“She volunteered for an Endgame. Shortened prison term. Didn’t make it out,” Handshake said. “After that, we have sporadic mentions of the Cabal over the years, but they’re infrequent. Their MO seems fairly simple. They target low-level, bad-morality beginners, offer them deals they can’t refuse, then use them to commit some crimes. I can’t find links between those. They seem almost random.”

“Strange. Why get a Villain working for you if they won’t use them for anything useful?”

“I thought as much. I have a few hypotheses. Perhaps there’s an initiation phase, or some sort of hands-off training? They seemed to be the ones behind a few high-profile Villains, but those almost always end up captured or killed at the hands of a Hero.”

Cement was quiet for a while. “Is that all you have?”

“For the Cabal’s past? Just about. I have a lot of circumstantial information. The costumes they hand out might be from the same place and person. They may have been using the same payment system for a while before they switched to dead drops. I suspect they have at least one teleporter in their ranks. And, of course, I have more recent news, but you first.”

“Very well. I was not approached by the Cabal. I think I might have been too successful at keeping my identity to myself, or perhaps I’m merely not interesting enough. They do seem to employ more . . . flamboyant sorts.”

“That does seem to be their MO,” Handshake said. “That, or the more subtle powered individuals they hired don’t make as much noise.”

“That’s a possibility, yes. Either way, they never came to me. They did come to Homie.”

Emily twitched. That was the man she and Teddy had knocked out and basically handed to the cops. The one who had the drive she’d gone through so much trouble to protect. Was he part of the Cabal?

“They approached him some weeks ago. Just a simple offer to talk, discuss his future and so on. Nothing threatening, not at first glance. We discussed it and decided to fish for more information. When that came back with nothing but vague allusions, I decided to deny their offer.”

“Did they continue to pressure him?” Handshake asked.

“They did just that, yes. A small threat, but a threat nonetheless. We continued stalling, of course. Hemming and hawing. They seemed intent on making Homie more of a . . . household name.”

Handshake leaned forward. “What do you mean by that?”

“Public stunts, robberies in broad daylight. More violent attacks against the few unpowered local gangs. They wanted him out in costume setting up protection rackets on every business in the city.”

“I see,” Handshake said. “They would provide some assistance, I imagine?”

“Location of police, windows of opportunity, lists of potential recruits to Homie’s gang. Safe houses. The works,” Cement said.