two sidekicks. one to the heroes, one to the villains. maybe they're secretly friends. maybe they don't fight when they run into each other on patrol: maybe they just chat and share snacks and wait for the next call. maybe the heroes' sidekick realises the villains' is being abused. what then
(TW: cursing, punching, implied abuse)
“Hey, could you pass me the pretzels?”
Sidekick tossed a bag of pretzels to Henchman, who thanked them and tore it open. “I can’t believe Hero lets you take food from the base.”
Sidekick snorted. “What, and Villain wouldn’t? It’s just pretzels.”
Henchman shrugged. “I dunno, they just get pissy when you take anything of worth out of the base. More so if you share it.”
“Huh.” Sidekick kept scrolling on their phone. They liked these little moments of downtime they got to spend with Henchman. No one knew about it, of course. They were supposed to hate each other, but the two of them always thought it was silly since they didn’t have anything personal between them. They were just doing their respective jobs. They met in a small, abandoned house any time they had free time, sharing food and stories.
Eventually, Sidekick put their phone down and turned to Henchman. “So. What’s the worst thing Villain’s made you do?”
Henchman laughed. “Jeez, where do I even start? Um…I have to think about it. You go first.”
“Alright…” Sidekick thought for a moment. “…Well, this one time, it was our medic’s birthday, right? And Hero forgot to get them a gift. So since they were injured at the time, they made ME do it. In the middle of the night!” They laughed at the memory.
Henchman, however, didn’t laugh. They just looked confused. Almost angry.
Sidekick’s laughter faded when they noticed. “Uh…Did I say something wrong?”
Henchman stared into their bag of pretzels. “…That’s it? That’s the worst thing? Running errands? Are you fucking kidding me?” They stood up. “I thought you were gonna say…I-I don’t know, something worse than that!”
“Henchman, what’s your problem?” Sidekick asked, completely bewildered at their reaction. “What were you expecting me to say?”
“I told you, I don’t know! Maybe I just expected to share a god damned experience with you for once? Who the fuck cares!” Henchman threw the bag of pretzels on the floor and started grabbing their things.
“Woah, woah, stop. Stop it.” Sidekick stood up. “What the hell’s gotten into you? What do you mean, ‘share an experience’ with me?” They paused. “Henchman, what…what did Villain make you—”
The sentence ended with a punch, a bloody nose, and a slammed door.
