At 5 in the morning, Will woke up with a groan and a heave. Considering that he’s been getting up at 5 every day for the past 39 years of his life, being tired at this time was more unusual than it would have been for a normal person.

And it was all because of what kept him up last night. What had he been thinking, playing some silly game until midnight? It made no sense at all. He hadn’t gained a thing and the alliances he made were of no actual worth. A stubborn girl and an even worse boy. If he’d wanted teenaged subordinates (for some useless reason) he could at least have tried to find a few who had Powers. And a sworn allegiance to him, as well. Even then, he wouldn’t have had to go out of his way to do it himself. He had plenty of subordinates who could carry out such a mission with far greater efficiency than he ever could.

Then, if so… How come he felt so certain he’d return tonight? At the appointed time, too?

It was illogical. Yet oh, so alluring. Was it the fact that he was finally challenged by a foe? The fact that he was suddenly not feared? Or maybe the fact that he had actually earned a pair of friends?

As a normal person might?...

...No. No, that was a dangerous thought. He enjoyed his life, this life that his father had granted onto him. He could not miss the life of a civilian as he had never experienced it.

-These were the thoughts that swarmed Will’s mind as he took the time to work out in his personal gym. It was arm day, after all. Keeping his bulky physique in form took no little work, and it usually meant 1-2 hours of exercise every day, give or take a few. 39 years of this, ever since he was 4 and his mother left. That was when his father really got into making him the Greatest Villain Possible.

Not that Will could complain. Even now, this very second where he sat pumping iron, he was using what his father had so generously given to him. A life of comfort. That’s what it was, and he could never, not in a million years, say that he would like any other life.

If he did, what had his father died for?

-By 7, Will had finished his work-out (strategically letting the feeling of pumping several hundred kilos drown out any uncouth thoughts), had a shower, eaten a fulfilling breakfast and met his helper of the day, a woman almost as old as he was who glanced at her clipboard anxiously. She shivered under his irritated gaze (it wasn’t for her, he just didn’t feel too happy that day) and handed him the clipboard. “U-, um, the, er, schedule for the day, sir. Moments of note would be your lunch with The Donkey and the afternoon quarterly with the Three Managers.” He looked through the list before looking back up at her. She smiled nervously. “Is-, is there something wrong, sir?”

He narrowed his eyes. He almost wanted to apologize, but apologizing to someone of lower stature than himself would reflect poorly on his rank. “No, not at all.”

And off they were.

First stop: New Mexico.

Although this state was technically The Donkey’s territory (who otherwise ruled the South while Will held power over the East Coast), they had made a semi-official agreement to share the state between them, using it as a meeting-spot when needed. He had the same arrangement with Washington and The Vixen (Duchess of the Northeast), though in that case, she was the one entering his territory. They were all adults. They could share when needed for the sake of alligence. And in this case, it meant entering Las Cruces by way of plane.

Although a flight there would normally take almost four hours, Will’s private jet, enhanced with all manners of scientific breakthroughs, got him there in a mere two.

The two dozen 2’nd branch underlings Will had brought with him eagerly scouted out the local area to find a proper place for the two National-grade Villains to meet. It wasn’t too unusual of an occurrence, two people meeting for lunch, but considering that there were only a grand total of 7 such villains in the entire country, it was really nothing to scoff at. Then, one might ask, what could cause two such powerful people to come together for a meeting?

Well, as usual, Will didn’t know, since The Donkey never explained why he wanted to meet.

The mere act of two Animals contacting each other was no easy feat, either. Since their mere existence was secretive, they could neither use written letters nor anything digital, and since word of mouth took too long, the solution was Will’s Power, or rather, one aspect of it.

Speak of the devil.

Will watched as a seemingly lord-less dog approached. It seemed to be a sharp-eared Manchester Terrier, with a black-and-brown pattern and intelligent eyes. The only thing separating it from a regular dog was its unusually large size. Their eyes met, and Will nodded. The dog nodded back and wandered off.

-One of his abilities laid in creating small avatars of himself which took the form of dogs. He could command these as he pleased, understanding the words spoken to them through a kind of one-minded telepathy. In this way, if two Animals wished to meet, they need only find one of the seven dogs he had placed in their territory in close vicinity to their headquarters (consensually, of course) and inform him of what they wanted, and he’d move the message along.

Quick, effective and without the need for cryptic messages and coded words.

Even then, The Donkey seemingly couldn’t help himself, just inviting Will out of the blue for no apparent reason. Just a place to meet and a time.

“We’re here, sir,” his helper informed him, waving him into a small, nondescript tavern.

Will walked ahead of her and entered it, feeling the suffocating scent of smoke penetrate into his oversensitive nostrils. Ah. Right, this was why he considered his Power to be somewhat of a curse. Having an overpoweringly superior sense of smell was terrible when it came to smelling unpleasant things. “Ah, William! Over here!” So called a man Will instantly recognized.

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The Donkey.

Stashed in a corner, sitting with his legs crossed, his no-doubt extremely expensive cowboy-boots on full display. In his hand, he held a cactus-shaped glass of whiskey, and Will had to wonder what could possess a man to so much as create such an astonishing ornament. The Donkey took a sip of his brew, that lax grin of his spreading to accept the liquor. His sly, knowing eyes turned on Will, crinkling up in delight as he took in his form. The Donkey was no larger than Will, but he felt like a man of the same size. He wasn’t strong or muscular, but with that squared jaw and relaxed, weighted brow, he felt like an equally powerful man.

“You made it just in time! Hah!” the Donkey gave a hearty laugh, making the whiskey in his glass slosh and spill onto the carpeted floor. “Oh! Sorry ‘bout that! Oh, Annie?” At his fumble, he called out to a small, glass-wearing girl who seemed like she wouldn’t have a tan if she was anywhere but here. A fierce blush assaulted her cheeks as she tiptoed over to where the Donkey sat. He grinned and wrung the hefty pinky ring on his left hand. “Why, you know I’m not clumsy, meeting my old friend here just had me all up in a tussle! You don’t mind, do you, lassie?”

She glanced up and met his gaze, his smile. “N-, no, sir, I-,” her face (somehow) turned even redder, her ears going crimson along with it.

He met her fumbling gaze, grabbing it tight. She gulped. He breathed a deep sigh, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling even further. “My, haven’t you got the most dashing eyes?” She couldn't escape his eyes. “-And don’t call me ‘sir’, Annie, to me… You could call me anything you’d like.”

“Th-, that’s…”

“Donkey. I’d rather discuss the matters at hand with you than watch you flirt with yet another waitress. Or am I to assume that you only called on me for old time’s sake?” Will interjected, taking a seat in the leather armchair adjacent to the Donkey’s.

“No, no, not at all, old boy!” the Donkey said. “Annie, be off, I’ll be talking about very official matters now. Though, don’t hesitate to give me a call, will you?” The girl in question gave a hasty nod and fled, but not before shooting a longing glance at him over her shoulder.

He still had that charm.

“Is this about the raid I’ll be holding this evening?”

The Donkey shook his head. “No, no! William, dear friend, nothing so vile! You and I; we’ve had our past. How could I possibly deny my old flame such an obvious right? No, this isn’t about that at all. Then… you haven’t heard the news?”

“Cease with the semantics.”

“Alright, alright! Cut me some slack, old boy, it’s about the vacant position!”

Will leaned in closer. “The Rooster? He’s been gone for years. Why in the world would he return? And his territory, too… How could he possibly have made such a recovery?”

“No, no! It’s not him! It’s a completely new guy! Came ‘outta nowhere, too!” The Donkey leaned into his chair, emptying his glass. “-Pwah! Yeah, really, he doesn’t deserve it. People over there in the West have been fighting for supremacy ever since the Rooster left… And all of a sudden, this guy came along and united them all! Through violence, as far as I know. Even then, he’s only got New York, but since the Wolf made the call for him to gain the Rooster’s position… Yeah. I and the Hog are planning a little party to welcome him sometime in the coming year. We’ll be calling him the Peacock, too!”

That was… news, indeed. “Is everyone else aware of this as well?”

“Well, no, but that’s why I called you over! Just share the word around with your puppies and we’ll be golden! So far, we’re thinking about the 2’nd April. Won’t it be fun? We haven’t had a new member in-, well, we did get a new one when the Goat died, but-, either way! It’ll be fun!”

“Suppose so. I’ll trust your assessment, Donkey.”

The Donkey’s face fell slightly, a frown and a pout replacing his former grin. “Bleh. You still won’t call me by my name, will you?”

“...All according to the agreement. We are a pair in business and business alone. If friendship would make our official interactions impolite, I cannot accept it,” Will explained, as he had several times before. The Donkey cherished close, personal relationships above everything. Especially of the romantic sort, though never sexual. Will had never been much interested in anything sexual himself, but the Donkey’s abstinence seemed to be more of a sexuality than a preference. -Then again, that wasn’t his business anymore. Now, they were just partners. In crime. Oftentimes.

The Donkey pouted. “Peh. Fine. William, of all the businessmen I’ve known and loved, you’ve always been the dullest one. -Either way, that was all I had to say, so I guess I’ll see you in a few months!” the Donkey said, raising from his seat.

The second he stood up, around half of the bar’s patrons (who until this moment had been kissing and staring longingly into the eyes of half the other patrons) stood up, and when the Donkey left, they followed closely behind him, all in a protective line. The Donkey usually didn’t bring security of any sort with him, but this specific situation was different, and Will knew exactly why. After all, when he stood up, half of the other patrons stood up, all content with getting to meet their lovers for the first time in months. They had signed up for this and this alone. When Will left, they followed behind him, as all loyal subordinates should.

Annie, the lovestruck waitress, was left gazing longingly after the Donkey, realizing all-too-late that she never did get his number, probably since he didn't have one.

Will, on the other hand, headed back to his plane, trying desperately to ignore the romantic whispers swirling through the group behind him. Even the group-leader, an otherwise stoic man who didn’t hesitate to shout obscenities at his unruly group, was stuck chattering with a lesser-ranked member about how his wife had gotten a haircut and he almost fell in love all over again. The member whispered back that she hoped she wouldn’t be teased for having a face-full of lipstick, which the leader assured nobody would. After all, most of them had their fair share of lipstick-marks and hickeys themselves.

This always happened. The Donkey was a dangerous man for many reasons, and his charm was always at the forefront. When he turned his opal eyes on you…

A shudder snaked its way down Will’s spine. The Donkey was a dangerous man, as fearsome as any of the other Animals, despite his Power only being Rank D.

On the plane back, Will noted somewhat despairingly how his helper kept staring out of the window, tracing little hearts in the condensation caused by her breath. Lovesick, the lot of them. Still, it didn’t matter. To distract himself, Will turned to the reports on his lap. A stolen overlay of the interior of the base, a list of all fighters to be mobilized, what weapons will be borrowed from the science department… The usual. Will read through it all, but somehow, it didn’t feel as interesting as it usually did. Numbers interested him. He loved numbers, they were honest and truthful, unlike most humans.

He liked the stats. And the skills. And levels. Very honest, very clear, very obvious.

-And now he was thinking bad thoughts again.

Will shook his head fiercely and tried to focus back on his work. But, man… compared to his status and the improvements he’d made in the game? It just didn’t feel as interesting.

Nevertheless, two hours later when he sat at the very end of a long, shiny, black table, his helper standing just behind him, a large glass window by the side of the conference room giving a view of the city, the black table lined with his three managers and seven honorary leaders and scientists, he knew that he knew just as much about the raid as they did. Despite that, he listened to them. When the Third Manager described the substance they needed and what the use of it was, Will listened. When the Second Manager explained how he’d planned for the operation to commence, he listened. When the First Manager, Charles Miyasaki (who still seemed a bit ashamed since yesterday) explained how they would go about selling and shipping out the other things they’d steal, Will listened. Even though he already knew all of this.

Third Manager, Suzie Sully Semantica, of the Science Department.

Second Manager, Andrew K. Evolorie, of the Combat Department.

First Manager, Charles Miyasaki, of the Business Department.

Not ranked in order of importance or strength. In terms of intelligence, Suzie was the clear winner. In terms of physical strength, Andrew was the clear winner. In terms of societal power and influence, Charles was the clear winner. That’s why they had each other, and that was why they were forced to have a team activity once every month, whether it be karaoke or drinking. It was mandatory. In business meetings such as these, it wasn’t very obvious that they even liked each other, but once they left the building they often enjoyed being together despite it not being office hours.

-So said the reports that the Stalking Division had supplied Will. After all, cooperation was extremely important in a corporation.

The meeting took around an hour, and when all was said and done, the Three Managers presented the final paperwork for Will to sign, which he did once he’d skimmed through the contents.

“Good luck.” And that was all he said to them. The operation would be executed that very night with the swiftness and force of a sudden typhoon. It was how he liked it, but he knew he wouldn’t be aware of the exact moment it happened. No, he’d be elsewhere. In a completely different world. That night, he finished his paperwork with a little more hurry than usual. The time was 19:38.

Will logged onto Kingdom of Change.