I ran through the hallways of my mother's hideout. I kept hearing screaming and I tried running towards the sound. Left. Left. Right. Left. Right. The endless hallways confused me. The screaming was loud, then soft, then loud. It kept changing every time I ran down a different hallway. Suddenly, I ran into a hallway and stopped short. A dead end. But that was not what made me stop. Flint and Ferd lay on the ground, unresponsive. My mother was backed up against the wall, screaming for help and holding the attacker's arms that held two different types of swords. The attacker was a shadowed man; so shadowed that I was not able to see his features. I tried to run towards them, but my feet seemed to be stuck to the floor. I watched helplessly as my mother's strength failed her, and she collapsed to the floor silently, weak from screaming and holding her own against the attacker. I watched in horror as the shadowed man thrust one of his swords into her, and she fell to the ground next to Flint and Ferd. The shadowed man then turned, but I could still not make out anything about him. He began to walk towards me, and I tried to run again, but my feet were still glued. Instead, the man just passed through me as if I was nothing. As if I was not even there.

I awoke with a start, heavily breathing and sweat pouring down my face. My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness that surrounded me, showing that I was in my room. Looking around, I saw a large, shadowed figure near my bed. I screamed in surprise and threw my pillow at the figure. The figure grunted before letting out a small growl. I turned on the lamp next to my bed and carefully rubbed my eyes to adjust them to the sudden light. 5.0.5 was laying next to my bed, looking curiously at the pillow. I sighed in relief, and laid back down, staring at the ceiling. It was only a nightmare. A very realistic nightmare. I lay in bed for a while before deciding that I couldn't sleep. I put on my lab coat over my pajamas before shuffling out of my room, 5.0.5 falling back asleep. As I walked around the house I heard voices talking in Black Hat's office. I carefully crept next to the door and leaned my ear against the door.

"Pull something like that again and I'll make sure that you'll never walk on this Earth again!" Black Hat yelled in anger.

"I'm sorry sir," a deep voice replied. "I just saw her and I thought that I had a chance to end her."

"You could have killed my scientist!"

Silence. Then, an agitated sigh was heard.

"I'll give you one more chance. Next week we will have your weapon ready. DO NOT PULL A STUNT LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN. We do not attack Jill anymore."

There was no reply for a while. Then, the voice spoke up.

"Fine. I will see you next week then, sir."

I scrambled to the side of the door to try and hide myself as the visitor exited. As he walked by I stifled a gasp. A man clad entirely in black, like the shadow that appeared in my dream. He noticed me, turned to me, and nodded. I just stood stiffly and watched as he walked away.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the hospital?"

I yelped and spun around to see Black Hat standing in the doorway, arms folded.

"No...I mean, yes..." I stammered. "I-I just..."

"Just forget it," Black Hat sighed as he walked past me. "I thought that you were going to stay with your mother."

"Plan changed," I replied, just shrugging my shoulders and following after him.

"She said that you two will never see each other again, right?" Black Hat asked.

I nodded in silence, and we continued to walk down the hallways for a while before I decided to ask a question.

"Who was that man?" I finally asked.

"A customer," came Black Hat's short reply.

"I never met him before," I pondered out loud. "Why was he in my dream?"

Black Hat visibly stopped, and I ran into him. He turned around, eyes wide.

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

"M-my dream I had last night," I replied, trying to remember. "He was in it. I was in my mother's lair, and he had already killed Flint and Ferd. She was struggling against him. She called for help, but I couldn't move. He struck her with a sword and I woke up just as he turned around and walked through me."

"That's...strange..." Black Hat muttered to himself. "This somehow means that he was able to place himself in your dream." He shook his head. "Never mind that now. If he disobeys me again, he won't live to see another day."

I quietly nodded and soon we approached his office. He sat down at his desk, sighed, and folded his hands.

"You know, I've been thinking," he began. "Even though I'm retired-"

"Retired?" I asked, cutting him off.

He glared at me and I gulped in fear.

"Sorry, continue," I apologized.

"As I was saying," Black Hat growled. "Even though I'm retired, it doesn't mean that I can't help other villains. I was thinking that we could create videos that give tips to fellow super villains. What do you think?"

"It's a great idea, sir," I replied, smiling.

"I know that!" he snapped at me. "It's because I thought of it!"

"Videos?"

We turned to the door to see Demencia and 5.0.5 standing there, listening to our conversation.

"Of course, we need a scientist," Black Hat grinned.

"I already work for you," I replied, letting out a small chuckle. "But, I will help with the videos."

"Excellent," Black Hat smiled. "Welcome to the Black Hat Organization."

***

Afterwards, I was walking back to my room when I saw a shadowed figure in the window. I blinked, and the figure was gone. Shaking my head, I finally made it back to my room where I crawled into bed, falling asleep next to a curled up 5.0.5. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I should have stopped that figure.