Dusklord Has News

Dusklord was, for the first time in the last few days, not thinking about Redwing. He was sitting in his office, the same place where Angel was supposed to have brought her by now. Though, he didn't much worry about that - Dark Angel was one of his best and brightest, and frankly if she'd had a combat power, would have been his second in command years ago. As it was, she preferred to remain inconspicuous, so such a position didn't suit her. but it din't mean he trusted her any less.

The room was one that he typically used to hold meetings with impressionable fellows. Villains who he deemed important, powerful or dangerous enough to meet in person, but who could not yet be trusted to see him break out of the role that he typically portrayed himself with. To that extent, the place was large, and richly furnished. It had all the trappings of what you might consider a typical crime boss out to show off. The carpet was thick, the walls were adorned with pictures and tapestries that were chosen more for their price than their artist merits. His desk was polished mahogany, over a hundred years old, and half of the room was taken up with a luxurious side area which played host to a number of comfortable chairs and a sofa that was more a bed. There was a television against the far wall - a large and expensive one, of course - and just to rub in that he had money to burn, there were laptops scattered like ashtrays, located throughout the room.

It was not a room that he used to do actual, _important _things. That was deeper in the mansion, and looked rather more spartan. This was the place he went when he wanted to look important and in control to a certain type of small minded person who regarded money as power, and excess as authority.

It was also where he met with people that he didn't fully trust, and right now he was doing just such a thing. The screen against the wall was on, and showed a flickering face. A man in his late forties, his head was bald, and he looked like just another hired thug. Which he was in all ways except for one very important one.

He worked for Dusklord. He was an informant, one of the many which Dusklord used to keep abreast of the city and of the highly complex and ever-changing network of loyalties, promises and debts that made up the underbelly of the same. Even for a super villain, running a criminal empire was hard work. Dusklord was only the face, the one who did the public work of stealing, but what he did paid for many more people too. He needed informants and spies who could warn him if one of the other big names was trying to do him in, he needed suppliers who could get him what he needed, no matter how normal or exotic. He needed access to those who had mastered various forms of magic for defence against the odd mystical hero or villain, and he needed sources of information on anything and everything, but without anyone else knowing that he had them.

Being an arch-villain was, as it turned out, a balancing act. And working for Dusklord was a good gig if you could get it. The most he ever really wanted out of a henchman was to guard something, or to keep a given place safe. He never dragged them into fights, and certainly didn't go around killing people who'd failed him, or punishing slight mistakes with ****. He paid well, and often in advance, and he cared about you.

Of course, the cynical would note that Dusklord had more than enough money, so paying was never an issue for him like it would be for some lower class villains who lost more than they won. He didn't drag followers to a fight because he didn't _need _them. The guy could wreck an entire team of heroes on his own, having followers would quite literally slow him down. And as for caring, that much was true. He made sure to support those who followed him. Paid well, provided insurance though shell companies, and even paid medical bills.

But the price for this was loyalty. Everyone knew it. Dusklord was good to you so long as you were good to him, but if you betrayed him in any way, then not only would he turn on you, but everyone linked to him would as well. Charisma and loyalty made it so that Dusklord's operation was extremely hard to crack or infiltrate. There was always someone willing to run to him if there was danger, or if they thought that they had something he'd pay for. At first, people had thought that he was soft because of this approach, but that had lasted right up until the first planned betrayal.

Dusklord was, after all, a villain. Even if he was a fairly nice one as such things went. The very fact that he had survived so long proved that he had a harder, colder side. One willing to spill blood if it had to, in order to preserve what he had created. In fact, in some streets, and in some cold, dark and remote locations, Dusklord was seen as a greater enemy than the League of Heroes.

Because the League would simply throw you in jail. If Dusklord decided he didn't like you, you would probably never be seen again.

"Dogma." He said, looking at the man on the screen. "You're sure about this?"

"I am, boss." The thug said. "Guy came around a day ago, said that he was looking for warm bodies. Figured it was just some new mask trying to make it on the scene, so I went along with a few others to check it out. Never know if they'll pay well. But when we got there, bastard had the building surrounded by these silver robots. Never seen them before."

"Dogma..." Dusklord repeated, rubbing his chin with one hand, "That is a fellow I wished never to have to look at again. An ugly mind behind an ugly face. I had dared to hope he was gone forever after his last scheme, thrown out of time by the League of Heroes. Did he say how he survived? How he returned? Are you sure it's him and not someone just copying him?"

"It's him all right," The thug said, "He said he knew that people might not believe it, so he brought proof."

"Proof?"

"Frostfire, boss. Had her tied up in the corner with some weird collar. Said that it turned off her powers. Never heard of anything like that, but it was working for sure - she'd have been out of there in an instant if it hadn't!"

Dusklord was about to say that this didn't prove anything, but dismissed the denial. Frostfire was one of the strongest heroes in the city. He doubted any no name copycat could have taken her down. Even Dogma should have had serious trouble with it.

"You're sure that it was Frostfire?" He asked without any real hope of it being otherwise.

"Sure as I can be. Had some of the boys look things over. There was a big fight in the part a few hours before we were all invited, and not far from the old warehouse where we met up. Before the Hero League locked it down, we got a guy in - silver metal shards everywhere, and the wreckage looked a lot like those robots. Signs of damage related to ice and fire both."

"So it probably was her," Dusklord sighed. "And to think I was hoping for a quiet retirement."

"Sir?"

"Nothing, never mind about that. What did he want, to hire you?"

"That's what he said. He said that he was looking to rebuild his forces with actual humans. The Enforcers - that's what he called the robots - were good for fighting, but not much else. That said, I asked around with some of the guys and girls that he already hired, and word is that he's planning something big in the next few days."

"Of course he is. Damn fool never could keep his head down. Dogma, what an idiotic name! But it fits him. He always was a lunatic."

He looked up, suddenly all focused.

"I want you to join him and see what you can find out about these plans. Find everything you can and compile it - his location, whether his powers have changed, his mental state, his forces, you know the drill. Get it and get it back to me. This might be important."

"I know sir." The man said, "I've been working this scene for ten years now. Been under a lot of villains. Some of them aren't too bad, some of them are right bastards. But I've never seen someone worse than Dogma. Except Gorehound, of course. But his go-to recruiting tactic was killing you as soon as he saw you and then using your blood, so that's pretty hard to beat."

"Yes," Dusklord nodded, he looked at the man for a moment, searching his memory and to his relief, it flashed up a card. "Henry, isn't it?"

"That's right, boss."

"Well, Henry, be extremely careful about this. Dogma is insane, but he's smart, and he's going to be looking for a rat. Don't give yourself away, and if it does look like you might get captured..."

"I know." Henry said, his face was pale, but his eyes were resigned. "I know what he does to snitches. I'll see you later boss, if I don't, I'll try to store the information somewhere and get it sent to you. Wish me luck."

The screen winked out. Dusklord sighed, running fingers through his black hair.

"You'll need more than that," He said. "But as things stand, I can do a bit better than just luck."

At this moment, the door to the office opened and Dark Angel walked in, followed by Redwing. Angel was smiling, but her face grew serious when she saw his expression. Redwing also quickly read his mood.

"What is it?" She asked, "Dusklord, what's going on?"

"I don't know just yet," He admitted, "But we're going to find out. In the meantime, Angel, get the portal generator online."

"The generator?" Dark Angel frowned, "We haven't used that old thing in years. I thought it was broken beyond repair?"

"Broken, yes. Beyond repair, no. I made sure it looked that way, though. Just so no one else would nab it. That thing could cause chaos in the wrong hands."

"The **** Maker that you stole from one villain, and now a Portal Generator that you keep from others?" Redwing said, "You're a true **** for order, Dusklord."

"You have no idea," Dusklord sighed. "I am afraid, my dear that we're going to be taking this relationship to the next level. By which I mean that it is time you met my family. I am terribly sorry."

"Your family?" Redwing's eyes narrowed, "The vampire or the goddess?"

"Neither as the case may be. The vampire is dead, and the goddess would be trouble. No, I speak of my younger brother, the traitorous knight."