This is my gift for @chasingbutterfliesintoeternity for the @prukevents secret santa exchange. I’m so sorry it’s late! I went with the superhero and supervillain prompt, and I hope this is what you’re looking for in it. I hope your holidays were nice too, and I wish you a good 2017. Here’s the long awaited gift.
Word Count: 2536
Characters: Crimson Ink (Prussia/Gilbert), The Emerald Pirate (England/Arthur)
Rating: T
Pairing: PrUk
Tw: Violence
A magician never reveals his secrets.
“You must wonder why I brought you here today,” the man before him said as he poured a cup of wine. “Care for a glass?” He was already reaching for another while he spoke.
The vast room around himself was wide and open, the floors as slick as glass, yet a hazy marble tiled the base of the room. The walls were dark, yet elegant, while tall, large curtains stood proudly by the windows, the cool breeze brushing the fabric aside, causing it to dance before the city below. There was a modern feel to it all, yet some strange objects laid about on counters and end tables, items that belonged in the past, yet laid on the surfaces of the room as though they have remained there for centuries. This was oddly not the spoken man’s regular “lair” as people would call it. This was someplace else, somewhere special.
The Emerald Pirate. That’s what they called him, the man that stood confidently at the table, both glasses of wine long since poured, the surface set up with food, dressed as though it would be served to a king.
The man was a highly dangerous supervillain that had arose to power nearly a year ago. The key word: was. He was dressed in attire perfectly suited for the captain of a ship, the most respected man on board. Clad in leather boots, a white blouse, and a cravat dressed at the collar of his shirt, flowing outwards, he held himself as a man of the seas. It was a true signature look to him, the person beneath his evil persona hidden under a large pirate hat with feathers that flowed outwards, almost reaching the shoulder of his red coat adorned with gold trimmings. An eyepatch covered a single eye, the other shining a bright emerald while a small tuft of blond hair protruded from his headwear. It was a unique look indeed.
“What do you want this time? I’ve got real enemies to defeat, you know? The city needs to be saved from actual supervillains. I don’t need your grimy friends capturing me. I should have known it’d be you. Besides, I had plans for tonight, can’t you hold this off until after New Year’s evening?” The Pirate’s rival spoke up, Crimson Ink, having been just captured by the supervillain. Was the supervillain’s newest evil plan eating dinner in front of him without offering him any? How scandalous.
Momentarily, The Pirate was struck, looking insulted by the mere mentioning of being a terrible villain, but strangely enough, he appeared to brush it off as though he had heard nothing about it. “Ah, yes, my companions of the undead. They are quite handy, really, I could make them do the job for me all the time, but then this would be no fun, would it? Don’t tell me you don’t want to have any fun with me tonight?”
“I didn’t know you could summon the undead. Why don’t you, you know, get them to take over the world instead of terrorizing people downtown. Couldn’t you have waited until new years was over before being an annoyance again?” He asked, his mind wandering to where he was supposed to be in his regular life as Gilbert Beilschmidt, ready to watch fireworks with his brother as they counted down to New Years.
“Dear me, you don’t think they should at least be a little more festive while destroying the earth as we know it?”
“But they’re not destroying the world, they’re just scaring people downtown. I don’t even think they hurt anyone! What’s with that?! What’s with you?! Can’t you just summon a meteor and destroy everything?”
“Always so defiant, are we?” A heavy snort erupted from The Pirate, shooting the hero a slight glare. “Like I’d do something as ludicrous as that. I’m one of the sods that live on this planet. Besides, that’s not how magic works.”
“Come on, Pirate-” The superhero was quickly cut off.
“It’s actually The Emerald Pirate, please say it as such.”
“Emerald Pirate.”
“You forgot The, but go on.”
“Listen, I can’t take any of this seriously if you keep doing shit like this. I mean, come on, look at what you’ve done lately! You conjured a pirate ship on a sacred landmark. You didn’t harm anyone, but you sure as hell pissed off a lot of people. You damaged a building by pouring rain over it for twenty days straight, everything was ruined by the water. The evilest thing you’ve done lately is steal every single pet in town, and when I found you, you were snuggling with at least ten rabbits! And don’t forget about the army of rats you unleashed in the city, and that’s not counting the time you set ghosts loose on a different day! It’s all about as harmless as your zombie goons! Everything you do makes no sense!”
Was the villain just planning something so sinister that he was making Gilbert lose his guard first before following through with his plan?
Every time the supervillain pulled such peculiar evils, Gilbert had ended up being roped into them, somehow finding that The Emerald Pirate had been behind it all along. Each evil becoming more and more ludicrous as time passed. He was surprised to find that The Pirate had been the mastermind behind it all every time, managing to find new and innovative ways to catch him by surprise, to be the mastermind behind all of these simple, anticlimactic evils.
“How can you do all of this anyways? How does your magic work?”
“Ah, a magician never reveals his secrets. Besides, why would I ever tell you?”
Gilbert nearly rolled his eyes to the back of his head. “I should have expected that. An awesome hero like me can’t just sit here and do nothing with you! I have more villains to worry about than some guy pretending to be one, you’ve hardly done anything that’s actually evil lately.”
“And what’s with your outfit anyways,” Gilbert continued “I mean, a pirate suit, what’s with that? Go back to the seventeen-hundreds, Blackbeard.”
The Pirate rested a hand on his chest, gasping a mock surprise, insulted by what he said. “Really? You criticize me for my attire, while you look like you’re dressed for an MCR concert? I’ve never heard of a superhero who dresses like some punk.”
“Hey, my outfit is cool, you look like some guy dressed for a con!”
As strange as The Emerald Pirate’s outfit was, Gilbert’s was able to rival just as equally with the peculiar looks. Chains strapped around leather pants, a tank top with a sleeveless leather jacket, exposed skin covered in tattoos, intricately designed all along his skin, covering a majority of his body. The ink was mainly a crimson color, matching the color of the superhero’s eyes, his features hidden beneath a mask created from the ink, solidified and covering his face, his white hair sticking out from the back, styled in a different fashion than his everyday hair was. It was where he got his superhero name, Crimson Ink.
“That’s it, is it a fight you’re looking for?!” Gilbert exclaimed. “Well, fine, I’ll take you out once and for all. You’ll finally stop terrorizing the city with rats, bees, or whatever dumb idea you come up with next.”
“Tell me, my good rival, are you paying for my dinner when you take me out?” He smirked. “Those are quite the threats coming from a supposed superhero.”
Gilbert flushed from under his mask, becoming flustered from the first statement. “You know that’s not what I meant!”
“Very well. Try and defeat me, but you never will.”
He could never understand it. Why the supervillain that stood before him only did evil things that were more of an annoyance than anything else. He possessed the ability of mystiokinesis, a power that was beyond human understanding, the ability to manipulate magic itself, yet the supervillain had not tried to cause chaos in the world, only evils that were mundane compared to others that could be catastrophic. They had been rivals before, The Emerald Pirate being one of his harder foes to defeat, the oddly dressed man seemingly having a motive before, holding power and a prideful posture, ready to defeat Gilbert with the single use of a spell. Yet now, it was as though he was just playing games.
On the other hand, Gilbert possessed melanokinesis, able to control ink with a simple flick of the finger, and harness its own elements into his fighting tactics. It was handy, versatile, and he was able to rival the magician, countering some of the spells he cast, using quick thinking and his knowledge about his own power. When it came to his life, and other lives on the line, Gibert was a good fighter, his mind able to work under such stressful situations while he seemed somewhat more airy in his regular daily life.
An elegant step was taken forward, a sword conjuring in the pirate’s hand, shards of green dust forming together to create the slick blade, a practical replica of a weapon from the past. Where it had come from, and how it was made, was unknown.
What’s with this guy anyways, is he some kind of history nut?
The pirate cut in. “What? Your sharp tongue has nothing to say anymore? I enjoy it so when you lecture me about what’s right and wrong.”
Holding out his hand, Gilbert summoned the ink from his skin, the liquid molding and shaping to his very will, sharpened to the tip, creating a sword of his own. Tonight appeared to be a traditional battle.
He lunged forward, and The Pirate lunged at him return, sword at the ready, the both of them not backing down from the fight, determined to win once and for all. However, that was what Gilbert thought.
Instead, their swords clashed together, but the sound of steel connecting had been drowned by the noise of a firework exploding high in the sky, reverberating in the building they stood in. Suddenly, before Gilbert could react, the setting appeared to change before him, by the use of The Emerald Pirate’s magic, no doubt.
They were still in the room that Gilbert had been escorted to by the supervillain's undead henchmen, yet stars hung above them in the sky, almost like an illusion had been cast. His feet remained planted on the marble flooring below, while the sky stretch high above, and in the distance he could see the city, the clock counting down on a large building, a colorful array of lights flashing on the structures, dancing with the stars in the sky.
“It’s New Year’s, Crimson, why don’t we have a little fun?” A smirk formed on his lips, a single Emerald eye shining brightly with confidence and arrogance, yet melded with something else Gilbert could not explain, perhaps a gentle look of sorts. “How about a dance?”
“Fine, but I’m not holding back.”
“Nor am I.”
Their swords clashed once more, the blades creating a beat each time they connected, the metal clashing eventually turning into a rhythm, a song being made from the fighting. Slowly, the music halted, and no longer were the rivals fighting, but dancing as fireworks continued the rhythm they had created, the music unneeded as the same song played in their minds. Clumsy feet moving in quick, jagged steps were now slow and fluid, working together as one. The Pirate’s sword had disintegrated in a green mist, the blade being replaced with Gilbert’s hands in his own, guiding the other in their dance.
Gilbert’s weapon had disappeared along with The Pirate’s, the ink returning to his skin where it naturally belonged. He could hear people shouting from somewhere in the background, another spell that must have been casted, counting down as the end of the year neared to a few seconds, excited as a new one began. New hopes, new dreams, a new start for people, to hope for a better time, forgetting about the last year.
The Pirate loomed over Crimson, dipping him downwards as the chanting became background noise. He found himself leaning upwards while the other man leaned down, his hand lightly taking the villain's cheek before their lips connected. The feathers from The Pirate’s hat fell beside them, nearly tickling Gilbert’s cheek, obscuring the vision of their kiss by any non-existant onlookers. He tilted the superhero's mask upwards, doing so in order to properly press his lips against him, but respectfully keeping his features hidden.
Gilbert heard the sound of people shouting “Zero!” all at once, as clearly as day, excitedly cheering as the New Year finally began.
“You’re quite the oblivious one, aren’t you? I can’t believe my sights were on you of all people.” The Pirate suddenly cut in over all of the cheering, pulling back slightly, their lips still nearly touching.
“What?”
“I don’t want to take over the world, I want you, Crimson Ink. Why do you think I set up the table and poured us some wine?” The pirate admitted.
“That’s bullshit.”
A chuckle escaped the blond. “Alright, perhaps I would like to take over the world. As I would much love to hold it in my hands, I would rather be holding you right now.”
Gilbert flushed awkwardly at the statement. He would admit, some of the times he was still excited to see The Pirate, even when he was claiming most of it to be annoying in recent days. It felt like a nuisance, but the attention-seeking pirate had always been successful in luring the superhero to him. He must have been showing up to the ridiculous evils for a reason, other than to stop him, like any hero would.
“I was merely trying to get your attention. I thought I wanted to you to be my rival, and my rival alone, but then I discovered that wasn’t the case. I only wanted to see you and that determination of your’s. I’ve discovered that I’ve grown quite fond of you. Now that I finally have your attention, I’ll tell you something about myself, although, you will hardly hear a magician utter one of their secrets to another.”
It was true, the villain liked how defiant and determined Crimson Ink was to win, he enjoyed seeing that spark in his eyes, never giving up, even when he felt that he may not win. He could respect everything about the superhero, yet he could hardly explain the reasoning for wanting the other’s attention to himself, and sometimes he felt as though he was on the wrong side of it all, but he knew that he could never truly change.
“Just tell me what it is.” Gilbert disrupted The Pirate’s thoughts.
“My name is Arthur.”
“And why would you think telling me who you are is a good idea?”
“Oh, you’ll never find me, not unless you want me, my dear Gilbert.”
“How do you know my nam-!” A finger was placed over Gilbert’s lips, but before Arthur could comment, the invasive hand had been promptly removed by the albino.
Huh, what's this about aph "community leaders"? I haven't been on tumblr that much lately, so have I missed some drama?
nah omg, there’s not any drama or anything im just sort of like “???” about the community leader thing going on w/ the fandom hub?? i think it’s a really cool and useful blog and im all for it bc it’s full of all kinds of resources and fun events im just like... why this tho
😀 - I’m not afraid of reaching out to you.😃 - To me, you are easy to approach.😊 - I think you are a really friendly person.
Hehehe, I prove to maybe be a useful tourist guide. But I am also glad we had no problems arrranging to meet outside the internet (and thank you for having written a debate fanfic - my nerdy heart is still bumping from it.)
chasingbutterfliesintoeternity a réagi à votre billet : I’ve to bottles of red wine from work… and all my...
Add it to pasta sauces and to flavour red meat
Sounds like a good idea. I only don’t eat that much meat as I try to avoid cheap mass production... but why not invest for a good steak for once ^^ Thanks!
