Chapter Text
Everyone knew who Cuteguy was. If there was a single person in Hermit city who hadn’t heard of the notorious villain, they must be crazy.
He was on top of the villain hierarchy, number one, whatever you want to call it. He was dangerous. Powerful. Which is funny for someone who doesn’t typically use his powers that often.
Everyone knew he was an Avian, it was quite obvious. Large, maroon wings that faded slowly into white, and two more pairs nestled in his dirty blonde hair. However, less people know of his above average strength, and even less knew about his quick healing. And no one apart from him knew about his witch ancestry, and he liked to keep it that way.
Of course, only the strongest heroes were permitted to go after him. Recognizable names, such as Fawn, Void, and, of course, the almighty Hotguy.
The two had a well known rivalry, everyone knew of their hatred for each other. However, they didn’t always see what happened behind the scenes. Joking, genuine laughing, almost like hesitant friendship. But then they would remember they were enemies, and go back to fighting.
–
Grian Xelqua stretched, yawning and stretching his wings out wide behind him, giving a satisfied chirp as they crackled and popped.
Last night had been intense. He had robbed a bank downtown, and was just leaving when Hotguy turned up, threatening to arrest him and whatnot. Of course, Cuteguy disagreed, and the two fought until they were wheezing, bleeding and exhausted.
Hotguy matched Cuteguy’s fighting style perfectly, and it would be impressive if not for the small issue that they were enemies. It was hard to fight someone who parried every blow, dodged every fired bullet, and still kept a stupid smile on his face the entire time.
Whatever, Grian thought, rolling his eyes as that stupid face floated in his mind. He got the money, and left with only a few scrapes and a couple missing feathers.
Hey, he even got a decent night’s sleep. Well…He checked the clock opposite the sofa he collapsed on.
3 p.m.
Ah.
Well, that couldn’t be helped. Getting off the sofa, he dragged his aching body into the kitchen, to pour himself some coffee. Really, his caffeine addiction was getting out of hand, but when you’re the most powerful villain, you need a little booster sometimes.
Whilst waiting for the kettle to brew, he picked his phone up from the counter, and scrolled through the messages.
Satisfyingly, he noticed a crime alert from last night. It was always nice to get the recognition he deserved, even if it’s through an automated message that comes up every time something goes a little bit against the ‘norm’. It shows how far he came, since first becoming a villain.
He still remembers his first proper heist.
He had gained the attention of a few villains, who, at the time, were far more powerful than him. This was before he even had a villain name, and simply told anyone who asked to ‘ask their mum’. They told him to come with them to an abandoned building, which, according to them, was actually a secret archive with loads of information on the heroes.
Once they got there, and the leader of the group had deemed the coast clear, they ran inside, only to find the place swarming with guards. It turned out, the whole ‘archive’ had been a ruse, to lure villains to get arrested.
Once they realized how screwed they were, they tried to escape, but the way was blocked by none other than Hotguy himself.
Cuteguy remembered that moment clearly, it was the first time he met the famous hero, after all. Back then, the hero was in his second year under the association, and whilst he was slightly less cocky, he was just as loud and confident as he is to this day.
Cuteguy also remembered abandoning his ‘teammates’ in favour of escaping. Ah, the perks of having wings. That was, until Hotguy shot him with an arrow.
Flashback
Grian felt the air get knocked out of him as he hit the ground with a large crash that echoed around the warehouse. He was immediately surrounded, heroes closing in from all angles. He hissed at one who got too close, swiping at them with sharpened claws. They flinched, and he felt a smile of satisfaction spread on his face, despite the situation. Good, they’re scared.
Suddenly, the crowd parted to reveal Hotguy, standing with a hand on his hip and a jaunty smile spread on his face. Behind him, Grian could see the other villains cuffed, looking rather sorry for themselves. Grian didn’t feel remotely sorry for them.
“Well well well, it appears I’ve caught a little birdie. And who might you be?”
Grian merely stuck out his tongue. He wasn’t telling this guy anything, whether he was a powerful hero or not.
“Jeeze, not one for talking. Fine, guess I’ll just arrest you without knowing who you are.” Hotguy sighed dramatically, and Grian rolled his eyes at the scene, before realizing his current situation.
He jolted backwards, narrowing his slitted yellow eyes which still showed through his mask, and hissed at the hero. The latter seemed stunned, not expecting such a scene from what appeared to be an unthreatening villain wannabe.
“Ok, so you’ve got some bark, interesting, interesting. See, now I’m curious, you got bite as well, or is this just for show?”
Grian finally spoke, voice low, trying to cover the fear that he might have to fight Hotguy.
“Wouldn’t you like to know, weatherboy.” He said with a grin. Hotguy blanked, looking around confused.
“Excuse me…?” He said after a while.
“Nevermind. You aren’t arresting me, by the way.”
“What do you mean? Yes I am.”
“Not without handcuffs you aren’t.”
Poor Hotguy was starting to look more and more confused by the seconds. He muttered something, an obvious frown showing even from under his sunglasses, as he fumbled around to find the mentioned handcuffs. Which, of course, he couldn’t find.
Grian grinned, gripping them tighter. They were surprisingly easy to steal, most of the other heroes were distracted, so he had quickly snatched them whilst Hotguy was thinking about what ‘weatherboy’ meant. Of course, it wouldn’t hold him off for long, as there’s no way none of the other heroes didn’t have any, but it would work for now, until he could find an escape.
“Where have they gone, I swear I just had them.” Hotguy muttered, still checking his multitudes of pockets. Really, the outfit was far too over the top. Quite impractical, to be honest.
“Oh, you mean these?” Grian said, holding them up and inspecting them like they were something to be treasured.
“Wha- How did you…?” Hotguy said, seemingly stunned out of his usual self, in favour of the confusing avian sat in front of him.
“Oh, it was easy enough. I must say, these heroes you got here aren’t very observant. Not one of them noticed me.”
That was a lie, Grian was pretty sure a few had seen, but they obviously didn’t want to interfere. What the hero didn’t know wouldn’t bother him anyway.
“You-! You can’t just…steal from me!”
“I can, and I have. But if you let me leave, I’ll think about giving them back.”
Grian could see Hotguys brain working. The hero was tempted, he could tell, but hesitant. Grian was considering just flying off now, but the arrow still wedged in his wing was throbbing painfully, and he didn’t know if he could make it out.
Before he could make any decision, Hotguy spoke.
“Let’s do you a deal, birdie. You’ve had me, I’ll admit. You’re the first villain who ever managed to take something from me, and that's saying something. But I can tell you’re new. From what little intel I gathered from your friends over there, you don’t even have a villain name. So I’ll give you a chance. I'm not gonna lie, I see potential in you. Join the good side. We’ll give you all you could ever want, all you need to do is fight villains and pose for the fans.”
And with that Hotguy held out his hand. Grian stared at it blankly. Then he smiled. Then he giggled. And then he was laughing fully, clutching his stomach, little chirps and tweets added to the hubbub, messy and full of mirth.
Hotguy stood there, looking a bit awkward, his hand still outstretched. After a minute, although it felt longer, Grian’s laughter died down to quiet chirps, and he looked at Hotguy, expression suddenly serious.
“Seriously. Me? A hero. Tell me you’re joking. You think I’d rather be saving cats from trees, when I could be having actual fun?! Puh-lease, you’re crazy if you’d think I’d willingly choose to do that.”
Hotguy’s hand fell down, and he was left to stand stiffly, waiting as Grian went into another laughing fit. Once it had subsided, the villain’s expression grew colder.
“Really, though. Why suggest that? I’m not sure the association would appreciate random villains coming into the HQ, saying they suddenly wanted to switch sides. No one would believe them. Once a villain, always a villain. Even I know that, Hotstuff, as new as I may be.”
“Fine.” Hotguy said, obviously trying to hide the embarrassment he must be feeling. “Fine. Be that way. You’ll end up in HQ either way.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Grian said, and with a smirk in the hero’s direction, he took off, flapping his wings down hard and shooting up into the air. Another easy distraction. Quickly pulling out the arrow, the laughter being enough to cover the way he flinched in pain. And although it was slightly harder to fly, it was nothing he couldn’t handle.
He heard shouting below him, but he ignored it, concentrating on finding the exit to the warehouse. Yellow eyes finally landing on the small rectangle of moonlight, he dove, tucking his wings in as he swooped down, quickly dropping the handcuffs on Hotguy, and flew out into the cool night air.
“I’ll get you next time, Birdie!” Was the last thing he heard as he flew away.
End of flashback
Ah, the good old days. Grian missed them. Being able to do crime without a care in the world. Now he had to plan every single step, or else he was facing serious jail time, and he knew Hotguy would never shut up about it.
After their first encounter, Hotguy had offered the hero job around 4 more times, with it being denied every single time. He had been very persistent.
But once Grian had finally started gaining traction, Hotguy realized he was a real threat, and dropped the idea. After a fight, when they had both collapsed onto the ground, tired and bruised, Cuteguy had asked why Hotguy had stopped asking him to join the association.
“Like you said. Once a villain, always a villain.”
Cuteguy had smirked, and said something along the lines of being a sap for remembering when they first met. Truth be told, he remembered as well, but that's besides the point.
The kettle started whistling, and Grian went to pour it into a mug he had set out. It had a picture of his cats, Pearl and Maui, on it. It was his favourite mug.
Taking the warm drink in his hands, he went back to the sofa, and sank into it. Taking the TV remote in his free hand, he turned on the news. Mainly to check how much damage he had caused yesterday, but also to see what Hotguy was up to.
The news reporter was droning on about ‘damage to property’ and ‘valuable profit missing from secure vaults’. He grinned, praising himself silently at a job well done.
He sipped idly as he watched the reporter explain what went down, until he heard his phone ring from the counter he put it back down on.
Grumbling, he got up and went to see who was calling him. Expression lightening a bit as he saw it was Mumbo Jumbo, his best friend since forever.
He picked up, and immediately jumped as noise exploded from the other end. The noise being his friend.
“Grian, you gotta come to the city center!! Hotguy’s doing a meet and greet, but I don’t wanna go alone. Please come with me!!”
“Didn’t know you were a fan. What's in it for me?”
“Uh, well…”
“You know what, fine. I’ll go.”
“Thank you thank you thank youuuuu!!”
Grian hung up, and sighed heavily. Although it would be fun to see the hero, Grian was looking forward to lazing around all day.
First things first, though, he needed to get out of his costume. The only thing he took off last night before flopping onto his sofa was his masquerade type mask.
He walked to his bedroom, shedding the light pink robe as he walked. His outfit was quite over the top. A mask to cover his identity, elegant, but just plain black. A robe covered what was below, held in place with a shiny black corset that acted as a belt. Of course, the back was cut out to make room for his wings. Underneath, he wore a black turtleneck with a heart shaped chest cutout, and the back cut out again. He wore fishnets on his arms and legs, pink shorts that were far too short to be appropriate, but he wore them anyway, and a holster at his thigh that held a gun he rarely used. Finally, he wore heeled combat boots to make up for his less than intimidating height, the laces of course being swapped out for pink.
Usually during close range fights, he’d slip out of the robe, so it dangled at his waist. Really, that thing was just for show, but it was part of his famous ‘look’, so he kept it anyway.
After changing into a plain red t-shirt and black cargos, he focused on his wings. As far as he knew, Cuteguy was the only person to have such a unique colour of wings, so he disguised them as a civilian. Red, yellow, green and blue, like a parrot. He learnt how to do it from a witch he met a couple years back. A simple enchantment that a witch could do without a second thought, to change something with one's appearance. Grian kept the layout of his wings, obviously, just switched up the colour.
He had gotten used to it by now, but when he first started, he hated it. It was like he had someone else’s wings. The thought made him shiver.
After altering them, he grabbed his phone, keys and a couple other handy things, and stepped out of his house into the chill air of the afternoon. The city center was about half a mile from his house, but if he flew it would only take a minute or so. It wasn’t so odd to see avians flying above you, although there aren’t actually that many in the city, maybe a couple hundred.
He spread his now brightly coloured wings wide, and took off into the sky. He trilled happily, it felt nice to be in the air after a while, without having anyone chasing him.
He gazed at the city below. Cars moved between streets, people chatted happily with each other. Grian rolled his eyes. The place was too calm sometimes. Nothing he could do now, though, as he felt his phone buzz in his pocket again.
Spreading his wings so he could glide without worrying, he opened the chat with Mumbo.
Moustache Man - hurry up man your taking to lonngggg :(
Parrot - you’re. Also i’m almost there, be patient dude
He chuckled as he put his phone back in his pocket. Mumbo was not the most patient of people. However, the city center was coming into view now, and Grian could see the crowds of people crowding around a blue and orange figure that could be none other than Hotguy himself.
Tucking his wings in, he dived down to meet the ground, before pulling up at the last moment. He got a few gasps from people around him, but ignored them, focusing instead on finding his moustached friend.
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he called the man, and asked where he was. Got the vague answer of ‘by the stands’, and hung up. Grian sighed, and stood in tiptoe to try to work out where that might be. Finding a couple stands selling Hotguy merch, he pushed through the crowd to get over there.
Finally, he saw Mumbo, and let out a sigh of relief. The other ran up to him, clearly sporting Hotguy memorabilia, and looking quite stupid, to be frank. Not that Grian was biased or anything.
“Grian! There you are! I thought you’d chicken out.”
“Who, me? I’d never. Can’t say I’m impressed though. Hotguy? Really?”
“What? He’s the city’s strongest hero, so what if I want to meet him. Plus, he does live up to his name, doesn’t he?” Mumbo said, blushing as he admitted the last part.
“YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON HOTGUY?!” Grian shouted, shocked and slightly appalled.
“Shush! What, it's not so weird. Half the internet agrees with me anyway.”
“So it’s like a celebrity crush, then?”
“You're telling me you don’t agree?”
“No.” Grian said far too quickly. Sure, he was good looking, but he’d never consider actually liking the guy. Can you imagine? The most feared villain in the city, crushing on a hero?! Never. At least, that's what he told himself.
“...Sure.” Mumbo said suspiciously. “Anyway, come on! Whether you like him or not, we’re meeting him!”
“Uugghhh, but the lines so longgg.”
“Quit whining, let's go!” Mumbo grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the hoards of people, happily ranting about what he would say to Hotguy. Grian simply nodded, inwardly cursing himself for agreeing to go in the first place.
About an hour of waiting later, Grian could see the end in sight. The end, of course, being Hotguy. Mumbo was bouncing excitedly beside him, holding onto his arm so the two didn’t get separated.
“Look, Grian!! There he is! Only a few more people and then it's us!”
“I know Mumbo, I know. I’m just ready to get this over and done with.”
“Ok spoilsport. No need to be excited.” Grian caught the sarcasm, but chose to not make a comment on it. It's not like he hadn’t been sarcastic the entire wait anyway.
Finally, they were called forwards. There Hotguy stood, in all his ‘glory’. Grian saw he looked a bit frazzled after all the interactions. Good, he deserved it.
“Hello there, citizens! It is I, Hotguy!” He said, loud enough for anyone within a mile radius to hear.
Mumbo squealed, and Grian rolled his eyes, and hit the other gently with one wing. Mumbo started forwards, suddenly nervous, and started mumbling. Grian sighed, and stepped in.
“My friend here would like an autograph.” He said, not even bothering to hide the boredom in his tone. Hotguy looked slightly surprised at the lack of interest from him, but took the paper Mumbo held up for him and signed it.
“Here you are! I must say, those wings you’ve got are quite impressive! Parrot, I take it?”
“Something along the lines of that. Tell me, how was your fight last night?”
“Wha- How did you…Why do you know about that?” Hotguy said, frowning behind his glasses. Grian simply grinned, and winked at the hero.
“Oh, I have my ways. So tell me, how did it go?”
“Well, I suppose…It went fine…?”
“You sure? Cuteguy messed you up pretty bad, didn’t he?”
“Nothing much. I’d say I left him in an equally rough state.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Hotstuff. Look, Mumbo, you’ve got your signature, can we please leave now?” He said, turning to his friend, voice pleading.
“Ugh, fine. By Hotguy!”
“Bye…!” Hotguy said, obviously trying to process what just happened. Serves him right, he thought as they walked away, someone needed to give that man a reality check.
He turned to Mumbo, who was looking down at his paper with awe.
“I can’t believe I got his signature!” Then the man looked up at Grian, looking accusing. “But what was that about, man?! Questioning the biggest hero in the city like he had personally wronged you?!”
“I was…curious, is all. I saw it happen, I was walking home from…somewhere. But the news didn’t mention the fight with Cuteguy, only the damage caused. I wanted to make sure he was ok.” The lie felt heavy on his mouth. Truth be told, he just wanted to make Hotguy mildly uncomfortable.
“...Ok?” Mumbo said, sounding slightly suspicious, but not pushing. “Anyway, this is unreal! I mean, look at this!” He said, waving the paper in Grian’s general direction.
“Truly unbelievable.” Grian blanked, not really paying attention. He was peering over the crowds, trying to catch a glimpse of someone he swore he saw for a brief moment. Someone who looked awfully similar to the villain, Howl.
“Grian, you good, man? You’re looking distracted.”
“Nothing. Just thought I saw someone I recognized.”
“Oh, ok. Well, I think I’m gonna head home and frame this. What are you gonna do?”
“Oh, probably just laze around the house for a few hours, then maybe go to a pub for a drink.”
“Ok then. I’ll see you when I see you, then. Bye!”
“Bye Mumbo!” With that, the two split off, with Mumbo going down a street to his left, and Grian sliding into a small alleyway.
Checking to make sure no one followed him, he muttered a quick spell, and his wings changed back to normal. Completing the look by putting on a pair of ‘just in case’ sunglasses, he took off up and out of the alley.
He knew it was stupid to be flying when Hotguy was only like, 100 meters away, but he needed to know what Howl was up to. Spotting the wolf hybrid skulking behind a group of teenagers, he swooped down.
To his credit, Howl didn’t flinch. That was the super hearing being put into play, Grian guessed. He did however, have a brief moment of fear cross his face, masked quickly, but not quick enough, by a welcoming smile.
“Ah, what a…pleasant surprise.” Howl said, looking around, obviously for an escape.
Even other villains were scared of him, or at least, took a while to warm up to the villain. For the better, really. Trust no one, let alone the most powerful villain in the city.
“Always nice to see a fellow hybrid. How have you been?” Grian, or Cuteguy, said.
“Good, good. Any reason you decided to talk to me?”
“Aw, can I not talk with my friends?” Cuteguy said, putting on a fake pout.
“Whilst I’m touched you consider me a friend, no. Given the lack of costume, it seems you’re undercover for something.”
“You’re smarter than you appear. Come, let’s have this conversation elsewhere. I can feel prying ears in front of us.” He nodded to the group of teenagers in front of the pair, who weren’t even trying to hide the fact they were eavesdropping.
Cuteguy led Howl away from the busy street, and into an unsuspecting side alley, abandoned. Perfect for questioning.
Turning to Howl, he eyed the man curiously.
“Seems we both have missions today. You’re looking rather undercover as well. Though I must say, wearing all black? Teensie bit suspicious, especially with such a powerful hero just a corner away. Wouldn’t want to get arrested now, would you?”
“Oh, you know me. Always up for a challenge. I take it you’re here to spy on said hero?”
“Spot on. Seeing if I can pry out any info from him. Didn’t work, though. I was just about to leave when I spotted you. So, where are you going all dressed up?”
“I’m scouting out the hero tower. Trying to find any secret entrances whilst the big guy’s distracted. Though, similar to you, I couldn’t find anything.”
“Entrances will be disguised, probably in plain sight. I might go there as well at some point, see what I can find.”
“I wouldn't bother. I checked every nook and cranny of that place, and found nothing. Not that I’m saying you can’t, obviously.” He added quickly, grinning awkwardly.
“Of course not. Hey, how about you and me have a little bit of fun, huh? Hotguy annoyed me last night, and it's just my luck he’s over there! Whadya say, hm? We roll in, ruffle his hair a bit, and leave. Enough to leave him frazzled.”
“I’m down.” That was all the confirmation Cuteguy needed. He grabbed Howl by the arm, and launched them both into the air. He cackled as he heard Howl yelp below him, and flapped harder, sending them shooting into the sky.
Scanning the city center to make sure Hotguy was still there, which he was, he swooped down, delighted to hear the scream the wolf hybrid let out at the sudden descent.
He momentarily thought that he should’ve changed before doing this. It was too late now. There's no way Hotguy would recognize him anyway.
Stopping at the edge of the center, he landed, and Howl collapsed beside him.
“Never do that again.” Howl panted, sprawled on the floor. Cuteguy just rolled his eyes.
“Get up. This is serious now, if they arrest you because you’re getting over flying for a few seconds I’m not pitying you. Well, I’m not pitying you however you get arrested, so let's just get moving.”
“Jeeze, ok” He said, rubbing his arm as he got up.
Cuteguy walked towards Hotguy, who was currently talking with his assistant, Cub. Motioning behind him for Howl to stay put, he walked up behind the hero, who hadn’t noticed him.
“Boo.” He said into the other ear, having to stretch up to reach because of his lack of heels.
Hotguy shrieked, flailing his arms as he spun around wildly, nearly tripping over himself in the kerfuffle. Cuteguy laughed at him, and motioned again for Howl to come closer.
Once Hotguy had gained solid footing, he looked between the two villains.
“Great.” He sighed. “Just what I want right now. Cub, can you inform the association that there's a slight predicament in the city center.”
“No point. We simply wanted to bother you for a bit, is all. Friendly banter.” Howl nodded eagerly, tail wagging in excitement.
“Hm, sure. Somehow I doubt that. You’re wearing civilian clothes, and Howl’s wearing…something.” The Hybrid let out an indignant noise. “What are you planning?”
“Oh, nothing. Really. Nothing. Maybe we just wanted to see the city’s best hero.”
“Flattery doesn’t work on me cutie, and you know it. What are you really here for?”
“Ugh, stop being so pushy. Fine. Our fight yesterday got me riled up, I want a rematch. Howl just happened to be snooping, and I brought him to tag along.”
“So a 2 v 1? Not very fair, if you ask me. And both of you have powers. Me? Nothing.”
“Oh please, super hearing won’t do much in combat.” Said Howl, speaking up for the first time.
“True. Fine. Should be interesting. Plus, a perk for me if I get to arrest one of you, or even both.”
“We all know that won’t happen.” With that, the three sprung into action.
Cuteguy and Howl haven’t really fought together before. Sure, they’ve been on a few missions together, but nothing that involved close combat, and definitely nothing involving Hotguy.
However, the two worked surprisingly well together. Cuteguy and Hotguy immediately assumed their classic fighting positions, and Howl went pacing around them, snarling at Hotguy.
Cuteguy glanced over his shoulder to make sure Cub hadn’t run off anywhere. The assistant would be a hindrance if he alerted the association, but Cuteguy wouldn’t hurt him unless it was necessary. Luckily, the man was still there, fidgeting nervously with his clipboard he seemingly carried everywhere.
Cuteguy looked back to Hotguy, and grinned. Then he sprang towards the hero, in an attempt to disarm him. They met in the middle, Cuteguy drawing back his fist to punch the other. He swung at him, but the hero blocked it, and batted away the other arm that was reaching for his bow. He pushed the villain aside, and Cuteguy stumbled. He was still tired from last night, and hasn’t had nearly enough caffeine to perform as well as usual. Oh well.
When Cuteguy was pushed, Howl pounced, jumping onto Hotguy from behind and climbing up him. Hands strategically covered the hero’s eyes, and he waved his arms around, trying to pry off the hybrid.
The latter crouched on the man's shoulders, before jumping forwards, and flipping around. Grabbing the hero’s head again, he brought himself forwards to headbut the man. The sound echoed around the area, a loud smack followed by two pained grunts.
Howl rolled to the side, rubbing his head, and Cuteguy quickly took his place. In his hand he now gripped a small pocket knife, and he advanced forwards, keeping low. He raised one arm to fake a punch, and as Hotguy went to block it, he ducked down quickly and jabbed the knife upwards, grazing the hero’s arm as he brought it back. Hotguy flinched away at the same time Howl jumped back to Cuteguy’s side.
The two paced around the injured hero, sneering down at him. Hotguy was clutching his bleeding arm, wincing, looking quite sorry for himself.
“Ouch, that’s gonna scar.” He muttered, attempting to peel back his sleeve to see the full picture.
“It’s not like I haven’t given you worse.” Cuteguy said. “You oversized baby.” He added with a smirk.
Hotguy frowned.
“Yeah, but this was meant to be playful banter, not a full on fight!”
“Whilst that might be true, we have an audience now.” Cuteguy said, gesturing to the growing crowd. A fight in the city center was bound to draw attention, but it was slightly irritating. Because Hotguy, annoyingly, was right. This was only supposed to be banter. But now he had to take it seriously.
He was starting to regret not bringing his costume with him. He usually did, but he wasn’t expecting to cause any trouble today, so he didn’t bring it. But now, he was starting to feel a little out of place in civilian clothes. He knew there’d be tons of theories starting up as to why online, and he could not be bothered to do anything when he eventually found them.
It’s fine, he thought. It’ll just give the artists more options. He did love the fanart he had. In fact, if he could, he would encourage it. Maybe once he finished this fight he could start up a social media profile, and tell them to keep going. Yeah, that sounded like a fun idea.
Snapping back to the present, he realized the crowd was chanting something. Hotguys name, over and over again. He grimaced. Of course the hero gets praise, but that's what he gets for choosing to be a villain. The only people who cheer him on are psychopaths and stalkers.
He couldn’t help but feel a little bad for the hero. The crowd was cheering him on, but he looked quite worse for wear. His arm was still bleeding, and he was getting paler by the second, probably from exhaustion above anything else. The crowd didn’t know that, and Cuteguy assumed they would get a sudden shock when Hotguy starts losing even more control over the situation at hand.
“So we do. I guess I'll have to try even harder to arrest both of you.” Hotguy said, and Cuteguy noticed him grab an arrow from his quiver. This was too close combat to shoot his bow, so the villain assumed the other just planned on stabbing them with the arrow.
“Go ahead, hottie. I’d like to see you try.” Cuteguy grinned, and he returned to a fighting stance.
Hotguy, however, turned to Howl. Smart move, really. The other villain was older than Cuteguy, but weaker, only about a level 2 or 3 on the power scale, whereas both Cuteguy and Hotguy sat comfortably on 5.
Howl noticed this, and stiffened. Hotguy jumped at him, and the villain raised his fist in an attempt to hit him. However, at the last moment, Hotguy went low, and stuck out his leg. Howl tripped with a loud yelp, falling flat on his face. Before Cuteguy even got a chance to roll his eyes at the older villain's stupidity, Hotguy had driven an arrow into said villain’s leg, causing him to shriek in pain.
Hotguy fumbled in his pockets for a moment, then produced a pair of handcuffs, quickly putting them on the villain, then looking up to see where Cuteguy was.
He was right in front of him. Holding his gun to the hero’s head. He had snuck forwards only a moment before, when the hero was distracted. The smug look on Hotguys face vanished instantly. Cuteguy heard him mutter a curse, suddenly very aware of his predicament.
“Seems I’ve got you, Hotguy.” He said, trying to keep his tone calm, but inside, he was buzzing. He hadn’t had this much fun in a whole. The fun being a gun to the hero’s head.
“Seems you have.” Said the hero, voice strained with hardly concealed fear, but also a hint of admiration.
“I suggest if you want to keep your head intact, you let Howl go.”
“Hm. I dunno. Something tells me if you planned on shooting me, you would’ve done so already.” Cuteguy rolled his eyes.
Hotguy’s words did have some truth. As annoying as the hero was, Cuteguy didn’t want him dead. He was too valuable. Most of the information he had on the association had been wormed out of Hotguy, plus, he was just fun to keep around.
“Fine. Maybe I won't shoot you. But why take Howl? He’s not a particularly strong villain,” He heard an indignant ‘hey!’ from behind the hero, but ignored it. “There’d be no point.”
“There would be a point, actually, Mr smart guy.”
“Oh? Go on.”
“As much as I agree with you, and he isn’t a real threat, he’s still a villain, so he needs to be arrested.”
“Wow, I was expecting more. Something like ‘if I take him in, you’ll come and rescue him, and then I will get to see you again, Cuteguy! Because I love you so much, and I miss you every second we aren’t together!’” He added little kissing noises to really strengthen his point, and grinned at the way Hotguy flushed.
“Uh- No. No, I would not say that. I bet you want me to, though, don’t you?” He said in an attempt to recover. Cuteguy merely winked.
“It will be a mystery forever. Look, Hotguy, I know we have our differences-”
“We are literally enemies!”
“Don’t interrupt me. As I said, we have our differences, but at the end of the day, the day ends. So give me Howl.”
“That…Makes zero sense. Why do you have to make no sense? Why can’t you just speak English for once?” Hotguy said, pinching his nose in a look of pure despair.
“Sache que je parle un anglais parfait, salope. Tu n'as clairement aucun goût.” Cuteguy said, grinning as Hotguy continued to look confused. Suddenly he thanked his younger self for studying French.
“I give up. You know what. Fine. You’re giving me a headache. Take him back. I’ll deal with the consequences another time.”
Cuteguy grinned, chirping happily as he lowered the gun from Hotguy’s face, and walked past the hero to pick up the villain. He looked down at Howl, who was looking rather sorry for himself.
“You are in so much trouble.” He muttered, and Howl's eyes widened with fear.
He turned to the crowd, who was now looking slightly confused at the sudden turn of events.
“Well, there you have it, folks! Cuteguy wins again, beating Hotguy with skill, talent and perhaps a little flirting! |We’ll see you next time, byeee!” He waved to the crowd, blew Hotguy a kiss, and grabbed Howl’s arm, before flying off into the sky.
Before heading out, he looked down, and saw Hotguy staring back up at him.
He winked at the hero, even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to see. Then he flew off, Howl dangling below him.