He gave her one final warning: "See that you do. It won't do to let my grace of sparing your life and freedom go to waste. I can easily turn you from the leader of the Red Dream gang into its drug mull. You would not like that."
Then he took off through the makeshift road he had created along their base. He was so fast, they didn't see him leave. They only heard the faint echoes of the cracking ground long after his feet dented them.
Red Dream saw this and sighed. She sat on the chair closer to her and looked into the air in a daze.
She felt her whole world was crumbling. No one liked extreme changes to their way of life. Most of all, they don't like all the power, safety, and control they used to have ripped away from them.
At this point, she was only left with two options. She could either obey completely and be loyal or pretend to be loyal while secretly resisting. The latter provides the possibility of freedom. But it comes with the risk of pain or death.
She definitely didn't want pain. She could be fine with death, but not pain.
She laughed a hollow laugh and said, "Maybe there is a third option. I can kill myself. It is something that I can still do now when I am not a slave and still in control of myself."
She was having an internal debate, but it is a debate that she has already settled on an answer for. It is a good thing, as she had answers for her subordinates when they came to her with questions.
Her top lieutenants had arrived. They were standing in a circle around her. They didn't know what to say when they saw her dazed and unfocused eyes. She was clearly deep in thought and no one wanted to be the one to interfere with her thinking.
Eventually one of them coughed loudly. This aroused her, but only partly. She stared at the person who had coughed before staring at the seat where her new boss just sat.
That seat used to belong to her. But it isn't anymore. She was about to spiral again when someone asked a question.
"Boss, what did he want?"
It was the man with the stump. His arm had been bandaged, but it was still bleeding and painful. So he didn't have the patience to wait any longer. He had to know what he fought for just now and if it was worth it.
She replied, "He wants to start a cabal, and he came to inform me that my gang has no choice but to join his cabal and help him grow it."
This statement caused a myriad of reactions among the lieutenants. Some of them didn't mind. But some didn't care for the new leadership. It showed on their faces in the form of frowns and scowls.
Eventually another person asked, "Are we going to surrender?"
Red Dream chuckled. "Are we going to surrender? Like we have a choice."
She rose up and pointed to the trial of destruction left in the wake of their new boss and asked, "Tell me. Does this look like we have a choice?"
She didn't wait for his reply. She said, "No, we don't have a choice. I have already surrendered. That means you have all surrendered. We will work for him from now on, no questions asked."
"Do you hear me? It will be business as usual. In fact, we will be expanding our business. I want you to start making preparations and drawing up plans. We will execute them in at most a week's time. We will work like excellent goons, and I must not hear a complaint from anyone."
By the time she was done speaking, she had been roaring at the top of her artificial lungs. So everyone knew she meant business. No one tried to ask anymore questions. They just scattered and got to work.
Meanwhile, Kelvin was on his way back to the city. He was in a good mood and was looking forward to the coming days. But many people in the city are not so happy.
They are like Red Dream in that the source of their happiness is Kelvin. That's where their similarities ended.
Red Dream is weak, but they are strong. Red Dream is a villain, but they are heroes. Red Dream has surrendered, but they have not. In fact, they are looking for Kelvin to kill him.
They are in Stella's apartment examining the two corpses they found there. They had found Black Widow's corpse first. It was what they came for, actually.
They were supposed to meet with her later in the day. But she didn't show up for the meeting, and she wasn't picking up their calls. So they came to the last place they heard that she went to.
They found her dead and thought maybe her girl friend, Stella, did it. But they soon found Stella later on. Her body had been crushed into paste, burned, and then the remains mixed with various chemicals.
At least that's what they think happened. They can't tell much from the condition of the remains, which is probably the goal of the murderer.
There were five heroes in the apartment and many more on their way to perform a full investigation. The heroes are taking this seriously in light of the war going on between them and the villains.
Even Fire Rose of the Justice League is also here. Black Widow is not a member of the Justice League. Fore Rose and the representatives of the three major heroes of society in the city were supposed to meet. She came along with them when they were looking for Black Widow.
She was strangely quiet and deep in thought as she stared at Black Widow's corpse. Deep down, she was very angry, but she didn't say anything. She didn't say anything because she knew she wouldn't be able to control herself once she starts speaking.