"Tobey," Becky said in a shaky voice as she forced herself to unclasp her arms from around his midsection. "Who…who was that?"

Tobey looked down. Of all things, why this? Why here? Why now? He knew the voice on the other end of the tape…he knew it all too well. It was a ghost from his villainous past. Echoes of all the evil he had committed rushed through his mind. He saw Becky, before her secret's unveiling, standing strong in her heroic form ready to battle him. It was a horrifying sight, one that scared him more than anything else in the world; well…almost anything, anyway. For there was one thing that frightened him more than a disapproving scowl from WordGirl. It was the sound of that voice, which ran somewhere between grainy and demonic.

"Tobey, I'm gonna ask you again. Who…was…that?"

Tobey felt beads of sweat form on his brow. "That was a voice from my past…someone I hoped to God you'd never get to actually hear. Someone responsible for death and destruction…families ruined…merciless killings…I…I…"

"Sh, Tobey," Becky said, turning her switch from stern hero to comforting friend. "I can tell this brings back a somewhat traumatizing memory. If you're not ready to discuss it now, that's fine. But we…"

"No," Tobey interrupted. "This is something I need to tell you. I've buried it long enough and now it's caught up to me. Becky, you know the EVA, right?"

"The Evil Villains Association?" Becky responded. "The group that holds conventions once a month at that seedy dump of a motel outside of town?"

"The very same," Tobey said. "Anyway, recently, Dr. Two-Brains and his goons ambushed me and told me that I'd been kicked out. They also tried to kill me."

"KILL YOU?!" Becky suddenly screamed.

"Yes, Becks, but I made it out alive," Tobey said. "Calm down."

"You need to TELL me these things!"

"I couldn't!" Tobey argued.

"Why?!"

"Because I…" Tobey started, then stopped short, not wanting to reveal what he'd told his mother. "I…didn't want to worry you, that's all."

"Okay," Becky said, lowering her hackles but remaining somewhat suspicious.

"Anyway, I got booted…but I never imagined that they knew what you and I were up to."

"How, exactly, did they know?"

"I don't know," Tobey said honestly. "I've tried over and over to figure it out, but I haven't the slightest idea. Two-Brains said they had video evidence of me working with you, but that's impossible…or, at least, it would be if we weren't up against…them."

"Okay, you keep speaking cryptically," Becky said with frustration.

"That's because this whole thing is cryptic!"

"AH! AH!" Huggy chirped in anger.

"Oh, sorry, Huggy," Becky said. "Being cryptic just means someone's speaking mysteriously or indirectly. For example, those crime shows that we watch are often purposely cryptic in their storytelling."

Huggy offered a satisfied chirp along with a thumbs-up as Becky turned back to Tobey. "Now, what were you saying?"

"They don't show themselves to anyone," Tobey responded with an undisguised quiver in his voice. "They kill without discrimination and, in all the time I've known them, they've never failed to gain vengeance on a single enemy. They're the President of the EVA…and they go by one name…Fiend."

"Fiend?" Becky asked, cocking her head.

"Yes, Fiend."

"Hm…rather predictable and unoriginal name, but what the hell? I'll bite. What does this Fiend character want with you, Tobey?"

"They want my death, Becky…and the death of anyone who so much as looks in your direction. But here's the thing about the EVA. It's not just one chapter."

"Oh, okay," Becky said. "So how many are we talking about, here? 5? 10?"

"350"

Becky stopped short. Her breath seemed to return back into her lungs. When Tobey had first mentioned this Fiend, she knew that they were a dangerous foe. After all, they'd unleashed Dr. Two-Brains and his henchmen on Tobey. What she didn't realize was that Fiend was an international supervillain. Her eyes darted around the spaceship as the sudden burst of information slowly sunk in. Fiend wasn't interested in taking over the city or turning it into cheese or vanquishing everyone who didn't acknowledge a fake birthday. Fiend was someone she'd never dealt with before and the prospect of facing down an enemy like that shook her.

"Becks…you okay?" Tobey asked.

"Uh…yeah…did you just say…350?"

"Uh-huh. 350 chapters, each one different from the last," Tobey said.

"How in the blistering heck did Fiend manage so much?" Becky asked in bewilderment.

"They're just excellent at what they do, and they're very good at getting the word out. See, Fiend said that they started the EVA in an effort to organize Fair City's villains…and one thing just led to another. Before we knew it, 350 cities around the world had their own chapters. Becky, we're not just dealing with a criminal, here. We're dealing with a mastermind in charge of an entire crime syndicate!"

Becky shook her head and cleared the cobwebs. "A syndicate?"

"Yes…a syndicate."

Becky took a moment to breathe. "Alright, well…they'll just have to meet the same fate as everyone else we've faced."

"Prison?"

"Hopefully, that's all we'll have to do," Becky said.

Tobey looked down. Becky's tone had grown gravely serious. Though death had, thankfully, never been in the cards for her battles, it became apparent that this would be different. He gulped a bit, imagining Becky flying through the air, forced to end lives in order to preserve the vast majority of humans left on Earth. Fiend's plans were bigger than the two of them…much bigger…and Tobey knew it.

"So…did this Fiend mention anything about a master plan?" Becky asked.

"They want to rule the world," Tobey said. "But more than that, Becky, Fiend has a special bit of hatred…for you."

"Makes sense," Becky said with a flip of her hair. "After all, the EVA did start here and most of this chapter's members are my regular foes."

"No, Becky, you don't understand," Tobey said. "Whomever Fiend is, their hatred isn't because you constantly defeat their underlings over and over. It's that you did something to them, something in their past. They've mentioned it before, but they never went into specifics."

"Alright, then. Looks like we'll have to have our detective hats on more than before," Becky said. "Now, come on. It's getting late. We both need to get home."