Flug came back to the room around 8 to check if Melanie had fallen asleep. The sight of 505 tiptoeing out of the room and gesturing to be quiet as he approached the room was confirmation enough.
"Good work, buddy," Flug whispered. "Daddy is very proud of you for taking such good care of Melanie."
505 smiled and nodded vigorously as he walked past Flug to do his other chores.
Flug peaked into the bedroom for good measure just to make sure his student was sleeping. Sure enough, Melanie was sleeping peacefully and silently in her bed.
With a sigh of relief, Flug shut the door and headed for Black Hat's office. That was one problem he didn't have to deal with for the rest of the night at least. Now, he could focus on more pressing matters.
Flug made his way to Black Hat's office.
When he arrived, Flug meekly knocked on the door, opened the door slowly, and poked his head in before stepping inside.
"Sorry if I'm intruding, sir," Flug said shyly.
"What is it, worm?" Black Hat asked sitting at his desk with Lord Reaper sitting in the chair with iced coffee in front of him.
"Melanie's asleep, sir," Flug said nervously. "I just wanted to know if you needed anything before I returned to my other work."
"Poor deluded little thing," Lord Reaper lamented.
"Not particularly," Black Hat said angrily. "Why are you here instead of checking your probes to find that shapeshifter?! You've wasted enough time trying to coddle the girl! Now, get back to work!"
"I have been keeping an eye on them, Lord Black Hat, sir," Flug said in a desperate attempt to appease. "The drones have found nothing else yet, but I'll keep looking."
"Oh, Black Hat, please stop being so mean to him. He has been doing a good job," Lord Reaper said without leaving his spot on the chair. "Comforting my anxious granddaughter was not a waste of time. Thanks for doing that for me, doctor. Besides, my granddaughter now knows where we stand and has built up a level of rapport with Flug. We also know why she feels so drawn to the Nunjas. I'd call that progress."
"Your sentiment is almost as headache-inducing as that bear," Black Hat said with an eyeroll.
"Black Hat, you of all demons should know that there is value in sentiment," Lord Reaper mused. "I've found that in running my own little kingdom that if you give the peasants all they think they want then they have no reason to do anything but love you. I apply a similar principal when dealing with my heirs, but I don't mind making him happy. I think you could only possibly understand if you had descendants of your own."
"Parasites," Black Hat muttered loudly.
"Anyways, have you and Lord Reaper formulated a plan for how to deal with Melanie tomorrow, your evilness?" Flug asked.
"Yes," Black Hat answered. "I believe that given enough public pain the Nunja will do what they can to come for her. So, we need to do what we can to make the girl miserable and film our efforts. If we do that and put the footage out for the public to see, I believe that we can draw Kasumi out."
"And how do you plan on doing that, my lords?" Flug asked.
Lord Reaper sighed sadly, turned to Black Hat with a heavy frown, and waited for him to give an answer.
"Lord Reaper and I are going to take away Melanie's scythe," Black Hat said with a wicked smile. "She will be left vulnerable until we decide to give it back to her. We will lay out our terms with stricter rules and special tasks she will have to obey if she wants to get it back. Then whenever she steps out of line, you will use your tracking device to do the rest in terms of pain. In a higher frequency if you will. When the video is done, you will broadcast it as far as you can. Eventually, it'll reach the Nunjas and they'll have to respond."
"Understood, sir," Flug replied. "Is there anything else you need me to do in the meantime?"
"Yes," Black Hat said, before warping his form into something bizarre and frightening and screaming, "FIND THAT GODDAMN SEAL!"
Flug's immediate response was to scream and dash out the door as quickly as he could.
As soon as Flug had left, Black Hat reverted to his original form.
Lord Reaper shook his head and asked, "Was that really necessary, Black Hat?"
"Believe me," Black Hat retorted with a grin. "It was very necessary. You have to remind your minions who their master is. Speaking of which, come along. We need to retrieve that scythe from your granddaughter."