Writing snippets

Just whatever I feel like writing. I can do story prompts, little flashes of dialogue: All that good stuff :) I take requests and you guys can also ask me questions if you want!

[crazy-sevens]

Part three of this prompt by @creweemmaeec11 :  Hero and villain are fighting on live TV, and hero suddenly falls in the river that runs through the city. Turns out hero can't swim, so villain ends up deciding to save them even though the act is then caught on live tv, and now the entire city's media is in an uproar: "are they actually a bad person?" "Will hero owe villain now?"

Part one

Part two

***

The hero didn't even know where to begin when searching for the villain. He was always the one that inexplicably found her. 

And after hours of searching, that seemed to still be the case.

She had gone back to the river and was standing near the shredded portion of the fence. Police tape had been put over the opening, and there was a partial barricade in front. She felt a little silly because, despite this, she couldn’t bring herself to get any closer than ten feet from the fence. She was going to have to sign herself up for swimming lessons sometime.

 The sun was dipping below the horizon and she was about to leave, when she heard a voice from behind her.

“Out for a late night swim?”

She nearly jumped out of her shoes. She turned and there he was. “I think I’ve had my fill.”

“You’re mad at me.” It was a statement rather than a question.

Her hands sparked. Anger. Maybe something else. "Oh yeah, how could you tell?"

He smiled and glanced at her hands. “Oh I just know you so well.”

Even though she had just wanted to talk to the villain, she could feel her power surging inside her.

The villain must’ve sensed a fight coming because, rather than wait for her, he shot like a bullet, scooping her up in his arms. 

Her fire blazed, but what she'd failed to realize in the dark was that he was wearing some sort of strange protective gear. Her flames couldn't touch him. 

And then they were over the river. 

Her eyes widened in alarm. "Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Her voice cracked. “Put me down!”

"I'm not going to drop you on purpose," The villain reassured. "But keep fighting and my hands might slip."

She swallowed, anxiously eyeing the rushing water down below. She let her fire burn out. "What do you want?"

He shrugged, noticing with a smirk that even that small movement made the hero grip his arm tighter. "I just wanted to talk," he said. "But you seemed too focused on trying to burn me alive."

“So you’re threatening me?”

“Sort of.” 

“Figures.”

His smile widened. “Word has it, you’ve been looking for me all day.”

“I wanted to talk to you too.”

“Well you’ve got me right here,” he replied. 

She looked into his eyes, and was all-too painfully aware of the blush creeping up her cheeks. “Why did you disappear?”

He hummed. “Out of the two of us, I figured you look better on camera.” 

She shook her head. “It’s been a nightmare, Villain. I’ve been followed around by reporters for the past week, I’ve seen it plastered on TV everywhere; I’ve had no privacy!”

“Oh yeah, I forgot how much you hate attention,” he teased. 

She could feel her cheeks blaze even hotter. “It’s embarrassing.”

He glanced at her face and amusement twinkled in his eyes. “I can tell.”

That’s when she realized a soft light was falling on his features. She’d held her power back in her hands, but apparently that heat in her cheeks wasn’t just from embarrassment, her fire was glowing through her skin. She sighed. “It’s been a long week, Villain.”

He chuckled. “Okay, okay, I get why you’re mad at them,” he said. “But why are you mad at me?”

She was no longer glowing. “Because you have some sort of motive for saving me and I haven’t figured it out yet.”

"I already told you why I saved you."

"That can't be it," The hero replied. "You want to blackmail me, or you have some sort of other plan going on, and believe me I'm going to figure it out and then you are going d-"

He cut her off with a sudden kiss. 

She couldn’t shove down the glow then. It took everything in her to keep her ears from lighting on fire. 

When he pulled back, she was too shocked to say anything. 

She was also shocked she didn’t accidentally burn his lips.

His eyes still gleamed with amusement. "Believe me now?"

"I'm starting to." She glanced at the river below. "Can you put me down now?"

He nodded and they slowly drifted down. Relief along with plenty of other confusing emotions flooded her when they finally hit the ground. 

She took a deep breath, and settled her power down. Now the only light came from the city and the moon. 

“I’ve never seen you do that before,” the villain commented.

“Um, it’s an intimidation tactic.”

He laughed. “Well, Hero, the next time you want to talk, you don’t have to search the whole city.” He handed her a scrap of paper. “Just head there.”

She glanced at it in her hand. “This isn’t an ambush is it?” 

He shrugged. “Guess you’ll find out.” The villain took off then, and he was gone.

She sighed.

“He should’ve left me in that river.” 

[crazy-sevens]

Part two of this prompt by @creweemmaeec11 :  Hero and villain are fighting on live TV, and hero suddenly falls in the river that runs through the city. Turns out hero can't swim, so villain ends up deciding to save them even though the act is then caught on live tv, and now the entire city's media is in an uproar: "are they actually a bad person?" "Will hero owe villain now?"

Part one here

***

TV couldn't really capture the sheer terror the hero endured when she fell into that river. Even the best of swimmers would have had a tough time navigating the rapids and rocks, let alone the hero who had refused any association with large bodies of water since second grade swimming lessons. 

A chain link fence had been put up, but it might as well have been made of paper by how easily the hero crashed through it. 

She landed right into the river. The cold of the water tore the air out her lungs with a gasp and she was immediately swept away by the current. She scrambled, trying to keep her head above water. It all happened so fast, she barely had enough time to react when she hit the first rock. Luckily it was only a glancing blow to her shoulder, but it was enough to send her below. 

Everything was a torrent of limbs and bubbles as she fought the rapids. She somehow managed to claw her way up, winning herself a deep breath before she was dragged back under again. Her body started to glow and the water boiled as her desperation triggered her power, but heat couldn’t help her now. 

That’s when she hit the second rock.

This time she wasn’t so lucky. Her arm absorbed some of the blow, but the hit to her head left black spots in her vision. The glow of her body faded, and she felt herself go limp. Black closed in on the edges of her vision. She fought the darkness, but soon enough it was all she could see. 

Before she could take that inevitable involuntary breath though, a firm hand grabbed her arm. And another scooped up her legs. And then she wasn’t even in the river anymore, she was on the shore. She coughed and shook, the cold still chilling her to the bone. She felt something rough fall onto her shoulders. She opened her eyes. 

“This can’t be right. Villain?” She croaked.

The villain knelt next to her, worried eyes locked on hers. “Are you alright?”

 The answer to that was a definite no, but she could hardly bring herself to speak. She realized, albeit a little late, that he actually pulled her from the river. And she realized that the ‘something rough’ was his jacket. “What is happening?”

The villain didn’t meet her eyes then, only examining her head. “You almost drowned and you hit your head pretty hard. You need to go to the hospital.”

“But you-you saved me?”

The villain gave her a small smile. “Is it so hard to believe that I actually like having you around?”

The hero didn’t know what to say to that.

But it turns out she didn’t have to say anything, because immediately following that statement, sirens pierced the air. The villain’s brows furrowed. She could tell he had something else to say, but he only stood and shot her one of his most charming smiles. Funny, he only gave her one of those when he was winning a fight. “I think I’ll leave you to the reporters.”

Then he took off. She wondered at his sudden change of attitude.

 And then she spotted the news helicopter. 

Uh-oh.

[creweemmaeec11]

Hero and villain are fighting on live TV, and hero suddenly falls in the river that runs through the city. Turns out hero can't swim, so villain ends up deciding to save them even though the act is then caught on live tv, and now the entire city's media is in an uproar: "are they actually a bad person?" "Will hero owe villain now?"

[crazy-sevens]

"Why do you hate me?"

The superhero gave a small smile, eyes deliberately glued to the laptop in front of him. "Hate is such a strong word, Hero. What are you upset about this time?"

The hero threw the newspaper down with a slap.

The superhero spared it a glance, his smile only widening. “Oh, that?”

“‘The villain in a shocking turn of events saves the hero from a watery grave. What does this mean? Are they in league with each other? Does the villain have a bigger plan in mind? Or, the most intriguing theory, is there something more to their relationship?’” The hero quoted. The hero shook her head. “‘Watery grave’, really?”

“It added some drama.”

“Why did you do this to me?”

The superhero leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “Hero, this is the biggest story of the year. If I didn’t write about this, I would get fired.” He shrugged. “And besides, it’s not my fault you were caught on live TV not being able to swim.”

 The hero’s jaw clenched. “You’re having too much fun with this.”

“Oh come on, don’t you think it’s kind of funny?” The superhero asked. 

“Do you know how many reporters have swarmed me in the past week?” The hero ranted. “Not to mention how many asked me if I was . . . dating the villain. Dating! Can you believe that?” She had turned away while she spoke, but the superhero could see a blush coloring her cheeks.

He chuckled. “Maybe.”

The hero shot him a glare. “Oh, not you too.”

He shrugged. “Why did he save you then?”

“I don’t know! Blackmail, some sort of evil scheme that I haven’t figured out yet! I don’t know!” She repeated. Her tone softened then, “I haven’t seen him since it happened.”

The superhero felt a tinge of guilt for mocking her. He remembered what it was like the first time a news story covered one of his mistakes. This was definitely a different situation, but he felt for her. “Don’t worry, this will go away soon. People have short attention spans, believe me I’ve been doing this for a while,” The superhero reassured. “But it seems like you’re going to have to talk to him.”

From the pained expression on the hero’s face, the superhero could tell he wasn’t saying anything she didn’t already know. “How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“I’m mad at you one second, then the next I’m grateful for your help.” She shook her head with a small smile. “I don’t get it.”

“Just one of my special gifts, I guess.”

“And so humble too.”

He winked. “You know it.”

“Now the question is, how do I find him?”

He shrugged, turning back to his laptop. “Can’t help you with that one.” Amusement twinkled in his eyes. “After all, I’m not in love with him.” 

“I am not in love with him!”

[crazy-sevens]

Writing Snippet #48

“And does the prisoner have anything to say for herself?”

The hero took a deep shaky breath. She was placed right in the center of the room, all eyes locked on her. Dignitaries, dancers, and servants looked at her with a mixture of horrified and angry gazes. They honestly seemed more annoyed that their party had been ruined than the fact that the King’s right hand man had been murdered just outside. Their gazes unsettled her, but really only one pair of eyes mattered. 

The prince sat on a throne in front of her, unfazed by anything else as he waited patiently for her answer. He was the standing ruler of this kingdom. His father, the king, was so sick he could barely talk, let alone manage a country anymore. But, even if technically second in command, there was no denying the quiet power the prince held over the room. 

She locked eyes with him when she answered. “I’d do it again.”

Hushed whispers swept throughout the chamber. The guards tightened their grips on her arms, but it wasn’t like she could go anywhere. Not with the chains binding her hands behind her back and the manacles on her ankles. She felt the bitterness clawing up her throat like bile. She was only too aware of the blood staining her dress, of it dripping off her hands. How could she have let this happen?

But then, to her surprise, the corners of the prince's eyes turned up in a concealed smile. He held up a hand and the crowd quieted. “Leave us.”

And without another word, the people left. The guards either side of her stood there uncertainly. "Sir-"

"I want to be alone with the prisoner."

They both immediately marched out, leaving the hero and the prince alone. 

The hero could feel the cold steel of her knife pressed against her leg. Maybe if she could-

"I wouldn't." The prince smiled for real now, the need to keep up any ceremony gone out the door. "I've heard about you."

It spoke volumes of the hero's willpower that she was able to keep her eyebrows from shooting up in surprise. The fact that he could basically read her mind was disturbing enough, now he had heard rumors about her. But despite that, she gave him a smirk. "Oh really? All good things I hope."

“For someone who tries so very hard not to exist, it seems you’ve made quite a name for yourself,” he replied. “The people think you’re a plague sent to kill corrupt politicians. A baron here, a duke there, all of them dying of seemingly natural circumstances, but connections get made.” 

The prince stood and approached her. "They were nothing more than rumors, but I knew they had some merit. Although, it was impossible to prove you even existed let alone find you. Your methods were nearly untraceable." He gave a slight smile, the sound of the blood dripping onto the floor punctuating his next statement. "Nearly."

He stopped in front of her, subtly taking in her features. "And now you have a face." He shrugged. "If it's any consolation, you're prettier than I thought you’d be." 

“Likewise.” The hero tilted her head. "I've heard rumors about you too."

The prince raised his eyebrows in a question, she continued on, "Your father suffers from a debilitating illness, unpreventable circumstance I'm sure, basically leaves you the throne. Everyone I’ve asked says you're charming, some say you're cruel, but the general consensus is that you're a God-send." A small smile played on her lips. “But unlike everyone else, I can't decide which one you are, your majesty."

He smiled then, and she decided that charming and cruel fell under the same category.

"I can't decide what you are either, if that makes you feel any better."

"Surprisingly it doesn't."

He tilted his head. "It's a shame I didn't talk to you during the party," he said. "When there wasn't this . . . Unfortunate situation in the way."

"Well to be frank, I was trying to avoid getting caught by someone like you."

He chuckled. "You don't think you could've fooled me?"

She looked into those piercing eyes. “No. Everyone else maybe, but not you.”

The prince considered her thoughtfully. He seemed to have come to a decision. “Guards,” he said. The two guards stepped back in. "Fetch me a wet washcloth, and bind the prisoner's hands in front of her."

They swiftly met both his demands and left. He took the wash cloth in his hand and gestured to the small puddle of blood staining the once immaculate marble flooring. "I'm kinda fond of these floors, you know."

He went to take her hands, but she pulled back. Her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but unchain me and I can wash my own hands."

He chuckled. "I would love to, but I can't trust you won't try to stab someone with that pretty little knife you have stowed away." He shrugged. "Now I could take it from you, but my sense of decency is keeping me from fishing around in there to look for it."

Her cheeks burned. 

He raised a brow. "I'm guessing you wouldn't want that?"

She let him take her hands.

As the prince gently washed the evidence away, she took a minute to study him. She was sure he knew what she was doing, but she couldn’t help it. There was good reason for everyone to think he was charming. He was handsome, a head taller than her, and had a strong physique. He had dark intelligent eyes and a smile that could be both winning and cold at the same time. And his hands, while rough, took hers in them gently.

All of these dueling features set her on edge, but the worst were those eyes: scrutinizing and bright, how they could see right through her. Even now with him focused on the task of her hands, she could feel him turning her soul like the pages of a book. 

She nearly jumped when he finally spoke, "So what happened this time?" 

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean. You got sloppy. You never get sloppy." He locked his knowing eyes on hers. "That means this was personal."

She clenched her jaw. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He gave her a small smile. "Your hands shake when you lie." He squeezed one. "Might want to fix that."

She started to pull back again, but he held her tight. She shot him a warning glance. 

"Easy," he said. "I'm just curious."

"Yeah well I didn't know this was going to be an interrogation."

"You killed a friend of mine, there were bound to be some questions," he said. 

"Funny, you don't seem too hung up about it."

He hummed. "Let's just say our friendship was starting to wear thin."

She gave a wry smile. "He was starting to get too powerful, you mean?"

He winked. "Something like that."

He finished and stepped back, now at least giving her a little room from that piercing stare. She glanced at her hands. Aside from the stains on her dress, it was like it had never happened. 

"Now the question is," he said, "what to do with you?" 

"I think the standard punishment for murder is execution, but you might have to correct me on that your highness, I haven't brushed up on my legislation in a while."

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You know, if I were in your position I'd try to be more polite."

She shrugged. "If you were in my position, you'd realize that there was nothing you could do to save yourself anyway."

"I'm not planning on executing you," he said. "So you can relax about that."

Despite what should have been a huge relief, she only felt the noose tightening around her neck. She swallowed. "What's the catch?"

His smile met his eyes then. "We'll talk about that later. Somewhere where you won't have to wear those." He nodded to her shackles. "But for now, I have a meeting and you should try to get some sleep."

The guards came in, unshackled her legs, and tried to lead her away, but she planted her feet. "I wasn't lying before, you know. Even if you planned on killing me, I'd do it again."

"I know."

She allowed herself to be led away.

[crazy-sevens]

I absolutely love your stories :D Could you do a request involving a male villain visiting a male, imprisoned hero after the bad guys have won? But a more bittersweet victory than a gloating one?

The hero didn’t think it would hit him as hard when he woke up. Maybe he hoped that the unconsciousness would soften the blow, now that it was farther behind him. Maybe it wouldn’t be like all the other times he had woken up in a hospital. Maybe he wouldn’t even wake up at all.

But he had never been much of an optimist anyway. 

If anything it hit him like a freight train. 

It all came back to him too hard, too fast, and too breathtaking. Tossed into the deep end with no chance of clawing his way out, it took everything in him to keep his head above water. 

 He slowly opened his eyes, breathing rapidly, and took in the harsh hospital lights, the machine at his bedside beeping alarmingly fast, and the hard gaze of the villain directed right at him.

The hero immediately turned his gaze away. He preferred the lights.

The villain’s voice was soft when he spoke, “Hero, do you remember what I told you before all this?” he asked.

The hero didn’t answer, but decided he better take in the rest of his situation. The villain was there, sitting in a chair on his left. He looked terrible, like he had been up all week with no sleep. 

The hero also noticed his hands chained to the bed rails either side of him with handcuffs. The inside of his wrists had been rubbed raw. He had been thrashing against them. Must’ve been the nightmares, he mused. 

He couldn’t bring himself to look lower than that. 

“What did I tell you?” The villain asked, firmer this time.

The hero’s voice came out cracking and gravelly, “You asked me to come quietly. That it was my one chance.” The hero was surprised he was able to speak at all with the lump forming in his throat. 

The villain leaned forward, cracks of anger starting to form in his stony expression. “Why didn’t you listen to me?” 

“I don’t know.”

The villain didn’t say anything at that. 

“Is that why you came here?” The hero asked bitterly, “To say ‘I told you so’?”

“I waited here,” the villain said, “to make sure you didn’t die.”

The hero laughed, the broken thing that it was. “If you had any sense of mercy, you would’ve pulled the plug as soon as you first came in.”

“I saved you,” the villain insisted. 

“And you helped kill all my reasons to live.”

The villain shot a quick glance at the end of the hero’s bed, then looked like he instantly regretted it. 

The hero turned his head away, jaw clenched and tears threatening. 

He wondered if it was cowardly to wish for death. Or maybe it was what he deserved.

When he had heard the villain’s offer, he had laughed. Even if the villain was significantly graver than usual, the hero hadn’t taken the threat seriously. Maybe it was pride, maybe it was bravery, it really didn’t matter now, the results were still the same. His friends had died, and he was captured anyway. 

The hero couldn’t erase their faces from his mind.

“I didn’t want-” The villain stopped. “Hero, I didn’t want it to go this way.”

“And how did you want it to go, Villain?” The hero asked, voice as sharp as flint. “Come on, tell me how you wanted me to come on my hands and knees, grovelling like you always wanted.”

The hero wasn’t looking at him, but he could almost hear the villain holding back a biting remark.

The villain took a controlled breath. “No, I wanted it to be civil. Just you and me,” he said. “Then you had to go and make things difficult, and I had to bring in some help.” He walked around the other side so he could meet the hero’s eyes. “Now look at you.” 

That’s when the hero finally got a glimpse of his legs, or what was left of them. Both were cut off at the knee. It was better than when he last saw them, all mangled and nothing but red. 

He guessed that was one way to stop a man you couldn’t keep up with: blow up the ground beneath his feet.

Looking at them, the hero found it hard to fight the despair clawing at his heart. Now what? Everything was gone: his friends, his freedom, his powers. 

And there were only two people to blame. 

The hero clenched his fists, only to be given a sharp reminder of the chains still binding his arms. 

The villain’s eyes flicked to them. “Just a precaution.”

“Why? You have me: your prize,” the hero spat. “I can’t go anywhere.”

The villain glanced down at the bed again and cursed, turning away and running his hands through his hair. 

The hero just watched in a haze, anger rolling through him, mind reeling, morals thrown out the window at this point. If he could, he would kill the villain right then and there, with his bare hands if he had to.

The villain must have seen it in his eyes, because he just regarded the hero silently, his features tinged with regret. But of course, it was all business with the villain. "As soon as you're a bit more stable, we're going to take you to the facility. You will be asked a number of questions there," he said. 

The hero's jaw clenched.

"And Hero," the villain added, almost to the door now, "try to be more cooperative this time."

The hero’s face twisted with rage.

He lunged for the villain, handcuffs biting into his skin making him cry out. 

He started thrashing against the chains. His wrists started to bleed and his heart monitor started beeping rapidly, but he didn’t care. He shouted and cursed and screamed so many horrible things, but the villain just watched, almost sadly.

Soon enough, nurses rushed into the room and held him down as they jabbed a needle into his arm.

Everything went black.

[crazy-sevens]

Please I need more of villain and kidnapped civilian snippets, they’re so cute and I absolutely am INVESTED in their story!

Part one here

Part two here

Part three here

Part four here

After dropping the hero off at a nondescript building that he insisted would be a lot more helpful and discrete than a hospital, the civilian took a moment to breathe. 

Today was the- Wait. She checked the time. Yesterday was the weirdest thing she’d had to wade through in a while. Even though she had gotten that nap, she could barely keep her eyes open. Which was just absolutely perfect, seeing as she was walking alone in the middle of the night in a shady neighborhood with the hero indisposed. She wouldn’t be surprised if she got mugged in addition to the usual evil scheme of the week.

But interestingly enough, even though she was half expecting it, she still almost jumped out of her socks when she heard a voice from behind her, “So not only do you ruin my plans, you have to leave your stuff at my place too?”

She spun around. There the villain was, an amused smile on his face and the civilian’s jacket in his hand. 

He raised a brow. “Did I scare you?”

The civilian took a second to process, and, admittedly, to also regain some composure. “You couldn’t scare me if you tried.”

He chuckled, stepping a little closer. “No? Well I haven’t really been trying yet.”

She tilted her head. “So finding me in the middle of the night is just your normal amount of scary?” She asked. 

He shrugged. “I had to give your jacket back,” he said. “And while it is fun watching you jump and then try to cover it up,” he added with a smile, “I wanted to see you.”

She turned her face away, trying to cover up the red starting to creep up her cheeks. “Well, um, thanks. That’s very polite of you.”

He tilted his head down so he could meet her averted gaze. “Can I walk you home?”

Well . . . she guessed it wouldn’t hurt to have a little protection close, but she’d be lying if she said that was the only reason she wanted him to come with. “Sure. I guess you’re better than nothing.”

They started walking.

There were so many questions floating around in the civilian’s brain, but she couldn’t get herself to voice any of the big ones. 

So she guessed she would have to do the smaller ones. 

“When we talked this morning,” she started, “you seemed surprised.”

The villain shrugged. “After all the news stories about you, I expected something different,” he said. “So yes, I was pleasantly surprised.”

The civilian just hummed in response.

 The villain kept his steady gate but turned to her. “So you and Hero..?”

“I accidentally got kidnapped once, he saved me, then the news blew it up.”

He smiled. “Is that all?”

She shrugged. “Well now I get damseled in distress by random weirdos all the time.” She gave him a sidelong glance. “Present company included.”

The villain chuckled. “Oh yeah?”

“That’s right, newbie.” She shot him a teasing smile. “You’re just adding to the problem.”

“And how, praytell, could I possibly make it up to you?”

“Well you could lose the sarcasm for starters,” she muttered. 

He just laughed. 

Soon enough they were starting to get close to her house. But it turned out her villain deterrent wouldn’t last her the whole walk.

Another voice from behind her (seriously, what are all these people doing out so late at night). “Well what do we have here?”

“Ugh,” the civilian grumbled. “Another one.”

The civilian and the villain turned around to find . . . another villain. She was pretty sure this one went by Cyclone, or maybe Tornado? Something with wind. 

Windbag?

“You know this guy?” the villain asked.

“Eh seen him around once and a while, not really much of a blip on Hero’s radar though.”

Windbag was wearing a very . . . unique villain costume. The cape, mask, and boots were purple, the shirt and pants were black, and there was a symbol of a Tornado embossed on the front. 

Very subtle. 

During the exchange, Windbag just seemed to get redder and redder. Which, in the civilian’s opinion, added that much needed pop of color to the ensemble. “And who might you be?” He asked the villain. 

The villain turned to her. “Do I answer?”

“I find it’s easier to just ignore him.”

“You stay out of this!” Windbag shouted, reaching out his hand to send a blast of wind her way. But the villain easily intercepted it and twisted Windbags arms behind his back. A satisfied smile crossed the villain’s face, but it was cold. His eyes were sharp as flint. 

“Okay, okay, I surrender. I was just . . . kidding! I was kidding! Please have mercy,” Windbag whimpered.

The villain turned to her, a question in his eyes. 

The civilian shrugged. Yeah sure, go ahead.

The villain winked, then turned back into cold. “You’ll be begging for something as merciful as what I’m about to do to you if you ever come near her again.” 

The civilian felt her hair stand up at the amount of electricity the villain used to take Windbag down.  Woah.

 The villain dropped him. “He isn’t dead, but I don’t think you’ll see him again.”

That’s probably when the civilian finally started to appreciate the amount of power the villain possessed. Sure the lightning was mesmerizing to watch, and taking down the hero was no small feat, but it hadn’t intimidated her like this before. He could really just kill her if he wanted to.

The villain must’ve seen the hesitance in her eyes because his expression softened. He caressed her shoulders. “Surely you know you can trust me by now?”

She gave a small smile. “Yeah I know.” She cleared her throat. “I’m just jealous, that's all.”

The concern was still there, but the villain chuckled. “Darling, you intimidate me even without powers, I don’t think you need them.”

They started walking again, leaving the smoking pile of purple and black behind them. 

Soon enough they were at her house. 

The villain handed her the jacket. “I trust you can walk to the door without any other encounters?”

The civilian gave an uneasy chuckle. “With my luck, you never know.”

The brightness in his eyes was still so captivating. “I think I figured how to make it up to you for the kidnapping.”

The civilian raised a brow. “Oh yeah?”

“Date this weekend. Meet me at the top of the Enterprise,” the villain said. “Unless of course you’re busy?”

The civilian bit her lip. “I think I can make it.”

“Good.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “See you then.”

The civilian managed a smile and a wave before she hastily went inside to hide her treacherous expression. 

He was definitely different than all the other ones, that's for sure.

***

The villain watched with amusement as the civilian went inside, feeling a little surge of victory that he was able to surprise her again. 

He turned to start the long walk home, when he saw the hero standing beside the mailbox. 

His injury seemed to be all but a memory at this point. 

There were no pleasantries, all the hero said was, “If you hurt her, you’re dead.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” the villain replied.

The hero nodded, then took off with barely a sound. It was like he was never there. 

The villain watched the shadow fly away, then turned his eyes to the civilian’s house, a light shining from one of the bedrooms. Yeah, he thought. She’s worth a death threat.

[crazy-sevens]

Could you please continue the villain x tired kidnapped civilian snippet? It was really good, I loved their dynamic and want to know what happens next, if you would, please!

Part one here

Part two here

Part three here

The civilian couldn’t drag the hero any further, so she pulled him into a nearby side alley and slumped down against a wall. 

He was still breathing, thank goodness, but he hadn’t woken up yet. She couldn’t say she was anxious for him to wake up anyway. Not after what she did. 

Why? Why did she do that? She only wanted one thing whenever she got kidnapped and that was for the hero to win and her to go home quickly. But because of her she was stuck dragging the hero’s lifeless body to . . . the hospital? Hero’s secret hideout? She had no idea what the protocol was for a hurt hero. 

The villain was a whole other problem to figure out. She felt . . . confusing things when she thought about him. The way he could fluster her so easily and the brightness replacing the cold in his eyes whenever he looked at her. He had stopped fighting the hero to make sure she wasn’t hurt and listened when she told him to stop. 

Was it a ruse? A trick to get the hero? She’d had villains try to ‘seduce’ her before, quite laughably and unsuccessfully she would add. But obviously it wasn’t to get the hero, since the villain literally just gave him up, and she didn’t feel like he was trying to trick her. So what was it? 

The hero’s eyelids started to flutter. Then they suddenly shot open, eyes wide with panic. He tried to scramble up, but with a groan he slumped back against the alley wall. 

His eyes focused on the civilian. “Where are we?”

“An alley, away from the warehouse. You should lay off the donuts, I couldn’t pull you very far.”

Her attempt at levity didn’t seem to work. His brows furrowed. “How did you get us out? I was hurt, I was . . .” Then it came back to him. The look in his eyes made her feel sick. “You warned him.”

The civilian could barely choke out an answer. “Um. . . maybe?” 

“Why did you do that?” The hero asked incredulously. 

“I-uh . . .”

“Are you working with him?” 

“No.”

His eyes narrowed. “Are you brainwashed?”

“No!”

“That’s what someone who’s brainwashed would say.”

“I’m not brainwashed!”

“Then why did you warn him!” He said. “I would’ve been able to take him down if you didn’t say anything!”

“I don’t know!”

The hero paused. She didn’t like the knowing look he gave her. “Do you love him?”

She stuttered. “Well love is a strong word-”

“Oh my gosh you love him.”

The civilian stood. “Look. I don’t ‘love’ him, alright? I’m interested,” she clarified. “He’s different than any other villain that’s decided to kidnap me, thanks for that by the way. He actually listens to what I say, and he’s mildly good looking.”

The hero raised a brow. 

“Alright, very good looking.”

The hero shook his head. “So that’s what was going on earlier.”

“What?” The civilian asked defensively.

“Oh please. The looks, you actually smiled for once: you two were flirting.”

She winced. “You noticed?”

“Was it supposed to be a secret?”

The civilian sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She kinda wished she was the one who got electrocuted, then she’d have an excuse not to have to stumble her way through questions she couldn’t answer.

But his injury didn’t stop him from making his disappointment clear. “Civilian, he’s playing you.”

“I’ve figured out when people are playing me. He isn’t,” the civilian replied. “The only reason you’re still alive is because I stopped him from hurting you. If I doubted him before, I don’t now.”

The civilian was surprised at how confident she was while saying that. She had no idea if the villain was playing her for something bigger, just a hunch. And was he actually interested in her or was it just her imagination? They’d just met, why was she advocating for him so stubbornly?

The hero looked skyward, probably asking, ‘what am I gonna do with her?’ “He’s a criminal you know,” the hero said. “And he electrocuted me.”

“Psh, you’re fine. You’re always fine.”

The hero shook his head. “I can’t believe this,” he muttered. “I thought I could trust you. You could’ve gotten me killed with that stunt you pulled.”

A white hot bubble of anger started to build in the civilian’s chest. “Are you kidding me? You could’ve gotten killed? Ever since you first rescued me I’ve been afraid for my life! Do you have any idea what it’s like to be completely helpless waiting for someone who may or may not save me?” The civilian asked. “I don’t have any powers! One of these days a villain might just kill me on sight and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it! And what have you done? You’ve played it up to the media and asked me to wait as bait. You don’t even care how I feel!”

The hero went silent.

But the civilian wasn’t done. “And I’m the one that can’t be trusted? You’re the one sneaking behind my back and getting my number without permission!” the civilian said. “And I know. I know I dropped the ball this time. But it’s been too much. So much that the literal villain who kidnapped me let me take a nap before you finally got around to rescuing me!” She realized she was yelling, so she went back down to normal volume. “So yeah, I’m sorry I can’t be the perfect pet all the time.” 

The civilian was breathing hard, all spent.  She’d had those feelings bottled up for a while, but that sense of responsibility had always held her back. If she was indirectly helping people, who was she to question? But she couldn’t keep it in any longer.  

The hero looked a little stunned for a moment. Then he pushed himself up, struggling a little, but he managed. They were eye-to-eye now. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I guess I knew that you didn’t like all this, but I guess I just . . . didn’t take your feelings into consideration when it came to my plans, and I did go behind your back. You’re so composed, I forget that it’s still hard. That’s not an excuse, it’s my fault, all of it." He gave a small smile. "Sleep deprivation included. ”

The civilian sighed. “I’m sorry too, I know you’re just trying to help people, and taking villains down is easier when you have me. It’s just hard sometimes. And I’m sorry I got you hurt. But you can still trust me, alright?”

“I know.”

She wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder. “Guess we should go to the hospital now. And to make it up to you, I’ll be bait for some more missions.”

“You just wanna see him some more, don’t you?”

“Maybe.”

***

The villain watched the civilian drag the hero out. Then, after examining the damage from the fight, he went to the couch and sat with his arms on his legs leaned forward, lost in thought. 

He had always prided himself on his ability to solve puzzles. It was a fun challenge figuring out each step. But as much as he thought about the civilian, he couldn’t figure her out. 

She clearly wasn’t afraid of him. He respected that. She had a quick wit, enough to rival his. From her little smirks and chides, he could tell she loved a challenge. And once he had gotten past her prickly exterior, her smile was . . . pretty. 

Maybe. 

Kind of. 

He liked saying things that surprised her. And if her charming little blushes were any indication, she was almost… surprised at being surprised. It was understandable considering she had already played this game a million times. 

So now she was trying to figure him out too. 

The hero, by all accounts, should be dead by now. The villain should’ve killed him. But he couldn’t get the civilian’s face out of his mind. Her look of desperation. It was clear she cared about the hero, even if it wasn’t love like the whole world thought. Notwithstanding, she had warned the villain about the hero’s attack, and she had thrown away her tracking device. 

He sighed. This girl is going to be the death of me. He should probably accept the fact that this was one puzzle he wouldn’t be able to solve. 

He leaned back and his hand brushed against something rough. He glanced at it. It was a jacket. Not one of his. The civilian must have left it.

He smiled. Guess he was gonna see her a little sooner than he thought.

Part five here

[crazy-sevens]

Did I read somewhere that you're like 15? Or...? I have no idea what I was even doing with my writing at 15 XD

16 now XD. And thanks! I had started writing some stuff for fun and practice and I thought it would be cool to post it. See if people would like what I wrote. It seems like it all worked out pretty well! Everyone's really nice!

[crazy-sevens]

Hi!

I was wondering if you could continue this snippet if you felt like it? It's really cool and i would love to see more of these characters, but no pressure if you don't feel like it!

Have a nice day! ❤️

Part one here

Part two here

The hero was exhausted. He’d been on wild goose chases for the past three hours and had to stop a bank robbery on the other side of town. He wasn’t up for any villainous grandstanding today, just beat him, grab the civilian, go home: that’s it. 

But of course it was going to be more difficult than he thought it would be.

He crashed in, taking out any nearby security guards. The warehouse was dark and foreboding. 

Of course. 

“Villain! Come out you coward!” He shouted. There was no answer aside from a crackle of electricity up ahead. The hero cautiously moved forward. There were random empty pallets, large dusty metal shelves, broken down equipment: all of it convenient places to hide. 

But it wasn’t in the villain’s nature to hide.

Blue electricity illuminated his face. “Took you long enough.” He was leaned up against one of the shelves. 

The hero tensed, but the villain didn’t strike.

Not yet.

“Just giving you enough time to turn yourself in. Looks like you're picking the hard way.”

He only hummed at that, blue electricity still dancing on his fingers. “Your girlfriend’s been waiting for you.”

Oh yeah. She was probably pretty angry with him by now. "If you hurt her . . ."

The villain chuckled. "Don't worry Hero, I wouldn't hurt her without you here to see it."

“Where is she?”

Just like that, a light behind the villain switched on. The civilian was sitting tied to a chair in the center of it. But she didn’t look angry or annoyed like usual, she looked . . . amused?

“Hi Hero, how’s it going?”

Huh.

“Um, fine. You?”

She shrugged. “I could be better.” The villain shot her a quick glance. “Oh but don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely terrified right now,” she clarified. 

He examined her. She looked completely normal. Well, nearly normal. She was smirking now. 

There were two things that were weird about that. 1. He had never seen her wear anything even remotely close to a smile. 2. The smirk wasn’t directed at the hero, but at the villain.

What was going on?

***

The civilian felt a little guilty for ruining the whole ‘intimidating atmosphere’ the villain clearly wanted to have, but she couldn’t help it. The little glares he was giving her only made it worse.

The hero was clearly confused, so she forced herself to bite back her smirk. “So you two gonna fight now or what? This chair isn’t all that comfortable.”

Both the villain and the hero just looked at her. 

Right, gotta get through the banter first. 

The hero kept quizzical eyes locked on her and, while he tried to figure out what was going on, picked the first one liner he could come up with, “Let her go.”

Eh, not his best.

But of course, not to be outdone, the villain replied, “Come and get her.”

So they fought for a while, the hero zooming this way and that way, the villain shooting brilliant shots of lightning just milliseconds behind the flying hero. 

As a result, the lightning strikes that didn’t hit the hero hit shelves and the walls, blowing the former to pieces and leaving giant craters in the latter. The civilian guessed it really didn’t matter since the place was abandoned, but naturally as soon as she thought that, that was when the hero flew right behind her. 

What was he thinking?

The villain automatically sent a blast after him. It was so close she felt it singe her hair. She yelped.

The villain immediately stopped shooting. He turned to her, his eyes flashing with concern.

But that only left an opening for the hero to strike and, against her better judgment, the civilian cried out, “Behind you!”

The villain’s hand shot out and electrocuted him. The hero collapsed. Knocked out or worse, she didn’t know. 

Why did she do that?  

The villain picked up the hero by his shirt, his other hand glowing dangerously.

The civilian thrashed against her restraints. “Wait, wait, wait! Stop!”

The glow in his hand slowly faded. 

A pause. 

The villain then turned to her and dropped the hero like a sack of potatoes. He walked up to her and proceeded to. . . untie her?

“Wait, why- you listened to me?”

The villain finished and pulled her up. 

“I realized if I killed him, I wouldn’t have an excuse to see you.” He raised a brow. “Unless you’re already sick of me?”

Caught off guard again. “Oh! Well, I-um, yeah I guess I could stand a little more of you.”

He smiled. “Good.” 

The hero started coughing. 

“You better help him out,” the villain said.

“Right.” The civilian grabbed the hero’s arm and slumped it across her shoulders. She wasn’t even thinking about how heavy the hero was when she walked out. 

All she could think about was the villain.  

And how angry the hero would be once he woke up.

Part four here

[crazy-sevens]

Hi! I know you literally just posted the snippet where the civilian is always getting kidnapped, but I NEED a part two!!! If thats okay of course, absolutely no pressure!! 💛💛

Part one here

They had gotten back to his ‘evil lair’ fairly quickly. The civilian was surprised at how … normal looking everything seemed. Of course it was still a villain hideout after all so, of course, it was a warehouse outside of town and had guards at every entrance. But the inside was nice. Two thirds of it was warehouse stuff, but the other third was a walled off living quarters: kitchen, study, living room. 

She noticed him observing her, so she masked her intrigue by telling him he was slacking because every other villain hideout she’d been to had been significantly more sinister looking.

He just raised a brow at that remark. 

The civilian had promised herself she’d try to be more weary about his offer to sleep when she got there, but as soon as she saw the couch, she crashed and was out like a light.

 Three hours later, she woke up with no idea where she was. She pushed herself up cautiously. The villain was sitting in a chair, silently reading a book. Oh yeah, kidnapped again.

His eyes didn’t leave his book when he asked, “How’d you sleep?”

The civilian’s mouth felt like it was filled with putty, so she didn’t answer immediately. She felt her hair: crow’s nest. She touched her face. It was embarrassingly wet. She’d been drooling.

Maybe he didn’t notice.

She looked back over to the villain. There was a small smirk on his face. 

Oh he definitely noticed. 

She fought back a blush trying to creep up her face. “Oh you know, same old nightmares.”

He glanced up, his smirk widening into a full smile. “You can’t tell me I actually managed to scare you?”

She chuckled. “It’s cute you think you’re as scary as flunking finals week.”

That captivating brightness returned to his eyes. “So none of it scares you?”

A small part of her, perhaps that part that found his interest so fascinating, wanted to tell him the truth. The truth that she did get scared sometimes. That her nightmares weren’t about school, but about the possibility of a villain actually deciding to kill her. Or about the hero being unable to save her. 

A small part of her wanted to, but she shoved that down immediately. There was no way she could tell him that. 

She just shrugged. “The first couple of times, but you villains are all the same. Come up behind me, jumpscare, get taken to a not-so secret lair, get dangled over sharks, or piranhas, or whatever.” She stood, using her hands as she continued, “Tell me that, ‘Hero can’t save you this time!’, then Hero comes, villain monologue, they fight- Hero wins.” She folded her arms. “I’ve seen it all before, got anything new for me?”

The villain set his book down for the first time this conversation. He stood and walked up so they were only inches apart. She kept her feet firmly planted and looked up into his eyes.

His voice dropped back into that low and smooth it was when he first talked to her. “Well you’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you darling?”

She couldn’t fight off the blush this time. She couldn’t even bail herself out with a quick remark. 

She was thoroughly, hopelessly tongue tied.

He brushed a lock of hair out of her face, looking a little too pleased he was able to catch her off guard like that. 

And his words only kept the train going. “Why did you get rid of your tracking device?”

Her eyes widened. “Uhhhh . . .”

She was saved having to answer that by a sudden loud crash outside. A familiar, little bit angrier than usual voice rang out, “Villain! Come out you coward!”

 The villain rolled his eyes. “Right. Well I’m sorry for this interruption, but do you mind?” He gestured to the chair. “Gotta keep up appearances, you know?”

She smirked. “Of course. Can’t have Hero thinking you’ve gone soft, now can we?”

He smiled. “You're so considerate.”

"I know."

Part three here

[crazy-sevens]

Hi!!! May I request some sort of villain x civilian?? Maybe the civilian is getting threatened by another villain or hero??

Thanks! ❤️❤️❤️

It wasn’t like the Civilian looked for trouble. Really everything about her screamed background character. But of course the one time she ran on main street instead of the backroads, she got kidnapped by a villain. And not just any villain, oh no, the supervillain. The hero, living up to the job description, of course saved her. And, of course, the media weaved a whole tapestry of an amazing love story between them. 

He was nice. Muscly and whatnot. 

Yeah . . . that was pretty much it.

Ever since then she’d been kidnapped twelve times by a whole myriad of maniacs and psychopaths, even though she had made it her personal mission not to talk to the hero ever again aside from the brief ‘thanks’ exchanged after each rescue.

How he got her number she didn’t know. 

“Hey Civilian, how’s it going?”

“What do you want?”

“Umm, well,” he gave an uneasy chuckle. “There’s this villain giving me a little trouble, could you . . . wait on the roof of the Enterprise as bait?”

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I know! And I’m sorry, but this would be a great help.”

The civilian sighed, “Now?”

“Preferably.”

The hero looked at her watch. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “You couldn’t just be good at your job and find him yourself?”

“...”       

“Of course not.”

“Please. It won’t even take that long, I’ll give you a tracking device so I can find you faster.”

She didn’t reply.

Now it was his turn to sigh. “You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. We’ve got to stop him before he hurts anyone.”

She could only imagine what kind of puppy dog expression he would give her if they were talking in person. 

She was going soft. 

“Alright, fine,” she growled. “But never ever call me again.”

“Thank you so mu-”

“Yeah whatever.”

***

So here the Civilian was, waiting to get kidnapped. 

Again.

She wondered what sort of villain it would be. Over the top? Sinister? Sympathetic? Sometimes she made bets with herself. It was a good way to pass the time while running. 

She should really consider getting herself a treadmill.

The Civilian felt a little bad for how curt she was with the hero earlier. He was just trying to help people. And this was clearly the easiest way to draw villains out. She was just tired. Maybe she could get some sleep after the whole ‘threatening before kidnapping’ thing. Of course sleeping tied to a chair wasn’t very comfortable. But it was more comfortable than dangling off a building. Less comfortable than a cell though. 

Cell

Chair

Building

Yeah that’s about right. 

She guessed she was so used to this whole routine by now that she wasn’t surprised by a voice from behind her. “Do you normally sit on the edge of buildings?”

She spared a glance behind her. The villain was leaned up against the door to the roof. “I like a little danger.”

He smirked. “Oh really?” His voice was low and smooth. “Is that why you’re dating Hero?”

She raised a brow. “Yeah that and the abs.” She left her perch, stood, and folded her arms. “So you gonna kidnap me now? I’m not that fun to be around, trust me.”

He looked her up and down, probably noticing the tight line that was her mouth, the bags under her eyes, and her chewed off fingernails. “You seem used to this.”

“You have no idea,” she replied.

He matched her folded arms, still casually leaned against the building. “Well I can’t kidnap you just yet.” He winked. “Gotta see if this is a trap or not.”

A ghost of a smile crossed her face. “You’re a little more perceptive than they usually are.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

This guy was . . . interesting. “I haven’t seen you before. New around here?” she asked.

“You could say that.”

Vague. Very vague. “Well you got any powers, new guy?”

He pushed off the door and spread his hands. Electricity arched between his fingers. She watched with wide eyes. It was kinda pretty. 

Pretty? 

She cleared her throat. “It’s alright.” 

She was surprised he wasn’t trying to intimidate her, like the villains usually did. He was fully capable though. A head taller than her, calculating eyes, athletic frame, and powers to boot: he could give the hero a run for his money. 

The electricity sizzled out. “So you usually wait around to get kidnapped, or is this just my lucky day?” he asked.

Well, she guessed it was kind of obvious what the hero’s plan was. Heroes’ pretend girlfriends don’t just wait around on buildings for no reason. “I mean, it would get this over with quicker if you fell for it.”

He chuckled. “I’m guessing your relationship with the hero is just a business deal?”

“If it was a business deal, I’d get paid.”

He actually laughed then. She felt a flush creep up her cheeks. “Well I have to say I’m surprised,” he said.

“How so?”

“You’re the envy of the town, darling. Any girl would leap at the chance of being rescued by Hero.”

She shrugged. “Yeah well don’t get me wrong, newbie. I’m quite head over heels smitten. But I think I’ll take a nap over being rescued for the thirteenth time.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, just a slight smile on his face and his eyes all-too observant. She just tilted her head. Two can play at these mind games.

His eyes brightened a little.

“How about I make you a deal?” he finally said. “I’ll kidnap you, but you can have a couch.”

Her brows furrowed. “But you know it’s a trap.”

“I’ll take that risk.”

She considered it. It was a better deal than she usually got. 

Which was no deal, actually. 

“You know, I could just sleep at my house.”

He smirked. “I don’t know if you’re new here, but that’s not how this kidnapping thing works.”

She actually smiled now. “Alright, fine. But I still protest.”

“Duly noted.”

As they headed downstairs, she tossed the tracking device. Let the hero take his time, she didn’t mind a little more conversation with the villain anyway.  

Part two here

[crazy-sevens]

Hello~! ^.^ Do you have any rules against what stuff you're willing to write? Sorry for the question. I've bookmarked your snippets for later but haven't gotten around to reading any of your work. Like, do you only do fluffy, cute hero/villain stuff? Do you do serious work? Gore? Violence? Apologies again if this is on your blog somewhere I couldn't find it ^.^ Thanks in advance~

I have written serious stuff before and some fluff, but I only like doing fluff if it's earned most of the time. I'm not really into excessive gore, and I won't do NSFW. I usually write what's been rattling in my brain like if I think a certain relationship would be interesting to explore or an action scene. I hope that makes sense, I can't explain very well 😅

[crazy-sevens]

Do you have any favorite books? And have you read the Captive Prince Trilogy? :p

I would say some of my favorite book series are Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians (absolutely hilarious and creative). And Story Thieves because every book in the series changes genres while following the narrative and I think that's really cool. I haven't read that series but I've heard it's good. I'll add it to the list for sure!

[crazy-sevens]

Writing Snippet #41

Part one here

***

The villain remembered their first fight with the hero like it was yesterday. 

Standard disintegration device, of course they weren’t planning on using it immediately. They liked a good fight. But all the heroes sent to them lately were a little . . . lackluster to say the least. So they weren’t expecting much when a kid came crashing through their window.

They were expecting payment though.

“Did they not teach you manners in that barn for a hero school they have down there? Giant window panes don’t grow on trees!”

   The hero stood and brushed shards of glass off their clothes. They almost looked remorseful when they said, “Oh I’m sorry, do you want me to pay you before or after I take you to jail?”

A little cocky. The villain chuckled. “No manners and no respect, you’ve got a name kid?”

The hero shrugged. “I’ll get my name when I bring you in. You gonna make this easy and surrender?”

A lot cocky. The villain examined the hero. They were young, lithe, and had some steel in their eyes. The villain found it odd that they’d never seen them before. 

Must be new, they mused. 

“Well someone’s gonna have to teach you a lesson, might as well be me.” The villain tensed into a fighting stance.  

The hero smirked. “Bring it.”

The hero took off. It was a little difficult to get a hit at first, what with the hero zipping in the air like a hummingbird, but soon enough they got too close. The hero swooped down trying to go offensive, but the villain sidestepped, grabbed them by the shirt, and punched them so hard they landed into the wall.

Usually it only took one hit. 

Usually it ended with the hero unable to get up or them fleeing out the door. 

Usually the villain was disappointed. 

That’s why they were surprised when the hero got up, spit blood onto the floor, and smiled.

“You’re gonna have to try harder than that.”

***

That was 6 years ago. The villain had watched the hero get better and better. They watched them fail at the hands of supervillains and they watched them brush themselves off and fight again.

The villain knew that the hero didn’t have parents, so they . . . took them under their wing so to speak. Of course the hero still had that ego problem, the villain also considered it their job to keep that in check.

Looking at the hero now buried in drywall, the villain couldn’t help remembering that first fight.  

Time for another lesson.

“Come on hero, I know you’re out of shape but I still expect a little challenge.” 

The hero didn’t stir. The villain inched closer. “Hero?” Uh-oh. Maybe they’d taken it too far.

But the hero wasn’t as out of shape as the villain thought. They shot up like a bullet, grabbing the villain by the shirt and blasting out the window. 

 Their faces were inches apart. 

“Oh you still remember how to fly? You’re full of surprises today.” 

The hero dropped them. 

The villain hated when they did that.

They landed, cracking the asphalt while they were at it. The hero hovered over them. “That was really rude you know,” the villain coughed.

“You destroyed my TV,” the hero countered. “If anything we’re even.” The hero then stretched out a hand to help them up, “Come on, this is dumb. I’ve already made my decision.”

The villain grabbed their hand and threw them across the street. “And you didn’t think of anyone else when you made it! Who am I going to fight with now?”

The hero stumbled to their feet. “I need a life! You know how many movies I’ve missed out on?”

“Romantic comedies aren’t even that good!”

The hero gasped. “You shut your mouth!” 

“It’s true. You know it. I know it.” 

Hero flew back, slamming the villain into a nearby convenience store wall. “I know what you’re doing. But I can’t do it all anymore, Villain. I stayed up every night wondering how much time I had left, and how much time would be spent trying to fix my broken bones alone.” The hero’s voice shook. “I just…I can’t.”

The villain scoured their mind for anything that could convince the hero. Because even though they thought no one needed them, the villain did. They needed that know-it-all kid in their life. 

And the villain found a way to get them back. 

Even if it made them want to throw up.

“Well . . .” It was difficult to think, let alone spit out. “Maybe you don’t have to be alone.”

The hero’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Oh don’t make me say it.”

A slow smile started to spread across the hero’s face. “Well I don’t know what you’re saying. Maybe I should just go back to watching my show?”

The villain rolled their eyes. “You still need manners,” they muttered. 

Looking at the hero’s smug smile, they wanted to take it back and keep fighting. But they just groaned and spat, “I’ll . . . help you fight crime, I guess, whatever.”

“You’d do that?”

“Ugh, don’t make me regret this, kid.”

The hero was too shocked to speak for a minute. All those pleas to join them on the hero’s side had not fallen on deaf ears like they thought. The hero set them down. “Well-I … just-”

The villain held back a chuckle. “Don’t worry about it.”

The hero smiled. “Well now there’s just one thing left to do.”

“Now what?”

***

The hero and the villain were sitting on the new couch, admiring the new TV, and finishing the new movie.

Which, by the way, was waaaay better than the villain gave it credit for. 

The pizza wasn’t half-bad either.

“So contrived,” the villain grumbled.

“Psh, you know you love it.” The hero gave them a sidelong glance. “Almost as much as you love the footie pajamas?”

“Shut up.”

The hero just laughed. 

But they were right. 

The villain loved their footie pajamas.

[crazy-sevens]

Writing Snippet #40

Pizza.

The hero had ordered pizza.

Now they considered themselves reasonable with their expectations. A pizza guy would bring a lukewarm five-dollar quality pizza in thirty minutes or less, the hero would pay, give him a tip, and he’d be on his merry way.

There was no pizza guy.

There was no lukewarm pizza.

The hero felt more distressed about that fact than losing their secret identity. 

“Hello Hero-”

The hero slammed the door on them. Then they slumped back on the couch. 

I wonder if Rob and Shelly will get back together. I hope not, she’s waaay better off with Michael. 

Another knock. 

Then again, Rob does have that yacht.

A louder knock.

I’d take that yacht.

That’s when the door came down. The hero glanced over, the door was broken in pieces on the floor. The villain marched over and stood between the hero and the TV. 

“I was watching that.”  

The villain didn’t say anything, their mouth was just pressed into a firm line, their face fixed into a scowl.

The hero raised a brow. “Do you want something? Because, frankly, I’m a little busy right now.”

The villain punched a hole through the screen. 

The hero sighed. “I’m guessing this means I have to get up?”

Still that scowl. 

The hero sighed again. “Fine.” They sluggishly swung their legs off the couch and stood up. “You should smile more,” they said to the villain with a pat on the back as they walked to the kitchen. “You want pizza? It’ll be here in about . . .” They looked at their watch. “Ten minutes.”

“I can’t believe this!”

“Yeah I know, but traffic’s bad, these guys are doing their bes-”

“I can’t believe you!” The villain exclaimed. “Sitting on the couch, the complete disregard for your secret identity, haven’t seen you in weeks! And . . . what are you wearing?”

“Footie Pajamas.”

The villain’s mouth was agape.

“I can find you a pair if you wa-”

“I don’t want a pair.”

The hero shrugged. “Your loss.”

The villain was now pinching the bridge of their nose. “The city almost got blown up like five times.”

“By you?”

“Only three times were my fault, but that’s besides the point!”

The hero popped open the fridge and downed the rest of the milk, then threw the empty carton back in. “And what is your point?”

“What happened to you?”

“Umm I’m finally getting to be normal.” 

“You’re a superhero!”

“Yeah a superhero that doesn’t have hobbies, that doesn’t have friends, that literally can’t have a boyfriend/girlfriend because someone might threaten to kill them!”

The villain didn’t meet the hero’s eyes after that part.

“So yeah, maybe I wanted a little break. A little break from nearly dying all the time.” The hero topped off that statement by stuffing the leftover half of a cinnamon roll in their mouth.

“But you can’t just give up!”

The hero gestured to the apartment, ‘Clearly it’s too late for that’ was what they tried to say, but with their mouth full it sounded like “Eary ih ooh ay or at.” 

The villain got the picture. “But the city almost blew up without you!”

The hero swallowed. “But it didn’t. And besides you have those new hotshots to stop all the villains.”

“I had to stop them! Those new ‘hotshots’ didn’t do anything!”

“So since you almost blew up the city three times, you just had to stop yourself?”

The villain almost looked offended. “I’ll have you know that it took a lot of self-restraint on my part.”

The hero brushed past them back to the couch. “Nobody needs me Villain.” They plopped down. “No one to come home to, no family to worry about me, clearly no one needs me to save the city anymore. What’s the point?”

The villain didn’t say anything for a long while. The hero didn’t look at them. 

Finally after a bit, the hero spared a glance back at them. The villain’s gaze didn’t look pitiful like the hero feared. 

No. It was angry. 

“Get up.”

“Why-”

“Get. Up.”

“I’m not going to get up.”

“Alright then, have it your way.” 

That’s when the hero got punched through a wall. 

Through the chunks of plaster and drywall the hero could faintly hear the villain chuckle. “How does your way taste?”

Oh it’s on.

Part two here

[crazy-sevens]

Writing Snippet #39

Everything burned.

Her throat, her eyes, her skin. The hero was starting to wonder how long it would be until she looked like her surroundings, consumed by fire.

But of course none of it touched her. Powers are useless when the user is dead.

So no, she wouldn’t die. Not yet.

As she ran she considered the possibility of throwing herself into the flames. She might lose, but so would he. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. 

Coward.

The hero sprinted on, the roaring of the flames deafening in her ears. At least it was drowning out those constant voices. They were the thing that got her into this mess anyway.

She could barely breathe now. She stopped and leaned on a tree not yet touched by the flames. She hacked a rattling cough into her sleeve. When she pulled back her sleeve was covered in black ash. She pulled her shirt over her mouth and nose, and she allowed herself a glance behind her. Fire, and a shadow walking through it like it was nothing.

The hero cursed herself for not having offensive powers. It wasn’t like speaking with the dead could help her now. What were they gonna do? Tell her to run faster?

Even with her whole body protesting, she forced herself back into the sprint.

Her eyes watered, turning everything ahead of her into a blur. She tripped over tree roots, she choked on pitch black smoke, but she couldn’t stop.

That is, until a wall of fire cut off her only way forward. She looked, but there was no other way. She was surrounded.

She collapsed to her knees, another coughing fit overtaking her.

“Oh that sounds painful.”

The roaring seemed to get quieter at the sound of his voice, allowing her to hear it as clear as day. 

The hero’s vision didn’t allow much, but his blur walking near her was enough to send her scrambling backward. But that wall of flames didn’t budge, so she couldn’t move any further. 

Her voice came out like a croak, much too shaky and fragile than she liked, “Stay away from me or I’ll throw myself in.”

She couldn’t see it, but she could almost feel him smirk. The flames disappeared just like that. It was eerily quiet now. The charred trees and ash on the ground being the only thing that remained of the flames.

“There we go. Can’t have you doing anything stupid, now can we?”

Her shaky breaths were her only response.

“I don’t see why you had to make this so difficult, it’s a simple request.” The villain was standing right over her now. “As simple as a single thought from you.”

She was on her back propped up by her arms. She turned her head away, taking deep breaths, staring at the ground. She didn’t want to look at him. But he solved that for her by crouching down, taking her chin, and turning her head up. She would’ve spat, but her mouth was bone-dry. She threw up a fist, but it was caught easily. 

A single raised eyebrow was his only response. 

“I can’t let you talk to them. Any of them.” She managed to choke out.

His smile sparkled. “Oh but darling, you don’t understand. My plan’s already in place, and you are the last piece.” 

“Your ‘plan’ is what I’m worried abo-” She was hit by another coughing attack. He let her head go and just watched her hack with cold eyes. She had almost forgotten what cold felt like.

He waited until she was done to keep going. “Well, [Hero], you won’t have time to worry, now will you?”

Her vision swam blurry and black now. Her arms gave out from under her. 

She was powerless to stop him from picking up her useless body. She only had time to process one more thought before she was out:

Who did he want to talk to?

[crazy-sevens]

Hello! may I request:

Hero is assigned to torture a dangerous, lunatic, charismatic Villain who the police had him all chained up with power canceling cuffs in jail, to prove his trust and loyalty. The Hero has to ask him questions (about anything) while torturing him.

Hey this is a long time coming but hope you like it!

***

She walked in the room, file in hand, eyes locked on the subject. Even after all this time, his gaze scared her. But of course she hid it, this was all about control. It was always a mind game outside the room, but now it has increased tenfold.

She sat and he spoke.

“Well isn’t this adorable. How long has it been hero?”

She didn’t say anything.

“I’ve missed you. Have you missed me?”

She ignored the question, only opening her file. She didn’t break eye contact, she had the whole thing memorized anyway.

“Villain, do you know why you’re here?”

His eyes narrowed a bit, but his smile widened. “So official. You don’t have to talk to me like that, we’re friends, we can be honest with each other.”

“Are we?”

“I’d say so. Friends know everything about each other,” he mused. “You make it your job to know everything about me. And you are quite comparable to a book, hero. If one has the vocabulary, they know everything in it.”

She raised a brow, hoping her cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. They’ve had this conversation before. Knives to throats, blood and smirks. When she was still out in the field.

“You don’t know me.”

He didn’t respond immediately to that. He’d gotten a rise out of her, which is exactly what he wanted.

She moved on to the next question. “Have any other villains approached you in the past month? If so, I need them and their locations.”

“And why would I tell you that?”

“Because you know what I’ll do to you if you don’t.”

There was a small flicker of fear in his eyes. She knew she had wrenched some control back. As much contempt as he had for her, he couldn’t deny her power. He had his, sure, telekinesis wasn’t anything to scoff at. But he was locked down tight. He couldn’t do anything to her. She had the freedom to do anything she wanted.

She stood, hands on the desk between them leaned forward. Their gazes were locked. “So why don’t we make this easy?”

That smirk might as well have been cemented on his face. His voice dropped low now. That voice he had when he was winning and she was pinned. “Didn’t I say no lies hero? You can’t hurt me.”

It was her turn to smirk. “Can’t I?”

She reached out now, lightly touching his chained hands. Of course she had never felt the effects of her power, but the affected told her it felt like needles stabbing into every nerve she touched. Whenever they had fought before, his skin was covered. That made her powers void unless she could touch him. But now he couldn’t hide.

His smirk was dropped now. But he barely reacted beyond that. She knew he would be tough, so she wasn’t surprised. She stopped at his wrists and let go. He took a controlled breath.

“You can make this stop, villain. Just tell me where they are.”

Despite everything he had the gall to chuckle. “I have to say I’m impressed, hero. When I heard about your reputation, I couldn’t believe it. My hero, the torturer. The hero with those ideals of justice and mercy. The hero that believed in redemption. Now you’re here, doing this.”

“It gets the job done.”

“Was it me?”

The hero stopped at his tone. It was all serious now.

“What do you mean?”

“Did I turn you to this?”

She swallowed, then cursed herself for letting him see that. “When are you going to realize I don’t care about you.”

His head tilted. “But you did.”

“And it was a mistake.”

The smugness was back. “You thought you could change me, your pet project. It was a cute thought hero, admirable. Naive.”

Her jaw clenched, but he just kept going. “Take that as a learning opportunity, hero. If anything I helped you. You were vulnerable. Now look at you.”

Yes. Now look at me.

She didn’t say a word, only walking behind him and pressing her fingers to his temples. He gasped.

“You’re right villain, I have changed. I want to thank you,” she said. “And I’ve changed my mind, you don’t have to tell me right away. I’m going to enjoy this.”

In the end, he wasn’t much different than all the others. He broke just the same.