#23455432

Sidekick used their feet to grasp the wide stairs that surrounded the tank. It nearly wrenched their arms from their sockets--a contrast to earlier. Sidekick gritted their teeth and closed their eyes against the pain, groaning instead of crying out. 

Their eyes snapped open when they heard chains clanking. They had reached a small platform at the top, where two sets of manacles, each attached to an iron ball, waited for them. 

One of the henchmen abruptly shoved Sidekick onto the ground, their knee coming to rest on Sidekick’s spine. Sidekick bucked violently. The henchman put their hand on the back of Sidekick’s neck, pinning them in place. The other henchman snapped manacles on Sidekick's wrists. The sound of the lock clicking into place was deafening in Sidekick's ears. Their view was swimming as they took in the water splashing against the sides of the glass. 

The busy henchman tossed one of the iron balls into the tank, the other henchman released their hold on Sidekick’s neck and their knee from Sidekick’s back. The heavy weight of the iron ball abruptly pulled them in the direction of the tank. Sidekick’s fingers grasped for purchase on the sides of the tank. A foot on their back shoved them forward. 

They fell head first in the small tank, water burning their nose. The second iron ball rolled in after them, yanking their left hand down. Sidekick struggled to right themselves, their eyes burning as they were opened to the cold water. Panic laced their movements, the need for air throbbing in their head. They used the glass to push themselves upwards, breaching the water, dragging in desperate gulps of air. 

They were thrust back down by their wrists. Sidekick could see now the purpose of the balls and chains: they would have to struggle for each breath. The chains were just the right length to where Sidekicks arms would have to be straight at their side not moving as their legs beat a hard rhythm to tread the water. They breached the water again, this time the balls staying at the base of the tank, and they kicked furiously to keep just their nose above water.

The Villain had rolled their chair over, a couple feet from Sidekick’s writhing form, watching them curiously. They held up a large artist's pad, the words written in a bold font, The hero should be here soon. Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll trade themselves for you. Sidekick had to plunge back underwater to read it. 

The Villain looked damn smug about the situation. Sidekick banged the side of their fist on the unyielding glass. Even more than the anger Sidekick felt about The Villain was the sick feeling in their gut as they realized they were going to die. The Hero would never ‘trade’ with The Villain, no, The Hero would let them die, like they did with their last sidekick. The Villain was new here, however, and didn’t know that. 

Sidekick would not go down that way, not after being so close to a promotion to hero.

Sidekick was anything but calm as they realized they only had one option, one chance to get out of this alive. They stopped trying to reach air altogether. Using the chains they pulled themselves to the bottom. They stared down The Villain as they blew their last breath out and then sucked in as deeply as they could. The Villain's calm was gone; they sat forward, watching the Sidekick with a certain amount of awe. Uncapping their sharpie, they wrote quickly. 

What R U Doing?

Sidekick’s airway involuntarily closed, and they struggled to open it again.

Where Do U Think This Will Get U?

They needed to convince The Villain, they had to prove that they would kill themself if they were not taken out of this tank. The Sidekick wrapped the chains around their torso and placed one of the balls in their lap to keep from floating to the top when they passed out. The Villain rapped on the glass, with their sharpie, pressing the sketch pad to the glass. 

Drowning Hurts!! 

Sidekick closed their eyes, praying The Villain wouldn’t let them die. After all, no one wanted to trade for a dead body. Please let me be right, they thought to themselves, though it didn’t really matter if they were. 

The Sidekick’s lungs spasmed and they inhaled more water, their lungs now filled, they desperately wanted air, but in the end it wouldn’t save them. It hurt for a few more seconds, which felt like an eternity. But the pain subsided as their body blocked it out and their mind accepted that they were going to die.

~

They felt The Villain’s lips leave theirs as lava poured out of their lungs. Everything burned. The Villain turned them on their side so Sidekick could cough up water without choking on it. The Villain kept a hand on their waist to keep them from falling flat. 

When most of the water had made its way up, Sidekick thought to say some witty banter, like ‘if you wanted to kiss me you could have just asked. No need to drown me.’ But words failed them as they coughed violently. The Villain helped Sidekick into a sitting position. Sidekick’s muscles strained with the effort it took to hold themselves up.

The Villain sat next to Sidekick, still breathing hard and soaking wet, “Well that was stupid.”

Sidekick was still coughing, though much weaker. A half laugh burst out of them, which turned into  hacking. They smiled with a little too much teeth. “But I’m out of the tank.” 

The Villain laughed then, really laughed, a snort accompanying it. “True enough.” They stood slowly, resuscitation having taken its toll on their body. They put a hand on Sidekicks shoulder. “Can you stand?” 

They didn’t wait for a reply, hauling them up by their arm. Sidekick cried out, their arms bruised. 

The Villain mumbled an apology, which surprised Sidekick a great deal. A villain apologizing to a sidekick? The Villain quickly moved to brace Sidekick’s sagging body, wrapping their arm around Sidekick’s waist and slinging Sidekick’s arm around their shoulders. “Clear out, we’re leaving,” they said to their henchmen.

Sidekick’s eyes widened. “What about The Hero?” they croaked out, barely more than a whisper, but they continued, “You’re letting me go?” Hope sprang in their chest.

“No,” The Villain laughed, which vibrated to Sidekick. If Sidekick wasn’t still coughing, they might feel shy as to how gorgeous they were. Their grip on Sidekick’s waist tightened a little. “You’re far too entertaining to give up.” 

Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

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The hero had strength on his side as he shoved her against the wall, “Stop seeing Dillion, he’s a good kid and you’ll just mess him up.” 

“Wow, what about what Dillion wants? Do you think he’s so easily corruptible?” She laughed, her bravado never ceasing. Dillion and her had been on three official dates and she wasn’t intending to stop. 

Villain teleported them to an open area of the old rusty barn. She used his moment against him. As he fell forward she ripped herself out of his grasp and shoved him forward. She didn’t leave though, “I would have thought, you would enjoy a way to spy on me. Tell me, how is Tasha?” She asked him about his wife. She had no intention of hurting Tasha, Tasha could make you feel like you had the stars in your eyes. And honestly? She didn’t really want to hurt Hero either. She didn’t want to be the villain.

Hero stood now dusting himself off, he didn’t lunge for her though, “If you have loved anyone like I love Tasha, you’ll leave her alone. This is between you and me.” 

“You are so blind, it disgusts me.” She said every word with venom, Why doesn’t he see?! She held a far off look in her eyes, she said calmly, “Thank you John, I’ll see you Tuesday, it’ll be nice to be formally introduced.” She teleported home, screaming at the pain it brought her. 

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Dillion kissed her when he opened the door to his flat to let her in, she kissed him back, wondering briefly if she would stop loving him at some point. She hoped not. She hoped so.

“Alright, are you ready?” He asked breathlessly when he pulled away, “they’re all here, they can’t wait to meet you.” 

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, I’ll love them, I know it.” She didn’t really believe that though, she was walking into the lion's den and she knew it. She wished she could just be Dillion's girlfriend, not the villain dating Dillion. 

Dillion gilded her into the living room, his hand on the small of her back, his casual smile in place. He smiled at everything. She couldn’t get enough of his smiles. She looked at his friends, her eyes falling on Tasha and her welcoming demeanor. Villain smiled, feeling a stabbing guilt, as she realized Hero probably told Tasha who she was. She glanced at John, and her face fell a little, but she was putting on a show for the other unfamiliar faces, so her grin was pinned on her face. 

Dillion looked at the group, and using Villain’s fake name, said, “Hey guys, this is Mia. Mia, this is the guys.” He said guys like one would say boi, a gender neutral pronoun. 

She shook hands with all eight of them, Hero's grip stronger than necessary, and for Tasha a hand shake wasn’t good enough; she pulled Mia in for an embrace. Mia felt tears rise, and she blinked them away. 

Dillion ushered her to the love seat and the games began. They played charades, which Dillion was surprisingly good at, and John sat with his arms crossed the entire time. Party pooper, Mia thought to herself. They moved on to cards, and someone broke the wine out, and Mia had a small glass. 

They were playing B.S. and she was crushing it. After winning, with a great deal of fanfare from Dillion’s friends calling her the ‘chosen one,’ presumably alluding to Dillion’s love life. Which had made Mia blush furiously and Dillion kissed her while his friends made ‘ooo’ sounds in the background. 

“Of course you would win at the lying game.” John sneered, a bit too loudly as he hadn't meant for anyone to hear him. 

Mia’s smile slid from her face, her mouth going tight, she was angry and ashamed. She didn’t look at John, but she could feel Dillion’s response as his muscles coiled. She had a gripping fear in her, that she didn’t know she had. She would not let Dillion sever some of his friendships over her, and she would not let him give up too much of himself to her, liar that she was. 

Dillion spoke stiffly at John, “Just what are you implying?” 

“I think Mia would need to tell you that.” John said cool under the pressure of his best friend's challenging gaze. 

Dillion looked at Mia confused, he wanted to trust her, she could see that, but he trusted John’s council. Mia understood, it wasn’t him choosing between John or her, but rather Dillion trying to figure out what was going on. Dillion asked so softly, “Mia?...” 

A lie sprung to her lips, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it, she had lied too much to Dillion, and she hated it everytime. She would not say she was a villain though, because that too would be a lie. She settled on a half truth. 

“Okay, I lied when I said it was nice to meet John, because we have already met and we really don’t like each other.” Mia glared at John, “And I thought being a good girlfriend would look like trying to hold it together, so you wouldn’t end up needing to choose between your best friend and me.” She looked back at Dillion now, gauging his reaction, if he really believed it. 

Dillion frowned, “You don’t ever need to lie to protect me Mia, I’ll not choose between either of you,” he smiled, “I’m greedy like that.” He kissed her again, “besides the day is pretty much over and it's time for all my friends to go home.” 

John was steaming as he left, Tasha was angry, but not at Mia as she hugged her on the way out. His other friends made off with all but one bottle of wine, his friend winked at Dillion as he set the single bottle on the table.

Dillion and Mia had already talked about sex though, and they had no plans for that anytime soon. Which is why, after Dillion had tried in vain to get to the bottom of Mia’s dislike of John, when Mia declared ‘I’m tired, and you should be a good boyfriend and let me sleep with you.’ Both of them knew there was no double meaning. 

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Mia woke up with a start, dreams of her sister’s cruelty plaguing her, she detached herself from Dillion’s arms. She could tell he was dead out, confident that he was not a light sleeper, she began to search his house. She needed to know how much he knew. She suspected nothing based on last night's performance, but a twisting in her gut told her otherwise. 

After searching high and low, and finding nothing out of the ordinary she almost gave up. Until she did a second search of his desk in his bedroom and found a false bottom in a drawer. She pulled out pictures and pictures of John in different costumes, and then pictures of him fighting her. She took the pictures to the living room, where early sunlight was coming through the window, she looked at them slowly now. Her eye caught on on a picture that showed her face after having teleported. Her anguish was evident under the eye-mask. 

The next photo was of her unmasked, in her house. Dread filled her, How dare he lie to me. How dare me for loving him even still. She felt Dillion’s presence at the entrance to the living room. She looked at him, he was all out of smiles now. Something wet dripped onto her arm, she looked up to see the source of the leak, then she felt it, and put her hand to her tears in a confused sort of wonder. She had not cried in a while. He was sitting next to her now, when had that happened? He was speaking words and wiping her tears away.

Of course it was all a lie. He had sought me out, had sent me a drink at that bar, and had engineered a relationship. Skies forbid someone should actually love me. 

She didn’t want this relationship to end, because when it did she would have nothing. She found a humourless laugh bubbling out of her, Dillion looked at her so confused - tears on his own face, she had engaged in a relationship she knew could not last, one that her sister would suspect as part of a plot, to have someone to hold her. She had deliberately hurt Dillion to heal herself, and here she was angry that he had used this relationship to his gain as well. 

“You knew.” Mia spoke without feeling, and then laughed again. Harder this time, “Tell me was it all a lie?” 

“It was at first, but Mia, I found out who you really were along the way.” Dillion pleaded with her, hands on her shoulders, “Mia I love you.”

“No Dillion, you don’t, and I don’t love you.” She knew that if her sister even caught a wisp of the truth of this situation, she would kill Dillion. She shoved his hands off her shoulders, scared that her sister might be watching even now. She stiffened as her phone rang from her bra. She pulled it out, and sucked in her ragged voice to sound as regular as she could. 

“Mia speaking.” She told Dillion to be quiet with her finger to her lips. 

“I need a report, right now. Plans are moving and I need information on John. Find an out to whatever you’re doing and get here right now.” 

Her sister didn’t wait for a reply before she hung up. Dillion’s eyes were wide, she was sure that he couldn’t have heard, right? 

“Mia don’t go. Who was that?” Dillion took her shoulders again, “Please don’t go.” 

“I’ll deal with you later. Watch your back Dillion.” She knew that would do the trick, John wouldn’t leave Dillion’s side. She teleported to her sister. 

Damsel was a better person with Villain, looser. Funner. Villain relished the changes. Damsel had asked Villain to stop robbing banks, and Villain had agreed, lying with a twinge of regret. They would do almost anything for Damsel, except for that. Villainy called to them. Damsel was a little dense, never questioning Villain’s honesty, but that worked for their relationship quite well.

Damsel was always ‘broadening their horizons,’ which Villain readily entertained. They wouldn’t have bothered with anyone else, but Damsel was different. Damsel was worth more. So, when Damsel took them to new restaurants, new street fairs and events with soaps and jewelry, new gaming events--Villain couldn’t help but come along. Damsel had a way of asking for things that made Villain unable to disagree. It wasn’t until Villain had nearly scalded their finger trying to put on a copper ring that they called off any new jewelry. Damsel had backed off from new things after that, picking up more hours at work.

Villain wasn’t mad about losing time with Damsel, because it gave them more time to look for Damsel’s elusive ex. Villain wasn’t a murderer, but for Hero they would make an exception.

Hero had brought Damsel into the limelight, making them an easy target for villains looking to get a piece of Hero. When Damsel had come to their senses and broken up with Hero, Villain had found Damsel with rope burns on their wrists and bruises on their cheek and arms. Villain had asked Damsel what Hero had done to them. Damsel’s reply?

Hero didn’t come.

Damsel had been kidnapped by villains, hurt, and Hero hadn’t come to save Damsel. Villain relished the thought of Heroes’ blood on their hands. Hero would pay for Damsel’s pain a thousand times over. The only problem with this plan, the problem that kept Villain up late for hours during the night, was that Hero was nowhere to be found.

Damsel pulled Villain up onto a small patio and pulled their face down to kiss them, jarring Villain from their thoughts.

What would they do without Damsel? At first, they were sure Damsel would eventually leave them. The villain never gets the Damsel and all that. But now they couldn’t be convinced that Damsel would ever leave them. Villain grinned when they pulled back from the kiss and Damsel followed their mouth up as far as Damsel’s height would let them. 

“Alright, this is your friend’s house?” Villain gestured to the small house on a busy street. 

Damsel nodded. “You ready?” They straightened Villain’s jacket. 

As I’ll ever be. Villain was confident that, whoever Damsel’s friend was, they wouldn’t be as full of life as Damsel. For Damsel though, they would be on their best behavior. They knocked on the door and put an arm around Damsel’s shoulders. 

The purple door swung inward and Friend opened the door. “Honey, they’re here!” they called over their shoulder. They smiled widely and Damsel embraced them.

“Villain this is Friend, Friend this is Villain,” Damsel said gesturing to the two as they spoke.

Villain shook Friend’s hand, mimicking the strength of their grip. “It’s a pleasure to meet you; Damsel talks about you all the time.” 

“And you! Come on in, the games are all ready downstairs. Follow me.”  When Damsel didn’t immediately follow, Villain took Damsel’s hand in theirs and pulled them into the house. Villain liked how Damsel’s hand fit in theirs.

It’s safe to say Villain never saw it coming. 

Villain felt a strange pinch in their back--what was that? Villain put their hand to their back. It hit something metal. They grasped it, fingertips slicing open, a wave of nausea roiling in their stomach as the metal jostled in their skin. 

I’ve been stabbed.

Villain’s knees buckled. Their hand fell away from Damsel’s. Friend was there, hugging Villain to hold them up. Villain screamed as the effects of the copper blade took hold on their skin. In their skin. 

 In desperation, in stupidity and shock, they reached for their powers, even as the copper burned them. Pain flared up across their skin, and they were too late. They couldn’t get their powers to work. No, no no. It was like losing a limb.

Villain braced themselves to rip the copper from their back. 

One. Two. Thr--

Friend shoved the blade into Villain. Villain’s bloody fingers searched for the handle, but the entire thing had embedded itself in their body. No handle? They would have to push it through their abdomen to get it out. Impossible. Friend pulled them down the stairs the rest of the way.   

Damsel, where’s Damsel! Their mind latched onto this. They tried to push Friend, groaning. Friend stumbled a little, but they shoved Villain back. Villain cried out, pain like lightning shooting through them. Their knees would have buckled beneath them if Friend wasn’t holding them up. Villain longed to feel their comforting power, sweat dripping down their face. 

They screamed through their teeth, “where’s Damsel?! What have you done with them?!” Villain panicked, thinking of all the horrible things that could be happening to Damsel. 

Villain used all their strength to shove back. Friend used their forward momentum to slam them into the wall. Spots formed in Villain’s eyes, dazing them for precious moments. 

Villain was brought back to reality by a fierce burning sensation on their wrists. They had been chained to the wall, the copper chains accounting for the burning. Face down on the floor, Villain used their bound hands to move into a kneeling position. They rolled back onto their feet, preparing to stand. Their balance was thrown off by a sharp pain from their wound. They fell on their butt, crying out when they hit the cement. Villain scooted to lean up against the wall.

 Breathing hard, Villain squinted trying to see farther into the dimly lit room. Something was moving, but they couldn’t tell what.The light abruptly came on. Villain closed their eyes to block it out, opening them slowly to adjust to the brightness. They looked up. 

Villain felt relief when they saw the back of Damsel’s form at a nearby table. How the roles are reversed. Damsel would save them. They cried out, trying to alert Damsel to the situation.

“I have waited so long for this day.” Damsel spoke like they were astounded at the words. They turned around. Villain expected concern, panic, even fear. Not the familiar face of triumph etched in Damsel’s features. The face reserved for when a heist went the way Villain had planned, or when Villain stood over Heroes’ prone form. Villain had wondered how that face would look like on Damsel so many times. A sick feeling curdled through Villain.

“Damsel, what’s going on?” Villain’s mind struggled to understand. A clanking sound to their left distracted Villain, and they took their eyes off Damsel’s unnerving expression.

Hero was gagged, chained to the same wall the Villain was. Hero was shirtless and sported a few bruises. Their normally fit form looked brittle and starved. A slab of… magnet? judging by the way the chains clung to it, at their feet. It must be the thing keeping them from teleporting. Villain’s eyes searched Damsel’s face for answers.

Why?

“Two years ago, from today, you,” Damsel was looking at Villain, “robbed a bank, it was the third or second heist of your career. Do you remember it?” They had a strange gun in their hands, white with a little black serum floating around in a dart loaded into the chamber.

Villain hesitated. “Not really... it was the catalyst to many other successful heists.” Why was Damsel asking them this? There were other matters that should be at the forefront of their mind. 

 “Allow me to remind you of the facts then. You pulled off a successful bank robbery, leaving a bomb behind you.” Damsel’s voice was cold, they turned to look at an angry Hero, “That’s when you showed up. You were more interested in stopping Villain than teleporting the bomb out of the building. Did you catch Villain?” Damsel answered their own question: “No. Three people died for your mistakes.”

“Damsel, what does this have to do with anything?” Villain was breathing heavily; talking was hard.

“Did you know I went to Harvard?” It was like Damsel hadn’t even heard Villain. Maybe they hadn’t. “I had a half scholarship. My dad was so proud. He insisted that he would pay the other half of the tuition. I told him not to worry, but he was so stubborn. He…” Damsel paused, face contorting as if in pain, “He went to the bank every month to pay. He went to the bank two years ago today. Two years ago was the last time that I saw him alive.”

Villain’s eyes widened, they stared warily at the gun. “Damsel, I’m so sorry.” They sucked in a rasping breath. “Hero should have saved him.” It wasn’t the first time that Hero had placed capturing Villain over saving lives.

Damsel nodded, “Yes, they should have.” In a flash Damsel pointed the gun towards Hero and shot the dart into their heart. Hero’s eyes went wide, Hero fell over, as if dead.

Damsel turned back to Villain, “You should never have put those people in danger. Never put my father in danger.” Damsel produced a copper dart from their pocket and slid it into the gun. Damsel was like a loose cannon, ready to fire.

“Damsel please don’t do this. I could never have known that was your father in there.”

“No, you could never have cared, Villain. Even in our relationship you didn’t care. All you have ever cared about was winning, winning against Hero, winning me.”

“Damsel, I’m innocent in this! It was Heroes’ job to save those people!” 

“You are not innocent!” Damsel yelled back, then recomposed themself. “Unchecked Villains and Heroes are nothing more than careless murderers.”  Damsel’s knuckles turned white on their gun.

“Are you so quick to condemn me?” 

Damsel spoke again as if they had not heard Villain, “If it’s any consolation, I don’t want to do this to you. I love you.” They glanced back at Heroes’ still body. “You both.”

“If you love me you won’t do this. Let's go home and all will be forgotten.” Villain found themselves really meaning it, they could overcome this. Damsel’s knuckles regained a bit of their color. They took a step towards Villain. Villain could see how much Damsel wanted that; Villain nodded encouragingly. 

Friend moved, startling Villain. They hissed at the pain of their muscles tensing. Friend put a hand on Damsel’s arm. “Remember, this is leading to something bigger than just you or me. This world has seen enough of Heroes and Villains. Someone needs to sacrifice to protect the people from them.”

“Do you really believe that?” Villain asked Damsel flabbergasted.

Damsel spoke softly, as if speaking a mantra, “For the greater good.”

“No, Damsel. Please.” 

“I have a favor to ask, after--”

Villain looked at Heroes’ prone form, “After?”

“Yes, after.” Damsel spoke slowly, “It won’t kill you; you just won’t have your powers anymore. So, after, please tell the world there’s a new player in the game. Soon it won’t be just Heroes and Villains. It will be Heroes. Villains. And Enforcers.” They pointed the barrel at Villain’s heart. “I think it’ll catch on.”

Then Damsel, their kind, sweet, good Damsel, pulled the trigger. Villain wished they had seen it before. That it would all lead up to this moment, this betrayal. Usually they were quite good at that. But it was harder with Damsel; they didn’t show all the usual signs like everyone else.