Black Hat was bored. And when he got bored, he annoyed his minions as much as they annoyed him.
It was only fair for all those times they got on his nerves. Often, he'd pick his 'victim' at random: he'd get Flug when he caught him slacking off on work at his lab, he'd get 5.0.5 when the bear was having too much fun to his liking, he'd get Demencia when she was messing with his other minions. That was how the process usually went, with few exceptions.
But in the end the one that would suffer most was Demencia.
It was her own fault really, for being so insufferable and obnoxious towards everyone in the manor. He could sometimes forgive Flug sleeping on the job after hours without a break from his inventions. He could forgive 5.0.5 getting a break from cleaning and cooking from time to time so he could follow his animal instincts and do whatever the heck bears do for fun. But Demencia...oh boy, Demencia was troublesome, she knew it and yet she didn't care. Jumpscare after jumpscare she'd recover from Black Hat's 'surprises' in mere seconds.
It was sort of admirable really, and part of the reason why Black Hat kept pushing her.
He did all sorts of things to her. He'd jump in front of her, he'd scream her name behind her to wake her up...and he'd use his powers to scare the living hell out of her. His favourite was using his demonic powers to morph into someone else, like the one time he morphed into 5.0.5 just to catch Demencia dressing up like himself to try to scare the poor animal. He was surprised that the girl had stolen his idea, and he was even proud to an extent. Of course, above all those things the best part was her frightned face once he morphed his (well, 5.0.5's) body into distorted tentacles and disfigured horrific faces.
Yes, the girl was amusing, but also intriguing. Which was part of the reason why she could annoy him and spoil his minions while still being allowed to stay with them.
With that in mind, he decided to remove the random factor in his process and deliberatly choose Demencia in specific this one time.
Now he just needed a plan, and to find her.
But who could he morph into? He morphed into 5.0.5 several times...one time he morphed into Demencia herself to make her confused...and one time he even morphed into a hero to give her a scare only to have her almost rip his head off...
No, this time he needed someone a little different...
But of course! He needed Flug, he decided.
Yes, Dr. Flug would be perfect for the job! He'd morph into him, pretend he was writing very important reports for Black Hat, and when the girl got ready to pounce him and to steal his notes, he'd reveal his true self so he could scold her on disrupting Flug's very urgent work.
Black Hat could already feel a smile creeping in as he changed into the paperbag wearing scientist.
"Don't worry, Mr. Black Hat sir!" he shouted in Flug's voice to no one in particular "I'll have these personal and private reports ready as soon as possible!"
He waited with the fake reports in his hands as he heard something or someone crawl up the ceiling, getting closer and closer to the corridor where he stood.
After minutes he could just feel Demencia above him, ready to jump on him any second now.
But Demencia never got down.
Confused he looked up, and there she was, smiling.
"Hey Flug!" she greeted him, getting down without trying to scare him or jump on his personal space.
Black Hat was surely disappointed. There was no point in scaring her now.
"So!" the girl happily started "doin' a lil' job for Black Hat? Can I help?"
He stared dumbfounded, as he expected a lot of things but this. Demencia would steal Flug's papers, or shove him, or mock him...well, she would never ask if he needed a hand so sweetly like the way she was asking just now, that was certain.
"No, Demencia, I'm good" he replied. Well, this wasn't fun at all. "Why would you want to help me?"
Her smile suddenly faded and she creeped closer.
"Fluggy, can I tell you a secret?" she whispered next to what she assumed to be his ear under his bag.
Black Hat nodded, curious to see what was on her mind. Demencia only gulped, as if gathering courage to speak. And when she spoke it was the most serious tone he had ever heard from her.
"Lately, Flug, I feel like Black Hat hates me...not like he hates you, or anyone else, but like, me in particular...you catching that, Fluggers? I really want to get back on his good side!"
Black Hat surpressed a laugh.
"What makes you think that?"
Her face dropped, as if she was seriously hurt.
"He's not himself anymore when he is around me."
This caught Black Hat by surprise. Wasn't he?
"I know!" the girl kept going "I can tell something is wrong. He usually has this light in his eyes...well, this light in his visible eye anyways, when he sees me doing something really bad, like something that makes him proud of me! But lately not as much...for example, you remember last week? When I kicked an hero's butt so hard he went flying through our fence? Yeah, I learned how to kick like that from Black Hat! I practised for days...and when he watched me kick hero butts quite literally he didn't even grin..."
The sadness in her eyes were clear, but as much as Black Hat enjoyed her in distress, this time he felt no urge to laugh. In fact, he felt a very weird feeling on his chest that stinged him a bit.
He didn't hate Demencia.
In fact, he didn't notice he had changed around her...well, he didn't notice she studied his moves to copy him either. He was proud of her, and by what she was saying he would have been even more proud if he had noticed her more. It wasn't his fault that it was his nature to hate touchy-feely-mushy-emotion-related moments and preferred to be more reserved. Did she really think he didn't care at all just because of that? If he didn't, he would have thrown her out already, no?
He wanted to call her on her stupidity for thinking he'd keep any of his minions if he honestly didn't appreciate them but he instead made a mental note to aknowledge her efforts more, even if briefly or more coldly.
After all, he needed her to keep being as evil and useful as she could, something she would clearly do better if she had some sort of motivation. And it was only for that reason alone of course, not due to silly feelings, that he promised to pay more attention.
"...so that's it Flug, that's why I need you to help me impress him, ok? He has to love me!"
He was so lost in thought he didn't even hear her last bits of the rant.
He could easily jumpscare her at that moment, but he decided he wouldn't.
So instead of revealing his true self, he decided to promise her he would help her 'get Black Hat's attention back on her' as long as she never bothered Flug again with it. After that, Demencia bursted in excitment, hugging him tightly before she returned to her old demented self and crawled back to the end of the corridor. He heard some of her crazy laughs and even heard 5.0.5 cry out in the distance. Demencia was herself again, and he felt great.
So once he made sure she wouldn't see him, he returned to his usual body.
He didn't have much time to process any of what had just happened before a running, panting and very much real Dr. Flug appeared in his vision.
"Oh, Mr. B-Black Hat, sir! I-I'm so sorry to interrupt but have you seen Demencia?!" Flug cried out.
"What did she do now?" He inquired.
"I, we! We were in my lab just now and w-we heard my voice! But I was quiet, I swear! S-she ran off to here and locked me in my own lab sir, I only got out now!"
Black Hat's mind clicked.
That little rascal.
She knew it had been Black Hat and not Dr. Flug the person she was talking to this whole time! And she stole an hug from him, that vixen!
Black Hat, the great demon lord of evil, had been outsmarted by a lizard-girl. He would make sure she would pay, and oh wasn't revenge just sweet.
But for now, he was smiling. Not smirking or grinning, but wearing a genuine smile (which terrified Flug sending chills down his spine). Yes, Black Hat smiled for the first time in days, maybe months even.
And all because Black Hat's girl was smarter and more devious than he thought, and Black Hat couldn't be more proud.