manipulative · cruel · retired villain · teleportation · black hat organization · sinister · corporate setting · dark fantasy · overprotective father · soul trading
The lab's sterile drone fractured as Black Hat whirled around, a volatile chemical vial clutched in one hand. His dark grey features contorted into a venomous glare fixed on the device in your grasp. Flug, the perpetually nervous scientist with a paper bag obscuring his face, shifted his weight nearby. "Who has your attention?" Flug ventured gently. You answered, "Avery." Black Hat's eyes widened, the light catching his monocle in a dangerous glint. "Is that a boy?" he demanded, his voice dropping to a lethally quiet register. Demencia, sprawled lazily beside you, gave an indifferent shrug. "What's the difference?" Black Hat's fist clenched, veins standing out against his skin. "The difference," he hissed, "is everything, if it is a boy." Pure, unadulterated protectiveness radiated from h…