#corrupt hero

part I - part II

Tuesday

It took Civilian a few moments to adjust to their surroundings when they woke up on the couch the following day. They tossed a blanket they didn’t remember putting on to the side, yawning. Sunlight shone through the closed blinds. It seemed to be mid-morning already. They stood, smoothing their rumpled clothes, before starting down the hall to their room. Halfway there, they heard a muffled voice coming from the kitchen. As Civilian approached, they could only make out a few words, most of them curses. Slowly, they peeked inside the room, one hand resting on the doorframe. 

At the table, Villain was leaning over an enormous binder, flipping back and forth through the pages. Each time they turned one, they muttered something colorful under their breath. A mug and an empty coffee pot sat precariously on the edge of the table, liable to fall with one shift of the binder. After a few seconds, Villain’s head lifted suddenly, as if they had just sensed Civilian’s presence. The circles underneath their eyes were dark, the kind Civilian would have to cover up after a long night of doing Hero’s paperwork. It was still odd to see them in normal clothes, as they had been on Sunday. No costume, no mask. Just a regular person anyone could brush past on the street a million times and never take note of. Well. Maybe Civilian would. “Good morning,” Villain said, returning their attention to the binder after a moment’s pause. “I have… something to talk to you about, once you’re ready.”

Civilian stifled a yawn. “Okay.” They supposed a conversation was inevitable, however uncomfortable both of them were around the subject of Civilian’s captivity. With a last flick of their eyes to Villain’s hunched form, they started down the hall again to their room.

A few minutes later, they returned to the kitchen with damp hair and a new outfit just as neutral as the previous one. Villain had brewed a new pot of coffee for them. The bitter scent filled the air, reminding Civilian of countless early mornings at the office. They poured themself a mug and sat in the other chair, looking at their captor from across the tiny table. 

Villain was the first to break the silence. “I don’t have any creamer or sugar,” they said apologetically. “You can probably tell I don’t spend that much time grocery shopping.”

“Seems like you do spend plenty eating yogurt, though.” Civilian recalled all of the containers they’d seen in the fridge. 

Villain’s laugh caught them both off guard, somehow sharp and warm at the same time.. “You noticed?”

The corners of Civilian’s mouth turned upward. “Hard not to.” They took a sip of their coffee and gestured to the binder. “What’s this?”

Villain leaned back on their chair, huffing a sigh. “These are all the files I have on Hero—their powers, their associates, their deals, everything. I’ve been compiling it since they became my nemesis.”

“Am I in there?”

They flipped to a page near the very back of the binder. There were only a few lines written and no picture. “It was a lot harder to find anything out about you. I don’t know why, but Hero updated security after firing their last assistant. That’s why I didn’t recognize you when you showed up. Usually, I would have. I should’ve dug deeper—it’s dangerous for Hero to have a card up their sleeve like that.”

Civilian’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “I can’t believe you said all that so nonchalantly. You’re such a stalker.”

“I am not!” Villain bristled at the assessment. Civilian’s brows rose higher. “Well, I am,” they admitted, fidgeting with the hem of their jacket. “But that’s my job. It's yours, too, though, you knew what you were signing up for.”

“In my defense, I never imagined this,” Civilian pointed out. 

“Fair.” Villain was quiet for a moment. “I figured I owe you an explanation. This all must be… confusing.” That was an enormous understatement, but Civilian nodded. “Hero is a manipulator. They puppeteer this entire city according to their whims. I never know what their next step is. Since they chose me as their nemesis, I’ve tried to get closer, learn more about their plans.”

“Hence, the binder,” Civilian said, gesturing to the monstrosity in front of them.

They gave a rueful smile. “Yes. Anyway, I don’t know if you’ve realized, but I haven’t fought Hero in weeks.”

Civilian blinked. It seemed like the two were always fighting, every instance just blended into each other. “Really?” 

“Usually they’ll contact me at least once a week. Sometimes it's taunts or a tip, sometimes it's to tell me to meet them. Often they stop by while I’m working, to fight or just to see what I’m doing. They like to keep tabs on people.”

“Reminds me of someone else I know.”

“Well, you know what they’re like, don’t you?”

Civilian shrugged. “Kind of. They tend to keep their distance from me. They’re almost never in the office. I go in in the morning and find a new stack of paperwork and a bunch of reports to fill out. When they’re there, they just ask me to make them coffee or order food.”

“I guess I’m not surprised,” Villain mused. “But the point is, I wanted to know what they were up to. I told Other Villain and some others I know Hero talks to that I had big plans for Thursday. Nothing specific, something about Town Hall and a few innocent lives in danger.” 

“You baited them,” Civilian said slowly, “and they sent me to call your bluff.”

“Hero doesn’t like to be toyed with. I should’ve known better. But before they stopped fighting me, I felt like I was close to uncovering something.”

“A conspiracy?”

“How Hero can pull so many strings, keep everything running the way they want.”

“Maybe they’re scared you’ll uncover whatever it is they’re hiding.”

Villain scoffed, running a hand through their hair—a gesture so human it took Civilian by surprise. “Hero isn’t scared of anything. Least of all me.” 

Civilian shook their head, “I can’t believe you’re what’s under the mask.”

The criminal stared at them with a confused half-smile. “What do you mean?”

“You’re so… normal. When Hero told me to deliver that letter, I was terrified. I’d always thought that anything I did for them was for the good of the city, so I went through with it. But you’re not scary at all.”

There it was again: that laugh Civilian didn’t know what to make of. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t repeat that to anyone. I have a reputation to uphold.” 

“So why did you do any of this in the first place? Why did you become Villain?”

In answer, Villain raised their hand in the air. The binder moved along with it, as if it was being pulled up by an invisible string. With a slight shift of their finger, the binder flew to the other side of the room, landing with a small thump on the counter. “I can move things with my mind. You have to do something with that kind of power. Why not crime?” They gave a dumbfounded Civilian a self-satisfied grin, but it quickly faded. They leaned forward, eyes overtaken by an oddly intense look. “I work very hard to keep the mask up. It's the only way I can keep any semblance of sanity in a life like this. I don’t have any family or friends because it's too dangerous for anyone to know me. I save the real version of myself in this house so I don’t lose my mind. I like books and detective movies. I like yogurt. That’s the real me, and only Hero knows that.”

Civilian rocked their nearly-empty mug from side to side. “And now me.”

Villain raised and lowered one shoulder. “You’re like an extension of Hero. You don’t count.” 

“Excuse me?!” 

“I-that’s not-I didn’t-“ Villain sputtered, eyes widening. “That’s not what I meant! I didn’t try to hide any of this because Hero knows anyway, and you’re their assistant, so there’s no point! You’re not-I mean, you’re nothing like them-“

Civilian’s peal of laughter interrupted them, lasting long enough for a Villain to hesitantly join in. “You’re weird, you know that?”

“Actually, I’ve just had it on good authority that I’m shockingly normal and well-adjusted,” they replied primly. 

“I didn’t say that.” 

“Can’t I have this one thing?”

 Civilian threw up their hands. “I’m a prisoner in this house! Let me have my fun, you scoundrel.”

“Scoundrel?!” Villain put a hand over their heart, feigning betrayal. “Do you really think of me like that?”

“Give me a few seconds and I can come up with something much worse.” 

“I think I liked it better when you were paralyzingly afraid of me.”

“You mean when you choked me half to death?”

Villain winced. “I did apologize for that.”

“Not nearly enough!”

“I’m sorry! I thought my whole life had been compromised!”

“It’s not like anyone would believe me anyway if I told them you secretly loved yogurt!”

The two looked at each other, little smiles playing on their faces. Civilian wondered how long it had been since Villain had talked to someone openly like that. Probably not since they donned their criminal persona and become subject to Hero and their whims. They may have been able to salvage a life for themself, but it wasn’t much of one. 

After a while, Villain stood up abruptly, pushing in their chair with a scrape. “I should take care of a few errands. I can pick up a few things from your apartment, too, if you want.”

“Sure, some toiletries and clothes would be nice. Maybe a few books.” Anything to stave off the boredom.

“Okay.” Villain moved to leave the room.

“Wait, don’t you need to know the address?”

The criminal half-turned to face Civilian, their guilt apparent. “…uh. Yes?”

“I thought you didn’t have much on me!”

“Well, I didn’t know what you looked like, but an address is easy enough to find. You can read through the files if you’d like, by the way. Not exactly a fun read, but there’s some good information in there.”

Civilian shook their head in mock disgust. “Stalker! Scoundrel!”

“All right, I get it, I’m leaving!” Villain offered them a final smile before disappearing out of the doorway. 

Civilian sat at the kitchen table for a little longer, eventually getting up to pour out the cold dregs from their coffee mug. They spent most of the rest of the day reading through Villain’s files, which were so dense they found themself nearly falling asleep on the binder multiple times. Most of it was about Hero and their plots over the years—or at least the few details Villain had managed to discover about them. There were hundreds of question marks and crossed-out statements, along with blurry pictures and names that Villain had marked as ‘definite aliases.’ Every page made Hero look worse and worse, uncovering their criminal associates and what they’d threatened people with to get them to assist in their schemes. But none of those schemes seemed to have a clear point or end goal aside from keeping as many people as possible under Hero’s thumb. Civilian marked the pages that seemed to have the most significant information with some sticky notes they’d found to talk about with Villain later. 

When Villain got home later that night, they dropped off Civilian’s things from their apartment outside the spare room door. They found Civilian watching another old movie on the couch. They weren’t asleep yet, but their eyes kept closing for longer and longer periods. Villain sat a foot or so away from them. It was strange how much their eyes were drawn to Civilian rather than the movie. It certainly wouldn’t help them get past the stalker accusation, but… they couldn’t help it. 

Before Civilian could fully drift off, Villain turned off the TV. “There’s no way you’re going to make it through the rest of that.”

“Try-“ Civilian’s own yawn cut them off. “Try me.” 

“Come on, it's late.”

“And what exactly do I have to do tomorrow besides sit here like a damsel in distress?”

Villain arched an eyebrow.  “Are you in distress?”

“A horrible evildoer turned off my sole source of entertainment for the night, so, yes,” Civilian said sleepily, burrowing deeper under their blanket. 

They snorted. “Hardly. Now, are you getting up or not?”

“You could carry me to bed with your mind.”

“No chance.”

“Worth a shot.” Civilian stretched, yawning again before tearing off the blanket and getting to their feet. “Good night, scoundrel.”

Villain rolled their eyes. “Good night, Civilian. Sleep well.”

“How am I supposed to do that in the home of such an incorrigible fiend?” Civilian wondered while they made their way out of the living room. 

“I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out,” the criminal called after them, unable to stop the smile tugging at their mouth.

That night, just as predicted, Civilian fell asleep as soon as their head hit the pillow. Villain lay awake, staring at the ceiling, the image of a face lingering in their mind’s eye, wondering how they were going to make it past Thursday.

part IV

Try writing a prompt where the villain realizes the hero was secretly worse then them. Maybe a corrupt hero who's obsessed with the villain? Black flag x red flag.

thank you so much anon... you've saved me 😭

Love is a Cold Knife

There was a sickening noise of metal slicing through flesh, the splatter of blood on hard objects, bones snapping.

Villain spun around, they had just been walking through a hallway– they thought they were alone.

Hero was frozen in place behind Villain, mid-pose with a bloody knife in their hand, a body slumped to the floor.

"Hero– what the hell!?" Hero looked like a kid caught with their hand in a cookie jar, not like the light of the city caught murdering someone. Still, their pupils were blown wide, a strange, feral look to them.

"Sorry, sorry, I know this area is 'off-limits,' blah blah blah, I get it, no–"

"No, Hero, I mean what the hell?! You just murdered someone!"

Hero's eyes flicked down to the bleeding body like they just now realized it was there, like they hadn't just shoved a knife through their neck, "oh."

"Well??"

"I– Well, I mean, i dunno. I just didn't like them."

"You didn't– what?! You're a Hero and you just killed someone because you–" Villain blinked quickly and shook their head, "I thought you were the good guy! Y'know, no killing and stuff!?"

"Oh, right. That. Yeah... uh, let's see... ah, yes. This is a good way to put it: I just don't like watching people get too close to you."

The hero agency has an on call physical therapist/chiropractor (PT). They have zero abilities or powers, but know their craft well and how to apply it to supers.

They are very much loved throughout the agency due to their healing craft as well as their bedside manner. When a super has suffered a severe injury, PT is the one at their side encouraging them to take one more step in session and giving them the hope and ability to heal and lead a healthy life. Even supers who have permanent injuries find happiness in their new lives thanks to PT’s careful planning and support.

One day PT disappears and it’s not just one hero agency that calls out the entire arsenal to find them, but many. Even retired heroes come to take up the search.

But where are they?

All up to you your work is amazing have a chocolate 🍫 byeeee

This is choco anon i will be back

Hey Choco Anon! Sorry it took so long to reply to this, but yeah, I can give it a try! Thanks for requesting this, here you go!

Thank you to @thepenultimateword for helping me on this one!

The sight of Hero made Civilian walk a little faster. They were anxious to get to their destination without being intercepted by the crime-fighter. Despite the good things the press always said about them, there was something about Hero that sent shivers down Civilian’s spine.

Civilian just reached their bus stop when a gloved hand came to rest on their shoulder.

“Well, hello there, pretty,” Hero said, “what are you doing out alone so late?”

Civilian gulped, their body stiffening. They turned to face them.

“I’m just waiting for my bus,” Civilian said quietly.

“Speak up, doll,” Hero said sweetly, “I have a lot of abilities, but super hearing isn’t one of them.”

“Just waiting for the bus,” Civilian repeated a little louder.

“Hm,” Hero mused, “you don’t usually take a bus to get home, where are you off to?”

Civilian faltered, how did Hero know about their route home?

“I- I’m just-”

“Hope you’re not going near that criminal’s base,” Hero continued, “I’ve noticed Supervillain’s had their eye on you for a while, you need to be careful, doll.”

Civilian nodded stiffly.

“I am careful,” Civilian said, forcing a polite smile.

Hero tucked a strand of hair behind Civilian’s ear. Civilian fought back a shudder.

“I know,” Hero said, “but you’d do well to have someone looking out for you.”

The sound of a bus stopping made Civilian relax just a little. Finally, they were saved!

“Well, uh, this is my bus, so, um, bye-”

Civilian went to leave, but Hero grabbed their wrist.

“Where are you trying to go?” Hero asked, “I can take you there. Statistically, flying is the safest way to travel.”

“Oh, that’s okay-”

“I insist,” Hero said, pulling Civilian closer and starting to rise up.

Civilian’s stomach dropped.

“Hero!” a voice shouted.

Hero stopped a few feet in the air, turning to the source of the voice.

“Hands off,” Supervillain said, approaching them, “they’re not interested.”

“How would you know?” Hero asked, landing back on the ground, “have they told you that?”

“The look on their face says everything,” Supervillain said, charging two balls of dark energy, “let them go. Now.”

Hero chuckled, moving Civilian so that they were behind them.

“This’ll just be a second,” they said.

Hero summoned two fireballs and strutted toward Supervillain. Supervillain cast a glance at Civilian.

“Run,” they mouthed.

Before Hero could turn to see what Civilian would do, Supervillain clocked them hard in the jaw, dark energy spreading into their skin. Civilian didn’t stay to watch what would happen next; they bolted, turning a corner and running to who knew where.

…

Civilian hid in an alleyway, trying to catch their breath and slow their racing heart. A figure landed next to them. Civilian’s heart leapt into their throat, whipping around to face them.

“Supervillain,” they realized, breathing a sigh of relief.

Civilian collapsed against the alley wall. Supervillain approached them slowly.

“Shh, it’s alright,” Supervillain said, “they won’t bother you anymore. I made sure of it.”

“Thank you,” Civilian breathed, “thank you thank you thank you.”

“…Can I come closer?” Supervillain asked gently.

Civilian managed to nod. Supervillain closed the rest of the distance between them.

“Would you like me to take you home?” they asked.

Civilian shook their head.

“C-can I stay with you tonight? Please?”

“Of course, love. I’m going to pick you up now, alright?”

Civilian nodded again. Supervillain put their arms around them and lifted them into the air, flying back to their base.

“Next time you want to see me, don’t take the bus,” Supervillain said, “just call me and I’ll come get you.”

Civilian buried their face in Supervillain’s chest, muttering out a muffled reply.

…

Supervillain gently sat Civilian down on the large, plush couch in their living room. They crouched down to get a better look at their lover.

“Talk to me,” Supervillain said, “did they do anything to you?”

Civilian shook their head, tears forming in their eyes.

“I think they were stalking me. I don’t feel safe anymore. They’re so… grabby and forceful.”

Something dark glinted in Supervillain’s eyes, but it faded before Civilian could see it.

“Like I said, they shouldn’t come near you again,” Supervillain said, “if they do, I swear I will finish what I started.”

“What did you do?” Civilian sniffled.

“Don’t worry about it,” Supervillain said with a small smile, “it’s nothing you need to lose sleep over.”

Supervillain sat down on the couch next to Civilian. Civilian cuddled up to them, sobbing quietly. Supervillain ran their hand up and down their lover’s shoulder, shushing them gently.

…

Hero’s mangled body was rushed to a local hospital, where it was determined that Supervillain had shattered their arms, legs, and jaw. It would be a while before they had an opportunity to bother Civilian again, and if they did… well, the funeral would be a spectacle for sure.

Part Two

Villain coughed as they pulled themself out of the wreckage. The wreckage the heroes caused, but would surely be blamed on them in tomorrow's news. Their knees gave out immediately the first time they tried to stand, pain went shooting through their side.

Sitting on the ground, they surveyed the damage. There was a gruesome gash on their side, probably caused by the broken chunks of stone ceiling they had been buried under. Their ribs were probably fractured, if not broken.

“It isn’t right.” Scientist spat out, venom dripping from the words. “That thing came out wrong.”

Supervillain gently pulled Scientist away from her work table. Each time she had failed her attempt she seemed to get more and more angry with herself. It broke his heart to hear. The mistakes weren’t her fault, Scientist was brilliant and her work was brilliant.

“I just- I want him back Supervillain…I want our baby back…” Her voice wavered.

He cupped the back of her head as she pushed her face into his shoulder. “We’ll have him back darling, we just need to try again. If anyone can do this right, it’s you.”

Scientist twisted his cardigan in her fists as she clearly struggled not to cry. It had been almost a year now without any significant progress in bringing Child back but Supervillain had absolutely no doubt in his wife.

This was the woman who had somehow cured what would have been the terminal illness to take him out, the woman who took control of a hero’s powers through the use of their own body like a puppet, the one who Supervillain knew with full certainty could take the world down without true opposition. There was a reason he had fallen so deeply and irreversibly in love with her.

His heart wrenched as a broken, muffled sob shook her frame. “I can’t stand that thing walking around looking like him. It’s mocking me, Supervillain! I can’t stand it! It’s going around with his face as if it deserves to take his place. It’s mocking my failure!”

“Hush love, hush now.” Supervillain scooped her up and carried her from the lab. 

The walk to their room was a long one as the lab was on the other side of the manor and they passed several henchmen on their way. Each one of them quickly averted their eyes, either from respect or from fear. They all knew what Supervillain would do to them if they even just thought of using Scientist’s vulnerability to an advantage. Even still, it was a relief to finally reach the carved oak doors.

Scientist was coaxed into her pajamas before Supervillain tucked her into their bed. It was only noon but she had been up the whole night trying to find what had gone wrong with that thing and she needed the sleep.

He laid a soft kiss to her forehead. “Don’t worry darling. That imposter will be gone by the time you wake; I’ll take care of it.”

---

“Six.”

Supervillain paused. It was rare that his captain of security said anything. He preferred to be monosyllabic or simply silent most of the time. “Excuse me?”

“This is the sixth child you will kill.” Captain was still standing at attention by the clone’s door but he watched Supervillain out of the corner of his eye. “You’ve made six of them since you lost Child. Scientist was crying again; you’re going to kill him too.”

It wasn’t a question.

Villain: -

" you're gonna do what now!? "

" wait! Sto-- " ( muffled noises )

" W-we can talk about this- l-like civilized people r-right?.. "

" WAIT I DIDN'T MEAN IT! "

" you're insane. "

( lots of defiant little murderous glares )

( sobs ) - " you're no HERO! "

" once I get outta here- we'll see who the people really love- "

( bloody noses )

( bloody lips )

" This isn't you!! "

" NO! "

( the classic. " I'ma kill you when I get outta here ".

Hero: -

" no one's coming for you. "

" how pathetic "

" can't even defend yourself. "

" a villain doesn't deserve freedom "

( little snarky comments )

( touchy feely )

" oh villain " - ( holds their chin up ) - " I'm just getting started "

" no need to struggle "

" where's that FIRE in your eyes, the MURDEROUS intent?! "

" I'm gonna put you through the hell you once despised. "

( the mocking laughs )

( the hero misleading the people )

( hero gaslighting villain's family )

(June of doom 2)

“It didn’t have to be this way.”            

| Scream | Double Cross | Made to Watch |

This is the first part of a story I've been thinking about for a few years by now, in which James' career as a hero takes a turn when he finds out how corrupt his team leader is. I still need to figure out a hero name for her and a few other people, but I hope to get this story going now.

contains: Kidnapping, vaguely mentioned torture.

~

James tapped on the cloaking device on his suit and darkness spilled out over the fabric like a shadow; concealing the blue color. It really had been a genius invention for those times more discretion was needed, and when following a criminal through the city streets at night it definitely was. 

The target was suspected of belonging to a criminal network that had proven particularly hard to pin down and expose. It likely would have been relatively easy for James to bring the suspect into custody, but another person they'd caught had proven that questioning was futile so James had decided to try another approach; maybe that person could lead him to some place of importance. If not, well, then he would have to just bring the suspect in.

Quietly as he could, James followed the man through the dimly lit streets, making sure that he wasn't noticed by the man he was following. That led him to a building which from the outside looked rather unsuspecting, but hopefully this would be something useful. Just before the door closed James used his power, a blue glow dancing across his fingers, as he focused on the door and stopped it from fully closing and locking.

He waited for a few moments, then walked up to the door and entered the building, carefully keeping an eye out for anyone else who could discover him. Granted the dark camouflage from the cloaking device helped him blend into the shadows of the corridor but it did not make him invisible. This was a risky move especially since he was alone, but danger was just part of the job.

Suddenly James heard footsteps from behind, and he hurried a few steps down the hall to hide in what seemed to be some sort of utility or storage room to avoid being noticed.

“Stop crying, you brought this upon yourself. Did you really think that double-crossing the Sinclairs would work out for you?” A woman said, and to James' surprise the voice was very familiar. That sounded like Cordelia, the leader of his team. Sure enough, through the keyhole of the door James could see her coming down the corridor accompanied by Rigel, dragging a bruised up man with them. Neither of them were in their hero suits, but the fact that she was here with a clearly injured person was even stranger. What the hell was going on?