“It is called The Power-Base. Run totally by fans, it is the most popular website today for unbiased information on the powers and activities of heroes and villains.”

“Don’t the Alliance of Champions have something like this?”

“Yes, and so do the entertainment companies. They all have their own website for their heroes, but most of them are written to show the heroes in a good light. The moderators of Power-Base try to be as unbiased as they can.”

“Do I have a page like this?”

“Yes, but it is sorely in need of an update. Candice was one of the first person who called after the Leaper video went on air. She was very excited and want to meet you to get a breakdown of your powers. She also wants to arrange a date for your fitting.”

“Fitting?”

“You are not going out there in your old costume.”

“What’s wrong with what I have now?”

“It is a tracksuit with a hoodie.”

“Give me a pair of gloves and a mask, and I am all set.”

“That’s hardly eye-catching.”

“I am a villain, not a clown. I like things simple in my old age.”

Jennifer gave a heavy sigh and stopped herself from mentioning how clownish Victor was in his old costume.

“Fine, I will tell Candice. Do you want your men to be dressed similarly?”

“I haven’t decided on that yet. Who say I want to be a villainous crime lord anyway?”

“Considering all the work we had put in, you better.”

Jennifer then pressed the tablet and show Victor a new page. It was a flowchart of the supposed organization with several symbols indicating the different branches like training, combat, and logistics. Victor looked at the chart and had to ask.

“You did this? How did you even know all this?”

Jennifer didn’t answer. Instead she just hand over a booklet to Victor. The cover of it read: “The Working of a Successful Villainous Organization.” Accompanying it was the logo of H.A.V.E. At the bottom of the cover page, there was line text. "Copyright – Heavenly Association of Villainous Entertainment.” A light bulb went up in Victor’s head.

“Entertainment? Wait, you said the celebrity heroes are all signed with entertainment companies. So, H.A.V.E is … an entertainment company for villains?”

“The very first of the kind.” Jennifer said. “They were so successful that others have begun copying them but as the pioneers of the ‘villainous entertainment’ business, they have a head start on everyone. This booklet is something they give out to their clients who wish to create a criminal organization of their own.”

Victor flipped through the booklet. It looked brand new with bright colours and the inside was filled with everything a villainous overlord would need to look out for. The basics like the hiring of henchmen and the setting up a base of operation, to more advanced matters like the business end of running a criminal organization and the opposition a villainous group would face from the local authorities and superheroes. Everything was written in a humorous tone and there was even a disclaimer stating that everything written in the booklet was fictional. Victor had to smile at the last part.

Then he frowned. Victor was reading a section on weapons development and thought it was like something he had read before. He went through the rest of the booklet, reading it slowly. He was surprised by the contents of the little booklet.

The booklet had a list of essential departments most evil organizations would need and ‘encourage’ would-be villainous overlords to fill up these positions to the best of their abilities. These departments were transportation, medical, and logistics. Other departments like engineering, scientific research, weapons development, and henchmen training would depend on the theme of the organization.

Having a theme was important. The theme of the organization is the identity of the group and would affect how the public perceive them. The booklet strongly advised leaders to have a strong vision of how they want the public to perceive their organization, and plan accordingly from the start. Is their organization based around science or magic? Are they hackers or bank robbers? Victor was certain he had read this section of the booklet before.

“Did H.A.V.E make this?” Victor asked. “I think I read this before.”

Jennifer didn’t know the answer and begun checking on her tablet. After a minute, she got the answer.

“Yes, H.A.V.E created the booklet but parts of it are taken from existing material written by other supervillains.”

“How did those villains take the fact their material had been taken by H.A.V.E?”

“According to their website, H.A.V.E have the copyright of everything in the booklet, so I assumed they paid some money to the villains for their work.”

Victor smiled at Jennifer’s naivety. Plagiarism was common in villainous circle, and he doubt H.A.V.E paid anything to anyone to make this booklet. At most, the company would have changed a few things around to make things looked new. It gave Victor an idea but that could come later. Right now, there was a more important matter for him to deal with.

“So, you seem to be enjoying yourself.”

“I know where you are going with this, and yes, I want in. Everyone dreamt of being in the Game when they were young, and I was no different. I shall admit being an assistant wasn’t how I imagine it, but this is a chance for me to enter the Game and I intend to take it.”

“What did Jason say?”

“He supports it.” Victor’s eye widened, and Jennifer laughed. “What did you expect? Like I said, ‘everyone’ dreamt of being in the Game when they were young. Jason is no different. In fact, I hope to find a position for him in the organization.”

As his daughter laughed, Victor felt a wave of fear engulfing him. His daughter wanted to be a villain. Victor was stunned by the revelation. A few weeks ago, he didn’t even know that he had children, and now one of them want to follow in his footsteps. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Victor wasn’t that surprised by the fact that the couple wanted to be in The Game, most people do, but most people wanted to be heroes. At least that was the case when he went in. Had things changed so much nowadays?