#no.3

Hero used to be that magnet for Villain. They used to be the one Villain searched for in a room full of people. There used to be a chain linking them, built of tender memories of quiet nights spent together and secrets shared under the moonlight, exchanged words of comfort, matching scars from injuries they helped each other patch up, and knowledge that no matter where they were, they remained each other’s missing part. Hero had hoped it would stay like this forever. But even the most beautiful chain is still a chain.

And Villain had never liked to be tied down.

Hero wanted to hate them for leaving. They should hate them. Villain betrayed not only them, but also Superhero, when they fled the Agency’s headquarters three years ago. Their loyalty should condemn such action. But Hero could not bring themself to hold any ill feelings for Villain, when they shone so bright amid their newfound family. They could see the difference in their posture, how they held themself slightly higher, more self-assured. How their eyes had this sharp glint Hero hadn’t seen since they were kids, before they’d gone to chase their dreams. How they began to express their emotions more freely, still with slight apprehension, but they were trying. Hero had never seen them so happy before.

Hero felt a sharp sting in their heart, a mix of grief, nostalgia and jealousy. It hurt, seeing Villain so content without them. To see they could never be enough for them. It hurt more than the fresh whip marks crisscrossing Hero’s back.

They were about to stand up and head back to the headquarters before their curfew was up, when they heard a familiar voice and their body went rigid.

“So this is where you wander off in your free time,” Superhero’s tone was condescending, as if scolding a little child for running off too far away. They came to stand behind their protégé and put a hand on their back, pressing against a particularly deep whip mark, and eliciting a sharp hiss from them.

Hero’s mind was sent into panic. They tried to spin some sort of excuse that this was just surveillance or that they were staking the place to try and catch Villain off guard but Superhero interrupted their train of thought.

“Think very carefully about what you’re going to say because I don’t think your body can also take punishment for lying.”

Hero felt tears burn in their eyes as they said two, most useless words, “I’m sorry.”

Superhero let out humourless laughter and closed their palm over Hero’s shoulder. Suddenly, Hero found themself flung into a wall, their back errupting in a cacophony of pain.

“What do you think you’re doing here, huh?” spat Superhero. They tugged harshly at Hero’s hair, tilting their head towards them.

“I- I- I’m so- sorry,” Hero stuttered, trying to focus on Superhero’s face, but their head was dazed from the impact.

“Apologies are only genuine if you act up on them. And you, Hero, have been fucking up a lot lately,” they pulled their protégé from the wall and then slammed them back. Hero let out a groan and felt warm blood trickle down their back as the wounds reopened.

“I’m sorry, I was just watching them. I didn’t talk to them or anything.”

“And why would you want to watch them eat a fucking birthday cake?”

Hero opened their mouth and closed it again after a moment. They knew that the severity of their forthcoming punishment depended on their answer. Telling the truth was going to end in a plethora of pain, yet punishment for lying was going to be twice as much. They doubted their body could go through three “correcting sessions” in one day. They took a deep breath, wincing as the act sparked pain from their aggravated back.

“I… I just…” tentatively, Hero spoke, their voice just above the whisper. They avoided Superhero’s stare, “I just missed them.”

All of a sudden, a punch came and knocked Hero to the ground. They whimpered, struggling back to their feet, but their head was spinning violently and limbs kept going out from under them.

“You missed a traitor?” snapped Superhero as they delivered a sharp kick in Hero’s side and slammed them back to the ground. Their anger was like a vicious tempest raging all around Hero. “Did you forget what they did to me? To us?“

Hero shook their head, unable to form a response. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, panic constricting their throat.

Superhero scoffed at the pathetic form at their feet. They bent over and hauled Hero up by their hair. Hero cried out, black spots dancing in their eyes.

“I think you need a reminder of what happens to people who affiliate themselves with traitors. We are gonna get rid of that pesky attachment of yours.”

Hero wanted to say that they didn’t affiliate themself with Villian, that they were just watching. They doubted the criminal would even want to have anything to do with them anymore. Yet they found themself unable to put together a sentence, bone-deep exhaustion settling in their body. They doubted they would withstand the session, they felt close to passing out right then. Few more strikes were going to sent them into oblivion. They let themself be dragged by Superhero from the rooftop and into their car.

They were utterly oblivious to Villain standing at their window, watching them.

Part 2