“I just had a VERY uncomfortable meeting about this exact same thing.”

"Alright, how about the fact that I just had a VERY uncomfortable meeting about this exact same thing?!" Alfonso revealed, slamming a fist down over the paper. "That I had to take it in the ass from the other crime lords in town about this?!"

Starslip blinked in surprise, looking absolutely gobsmacked. “Y…wha???”

Fonzie groaned, her eyes cast down on the paper as she tried her best to calm herself. “...I got called into an emergency meeting of the four biggest crime lords in Star Lake this afternoon, myself included of course.”

“I didn’t even know you guys HAD meetings!” the Violet Vision admitted, clearly still a bit stunned. “I thought you just had shoot-outs with each other!”

“Well, most of the time, we try to maintain civilness for our own benefit,” Tammy growled, her thoughts drifting back to the prior meeting. “...But it wasn’t like that today, no matter how much they wanted to pretend…”

Fonzie let out a sigh as she entered the meeting room, looking around at all of the other crime lords sitting around the table. There was Aveline Wong, the Connoisseur of **** Devices, wearing her trademark long purple dress and stroking her cat like she was some kind of Bond villain. The Psychotic Crime Lord would have called her out on the cliche, but even she wasn’t so deluded as to not recognize the hypocrisy of that statement.

Sitting next to her was Trinity Strong, President of Strong Sciences. Alfonso wanted to scoff, seeing her present. She was hardly the criminal the rest of them were, and only gained power during a time when Tammy had to go underground. She was far too subtle for the Devil of Star Lake’s tastes, and didn’t even seem to like breaking the law or committing crime.

And then there was Roy Tanner, Fonzie’s own former right-hand man. She wanted to throw a knife right into his brain every time she saw him, thinking back to how he’d betrayed her and tried to have her killed, all because of his xenophobia that made him disapprove of her involvement with and usage of Superhumans. Still, he’d done quite well for himself since, amassing his own little organization, so for the sake of meetings like this, they had to play nice.

“Ladies,” Alfonso greeted as she sat in her seat, shooting Tanner a quick glare. “...Gentleman.”

Roy likewise scowled back, arms folded on the table. “...I called this meeting because a certain news story has been brought to my attention recently. Alfonso, what were you doing about a week ago?”

Fonzie rolled her eyes, lightly tossing her fedora down onto the table. “Oh, you know, the usual: Approving decisions by my lieutenants, going over their every stupid decision…Oh, and I also had a thing with the mayor that—”

“Yes, that’s all very fascinating,” Tanner interjected, looking annoyed. “Alfonso, what happened in your OFFICE one week ago?”

Tammy’s eye twitched, beginning to realize where this was going, but chose to play coy for now, just in case she was mistaken. “...That depends: Is it any of your business?”

“Word of advice, Fonzie: Have the morning paper delivered to your office every once and a while,” Wong spoke up, reaching under her cat to pull out a newspaper before tossing it onto the table for all to see.

Alfonso’s blood ran cold as she read the headline, leaning back into her chair slowly. However, she put up a cocky front, smirking at the others and declaring “...Well, y’know…she’s ALWAYS had a thing for me, and is kind of a closeted badgirl, if you know what I mean.”

“And you haven’t mentioned it,” Strong pointed out. “To anyone. Not your lieutenants, not anyone in your circle, not to any of us, no one.”

Fonzie blinked, about to ask how in the hell Trinity knew what she did or didn’t tell anyone in her circle, when Roy continued. “You see, at first, I wondered if perhaps YOU had arranged to have photos of yourself and Starslip engaged in your usual brand of sexual activities, perhaps as some sort of **** scheme. But then I remembered, that’s not your style. And that’s when I started to ask the question: Why would YOU, who flaunts her conquests for all to see and hear, try to keep this a secret?”

Alfonso gave Tanner the mother of all dirty looks, her fists clenched tightly. “I’ll ask again: Is it any of your business? It’s not as if you would want to know I seduced and corrupted filthy Superhuman into sex, is it? Or does your xenophobia not prevent you from having a Superhuman kink, like one of those men who insist women can’t get married but will still get his jollies watching them piss on each other?”

“DID you seduce her?” Roy inquired simply, stunning the Malicious Mobster. “Did YOU corrupt HER?”

“I have to admit, it’s a bit odd and out-of-character of you to bring this city’s sworn guardian down to your level and not brag about it,” Aveline noted, lifting her cat up and looking it in the eye. “Why, someone paranoid enough might wonder if perhaps SHE was the one who seduced YOU. But why keep that a secret? Pride, ego…or perhaps, maybe she’s got you working for her now?”

At this point, Tammy started to shake in rage, indignant at this suggestion, all the while the Connoisseur of **** Devices went on. “It WOULD be quite the impressive little trap to set up for the lot of us, having the one member of our little quartet with the most influence in this city suddenly acting as her eyes and ears on our every movement.”

“YOU BITCH!!!” Fonzie roared, jumping the table and pulling a knife, holding it an inch from Wong’s throat, all the while Strong pulled her gun and kept it trained on the Psychotic Crime Boss. “Who do you think you’re talking to, huh?! When you were still a senior in high school, getting off to Dr. No, I was running this ENTIRE city! I have the mayor under my foot, and cops running errands for me! You think I’d let ANYONE talk me into giving that life up?!”

“Holding a knife to one of us doesn’t exactly make us want to trust you, Alfonso!” Trinity yelled, keeping the brunette in her sights.

Fonzie groaned in sheer annoyance. “Oh please, if you think either one of these two wouldn’t do the same to you if they had the chance—”

“Ladies,” Tanner interrupted as sternly as possible. “If you all could control yourselves…”

Alfonso growled between grit teeth, but slowly withdrew her knife, Strong likewise putting her gun down as Roy went on. “...Look, the truth is, you could’ve kept that…encounter of yours a secret for any number of reasons that the rest of us could only guess at. But therein lies the problem: We can only guess. Can you honestly, realistically blame anyone at this table or anyone in this city for believing you may have been seduced by Star Lake’s supposed champion?”

Hearing this explanation, Starslip couldn't help but scoff, a hand on her forehead. “So, what, you’re gonna sit there and tell me you weren’t proud of getting me in the sack and dragging me down to your level?”

"Of course I was!" Tammy admitted. "But it also wasn't any of their Goddamn business! But now, they're acting like I'm the enemy!"

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry if I don't feel very bad for you, okay?!" the younger woman hissed, practically spewing venom on her hated nemesis. "I'm so sorry that the criminals in this city don't trust you! Meanwhile, I'M the one who is having what few people who still believed in me turn away! I'M the one being called 'Starslut' by folks in town! I fly around town, I see pictures of my face posted up in alleys with 'Starslut' spray-painted over them! Nobody trusts me anymore! My own father kicked me out!"

Fonzie’s eyes bulged as she heard that last sentence. She watched as Starslip froze up slightly and blushed brightly. Clearly, she hadn’t intended to let that bit of information slip, and only did so because she was so angry. And she was very obviously embarrassed to have such information out in the open.