“Mrs White. How are things?”

“They found out about the theft. The police are already on the scene, and they are probably checking on the traffic cameras as we speak.”

“They know about the trucks?”

“If they don’t, they will in a few hours. They will be able to know that the trucks were heading towards the King’s, but Owl-girl assured me that they won’t be able to track them beyond that.”

“I thought she managed to disable the traffic cameras?”

“Only those in the King’s, along with all the security cameras in the area, but she does not have access to the rest of Velocity City.” Victor nodded as his men began unloading the crates. Mrs White continued. “Mister Black is waiting for you. He wants to talk about that little gift of yours.”

Victor frowned. “Is he still going on about the Trackbot? I already told him everything I know about it.”

“If you don’t want him to go on about it, then you shouldn’t have shown it to him in the first place.” Mrs White calmly replied. “You know what people say about boys and your toys.”

“Stupid mad scientist.” Victor murmured as he went through the hidden door. There was a hallway that slopped downward, and he saw the lift at the end of it. Victor entered the lift, and Mrs White joined him.

“The modern term is Tinker.” Mrs White corrected as the lift began its downward descent. “Mad scientists are supers who create new chemicals, come up with new scientific theories, and solve those ridiculous mathematics problems no sane man can make heads or tails of. Tinkers are supers whose powers are based around engineering. And I am surprised you didn’t my husband has a superpower.”

“He’s not your husband. He’s Mister Black when you are on the job.” Victor immediately said. “And don’t use that term when in costume. You don’t want the heroes to link you two together.”

“We are alone, in a lift going to our lair, and I know for a fact there’s no camera or recording device in here.”

“Doesn’t matter. You have to make it a habit, or you will make a mistake sooner or later.”

“Daddy, you are just being paranoid.”

“Sweet Fist.” Victor corrected again. “Don’t call me daddy when in costume.”

Victor could feel his daughter rolling her eyes behind her mask as the doors of the lift opened. Both walked out into a dark tunnel. Decades of disuse had caused most of the lights to be unusable and several torches lined the walls to light their way. They passed a forklift that would be used to carry the crates to the lair, but outside the lone piece of machinery, the tunnel was bare. There were no security gates, no turrets, and no guards. They will need to rewire the whole tunnel before they could get any of that, but Victor liked the aesthetic of the torches. He intends to speak to H.A.V.E on whether there was a way to keep the torches. Someone must have some ideas for decorative torches. They walked to the end of the tunnel and entered another lift. It went down and Mrs. White immediately continued.

“Well? Why didn’t you know Jason had a superpower?”

“Mister Black.”

“Now you are just deflecting.” Victor kept quiet, and his daughter gave up. “Fine! Why didn’t you know Mister Black had a superpower?”

“It was not in the report.”

“Fired whoever made that report. Missing an important fact like that is criminal. Pun intended.”

“It was a rush job, and honestly, I don’t blame them. Mister Black’s powers are minor and not very well-known. He also admitted that he seldom used them.”

The door opened and when the duo exited, they were in the lobby. The first time Victor came to the lair, the lobby was filled with debris and showing signs of past battles. The debris had since been cleared. The walls had been repainted, the floors swept and polished, and his daughter had bought a large wooden counter to serve as the reception counter. The counter was a little too big and office-looking for Victor, but he had to make do. Jennifer’s first choice was a modern and sleek design with eye-catching pink decorative panels. Victor had used all his chips to veto that monstrosity.

There’s no receptionist on duty as he hadn’t hired one yet and the duo walked past the counter to the back of the room. There was a set of stairs that spiralled into the lower level, but father and daughter entered another lift that brought them down to the main area of the lair. They exited the lift to a hive of activity.

Numerous members of his crew were hard at work. Some were repainting the walls, while others were carrying furniture and equipment. It was the simple everyday work of minions, but Victor felt a sense of pride at the sight. They were all working for him.

All the villainous leaders he had worked for had showed an imperious demeanour towards him and it had always rubbed him the wrong way. While Victor knew better than to fraternize with his own minions, he saw no reason for him not to acknowledge his minions’ existence. Victor walked past the minions with a few nods towards them.

Although she was new to the game, Miss White knew the score and walked two steps behind him. They walked through a door and entered a long hallway. Victor saw three of his minions doing rewiring work and walked past them with a nod of appreciation. Along the hallways were several doors, most were closed, but one door to the right was open and he entered a big room.

Inside was a man wearing a white lab coat over a black suit. He had styled his black hair into a curly mess and wore a pair of goggles that was hanging around his neck. Victor knew the man never used the goggles, but he approved the attention to detail. His son-in-law was going all-in on the traditional mad scientist look. Mister Black saw him immediately.

“Master Sweet Fist.”

Victor nodded and turned to his daughter. “Hear that? Was that so hard?”