Pen's Song-Story Writing Challenge Extravaganza Submission!
@alilbatwrites your song was "The Law" by Reach, here is a snippet based on that!!
When Hero got back to the league from saving the city, they had expected celebration, or at least a thank-you. What they got instead was… eye-opening to say the least. They opened the doors to a bunch of stone-faced, enhanced superiors.
“Uh…what?” Hero asked, confused, “did I cause collateral damage again? I thought I was careful this time!”
“It isn’t that, Hero,” Superhero started.
“You took Supervillain down in under two minutes,” another super stated.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Hero joked.
When they received no response, Hero faltered.
“It…it’s not a bad thing, right?”
“Hero, you know our League is here to keep the nation’s peace,” Superhero said, “and to eliminate security risks.”
“Well, yeah, I’d day I did pretty good out there,” Hero said, “so why do you all seem upset?”
The sound of footsteps behind them made Hero’s head turn. Two league agents put a hand on each of Hero’s shoulders.
“Superhero,” Hero asked nervously, turning back to face their superior, “what’s going on?”
“We took a risk letting you roam free with your powers of energy manipulation,” Superhero said, “your abilities have grown to an incredible strength, and now the risks outweigh the benefits. I’m sorry, Hero.”
As Superhero spoke, one of the agents jammed the end of a needle into Hero’s neck. Hero cried out in pain, feeling ice flood their veins.
“So that’s it- you’re just going to get rid of me because I’m too good at my job!?” Hero asked desperately, feeling their limbs turn to lead.
“Your powers will only increase exponentially from here,” another league member said, “if we don’t contain you now, we’ll never be able to stop you if you become a threat.”
Hero tried to wrench themselves from the agents’ grips, but they held them fast. Hero’s knees buckled just as a wheelchair with padded restraints came into view.
“Take them down to Containment Level 3,” Superhero ordered.
“N-no,” Hero slurred.
Hero felt themselves be lifted into the wheelchair. Straps tightened across their body just as their vision began to fade. Their head sank down into their chest as the drug sucked them under.
…
When Hero awoke next, they thought maybe the events from earlier were just a bad dream. Maybe Supervillain had defeated them, and they would wake up in the med bay with Superhero by their bedside. Hero opened their eyes to a stark white room. They looked down at their form and found that they had been stuffed in some kind of straight-jacket suit, the buckles going all the way down to their ankles. Hero jerked upright, trying and failing to free themselves. They tried to call on their power, but their movements were sluggish, and their energy barely materialized.
Hero fought back the tears that brimmed in their eyes. They had figured if they ever did get captured, it would be by some criminal, never by their own team, the people they fought beside every day. Now their team- their family- had them drugged up and restrained in a cell just like those criminals they had been taught to fight. When they couldn’t fight them any longer, Hero let the tears fall with a choked sob.
“Hey,” a voice echoed.
Hero looked up, sniffling. The door opened, revealing a league agent.
“What do you want?” Hero asked bitterly.
“Seriously?” the league member demanded indignantly, “I come all this way to save you and-oh. Right. The outfit.”
The league member unbuttoned their uniform to reveal a familiar, dark suit underneath.
“Villain?” Hero asked in disbelief.
“Duh,” Villain said, “saw what you did out there with Supervillain. That was pret-ty impressive. But I knew your precious league wouldn’t like it. So here I am.”
Hero remembered the stories Superhero had told them about Villain, how they had abandoned the league years ago. They remembered the late-night, rooftop conversations with Villain, about how the league wasn’t what they seemed.
“Are you going to say, ‘I told you so’?” Hero asked dejectedly.
“Nah, you’ve been punished enough,” Villain said, “come on, let’s get you out of here.”
Villain worked to free Hero from their restraints. They pulled out a syringe filled with liquid.
“This is gonna counteract the junk they’ve pumped in your system,” Villain said, “the car’s outside waiting. We can be out of the city limits in an hour… unless you’d like to torch this place first?”
Hero shook their head, holding their arm out for Villain to administer the antidote.
“I just wanna go,” Hero said.
“I gotcha,” Villain said, helping them up, “leave the torching to me then.”
…
Villain drove off, Hero in the passenger seat, the league base ablaze behind them.
