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Deceit had literally just wanted a snickers bar. Was that too much to ask for?
That was a stupid question. Of course, it was. Deceit didn’t even have his costume with him. He’d been too lazy to change out of his pajamas and was sporting bright yellow pants and a black t-shirt with two holes in it that were not ripped in it for any sort of stylistic choice. Plus, he was tired.
So, of course, some dick attacked the park across the street from the gas station he was in. Deceit tried to ignore it just for a moment. Sure, it had been clear skies when he’d walked into the gas station and now there were bolts of lightening lighting up the window, but surely, surely, it was just a storm.
They city alarms went off half a second later. He sighed and grabbed a snickers bar from the shelf in front of him. “I paid for this,” he informed the person standing at the front before shoving it into his pocket. They nodded, without taking their eyes off their magazine. He probably hadn’t even needed to bother using his powers on them.
He strode out of the door, digging his hand into his pocket. He’d brought his mask and hat at the very least, so he pulled those out and buttoned his coat to cover the t-shirt the best he could. He’d at least be recognizable and, if he had some energy left to spare, he could probably convince the people around him that he was wearing his normal costume with his powers.
Looking around, he could immediately pinpoint the problem. There was a dumb bastard wearing some really stupid hat made of irregularly sized grey metal spikes that Deceit was 95% sure was for some sort of (grotesque) aesthetic rather than a function. He was wearing yellow, which Deceit honestly took as a personal insult, and there was some sort of emblem on his chest. Considering Deceit did not recognize it and it looked like bird shit, it was probably of his own design. If Deceit was a hypocrite for being judgmental about the man’s outfit while wearing pajama pants, he refused to acknowledge it. The outfit was truly an act of villainy. Also, he was shooting lighting out of his hands at civilians.
Deceit didn’t particularly want to get fried before getting close enough to use his powers on him, so he was taking a moment to strategize the best way to get in range, when another player entered the field.
Deceit had never seen the city’s newest superhero in person, but it had been bound to happen at some point. He sighed, readying himself for a migraine as the man flew into the park. One good thing was that the supervillain was easily distracted. He let up on his barrage of lightning bolts to redirect it all at ‘Bluebird.’ The man was easily able to dodge the attack, and it allowed Deceit to step into range. The man’s mind didn’t put up any resistance. He’d probably be confused later as to why a giant spider had suddenly appeared in the middle of the park, but for now, he immediately started shooting lightning at the ‘spider’ (which was actually a bush) while screaming. He seemed to completely forget about Bluebird’s presence. Bluebird immediately knocked the man to the ground.
Bluebird landed next to him. He looked at Deceit, consideringly. Great.
“Deceit,” he said.
Deceit let his eyes dispassionately look him up and down. “Bluebird, wasn’t it?”
Deceit could see the man’s face screw up even behind his mask. “Apparently,” he said, voice dripping with disdain.
Deceit almost chuckled at his tone. It seemed someone wasn’t fond of his bestowed superhero name. “The media does as it wills.”
“One would think they’d be more original,” he grumbled.
“It seems perfectly original to me,” Deceit drawled.
The sarcasm seemed to fly straight over his head. “They combined the color of my suit with the fact that I can fly. I cannot see the originality of that.”
“Yes, well. Perhaps it will grow on you.”
He scoffed his disagreement and looked down at the man crumped at his feet. “I will wait for the police,” he said. “Thank you for the assist.”
Deceit blinked. “You’re not going to try to arrest me?” The man shrugged. This was… the weirdest conversation Deceit had ever had with a superhero. “Most heroes are eager to fight me, either out of some ideological bullshit or for clout.”
“I am concerned with neither of these things,” Bluebird said with a dismissive eyeroll. “Our means may be different, but our goals align. Wasting energy fighting each other takes away from both of our efforts to keep the city safe. It is impractical.”
“Most heroes don’t think that way.”
“Most heroes are imbeciles.”
Deceit snorted. “Well, you’ll certainly hear no argument from me.”
Bluebird nodded. “Very well. Then this conversation is complete.”
…
Well… he guessed that was a dismissal. Deceit stared at him for a moment, honestly feeling a bit unbalanced by the interaction, though he would never admit to that. He shook his head and turned away.
At least he’d gotten the candy bar.