Victor grumbled as he got up. He has a busy day ahead. His men were currently going through the stuff they stole last night, and Victor need to go back to the lair to check on things. He could delegate such matters once his crew got bigger, but till then, it’s all hands-on deck. Victor also had a scheduled meeting with his agent. His daughter had informed him that his agent, Candice, has a laundry list of things she needs his opinion on. Outside the meeting, he also needs to secure his territory, meet up with the local villain groups, and check on the fallout of the heist. This was his crew’s first job, so it was better to be safe than sorry.
After washing up, Victor put on his costume. Despite his daughter’s misgivings, H.A.V.E did not have any objections to his preferred choice of a tracksuit with a hoodie. However, the villain entertainment company did make some suggestions.
His tracksuit was still white, but it now had green and brown stripes on the sides, and there is a symbol of a charging fist on the front. Victor wore a simple pair of white trackpants to go with the top, and a pair of black grabbing gloves. He looked at a mirror to make sure everything was in order before putting on his domino mask. Once he was set, he walked out of the flat.
His bodyguards were waiting. Victor had four of them, all dressed in the uniform of his crew. A pair of them were just outside the door while one was positioned at both end of the hallway. Victor ignored the end where the stairs were located and headed towards the lift. When the lift came, he entered with two of his bodyguards. The other two would be staying to guard the flat.
The lift stopped at the basement carpark where his ride was waiting. A heavily armoured muscle car that some had decided to call the ‘Fist-mobile’. Victor was sure it was meant as a joke, but he couldn’t help but loved the pun inducing name. One of his bodyguards opened the car door for him and took the front seat after Victor stepped in.
“Where to, Master?”
“Jennifer’s Place. Let’s have a late breakfast before we start the day.” Victor answered the driver before realizing something. “You two had your breakfast already, right?”
His bodyguards shook their head tentatively. They still weren’t used to Victor and didn’t know how to act around him. Victor understood their position. Most crime lords weren’t known for their charming personality.
“Okay. You can have it at the diner, and make sure those two upstairs have their breakfast as well. It’s the most important meal of the day, you know.”
They didn’t quite smiled, but Victor saw both his bodyguards visibly relaxed at the joke. It was a start. As the Fist-mobile began heading towards the diner, Victor began reading the morning papers. He had ordered his men to buy them every morning and they had the newspapers ready and waiting for him in the car. Victor began looking for news on superheroes.
Superheroes were always hot topics, and there would always be articles of the success and failures of superheroes in the newspapers every day. And that was before he went to jail!
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Nowadays, the news cycle doesn’t seem to stop and there was a piece of news almost every other minute. Everything was online and Victor could have used his waist communicator to scroll through the news, but he preferred the touch of the paper. Somehow, it made the news more real.
Jennifer just called him an old fuddly duddy.
Victor could not quite disagree. Even the newspaper had changed. There were still the normal stories of murder, robbery, and other violent incidents, but there seem to be more celebrity news and gossip than before. More stories and photos of superheroes with their private jets, yachts, and supermodels girlfriends. Victor was faintly disgusted by this. Whatever happened to the good old days of superheroes in their dark, damp, and ultra-secretive bases? There was a ping from his waist communicator, and Victor saw from the caller ID that it was his daughter. After the heist last night, Jennifer had stayed to sort out the loot while Victor went home to get some shut eye. Victor put the newspaper aside to answer it.
“Good morning.” Victor said. “How are things, Jennifer?”
His daughter went straight to business. “Good morning, and things are going great. The information was good, and we got a good haul last night. Paintings, small statues, antiques, several collectibles, we believe the total value to be between eight to ten million dollars. Not bad for our opening heist.”
“Good work. What are the police saying about the heist?”
“Nothing officially, but Owl-girl say they know it was us. Police chatter made that clear, so expect to be brought in for questioning.”
“To be expected. Are you still at the lair?”
“Of course. Why?”
“I’m going to Jennifer’s Place for some breakfast. Want me to get you anything?"
"Are you kidding?” Victor could hear the amusement in her voice. “You think I want to order some food from the diner I owned?”
“Yes, and you should be there right now. No use having a secret identity if you don’t show up for work the day after a big heist.”
“You’re not going to give this up, are you? You remember the conversation we had about me going all in?”
“Yes, but maintaining a secret identity is a good idea. Having a way out of The Game is not a bad option to have.” Victor knew he was barking up the wrong tree, but he had to advise his daughter once again.
“Thanks, but no thanks. Besides, I already ordered catering for the crew.”
“Catering? Why? From whom? Can they be trusted?”
“Considering the caterers were recommended from H.A.V.E, I think we are safe. And I had to order it because this lair doesn’t come with a kitchen. We will need to continue with the catering till we decide to build one.”
Victor sighed. By the Gap, being a crime lord was hard work.
“Fine. I’ll be there after I had my breakfast. See you later.”
“Goodbye, daddy.”
The Fist-mobile stopped in front of Jennifer’s Place and Victor walked into the diner. Everyone in the diner immediately turned to look, and Victor saw a few cameras and mobile phones turned his way as well. Everything looked normal, then Victor saw the man sitting at the counter. A black man with a neatly trimmed haircut. He was wearing a colorful shirt and was wearing a visor. The man looked like a tourist, but Victor only had eyes on the message above him.
Name: Deion Karaka
Relation: Son
Occupation: Assassin Mage
Power: Magic (Strong)
Attribute: Dark
Affiliation: The Quiet Inn
Base of Operations: None
Relations: Victor Volkov (father), Furaha Pihopa (mother)
Recommendation: An assassin mage working with the assassin group, The Hotel, this descendant is currently specialising in dark magic, a powerful form of magic known to come at a high cost to its practitioner. It is the System’s recommendation that this descendant change his focus of magic to one with less drawbacks.
His son was in the diner.