System Supervillain, Chapter 85 (Patreon)

Chapter 85 – Supervillain Socializing

Really, it should come to no surprise to anyone that the world of supers was actually a pretty lonely one. Unless you were part of an established team, your life as a super was pretty much a solo gig. Regardless of which side of the law you were on, or whether you had a secret identity or not, you didn’t dare risk letting people get close. And you certainly didn’t go to community gatherings.

Think about for a second. Start with the most inoffensive super you could imagine, someone with a low-level power that isn’t useful for hero-ing or crime, so they’re just living their life as best they can. Even without a secret identity, they are going to be set apart from the ‘normal’ people around them, because of their power.

If they show off their power? Well, either people start wanting them for their parlor tricks, or because their being able to carry a couch with their mind means they’re perfect for helping everyone move. Or maybe it goes the other way, and people start saying they’re a showoff, and get jealous.

So, don’t show off the power, right? They’re low-powered, so it should be easy to hide things, right? Wrong. Hiding part of who and what you are is going to seep into every facet of your life. Even if people don’t know what you’re hiding, they’re going to pick up on the fact that you are closed off, and keeping secrets. And that’s going to kill any deep social ties, especially if you’re thinking about some real romantic entanglements.

Which means that the lowest-grade super, someone who hasn’t done anything wrong, and isn’t putting their life on the line or anything like that, is only really letting in those few people that they can trust, or they’re dealing with constant drama and demands on their time from those around them. That’s with your average, law-abiding super. When you get to the next level, things get even more complicated.

On the hero side, well, you tend to have two groups. On one side, you have the ‘public heroes’, the ones who are usually registered with the government, and their identities are public record. On the other side, you have the secret identity crowd.

It is easy to see why the secret identity types don’t exactly get to live a normal life. After all, they disappear from work or social functions at random, which means they probably have trouble holding down legitimate jobs and building friendships. Then you have the whole ‘you’re hiding something’ thing, like the law-abiding supers that hide what they are, only amplified by the fact that most secret identity heroes are actually vigilantes, and that is definitely still against the law. Also, insurance companies are very interested in talking to them for any collateral damage to people and properties that comes from their actions. Those vultures are barely better than the IRS.

Then, surely the public heroes have it better, right? Wrong again! The public heroes get all the ‘fun’ of the low-grade supers who are open with their powers, but they also get to experience the joys of having paparazzi follow them around like celebrities. Then there’s all the people who want to be around them just because they’re well known, or the ones who want to use them for clout. And we won’t even start on all the people trying to get rich quick by filing lawsuits against them for all kinds of stupid reasons. Worse still, being public doesn’t even earn you a living unless you work with the government, or have corporate overlords pulling your strings!

Of course, that’s still a bit better than trying to have a normal life as a supervillain. All those things I talked about for superheroes? They apply to supervillains as well, but with the added fun of having you be an actual criminal, so the government and everyone is going to be actively hunting you at times. This makes having a secret identity, and keeping it, even more important, because when your identity goes public, it is nicely labeled as you being a criminal, which keeps you from doing a lot of things you might like.

Seriously, the reason why most captured supervillains immediately dive back into villainy when they get out of prison is because they literally have nothing else. You thought having a record as a felon was bad? Try getting a regular job when you were the one who threw Brickman through an orphanage, like the Crimson Destroyer did. Once she got out of prison, Angela Rice, Crimson’s real identity, couldn’t even get a job at a gas station making minimum wage. Is it any surprise that she went straight back to crime?

All of that is ignoring the elephant in the room, of course. Whether you’re a superhero or supervillain, whether your identity is public or secret, there’s going to be people who are looking to take you down, or at least get one over on you. Not just supervillains, either. Organized crime isn’t shy about kidnapping people to use as hostages, and extremist groups just LOVE to make examples of people. That means that the people around you are going to be put in more danger, just for knowing you, even if they don’t actually know you’re a super. Pretty much any super understands that if you have friends and loved ones, they can and probably will be used against you. Worse, they might get turned, and betray you.

That sobering thought is what keeps most supers from engaging with the general public. They keep their friend group tight, full of only those that they trust. The more powerful they are, and the more well-known their costumed identity is, the tighter that circle of trust is, and the harder it is for anyone to get inside it.

Which wasn’t to say that most supers stayed in their lair and only emerged to do their jobs and wear costumes. However, meaningful connections were hard for anyone who was a ‘practicing’ super. My own life was a good example. Sure, I would sometimes venture out to different clubs in different cities, have some drinks, and find an attractive woman to take back to a hotel room for some fun, but it was never anything serious, and I never made any actual connections. Not until the System came online, and I brought my sister into the fold as my Co-Administrator.

Needless to say, actual social gatherings for supers as supers were… rare. At least, outside of teams, like Storm Front or the New York Knights. Even then, the team may socialize within the team, but bringing in outsiders? Well, that could be uncomfortable.

Still, humans were social creatures, and even though supers were, well, superhuman, they’re still human. So, while rare, social functions for supers did exist. These functions could basically be broken down into two types: mask on, and mask off.

Mask On events, as the name suggested, were events where everyone attended in at least partial costumes. These tended to be more business-oriented affairs. Trust wasn’t really a factor, here. You either trusted the assurances that whoever put in place, or you didn’t. And if you didn’t, then it didn’t matter if the mask was on or off, you didn’t go.

Mask On events were great for building professional contacts and networking. Even supervillains had to admit that they needed outside help, sometimes. And having contacts with someone local when you were traveling could be a big help. Same with the heroes, too. A hero on vacation was never really on vacation, so having contacts in different areas kept people from stepping on toes.

Ironically, a Mask Off event for supers ended up being more like a masquerade ball in normal society. Unless someone was public with their identity, then taking off the masks meant you were actually less recognizable. People in the community knew you as your costumed persona, not your real face.

Because of that, a Mask Off event was typically more relaxed, as people could at least pretend to forget about their rivalries, or the fact that they might be on other sides of the law. Out of sight, out of mind, and all. Sure, those with enhanced senses or other abilities might know who they were talking to, but not having the masks on meant that they didn’t need to acknowledge it.

The Guild liked to hold events at some of their facilities around the world. These regular events followed the same ‘neutral ground’ policies as the rest of their services, and were enforced just as fervently. Mask On or Mask Off, these were some of the primary places where heroes and villains mixed… intentionally, at least.

However, they also had facilities that one could rent out for gatherings, whether they were Mask On or Mask Off. These private parties were for individual celebrations, where someone wanted to celebrate, and wanted some assurances that there wouldn’t be rivals looking to cause trouble. Again, both heroes and villains used these services, thanks to Guild neutrality.

For supervillains holding gatherings outside their team, if they had one, these Guild facilities, and the neutrality they promised, were the primary guarantors of good behavior from all around. By their nature, supervillains were far more contentious and individualistic than the superheroes were. This made for strong personalities and stronger rivalries. Supervillains were also known for having a more… flexible moral code, which meant that they were more likely to engage in backstabbing and treachery. So, some assurances were necessary when bringing villains together.

These assurances were even more important when you started dealing with some of the more problematic powers. For instance, Toxin, the villain who literally had poison in every bodily fluid he had, obviously needed to assure people that he wasn’t going to shake their hand without gloves on, or give someone a friendly hug without distributing antidotes at the door. That could lead to a friendly gathering getting very unfriendly, very quickly.

Of course, not all get-togethers were on Guild property. There was something to be said for having a lair like a ski lodge that was public enough that one could have a party there. However, when villains started hosting events off Guild property, well, even more assurances were generally required. Especially when the host of the party was a famous mind controller like Stepford, and most of the guest list also had some kind of mind control abilities.

For Stepford’s birthday party, there were several restrictions that would be in play. Mask On, no active attack powers used, and fair warning on passives. Everyone would have Guild-made talismans that would block one active mental attack power, before going off in a bright flash that would alert everyone to the danger. Anyone caught starting a fight (with powers, at least) would have a whole party’s worth of supervillains looking to take them down.

Along with the assurances, Stepford sent out a copy of the guest list. Including Stepford and myself, there were twelve villains with some kind of mind control ability on the list. Each villain was expected to have one to four ‘companions’ along for the ride. Naturally, these companions were supposed to be some of our mind-controlled minions. Thankfully, the ski lodge was plenty big enough for everyone, and the staff to make the party a memorable affair.

Looking at the guest list itself, I saw Stepford, Dollmaker, Mindtaker, Party Girl, Hypnodomme, Brain Drain, The General, Puppetmaster, The Tamer, Mistress Midnight, Maestro, and myself. Some of the best of the best when it came to mind control, plus me. Well, that might be a bit self-deprecating, since I wasn’t the only one on the guest list that required equipment to actually use my abilities, or had some kind of restriction on it. They all did, from what I knew of their activities before the System. Now, well, I could sneak a peek at them with my Admin powers, but that would spoil things.

The only question now was who would I bring as my four pets for the night?