"Hey Jules, there is mail for you."

Jules threw his cloak and mask on the wardrobe table where Mildred would pick it up after him. He was irresponsible like that when there was urgent business.

"Thank you, Oscar, anything else I need to know?"

Crossing the hallway and ignoring the chatter from upstairs, was done in a moment and Jules entered his official study. The one he used when someone invited themselves into his house and he had to show his upstanding citizenship.

It was tiring at the best of times.

"Mx Yuna came around during tea time and delivered some papers that the mailman had forgotten. Nothing outstanding, really."

Nothing outstanding really. It was that Jules knew Oscar was baiting him, but otherwise he might have outed some choice words.

Falling into his desk chair and ripping open the folder Yuna left for him, gave some satisfaction, but it was nothing compared to the actual contents of the paper.

"And?"

Oscar's curiosity got the best of him, when Jules mouth hung open for several minutes while he read the information gifted to him.

"It seems our resident hero needs us to clean up a mess, one they don't want to burn their hands on."

-

"Welcome, welcome. Please leave your coat with my assistant while I show you the rooms."

Jules dropped his coat in the arms of the CEO's assistant without looking either man a moment in the eye.

"No need, I'm here for the experiments. I want to see where my money will go, the talking can take place at a later moment."

The man tried to protest and steer Jules away from the basements while he was given a tour of the company, but he didn't relent. He needed to see every single room in this building if they wanted to pull this off.

The amount of posters hanging around and photographs of the man leading the way around were astonishing. A true model of an upstanding citizen in the eye of the tabloids and critics. Even going as far as letting him kiss babies to give them his blessing.

No wonder Yuna didn't want to be involved in this.

Eventually they stood in front of the door that could put the safe of fort knox to shame.

"It is really not necessary for you to see it, sir. I wouldn't want you to dirty your suit while walking inside."

The man was visibly sweating, if Jules hadn't already known about the unsavoury practices behind the door he would have been very suspicious now.

"Can you open the door for me at least, then I can watch through the doorway. It was, after all, one of the main reasons for coming here."

With morbid anticipation, Jules watched the CEO move forward and unlock the door. He hoped the code and manner were both recorded and he wouldn't need to figure it out impromptu at a later moment.

There was honestly not a lot of time to lose anymore.

The door opened with lots of protests and noise, making Jules involuntary cringe away. That could prove to be a problem. Nonetheless the door was opened for him and the CEO took a step to the side to give Jules a full view of the contents hidden away from polite society.

Not a muscle moved in Jules face as he watched the inside of the room. Giving away not a single emotion or thought to the vile human standing to the side of him.

This was the work of a truly despicable man walking among the heroes in veiled contempt.

It would take more than a hero saving the day for him to be unmasked.

Jules let a smile climb over his lips before motioning for the door to be closed again.

It would take a couple of villains saving the day for him to be no longer a problem.

"You came to the right man."

-

"Hush."

The whispered warning does little to deter Oscar, Mildred and their gaggle of children marching behind them.

"Yes, hush darlings, mommy is working and it needs to be silent for that."

Jules watched the lights move behind them on constant lookout for a would-be guard ruining their plans.

Getting into the building had been surprisingly easy for Mildred, who had climbed over the wall and had opened the doors from the inside out. Their daughter had turned off any and all alarms and was keeping an eye on the procedure from the observation room. Afterwards the cameras would be wiped clean and no one would be any wiser on what had happened.

"Done."

With a soft click the last door opens and only the actual fault door remains between them and their goal.

"Go, go, go."

The remainder of the "kids", some of them Jules is certain are older than Oscar and Mildred, flock around the safe. After ample consideration a giant block of dynamite is dumped in front of it and they are running past corners to get to a safe distance before it explodes.

"It is safe, no one is inside and the building is still stable."

The voice over the comm was as impressed as Jules felt he should be, but honestly they had come a long way. That one time he got blown away by the explosion he had created and Yuna came to pick him up, was a memory he didn't like to think about too often. It is after all quite embarrassing as a villain to be saved by a hero.

They carefully walked back to the safe before peering into the blown-up part to see what was left of the lab.

Very little it quickly turned out to be.

"You know the drill, report back to the safe house once you're done."

Oscar worked through the rubble to see if something was still salvageable.

"What? Having a hot date waiting for you?"

Jules really wanted to walk out the door without answering, but knew that would only end worse for him.

"As a matter of fact I have, and now shoo."

-

"Here, darling, the drug base is rolled up. No need to worry about them anymore, and I highly doubt they will try something like that again in your city. Our hero is way too observant for that to happen."

Yuna smiled over their glass of wine and waved over the waiter to take their orders.