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Alex wasn’t sure how Morgan managed to talk him into hiding in a closet while wearing a fluorescent green ghost costume, but here he was…
Okay so that wasn’t exactly true. He did, in fact, know how he ended up in this mess and it started this morning when his lair got destroyed. Again.
~*~
The ash had barely begun to settle on the arctic ice before he was knocking on Morgan’s door. Realistically, he didn’t have to come here, he had other places to lay low for a while. Fuck, he could just go stay on his parents’ farm for a couple of weeks until he got an apartment but… Morgan had offered once and he hadn’t hated the idea. Besides it’d only be temporary. A few weeks at the most.
Alex shifted from foot to foot and knocked again, harder this time. He could just break in- he could just teleport in but… he was trying to ask for a- a favor so maybe just breaking in wasn’t like the best way to build confidence, he’d only just started hanging out with the man a few months ago. And I don’t want to… to fuck something up.
Which was a completely stupid thought, so what if he did? He was the fucking Devourer, he could vaporize Morgan with the snap of his fingers. It didn’t fucking matter what he thought-
And Alex couldn’t have been more relieved when he finally heard the locks start sliding back.
“...the fuck-?” Morgan began blearily. He was only barely awake and here some asshole was pounding on his fucking door at 10 in the morning. But then he saw the glowing yellow eyes of his newest friend. “-Oh… Alex? What’s up?” And Morgan opened the door more, taking in the S-tier villain’s appearance more fully. He was soot smeared and singed and looked… kinda sheepish. Morgan was pretty sure he’d never seen Alex look sheepish before.
[“Hey man… Uh, so my lair got blown up, again. Can I… crash at your place for a couple weeks?” Alex asked, not really bothering to beat around the bush, but he had to cross his arms to keep from dragging a hand through his hair. Then he noticed his shirt sleeve was still smoking a little and he pat it out.
“I- Ye-aaah. Yeah, it’s fine.” Morgan replied around a yawn, as he backed away from the door, letting the most powerful villain on the planet into his apartment. He’d been up all night the last few nights in a row, but since he hadn’t actually been at home to scheme his place wasn’t as much of a mess as it could have been. At least there’s not broken glass everywhere…
And he eyed the red bullseye spray painted on the wall in his living room. Right now only darts were sticking out of the drywall and not anything more telling. After his- his… boyfriend felt like a pathetically inaccurate word, but it was all he had. After his boyfriend had been murdered, justifiably so, last month Morgan had sorta spiraled a bit. He’d called someone he didn’t think he should have, but when his sister actually showed up on his doorstep he… he cried for hours. He’d missed her so much and- and-
Regardless, the last time Alex had been to his place it’d been a mess while he was working out the detail for a credit union heist. And god he really needed some kind of hideout. Still it was nice to see Alex- nice to know that he’d taken Morgan’s offer seriously the last time his lair was destroyed… what? A month ago? Did they even manage to finish the remodel this time?
“You know where the guest room is…” Morgan went on nodding down the hall as he dragged a hand through his messy hair, but for once he actually looked better than Alex did. “Like honestly, this happens so often I should just give you a key.” He tried to joke before he realized how that sounded. God, he wanted to smack his overtired brain. “-Er, not that either of us would need a key to break into this shitty ass apartment…”
Alex, not noticing Morgan’s awkwardness, just glanced around a little. “Thanks man, I really appreciate-” He started, it was a bit stiff, but he did know how to be gracious even if he almost never was. But his thanks were cut off as he spied a truly abhorrent monstrosity tossed over a battered kitchen chair. “Why is there a giant glow-in-the-dark ghost costume in the corner?”
“Oh yeah… that.” And Morgan glanced from the costume to Alex and back. It doesn’t fit me… I’m too short but Alex is taller… Huh. “Um… Well, have you ever heard of the Conundrum Corporation?” Morgan asked, not directly answering his friend’s question, the gears already turning in his head. Quite the feat without caffeine.
“The Conundrum Corporation…” Alex repeated more to himself, still staring at the ridiculous mascot style suit. But then the name clicked and he looked back at the other villain. “The teenage mystery solvers with the SUV and the talking cat?”
“Yeah, that’s them.” Morgan hummed and stuck his hands into the pockets of the hoodie he tossed on as he rolled out of bed. “I said that that mansion you lent me the deed to other week, is haunted and they’re gonna come to investigate… but the only problem is the costume shop ran out of costumes and that was the only one and it’s- it’s not my size. So I’m not really sure what I’m gonna do.” Morgan only quasi-lied. He hadn’t known what he was going to do last night but the longer Alex stared at the costume with obvious interest the more Morgan realized that did he know what he was going to do. And he only barely managed to hide his grin.
“You need somebody to be the- Obviously, I can’t do it, such a behavior is beneath me obviously…” Alex scoffed but he only glanced at Morgan for half a beat. Because oh god did that sound like fun. He running around a house terrorizing teenagers? It’d be a fucking riot! And it’s not something he’d ever done before. And it would be incredibly ridiculous and- “But I mean I do owe you for letting me stay, so I can make an exception like this one time and- And I’ll do it- Please. Please, let me do it-” He nearly begged.]
~*~
So… it was less that Morgan had talked him into it, so much as he talked himself into it. But still he was hiding in a closet waiting to scare some teenagers in a ghost costume… and he was trying so hard not to giggle in excitement. It was so fucking stupid! This was so stupid! All of it!
Morgan having beef with some teenagers over them getting a house demolished that he thought had the treasure map to an ancient treasure was stupid! Him planning an entire fake haunting to lure said teenagers to a mansion was stupid! Alex nabbing one of them so Morgan could tie them to a chair was stupid! And yet here he was… having a fucking blast.
God- god, it had been ages since he’d had this much fun! Genuine, honest to god, fun. The giddy mirthful kind that made you want to fall over and laugh. He hadn’t played like this since he was a kid and- and yet here was Morgan- here was this nobody D-tier thief he’d only met a few months ago just… doing this all the time. This was what Morgan did. This was how Morgan was a villain. It was fun for him.
And Alex missed having fun…
He missed when using his powers was fun.
“-Alex you ready?” Morgan asked over the comms.
Alex blinked back into the moment and nodded. Then he remembered he had to actually reply. “Uh- yes. Yes, I’m ready.”
“Okay good, then I’m gonna kill the lights in… three… two… one!”
And just like he said, all the lights went out and Alex heard the girl- the one with the cat, Shayna, let out a shriek of fright. “Zoinks!!”
Alex popped out of the closet with a shout and watched the little trio all yelp and holler, practically tripping over each other as they fled. And with a mad cackle he chased after them, hands raised comically high.
It was easy to guide them to the study even as the cat, Stubby-Mew, let out a yelp, “Me-row mo!” It was very strange to hear the cat talk with such a weird accent, in comparison to how he normally heard animals but still, they all fled where he wanted. The trio plus cat were reunited with Delaney, who was horribly distraught that he had once again been kidnapped. And Alex hurried back to that secret passage way Morgan had installed a few days ago for quick escapes like this one.
“How was that?” Alex asked as he tugged off his mask, grinning over at Morgan, who was sitting in his makeshift control room. Really, it was just the attic that Morgan had dragged a bunch of gear up into. Monitors sat piled up on the table showing the security feeds throughout the house. He spun in his chair and beamed over at Alex.
“That was fucking perfect Alex! Did you see them getting stuck on the polished floor and just run in place as they tried to turn the corner?!” Morgan asked with a cackle. He pushed his chair again and span in several delighted circles as he laughed.
“I did~!” Alex replied just as delighted as Morgan by this whole ridiculous scheme. “I nearly laughed out loud!”
“PFFT! HA!” Morgan snorted as Alex came to lean on his chair. “God this is so much more fun with two people~ Thanks for doing this with me.” And he grinned up at Alex, his hair was escaping his headband a little but his grin really showed off his fangs… and it made his yellow slitted eyes practically glitter. It was a very good look on the other villain, if Morgan was being honest. I can make the Devourer grin like a kid on Christmas… who knew?
“I-” Alex started but then he looked down and caught Morgan’s expression. Pleased and merry and grateful. He was grateful that Alex was doing this with him… Grateful to have the help- to have his help. Alex’s help… “Always.” He replied without thinking. That wasn’t what he’d meant to say but… he meant it. If Morgan ever wanted help to doing something like this then… then Alex would be there to help him.
Morgan blinked up at his friend, surprised by his words… and even more surprised by how he felt hearing them. But he swallowed and forced himself to look away. “Ha… Well, um, you need to get ready for the next part.” He said breaking the brief moment of silence.
“Ri-right.” Alex nodded and straightened.
~*~
Morgan figured they’d come up with a way to trap the ‘ghost’ so he had Alex scare them a few more timed before he had to swap with Alex. The costume still didn’t fit but it was fine, he was just stumbling into a trap anyway. One he had to commend Freddie on making, she really had an eye for these sorts of things.
But now he was sitting outside all tied up as the cops arrived. Alex was cleaning up his gear so they wouldn’t get a hold of any of it, then he’d meet Alex back at the apartment after he’d managed to escape. Morgan had left enough clues behind for the intrepid Vernon to sort out who was behind this whole scheme. When they tugged of his mask to reveal- him in his Carmine mask, it was to no one’s surprise. And the cops loaded him into the back to the cruiser easily, after all he’d gotten what he wanted out of this.
He’d left the Conundrum Corporation with a conundrum.
“...so what was he doing in this house anyways?” One of the officer’s asked.
And the quartet all exchanged glances. Because unlike their usual investigations, they would figure out what the bad guys wanted along the way, normally it was greed based. But as far as they knew, Carmine had no reason to want to lower the value of this mansion, and there wasn’t any sort of treasure linked to it. So why do all of this?
“We… we haven’t figured that part out yet, officer. But we’ll give you a call the moment we do.” Freddie said when Vernon just shrugged and adjusted his glasses.
“Well, you kids are better at this then most heroes I know, so I figure this mystery’s as good as solved with you four on the case.” He laughed before there was an ‘merp’ of displeasure from Shayna’s shoulder. “Oh and you too, Stubby.”
“Me-ow!” Stubby-Mew added, tail flicking just a bit.
But just as the Conundrum Corporation were about to laugh at their beloved cat’s antics, a sound started coming from the house. It was a deep wailing sound, haunting and erie… and it was only growing louder and louder.
“Like- like what’s that, gang?” Shayna stuttered. “Didn’t we- we catch the ghost?”
“Shay’me’a is me’ight.” Stubby mewed, her back starting to arch, “Me caught the me’oust, me’ight?”
“You- you don’t think it’s a- a real ghost do you?” Delaney asked, stepping behind Freddie automatically.
“Nonsense, there’s no such thing as gh-” Vernon started to say, but before he could finish a greenish spector materialized on the roof of the second floor. They were only semi-transparent and looked ghoulish. Their face and clothes rotting, a grotesque version of the ridiculous costume they’d seen all night. And it look furious.
Both cops and teens alike stood in frozen terror as the ghost let out a horrific shriek and dove for the group below. All of them let out terrified screams as the dodged out of the way. The specter phased right through the back of the cop car and the inside cabin was filled with a blinding green light… and both ghost and thief were gone.
~*~
Alex dropped Morgan onto the sofa, still tied up and in the too big costume, letting his form shift back from the terrifying ghostly visage he’d created to his actual shape. “There~”
“...holy shit.” Was all Morgan muttered as he blinked up at Alex. Like he had figured the screaming was Alex, which was a nice touch, really helped make things even more ambiguous. What Morgan hadn’t been expecting was for an actual fucking ghost right out of every scary movie ever to come screeching down at them all and to dive at the car. He recoiled even as Alex had grabbed at him but then he recognized the feeling of Alex teleporting him and now they were just back at the apartment.
“I figured it would be easier if I just grabbed you now so you didn’t have to escape later.” Alex hummed and flopped down onto the sofa next to him.
“That was… Damn dude.”
“What? Too much?”
“What? No! That was so fucking cool!” Morgan laughed and relaxed his puffed out posture. He’d been holding it the entire time the kids had been tying him up so the ropes would actually end up being too loose. Once he relaxed he got enough slack between the too big costume and the ropes to get one arm free and then the other. “That was awesome! They’re gonna be so confused for ages! They’re definitely gonna make me their nemesis now!” Morgan cackled.
“Wait… that’s why you wanted to do this? So they’d register you as their nemesis?” Alex demanded, flabbergasted.
“Yeah, duh.” Morgan snorted as he started to squirm out of the bottom half of the costume without loosing his pants.
“But- but why?”
“Because!” Morgan snickered and wiggled. “You collect kills. And I collect nemesises.”
“Nemesises?” Alex questioned, brow raised. “You mean nemeses?”
“No, I mean nemesises.” Morgan laughed as he finally managed to get free. “It annoys the hell out of them when you pronounce it wrong. You should try it~” Morgan hummed before finally kicking the costume and the ropes away from him. “Ha!” And he pulled his feet up onto the sofa and crossed is legs. “Wanna watch a movie?”
Alex just stared at his very very weird friend but all he could do was grin back as Morgan wiggled his brows at him. “Yeah, man. Yeah I do. What did you have in mind?”