Chapter Text
It was cold and quiet as he walked deeper into the forest. Both the cold and the quiet only amplified by the thick layers of late December snow coating the ground and trees... and Morgan was trying his best not to feel the former or disturb the latter.
He wasn't usually one for long forest hikes, and he especially wasn't fond of any kind of walking when it was in the snow... so it was hard for him to justify why he was doing both... in the middle of the fucking night. Alone. Like an idiot.
He didn't really want any company, had left town exactly because of that. Had hiked his ass up to his safe house in the mountains so he could get the fuck away from everyone and everything down in the city. Christmas was one of his least favorite times of year so this felt like the perfect idea... right up until he started getting bored out of his mind. He'd gone on more hikes in the last three days than he had like- ever. Okay, not ever, but at least not just 'for fun'. He hiked all the time for heists or treasure hunts, he just didn't do it for no reason... So he'd given himself a reason.
And now that reason had him hiking through the goddamn forest in the middle of the night in a freaking snowstorm-!
Another snowflake gently floated down between the canopy, the delicate shape of it visible as it slowly fell...
Okay so maybe 'snowstorm' was exaggerating but still-! It was cold and dark and he was alone in the freaking woods!
Grimacing into the several layers of scarves he had wrapped around his face, he glanced back down at the snow covered trail and continued his slow climb. He was trying to focus more on his feet- more on not making a sound than the cold that had long since soaked into his socks. All things considered it was a halfway decent training exercise, walking quietly in snow- being mindful of unseen objects like rocks or twigs as he continued to move closer and closer to his final target. I wonder if I could talk Maggie into doing this with me... It was hit or miss if she'd be down for a training exercise like this, but if he could convince her then she could for sure convince Bill. He still wasn't as on board for the whole 'being more than just a henchmen' thing, but Maggie said he'd come around.
Morgan didn't want his people to be- be... so limited by what the Goonion said they had to be... He wanted them to be more... He could see it- could picture what all he could really do with a proper tea- crew. What all he could really do with a proper crew and he knew it would be incredible. That they would all be incredible and brilliant and fucking unstoppable. He had a vision. He could see the future he wanted- and he could see how to get it too... He just had figure out how to convince other people to see it as well and to trust me enough to get us all there.
But that was a long term goal and not something he could just make happen over night... but still in moments like this it was always... fun to imagine it- to see a future where he was somebody that nobody knew. He wanted that. Wanted to be this nameless faceless legend... And he knew he could do it too.
So long as I don't fucking die in the woods because I had a stupid idea... He thought with a huff as he squinted up the trail he was still trudging along.
Even with his eyes fully adjusted to the eerie dark he could still barely see, the moon mostly hidden behind the clouds and with out any light pollution to reflect off the snow and turn the sky into a red haze, he was having to mostly rely on memory here. He'd picked out all his spots yesterday, had figured out what he wanted to do at each one, and then today while the sun had been up, he re-walked the whole trail just to really cement their locations in his head. But as he was starting to doubt how cemented those locations really were... he spotted the massive sandstone boulder. It was just to the left of the trail and at some point it had ended up sheared in half, leaving one side a perfect flat surface~
Grin suddenly enormous underneath his layers, Morgan sped up his pace, reaching the crest of this switch back quickly. He swung his backpack down instantly and got to work. The trick of this was making each one look more and more accurate as he went, the first message had been quick and messy, but now- now he needed to use a stencil and there needed to be shading. He wanted this one to look just a little too real- to feel just a little too accurate- to instill just enough doubt to make the rest of their hike just uncomfortable enough to ruin the whole trip... It was diabolical~
He didn't really bother being quiet now, he really couldn't anyway, not as he started shaking up the first can of spray paint. But maybe if he had been- maybe if he thought to stop and listen- to check his surroundings periodically, then he would have noticed that he was no longer alone... in the dark... with no one around to hear him scream...
"You know..." Hummed a voice just behind him, "It's dangerous to be alone in these woods at night. There's a serial killer on the loose~"
Or at least that's what the voice had been trying to say, all Morgan heard was 'You know...' before he started shrieking-!
"Son of a whore stinking ballsack!!!" Morgan screeched at the top of his lungs, which would have been terrible last words if the person behind him had been a serial killer... who wanted him dead... today.
Alex snorted as he ducked out of the way of Morgan's pathetically flailing arms, still shrieking while he did. It wasn't until he spotted a set of glowing yellow eyes- and then recognized those glowing yellow eyes that he stopped shrieking. Amused, Alex watched on as recognition quickly became relief on the D-tier villain's face, not the usual reaction the Devourer got when somebody recognized him but then again if there was anything this last month had taught him, it was that Morgan was anything but 'usual'.
"Fucking fuck-!" He gasped, free hand clapping down over his erratically pounding heart. "Alex- Don't- Jesus Christ. Don't fucking do that-!"
Truly and deeply unapologetic, the S-tier villain simply smirked down at him. "Oh, now Morgan... Why would I ever do that~"
"So I don't fucking die of heart failure-!" Morgan snapped back, but Alex's eyes only continued to glint out of the darkness at him, his mirth obvious. So knowing it was a lost cause Morgan just shook his head, "Just- Look, can whatever you want wait until the morning?"
"That depends... Are you still going to be out here wandering around by yourself in the forest where a known serial killer is hunting people for sport in the morning?" Alex asked.
Morgan started to laugh- then he realized Alex was being serious. And then he stopped laughing.
"...Excuse me?" He muttered as an entirely new wave of panic and dread washed over him.
"So I take that to mean that you didn't know about that then?" He snorted, slipping his hands into his pockets as he finally took in Morgan's... clothes. He looked kinda like a snowman, but only if it was made of layers and layers of mismatched clothing instead of snow. He had on close to a dozen layers from Alex's quick glance and about three ragged scarves tied around his face. He was basically just a pair of eyes, ones enormous and round with shock, staring out of this stupid fluffy hood... It would be kind of adorable if it wasn't so pathetic... maybe it was adorable because it was pathetic, he couldn't quite tell. "I take it you also don't like the cold..." he added, as he finished his once over.
"I- But- Yes- No- I- Fuck." He spluttered helplessly, before finally one gloved hand started tugging down his scarves enough to not look completely ridiculous anymore. "No, I don't like being fucking cold, who does?" He demanded, almost instantly regretting his actions as his breath dampened skin was instantly exposed to the frigid air. "And what do you mean there's a serial killer out here hunting people for sport-!?"
Alex raised one perfectly arched brow, blond hair swept neatly back, dark suit untouched by snow or debris. He didn't look cold in the slightest, the bastard. In fact when he opened his mouth to speak not even his breath looked cold, no plumes of fog forming around his lips.
"I mean there is a very active serial killer using this woods as a hunting grounds." Alex repeated, before tilting his head ever so slightly, eerie eyes unblinking as the continued to stare straight down into what was left of Morgan's soul. "...but if you aren't out here because of the serial killer, then why are you out in the middle of the forest at night by yourself?"
Morgan shifted from foot to foot awkwardly for a second, debating on what to say, before shucking any attempt to sound 'cool' to the winds. "Villainy." He muttered, before turning back to continue what he was doing.
Alex suddenly curious as to what kind of villainy his new toy was up to, watched on in growing confusion as Morgan uncapped an can of spray paint and carefully filled in a stencil taped to a rock with white paint. Morgan popped the cap back on the second he was done, already stuffing the can haphazardly into his jacket pocket so he could reach up and pull the large stencil down. Alex read the letters left behind... and then read them again... and then a third time, actually mouthing them out in case he was somehow missing their meaning, before finally just giving up and asking.
"...'Press Shift to Run.'?" Alex muttered, "Why are you spray painting 'Press Shift to Run.' on a rock in the middle of the woods and how is that in any way 'villainy'?"
"Well for starters, vandalism of federal property since this is a national park, plus all around criminal mischief. And~" Morgan all but sang, "This isn't the first rock I tagged. It's the fifth and final one I tagged on this trail~" And then he glanced over at Alex smiling... like what he said was supposed to mean something.
"...you're new to this whole villain thing, aren't you?" Alex asked slowly. His people hadn't finished their deep dive into Carmine and everything that he'd done yet, but he had to know this barely counted as a crime let alone an act of villainy...right? He's robbed people before. Like... he had to be joking... Unless he really is just some nobody thief and my first instincts were wrong. That would be a shame... I was almost starting to like him.
Morgan's grin instantly fell, a scowl taking it's place. "—what? No-!" He snapped back, turning to more fully glower up at the... S-tier villain. Boy... I just can't seem to help myself, can I? Maybe stupid really is in my DNA... But he in no way backed down. "I've been a villain for years-! A D-tier villain, Alex." He reminded the taller man, "I'm a petty criminal. This-" And he gestured to the rock, "-is petty crime-!"
Alex couldn't help it, he snorted. It was like- like watching a chipmunk with pink cheeks and a red nose argue with him of all people. And mean it. "...god~" He giggled almost unable to stop himself, "You're so pathetic it's adorable~ Like watching a tiny duckling swim around in a pond full of sharks~!" He teased ruthlessly before a real laugh burbled up out of him. "A pathetic tiny scraggly duckling-! Ha-!"
Morgan, not finding any of this funny, or at least he was trying not to find it that funny, but Alex's laughter was kind of contagious, still he tried for a scowl and crossed his arms a comeback already leaving his mouth, "What? So you mean I'm the only thing that can survive there?"
"Pfft~ There are freshwater sharks." Alex snickered, even as Morgan rolled his eyes.
"I don't think that's a thing..." He muttered back, but he was already turning to fish around in his backpack again.
"That's definitely a thing." Alex hummed, swiping one more time at his eyes to brush away the last of his tears. It'd been a while since he'd laughed like that over something so stupid~ "But seriously, what's with the keyboard shortcuts?"
"First, not a shortcut." Morgan sighed as he straightened, can of black paint already clattering as he shook it. "It's a video game keyboard control. And second, its supposed to be vaguely unsettling. I mean just think about it. You're out here, far enough into the woods that you've lost cell service and here's this sign-" And he gestured to the rock. "-It'll be the fifth on you've seen so far and each one has gotten progressively more detailed. Like the first one could have been just some kid with a can of spray paint, but this doesn't just look like text- it has definition- shading. This one looks deliberate... and it'll make you wonder- It'll make you stop and think because- because what if this isn't real life anymore- what if you crossed into a simulation- stepped into a dimensional rift or some weird techno-trap by a villain... and then you'll keep walking... it'll take hours before you reach civilization again- hours before you can check on 'the real world'... and in the back of your head you'll still be thinking about it- will still be wondering if maybe it's always been a simulation... And the last prompt the tutorial gave you was how to run..." Explained the D-tier villain, a slow smirk spreading across his face as he stared up at his handiwork.
"That's..." Alex began before trailing off. Actually kind of devious... but in a lame way. He however wasn't going to say that so just settled on, "—lame." And Morgan's head whipped around to glare up at him again. "What? Don't look at me like that just because I pointed out the obvious." Alex chuckled, before a condescending edge crept into his words, "I mean it's not my fault you're delusional."
About a dozen insults flickered through Morgan's thoughts, but none of them would work on a self-centered arrogant asshole like Alex... he would need to be creative. Luckily, I'm good at that. So with a huff he turned back to stare at the rock, the white paint was nearly dry enough to put the stencil back on... He waited one more beat before pausing the incessant noisy shaking of the spray paint can, tucking it into his other pocket as he said, "...you know maybe that's your problem."
"Excuse me?"
It was not a very nice sounding 'excuse me', but Morgan didn't care- nor did he turn back around to face the single most prolific hero murderer to ever live and the most powerful villain on the planet, choosing to tape his stencil back up while he spoke. Alex didn't deserve his undivided attention, not if he was gonna be a jackass. "I said 'that's your problem'..."
"...and what è̸̹̄ẍ̸̦̭̕ą̸̛̹̓c̷̺̹͒͋̚t̶̜͙̐̐͘͠l̵̨̡͔͊̇́ͅy̶ is my problem?" (exactly)
All the hairs on the back of Morgan's neck were standing on end, he could feel a kind of pressure growing inside his chest- behind his eyes- inside his ears. He still didn't turn around, just worked on his alignment. "You're a shark trying to live in a duck pond, Alex."
The pressure vanished.
"—huh?"
It took conscious effort on Morgan's part not to show any signs of physical relief, but that did sound like genuine confusion on Alex's part so he glanced over his shoulder at the other villain. He looked utterly bewildered, in fact he was even blinking down at Morgan owlishly... one hand poised to snap—Holy fucking shit—but it was falling back to his side. He swallowed hard, hoping to pass off his dry mouth as a side effect of the cold. "You're a shark, right?"
"I- guess???" Alex muttered, so caught off guard by Morgan's asinine statement that he was having a hard time following along.
"Okay, so you're the one stuck in a small pond, not me." Morgan pointed out. "I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."
"Wait- But- shark's can be small too—" He tried to explain, somehow losing track of his own metaphor, but Morgan just cut him off.
"So I'm a duck stuck in a pond full of small sharks? Then I have even less to worry about." He snorted, turning back to his work to make a few final adjustments.
"No- Hold on, that's not what I—"
"Besides, there's a big thing about ducks and ponds that you're forgetting..." He hummed, in no way 'holding on' as he stepped back from the boulder to stand next to Alex again, at last glancing up at the other villain. "...ducks can leave. Sharks can't."
Alex opened his mouth... Then he closed it. Then he opened it again, but it was too late, Morgan was pulling something out of his pocket and offering it to him.
"So maybe instead of judging me, you could try being a duck. Who knows? You might like it." And he handed Alex the can of white spray paint.
After finding himself cornered, by his own words no less, Alex... took the can of spray paint.
And Morgan smiled up at him, something warm and genuine and- and- and Alex couldn't remember the last time someone smiled at him like that. Not while he was dressed like the Devourer- not while he just looked like himself, no disguise in sight...
Then the thief... winked at him, pulling out his own can of spray paint and got back to work.
...what the fuck just happened?