Chapter Text
It was a good day for the Hero.
Hero, he thought to himself, that’s not bad.
“Off to another day of keeping the peace.” he said, marching out of his bedroom in his uniform. He headed downstairs to the kitchen, pouring himself a bowl of cereal and setting it down on the kitchen table.
“Heroooo?” called a voice from upstairs, forcing Hero to put down his spoon.
“I can’t find my boots, have you seen them anywhere?” The Hero’s sidekick stood on the carpeted stairs in his red socks.
“Check by the back door, I think they got muddy last mission and I threw them out there.”
“Ok, thanks. Good morning, by the way!” Connor hollered, walking quickly to the back door. The sidekick only knew him as the Hero, for confidentiality purposes, he told him. Hero kept eating, watching the early morning sunlight filter through the blinds. Contrary to popular belief and media, Hero didn’t mind his position as defender of the city. Sure, it was dangerous work, but Hero had come to enjoy it. Using his powers for good and keeping the peace was a great reward, not to mention the generous salary the city provided him with. His mentor had told him it would be hard work, and it was, but he had yet to fight something that really brought him to the edge of his capabilities. But until then, he would just keep training, and living his life. Little did the naive Hero know that his wish was about to be granted.
⚫⚫⚫
The next night, Hero got a call at exactly 12:03 AM. Thankfully, he kept his phone by his bed, so he heard the ringtone and saw the caller ID light up the screen. Police Chief, it read. The Hero fumbled for his phone and sat up in bed in his dark room. “Hello?” he asked the phone groggily, bringing it to his ear.
“Oh good, Hero! We’ve just had a break in at some tech building on Jasmine Way downtown. There’s something keeping my team out, so we need you. I can’t explain it, but there’s something weird about all this. Get down here as quickly as possible.”
“On my way.” Hero replied, hanging up and putting the phone down. He grudgingly hauled himself out of his warm, comfortable bed and dressed in his uniform, throwing his pajamas in a heap on the floor.
Making sure the people are safe is more important than my sleep right now.
He also woke up a disgruntled Connor and rushed down the stairs checking his weapons and tools, just in case his powers weren’t enough. He and his sidekick slammed the door behind him, jumping in the car and hurtling toward Jasmine Way.
The city was dark, and Connor watched as the streetlight beams slid over the car with an orange glow. Out of the corner of his eye, the sidekick saw movement in an unlit alleyway to his left. “Hero, stop the car!” Connor ordered, and Hero slammed on the brakes.
“What, what is it?” he yelled, exasperated.
“I saw something in that alley!” He pointed to the dark crevasse between the tall buildings like a small child pointing at a toy he wanted.
The Hero sighed. “Connor, it’s probably nothing, or a cat or something.”
“No, I know what I saw!” Quickly, and without thinking, Connor threw open his door and disappeared into the darkness.
“No, Connor! Get back here!” the Hero hissed from inside the car. He had two choices: follow and find Connor, or let him fend for himself and see what the trouble was at the tech building.
Connor can fend for himself, right?
After arguing with himself for a few moments, the Hero frustratedly wrenched the car door open and marched out into the night, ready for whatever came next.
The Hero slunk in an almost feline manner through the shadows of the alleyway, whispering Connor’s name hurriedly into the crisp, cold night air. He walked carefully across the cracked asphalt, being sure to make as little noise as possible. He was going to hand Connor’s ass to him later for this.
The police chief will be so pissed.
The Hero came to a mismatched cross road of sorts. An abandoned old dumpster blocked one path, and the path directly in front of him blocked one path, and the road directly in front of him kept going straight, onto a dimly lit road. As Hero was analyzing the paths, he paused.
Something isn’t right, he thought, his gaze darting around the dark expanse.
He listened closely and sure enough, he heard the sounds of four, no, five pairs of boots slapping against the concrete. Hero ducked behind a dumpster using it as a barricade of sorts and watched, making no movements, from the edge.
Five figures all armed and of varying heights jogged into view. “Where is that infernal Hero? He should be here by now.” a woman with red hair in a black cap and a flashlight in her hand asked. Hero let out a breath when she turned and he saw the word “POLICE” emblazoned on her vest.
Hero stepped out from behind the dumpster raising his hands. “I’m right here, don’t shoot.” he said casually. The nearest cop nearly jumped a foot in the air, before schooling his expression and re-settling his pistol in its holster.
The ginger woman ran a hand through her hair. “Dammit, Hero, you scared us. You’re always one for dramatics.”
“Call me what you will. You got Connor with you?” he asked impatiently.
“No,” she replied, “he’s your sidekick.”
Hero cursed. “He took off and that’s why I didn’t meet you guys at the rendezvous point. He thought he saw something and galavanted down this alleyway.” The Hero punctuated the conversation with wild hand gestures depicting Connor’s reckless actions.
The woman raised an eyebrow before handing the Hero a flashlight. “Take this. We haven’t had any luck finding the person who broke in, and a single drive with information; we don’t know what kind yet, is missing. Scan the area and see what you can find. We’re heading north, you head back south. I’ll call you if we find Connor.”
The Hero adjusted the cuff of his jacket. “Yes, ma’am.”
She turned on her heel, ordering the rest of her squad to fall in formation behind her. The Hero watched them disappear around the corner, before switching on his flashlight and wandering back the way he came. “Connor? Connor?” the Hero whisper-yelled into the still night. No answer came, and the Hero was beginning to get fed up with all this. He pulled his phone from his back pocket, tapping on Connor’s name and bringing the phone to his ear. He heard the phone hum once before he realized what was going on.
He heard the sound from the concrete wall to his left. Slowly, he approached the wall and was shocked to find Connor’s phone lying faceup on the ground. He tapped the screen, seeing his own caller ID bisected by cracks and splinters. “What the…” the Hero began, but he was quickly silenced by a leather gloved hand yanking his head back and clamping across his mouth, a blade glinting beneath his chin. Hisflashlight clattered to the ground.
“Scream and you die.” a deep, accented male voice came from behind him. The Hero struggled, breathing heavily against his captor’s hand, but the man was strong, and definitely had the upper hand. Hero felt his wrists being cinched behind his back by another pair of hands. “Phillip, take him to the van with his sidekick.” the dark British accent streaming like black ribbons through the night air.
“Right, boss.” the un-accented voice rang out. Bare hands shoved the Hero forward and around several corners. Hero tried to remain expressionless, but the twinge of the knife tip resting on the small of his back was unnerving, to say the least. Finally, a black sprinter van came into view, and Hero was thrown in, but not before his wrists were zip tied together behind his back. He landed in a heap beside a person he was both relieved and terrified to see.
Connor.
A man in dark clothing and a long jacket with the hood pulled up knelt before him. The person retrieved a pale blue rag from his pocket, and before Hero could get out the words to object, the man pushed it over Hero’s face.
Hero felt his consciousness slipping as a sweet, drugged smell began to fill his nostrils. “Who…are you?” he spat breathlessly at his attacker. The Hero’s eyelids flickered and as he lost consciousness, he saw the flash of a smirk and heard the words, “Just call me the Villain, before blacking out.
~ Sub-Chapter 2
When the Hero came to, he opened his bleary eyes and looked around, feeling a stinging pain in his temples. He tried to reach up and clutch his forehead and realized his hands and feet were now tied behind his back with rope, replacing the thin bands of plastic. He squirmed on the floor, hauling himself to his knees. He struggled against the knots, but couldn’t pry the loops open. Instead the Hero observed his surroundings. He was in a concrete box of a room, with a bright white light over him and an uneven floor beneath him. A door was placed about ten feet away from him and there were no windows.
“Well, well, well.” came a voice from the corner of the room. The Hero turned, his bindings straining. To his left, a figure in a black button down and slacks emerged, hands in his pockets in a casual manner.
He looks like he’s dressed for a business meeting, not a kidnapping.
“It looks like you have been utterly defeated.” The low timbre of his voice echoed through the room.
“Wha…who are you?” the Hero blurted out, fighting a wave of dizziness. He didn’t have time for formalities like this infuriating man.
“I thought I already told you. It seems like you’re not a very good listener.” he replied, lifting a dark eyebrow, his tone mocking. “I’m the Villain. And you have been kidnapped and brought to my lair for a little…creative problem solving.”
What do you mean?” the Hero asked angrily. “Where’s Connor?”
“He’s being well taken care of by my henchman.”
“I swear, if you’ve done anything to him…”
“You’ll what?” The Villain knelt beside Hero on the cold ground, his marble white hair sweeping over his brow. “Kill me? It doesn’t look like you’re in a position to make threats.”
The Hero wanted so badly to wipe the smirk off the Villain’s face. “You’ll face justice for your crimes!”
“Oh, I’m sure I will. But right now, I need something from you. Just a little answer,” he gestured to the door, “and you'll be free to go, Connor too. But if you choose not to cooperate, I have some ideas on how to loosen your tongue.”
“What do you want?” the Hero spat.
“All I want is to know where the city safe is, and how to get it.” The Villain’s low voice carried across the room as he approached a steel cabinet in the corner. Hero hadn't noticed it before.
I can’t tell him, that could jeopardize the city, not to mention what he might do with whatever he finds there.
“I can’t tell you.”
“Alright then.” The Villain began opening drawers and retrieving shining metal objects.
The Hero was taken aback. “What do you mean ‘alright then’?”
“If you’re not going to tell me what I want to hear…” he turned to face the Hero, “then I want you to beg, I want you to whimper, I want you to sing. I want you to scream for mercy as I paint these walls with your blood. I want to hurt you, and I want to enjoy it.” he said, his eyes lighting with manic energy.
The Hero took a deep breath, steeled himself. He had been trained in how to resist torture, but now was the time to put it into practice. “It’s going to take a lot to get me there!” The Hero strained against the ropes, the fibers rubbing against his skin.
The Villain smirked. “Oh, I hope so.” he said, wrapping a long chain around his fist . Once. Twice, before flinging it savagely toward Hero. “Let’s see how long you last.”
“Torture me all you want, I won’t tell you anything!”
Just as the first blow was about to connect with Hero’s body, the door flew open and Phillip walked in.
The Villain whipped his head around. “What is it, Phillip?”
“Uhhhh…can you come here for a sec, Villain?”
The Villain stalked over to Phillip. They talked in hushed tones, Phillip looking mildly excited, and the Villain just looking pissed as he did his best not raise his voice so the Hero could hear it. He turned away from Phillip and walked back to the Hero. Phillip showed himself out. “Now, let’s get started, shall we?
~Sub-Chapter 3~
About an hour later, the Villain was sitting on a chair in the corner of the interrogation room, cleaning the chain of its coating of sticky blood. The Hero knelt, beaten and bloodied, mumbling something incoherent. His face was bruised and tired, but he had managed not to black out.
“I have an idea.” the Villain said, standing up and placing the chain on the chair, He turned towards the door. “Phillip!”
The door swung open and was met with the henchman leading in a bruised and battered Connor. Hero let out amental sigh of relief, but he stopped himself.
Why is Connor…no. No!
“Oh, yes. If you won’t talk when I hurt you, maybe you’ll talk when I beat your sidekick to the ground.”
Connor stumbled forward. “I can take it, Hero, really. Don’t tell him anything.” The Villain raised the chain and whipped it across Connor’s chest. He grunted in pain and the Hero didn’t miss the almost imperceptible wince from Phillip. The Villain hit Connor again and again, until blood seeped through his gray shirt and he fell face down on the floor. The Villain stood over him, chain in his bloody fist.
Connor can’t take much more. I can’t just let him suffer, I’m the hero, I have to do something.
“You have the power to make this all stop.” Villain purred.
The Hero fought the urge to scream obscenities at the terrible man“Fine.” he said quietly. “The safe is under the city hall. IT’s code-locked and the code is two-three-two-six-five-eight. Now let Connor go.”
The Villain smiled. “Thank you.” He cut Connor’s bonds, and the sidekick got shakily to his feet, clutching his side. Villain knelt beside Hero with a knife and for a moment, Hero braced himself for the sting of the knife. Instead he felt the man’s fingers brush his palms, the knife slicing through his bonds. Hero rubbed his wrists and moved to support Connor.
They moved as fast as they could through the door. Before they left, Hero turned around, suspicious. “That’s it? You just let us go?”
“I’m a man of my word.” the Villain said, eyes sparkling. “Until next time, Hero.”
Hero turned his back on the cryptic conversation, rushing through the door. They found that it led into an abandoned street, which Hero recognized as being on the west side of town. They tried to move forward, and Hero felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the henchman. Phillip. “Stay away from us, we gave you what you wanted.” Hero said angrily, swatting Phillip’s han]d away.
“It’s ok.” Connor forced out. “He’s…better than the Villain.”
“I can take you home, but I do have to tie you up and put you in the back.”
“How do we know we can trust you?” the Hero questioned.
“We can trust him. Said Connor breathlessly, offering no further explanation, Phillip re-bound their wrists and opened the back of the van, where they sat as the vehicle began to pull away. Hero suddenly felt like the van was too small, like there wasn’t enough air to go around. Like his bindings were too tight and the world was spinning. He could hear Connor calling his name somewhere outside him. It didn’t matter though. He was only brought back to the present when he felt a pair of steady hands on his shoulders
Connor. Phillip must’ve unbound him. “Hey, hey, Hero! Breathe with me, ok? You were having a panic attack. We’re almost home, just hold on.
Hero felt the car stop and the back doors opened. Connor pulled Hero from the back of the van and up the front stairs of the house. Hero stuck the key in the door and pushed himself through it onto the front hallway inside. He watched as Connor exchanged a few clipped words with Phillip, before heading inside. Connor shut the door and they both collapsed on the couch.
“Traitor.” Hero bit out.”
“Phillip helped me out in there, don’t say that.”
What did he do?”
Connor turned away. “I can’t tell you, but he did.”
“I don’t believe you. I…Connor?” But Connor had his eyes closed, already asleep. Hero followed suit and laid down, knees to his chest.
Who is this Villain? Why did he do this, and how do I stop him? I have to stop him, I told him about the safe, like the stupid person I am. I shouldn’t have ever… He didn’t even have time to finish the thought because he fell fast asleep.