"So?"

"I can confirm this thing is authentic, and that the agreement's wording is exactly as she presented. No hidden clause or secret trap. Simply ensuring non-aggression for five years, with a promise to meet again a week before it ends to decide to renew it or not while it's still active."

James was somewhat relieved to hear Blake Black say that, though he was still on edge. This was, after all, ultimately an offer made by a Villainess, one he couldn't trust. Still, he wanted to make sure as he turned the camera of his phone from the open scroll on his desk back to himself, even though there wasn't much of a face to see in his black office.

He had first called his ally in the Black Bank via Solvent, but the man reminded him he would need to see the contract, one way or another, to give an accurate assessment. So, James resumed the encounter via his subdued slime while he returned calmly to his office, making sure folks around, both clients and employees, didn't go into a panic. Once back in private, Solvent ended his call, and James began his own. And now, here they were.

"Are you sure?"

"Silhouette, I studied under the Fair Folks. I can catch those sorts of things. Well, it'd be best if you could find the time to come and drop it at my office, to double-check for invisible ink traps and the like, but I'm fairly certain your enhanced and magical senses would have caught them."

"I see. Blake, you are the expert here. You know this city and its inhabitants better than I do. What do you make of this?"

"Well, it's not the first time this has happened, but it's unusual. Sure, Empress knows and employs diplomacy, but she's still a power-hungry totalitarian with an imperial coat of paint. For her to make this kind of offer to someone means she considers them a legitimate threat, if not to her entire regime, then at least to her operations. She usually offers these to new Vigilantes and Villains who are too powerful for her to take down reliably without heavy losses. Not so strong as to be equals, but still a pain to plan around."

"And those she considers equals?"

"Recruitment. If that doesn't work, war and assassination. She's already mad about having to share the scene with the Biflora and Abrakaboom, she'd never accept anyone else. I hear back in the day, she was set to become the city's number one Villain until someone else took the spot."

"Natrashka?"

Zalcien's greatest Villain, missing in action now for a few decades. Most people in the city tried to avoid talking about him, to the point that even public records and old news articles were vague. James had done some research on him, to understand what impact he had on the city and to prepare in case he came back one day, as the typical villains were wont to do in media back on Earth, but he was very low on the list of priorities the living shadow had to juggle with. Terra Stellis had an impressive capacity for throwing new problems at James with remarkable consistency.

"Natrashka. A man before my time, but quite an interesting man to hear about. In any case, his disappearance opened a vacuum that others tried to fill, and suddenly she had to struggle to keep her spot. The Blood Angels collapsed without their leader, and other criminal groups rose to take their place. So, a war for both factions and individual Supers to cement themselves as the greatest. Wicked Witchcraft grew to be what it is today in that era."

"And the Hivines? And the current Blood Angels?"

Those James had researched, but both groups were opaque too, though to a lesser degree. The Hivines were officially recognized as a proper religion, not a cult or terrorist organization, and the Blood Angels' history was essentially blank between the mysterious Natrashka era and the modern revival. Besides, having the events retold by a Black, one of the most influential families in the country, if not the world, might shed light on things he hadn't known.

"Both are more recent developments. Old enough to be established by now, but noticeably younger than the other two top organizations. Marcus gathered what he could from the old Blood Angels, which is to say very little, and just used their name and reputation as a weapon to fend off bigger and scarier groups. Natrashka was no drug dealer. Once people got over their fear, Marcus had already gotten his hands on Sunburn, a perfect ace in the sleeve. The biggest stick in the city, enough to compensate for the mediocre quality of the rest of the group."

"And what happened to the rest of the old Angels?"

"Still around, last I heard, though they stick to their parts of the city. They disavowed the modern iteration of the gang."

"I see. While I must thank you for this fascinating history lesson, there is still the matter of the problem at hand. What do you think of her offer?"

"Well, outside of what it represents... I am uncertain. As I told you, this is a sign she sees you as someone worth considering, even if not to her level. But such a small group in broad daylight is... Odd. I suppose it makes sense, with the little war she's waging on the other weakened factions, it's more efficient to go for a smaller escort. Still, it doesn't explain why she wouldn't have sent them at night."

"Was our interaction meant to be public, then? Send a message?"

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"Perhaps, but... You're the one benefiting from this in that case. You made no secret of her presence, let everyone hear what you said, and this is her admitting you're better than the bulk of the people in this city in her eyes. This is just one big advertisement of your strength and righteousness in the public's eye."

"Could it be intentional? That she wants to help me, for some reason?"

"It would be the most logical answer, but it still doesn't tell us why she did it. She's not in the habit of helping others, not without something in compensation, and she asked for nothing, at least in her contract. Did she possibly sneak in double-entendres in the conversations?"

"Not that I'm aware of. She was rather upfront for someone supposed to be a scheming leader."

"The thing you have to remember is that Villains, deep down, are all ego-driven maniacs. True good schemers are rare and discreet. They're not publicly known. The Hero Union has an internal list of non-official Villains for a reason, and even those are schemers who were sloppy enough to be noticed in the first place, even if they were better at leaving little to no evidence."

"I see. So, she wants to improve my image for some reason. Why would the Empress, one of the city's greatest Villains and the one who appears on the road to take the number one spot, want to do this? She claimed to think our products were good, if below her level. Does she want me to take over established industries in the city?"

"It's one possible explanation. She's banking on your success, and establishing early on that she'd rather you both stay out of each other's way would be a good idea. If you agree, that's one less problem to deal with, especially if you take over other established names in your industry. If you refuse, that gives her justification to antagonize you at a later date, when she's not busy dealing with villainous faction wars."

"So... It's almost exactly as she said. She'll leave me alone until the war ends, and then she'll reconsider the worth of attacking me over leaving me alone and doing other things instead, such as furthering her plans to take over the city."

"Something among those lines, yes. With the hope that you will grow to absorb or replace other local companies, to have fewer people to threaten into compliance. At least, it's the most likely scenario from what we can deduce from the evidence provided so far."

"How long do you think this conflict will last?"

"It depends on a series of factors I cannot predict. Will Abrakaboom return? Will new Supers join in or awaken in the fighting? Will some of the current ones leave while the ship is sinking, but not on the seabed yet? Will the Empress call on her allies in the Tarot Gang? Any of these would drastically alter the course of events, and that's without even starting to speculate on the battles themselves. I'll keep you updated, if you wish, but I have a feeling you have a good information network of your own."

"Not good enough yet. That's something I'll have to fix."

"I'll leave that to you, my friend."

"What would you advise, then?"

"Well, if it were up to me, I'd sign. I lose nothing outside of perhaps some reputation, and even then, people would be understanding of my desire to avoid conflict and ensure safety for me and my employees. Well, employee singular, since I only have Nanyet, but you get what I mean."

"I see..."

"You have to remember, Silhouette. At the core, I am but an heir of the Black family. Dealing with people of poor moral standing is my job. I'm not as preoccupied with ethics as you are. Oh, I'm far from the worst the family has come to bear, but the fact remains that for this job, good people don't last long."

"I know, Blake. And from what I hear, you're one of the better elements."

"Oh, you flatter me."

"That being said, I think I'll refuse. For now, at least."

"Oh?"

"I'll keep that contract, sealed and secure. Just in case. If I see the Empress coming after me with forces I cannot hope to match, then I'll have a secret weapon to end her assault. Otherwise, I'd rather not bind myself to such a personage. I want to be ready to act. To be able to defend friends and allies, should she go after them. And, on a more personal point, I dislike her."

"Ah, she rubbed you the wrong way?"

"I am not fond of narcissists who view me as a lesser being, but no. It's the fact that she sends her drones to kidnap innocent people that earned her my scorn. You wouldn't happen to know what she does with those she takes, Blake?"

"That isn't something I'm allowed to say, I'm afraid. I am free to discuss her usual tactics, since they are more or less public, you would just need to do the research yourself, but when it comes to her secrets... Well, if I were aware of any of them, I would be legally and magically bound to keep them to myself."

"I see. I had guessed as such, but I just wanted to be sure. Thank you for your time, Blake. I'm sorry to have called you with no warning like this, but I felt the matter was too important."

"No worries, my friend. I am more than happy to help you when I can. Now, if you don't mind me, I'd better get back to work before Nanyet gets more ammunition to call me a lazy manager again."

"Have a good day, Blake."

"And Silhouette? If you ever feel the need for more funds for your expansion plans, remember that I'm available. I can get you some good loans. Safe ones. Fair ones."

"I'll keep that in mind, Blake. Until next time."

"Hopefully, it won't be under such circumstances. Goodbye, Silhouette."

James hung up the call and allowed himself to sigh. Well, this wasn't the first murderous maniac knocking at his door, and at least this one was kind enough to tell him she was too busy to cause problems now. Really, she might be the most dangerous in the long term, having more power and backing than Runar and lacking Abrakaboom's whimsy and mercy, but she was also ironically the least disruptive so far.

James barely took a few seconds to calm down and recover before having Solvent act as his mouthpiece to inform the Shadow Den crew of the addition to their already quite full plate, though thankfully the rivalry between Decanov and Techlord meant both were too focused on one-upping the other and finishing their chores early to work on new toys to deal with the Empress's robots to bother complain to James about having even work yet again. Small mercies.

James, for his part, slithered back into his clothes and left the office, rushing back to meet with Maggie and reassure her before she, too, went off to work improving her invention's design in her workshop. He briefly considered informing her of Silhouette's new interest in EMP-adjacent weaponry, but decided better of it. This soon after the Empress's envoy's visit? No, better to wait at least a few weeks, if not months, before informing his mundane employees. And... Not to dismiss her abilities, but James doubted his friend would be able to make arms and defenses as good as his other experts already in on the info.

Oh well, just another day in Zalcien.

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