Catnip

“Useful little thing, aren’t you?”

Sidekick startled back from the window at the unexpected voice. They located the source easily and glared when they finally recognized the face a dozen feet away. The villain had their eyes focused through a second pane, a look of appraisal fixed upon their face.

“I am not a thing.” Sidekick bristled. “And I am not being used.”

They crossed their arms defensively as the villain turned, cat-like and unnatural, to appraise them instead.

Sidekick had been watching the hero battle through the dusty glass, intent gaze shifting from move after move so they could properly boost the hero whenever they were in need of an upper hand. The inside of the warehouse was large and open, plenty of room for Sidekick to assist from a distance, but they had strict orders to stay outside the building.

It was safer this way, Hero had insisted. The agency’s secret weapon: hidden in the shadows.

Sidekick hadn’t scoffed before, but with eyes following the purposeful gait heading towards them, they certainly would now.

The villain stepped up to them, positioning themselves annoyingly close. Sidekick barely refrained from rolling their eyes.

Villains, always with the theatrics.

“Is that so, hm?”

The dramatic villain drug their gaze from the sidekick’s head to their toes, causing Sidekick to narrow their eyes further.

“Yes. It is,” they responded firmly. It was almost funny, the intimidation act, and it took a great deal for them to maintain their professionalism.

A quirk of the lip shifted into an uncanny full-blown smile.

“Oh, but I do plan on using you.”

The villain’s eyes flashed in a way that could never be faked.

Suddenly the proximity was something else. Something dangerous.

Sidekick’s eyes went wide and they stumbled a step back.

This was real, very real. Far from the joke they had made it out to be in their head.

Of course as a member of the agency they were trained to fight, but everything inside of them screamed to run—and who were they deny their instincts?

They made a bee-line for the propped open entrance door a dozen feet in the opposite direction. They reached desperate fingers out for the silver handle to widen the gap as their feet skidded on the gravel. They got it pulled just enough to theoretically swing themselves inside, only the metal was ripped from their hand before they could. The door slammed closed with them still decidedly on the other side.

Ok, so no backup.

That was fine, they could switch tactics.

Sidekick whipped their head around to face the oncoming threat.

Never in a million years would the hero have let them engage in hand-to-hand combat one-on-one out in the field. Not if they were on this side of the door.

But they weren’t, were they? It was just Villain and Sidekick, a telekinetic and an amplifier—with no power to amplify but the villain’s.

Sidekick had never felt such a childish urge to stick their head under the covers as they did right now.

There was one more option, fitting of the terrified child they felt trapped inside them. Sidekick sucked in a quick breath and opened their mouth wide, just to find that they couldn’t scream, their throat held tight.

And not by fear.

Oh.

The realization hit them with a shiver, bumps rising involuntarily all over their skin. They soon found the rest of their body held similarly, the only movement allowed to them being the rapid rise and fall of their chest, even that restricted by the little air allowed past their vocal folds.

This fight was over before it ever begun.

The muscles of their larynx spasmed as they fought to widen their airway. Sidekick made soft little gasping sounds, a slight wheeze starting up in their chest.

Don’t panic, don’t panic—

“What’s wrong, Sweetheart? Cat got your tongue?”

Sidekick was panicking. They don’t train you for losing your voice, for losing your oxygen. They were a mouse all right, and not one fit for a meal.

A toy.

And there was nothing they could do about it.

A tear slid down their cheek but they didn’t feel it, only aware of its presence because the villain stepped close and lifted a thumb to wipe it away.

“Don’t worry,” they chided. “Like I said, you’re useful.”

Sidekick’s body ignored all of their increasingly frantic signals to strain away. When their face was cupped in a twisted cradle by two gloved hands, they couldn’t take it anymore and squeezed their eyes shut.

“And I take good care of my tools.”

It was a minor mercy that the villain couldn’t feel how they would have flinched when their head was tilted forward and a chin pressed atop their head. Now only at risk of seeing the ground, Sidekick opened their eyes to cast their gaze longingly to the side at the rusted door frame.

Safer my ass.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Hero’s cold voice was enough to send shivers down Sidekick’s spine;

“Just..just thought-“

Could you do a scenario where the Villain is in another fight with the hero. But they notice something is really off abt hero. They seem clumsy and scared. Villain then realizes its not hero, but an imposter wearing hero’s suit.

Villain interrogates the imposter on where hero is, and they go rescue them wherever they are.

Thats all I have (U don’t have to do it if u don’t want to ;)

Sibling shenanigans

Warnings: Slightly flirty. Tension. Language. Potential double dates? Kind of combines the flirty/funny and sibling storylines. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Villain paused mid-swing, their eyes narrowing suspiciously. Something felt utterly and completely wrong, yet they failed to pinpoint what exactly. If they didn't know any better, they'd assume that Hero was pulling their punches - but they did know better, and this half-presence felt nothing like their nemesis' usual style. They tilted their head, studying Hero's movements on the rooftop - way too clumsy, hesitant and cautious for a professional gymnast-turned-crimefighter. One could say they seemed afraid of heights.

For a moment, Villain stared as if deciphering the equation that was in front of them. Hero never missed a chance to flirt mock them during battle - as much as Villain enjoyed the rare silence, the ambience felt off enough for them to catch the shift. The usual tension between them was missing, the air no longer charged by begrudging attraction and unsubtle sexual tension. Almost like... Just then, Villain notices Hero attempting to sneak away and darts out before they can process, body-slamming them into the wall with their hands braced on either side of Hero's head.

"Gotcha," Villain smirks at the slight stutter in their enemy's breathing pattern. Now that they think about it, Hero's physicality is different too - they seem a few inches shorter than usual, a little lankier and less gracious in motion. Oh, so that's what's happening here. Villain's grin widens with understanding, "Spill it. Who are you?"

Hero avoids their gaze, attempting to fake a deep voice yet making it painfully obvious. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Villain scoffs, holding back a laugh. This was a freaking kid, wasn't it? For heaven's sake, Hero must be desperate to send a newbie against their biggest enemy.

"Where are they?" Villain asks, their hand coming to rest on the kid's throat, not pressing yet. "And don't lie to me," they warn, tightening their grip by a fraction but remaining attuned to their surroundings, as if expecting Hero to jump out any moment now, "You had me fooled for a moment, I'll give you that."

The kid seems to deflate, glancing around, frantic and hopeless upon realising they have no way of overpowering Villain, they let out a defeated sigh. "I don't know." The confession comes out as a hoarse whisper; the raw vulnerability behind it hits Villain like a gut punch. Something's off.

"Explain," they demand, relaxing their fingers on the kid's neck, "who are you and why are you posing as Hero?"

"Um... we're siblings," the kid starts, and Villain jerks their hand away from their neck as if burned. Hero's sibling was barely out of high school. They might have looked into it when searching for leverage against them. Villainous intent aside, they'd never stoop so low as to threaten an underage and uninvolved family member. "I thought I could scare you into leaving without harming anyone if I impersonated them," the fake hero mumbles under their nose.