A Hero's Tale

Chapter Nine+

A man wearing a fully black suit and tie, along with a black trench coat whistled through the black mask that covered his face as he walked along the streets of Neo Civitas. It was midnight, but that meant nothing to the man, nor to the city. Everything was just as lively at night as it was during the day. This fact was why the masked man currently made his way down the backstreets towards the slums of Neo Civitas. The only sounds were the man's whistling, his footsteps, and his cane knocking against the ground as he strolled along. The man was in no hurry. He had all the time he needed.

Eventually the man reached his destination, and he stood in front of a condemned warehouse, its entrances barred off by caution tape and wooden panels. The man ignored these warnings and ducked his way inside. He continued whistling as he walked further in, and then stopped and went over to some crates stacked by the wall. He shoved them aside and found a door hidden underneath which led further down under the warehouse. It was locked, but that meant nothing to the man. With a brush of his hand, the lock broke apart and the door opened. He continued to stroll down the stairs into the darkness below. As he descended, the air became filled with the sounds of yelling, and the shouting grew louder and louder as the man went further down. Finally, the man hit the bottom of the stairs, and was confronted with another locked door. The man straightened his hat before he reared his arm back.

"Show time," he said, then he punched the door and caused it to fly of fof its hinges into the room. All of the yelling stopped, and the man calmly walked into the room. All of the people inside looked to be various levels of surprised, first by the door flying off then by the entrance of the masked man.

"Good evening, gentlemen.I assume that I'm not interrupting anything important," the man said as walked in. Everyone remained silent until one man spoke, an irritated expression on his face.

"Hey, just who do you think you are, busting in here like you own the joint?!" the irritated man questioned. The masked man straightened his hat again then held his arms up in placatory manner.

"I assure you, I mean no harm to any of you. On the contrary, I'm here to offer you something that you are in dire need of," he said.

"Oh yeah, and just whatis that?" the irritated man asked.

"Leadership, as well as power," the masked man stated. The irritated man looked surprised before he started laughing hysterically.

"Oh, that's a good one!" the man wiped a tear from his eye before he smirked at the masked man. "Sorry, buddy. But we aren't in need of any sort of leader. In fact, you're talking to the leader of us all right now," he said. Another man snorted.

"And like I said, who died and made you king? You ain't my leader, that's for sure," he said.

"Yeah, and like I said, you ain't got no say in the matter! I'm the leader of us villains now, and that's final!" The man shouted back. The masked man tilted his head and folded his arms behind his back.

"Well, this is quite the pickle. Malice is gone for less than two weeks and already all of you minor criminals are scrambling to pick up the scraps of what he left behind. You even had to go so far as to meet in this decrepit pit of all places. I must say, things certainly don't look good for the villains of Neo Civitas," he commented. The irritated man growled.

"No one asked you, buddy. Us villains are doing just fine. We don't need Malice," he spat out. The masked man chuckled.

"That is correct. You don't need Malice. You need me," he said. The irritated man growled again.

"Oh yeah? And just who are you, anyway? You come in here wearing a mask and black outfit and you pretend like you have the authority to boss us around. I bet you're nothing but talk!" The irritated man dashed at the masked man and aimed a punch at his head.

"I assure you," the masked man said before he disappeared. A second later, the irritated man was on his knees with the masked man holding him down. A black energy flowed off of the masked man as he held the irritated man's head against the floor. "I am more than just talk," he finished, and then he stood up and let the man go. The irritated man scrambled back onto his feet and glared at the masked man.

"I'll teach you to make a fool outta me!" the irritated man yelled. He jumped at the masked man, but the masked man disappeared again, and the irritated man's face planted into the ground.

"I'll save you the time and tell you that what you're doing won't work against me." Everyone's eyes darted over to the entrance, where the masked man stood like nothing had happened. The irritated man, after scrambling up again, turned to some of the others in the room.

"Come on, guys, let's get this nut. He can't take all-" The masked man disappeared, and suddenly everyone found themselves knocked onto the floor while they reeled in pain. Some had blood spilling out of their mouths and several of them groaned loudly. The masked man dusted off his hands as he reappeared in front of the irritated man.

"I'll say it again, and hopefully this time you'll understand what I'm telling you. That won't work," he said. The irritated man groaned as he laid on the floor. "Now, instead of fighting, why don't we try and be civil and talk?" the masked man suggested. The irritated man got up, his legs shaking and a line of blood running out down his chin.

"Fine. Talk. What do you want?" he said before he released a series of hard, wet coughs.

"I already told you what I want. I want to offer you all my leadership, and also give you power," the masked man said.

"And what exactly do you want to do for us with your 'leadership'?" the irritated man asked.

"Oh, I have a great many plans, and each of them needs everyone's assistance to ensure their success. I won't go into specifics at this point in time, but I will tell you this. After everything I have planned comes to fruition, Neo Civitaswill no longer be a city of heroes, but a city of villains," the masked man explained. The irritated man laughed and then coughed up more blood.

"Yeah, right. People have been trying to take down the heroes here for years now. None of it's worked, if you haven't noticed. Hell, even Malice is in chains now, and he was one of the greatest villains that's ever lived," he said.

"Ah, yes, that is true. People have tried and people have failed, time and time again. Even Malice himself was eventually brought down. But you see, each attempt before now was missing one key factor," the masked mansaid.

"And what factor is that, exactly?" another man in the room questioned.

"Each attempt was missing me." The masked man released a chuckle. "I assure you, gentlemen, I am more than just talk, as I've just demonstrated to each of you. I do believe that we villains have an amazing opportunity to turn the tide against the so called 'heroes' of this world. It will take work, of course, but the rewards will be all the sweeter afterwards. All you have to do is follow me. Do as I tell you, listen to and obey my commands, and soon enough, Neo Civitas will be in the palm of our hands," the masked man said. The irritated man looked over at the rest of the room and saw that they were all in a similar state to him. After a few moments, he gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Fine, sure, whatever. You wanna try and be our leader, go ahead. But just who are you?" he asked.

 "Oh, me?" The masked man gave another chuckle. "Why, that's simple. You can call me Doctor Nox."