"In the Badlands, there's a certain hierarchy to establish how high in status an Antagonist actually is."
In the middle of a monochromatic, dreary city, a tiny humanoid figure emerged.
"The beginning of the hierarchy are Minions. Antagonists who are assigned to work as sidekicks of sorts to normal Antagonists, and are never assigned a rival Protagonist to deal with."
Next to the figure emerged another, this one being twice as tall and looking down at the smaller figure with a cocky grin.
"Above them, right in the middle, are normal Antagonists, or Villains for simplicity. They're the ones who can get Minions assigned to them, and are typically assigned a rival Protagonist in order to fulfill the contractual conflict between Antagonists and Protagonists that the Index System demands."
And then, another figure appeared, this one towering over the two figures and commanding them to bow, which they did with little hesitation.
"And above them, standing at the very top, are Overlords. They serve as rulers of the Badlands and any other Antagonist-heavy establishment, and while they rarely have rivals like the other ranks, those who do only get the strongest, most powerful Protagonists."
…
"They also have direct access and connections to the Index System," Stella rolled her eyes. "Not that that means much in the current climate."
"A hierarchy?" Lana remarked. "Why don't the Protagonists have a hierarchy of their own? Or am I missing something?"
"The Index System favors Protagonists enough as is, giving them a hierarchy like the Antagonists is pointless," Lola rolled her eyes. "Besides, the Antagonist hierarchy serves more as a designation system to figure out how much of a threat they are. That's what I've heard anyway."
Then, Leni turned to Stella. "And where do you fit in? What are you, like, supposed to be?"
"Currently, I'm a normal Antagonist, or Villain, but like all Antagonists I started out my life as a Minion," Stella explained before she lowered her head. "In fact, my work with the villain from the mall was my last work as a Minion before I was officially promoted to Villain."
"And what happened that led to that?" Lana asked
Stella eyed Lincoln and Cristina, and the duo realized what this meant: it was time to unveil the dark truth.
"It was a normal day at first…" Lincoln said first.
…
Lincoln and Cristina held hands as they entered the mall, the latter skipping ahead while the former looked around.
"Alright, you two, I want you to stick together for as long as we're here, got it?"
The duo stopped and turned to look at their Chaperone: Luna Loud, who wore a setup similar to a rockstar in purple clothing. She was also floating above the ground, which Cristina quickly noticed:
"Hey, Luna, doesn't it get tiring to float all the time?"
"Nope, in fact, it feels pretty great!" Luna leaned back and placed her arms behind her head, flashing a confident smile. "Having the wind blow in my face, seeing everybody down from way high in the sky, it's honestly quite liberating."
"Wow, that sounds awesome!" Cristina chirped. "When I learn how to fly, I'm gonna float all the time too!"
"If you learn how to fly," Luna pointed out. "The power of flight isn't a very widespread ability among most Cliches."
Cristina rolled her eyes. "That's not what the teacher told us! Right, Lincoln?"
The snow-haired guy chuckled and looked elsewhere. "Don't get me in trouble."
"Anyway, I gotta go ahead and check if everything's alright at the mall," Luna waved goodbye. "Let's reunite at the fountain in an hour, and don't do anything too crazy, alright?"
"Sure, Luna, but you got nothing to worry about,"
The superhero floated towards her brother, appearing right in front of his face as she stated:
"I'm serious."
And with that said, the superhero flew away, leaving the lovebirds alone. Naturally, Cristina promptly grabbed Lincoln's hand, flashing a little smile as she asked:
"Wanna go get some ice cream?"
The guy returned the smile, and held Cristina's hand tightly.
"Sure."
…
Meanwhile, outside the mall, a girl ran after a ball before hitting and crashing into a woman, with the ball bouncing away into the streets, just as a truck stared to cross it.
"Hey, wait!"
The woman, wasting no time in getting involved, stretched one of her arms towards the girl, wrapping it around her and successfully pulling her back moments before the truck ran over the ball.
"Phew, that was close," the woman sighed as she put the girl down. "Are you okay?"
"I… I think so."
"Stefany!"
The woman stopped on her tracks and turned around to see a normal man approaching her.
"Oh thank goodness you're okay!" the man exclaimed as he ran to the woman's side. "Seriously, what have I told you about going away from me?!"
Stella looked elsewhere… "Not to do it."
The man then turned to the woman. "Oh, thank you so much for keeping my daughter safe! Please, may I know the name of my daughter's savior?!"
"Savior is a little too much, if you ask me, but I'm glad she's okay," the woman sighed. "My name is Jesse Hiller."
"Jesse Hiller… what a gorgeous name…" the man smiled. "Now, may I ask another question, Jesse?"
"Sure, go ahead."
The man flashed a sinister smile as his hand began to glow.
"Are you a virgin?"
Before the woman could answer or even figure out what was going on, the man clutched Jesse's throat with his glowing hand, smirking devilishly as the glow spread across the woman's body, with her screams echoing as her body began to deteriorate and melt.
The girl looked away from the sight until the screams stopped, and when she turned back to the victim, who had been reduced to a pile of dust that was swept away by the wind.
"Another successful virgin break," the man snickered. "I honestly don't know what I'd do if you weren't around, Minion."
The girl furrowed her brow. "My name is Stella."
The man promptly glanced at the girl, who looked away as he asked sternly, "Did you just talk back to me?"
Stella shook her head. "No, sir."
"Good, that better not have been some back talking, because you know damn well how much I hate that stuff."
Then, the man moved his glowing hand close to Stella.
"Really, it'd be a shame if I had to punish you for insubordination. After all, you're one of the best minions I've had in years!"
"And yet you threaten her life without a second thought."
The duo turned around to see a teen girl with a guitar on her back, her arms wrapped around it like she was an anime character or something. She had spiky blonde hair with a light blue streak across it, and was wearing a blue jacket with a white shirt and black pants.
"Hey, you know what they say: if they don't work as minions, then they'll work as a power up," the man stated. "I'm just making sure she doesn't get any funny ideas and tries to boss me around."
The blonde girl snickered then flashed a cocky grin, opening her eyes to reveal pearly white pupils with glowing pupils as she responded:
"All you're doing is setting yourself up to go die in a ditch."
The man huffed and puffed, and… readied his outfit and adjusted his bowtie. "No matter, we have a big entrance to perform, and we need to be ready. It's about time I make a name for myself in this stupid city."
And so, the man walked forward towards the mall, leaving Stella alone with the blonde rocker, who put a hand on her shoulder and said:
"I know he's a pain in the ass, but don't worry, kid. He's not gonna be a pain for long. In fact…"
The girl smirked. "He may not even be alive for long either."
Through the ominous declaration, Stella felt a chill go down her spine, but the girl walked forward before she could ask what she meant. And so, with nothing else to do, Stella took a deep breath and began to head to the mall as well.
Whatever her boss had planned, it would be terrible…
…
"Hmm! Delicious!"
Cristina moaned in delight while eating a couple's ice cream alongside Lincoln, who smiled at seeing the girl enjoying her time. He took a deep breath, and clasped his hands.
"Hey, Cristina?"
The redhead paused her eating. "Yes, Lincoln?"
"We've been friends for a long time now, right?" Lincoln scratched the back of his head. "We've been around each for quite some time, whether with Ronnie Anne and Clyde or… with neither."
Cristina smiled. "Yes?"
"And… well, I've been thinking," Lincoln shrugged. "Not to sound arrogant, but you clearly got the hots for me-"
"Lincoln, there's a difference between sounding arrogant and sounding honest," Cristina giggled. "But I like where this is going, so keep it up."
"And… there's a chance I may feel the same way too…" Lincoln gulped. "So… I was wondering…"
Cristina leaned her hand closer to Lincoln. "Yes?"
"... Cristina… would you-"
*KICK!*
"Attention, Virgins and Virginettes!"
Everybody turned around to see the group kick the door open, with just about everybody feeling a chill down as the leader proclaimed:
"This mall is now under the ownership of the Virgin Breakers! Hand over your virgins willingly, or else we'll take them by force!"
