruly populace that can be difficult to… manage.” The callousness with which Clarence said that sent a chill down Evildeed’s spine. In this moment he knew was looking at True Evil.

Clarence spared a glance at Evildeed. “I believe you are familiar with the fate of Oreskis and Bolo.”

Evildeed’s eyes went wide. “You know about that?”

Clarence sneered. “Of course I know. As governor of this planet I am entitled to all knowledge regarding state affairs.”

“As what?” Evildeed burst out. This was news to him! Last he checked the planetary governor was–

“Alec Cern… is me,” Clarence divulged. “Being a shapeshifter does have its advantages, after all.” He looked inordinately pleased with himself, and Evildeed wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off of his face. With a disintegration ray, preferably. Clarence added with a mocking simper, “Honestly. I am disappointed you didn’t figure it out on your own. The anagram is right there.”

Evildeed hated that he was being insulted and there was nothing he could do about it. “You have the entire government at your back. Let’s see how high and mighty you are on even ground.”

“Tsk! Tsk! Such talk is for losers. A true villain always creates an advantage before he makes his move. And I’ve got the greatest advantage of them all. Now that the Syndicate and the League have joined forces–”

“They what?” Evildeed interrupted. That made absolutely no sense. Why would the premier organizations for heroes and villains ever willingly work together?

“Sometimes we must put aside our differences for the greater good,” Clarence sanctimoniously intoned, as if he had any moral ground to stand on. “Besides, you’ve surely realized it by now.”

“Realized what?” Evildeed asked. It seemed there was nothing Clarence wasn’t willing to reveal. That… was often not a good sign. The word “disposable” came to mind.

“How thin the line between hero and villain has become. Take yourself for example, and those like you. Can you really say you’re on the side of villainy when you’re barely a threat to the social order? How defanged we’ve all become. These days heroics and villainy are mere theatrics played out on the public stage.”

Evildeed had to concede the point, but, “What about Lord Commander? Surely he would never go along with such a scheme.”

Clarence narrowed his eyes at the floor. “Yes. He will have to be dealt with at some point. But we were able to take care of Invictus, so he’s not an insurmountable problem.”

Evildeed gaped at Clarence. “You took down Invictus?”

“I won’t pretend it was easy, but as a trial run to see if our combined might could pave the way to a new society, I’d say it was a stunning success.”

“So all this is about becoming politicians? Bureaucrats?”

“We have no further need for the old ways. We’ve become more businesspeople than forces for change. It’s only a small, inevitable step to politics. And what better ruling class than one that is composed of your literal superiors?”

Evildeed could feel the scales falling from his eyes. How empty this all seemed now. Now that he thought about it, what had he accomplished other than being a name‐brand nuisance? He sagged in defeat as he came to the conclusion that everything he had accomplished was for naught. What was the point?

Clarence continued, “Heroes and villains are obsolete. This is what we’re meant for now.”

“You’re wrong!” Clawmaster bit out. Clarence and Evildeed snapped their attention to the defiant hero. Clawmaster glowered at Clarence. “Being a hero is more than fame or money! It’s about helping people!”

Clarence smiled widely. “Clawmaster! So wonderful to see you’re awake.”

Clawmaster struggled against his restraints. “Why don’t you take these off and I can give you a proper greeting!”

Clarence chuckled. “All in good time.” A comm on his desk beeped, and he walked over to it. “Oh good! It seems your friends have arrived! Too bad they’re walking right into my trap!”

“You won’t get away with this!” Clawmaster snapped.

“It’s a little late for heroics,” Clarence said. He walked up to Clawmaster, who growled ineffectually at him, straining against restraints for all the good it did him. “They won’t stand a chance.”

In desperation and despair Evildeed tried to think of a way out of this situation, but his mind was caught in a failure spiral. He had told his son to lay low back at his lair, but deep down he knew his wishes wouldn’t be obeyed. Sure, Catspaw was coming into his own, and Mooncake could be a terror if it wanted to be, but if Clarence had the forces backing him that he claimed, then it was no contest.

“I know it’s rude to gloat, but I would like to savor this moment.” Clarence breathed in, pressed his palms upright together, and closed his eyes, as if meditating.

“Evildeed,” Clawmaster said.

Evildeed had nothing.

A gust of wind blew into the office room as a flash of blue light temporarily blinded him.

“What’s this!” Clarence hissed. “What did you do!”

As the light dimmed slightly Evildeed felt a momentary twinge of dread at the sight of a swirling mass of blue. Then he noticed someone was walking out of it. Evildeed strained his eyes. The person approaching wore tinted silver‐trimmed goggles which pushed up a mop of blond hair, a white lab coat with a thick leather belt strapped over the waist, black stiletto boots with silver buckles, and a familiar dastardly smile.

They stopped just outside of the vortex and took a look at Evildeed. “Oof! We’re looking a bit worse for the wear, aren’t we?”

Evildeed was floored. “Are you…?”

“You? Yes, but from a ways in the future,” Future Evildeed revealed.

“Wait! But I don’t remember this part,” Evildeed said. “I never traveled to this moment when I was in the time thingy.”

“That’s because it hasn’t happened yet?” Future Evildeed said, unsure. “For you anyway. I dunno. It’s time stuff. Best not to think about it too much.”

Evildeed stared in shock at his older self. “But I lost my powers. If this hasn’t happened, then it shouldn’t be possible. Unless...”

Future Evildeed held a finger to his lips. “Wouldn’t want to spoil things!”

“What the heck is going on, Evildeed?” Clawmaster said.

The outburst caught Future Evildeed’s attention. He turned to Clawmaster and gave him a saucy wink. “Hello there hot stuff! Gotta say you look amazing with your outfit ripped up like that!”

Clawmaster’s jaw dropped open. He sputtered uselessly as Future Evildeed cackled.

Future Evildeed turned to glare at Clarence. “Except I’m the only one allowed to do that!”

“I don’t know what this is,” Clarence spoke up with a deadly but nervous edge to his voice, his gaze darting back and forth between the two Evildeeds, “but this little trick changes nothing! With the full backing of the League of Heroes and the Syndicate, there will be no stopping us!”

“Ha!” Future Evildeed barked out. “You only think that because you haven’t met the new and improved Evildeed.”

Evildeed would’ve taken offense at the implication, but Future Evildeed immediately jumped into action and it very quickly became apparent that he was new and improved. As Clarence grew two long insectoid limbs that ended in sharp scythes Future Evildeed’s own robotic arm, which looked fancier than Evildeed’s missing arm, transformed – Transformed! – into an energy sword.

“Now that is freaking awesome!” Evildeed said aloud.

Future Evildeed and Clarence danced the dance of blades. Weave, step, parry, lunge, turn, attack! Even with Clarence’s two against Future Evildeed’s one there was no clear advantage between the two.

Evildeed cheered when his future self knocked Clarence through the office’s window, but his elation was short lived as Clarence’s body rose, carried by two massive butterfly‐like wings, furiously yelling, “Don’t think too highly of yourself!”

Future Evildeed ran toward the open window and Evildeed felt his blood run cold. But then Future Evildeed jumped and twin rocket jets ignited under his boots, propelling him toward Clarence. His cybernetic arm transformed yet again into a flamethrower, spitting fire at Clarence and igniting his delicate wings, which quickly dissolved into thick black smoke. Future Evildeed flew down after the plummeting Clarence.

Evildeed strained against his restraints to get a view of the fight, but to no avail. He said to Clawmaster, “Don’t suppose you got any way out of this?”

The hero rustled around as much as he could with his arms, legs, and tail all pinned down. “That jerk did a good job of removing all my hidden gadgets. Drat! He even got my emergency transponder.”

Their conversation was cut short when Future Evildeed and Clarence both flew back into view. Clarence was the very definition of body horror. He was a mish‐mash of body parts from at least six different species. Even as he was also looking very rough, he was putting up a bitter fight. He spat a glob of acid. Future Evildeed dodged and weaved in closer, kicking Clarence square in the chest.

“Wow,” Evildeed breathed as he watched his older self hand Clarence’s butt to him. “I am good.” He looked over at Clawmaster. Based on the awed expression on the hero’s face, it would seem that he agreed.

Future Evildeed’s arm transformed into a sonic cannon that blasted Clarence back into the office. Clarence rolled over a few times, ending up unconscious and laying on his back.

Future Evildeed flew up to Evildeed. “We don’t have much time.”

Evildeed’s mind was a blank.

Future Evildeed detached his cybernetic arm. “I know I’m not supposed to meddle too much, but I think this’ll come in handy, don’t you?”

He freed Evildeed from his restraints and began attaching the arm to his open shoulder socket. Something about the tech must have not been fully compatible, because there was an unpleasant stinging sensation. When Evildeed cried out in pain Clawmaster growled in warning.

Future Evildeed turned to Clawmaster and said, “Don’t you worry your pretty face, love. He’s going to be fine.” He turned back to Evildeed. “I’m sorry I can’t stick around much longer, but hopefully this parting gift will be enough. Oh, and before I forget, it’s supes important that you take Ash and Fox in.”

“Who?”

“Oh, right. You don’t know their names yet. The Serpentian and Tryvuulian that Clarence was – and I use this term very loosely – father to.”

“Okay?” Evildeed said skeptically.

“And keep this one–” Future Evildeed cocked his head towards Clawmaser. “–safe. He tends to get more reckless with age.”

“I’m sorry. I What?” Clawmaster said indignantly.

The blue vortex flared brighter with a thunderous crackle at the same moment Future Evildeed finished his adjustments on Evildeed’s new cybernetic arm. “Oops! That’s my cue!” He gave Evildeed a pat on the shoulder and a broad smile. “You go free your man and give them heck!” With that he stepped into the vortex and with it, disappeared.

Evildeed realized he was zoned out, staring at where the vortex had been, when Clawmaster said from where he was still restrained, “Once again, what the heck?”

Evildeed had freed Clawmaster as quickly as his hands would let him, hoping that the hero wouldn’t read too much into Future Evildeed’s words. The two took the office’s private elevator down to the bottom floor. On the ride down neither said a word. Maybe it was shock. Maybe it was embarrassment. Probably it was both.

The doors opened to reveal a dimly lit hall. A burgundy carpet with golden tassels bisected the hall. Each side of the carpet was lined with glass display cases. There were ornamental jewelry pieces, ancient star maps, and other historical valuables. Large oil paintings hung the ornamentally moulded walls.

Evildeed clucked his tongue as he looked down at a golden lumeweave crown. “This has Clarence written all over it. No wonder he loves it here.”

“I hear ya,” Clawmaster said next to a worn down stone statuette of Serpentian hierophant.

“Hello?” a melancholy monotone voice called out. “Is someone there?”

Evildeed ran several displays down to see a familiar robot head resting on a white pillow. Unfortunately it wasn’t attached to the expected body. “HUE? What are you doing here?”

“It really is you. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” HUE said sadly.

“How’d you end up here?”

“When you disappeared it was… difficult. After Catspaw left I saw no reason to stay, so I went to the only other place I’ve known. When they found me wandering into the building they took me to this place and forcibly scanned my memory.” HUE’s eyes closed in shame. “I think they were looking for information on you. There was nothing I could do to stop them. I’m sorry.”

“Hey.” Evildeed patted HUE’s head. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

“If you say so.”

“I do say so. Now, how do we get out of here?”

“Good question,” Clawmaster said. He asked HUE, “You wouldn’t happen to know if there’s some back entrance to this place, would you?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Phooey,” Evildeed said. “What kinda forces do ya think they got out front?”

Clawmaster walked past a display of a replica Nymerian Cube. “Whatever it is, it’s sure to be bad news.”

“Hey!” Evildeed shouted and Clawmaster jumped and glowered at Evildeed. “Think positive!”

“I don’t see how that’s going to help,” HUE said.

A barely detectable tremor pulsed through the floor. Evildeed said, “What was that?”

“Fighting.” Clawmaster sounded sure. If he was right, that could only mean…

“We need to go,” Evildeed said before sprinting for the large wooden double doors at the end of the hall, Clawster in hot pursuit.

HUE called out, “Feel free to come back for me. Or not.”

Evildeed used his shoulder to bust through the doors and into a security checkpoint. A metal detector beeped as he ran through it, Clawmaster only a couple steps behind him. He vaulted over a metal gate and ran for the door. Again, he tried to shoulder his way through, but the door wouldn’t budge.

“Dang it!” Evildeed waved his metal arm. He had watched Future Evildeed transform it into a variety of useful weapons and tools. He shouted, “Sonic cannon activate!” Nothing happened. “Sword!” No change. In frustration he banged his arm against the door. “How does this freakin’ thing work?”

“Evildeed,” Clawmaster said to Evildeed’s right side. He pointedly nodded towards a green button next to the door. The button had a label taped to it that read “ACCESS.”

“Smart Aleck.” Evildeed jammed the button, and the door opened.

Evildeed and Clawmaster ran through and into the rotunda that served as the entrance to city hall. The scene before them was complete mayhem. Mooncake was zipping through the air spewing green beams and tearing up the place. Nightfall was fending off three attackers. KVN was flying around being mostly useless. Most concerning of all, a back‐to‐normal‐size Catspaw was propped up against a wall, head resting on his chest, his eyes closed.

Clawmaster blurted, “What the heck is Catspaw doing here?”

Evildeed barely registered what Clawmaster had said. At the sight of his son lying there a red haze descended over his vision. With a cry of bloodlust he ran at the nearest assailant, a tan tabby Ventrexian who was shooting a bolt of fire at Mooncake, and brought two fists down on their head. They crumpled to the floor immediately.

Clawmaster was running towards Catspaw. Evildeed was content to let him check up on their child. As for himself, he felt an itching thrum in his left arm. He tried shaking it out, but the itching only got worse, traveling all the way down to his fingertips.

“Woah‐ho‐ho!” Evildeed watched as the plates of his hand shifted around each other and formed into a flail. Evildeed grinned a devious grin. This, he could work with.

In the background, Mooncake was blasting away at a force‐shield a psionics user had put up, dodging an incoming blast of telekinetic energy. Evildeed ran towards Nightfall’s fight. He swung his body around for momentum and the spiked ball at the end of his flail knocked a Ksess swordsman onto their stomach. Evildeed grabbed the flail’s metal chain and wrapped it around the Ksess’s throat, pulling back hard.

“Evildeed!” Nightfall shouted. He ignored her, pulling harder. “You’re not a killer!”

But he could be. It would be so easy. A Ksess’s throat was particularly fragile. Just one sudden jerk of the chain, and it would be over for them.

“Evildeed!” Nightfall repeated as she deflected a throwing star.

Evildeed snapped back to attention. Right. There were more enemies to contend with, and the Ksess was easily down for the count. Judging by pure numbers, the fight was turning around in their favor.

“Well this sure is a royal screw‐up,” a voice rang out. A tall man in a full spandex outfit bearing the insignia of the League of Heroes walked from the front entrance towards the center of the room. Around him, several large chunks of rock floated in mid‐air, moving along with him. Several other costumed figures followed in his wake.

“Rockslide?” Clawmaster gawped at the approaching man. Evildeed felt a chill run down his spine when he recognized the fear in Clawmaster’s eyes.

“Rockslide? Wait. Isn’t he the leader of the League of Heroes?” Evildeed pointed out. Clawmaster nodded confirmation. So, it was true. The League and the Syndicate were working together. That drove home the realization that even if they won tonight’s fight, the war would be far from over. He and his friends and family would be facing down dozens of villains and heroes, many of who had their own powers. And their own empires.

So much for swinging the fight in their favor. Evildeed said to Nightfall, “I don’t see how we’re getting out of this one.”

Nightfall readied her stance. “We have to.”

“It’s over,” Rockslide declared. “Surrender or be destroyed.”

“It’s not over until the fat lady sings,” someone announced.

Nightfall gasped. “Is that…”

A very distinct silhouette stood in the front entrance. “I see I’m oh so fashionably late as always,” Tribore said. He struck a pose. “Doing good never looked so good.”

Standing behind Tribore were three newcomers in elaborate costumes. Evildeed gaped at them. “Frank? Henry? Jeff?”

“It’s Handyman,” Frank said as he waved all but one of his twenty hands. Evildeed was thankful he kept that last one hidden.

“Killshot,” Henry said as he twirled an impressive looking laser‐rifle.

“And Jeff!” Jeff piped up.

Clawmaster turned his baffled stare from the new arrivals to Evildeed. “You know these guys?”

“We went to villain school together!” Jeff said enthusiastically.

Clawmaster gaped at Evildeed, who felt himself heating up with embarrassment. Evildeed shrugged and said, “What they said.” He turned to his old comrades. “I don’t understand, though. What are you doing working with Tribore? I thought you were villains?”

“We were henches, but to be honest henching for the Big Three sucked big time, so when Tribore came knocking we let him recruit us,” Frank explained.

Tribore struck another pose. “We’re the Rebellion!”

“I thought we were the Resistance,” Henry said.

“I thought we were the Revolt,” Frank said.

“No. I’m pretty sure we’re the Revolution,” Jeff said.

“Enough chatter!” Tribore hissed. “So we’re still workshopping the name. All that matters right now is that we save the day and look fabulous doing it!”

With that the four of them broke formation and entered the fray.

Henry unfolded and set down a shoulder‐height tripod and attached his laser rifle to it. He took a couple test shots at a hero who was shooting bolts of lightning at Tribore, who blocked using his cape, the electricity crackling along the fabric. Frank pulled out several bombs from inside his oversized coat. With two hands he lit a match. With another five he lit the bombs and lobbed them each at a different target. Jeff threw a handful of thin paper sheets to the ground; where each paper exploded in a puff of smoke a Jeff look‐alike appeared.

“Jeff!” “Jeff!” “Jeff!” “Jeff!” “Jeff!” “Jeff!” “Jeff!” “Jeff!”

Together the Jeffs swarmed Rockslide, who summoned a wall of stone. The Jeffs spent no time at all forming a human ladder and pulling each other up and over. Evildeed had to admit he was impressed as the Jeffs streamed down Rockslide’s side of the wall.

Rockslide clenched a fist, and the stone wall broke apart into hundreds of small, jagged chunks. With a wave of his hands the chunks flew like bullets into the Jeffs. Six of them disappeared in puffs but two of them remained.

“Jeff cannon!” One of the Jeffs held out his hands. The other planted his feet on them and was launched a good twenty feet in the air. He did a flip and fell towards Rockslide, landing a kick that had the hero staggering backward.

“Argh!”

Evildeed’s attention was diverted by a Chthidion that unleashed an ear‐shattering shriek in his direction. The air rippled outward from their beak in a wide cone. Dodging out of the way, Evildeed came back‐to‐back with Frank.

“It’s been a long time old friend,” Frank said as he handed Evildeed a pair of earplugs with one of his many hands.

“Thanks!” Evildeed said. “Always wanted to fight heroes together, but not like– woah!” He jumped out of the way of a green beam that swept across the floor. “Hey watch it Mooncake!”

“Sorry sir!”

It took another ten minutes of an absolute slog of a fight before Evildeed et al came out victorious. He was exhausted. And judging by the look of his compatriots, they felt the same. Tribore and Frank were helping out a wounded Henry and Jeff; Mooncake was off to the side snoozing; KVN was tormenting a stirring awake Catspaw; Nightfall was tending to a protesting Clawmaster’s injuries.

Clawmaster brushed Nightfall off and limped over to Evildeed. “How are you holding up?”

With the adrenaline from the fight rapidly leaving Evildeed’s body, the events of the past few hours rushed back into the forefront of his consciousness. He found he was unable to look Clawmaster in the eye. Not when he remembered what had transpired in the holding cell. His stomach churned with an upwelling of shame. He wasn’t sure if he had betrayed Clawmaster or himself, but he was sure there was a betrayal in there somewhere.

“Evildeed,” Clawmaster spoke. “Look at me.”

Evildeed shook his head tightly. “I should go.” He couldn’t face Clawmaster. Not like this. He turned to leave.

“But you’re injured,” Clawmaster said to his back as he kept walking. When Evildeed heard Clawmaster take a few labored steps to follow him, he picked up the pace. He knew Clawmster wouldn’t be able to keep up. Not with those injuries. Clawmaster called after him, confusion in his voice, “Evildeed! Wait! What’s wrong?”

Evildeed could feel tears pricking at his eyes, but he held them back. It was better this way. He was a fool for thinking things could be so simple. So easy. Stars, he was so disgusted with himself. How could he risk his tenuous relationship with Clawmaster like that? When they were raising a kid together too? What would happen to Catspaw if things went south between the villain and the hero.

Evildeed had been selfish. He’d been a fool. He had allowed Clawmaster to become his weakness. What a disgraceful turn for a villain. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but one that had to be taken nonetheless. Tonight had proven that.

Even making his exit unnoticed was to be denied to him. He heard Catspaw call out, “Where are you going?” as the young Ventraxian ran up to him with concern in his eyes.

“Home,” Evildeed said, dead tired. He felt ready to go into hibernation. Take a break for this world.

“But what about the others? What about Clawmaster?”

Evildeed sighed. “They can take care of themselves.” He rested a hand on Catspaw’s shoulder. “You did good, son. You’ve come a long way. I’m proud of you.”

Catspaw bashfully flicked his ears. “Thanks, dad. Are you sure you have to go?”

Evildeed winced. He knew it looked like he was abandoning the others, which he kind of was, but it was for the best that he put some distance between them. “We should go. I’d let you go home with Clawmaster, but he’s probably not going to be in any condition to take care of you for a few days.”

Catspaw shuffled his feet, looking back uncertainly towards the others. “I guess.”

“Let’s leave before KVN figures out we’re gone.”

“Okay, dad.”

For the rest of that night Evildeed was unable to get Catspaw’s defeated look out of his head. It didn’t help that he felt the same way. They had rescued Clawmaster and taken down The Magnificent Clarence, so why didn’t it feel like a victory?

Chapter Text

115 days B.F.D.

Mooncake flitted about anxiously. “What’s the matter, sir? You haven’t even touched your breakfast.”

Evildeed sat with one side of his face planted on the dining room table. He muttered, “Not hungry.”

“Evildeed, breakfast is–”

“The most important meal of the blah blah blah.”

Mooncake landed delicately on Evildeed’s back. “You really need to eat something. You skipped dinner last night.”

“Nnng. You sound like the not‐stabbing‐me‐in‐the‐back‐not‐once‐but‐twice mother I never had. Stars, I hope wherever she is, she’s absolutely miserable.”

Mooncake cooed soothingly, which the voice box interpreted as a wail. Evildeed made a mental note to fix that. In like five years when he’d be ready. “Evildeed. That’s your hunger talking.”

Evildeed blew at the tuft of hair that fell over his eyes. “That’s my being abandoned by my only living family talking.”

“Evildeed.”

“Mooncake.”

“This is about Clawmaster, isn’t it?”

Evildeed leapt up from his seat, dislodging Mooncake, an action he regretted immediately when all the blood rushed from his head. “We don’t mention that name in this house.”

“I don’t understand,” Mooncake said. “You two were getting along so well. Now you won’t even talk to him. What happened?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Evildeed said childishly. He knew he was being a little pill, but he’d earned it. He had endured more than enough of the universe screwing around with him. Give him a break already.

“Evildeed. Catspaw is really worried about–”

Evilded clenched his jaw. “Don’t bring Catspaw into this. That’s a low blow, and you know it.”

“It’s not when you’re acting like you’re divorcing Clawmaster in front of your shared child. And you weren’t even together to begin with. Think of how this is affecting Catspaw.”

Mooncake was right. Evildeed knew Mooncake was right. But that didn’t make the Clawmaster situation any easier to deal with. Evildeed looked down at his comm. He knew there were over a dozen unanswered messages from the hero, some confused, some concerned, some hurt. Those were the worst ones of all.

Evildeed pushed all that out of his mind. “He’ll get over it.”

“Evildeed!” Mooncake flew in front of Evildeed and stared him down. And oh boy did he look peeved. “Listen to yourself! You have a child! A child that needs you to be the father he needs! A child that needs some stability in his life, especially now! I know you didn’t get to have that, but that doesn’t absolve you of your parental responsibilities.”

Evildeed hung his head. His voice broke when he said, “I don’t know if I can.”

“Then figure out what it will take to get yourself to a place where you can.”

Feeling utterly crushed by the conversation, Evildeed walked out of the room, ignoring Mooncake's protests. He passed his workshop and took the stairs up to the second floor, making a beeline for his bedroom. Before he could get there Catspaw stuck his head out of the doorway of his own room.

“Hey dad.” Catspaw had partially taken on his dad’s depressed state over the last few days, becoming subdued in a way that looked really wrong on him. For the most part, he had given Evildeed a wide berth, recognizing the need for space, but the situation as it stood was obviously taking its toll on him.

“Hey Catspaw.”

Catspaw pressed two fingertips together. “Do you think we could go out today? The weather’s supposed to be nice.”

“I’m not really feeling it kiddo.”

Catspaws ears drooped. “Oh. Okay.” Then he looked up at Evildeed hopefully. “What about a movie? We could stay in and watch one of your favorites.”

Evildeed rested a hand against the wall. He took a deep breath in and let it slowly out. Yeah. He could meet his son halfway. “That sounds good. Why don’t you let me freshen up and I’ll meet you downstairs in ten?”

“Okay dad!” Catspaw skipped back into his room and Evildeed was unable to suppress his smile.

Evildeed walked down the stairs to the living room. He still wasn’t feeling one‐hundred percent, but a steaming hot shower went a long way toward relieving his stress. As he approached the back of the couch he saw Catspaw staring at the windscreen, a news anchor recounting the previous week’s events.

“–coalition government. The trials are set to begin on the fifth of Flurbal. Some of the biggest names among those standing trail include The Magnificent Clarence, notorious supervillain and alter ego to Alec Cern; and Rockslide, alter ego Commander Stone, former leader of the League of Heroes. The magnitude of the scandal has rocked Lightopia, with City Hall still occupied by protestors.

“In other news, the dissolution of the League of Heroes and of the Syndicate has decimated the ranks of the powered oversight community. Already, several prison breaks have been reported at lesser security correctional facilities. Citizens are urged–”

“Since when do you watch the news?” Evildeed asked with a wry smile.

Catspaw jumped and turned around on the couch. He rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah yeah. I was just waiting for you and it was already on this boring channel.”

“Riiiight.”

“So what movie are we watching dad?”

“Nice deflection.” Evildeed walked over to the cabinet where he stored all his classic analog media. “Ever hear of this little thing called Star Wars?”

Catspaw looked at Evildeed with interest. “No. What’s it about?”

“Ohoho! You’re in for a treat! It’s about destiny and space battles and fighting for what’s right and family…” Evildeed stopped when he saw that Catspaw was sufficiently hyped up.

They ended up watching the entire original trilogy together. And if maybe Catspaw curled up against his dad when Vader saved Luke, Evildeed didn’t say anything as he held his son close.

***

104 days B.F.D.

“Alright I’m heading out!” Evildeed yelled as he walked through the front security checkpoint. “Be good!”

“We will!” Mooncake’s voice called back at the same time as Catspaw’s, “No promises!”

Evildeed chuckled. Being with his son was helping to ease his worries. The day before they had set up an arcade cabinet together, something real retro, and that had proven to be an adventure in and of itself. Mostly because Evildeed wanted to see if he could power it with Liquid Schwartz. The swindler who had sold him the stuff conveniently failed to mention its hallucinogenic effects. Evildeed had Catspaw promise to never tell anyone that he had caused his son to have what was essentially a trans‐dimensional acid trip at the age of fifteen.

Walking into the brisk evening air, hair fluttering in the wind, he pulled his coat tighter around him and took off for the construction site two miles to the northwest. It was located on the premises of an abandoned observatory at the apex of a small hill, the perfect spot for looking out at the city while he plotted his evil schemes. Mooncake called it his “brooding tower,” much to his chagrin. He was not some sighing princess looking for a Prince Charming to rescue him from his isolation and ride off with him into the sunset. He wasn’t.

The sounds of the city were subdued. Between the political turmoil and the roving bands of two‐bit villains celebrating their recently acquired freedom, most of the civilian population followed a self‐imposed curfew. More than once Evildeed had to fend off some washed up kook who thought they could impose themself on his territory. To be honest, it was actually nice that the fights were easy enough that he didn’t have to put much effort into them, just enough to work out some of his feelings.

When Evildeed arrived at the construction site he looked up at the skeleton of the structure that would soon be his home away from home. He mentally mapped the cunning traps he had planned out; the trap doors, the spiked ceilings, the secret marshmallow pit.

“You’re looking a little down. Perhaps I can help you with that,” a deranged voice said from behind. Evildeed turned around to see some sort of mascot suit getup, though he didn’t recognize the brand affiliation. “I hear you’ve made quite a mess. Not that I care, because you’re the reason I got out of the slammer.”

Next to the full‐sized muppet, Mirage walked out of the shadows and into the cone of light of a street lamp. “See? I told you I’d get you to him. Now where’s the rest of my finder’s fee?”

“All in good time,” Muppet Man said. “First I’m going to do to Doctor Evildeed what he did to me.” Muppet man took off his headpiece, revealing a painful looking grin attached to an unevenly shaven face. “After all, what greater cause is there than to spread the gift of happiness.”

“What are you doing here mom?” Evildeed asked curtly.

“Just business.”

Evildeed groaned dramatically. “I’m really not in the mood right now.”

Muppet man raised a syringe gun and trained it on Evildeed. “That’s what I’m here for. Don’t worry. One tiny little poke and you’ll never need to be sad again.”

With a bored expression Evildeed dodged a syringe as it came flying at him. His arm transformed into a hollow cannon and he shot an electronet at Muppet Man.

“Gah!” Muppet Man tried to free himself from the net, receiving a shock for his efforts. “Ouch!”

Evildeed moved his arm to point it at Mirage.

She scoffed. “Screw this. Shoulda known better than to trust a man to get the job done.” Mirage slunk back into the shadows. Evildeed wasn’t particularly pressed to go after her.

“Let me– ah! Out! You won’t– aiyyy!– get the best of me!”

Evildeed looked at Muppet Man in exasperation. “Who even are you?”

***

97 days B.F.D.

Evildeed sat on the edge of the rooftop of one of the local long‐disused storefronts, throwing pebbles at a trash can down the alley. He was torn between the need for some alone time, and the need not to get too lost in his thoughts. When he lay down on his back instead of a view of the night sky there was a bronze helmet staring down at him. “Heya Nightfall.”

“Evildeed.”

“What brings you to my parts?” Evildeed asked with a weak smile.

Nightfall sat down on the edge of the roof beside him. “You’ve been awfully quiet lately.”

Evildeed shrugged. “I suppose.”

“Only I wouldn’t have noticed, if it weren’t for the fact that it’s affecting Clawmaster.”

“Yes, well, the thing is, well things are a little weird right now and…” Evildeed trailed off, not sure where he was going with that.

“I’ve known Clawmaster for a long time. I rescued him from the grasp of the Lord Commander. I taught him the ways of a vigilante. I’ve gotten to know him quite well, so I know when he’s upset.”

Evildeed sat up. “Clawmaster’s upset?” His concern for the hero clashed with his desire to avoid thinking about him.

Nightfall made a noise that was clearly stating she thought Evildeed was an idiot. “More like devastated. He won’t talk to me about it, but I know it’s because of you. I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but you need to fix it. Before you hurt him any further. Which is a lot by the way.”

“Wait a second,” Evildeed said. “Are you giving me the shovel talk? Is that what this is?”

Nightfall crossed her arms.

Evildeed waved his arms around emphatically as he went on. “Because we’ve been at each other’s throats for years. Heck, I even tried to kill the guy–” Nightfall visibly tensed “–oh get over yourself. I obviously didn’t. So what gives? Why now?”

“Because it wasn’t serious, at least not that serious, until now.” Nightfall talked as if what she was saying was obvious, which to Evildeed, no it wasn’t.

“What do you mean serious?”

“You think I don’t see the way you look at him?” She shook her head. “Stars it is with you two. And it’s only getting worse.”

“What do you mean, worse?”

“Do you know what it’s been like with Clawmaster? Have you even called him?” When Evildeed didn’t answer, Nightfall threw her hands up in the air and groaned in frustration. “Seriously? Ugh, you two should be paying me for this, I swear to the stars.” She paused to make sure Evildeed was paying attention. “Clawmaster is a wreck right now. A wreck. And you put him there.”

“I didn’t–”

Nightfall took a step forward. “Don’t you dare interrupt me Evildeed. I bet I still could take you out in a one‐on‐one.” Evildeed gulped. Nightfall continued, “He has no idea why you ghosted him. Heck, none of us do. One day things were fine, even good between you two. And the next, you’ve cut him off. Did you know that between raising Catspaw and getting to know you he was starting to talk about the future. About his future? Did you? Did you know that he never did that before, at least not that I’d seen? He’s always lived in the present because he either didn’t think he had a future or he thought he didn’t deserve one.” Nightfall shook her head ruefully. “And then you came along.”

Evildeed was absolutely stunned. He didn’t want to believe that Clawmaster could change so much – so much for the better – because of him. It was too much. He wasn’t worth that level of… of…

“I’d tie you up and dump you on his doorstep to get you two talking again if I thought it would do you fools any good.”

“It’s not that simple,” Evildeed said lamely.

“It’s so complicated that you can’t even talk to him? Nuh‐uh. I’m not buying it.”

“Fine! I’ll do it! I’ll talk to him.”

Nightfall turned around and stepped on the ledge, the late afternoon’s sunlight glaring off of her helmet. “You better. Don’t forget, Evildeed. Even if we’ve fought alongside each other, you’re still a villain and I’m still a hero, and I won’t hesitate to put my expertise to good use.” With that, she leapt to the ground and ran off.

Evildeed lay back down with a painful thud. He was really not looking forward to what was coming next. “Crap.”

***

95 days B.F.D.

It had taken Evildeed two days to psyche himself up, but here he was. He held his wrist comm up and stared at the screen. With a heavy breath he said, “Here goes” and tapped on Clawmaster’s name. Waiting for the call to connect was torture. Every second seemed to drag on for longer than the last. After an eternity the comm’s screen indicated that the call went through.

“Hey,” Evildeed said. What a sad excuse for a greeting.

The other end of the line was silent. Evildeed rechecked that the call was up. It was. “So uh… I guess we should talk?”

The line was silent for a moment before he heard Clawmaster’s sarcastic “You think?”

Evildeed braced himself. “I should start by apologizing–”

“You’re dang right you should be apologizing,” Clawmaster cut in. “Where the heck have you been? I was so worried about you. And I haven’t seen Catspaw in a month! What’s going on over there, Evildeed?”

“There’s… something happened while I was trying to–”

“You know what? Forget it. I don’t want to hear your excuses. Befriending you was the worst mistake I ever made.”

Evildeed’s throat closed up. “You don’t mean that,” he said quietly.

Clawmaster growled in frustration. “I don’t know? Maybe I do? Maybe I don’t?” He huffed out a loud breath. “All I know is I’m really mad at you right now. I can’t even think about you without feeling like total crap.” Evildeed’s eyes burned as he listened to Clawmaster rant. “At least tell me your child is okay.”

Your child. That hurt. That hurt more than anything Evildeed was prepared for. “He’s yours too.”

“Answer the dang question.”

“... He’s doing fine. Eating right. Keeping up with his learning.”

“Good. I sent him my address. He can come over whenever he wants to. I just don’t want to see you right now.”

Evildeed stood there in shock. How had everything gone so wrong so quickly? He wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow him up. His throat clicked when he said, “I understand.”

“No. I don’t think you do.”

The call ended.

After standing in complete emotional and physical numbness for a full minute, maybe longer, Evildeed walked over to his bed and face planted into his pillows. For the first time since he was a child he cried himself to sleep.