It was easy enough to tell when you reached the red-light district. The small holes and cracks in the road turned into massive potholes, the type that could send a biker straight to hell. While the city didn’t care about maintaining Villain Territory, it rarely got this bad.

  There was usually somebody who cared about maintenance in the other parts of Villain Territory. Surge Gang controlled the industrial section, but the city was forced to take care of the important infrastructure left there. It might be the only part of Villain Territory that they actually care about.

  The Disciples held the shopping district, which meant that local businesses were forced to help fix any big issues. Can’t buy anything if the street is wrecked. But the other two major gangs didn’t have anyone or anything to take care of their territory.

  The Performers couldn’t give less of a shit about actually being Supervillains. They were only beaten by the Disciples in terms of territory, leaving them with the second largest chunk of land, but that didn’t mean they actually used their territory. As long as those sweaty Germans had a captive audience, they were more than happy to leave everything else to rot.

  Backhand and his gang, Ballers, were the ones in charge of the red-light district. His territory was shoved against the westernmost point of the wall, the smallest of the four major gangs. Almost every single strip club and prostitute in South Rain City was owned by him, but that was all he had to offer. The rest of his territory was falling apart due to years of neglect.

  And trust me, it wasn’t just the buildings that were in disrepair. Looking out of the back windows as we drove, I saw countless people at the lowest points of their life. Chem Street’s drug trade had torn through the area, leaving addicts desperate for another hit at every corner.

  From what I knew, the two groups were awfully friendly with each other. Backhand could easily keep his people in line by dangling drugs over their head. I’d faced my own set of addictions over the years, and it disgusted me to be back here.

  Sadly, Backhand wasn’t our target. Even if he was one of the villains that I couldn’t stand, we couldn’t just make enemies out of every person we disagreed with. For now, we pulled into an open lot to hide amongst the abandoned cars left behind.

  I sent a message to Frank and Tóxica, telling them to meet us in the back of the food truck. While we waited for them, I pulled out the water-damaged notepad that I had stolen from Surge, scribbling down some ideas.

  I addressed the two of them as they walked into the back, “Alright, we need to have a strategy meeting. Take a seat or stand, it doesn't matter to me.

  “Okay, so the current situation isn’t the greatest, but we can still make it out of this. For now though, we’re going to be completely grounded. The Superheroes being here meant that the Disciples couldn’t fight us, unless they wanted to risk getting arrested. But because of Plaything, they’re now able to fight us without risking anything.

  “While I’m not certain how he got so strong, what matters is that he is stronger than I expected. But just because they can send out toys to fight doesn’t mean they’re not still being pinned down by the heroes. So we’re going to stay out of the way until the heroes are gone, and that’s when we’ll hit them.”

  Reload raised his hand. “I have a question!”

  “Why would you raise your hand and shout at the same time?” Frank asked.

  “Why would you raise your hand at all?” I added. “You can just ask your question, Reload.”

  “So we’re just going to hide away? Can’t we at least drop another bomb off in their building or something?”

  “There’s no way they’ll fall for that again,” I explained, “But more importantly, we’re not risking anyone getting arrested or dying just for a small hit. Reload, do you remember what we did the night before fighting Tóxica?”

  Reload took a second to think. “You made me stop watching Seinfeld, ranted about Kramer for a bit, then we went over a bunch of strategies to prepare for the fight.”

  “Why would you even bring up Seinfeld? In what world would that be what I wanted you to talk about?”

  Tóxica raised her hand. “What’s Seinfeld?”

  “Oh, you’ll love it!” Reload smiled. “It’s the best sitcom ever made.”

  “No, we’re not going to talk about Seinfeld!” I shouted. “It’s an overrated relic that doesn’t deserve to still be on TV!”

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

  “What are you talking about?” Reload scoffed at me. “It’s a pillar of televised comedy that still stands the test of time! Where would we be without Seinfeld?”

  “Seinfeld does sound very important.” Tóxica added, still keeping her hand raised.

  “Tóxica, why are you even raising your hand?” I asked.

  “I do not know what it means, but your response to it is funny,” she answered.

  “Okay, we’re moving on from Seinfeld and Tóxica not going to school. We need someone to sit in the front to keep guard before our tires or converter get stolen. Frank, you’ll take the first shift while I go over strategies with these two.”

  “Before I go,” he put his hands together, wringing them. “I have a question. Will I need to do any strategy lessons? I mean, it’s not like I have any powers.”

  “Of course you will, you’re one of us. Not having powers just means you don’t have powers, not that we won’t need you.”

  I saw his lips curl into a smile. “Alright.”

  Once he was gone, my main focus was writing out everything we knew about the enemy supers. While in our fight against Tóxica, Reload and I had to guess on what her abilities would be, things were different now.

  Not only were these villains known, but they were the exact type of villains that I loved to research. I’d spent more nights than I could count reading up on small villains, learning what makes them special. Even through alcoholism, a guy can have hobbies. Mine just happened to be spending hours on super discussion forums.

  But even then, there were still some missing pieces of information. Some of the more minor villains that they recruited were so unknown that I only had small pieces of information to go off. Of course, if someone wasn’t well known, then that was a good sign that they weren’t worrying about.

  Yet, the thing that was driving me crazy was Plaything. Before, he was a minor threat that was more of a danger to playgrounds than to us. But now he was sending out armies that could easily overwhelm us in the right conditions.

  For now, I just focused on what I knew. I spent an hour just writing out every piece of information I had on the enemies we would be facing. I also made sure that Reload and Tóxica knew who to fight and who to avoid.

  Polymeniac was a skilled melee fighter, and his ability to heal and grow new limbs made it near impossible to beat him in an endurance fight. But Tóxica would have the easiest time delivering a quick and fatal blow, if we don’t count Reload’s explosives.

  Quarry’s stone skin may be the most durable defense I’ve ever seen. If it wasn’t for the fight against Mr. Ammer, I wouldn’t have been certain that his armor could even be broken. Reload bombarding him with bombs at a distance was our best bet.

  Plaything likely wouldn’t be at the actual fight, instead sending a horde of toys while staying a safe distance away. His army would need to be handled on a case by case basis, but it was safe to assume that each toy was at least a minor threat.

  I was certain at least a couple of the minor villains had quit. If not after the bombing, then definitely after the Superheroes started hunting them. But without knowing who quit and who stayed, my only choice was to plan out for each of them.

  Thankfully, most of them were minor villains for a reason. Whether they only recently gained their powers, had powers that bordered on harmless, or were sent as representatives for a gang in another city, none of them seemed intimidating.

  But that just left one more villain to account for. Agony. He was a pyrokinetic that ruled this city with a flaming fist. Despite my years working for the Disciples, I rarely saw him, and I never saw him fight in person.

  Though, I doubt a live demonstration would give me much. The old news stories told me everything that I needed to know. He had a super kill count in the dozens, from nobodies who upset him to powerful gang leaders.

  From the way they talked about him, I knew that his lieutenants weren’t a match for him. Underlying their respect for him was fear, a fear that he would one day get rid of them. In the same way that he tried to get rid of me.

  To be honest, I had no idea how to kill him. Obviously enough firepower would eventually do it, but I couldn’t figure out any strategies specifically for him. He was simply in a league of his own compared to everyone else we’d be fighting.

  Thankfully, we wouldn’t be running into this fight empty handed. We still had the advantage of not only striking first, but we also had a few options that would catch them off guard.

  My [Borrow] ability was still unknown to them, and that could easily give us the edge in any fight we took. While Tóxica and Reload had useful abilities, there wasn’t a major advantage to having multiple copies on our team.

  But the Disciples alone had a promising list of abilities. Whether it would be Polymeniac’s [Regeneration], Quarry’s [Stone Exterior], or any of Agony’s abilities, they could completely shift the way a fight is going.

  There was also the cooler that Tóxica had stuffed into the fridge. After an unfortunate mix-up with some Kool-Aid, I discovered that it was brimming with purple poison. She was keeping it in case of an emergency, and this certainly seemed like one.

  But those weren’t game changers. I glanced at the packs of Throm that I had kept around. Even if we were going to put our lives on the line, I was still hesitant on using them. But, if need be, then that would be one hell of a last resort.

  I went through that entire notepad in the span of a couple days, doing nearly nothing but preparing myself and the others for the fight ahead. While I could’ve been satisfied with a half-decent plan to win, that wouldn’t be enough for me.

  If a single one of us died in this fight, I would never be able to forgive myself. I’d already seen all my friends die around me in a fight against a super, but things were different. No matter what, I wouldn’t run away this time.