Master's Apprentice (Completed) Undergoing Edits

Epilogue: Still Ain't Over You

Author's note: The end of the world as we know it...and we all feel fine.

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Tomas looked at his office desk and surveyed his surroundings.

It had been a few days since the incident.

His son had placed with a family that had connections to AoE but had been informed to not raise him in that philosophy. From what he knew, his son would never even know he was adopted if the foster parents wished to keep it that way.

Matthias would be safe even if it cost Tomas everything to keep him secure.

The authorities would never suspect his foul deeds as long as he kept AoE in check and had those former Soviets under his thumb.

What surprised him was so open and willing Ms. Martinez had been to depose her former employer. It must not have been an amicable agreement they had between them like he had always supposed.

Sometimes, he felt like she was still testing to see if he was the chosen one to lead or not.

Good thing his acting skills had been subpar with dealing with the rascals he had seen so far.

Taking over an evil organization was hard work.

Speaking of work, he had called his employer and asked to resign after what happened to his wife. His boss had been so supportive saying, "Take as much time as you need to recover."

"I can't...I can't...I'm moving out of my apartment. I can't be here anymore."

The tears had been real, though maybe a bit exaggerated for extra effect. Onions were super helpful with getting tears out of his empty tear ducts.

"You're one of the best workers we have. We'll be sad to see you go. Are you sure you won't be coming back? We can connect you with other branches of the company in other cities if you...ever decide to work again."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," he lied.

"I'm sorry about your wife," his boss had stated.

He had hung up after hearing those words. That day, he swore he would never again sob for Aila.

She deserved worse for what she did for him-traitorous snake she was.

The thing is he had never had the argument before her untimely death, so he never knew if she truly loved him or not. It was better to think not, because if she had loved him, she would have let him be and not suffer all this pain.

In fact, it was best to pretend he had never had a son in the first place or been married at all.

Then, no one could ever exploit his weaknesses again if he could help it.

Unfortunately, his power was hard to handle, and as only his brother and Ms. Martinez knew about it, he resolved to never tell another soul and practice on his own in his free time.

As a result, keeping his anger in check would be his biggest priority at all times.

He had learned from Ms. Martinez that AoE was mostly full of supers who had a hobby of committing crime on the side, but his curse was a bit more powerful than most and could get him killed if he didn't watch it.

In the meantime, the green amulet would probably prove to his advantage to keep hidden. As far as he knew, only Ms. Martinez had knowledge on it.

Nonetheless, there was still several people inside AoE who still claimed they were loyal to the Master and had never met Mockingbird in person.

It was almost nighttime when Mockingbird decided to meet with those who opposed his rule.

They should be at the office any minute now, Tomas thought as he leaned back in his dark leather chair.

The new Evil Hand had decided that as a former accountant, he would still think like an accountant when organizing his business.

That meant there were a few changes he planned to put in place in his new office.

After he met these last people, he resolved to make a board of directors to deal with the various departments of this organization and expand recruitment to a diverse set of employees to get a broader sense of ideas and innovate this organization.

There wasn't one type of villain, so why would there be only one micromanaging tasks and calling the shots?

Ultimately, the goal was to be seen as little as possible and maximize the effect the name Mockingbird had on the AoE populace.

If Mockingbird had his way, his brother would not be involved in this plan at all, but the Solicitor also decided to join and help his brother out.

It seemed like Mr. Bern had been right; men like him weren't born, they were made.

And Mockingbird had everything to lose if it was found out what he did that night after his wife was attacked so if playing this new role was his punishment for escaping retribution and ensuring his son's safety, he was all for it.

The moonlight streamed through the office window as Mockingbird closed the curtains.

"Master?", Ms. Martinez called out as she lightly tapped on the office door, snapping him back to reality.

"Mockingbird. Remember we talked about this," he stated with ease, no longer feeling nervousness.

"Mockingbird, there are men that wish to speak with you," she squeaked out.

The men he was about to face wanted to hear nothing Mockingbird was to say, only an update on the Lombardi brother's condition.

They had gone missing in Argentina was what they had been told.

What they didn't know was there were reports their bodies had been found dumped in body bags.

If Tomas had any doubt before about all this, Mockingbird had none.

This was the point of no return.

"Let them in," he commanded as he crossed his arms in anticipation and smirked, knowing what was to come.

That was the precise moment the monster was born.

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Author's note: Please listen to this song once you finish reading this...I'm a go cry now.