The door opened and Victor saw the best room in the Glowing Mountains Inn. He was not impressed. The bed had clean sheets, the curtains were beautiful, but the room looked more functional than exceptional. There was a chest of drawers for clothes, a mirror hanging on a wall above a dresser, and a door that leads to a small bathroom. A small bookcase stood in one corner of the room with various books and out-of-date magazines, and there was a large painting hanging by a wall. It took Victor a moment to realize the painting was showing the landscape of the nearby mountains.

Victor took off his sweater and hang it up on the hook near the door before entering the room. The room was obviously designed for tourists who were staying in town for a few days and Victor sat down on the bed. He found it to be comfortable.

“It’s this way.”

Hearing his son’s voice from the corridor, Victor turned to look at the door. Bradley was visibly surprised, and Victor realized that his minion…villain support did not hear the vice. Enhanced hearing was one of the minor benefits of cultivation.

Moments later, Groovy Dagger and Mister Black appeared at the entrance of the room. Groovy Dagger entered but the power armour was too big for the door. Mister Black had to exit the armour to enter the room. Something that brought chuckles from everyone. His son-in-law had his mad scientist costume on, with a mask that covered the top half of his face. Victor was glad Mister Black added that last bit to his costume. Officially, Mister Black still has a secret identity and Victor would like to keep it that way for as long as possible.

“So, what did the Champion of the Alliance want with you, old man?”

Bradley and Mister Black shared a look, but they did not say anything about Dagger’s causal tone. It wasn’t public knowledge yet, but Victor knew many people in the Sweet Crew suspect their relationship. Victor decide to give the villain supports something to think about.

“He gave me a job.”

His three villain support glanced at each other before Groovy Dagger jumped in again. “Well, don’t keep us waiting, old man. What’s the job?”

Victor sucked in his breath. “All villains from the Alliance of Champions below Tier B are now under my command.”

The silence was deafening as the three took in Victor’s unexpected news. Mister Black nodded shakily and asked. “Why? I mean you are the Sweet Fist, the mystic martial artist, but…why?”

“Wild Potion want me to keep them safe. Evidently, the death rate from the Emergencies has been horrific in the past decade and the Champion believes that with my name and reputation, I could keep these young villains on a leash.”

Mister Black frowned. “Are the numbers so bad? I haven’t heard of it on the news.”

“Wild Potion said they are keeping the numbers off the airwaves.” Victor then turned to Bradley. “He also says that there had been three Emergencies in the past ten years and the deathrate for young villains is about thirty percentage. Is that true?”

“What?” Mister Black and Groovy Dagger exclaimed. Both were shocked by the news; Bradley was not.

“The numbers of Emergencies are correct,” Bradley admitted, “but I don’t know the exact numbers of deaths. It sounds right though. Most civilians don’t hear about this, but the admission rates in Hero Academies throughout the Alliance are down. I heard it is so bad the academies are lowering their standard in order to take in as many potential heroes as possible. No reason was ever made public, but if young heroes are also taking big hits in the Emergencies, that could be why.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Victor did not know that and wasn’t sure what to feel about it. He was not a big fan of these Hero Academies but lowering the standard for heroes sounds like a bad move on many fronts.

“Why didn’t you take part in the Emergencies?” Victor asked. “I thought you wanted to be a villain.”

Bradley scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “Well, officially I did take part in the last one, but I did not do anything, so it doesn’t really count.”

Mister Black snapped his fingers. “That was Starscrapper, right?”

“Yeah,” Bradley nodded. “He is supposed to be some inter-dimensional conqueror. Supposedly, just a few of his blasts would be enough to destroy a mid-sized city.”

“What happened?” Victor asked.

“He made his demand for total surrender while in low orbit. The guy could travel in space, and only cosmic heroes and villains could fight him. The rest of us were put on evacuation and rescue duties since no one knows which city he would target. In the end, only one city was hit before he was driven off and all I did during the Emergency was wait around for a call that never came.”

“Well, you will be in the thick of it in this one. Survive this and you will be recognized as a villain.” Victor could tell that Bradley was smiling even with the mask on. It must be a dream come through for him. Victor just hopes Bradley survive the experience.

“Is this a trap?” Victor turned to Groovy Dagger who was leaning against a wall and casting a thoughtful look at Victor. Victor gestured for him to continue. “You have been making waves in Velocity City. Several people had begun noticing you since it was revealed that you are a mystic. What better way to cut you down to size than with a poisoned chalice.”

It was a good point. The thought hasn’t entered his mind, but Victor had to admit it made a certain amount of sense. Not that Victor was about to admit that.

“The thought has crossed my mind,” Victor carefully lied, “but if Wild Potion wanted to destroy me, he could. Why go through all this trouble? There are better, easier ways for him to take me out.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to take you out,” Groovy Dagger argued. “He just wants you to do badly so that your reputation will take a hit.”

“Again, same issue. For that to be true, Wild Potion will need to sacrifice a good number of young villains. Why go through all this trouble? There must be an easier, better, less bloody way for him to do it.”

The three villain support had to agree with that assessment. Victor then told them about the meeting he was supposed to attend next morning, which got Mister Black immediate attention.

“Does that mean we are supposed to attack tomorrow?” He asked. “I must admit I thought we would be in the thick of the action the moment we arrive, not staying in a hotel.”

“Most probably not.” Victor assessed after a moment. “They seem to be waiting for the big guns to arrive. The Unwritten and Bloody Duchess are just two name I heard mentioned.”

“They may also want to give some time for the State of Magic to make sure they can close that Gap.” Bradley said. “No use getting to to the Gap, if the magic-users can’t close it.”

Victor shook his head at that, but he kept silent. He may disagree with the current strategy against Gaps, but he has no wish to talk to the wind. Most people, heroes and villains, seems to accept it as gospel.

“How are things here in the hotel? How many villains are staying here? Are there any heroes staying here?”

“No, they have separated the two groups. Most probably for the best. I don’t have any number on the people staying here. Does it matter?” Bradley asked.

“No, I was just curious.” Victor admitted. “Anyway, that’s it for today. This is an Emergency, so we will be fighting soon. Wait too long, and people will want to go home. Get some rest and spread the word among the Alliance villains that they will be under my command once the fighting starts.”

The three villain support nodded their acceptance before leaving the room. Once they were gone, Victor lay on the bed and his mind wanders back over the events of the past few days. The arrival of Six-shot Samurai, the rumours of what he did to her, the issue with Takuma, the Gaps, the festering problems between him and his daughter and agent, and now an Emergency. The troubles just keep piling up. Victor sighed, closed his eyes, and smile.

He had so much work it was almost enough to make him want to go back to prison.