Oh my GOOOODDDD “unmasked” was so good. Please continue it!
“S-stop,” Hero managed to whisper, voice tiny and trembling. “Please.”
Their plea may as well have been lost to the winds that raged in the storm outside their dark window. Villain continued to sweep glinting eyes over their nemesis’ face. They appeared almost drunken at the sight before them, a predatory smile spreading across their lips. “I’ve waited so long for this,” they breathed. “Seeing you in that mask every day was torture. You don’t understand what it did to me, Hero.”
The crimefighter shuddered beneath them at the tone of their words. It was the dark joy of a cat finally catching an elusive mouse, the satisfaction of a cheetah taking down a fleet-footed gazelle. Incessant waves of fear continued to paralyze their body on the bed. They could’ve sworn they could feel themself sinking deeper into it, moments away from free-falling into an abyss. Their breath came shakily, unsteady, as if the lungs that had kept them alive all this time suddenly chose to neglect their purpose.
“Gods, you’re perfect.” Villain’s grip on them tightened, causing them to let out a gasp. The criminal leaned even closer, only centimeters away from brushing Hero’s nose with their own. By reflex, Hero's eyes fluttered shut, their heartbeat continuing to rise, the sound it created in their ears drowning out every other thought in their mind.
“Eyes open.” They obeyed the command almost unconsciously, like they had been hypnotized. Villain’s grin grew even wider, exposing sharply pointed canines that could easily pierce through skin. “Good. Very good.”
Hero felt as if sparks of lightning were dancing under their skin. They couldn’t just allow this to happen, could they? Would they? “I-”
“Shhh.” Villain’s grasp had loosened slightly, and they began to slowly stroke their thumbs against the inside of Hero’s wrists. The intimacy of the gesture sent chills down their spine, and they had to resist the urge to shiver off the feeling. “It’s okay. You don’t have to speak now—just listen. Can you do that for me?”
Despite their confusion, Hero gave a small nod.
“Since the moment I met you,” they began, “I knew that I had to have you. I wanted to know you, to see you beyond the mask, beyond the agency. You were always so quiet, but that never mattered to me. I knew there was more. I can see it now, in your eyes… I can see you, Hero. Gods, it’s more than I ever imagined. We can be together now. I know your powers aren’t working. I can help you. Fix you. I know you better than anyone. You won’t ever need anyone else again. You know that there’s no one out there who would be better for you.”
They stayed silent as Villain’s eyes started to narrow. “Isn’t there? Answer me. Who else could be there for you? Who would comfort you, love you?”
Hero hesitated for a long moment, unsure if they wanted an actual response. When the pause between them continued to lengthen, they finally spoke. “...Other He-”
“Don’t say that name,” Villain snarled, anger momentarily contorting their features into those of a shadowy monster. The pure rage in their voice defeated any semblance of hope Hero still held onto. There was no reasoning with someone like this, a person who acted more like a rabid animal than a human being. They should have known that there would be no coming back from this. “If you ever mention that name again, I will kill them. Do you understand?”
Hero swallowed, overcome with a new layer of terror. Other Hero was their best friend in the world, the only one who understood them, the rainbow in their thundering clouds. They couldn’t bear anything happening to them, especially if it was because of Hero’s mistakes. “Y-yes.”
“Good.” Their smile reappeared easily like nothing happened. “That’s right. Nobody loves you like I do. We’re made for each other, Hero. Now, I need you to do something for me. I’m going to leave you here for the night. Don’t tell anyone I was here. Tomorrow, I’ll find you in the city and we’ll leave together. You won’t need to bring anything. I’ll give you whatever you want, as long as you promise to be mine. I can make you so happy, my Hero. All you have to do is come with me, and you’ll never have to fight again. I’ll keep you safe. Wouldn’t that be a better life?”
Hero forced themself to nod again. What Villain was offering them was the stuff of their nightmares, where they were trapped far away from their city, unable to lift a finger to help the innocent civilians plagued by crime and fear. But if doing it would save Other Hero… they had to comply with what their nemesis wanted. No matter how much they wanted to scream, to run away, to strike Villain with a bolt of lightning and find solace in the arms of their best friend instead of their worst enemy.
“Say it. Say that you’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” Hero whispered.
“Forever.”
“Forever,” they repeated.
Villain pressed a light kiss to their forehead. “I’ll be waiting for you, my love.”
With that, they vanished, and the pressure above Hero disappeared. The door was shut, as though no one had ever come in. The bed beneath them felt cold now, empty. Outside, the storm continued to thunder on, bombarding the streets in an endless flood. Hero could almost feel the drops hit their skin, building up around them, rising in a steady stream until the water closed over their head. They shut their eyes and released a slow breath. Twin tears escaped from their lids, tracing mirrored paths down the sides of their face. Electricity radiated from the spot where Villain had kissed them.
Their chest ached like nothing Hero had ever felt before, more painful than a blade to the heart. They felt a panicked dread in their core that didn’t seem to lessen as the seconds ticked on, one they feared would stay with them like a wound that never healed. They would never be able to fix it, they knew that now. All they could do was desperately try to keep it from spreading, creating a canyon that grew wider and wider until it swallowed them whole.
They would meet their nemesis. They would go with them, stay with them, allow them to do anything they wanted to them. They would completely and utterly belong to Villain, forever. They would leave Other Hero behind and never tell them why. They would hide their hurt deep enough that it would never show, pretend that they could ever love Villain, that they could push away the past. Hero let the pain wash over them like a spring rain, imagining light reflecting in their irises, the colors of the rainbow shining beneath white clouds, a hand clasped in theirs, the feeling of a mask slipping off of their face.
I’m yours. Forever.
@sausages-things @chaotic-orphan @watermelonrandom @whumplicity @infinitorum
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