Placate
The hero wanted to believe it was one of their friends, an agency member, someone else, anyone else, they would have taken a burglar at this point.
But no. No friend, agency member, or burglar would leave the front door open so purposefully, so dauntingly.
They knew this day would come, they just didn’t imagine it would be so soon.
The light turned on.
“Where have you been?” The villain asked from the lounge chair, petting the hero’s cat.
It was very obviously a rhetorical question, the villain knew where the hero had been, because now the villain was here, too.
The hero’s eyes flicked down to their purring cat comfortable in the villain’s lap, back up to the villain’s expectant face.
“I was–am on an assignment.” They wondered how fast they would have to be to get their cat and then get to the panic button.
Not fast enough.
If they needed to be placating, they could be. It would what drew the villain to them, they knew that now.
“An assignment that takes six months?” The villain asked, lazily waving their free hand around. “An assignment that gives you this? It’s cutesy, comfortable. Too small for my taste, but you know that.”
It was a test hidden behind poisonously pleasant words.
Will you be telling me the truth? Are you foolish enough to lie?
A question the hero didn’t want to answer, but there were limited options.
Placate, placate, placate.
“It’s my final assignment.” The hero clenched their fists, nails digging into skin, forcing upon them clarity to think, a reminder not to stutter, not to feel. “Going civilian, for my safety.”
“Oh?” The villain’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second. “Do tell. What was so dangerous that your little agency felt the need to give you an identity change?
Another test.
“It was noted that the others–other–other villains,” The hero forced themselves to take a breath in, and clenched their fists even harder. “were targeting me, thinking it would hurt you.”
“Mm.” The villain cocked their head to the side, looking at the hero in an indecipherable way.
Disappointment? Amusement? Hunger?
The hero was never able to tell.
“Well. I can admit my faults, but this is an easy fix, my darling. I’ll handle the others. Now, the car’s been running just a bit too long, so if we could?”
The villain stood, still holding the hero’s cat.
“I can’t.” The hero’s fists unclenched, wondering if their cat could be swayed to jump from the villain’s arms. “I signed a contract. If I re-emerge, I could be considered an active threat, measures would be taken against me, um, I can’t.”
The villain smiled. “Now that is a bigger problem, but I could garner a few solutions. Come along, we can even bring…” They trailed off, looking at the cat’s name tag. “Chestnut.”
“I’ll become a public enemy. I don’t own the name Hero, I just use it, I–”
“And that’s the very problem, isn’t it?” The villain let Chestnut jump from their arms, watching the hero’s shoulders relax ever so slightly. “This day and age of heroics and villainy, it’s all very theatrical. We used to do this because of values, morals, plans for world domination.”
They gave the hero a once over.
“The other heroes are good at the limelight, thrive, even, it’s the whole reason they sign the contracts and take the name, but they can’t beat you in character, and the numbers of casualties in their fights versus yours speaks volumes. You weren’t good at the attention, not until I got to you, at least.”
“And I thank you for the help, but I’m done with the cameras, interviews, the saving people.”
“What a shame. You used to talk about being a symbol, about helping people, a hero through and through, not any of that pretending you’re a movie star. It’s what makes you…”
“Malleable?”
“I was going to say unique. No need for the dramatics.”
When the hero didn’t respond, didn’t move, didn’t even look like they were breathing, the villain’s polite mask dropped.
The hero hated that, how easily the villain could switch around their personality. They also hated the villain’s unblinking eyes.
The villain could blink, the hero was sure, but whenever it was just the two of them, the villain always made sure to be constantly watching.
“As I said, I can think of a few solutions to your problems.” They held out an expectant hand. “Shall we?”
“You were using me.” The hero blurted out. “You weren’t trying to help me be better, you were–you were–”
“I was what?”
“Making me into a tool. You would have turned me into a monster.”
The villain scoffed. “A monster? Please. You would have been beloved by the world, no contract or agency could hold you, you would have been second to none.”
“Except you.” The hero noticed that Chestnut was curling around the villain’s legs, slowly realizing that their best option at this point might have been to turn heel. “I would have been second to none except you.”
The villain smiled again, though it looked more like an animal bearing their teeth in annoyance.
“Eventually not. Once we’ve finished with the others, all the theatrics and the celebrity treatment, we could begin the real work. We could be equals, my darling.”
“You were manipulating me so that you could have the perfect opponent?” The hero felt bile rise in their throat.
There was evidence of the villain using them, solid proof shown directly after that scolding from the agency for allowing a villain to mentor them, but to hear it from the villain themselves was something else entirely.
“Twist my words in whatever way you’ll have. We both win. You won’t have to worry about the performance of being a hero, you can simply go out and save the day how you like. Tell me it’s not tempting. Now, it has been a treat tracking you down, my darling, they hid you well, but I must insist we leave. There’s a long drive ahead of us.”
“No.”
Chestnut had wandered closer to the hero.
“Ah, would you prefer we fly? It’s not my favorite, but–”
“I’m not going with you.” They reached down slowly, picking up Chestnut, hoping to make it look as though they were holding her for comfort.
The villain watched, their jaw clenched, anger barely concealed.
“I made you.” They seethed through an unusually quiet voice. “And if I have to, I will break you, and build you up again.”
The hero took a step back. “Find another hero to manipulate.”
With a deep breath, the villain collected themselves, never breaking eye contact with the hero.
“You know, part of the plan was to make you fall in love with me.” They admitted, taking only a step forward to match the hero’s step back. “Or at least have you grow fond enough of me that you wouldn’t betray me so easily. But obviously, it didn’t work. Lucky for the both of us, I can work with fear. You have an abundance of that, don’t you?”
The hero turned heel.
There was no placating a villain.
