--Chapter 8, Later That Evening--
At a cozy little safehouse, tucked away from the eyes of the Kids.Next.Door, a collection of villians have met up in the safehouse's bar to discuss the information that Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb collected earlier that day. The room was dimly lit by soft yellow ceiling lights and a low hum emanated from the aforementioned lights. The quiet chatter between Father, Wink and Fibb, and the occasional sound of flicking cards were the only sounds in the room.
Father, Fibb and Wink were sitting in a dark booth in the corner of the room, only Father's glowing yellow orb eyes illuminated the small booth.
Crazy Old Cat Lady and Count Spankalot were sitting at a table, the old woman was drinking a glass of milk while the spank-happy vampire was attempting to win over the affection of one of her many cats to no avail.
Soccer Mom with her feet up on the bar and Mr. Boss, who now had a cast on his right arm, had a deck of cards sat between them and were each taking turns trying to flick a one card at a time into a bowl that was placed on the bar top.
Mr. Fizz sat at the far end of the bar, sipping a mug of root beer soda. Occasionally, Fizz would glance over at the door to make sure it wasn't about to be kicked in. This was because, despite the cozy setting, a thick fog of dread hung in the air.
"And you two are sure that he was talking about mind control?" Father asked to the duo. "Yes, sir. He said it himself that he was being controlled by someone." Wink and Fibb replied in quiet unison.
Soccer Mom scoffed at the trio's conversation as she flicked another card, grinning at the card landing in the bowl. "I'd take what he said with a grain of salt, you two. The brat was probably just lying to save his own ass." She commented.
"Well...mind control would explain a few things." Mr. Fizz interjected as he put down his mug of soda. "When me and Father's apprentice fought Numbah 1 to buy Mr. Boss time to escape, something about him just creeped me right out. He was so blank and dull, no personality present whatsoever. And his movements were rigid and strict, like a wooden marioneta on strings." Mr. Fizz explained.
"I second what Angelo said." Crazy Old Cat Lady piped up as her cat climbed into her lap and she started petting it. "When one of my precious babies clawed that nasty boy all over his head, I at least expected him to flinch. But no! He didn't make a peep, let alone flinch from pain. It was as if he couldn't feel a thing." The elderly woman continued.
"But, if he was being controlled by someone else, who on Earth would be powerful enough to control Numbah 1?" Count Spankulot worried as he nervously fiddled with the wrists of his gloves.
The room fell slient with dread, nobody wanted to think of that. Whoever was powerful enough to build a mind control device and have the stomach to use it, powerful enough to openly threaten their loved ones, powerful to start a full scale invasion, that was someone that rattled every villian to their core with fear.
"Anyway-" Father said as he stood up. "-Wink, Fibb, thank you for this information." He said to them before addressing the rest of the room. "Everyone else, keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious. If you see anything strange, tell me so I can look into it, alright?" The others let out a mutter of agreement before going back to whatever they were doing.
"Not bad for a guy with a broken arm." Soccer Mom commented as the deck of cards ran out and they looked over who got the most cards into their respective bowls, Soccer Mom had seventeen cards in her target while Mr. Boss only had ten. "Eh, you just caught me at a bad time is all." Mr. Boss joked, getting a chuckle out of both of them.
"What do you think of the situation with Numbah 1? Do you really believe that it was mind control?" Soccer Mom asked. "I don't know what to believe. The mind control thing is a viable theory, but I'm gonna wait until I see that kid face to face to ask him." Mr. Boss replied.
"Hmph. You're way calmer then I'd be, Gabe. If I ever see him again, I'm going to punt him in the face with a basketball on the spot!" Soccer Mom declared to Mr. Boss.
"I'm sure you would." Mr. Boss said as his eyes started to transfix on the cast wrapped around his right arm. He never thought that a child could be capable of real violence before. Yeah, I knew that some kids (never his own, obviously) would kick and scream and throw a fit when they didn't get their way.
But a child capable of pouncing on you?
Of breaking your arm?
Of trying to stab you with the remnants of a the makeshift weapon they broke your arm with?
That irked him in all the worst ways. He still had nightmares about the whole thing. But, now it supposedly wasn't his fault? How silly, that he worked alongside vampires, candy pirates and evil fire spouting men, but the idea of mind control was a strange thing to wrap his head around?
Now that he thought about it, it was entirely plausible. He'd been the subject of a variant of mind control when he was turned into a Senior Citizen Zombie. But still, he wanted to confront Numbah 1 himself.