The opening illustrations depict Nimona, a young girl with red hair, and Lord Ballister Blackheart, a man with dark hair and a mechanical arm. Blackheart finds Nimona poking around his lab and asks her what she is doing there. He becomes suspicious when she only gives elusive answers. Nimona calls Blackheart “the biggest name in supervillainy” (2) and convinces him to hire her as his new sidekick. At first, Blackheart is reluctant. Nimona shapeshifts into a shark to demonstrate her value. Blackheart eventually accepts Nimona’s proposal because of her relentless enthusiasm and her impressive ability to shapeshift.

Nimona eagerly pushes Blackheart to share his next evil plan with her. He tells her about his plan to set genetically engineered dragons loose in the city and kidnap the king for ransom. Nimona quickly offers feedback. She wants to add more chaos and suggests that Blackheart kill the king and usurp the throne. She offers to kill his nemesis for good measure. Blackheart refuses, arguing that there are rules to follow, and that his nemesis, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, is his to kill.

In a sepia-colored sequence, he then reminisces about his former friendship with Goldenloin, a man with long blond hair who wears golden armor.