“You do know you will need to be your own man one day, right?” Victor said. Deion just looked at him. Even with the goggles, Victor could tell his son had no idea what he was implying. So, he explained.

“Your mother use daggers. She is one of the best on this world, but you are not her. It is okay to emulate her, but everyone is different. What works for her might not work for you. You need to find your way.”

Deion was silent. For a moment, Victor thought he got through to him. Then, his son has to open his mouth.

“What are you talking about, old man? I am the best! And I am willing to prove it to anyone who says otherwise.”

Victor rolled his eyes. Oh, to be young, fearless, and stupid! Why did he even bother? Victor remembers how it was when he was that age. Deion will need to make his own mistakes. If his boy was anything like Victor, nothing Victor says will register.

“You can start trying to find your own way starting from today. Okay, who is in charge here?” he asked the assembled villains of H.A.V.E. “When is the transport? Anyone knows what we are supposed to do while we are waiting?”

The villains of H.A.V.E looked at each other before a villainess in black armor step forward. Victor saw the crossbow on her back and knew he had seen her before. Victor just don’t remember when.

The female villain gave Victor a small bow. “Master Fist, I am Black Bow. It is an honour to fight beside you in the coming battle. We are waiting for all the respondents to arrive. Once they are here, we are to click on the console there to signal that we are ready. The heroes have a group of teleporters who will bring us to Glowing Falls.”

Victor looked over to the console Black Bow was pointing to. The console was a small panel standing on one leg with a big red button on it. There was also a projector where the floating holographic logo of H.A.V.E was coming from.

“So, we are just standing around?” Victor frowned. “What about the debrief? What will we be facing in Glowing Fall?”

“The debrief will take place on site.” Black Bow said as she pressed a button on her helmet. “I am sending the information to your communicator. We are yours to command, Master Fist.”

Victor clicked his wrist communicator and read the information Black Bow had sent. The short report state the Gap was in a valley a few kilometers from the town of Glowing Falls and monsters have been coming out of it with alarming regularity. Most of the town’s population had been evacuated to a nearby city, and the heroes are now using the town as a staging area against the Gap. There were two entry point to the valley and heroes have been deployed to stop the monsters from leaving the valley. Easier said than done.

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Due to the size of the Gap, analysts believe there could be more than a thousand monsters in the valley already, with more coming out every minute. Victor frowned as he read the report.

It was another holding pattern. Prevent the monsters from leaving an area while the scientists and magic-users find a way to close the Gap. This seems to be the go-to strategy against Gaps nowadays and Victor was not sure if he likes it. How long can they hold back the monsters while more of them are coming out of the Gap every day?

Victor would prefer to attack the monsters at the source. Set up a defence line right at the Gap and stop every monster from entering Nexus. However, Victor was no tactician, and he was experienced enough to acknowledge that containment may be the right strategy to take in this case.

It will be hard to set up a defense line against a Gap that was over three kilometers long.

Then, Victor’s head popped up as he finally noticed something. “Wait! What did you just say? What do you mean you are mine to command.”

Black Bow just looked at him. The villainess’s helmet has a visor that prevented Victor from seeing her eyes, but he could almost see them blinking in surprise.

“Uh, you are the highest-ranking villain here, Master Fist. Not just among us in H.A.V.E, but throughout Velocity City. Of course, you are in command.”

At that moment, Black Bow saw a wave of emotions go through Sweet Fist’s face. Shock, fear, anger, and then panic. He was in charge? Of course, he was. Victor wanted to facepalm and silently cursed not accepting Candice’s offer.

“Of course.” Victor sighed.

A huge, armoured suit choose this time to roll into the square. It was releasing a plume of smoke into the air, and Victor watched as the streak of smoke heads towards him. The Trackbot-P stopped before him and began to transform. The tracks on its feet moved to the back, and the suit stood on two legs.

“Master Fist.”

A robotic voice came from the suit, and Victor had to smile at that. He knew that his son-in-law had been working on the suit but did not know he had digitally altered the voice box. He approves. It was a good way to obscure his identity.

That was not the only thing he changed.

“You painted it black.” Victor was bemused by that. The suit’s arms went up in a shrugging motion.

“I am Mister Black. The colour scheme seems to make sense.”

Victor could not argue with that. “Are you sure you want to do this? Once we are at Glowing Falls, there is no turning back.”

“I am sure, Master Fist.”

There was no hesitation. Even through the robotic voice, Victor could hear Mister Black’s determination. Victor was not surprised. His daughter seem like someone with a good eye for men. Black Bow walked up to Victor.

“Master Fist, Mister Black was the last freelancer. Everyone who had answered the call from H.A.V.E has arrived.”

So, it was time.

Victor nodded to the villainess and turned to the rest of the villain. “What about the rest of you? This is your last chance. There is no shame in walking away. This is not a Gap Event; this is a Nexus Emergency. Once you are in the combat zone, there is no turning back.”

No one spoke. The silence was their answer. Victor looked at a villain standing near the console.

“Hit the button.”