Believe me, this wasn't a case of writer's block. Between work and the play I'm in, the last day I've had off was Easter. I barely even had time for my other projects. But I've got everything I need for this fanfic planned in my head.

It had been a month since Lita had taken Black Hat's deal. As she'd been forbidden from leaving the mansion, she'd naturally developed a case of cabin fever. Even when she'd been granted that one afternoon off, she found there was nothing much for her to do except read the self-defense books she'd snagged from the library. While they were informative, she found herself glancing at the wall, wishing there was a window she could look out of.

Since the chess match, Black Hat had gotten back into the habit of popping out of nowhere again. Only this time, instead of scaring her, he'd ask her a riddle or give her some absurd task like taking her to a room full of diamonds and figure out which ones were real and which were fake. Sometimes she had the answer, sometimes she didn't. And while Black Hat never got angry when she didn't, he did appear disappointed. She asked him why he was throwing out these random brain puzzles, and he said it was part of her training.

He'd also recently opened up the locked door in the gym. Turns out it was a simulation chamber, in which Lita had to fight off holographic enemies and run through simulated security systems. They certainly got the adrenaline up, but Lita was getting tired of simulations.

It wasn't until Flug called her from the grocery store one day that she realized how badly she needed to get out of this place.

"So, uh…Lita that err…thing you put on the shopping list?"

"Yeah?" Lita said, leaning against the kitchen counter.

It was her turn to cook and she'd decided to keep it simple with garden salad. Lesser chance of another explosion.

"Well…um…which ones am I supposed to get?"

"What do ya mean?"

"I mean…they come in so many colors! And, err…they say something about 'ultra heavy?' And as for the, uh…what size is your, uh…you know."

Realizing what he was talking about, Lita's cheeks turned pink. "Just, um…grab a bunch of overnight pads and then a couple smaller ones."

"Um, okay. W-Which ones are those?"

"Flug, have you seriously never gone out and bought pads and tampons before?"

"Excuse me!" he said, sounding appalled. "Need I remind you that I'm a male?!"

"No, no, I mean Dementia. You've never gone shopping for her?"

"She doesn't menstruate! Side effect of her mutation."

"Really?" Lita paused. "Well…just grab the purple and orange pads. As for the tampons, get a couple boxes of the small ones."

"Okay. Um…which brand?"

"I don't care! Just as long as it absorbs my fucking blood!"

She hung up, not wanting to hear his response. She hadn't realized not all men were like her father and able to fetch feminine products for their female housemates. Even so, she normally did her own shopping. And what if Flug did come back with the wrong things? After all, he didn't know how her periods went!

"I need to get out of this house," she murmured.

After Lita cut him off, Dr. Flug sighed and randomly scooped packages of tampons and pads into his cloth shopping bag. Might as well just grab all of them. Two Hatbots were hovering on opposite ends of the aisle, making sure no one interfered. Not that anyone did. Every store in this town was used to robberies, especially from Black Hat and his crew.

Flug paused when the next box of pads he picked up had the word "scented" on it.

"Why in the world would anyone want their genitals scented?" he muttered, tossing it into the bag. "Women are so complicated."

"Excuse me?"

The sudden voice caused Flug to squeak. On instinct, he whipped out his laser gun and spun around.

"How did you get past the—gah!"

The sight he was met with made him fumble with his gun. Standing there was a young, pale-skinned woman in her mid-twenties, dressed in a simple white polo and khakis. Her auburn hair fell down to her shoulders in gentle wisps. Brown, chocolate eyes peered at him through a pair of thick-rimmed spectacles.

Sweat started dripping down Flug's paper bag. He recognized the woman. Her hair was longer, her figure had filled out, but it was her. He gulped, fearing what would happen.

Does she recognize me? No, she couldn't possibly! I made sure of it!

"Do you mind moving?" the woman asked in a flat tone.

Shaking out of his daze, Flug snapped back into villain mode and pointed the gun at her. "D-Do you have any idea who you're speaking to?!"

Please say you don't, please say you don't!

"Well, duh, everyone knows who you are," she said, glancing behind him. "And I don't wanna get in the way of…whatever you're doing, but you're blocking the vaginal cream."

Flug looked back at the lower shelf. "Oh." Forcing a laugh, he stepped to the side. "Right. Of course. I'm done in this aisle any—" He stopped. "Vaginal cream?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh…yeah? Not that it's any of your business."

His goggles glinted. "That's wonderful!"

"Huh?" she said, looking more confused.

"I-I m-m-mean…" He pointed the gun again. "Yes, yes. Y-You just finish your shopping, Andi, and s-stay out of our way and I won't shoot!"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, dude." As she bent down to get her cream, she stiffened. "Hey, wait, how'd you know my—?"

But by the time Andi looked up, Flug had fled to the next aisle.

The evil scientists rushed through the store, hastily grabbing the rest of the items on the list. Why, why, why did he have to run into her?! Well, she did live here, after all. He should've had her deported years ago. Even if she didn't remember him, seeing her was too much.

There was some satisfaction in seeing her again. She looked much healthier than the last time. It seemed the hormonal pills had worked well, and if she was getting vaginal cream, she must've gotten the surgery.

It'd been odd for her to act so nonchalant around him if she didn't recognize him. Then again, she'd acted that way before too. Like Lita, she'd lived in this town for some time too and was used to casual robberies.

Anyway, Flug was glad to see that Andi had completed her transition. At least she was doing alright. That had been the one thing that'd worried him the past few years, whether or not she'd recovered from…what he'd done to her.

And she didn't remember him. That was good. It was better that way.

But damn! Why did she have to look so good?!

"Someone's been practicing," Black Hat said after Lita had jabbed him in the ribs.

For their weekly sparring session, Lita had suggested they go with bo staffs this time. He now understood why, as her technique seemed to have improved. Not that it hurt him or anything. He was shirtless again, in an effort to mess with her, but honestly, Lita was used to it by now.

"Glad you've noticed," she said, blocking his strike from above. "Not like I have anything better to do being cooped up in here." She swung her staff below, only for him to jump over it. "So when are you actually gonna have me steal something?"

Black Hat smirked as he blocked her next blow. "Eager to get into the game, are we?"

"It's what you hired me to do, isn't it?" She leaped back as he swung at her. "So when's my first job?"

It wasn't until a few strikes later that he answered. "When you're ready."

Their staffs clashed above their heads as she scowled at him. "And when will I be ready?"

He winked. "When I say you are."

With a frustrated grunt, Lita pushed him backward. "I've done your stupid training courses! I've answered your dumb riddles!"

"Not all of them," he said, waving his staff teasingly.

"Well, come on! You can't expect me to know the answer to everything in the entire world!" She lunged at him. "You said I was getting better!"

His staff met hers and he kicked her in the stomach, sending her backwards. Lita landed on the mat with a thud. She groaned as she clutched her aching stomach.

"Indeed, you are," he said, balancing his staff vertically as he leaned his chin onto it. "But you're still not ready."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "What more do you want me to fucking do?!"

He stared at her a moment. "Why don't we take five?"

Still angry, Lita tossed her staff to the side and sat up. Black Hat sat down beside her, using his staff for support.

"Tell me, Miss Gris," he said, glancing sideways at her. "What is it you desire?"

She looked at him incredulously. "To see my Papi, of course."

"No, no." He rolled his eye. "I mean in general. Don't you have any goals? Some feats you'd like to accomplish?"

Lita blinked. "Huh." She brought her knees to her chest. "No one's…ever really asked me that before."

He turned towards her, finding that hard to believe. Truth was that Lita had never really thought about what she wanted for a long time. After her mother died, all she'd thought about was taking care of her father.

"What about when you were a child?" Black Hat asked, leaning towards her. "Was there anything you wanted to be or do when you grew up?"

It took a minute for her to think about it.

"I wanted to be in the Olympics," she said with a small smile.

Black Hat glanced at the rings hanging from the ceiling. "In gymnastics, I presume."

She nodded. "On the bar, on the rings, I felt…invincible. Like…I could do anything." She leaned her chin onto her knees. "That was before the whole thieving thing, of course."

It made sense. No child started out wanting to be a criminal. Black Hat was pleased to find out she had some ambition.

"Mostly I just wanted to get away," Lita continued, gazing up at the ceiling. "As far from this island as possible. I've lived here my whole life and have never seen what's beyond it."

She glanced over at Black Hat and found him staring thoughtfully at her. Suddenly, she remembered who she was talking to.

"Stupid, huh?" she said, straightening her legs.

"Not at all," Black Hat said in a surprisingly sincere tone. "First thing I did once I was old enough and had the money was get as far away from my place of birth as possible."

Her eyes widened at how…normal that piece of backstory sounded. "Place of birth? You mean you were once—?"

He ignored her question. "Though take it from someone who's been everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Not everything is worth seeing."

"I know." Lita sighed sadly. "But just one day…on the mainland, or…I don't know, Hoboken! That would be enough for me."

"Is that so?" He stroked his chin in thought. "Well then," he said, standing up, "until you prove to me that you are willing to pull off a heist, you'll just have to keep practicing." Reaching out his hand, he levitated his shirt and coat over. "We're done for today."

"What?" Lita said, standing. "But that wasn't even ten minutes! And how am I supposed to prove—?"

"You want something, Miss Gris," Black Hat said, glancing back at her, "you need to work for it."

"But—"

But he had slinked out of there before she could argue further. Growling, Lita clenched her hands into fists. She was getting sick of Black Hat's little mind games.

Her anger continued to fume as she went on with her afternoon chores.

"How can I not be ready?" she grumbled as she dusted the stolen items in Black Hat's trophy room. "He's seen what I can do! He's read my police record! I beat him at fucking chess! What more does that bastard want from me?!"

In her fury, she accidentally knocked one of the ionic pedestals over. Fortunately, she caught the object before it hit the ground. As she set it back on the pedestal, she examined it more closely.

It was a green Fabergé egg, decorated in gold. But the strange thing about it was the design. The gold trimming was laced into a skull, and near the top of the egg was an emblem of a black top hat. The egg seemed familiar, and it took a few seconds for Lita to remember where she'd seen it before. In an old newspaper clipping her father had kept in a scrapbook. It'd been an article in Russian, though her father had told her the headline read that a priceless Fabergé egg had been stolen. One that he had stolen.

So, this was the egg Ricardo had gotten for Black Hat years ago. Lita didn't remember much from that story, only that her father had said something about the egg once belonging to Black Hat and that he'd paid a large sum for its return. Ricardo had had to sneak into a duchess' home in St. Petersburg to get it. Of course, he'd never been caught for it.

"Papi always said I could've pulled off the job just as well," Lita murmured.

As she stared at the egg for another minute, an idea formulated in her head.

"WHERE IS IT?!"

Shrieking, Flug dropped the photograph he'd been staring at and instinctively shielded his head with his arms.

"TROPHY ROOM! NOW!"

There was no use ignoring his call. When Black Hat shouted at such a volume, he was clearly in a bad mood and would vanquish anyone who didn't immediately obey him. After checking that his will and testament was tucked safely in his desk drawer, Flug hastened to the trophy room. 5.0.5., Dementia and Lita were already there, lined up and saluting. Flug quickly joined them, his hand shaking.

"W-What seems to be the p-problem, b-b-boss?" he said.

Black Hat turned to them, his one eye blazing red.

"Who," he seethed, "is responsible," he pointed to an empty pedestal, "for this?!"

Everyone looked over at the pedestal. 5.0.5. put his paw to his mouth, Dementia snickered in amusement, Lita appeared confused, while Flug gasped in horror.

"S-Sir, y-your egg! It's g-g-gone!"

"I can see that, you idiot!" Black Hat hollered, bearing his claws. "Now…WHICH ONE OF YOU IDIOTS TOOK IT?!"

"W-W-Wasn't me, boss, I swear!"

5.0.5. shook his head insistently.

"Sorry, don't have it," Dementia said with a shrug.

Black Hat's eye fell on Lita, who held up her hands defensively.

"Come on. You really think I'd be reckless enough to try and steal from you?"

"W-Wait, sir!" Flug said, pulling out his tablet. "I c-can check the cameras!"

He pulled up the video feed and rewound it to fifteen minutes ago, when the egg was still there. The others huddled around and watched. For a while, nothing happened. Then suddenly, the egg began to rise up into the ceiling. Black Hat glared at his subordinates.

"No one could have possibly infiltrated my lair," he said, pacing around them. "So, it had to have been one of you! So, I will ask again." He stopped in front of them. "Which one of you STOLE MY EGG?!"

"Aw," Dementia said with a huff. "Who cares about a stupid old egg, anyway? I mean besides making an omelet."

Black Hat was immediately in her face. "That egg was given to me by Peter Carl Fabergé himself! Until it was stolen from me during the Russian Revolution and then I had it stolen back!"

Dementia twirled a strand of her hair. "You look awfully cute when you're angry, boss."

Just then, something dropped out of Dementia's long ponytail. Seeing what it was, Black Hat scowled at her. She too glanced down and squeaked. Sitting beside her hair was the Fabergé egg!

"H-How'd that get in there?" Dementia said, genuinely shocked.

She screamed as she was suddenly ensnared by Black Hat's tentacles. Everyone else took a step back, not wanting to get involved. Flug ducked behind another pedestal while 5.0.5. shielded Lita's eyes. Lita, however, peeked out between his paws.

"IS THIS SOME KIND OF JOKE TO YOU?!" Black Hat shouted, lifting Dementia into the air.

"No, sweetie, I swear!" she wheezed. "It wasn't me! Really, this time I have no idea how—"

With a loud roar, he threw her out the door. Unfortunately, it had been closed and now had a Dementia-shaped hole.

"5.0.5., clean that up!" Black Hat exclaimed as he levitated the egg into his hands.

The bear nodded and ran out to fetch a broom.

"Flug, get back to work!"

"Y-Y-Yes, sir!" Flug said with a salute before scampering off.

Figuring she was no longer needed here, Lita turned to leave.

"Stay, Miss Gris."

She stiffened, but tried not to panic. Maybe he wanted her to help clean up too. Putting on an innocent smile, Lita faced him.

"Yeah, boss?"

He appeared to have calmed down, but was scowling at her intently. He held up the egg in one hand.

"Care to explain how this got into Dementia's hair?"

Trying not to show her surprise, Lita calmly placed her hands behind her back. "I…don't know what you—"

"Cut the act, Miss Gris," he said, stepping towards her. "Did you really think I wouldn't figure it out?"

She blinked up at him as he towered over her. "I, uh…have no idea what you're—"

"Oh, please," Black Hat said with a huff. "I deduced it was you from the beginning. After all, it was your father who had stolen this egg." His face was now an inch from hers. "You thought you could get my goat, did you? Stealing it back would be the perfect revenge."

Lita was completely still and speechless. How…how could he have possibly…?

"Now, let's see," he said, turning around, tossing the egg into his other hand. "I imagine you used the air ducts as a means of entry." He glanced up at the ceiling. Sure enough, there was a grate right above the egg's pedestal. "But of course, knowing of the cameras, you couldn't have risked being seen entering the air ducts. That would make you an obvious suspect. So, you must've entered from one of the bathrooms as they are free of cameras."

He sent her a smirk. "Feel free to correct me at any time."

Lita's mouth opened.

"Judging by this small patch of stickiness here," Black Hat said, licking his finger and using the saliva to polish the egg, "I can assume you attached a piece of chewing gum to a fishing wire, which would appear almost invisible on camera, in order to retrieve the egg from above." He set the egg gently down on the cushioned pedestal. "A juvenile tactic, but effective, I'll admit.

"Of course, you didn't expect me to notice the egg was gone right away, so upon hearing my outburst, you didn't have time to hide the egg. But, with Dementia rushing to my call too, you must've seen an opportunity for revenge and stashed it in her hair. Not only would that put you in the clear, but the girl who'd humiliated you would take the fall."

Placing his hands behind his back, he faced her, smiling in triumph. "Did I leave anything out?"

Lita stared at him in bewilderment. He had described it all perfectly.

"B-B-But…if you knew, then…why punish Dementia?"

He shrugged. "It's what you wanted me to do, isn't it? Besides, she's annoying. You, on the other hand," he said, moving slowly towards her, "are rather clever…"

She gulped as he drew nearer, fearing that he was going to do the same thing to her as he'd done to Dementia. Lita had no idea the egg was that important to him! She'd just wanted to prove a point, that she was a capable thief! But he had figured her out, and now she was going to suffer the consequences.

She shut her eyes, waiting for the pain. This wasn't a sparring session, after all. He wasn't going to go easy on her, and she stood no chance against his supernatural powers.

A cold touch on her chin surprised her. Opening her eyes, she found him grinning at her, his finger tilting her head upwards.

"You're ready," he whispered.

Lita took a step back. She had not been expecting that.

"You…you're serious?"

"Of course." Black Hat gestured to the egg. "You've proven yourself quite the little thief and are ready for a real job."

"But…you knew it was me."

"Of course, I did." He pressed his fingertips together. "I'm extremely intelligent."

Her shoulders relaxed a bit. "So…you admit I can pull it off?"

"Oh, I had no doubt you could pull it off."

Lita cocked her head in confusion. "Then why—?"

"It wasn't a matter of can, but a matter of will." With one hand behind his back, he circled round her. "You see, Miss Gris, with all your skills, you still lacked one crucial component of being a successful villain." He whispered in her ear. "The drive.

"In your month here, you've expressed no interest in villainy whatsoever. You only signed up for this position to save your father." He stopped in front of her. "Before I could trust you to do evil, I needed to see your desire to do so. And now," he said, mocking her with a boop on the nose, "I have it out of you."

She stared at him as she tried to process what was happening. "Did you…expect me to do something like this?"

"You mean try to prove yourself by double-crossing me?" he said, waving his hand. "You were so eager to get out and do something, anything, it was the most likely scenario. Though I will admit, I thought you'd try something smaller like pick my pocket." He chuckled. "Not that anyone could pickpocket me. Though I suppose stealing the egg your father stole for me was more…poetic."

He leaned forward to whisper, "Framing it on Dementia was a delightfully sinister touch."

She gazed up at him with a mixture of disbelief and…admiration. "You're good." She crossed her arms. "Seriously. You're good at what you do."

"And don't you forget it," Black Hat said, wagging his finger. "I'll give you the details on your first heist tomorrow."

As he walked past her, Lita scrunched her nose in confusion.

"Wait," she said, spinning around. "You're not gonna punish me?"

"Now, why would I do that," he said, smiling back at her, "when you did exactly what I wanted you to do?" He faced her again. "One more thing, Miss Gris. When you had the egg, did you have the curiosity to look inside?"

"Inside?" Lita said, glancing back at the egg.

He shook his head. "Pity. Oh, it's just as well." He tipped his hat. "Until tomorrow, Miss Gris."

When he was gone, Lita stood there for a long while, dazed. She had expected him to be angry. And she certainly hadn't expected him to figure out how she'd done it! Then again, he was the greatest villain of all time. At least she'd gotten what she'd wanted.

And it was strange. Stealing the egg, and then seeing Dementia take the fall for it, had been almost…enjoyable. See how she likes being framed.

She gazed curiously at the egg on the pedestal. She'd forgotten that Fabergé eggs often had something inside them. Was that why Black Hat was so furious about its disappearance? Was there something important inside?

There was so little she knew about Black Hat, the desire to know was burning inside her. Already, her hand was absentmindedly reaching towards the egg. The tips of her fingers were nearly on its jeweled surface.

Then she stopped. She'd already angered Black Hat once today. It'd be dangerous to push her luck any further.

So, she left the room without another thought. She had no idea a certain demon had been watching her from the shadows.

There will be more on Andi later. Though fun fact: I actually came up with her character before Lita. But there were so many holes in that fanfic idea I decided to let that one develop and work on this one for which I had a clearer idea.

BTW, it seems we will be getting more on "Villainous" soon and no doubt a lot of things in this fanfic, including character backstories, will not be canon. But oh well, this is a fanfic, after all.