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Villain: for the last TIME Superhero STOP SENDING TEENAGE TRAINEES TO FIGHT ME
Superhero: what? can’t even beat a trainee hero?
Villain: No! It’s the fact that they are KIDS? Stop making CHILDREN fight someone who could VERY WELL MEAN THEM HARM
Superhero: mmmm I dunno someone sounds bitter that one of the trainees tripped them up the other day
Villain: MOTHERF- YOU SAW THAT??
Villain clutched their undoubtedly broken ribs and stared up at Superhero from their position on the ground. Their glare would be more effective were it not so pained.
Superhero stared back idly, as if dealing with a minor annoyance. "Any last words before I rid this world of your pathetic existence?"
"I thought heroes didn't kill people."
"Yes, well. Not officially." Superhero delivered a hard kick to Villain's jaw, knocking them down. "But accidents happen."
Villain spit out the fresh blood in their mouth and tried to stop their head from spinning. "Does the agency know their trophy hero is a murderer?"
Superhero smiled. "Oh, darling. Who do you think handles the coverup?"
So what, were all heroes like this then? Were they morals just an act? Hero wouldn't do this. Their Hero wouldn't. But their Hero wasn't here to save them.
As if reading their mind, Superhero spoke again. "Shame Hero isn't here to see this. I'm sure they'd love to come and give their little speach about being better than our enemies, but they got a little...caught up at the headquarters."
"Why do I get the feeling you had something to do with that?"
Superhero flashed their public smile. The one they gave to the press and city officials. Villain knew their real smile was much darker. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."
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.
Choose: Love or Heartbreak
(A Secret Santa Snippet)
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Once again this year I chose to participate in Secret Santa snippet exchange! This year I coincidentally got my girlfriend @justalittletoocorrupted! I really hope you like it <333
Prompt: Villain x Hero (who is a sidekick to superhero!) and Superhero finds out Hero was dating Villain (or just fell in love with them) and kidnaps them to try and help them understand that's a bad thing and the Villain could save them!
(I ended up doing more villain x civilian (I checked if it would be okay))
Note! As we are really close I decided to use ocs, this is an au where Dystopia from Dystopian Reflections is a civilian, via the name Cain. Vortex/Blank-Slate is @justalittletoocorrupted’s oc and it uses it/its and he/him pronouns
Tw: kidnapping, arguing, mentions of violence, swearing
It didn't have to be this way -(villain!James - 1)
(June of doom 2)
“It didn’t have to be this way.”
| Scream | Double Cross | Made to Watch |
This is the first part of a story I've been thinking about for a few years by now, in which James' career as a hero takes a turn when he finds out how corrupt his team leader is. I still need to figure out a hero name for her and a few other people, but I hope to get this story going now.
contains: Kidnapping, vaguely mentioned torture.
~
James tapped on the cloaking device on his suit and darkness spilled out over the fabric like a shadow; concealing the blue color. It really had been a genius invention for those times more discretion was needed, and when following a criminal through the city streets at night it definitely was.
The target was suspected of belonging to a criminal network that had proven particularly hard to pin down and expose. It likely would have been relatively easy for James to bring the suspect into custody, but another person they'd caught had proven that questioning was futile so James had decided to try another approach; maybe that person could lead him to some place of importance. If not, well, then he would have to just bring the suspect in.
Quietly as he could, James followed the man through the dimly lit streets, making sure that he wasn't noticed by the man he was following. That led him to a building which from the outside looked rather unsuspecting, but hopefully this would be something useful. Just before the door closed James used his power, a blue glow dancing across his fingers, as he focused on the door and stopped it from fully closing and locking.
He waited for a few moments, then walked up to the door and entered the building, carefully keeping an eye out for anyone else who could discover him. Granted the dark camouflage from the cloaking device helped him blend into the shadows of the corridor but it did not make him invisible. This was a risky move especially since he was alone, but danger was just part of the job.
Suddenly James heard footsteps from behind, and he hurried a few steps down the hall to hide in what seemed to be some sort of utility or storage room to avoid being noticed.
“Stop crying, you brought this upon yourself. Did you really think that double-crossing the Sinclairs would work out for you?” A woman said, and to James' surprise the voice was very familiar. That sounded like Cordelia, the leader of his team. Sure enough, through the keyhole of the door James could see her coming down the corridor accompanied by Rigel, dragging a bruised up man with them. Neither of them were in their hero suits, but the fact that she was here with a clearly injured person was even stranger. What the hell was going on?
Hero Whumpers are so GOOD. There’s so many different flavors.
Hero Whumper who sees beating up Villains as their job and doesn’t see any reason to hold back. They’re the scum of the earth to them— maybe not even people.
Hero Whumper who uses their status as an excuse for the things they do. They’re a Hero, who is anyone to question what they do? They save the city day in and day out, they should be above the law. Hell, maybe they even see themselves as god-like.
Hero Whumper who is just doing as they are told. Capture the Villain, get information out of them at any cost— They’re not cruel out of malice, only necessity. Maybe they feel bad. Maybe they make sure to patch them up afterwards. But if their superiors tell them to do one thing, they do it, no questions asked. It’s how they were trained, after all.
Hero Whumper who genuinely believes they’re doing the right thing even if they’re not. The road to hell is paved with good intentions— it’s just for the city. Anything for the public. This is necessary.
Hero Whumper who doesn’t hold back even with other Heroes. Maybe they take out those who rank higher than them. Maybe they push around the newbies so they know their place. Maybe they just see themselves as superior— or maybe alternatively they feel inferior and they need to take it out on someone who’s ‘Better’ than them in some way to get rid of the feeling. Maybe they’re just making sure everyone follows their rule, or trains them to be better and to their standards. Maybe they target ‘Villain Sympathizers’ specifically.
Just. So many things you could do, and that's not even bringing into account using their powers as tools for whump.
Hello! I just read your Out of Control pieces and I love them! Would it be possible to ask for part 8?
🌻
Hi anons! I'm so glad you guys like Out of Control so much! Thank you so much for your patience. Here is the final part and epilogue of Out of Control!
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
Part 8
Hero watched Villain take a deep breath as they opened the door.
“Villain, Hero,” Superhero said, Member 1 and Member 2 on either side of them, “come quietly before this gets messy.”
“It’s gotten messy enough with you interfering,” Villain snapped.
“Really?” Superhero scoffed, “if we hadn’t ‘interfered’, Hero would still be in your base, barely able to stand.”
“They were helping me, Superhero,” Hero said, “if it wasn’t for them I’d still be half-frozen!”
Superhero’s eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean?” they asked.
Hero explained how, after Villain had rescued them from Superhero, Villain had built a chamber designed to absorb Hero’s excess cryo-energy. Hero was only weakened because the process had taken a lot of energy out of them.
“Hero would’ve recovered in a matter of hours,” Villain added, “but you and your league never stop to think about these things, do you? No, it’s always ‘punch first, ask questions later’.”
Superhero’s communicator vibrated in their pocket. They picked it up and answered it.
“Yes?”
“We’ve examined Villain’s base,” a league member said, “there’s some kind of giant box in here that radiates heat.”
“Thank you, Member 3,” Superhero sighed, “I’m talking to Villain now, you’re clear to exit their base.”
“Will do.”
There was a click, and Superhero pocketed the communicator.
“You sent league members to raid my base!?” Villain bristled.
“had to figure out what you had used on Hero to make them weakened,” Superhero explained, “we only searched the one room.”
“Oh, well if it was just the one room,” Villain said, their voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Villain, we’re sorry,” Superhero said, “clearly this has been a misunderstanding.”
“You think?” Hero scoffed, folding their arms across their chest.
“We won’t press any charges,” Superhero continued, “Hero, you’re free to come back to the base.”
Hero looked at Villain, then grabbed their hand.
“Actually, I won’t be returning to the base,” Hero said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Villain and I are moving,” Hero said, “as soon as possible. I’ll get my things from the league and then you won’t be seeing me again.”
“Hero-” Superhero started.
Hero held up a hand.
“Stop, just stop,” Hero said, “I can’t work with people that I can’t trust. At least I can trust Villain. I’ll meet you back at the base to hand in my badge, then we’re leaving.”
Hero pushed past Superhero and the two league members, taking Villain with them. When they reached the league van they had commandeered, Hero turned to Villain.
“You meant what you said, right?” Hero asked shyly.
Villain pulled Hero in close.
“Every word,” they said earnestly.
“Then let’s go,” Hero said, “I heard Other City is nice this time of year, and there’s no league there.”
“Sounds perfect,” Villain said.
Hero got in the driver’s seat while Villain slid into the passenger’s seat next to them. They stopped at the league base to get Hero’s things, then Villain’s base to pack. Their new lives were waiting for them.
Epilogue
“Villain,” Hero called, “dinner’s ready!”
“Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely!”
The phrase absolute power corrupts absolutely is a popular proverb that has been around for centuries. Its powerful message speaks to the dangers of giving one person too much power and control. The origin of this phrase is not clear, but it has been attributed to several historical figures, including Sir John Dalberg-Acton and Lord Acton.
The proverb highlights the idea that when people are given too much power and control, they can become corrupt and abuse their position for personal gain. This can lead to negative consequences for the people they are supposed to serve, as well as for society as a whole.
The dangers of absolute power are not just limited to corrupt leaders, but can also be seen in corporations, institutions, and other organizations. When these entities have too much control, they can become abusive, leading to negative consequences for society.
Historical Context The idea of absolute power corrupting absolutely has been around for centuries and has been observed in various historical contexts.
The Roman Empire was marked by the concentration of power in the hands of a few people, who often abused their positions for personal gain. The French Revolution was driven by the desire to overthrow a corrupt and abusive ruling class.
The proverb has also been applied to more-recent events, such as the Watergate scandal, which exposed corruption at the highest levels of the US government, and the Enron scandal, which revealed widespread corruption and abuse of power within a major corporation.
The Importance of Limits on Power The idea that absolute power corrupts absolutely highlights the importance of placing limits on the power of individuals and organizations — particularly within governments. This can be achieved through checks and balances, such as an independent judiciary, a free press, and a robust political opposition.
It is also important to ensure that those in power are held accountable for their actions. This can be achieved through transparency, open and accessible information, and robust systems of oversight and regulation.
Fictional Characters with Superhuman Powers Can Serve as a Powerful Allegory Fiction often provides a powerful lens through which to explore complex themes, including the dangers of absolute power. This is particularly true in stories featuring characters with supernatural abilities, who — when given too much power — can wreak havoc on those around them.
In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Lord Voldemort represents the dangers of absolute power. Through his quest for ultimate power, he becomes a cruel and tyrannical leader who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.
In the X-Men universe, Magneto is a powerful mutant who seeks to take control of the world in order to protect mutants from persecution. Although his intentions may be noble, his methods are often brutal and indiscriminate, leading to conflict and tragedy.
These fictional characters serve as cautionary tales, highlighting the dangers of absolute power. They remind us of the importance of challenging the control of those who hold absolute power of any kind.
Conclusion The recurrent warning absolute power corrupts absolutely has been illustrated in many contexts, real and fictional. From historical examples of corrupt leaders and institutions to fictional characters with supernatural abilities, the dangers of absolute power have been made abundantly clear.
When power is concentrated in the hands of a few, it can lead to corruption and abuse. By promoting accountability, limiting power, and ensuring transparency, we can be on guard against granting anyone absolute power.
The End
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