THE MOMENT
Cliff Kade, the civilian identity of Cliffside, was suitably stunned to find the familiar, handsome man standing on his doorstep with a concerned expression. He was taking the night off from Villainous activity and hadn't expected any visitors.
"Orion?" He asked with a friendly smile as he stood aside and invited his guest in. "This is a pleasant surprise, what can I do for you?" he asked as they shook hands. But, he grew concerned when the usually pleasant gentleman's mood didn't seem to lighten. If anything, his expression grew more somber. "Is there a problem?" It wouldn't have been his first guess, but it probably should've been.
Cliffside was a major Super Villain in the Shadow Enclave, and they were an evil group opposed by the noble Hero's League. Orion was above that; he was an executive official who ensured both teams played honestly, though not necessarily 'nice' or 'fair'. Each group was sponsored by the same multiversal mega-corporation, 'Chroma Corp.,' and that was who Orion represented.
"I'm afraid it's not meant as a pleasant visit," Orion nodded. Cliff always appreciated Orion's directness, even as he felt the wind sucked out of him. Was he in trouble? He hadn't even hatched a scheme in weeks. What could possibly have drawn Orion's attention to him? "Is there a problem with your assigned hero?" Orion asked. He'd made a deliberate decision not to speak the name, in case it was somehow a sore point for Cliff.
"Problem??" Cliff relaxed. He wasn't the issue, and that was easy enough to highlight. "Yeah, that newbie, Skydiver, is laughably bad at the whole schtick. I'm on board with a winged mermaid water elemental, but she's so clueless!" He was glad he had the chance to get some of this off his chest.
"Take our first encounter, for example. I set up your run-of-the-mill doomsday device at my cliff-top base. How did she defeat me?" He asked with a laugh and a shake of his head.
"She didn't. The Hero's League needed to send in last-minute backup, and the bomb almost went off anyway! I deliberately stalled the timer during the last few seconds because they weren't going to make it in time. I take hostages? Skydiver almost drops them off the cliff's edge, trying to rescue them. She's inept and poses more of a threat to herself and innocents than me," he said. It felt good to be able to admit all that. "It's hard to find the motivation for villainy."
"Oh," Orion replied with the curt vocalization. He deliberately met Cliff's eyes with a blank stare as he processed a thought, then he nodded. "Well, then I'll go through the effort of making it clear. Skydiver is your assigned Hero. If something about the arrangement isn't working for you, it's up to you to request changes. Failure to Scheme is not a valid method. If she hasn't foiled one of your plots by this time next week, Chroma Corp. will have to consider revoking your Villain's license."
"Uggghhhh...," Cliff grumbled. "... but she sucks as a Hero.." Orion nodded and gave Cliff an encouraging pat on the shoulder.
"And she'll never get better without taking down professional Villains like yourself. I seem to remember you were pretty inexperienced when you first started, too, and some heroes helped you get that practice in."