Work Text:
From space, the earth is quiet. It looks peaceful from so high above: white clouds swirl across deep blue and emerald, and there is not so much as a whisper of wind to disturb the stillness. Alex hates it. They groan and lean backwards, letting the lack of gravity turn their tiny burst of momentum into a somersault. They’ve never been so bored in their life. If boredom could kill a person, they would have been dead days ago. Well, probably not, but the analogy stands. It’s been weeks and the heroes haven’t so much as made a peep. Alex even tried turning a couple civilians inside out, and they hate threatening civilians—such a waste of good intimidation. But they’re desperate for some sort of mental stimulation no matter how it’s acquired. They briefly consider giving the planet a little jaunt out of its orbit, but they just did that less than a month ago, so it quickly loses its appeal. Finally, they descend back to the earth and decide to take a walk through the middle of the city. The screams and subsequent scurrying of every sane person in the area only gives them minimal comfort. They close their eyes and sigh, and a couple of cars explode across the street.
“Stop right there, villain!”
They snap their eyes open, their slit-like pupils dilating in glee to see a whole group of Fairness Association heroes standing in the street in front of them. There are even a few Chastisers present. Finally. One corner of their mouth lifts up slowly and they crack their knuckles, making sure to make a good show of stretching their arms out in front of them and bending their head from side to side. It’s a good thing they wore their best suit out today. They shut down a few of their powers in hopes it might make the fight last a bit longer. This is going to be fun.
————-
Morgan sits on a throne of dirty laundry that probably used to be their couch at some point and turns the tv to the news, downing 16 oz of chocolate milk mixed with red Bull and espresso in a single shot. They haven’t slept in 84 hours, but they have planned out an entire elaborate death trap to try out for Barnaby next week, which is definitely better than sleep. The tv is showing widespread destruction in the center of the city, with a visibly-shaken reporter interviewing one of the A tier heroes.
Holy shit. They actually fucking did it.
Morgan sits up a bit and a stray shoe tumbles down the pile and lands in week-old pizza on the floor.
“Three years of planning, every hero, and they finally managed to trap that person in the Eternity Area,” they chuckle, reaching for another can of RedBull.
The clip changes and Morgan’s parents appear in the background, speaking with some of the other heroes. Their lip curls in disgust, the emotion they like to use to cover up all the hurt they‘ve buried deep down. And then the most wonderful idea graces their brain. The can of RedBull freezes halfway to their lips as a devilish grin spreads across their face. Oh. Oh yes. Their parents look so pleased with themselves. Morgan would take a bet that Chad’s there too, feeling so full of himself they could vomit. So wouldn’t it just be grand . . .
“It would be a shame,” they speak to the empty room, their voice dropping into a coy drawl, “if some D-lister came along and ruined their plans.”
They can almost taste it: the frustration their parents and Chad would feel at such a short-lived victory. They can see them now, at their big fancy headquarters with their big fake smiles celebrating the end of the S tier’s reign of terror, only to have it all come crashing down because of their very own scorned offspring. It’s only fitting after everything their family put them through, and Morgan wouldn’t mind being a thorn in all those other bastards’ sides as well. They spring to their feet, a sleep-deprived, manic energy filling them to their core.
“Oh, it’s not gonna work,” they warm up their hands, concentrating their power in their fingertips, “it’s not gonna work, but oh please please please let it work.”
Their power is sparking at their fingertips now, intoxicated with the same giddy feeling that bubbles through the rest of them. They concentrate hard, and press their middle finger to their thumb, saying a silent prayer to the gods or the universe or whatever higher power saw fit to listen. And then they snap. Like a holy fucking miracle, a tall, extremely attractive, and completely naked person materializes in front of them, their fist raised above their head. Reptilian eyes stare back at them, strange pupils narrowing in confusion.
“Oh, that’s not what I was about to punch. That’s not what I was about to punch at all.”
Their voice is low and husky, and while Morgan probably should be worried for their life, their sense of self-preservation left them back around sleep deprivation hour #42 and now all they can think is 1. that’s hot, and 2. they might be persuaded to actually do their laundry if they could do it off of that person’s abs.
“Hi,” they chuckle nervously, trying and failing to keep their eyes on the person’s face.
“Who are you? Where am I?”
The S tier still has their fist raised, so Morgan lifts their hands to show they’re unarmed, not that it would matter. Even if they had the world’s best death ray pointed at the villain, they still could take Morgan apart in the time it took them to blink.
“Um, you’re in my apartment, and you probably don’t remember me, but we’ve worked together—uh—once before.”
That was only technically true: Morgan had been robbing a convenience store when the S tier went on a rampage and ended up on the same street. Everyone in the store had, of course, fled, making Morgan’s job significantly easier but much less entertaining. Regardless, the S tier doesn’t need to know the specifics.
“Wait a second,” they say, grabbing Morgan by the front of their shirt, “I know you! You’re the person who can teleport other people to them like once a year.”
Annoyance pushes its way through the concern for their life and their continued shock and elation at having actually succeeded at their plan.
“Once a month, actually,” they correct.
“Did you—Did you just bust me out of the eternity area?”
Morgan is still wrapping their own head around that fact, and they chuckle awkwardly, still unsure if their spontaneous decision is going to end up being the death of them. But hey, it would still be worth it for the look on Chad’s face when he finds out that the S tier is not, in fact, where they are supposed to be.
“Yeah, I did,” they breathe out.
“Why?” the S tier asks, more confused than anything.
“Mostly . . . to fuck over the heroes, honestly.”
“You don’t expect me to owe you a favor or something, do you?”
Their voice has become a menacing growl now, and Morgan holds their hands up a little higher in a show of surrender.
“No, I didn’t even think it would work, honestly,” they reply quickly.
“Hold up, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,” The villain lets them go and steps back, glancing them over with glowing eyes, “You used your one-a-month ability on the off chance you’d be able to summon me from another dimension . . . just to fuck over the heroes?”
Yes, that is exactly what they did.
“Well, when you say it like that, it sounds kinda dumb, but . . . yeah.”
The S tier continues to stare at them, and Morgan becomes more convinced by the second that this was a horribly irrational decision that will likely get their intestines pulled out and strung up like Christmas lights. They let out another breathy chuckle. The S tier grabs them by the shirt again, and Morgan makes their peace with their eminent demise.
“I think I might be in love with you.”
Well, that is not what they expected to hear.
“Okay, it’s not that I’m not on board with that because I totally am, um, but maybe we could just start by being friends,” they ramble, trying desperately to keep their eyes from roving down to those perfectly sculpted abdominal muscles.
The S tier wrinkles their forehead.
“Oh my god, you’re adorable.”
“I’m Morgan, by the way,” they say, still wrestling with the fact that the most powerful person to ever live just called them adorable. And to make matters worse, they didn’t exactly hate it either.
“Alex,” the villain says, dropping them.
Alex snaps and suddenly they’re clothed in a pristine suit. Morgan only feels slight disappointment at their sudden lack of nudity.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to pay some heroes a visit.”
The smile that spreads across Alex’s face is almost inhumanly evil, and the room seems to darken a bit around them.
“Yeah, uh, no problem,” Morgan nods, “just, um, just stop by any time, I guess.”
The villain is gone just as fast as they came. Morgan sinks back into their throne of dirty laundry with a sigh and clicks the tv over to the news. This is going to be fun.