The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

"Do you want to start?" Cement asked.

Sienna slowly shifted her weight from one foot to the other, moving very quietly. The last thing she wanted was for others to start staring at her, especially the three thugs at the other end of the room.

They were exactly the kind of people her mother had warned her to be wary of.

Those bad boys will definitely try to use their sweet talk to trick decent young girls into becoming young single mothers or something like that.

Or maybe that's about right. My mother's admonitions have always been somewhat incoherent.

In fact, Sienna could imagine that her mother would be very upset if she knew that she now essentially had two "children".

She shook her head, dismissing those thoughts, and then refocused.

“I don’t mind going first,” Hendershaw said. “At least I can start by telling you what I’ve discovered about the past, and then you can add what you know. Finally, we can talk about the latest news, how about that?”

"Sounds pretty fair," the voice from the laptop said. The three people behind the computer listened silently, but seemed uninterested.

"Handshaw" leaned back in his chair and rubbed his still-smiling lips with his knuckles. "Alright then."

The earliest signs of the 'cause of the cabal' actually came from the United States. This is not too surprising, as their entire hero system is far more chaotic than ours.

Several posts about the 'cause of war' can be found on some forums in New York and Detroit.

“It’s in the northern region, right?” “Cement” said.

Handshaw made a noncommittal gesture. “Basically, yes. Most of those posts describe them as a group that will show up and ask people who are more inclined to… villainous ways of doing things if they’d be willing to serve for a greater cause. It’s essentially recruitment.”

"Any news from its actual members?" Cement asked.

“Wait a minute, I’m telling the story in chronological order,” Handshaw added.

"Ah, I understand. Please forgive my interruption, please continue."

Handshaw's smile widened instantly. "Most of the forum posts don't have any real content; they're mostly speculation, nothing more. However, some of the posters can be traced back to local minor villains—small fry—who were eventually caught and arrested. What's interesting is what happened next."

Handshaw rested his elbows on the table. "You know, most of those things happened ten to eleven years ago. Then two other leads came up."

One of them was a petty scoundrel who had an online log.

He meticulously documented how he was approached by the 'cause of the conspiracy,' how they offered him help, and how he eventually joined them.

He never mentioned the group again after that, but the severity of his crimes suddenly increased, and he suddenly had much more equipment than before.

He would also post photos of the equipment—new clothes, gear, and so on. He became a local tyrant.

"And then?" Cement asked.

"He was captured by a local hero and later died in prison. Another interesting lead from the same period comes from a woman who never mentioned the 'cause of war' before her arrest, but confessed afterward."

"Cement" snorted. "I bet her confession didn't last long, did it?"

"She recanted her testimony the next day. But some of what she said had already been recorded and preserved."

She claimed that her robberies were carried out under the instructions of an organization called the "Cabinet," and that she had met with a villain within the organization and was working for them.

"I guess she's dead?" Cement asked.

“She volunteered for an ‘Operation Endgame’ in hopes of shortening her sentence, but she didn’t make it out alive,” Handshaw continued. “Since then, the ‘cause of war’ has been mentioned occasionally over the years, but very rarely.”

Their modus operandi seems quite simple. They target low-level, unruly newcomers, offer them irresistible deals, and then exploit them to commit crimes.

I can't find any connection between these cases; they seem almost random.

"That's strange. If you don't intend to use the villains for anything, why have them work for you?"

"I've thought about that too. I have a few guesses. Maybe there's an onboarding phase, or some kind of training that doesn't involve direct contact?"

They appear to be the masterminds behind several high-profile villains, but almost all of those villains are ultimately captured or killed by a hero.

"Cement" was silent for a moment. "Is this all you have?"

"That's about it for the history of the 'cause of war.' I have a lot of circumstantial evidence."

The clothing they distributed may have come from the same place, the same person, and they may have used the same payment system for a period of time before switching to the 'dead mailbox' handover method.

I suspect there's at least one teleporter in their group. Of course, I have some more updates, but tell me about your situation first.

“Well. The ‘cause’ hasn’t contacted me. I guess it’s because I’ve hidden my identity too well, or maybe I’m just not interesting enough for them. They seem to prefer recruiting people who…act more flamboyant.”

“That does seem to be their style,” Handshaw said. “Or maybe the superpowered people they recruit are more low-key and don’t attract much attention.”

“That’s possible, that’s right. Anyway, they didn’t come to me. But they did contact ‘buddies’.”

Sienna froze. So that was the person she and Isabella had knocked unconscious and essentially handed over to the police.

He's the guy with the hard drive she went to so much trouble to protect. Is he a member of the "cause and effect"?

“They approached him a few weeks ago. It was just a simple request to talk about his future and such. At first glance, it didn’t seem threatening.”

We discussed it and decided to try and extract more information. However, we got nothing but some vague hints, so I decided to reject their offer.

"Have they continued to apply pressure?" Handshaw asked.

“They did put pressure on us, that’s right. It was just a small threat, but it was still a threat. Of course, we continued to stall and give vague answers. They seemed determined to make ‘the guy’ more…famous.”

"Handshaw" leaned forward. "What do you mean by that?"

"They wanted to create a public spectacle, robbing people in broad daylight, and violently attacking the few local gangs without superpowers. They wanted him to wear a uniform and establish a protection money extortion business with every shop in town."

“I understand,” Handshaw said. “I think they should be able to offer some assistance?”

“The location of the police, the timing of the crime, the list of potential recruits given to the ‘brothers’ gang, and the safe house, things like that,” Cement said.

Handshaw crossed his arms on the table. “I understand. This matches what I know. I recently discovered that people in… our camp aren’t the only ones being targeted by the ‘cause of the cabal.’”

"Oh?"

"That's true. Although they don't call themselves the 'cause of war,' there's an organization that's very similar to it that often contacts heroes."

Almost every hero has been approached by this organization to some extent, but I think they're more discreet when dealing with heroes with government connections.

"And what do they offer those upright heroes?" Cement asked.

"Information on the villains. They will provide the location of the villains who are carrying out the robbery, as well as video footage of the villains committing the crime and a lot of other information."

In exchange, they guide heroes to accept certain contracts, such as product placements, advertising campaigns, or altering patrol routes.

"Cement" sighed loudly, his voice picked up by his microphone. "They're manipulating both sides of this game."

“Or rather, they are trying to do that,” Handshaw said.

There was a moment of silence in the room. "This exchange was very enlightening. Thank you, Handshaw. I appreciate it if you could come."

"I'm also very grateful for this information. May I ask what you plan to do now?"

"Cement" chuckled. "Of course you can ask, but there will be a price to pay for the answer. Besides, I haven't made a decision yet. I think this meeting should end here."

Handshaw nodded and stood up. "Alright. It was pleasant to have such a peaceful conversation. I hope you'll remember me if you ever have any questions in the future."

"That's natural."

Handshaw gestured towards the door, and Isabella strode over and opened it.

Just as they were about to leave, "Cement" spoke up, "Miss."

Sienna was stunned. "Um, what's wrong?" she asked.

"I haven't forgotten what you did to my subordinates."

“Hmph,” Athena said, putting her feet off the table. “Hidden behind the screen spouting nonsense. Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t touch a hair on the boss’s head, you fake villain.”

"Your subordinates have a really high opinion of you. Maybe one day we can see if you're really that capable. Until we meet again."

The screen flickered, and the "S" that previously displayed "cement" turned into a gray square.

Sienna swallowed hard, glanced at the three people who had just stood up at the other end of the room, and then hurriedly followed the others away.