#cyborg sidekick

Be Careful What You Wish For:

Whumper: Villain Whumpee: Hero’s Sidekick Caretaker: Hero

I feel like I should call this one out for possibly containing a few squicks that people may not like. Spoiler, Villain is meant to save them and ends up turning them into a cyborg, there’s a vague description but nothing too graphic. So yeah, if anyone can think of the actual terms let me know.

Hero heaved their Sidekick up to Villain's door and brayed on the door. It opened surprisingly quickly.

"What do you want now?" Villain snapped.

"Help them! I know you can!" Hero demanded. "They'll die without your help!"

Villain folded their arms and leaned against the door frame. "Why should I? You're my enemy after all."

Hero looked down at Sidekick's flushed face, their dropping expression and their strained breathing. They clutched onto their stomach where Hero had placed them on the floor. They wheezed and cried softly with the pain.

"Because I'm telling you to. I'll pay if that's what you want, but this isn't a normal illness and only you can cure it. Just save them, that's all I'm asking. They don't deserve this."

Villain stood quietly for a long moment. Hero crouched down to talk gently to Sidekick, to try to reassure them. Villain sighed.

"Bring them in, but you have too much faith in me," Villain grumbled.

Hero carefully scooped them up from the floor. Sidekick buried their head into the crook of Hero’s neck. “P.please just make it stop,” Sidekick whimpered.

"I will. Bring them this way."

Hero followed Villain deeper into their vase, and their feeling of dread rose in their chest.

"What happened?" Villain asked.

"They. They got hit with magic, and it's just… not wearing off. They're in so much pain and their body- it's practically rejecting itself."

Villain thought long and hard about how was best to fix such a problem. They didn't even have to look at Sidekick to know that their body would be in a state, perhaps unsaveable in some places. They could save them, that didn't mean Hero was going to like it. They didn't care. Perhaps this would be lesson enough for Hero and Sidekick to stop meddling in Villain's business.

Villain brought Hero into a room and then took Sidekick from them with care. The movement made Sidekick whimper. Yes, it was as bad as they expected. "Wait here. There's a bed and food available in here, use them. I'll be a long time."

Hero waited. 

And waited.

And waited…

They didn't see Villain until the next day. They'd tried leaving only to find themselves locked in. Anxiety had chewed on their body all night, sleeping had been an impossibility. They regretted everything, but if it was Sidekick's only chance… they just didn't understand what was taking so long. Surely it was simple? Just a matter of drawing the power of them. Villain had healing powers, it should have been easy.

As soon as the door clicked open, Hero stood up ready. Sidekick wasn't there, only Villain.

"I've ensured their survival."

"Let me see them," Hero blurted. "Please."

Villain smirked. "Of course."

Hero followed them through more hallways, more corridors until they came to a particularly solid-looking door. Villain unlocked it and gestured for Hero to go first.

Hero fainted as soon as they caught a glimpse of Sidekick's body.

What had Villain done?

Hero came around after a few seconds, they felt sick, they were furious, devastated, and yet they couldn't move, couldn't lash out. They only stared. They stared at the tubes and pipes sticking out of Sidekick's body, the way at least half of their body was now metal and robotics, including part of their face. They looked like nothing Hero could fully recognise.

Hero couldn't get up off the ground. Villain dragged them up, but the movement was enough to break them out of their trance. Hero slammed them against the wall. "What have you done?!"

"Ensured their survival. Would you believe me if I said there was no other way?"

"You've hacked them to pieces!" Hero screamed.

"Their body was shutting down. It wasn't going to come back. Be careful what you wish for, [Hero]. You wanted them alive, then this was the only way. I kept as much of their body as I could. It was left too long."

Villain dug their fingers into Hero's throat to make them step back and let go.

"It's going to take some getting used to, perhaps even some tweaks, but that's not my problem anymore."

Villain headed back toward the door. "They'll be waking up soon- Oh, and of course, we have a payment to discuss."

Villain left, leaving Hero alone with their cyborg Sidekick. 

Hero collapsed back down to the floor, leaning against the wall with their head in their hands.