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You couldn’t believe your luck. You had been on a supply run downtown undercover and had stumbled on your nemesis’s lesser known sidekicks. It was said that he rarely left the [fortress] so you couldn’t really pass up this opportunity, even if you were on vacation.
With a simple bit of acting, he had offered to help you with a “problem.”
~~~~~
“So what problems were you having again?” Hongbin asks as you approached the front door. His exhausted voice was a nice baritone, you had to admit.
“I swear the guy before had set up my pc wrong. It’ll turn on but my monitor and speakers don’t work and I’ve tried everything I could,” you smoothly lie.
As soon as he walks into the main hall, you press a button on your watch, locking down the room. Robotic arms wrap around Hongbin, bringing him to his knees, preventing him from escaping.
He looks at you, confused and only slightly worried. You raise a brow at his less that underwhelming reaction, “For someone working under Rovix, you’re not really cautious, are you? Not only that, but you don’t seem worried about the predicament that you’re in.”
He doesn’t say anything but continues to stare at you.
“I do wonder what Rovix will do. Probably won’t like that his sidekick got so foolishly kidnapped,” you chuckle to yourself.
“Bold of you to assume that he cares about me. Trust me. He won’t come,” he deadpans.
You bend down to meet his eye, smirking with a low voice, “We’ll see about that.”
~~~~~
It had been one week since you sent Rovix that taunting message of your hostage, but nothing. Not a single word. You eyes drift to the video feed of Hongbin in his cell. He was curled up on his bed, head resting on his knees, definitely not wanting to be there but seemed resigned to this being his life now. And as the days went on, you would catch him crying himself to sleep over the coms.
Something twinged in your heart. ‘What was his life before?’
~~~~~
Two months later:
“Come now Rovix! You’re normally so put together!” You yell as you fly through the sky, evading his attacks no problem, “Maybe if you still had Hongbin by your side, you wouldn’t be so clumsy.”
The hero takes aim, hitting your side with one of his lasers. Pain erupted throughout your body as you scream. Quickly, you hide yourself on a rooftop long enough to grab the healing sealant from your belt to spray it over the wound before dodging yet another strike.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” he snarls as he gets closer.
You take off.
“Shame. Seemed like you would’ve cared for your team,” you shout back whilst deploying an explosion that severed the top off a building. ‘That’ll keep him busy.’ Taking your chance, you make your escape.
~~~~~
Limping through the door, you make it about 5 steps before collapsing to the ground.
“Y/N!”
You felt hands grab at you but you couldn’t make them out before darkness took you.
~~
When you woke, you were in your bed. Your memory may be fuzzy but you definitely don’t remember making it to your room. As you adjust yourself, you hiss at the pain. It was slightly better but not by much.
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
You turn to see Hongbin drying his hands as he walks back from the bathroom. “You had me worried there.”
Your brows furrow at that, “Why would you be worried? Aren’t I your captor? Anyone in their right mind would’ve taken that opportunity to escape.
He goes quiet for a while, eyebrows scrunched in thought before he kneels and leans toward you before taking your hand to place it behind his head. You were confused until you felt it. Right under your fingers was a small hard bump in the shape of a square.
“What?” The word escape you.
He pulls away, letting your hand fall, and sits back, but doesn’t meet your eye as he begins, “A couple years ago, when I was seriously injured in a fight, I took on a sidekick to help manage the rising crime rate. He did well but we clashed when it came to morals. By the time I was fully healed, I didn’t realise what he had done.”
“What are you talking about?”
Hongbin meets your gaze, “Y/n, I am Rovix. The one you always fought until just over a year ago. Sejun had this inhibitor chip put in where it reduces my abilities so I couldn’t stop him. He kept me hidden in the base but the one day I snuck out, you found me. I didn’t realise it at first. I couldn’t remember you, but as time went on, I began to remember.”
“Do you think it has something to do with the chip?” You suggested, “I can try to remove it if you would like?”
“The world is so different to me now,” Hongbin stands and walks over to the window, “I guess I never noticed during my career just how much the people didn’t like me. They fell in love with Sejun; The hero that kills. That’s what they want. Not someone who sees those that terrorise people as the ones who need help finding their way. It’s made me think during my time here,” he turns back to you, “Perhaps I’ve had a change of heart.”
You couldn’t help the smirk that graced your lips.
~~~~~
“After months, you finally show your face again, Void! Were you too scared?” Taunts Rovix.
You can only laugh at that. The jetpack lifts you up to the spire of the Grand Terminal.
“And for a so-called hero, you don’t really put an effort into your duties.”
“What are you on about?” He flies up to you, piercing blue eyes meeting yours.
“You know, I don’t remember Rovix’s eyes being blue. They were always brown.”
And that’s when they turned red, but before you could move, a beam of dark light shoots up between you. Rovix backs up, startled but you can only smirk.
“Guess what big boy,” You kick off the spire, “I know your secret.”
You take off, booking it through the winding streets of downtown as lasers shoot passed you. Feeling your watch buzz, you take a sharp turn to send the signal before heading for the spot.
Just as you were almost there, Rovix manages to hit your jetpack, the explosion sending straight for the stone steps of city hall. Strong arms catch you before placing you down.
“No, it cannot be,” gasps Rovix, “You died.”
Hongbin chuckles darkly at that, “That’s what you thought.”
Over the last two months after you healed enough to operate your tech, you removed his chip. The burst of Hongbin’s power surprised the two of you, but where he used to have a bright shimmering light to his entire body, there was a dark flame. Everything about his power seemed to have transformed into the more aggressive variety. He felt powerful.
You got up to stand proudly next to him (forever patting yourself on the back for prior thinking about explosion when designing your suit).
“You see, when I sent that ransom video all those months ago, I thought you would’ve jumped at the opportunity to save one of your men. But he’s not yours. You were his.”
“And now it’s time to repay the favour,” Hongbin begins to fly up to Rovix’s level, “Hwang Sejun.”
At that, Sejun roars with laughter, “YOU? What are you going to do? You couldn’t even stop criminals from tearing up the city, let alone kill anyone.”
“I gave them the chance to redeem themselves. To better themselves. You take that choice from them. You took it from me.”
With that, Hongbin pounces, driving Rovix straight into the atmosphere. You couldn’t see them anymore but the clouds would burst with light like a lightning storm. Squinting your eyes, driving your contacts to zoom in, you saw just in time Hongbin drive a powerful blow to Rovix’s sternum. Rovix’s body fell to the ground below, landing a fair few feet away from you, the hole left from Hongbin charred from his power.
You hear him land behind you, “Cutting it a little close weren’t you?”
He was bloody, covered with cuts everywhere and you could see a few bruises starting to form but overall he was okay.
“You would’ve moved. I knew you were watching,” he smirks back at you as he cups your jaw.
You couldn’t help yourself as you moved in to kiss him. He pulls back wincing in pain as you hit a cut on his lip, but he quickly kissed you back gently.
“He killed him! Lord help us! Rovix is dead!” The people wailed.
Hongbin pulls away to look out at the city-folk gathering at a distance, before wrapping his arms around your waist and rising to the air.
“Your hero has been dead for years! You can thank yourselves for that. Now this is our city and you will pay for turning your backs on the light!” He yells to them as the clouds above darken and lightning shoots down in a flurry.
“Let’s go home,” you tell him, “We can deal with them tomorrow.”
With one more kiss, he takes off as you hold on tight.