Prompt 224

Prompt

“I need you to go on a date with me. I told them I have one.”

The hero blinked. “Why not ask one of your henchpeople?”

“They’re like, below me and it’d be an abuse of power.”

Hi! I just wanted to say that I love your writing, and you are so so talented!!

Could you write something with a sleep deprived hero/villain?

Have a great day!! 💛

[Thank you for your kind words! ❤️ I hope you enjoy this!]

“Let,” Hero says through clenched teeth, struggling against her restraints, “Me. Go.”

Villain slowly paces with his arm behind his back, the other flicking through the holographic news articles that float around his head.

“Hero catches falling airplane. Hero saves man from drowning. Hero shields bomb with her own body,” he drawls, lazily tossing each title he reads, “Hero takes down notorious leader of drug ring.”

He stops, spreading out his hands and closing them quickly to get rid of the articles.

“And all of that, done in the past two days,” he says, unimpressed, upper lip curled up as he looks down at her, “What, you trying to break a record or something?”

Hero smiles, baring her teeth at him.

“Release these restraints and I’ll break another one,” she says sweetly and Villain lets out a laugh.

“Then why don’t you get out of them like you usually do?” Villain counters and he looks amused, all raised eyebrows and bright eyes, the curve of his lips sickle-sharp as he tips his chin, “I’m not even using my powers on you. What’s the matter hero, all burnt out?”

Hero grits her teeth. Everything feels so heavy, like she’s underwater, sea-foam filling her gut. She pulls at her restraints harder, sweat running down her face, each beat of her heart a pounding ache in her temples and down her jaw and behind her eyes and when did the room start spinning?

“Ignoring me now?” Villain says but the words sound far away, jumbled, his image trembling at the corners.

Hero clenches her eyes shut, fingers quaking, her limbs like deadweight. God, she’s tired. Villain is saying something else but Hero can’t pay attention, tries to focus on the ground that keeps shifting under her feet. Or is it that she’s floating away?

Suddenly, her head is yanked back by her hair and her eyes pop open, her stomach lurching from the movement. There’s Villain in front of her now, a frown on his face and fuck, how did she not hear him coming? He leans forward, expression neutral but eyes sharp, looking down his nose at her.

“....Your eyes are shaking,” he says and he places his other hand right under her jaw, tips her chin up, “Have you been sleeping?”

“And what?” Hero spits, tries the jerk her head away but his grip is like iron, keeping her in place, “Do you expect me to think that you care?”

Something incomprehensible flashes across Villain’s face. He narrows his eyes.

“I’d like my foil to actually be a challenge,” he sneers, tightening his grip on her jaw; Hero snaps her teeth at his fingers, “Not some little girl who’s falling apart at the seams-“

“I’m fine,” Hero snarls, “I’m fine.”

A pause. Villain lets go of her with a growl, carelessly tossing her head back. Hero hisses from the strain on her neck, trying to focus her shaky gaze on Villain.

“Okay,” Villain says simply, pulling a square controller from his pocket, “Since you’re ‘fine’-“

He presses a button and Hero’s restraints open with a hiss.

“Fight me,” he finishes and Hero looks at him in disbelief.

“You-“ Hero sputters, “are you serious-“

“Is your hearing failing you as well?” Villain interrupts; Hero’s face darkens, “You heard me. Fight me.”

Hero gets ups, shakes out her limbs. She blinks to get rid of the black creeping at the edges of her vision.

“Let’s go,” Hero says and Villain tilts his head at her.

She runs at him, throwing a jab and even she can tell how slow she is. Villain sidesteps out of the way, doesn’t even bother to put up his hands, face unmoving. She curses, tries another punch, but he easily dodges that one as well.

Hero grits her teeth. Faster, she tells herself. Harder. He moves behind her and she tries to catch him with a kick, twirling around, teeth bared, but her form is all off, her footing unsteady. Her vision trembles.

Villain ducks down, pushes at her upright leg with his shoulder and she goes tumbling down down down. Hero gasps as her back hits the ground, Villain looking at her from above.

“Are you even trying?” he says, disappointed, and Hero digs her fingers into the ground and gets back up.

A punch, he blocks-

“C’mon, Hero. Is that really all you got-“

A kick, he deflects-

“How are you going to protect this city, the citizens, when you can barely stand-“

Is he getting stronger? Or is she just getting weaker-

“When you can’t even go up against me-“

He catches her elbow, pulls her near, locks his arm around her waist and they’re so close, chest to chest, nose to nose-

“When you can’t even protect yourself?” he hisses, eyes wide and angry and Hero lets out a yell that sounds like a sob.

She brings her head back and slams it against Villain’s. He stumbles back but she follows him, ramming her shoulder into his gut to run him into the ground.

She grabs his wrists and pins them to the floor, thighs bracketing his hips to keep him there.

Blood drips from her nose and onto his cheeks like tears.

“I have a duty,” Hero pants, arms trembling, using every ounce of her willpower to keep from collapsing, “To keep the people of this city safe, to live their lives without fear.”

She leans forward. Villain just lays there, doesn’t even try to struggle, eyebrows drawn low.

“My blood is their will and my body is their strength. I will use every part of me,” she says, tone firm and unyielding and Villain’s lips press into a thin line, “Even if I can only move my fingers, I will protect them.”

Hero closes her eyes, her head throbbing. It’s an easy thing, for Villain to wiggle a hand out of Hero’s hold. Hero holds her breath.

There’s a stretch of stillness before she feels Villain shift, a touch on her cheek. She snaps her eyes open and oh, the look on his face-

“You’re tearing yourself apart, Hero,” he mumbles, running his fingers up her cheek, curling around her ear and Hero trembles in the wake of it: she wants to run, she wants to sink into it, “You need to stop-“

“I can’t, I can’t,” Hero chokes out, breath coming faster, words spilling out like vomit and Villain just keeps on looking at her; peering into her with those sharp, sharp eyes of his, “My mind, it just- keeps going. It doesn’t shut off. Every time I close my eyes I can- see all the people I failed to save. Their arms outstretched, crying out for help, for me-“

“I can help you,” Villain says, tone calm; Hero freezes, “With my powers. If you’d let me.”

And isn’t that just tempting? To let go, to stop thinking, to fall knowing someone will catch you? Hero chews at her lips.

This is Villain, though. He hurts and he disrupts and he ruins without regret. He is malevolent. He is warped. He is not a good man.

But-

(But this is also Villain, who does what he says and says what he does. Who despises underhand tricks and schemers. Who lays his intentions out for everyone to see, will twirl his knife right under your nose before he stabs you with it.

Who looks up at Hero with such an open face, eyes soft, lips lax, everything out for Hero to see-)

“Okay,” Hero whispers, “okay.”

And Villain moves his hand to her forehead and says, “Relax.”

@sunflower1000

Carmen Sandiego and Color

So let’s appreciate the absolutely Legendary™ use of Color Symbolism in Netflix’s Carmen Sandiego:

V.I.L.E’s Iconic Color is green– all the villains wear green, the lair is green, the uniforms are green, etc. 

When Carmen rebels against them, she obviously starts wearing her iconic red– which is green’s complement, its “opposite” on the color wheel. This shows that Carmen has become the “opposite” of V.I.L.E. 

Scenes where V.I.L.E has a lot of power/influence are often tinted green, scenes where Carmen has power/influence will often be tinted red.

VILE in San Francisco:

Carmen in San Francisco:

Julia Argent, the ACME agent who believes Carmen is a good person, wears a bright red shirt that the other agents do not wear.

This ties into the series’ theme of “don’t be fooled by initial appearances.” Green is the color we usually associate with goodness, while red is the color we usually associate with danger/villains. But in this show, the colors’ meanings are flipped.

 Green means danger, and red means safety.

And again, this isn’t just in the costumes!!  

Contrast these scenes where Carmen is nervous on V.I.L.E island:

And can’t relax Because V.I.L.E:

With this scene where Carmen feels confident and free:

The dialogue in the “Carmen finally relaxes” scene is cute too:

Player: Red? Carmen: Yes, it is. I may finally be unwinding.

Because scenes where Carmen is at peace, or confident and in power, tend to be tinted red (or pink/reddish-violet.)

Scenes where Carmen and co. are frightened, losing, trapped, or in terrible danger will be tinted green.

HOW TO SPOIL THE SHOW FOR YOURSELF:

If a fight scene in this show is red, things will probably go well for Carmen. But if the fight scene is green, things will probably go badly.

The battle Carmen loses against Paperstar:

The one that she wins:

The Indonesia episode is very green, because the Stakes Are High and Carmen seems to be losing:

 but after Carmen wins RED FIREWORKS GO OFF, lighting everything red:

Also: Tigress was an idiot for choosing to battle Carmen on the Golden Gate Bridge, bc it’s the reddest place in San Francisco, meaning that it’s where Carmen’s POWER IS GREATEST

Tigress shoulda gone to New York and battled her on the Statue of Liberty instead, that’s a guaranteed victory right there

And in Carmen’s worst failure in the season, her red coat is even torn off, so that the shot is completely green:

But then she escapes and look who’s back?? RED

ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOMENTS:

Before Carmen steals the VILE data thing, everything is green:

But the moment she successfully steals it, RED ALARMS START GOING OFF:

Like “heck yeah La Femme Rouge is finally here!!!!”

And (major spoilers ahead!) what I find most interesting is this Red™ scene:

The scene where Carmen fails her pickpocketing test, ruining her chances of becoming a V.I.L.E operative. 

When you watch it for the first time you see it as a failure. The blood-red sky is there to show us that Carmen is in serious danger, and her life is about to be ruined.

But when you rEWATCH THE SHOW WHILE PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE COLOR SYMBOLISM (as ya do) you realize it’s the opposite. This is the moment that saves Carmen– that sets her on the path to becoming “The Red Rogue.” 

And I might do another post on this but like– it’s so cool how red is used in Shadowsan’s scenes in general!!! Most V.I.L.E people’s scenes are all green, but Shadowsan’s scenes are often red, to hint that he’s secretly sympathetic to Carmen.

See you initially think he’s grabbing the sword to kill Carmen, but when you rewatch it, you realize he’s going to sabotage the VILE’s helicopter and rescue her! He was on her side all along, and the Color Symbolism knew it!

TL; DR:

As Carmen says in “The Sticky Rice Caper:”

“Green bad……red good.”

“i watch the dark red caper for the plot”

the plot:

julethief extra following up after this post .. because.. im feeling .. soft.…

If you need me

Just a little longer

Hero took it step by step. Trying to ignore the pain in her leg. Trying to ignore the dread of being weaponless.

Sleep. You will sleep soon

She could already see the campus dorms.

You just need to get in and not get caught or get followed.

Everything was dark. Too dark to tell if she left blood on the floor. Signing, she started taking the steps to the common rooms.

When she reached the top, ever closer to her heaven, she saw a light.

Someone sat on one of the dusty chairs, reading by a lamplight. She doesn’t know how well she’d handle another bout with Villain right now. “Nice of you to come, Hero.”

Never mind. I prefer Villain

“Civilian.”

“Are you limping to your dorm at midnight?”

“Are you sitting alone in the common room?”

“One of these questions is more urgent.”

Hero tried to walk slower, hoping to hide her injury.

“Just go to sleep. We have a morning class.”

But Rival stood up and walked to her.

“Morning class is the least of my worries now.”

Both of them were almost completely in the dark, but she could tell he was sincere. His voice was rarely devoid of any cynicism or playfulness. He took her silence as a breakthrough.

“You don’t need to tell me anything, but if you’re hurt, I can help.”

“R-”

“Look, I know you’re tough. Everyone knows. That’s why I hate you. You have nothing to prove. So if…”

He cleared his throat, and turned his look from her. Despite hardly even seeing her face.

“If some bastard needs to learn a lesson, I can help you. I won’t tell anyone.”

Just barely, she could see his honey eyes shining. But the aching pain that constantly throbbed her leg reminded her of the dangers that follow.

Why can no one else know of Villain

“Hero?”

Rival asked, she could imagine the anticipation in his features.

“I’m fine, Rival.”

“H-”

“This is none of your business.”

Her tone wasn’t as harsh as it could be, but rather heavy-hearted.

But he didn’t push it longer, just stood as she at last continued walking towards her room.

She didn’t hear him move or speak until she almost closed her dorm door, his voice barely audible.

“I’m here if you need me, Hero.”

There were about three more seconds of silence.

Rival’s heavy footsteps filled the silence. And following them, much quieter, slier steps. These steps were coming towards her dorm.

“Wh- HERO RUN”

She heard Rival spurt back to her dorm’s way. 

Cursing, she hastily thrust her door open, fearing there was no time even for getting her hidden gun. Disastrously, she was right.

Villain held a dagger.

He held a dagger above Rival’s throat.

“Leave him.”

Villain smirked at her. 

His grip on Rival’s arms and the dagger he kept on his throat remained indifferent, both to her threat and to Rival’s struggles.

“Care much?”

“You know this will be a fight to the death, Villain.”

Hero answered, unleashing her own hidden blade. “And you know I will slit his throat way before you limp one step,”

She did her best to not show her dread. Not to imagine the light leaving the honey, radiant eyes she knew.

“But there’s a way to make this less bloody, is it?”

His message was clear. Hero glanced at Rival, his message was clear too. Ever so slightly, he shook his head.

“You are going to leave him, and we will take this outside, civilly.”

“H-”

Villain gripped Rival’s chin.

“Perfect.”

He threw Rival to the floor, almost cutting his jaw in the process.

“YOU PIECE O-”

Villain caught his face again.

“Shhh… we don’t want to make this harder for your girlfriend, do we?”

Rival seemed enraged, like he would murder Villain right here if he could, but before he tried to fight again, Hero got to him.

She pushed him away, hugging him, burying her head in her neck. Just below his ear.

Bewildered, Rival froze.

“under the bed”

She whispered, and let him go.

“Oh ~ it almost makes me regret I’ll kill you ~”

Grinning, Villain moved aside and gestured to the stairs. “Ladies first.”

Hero signed, giving one last look at Rival, who seemed disturbed, but determined as well.

As she walked down the stairs, feeling Villain creeping ever closer behind her, loudly thinking of just pushing her down, she hoped she heard Rival searching her room.

Soon later, when she could feel Villain breathing at her neck, a bang was heard. Villain’s grin froze on his face as he fell. Hero moved aside and looked up, meeting with radiant brown eyes.

I might prefer him over Villain

The next day, after dealing with the police, and after the noise from the tired yet curious students died down, Hero slept like a rock.

When she did wake up, slowly realizing that her morning class is long over. 

Signing, she got dressed and tried to calculate how many library search hours she’d have to go through.

But when she stepped towards the door, she saw something that was sled to her dorm.

They seemed to be, neatly written, detailed lecture notes.

Above them, rested a small sticky note, reading “I’m here if you need me”

Prompt #97

"I hate you" villain roared out, pointing their gun at the hero as the cold air swept around them.

Hero hung their head, their eyes shutting close. "I hate myself too."

Villain instantly drew their gun back, taken aback by the hero's statement. "Wait, no, that's not how it's supposed to work–"

Hero let out a sob as they covered their face. "Of course, I can't do anything right. "

"No–"

Didn't think I'll witness so much antisemitism in my lifetime thought we agreed on "never again"

Me once again asking you for one more continuation of the same story ahaha :) If you don't mind could you please write one more part for the villain prince and the hero baker?

This was more complicated than it needed to be. The baker made it more complicated than it needed to be. Though, the prince supposed, this was more the hero than the baker, he was just used to seeing a timid baker. He almost missed the baker’s timidness, and would give anything to get it back.

Anything might be a stretch, only because the prince knew how to find the hero, no help would be needed, nothing would have to be sacrificed.

It was easy to track them, easy to buy the brooch back, easy to listen who had sold it for what price, and easy to narrow down where the seller would go next.

The only inn that far in the outskirts of the kingdom, yet just close enough to hear the words and rumors of traders leaving the kingdom. Hero had made fast progress in a manner of days, while the baker blended in with the crowd.

The prince knew he was right, he could almost feel it, the hero was as good as his.

That didn’t stop any of the obstacles from trying to prevent the prince from reclaiming his newest charge.

There was the matter of his father, and how much trust the old man had in him. Officially, the prince was hunting with his group. His group was sent to a summer palace, a summer palace ‘Villain’ would have to target, just in case any of his group got a bit mouthy.

Going incognito while being a member of the royal family was proving difficult. The crown’s only heir was well recognized, to the point where the trail of people he was following would jump at his every word.

He became more worried about loose lips the longer he looked at the bumbling inn-keeper.

“The prince.” She had gasped, dropping the tray to the ground. “Your highness.” She followed suit with the tray, dropping into a low curtsy.

That set off an array of chattering, something he hoped to avoid, especially if the hero was around, especially if they now knew he was here.

Regardless, he bowed, mustering his most kingly smile.

“One can only dream of such hospitality, my lady.”

She blushed at that, rising from her position, forgetting about the fallen tray, and whatever patron she planned on giving it to.

“How can I help you, your highness? Would you be needing a room?”

The prince didn’t scoff, but he was close. Here? A room here? He was almost certain the hero’s cell was nicer than this place.

“No, my lady, that won’t be necessary. I’m afraid my friend and I were separated during our touring of the kingdom, and was hoping to find them here.” The lie came easily.

“Of course, my prince. What might their name be?” She asked, scurrying behind the counter to reach for a large ledger.

A smile bloomed across the prince’s face. He didn’t suspect the baker had much experience with being on the run, probably even used their real name.

“(Baker’s name).”

After a moment of trailing her finger across the pages, the inn-keeper looked up. “Ah, yes! Right here, room eight. Shall I fetch them for you?”

“No!”

The inn-keeper’s bright face dimmed, taken aback by the prince’s outburst.

He managed to collect himself in less than a second.

“Forgive me, my lady.” He threw in a bashful smile. “I only wish to surprise them after their days of loneliness.”

Her bright face returned. “Of course, your highness! Would you be needing a key?”

“If you would please, my lady.”

She handed it to him with a grin and a hardly stifled giggle.

“Thank you for your kindness, my lady.”

Gullible.

Gullibility was expected, though. How could one manage an argument against a prince?

He tried to quiet his boots, he tried only of focusing on the hero’s face, the baker’s face.

The prince did not focus on how he missed this, the chase, the inevitable draw. He did not focus on how it’s better for the hero to stay locked away. He did not focus on his father. He would not.

But it was all he could do to focus on the hero’s sleeping form. That wasn’t what he was expecting.

The prince cursed himself for that. He was meant to be a brilliant strategist, and yet, he didn’t take this into possibility.

Walking out with the hero in his arms would be suspicious, prince or not. The best course of action would be to awaken the hero, tell them that if a prince couldn’t ruin the lives of everyone here, a villain could, and take the hero away without much of a struggle.

But he didn’t want to. Why would he want to?

“Damn.” The prince cursed softly. “Damn you and your games.”

In truth, he knew the hero wasn’t playing games, not like the prince was. The hero was simply trying to hold themself and the kingdom up, especially against the siege of the villain.

And the prince was trying to be greater than any of the kings and queens before him, greater than his father, greater than the dangers that lurked with the hero’s second job. If this meant a few lives were lost, so be it. If buildings were burned, so be it. It would all burn, eventually, and it would all rise higher than before.

But pesky heroes didn’t understand that. And overbearing kings don’t understand the complexity of heroes.

The prince buried his face in his hands. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go

Something cold on his neck had him much more grounded.

“Don’t say a word, little prince.” Said a voice that now lacked a cheery disposition. “Royalty or not, you don’t get to harm them.”

“That was never my intention.”

“Was it not?” Another voice asked, the hero now sitting up without a hint of tiredness. “Or did you just want to use me for some twisted game because of your own boredom?”

“A trick.” The prince would’ve laughed if there weren’t a knife to his throat. “Clever and pesky.”

“An awful combination.” The hero finished for him. “Here’s how this is going to go-”

“You don’t-” the prince tried to interrupt, only for the inn-keeper to yank him farther back with the knife. “You wouldn’t.”

“They wouldn’t.” The inn-keeper agreed. “I, on the other hand, wouldn’t hesitate. I always told them they were a tad too soft to be a hero.”

“Besides the point.” The hero focused them back on track. “You’re going to leave me alone, your highness. And whatever you’re hiding, you’re going to tell us, now.”

Us? Them and the inn-keeper?

“Why do you assume I’m hiding something?” The prince didn’t let his emotions bubble to the surface, as tempting as it was.

“What was it he said, baker?” The inn-keeper asked, the grin evident in her voice. She was enjoying this a little too much. “‘He’s not the only royal who has a problem with heroes’?”

“Something like that.”

The prince grit his teeth. Not how it was meant to go.

He slammed his foot onto the inn-keeper’s, and when he felt her try to push the knife down, he grabbed onto the arm holding the knife, and twisted her around.

“I wouldn’t hesitate either.” The prince seethed, the knife feeling unfamiliar and heavy in his hand. “Pesky hero, this is how it’s going to go-”

“Is it? Two against one, even if she’s incapacitated.” The hero winked at the inn-keeper.

It was getting harder for the prince to keep his cool.

“I can harm her, or we can walk away. The two of us. You’d live comfortably, and out of the way.”

“Out of the way?” The inn-keeper hissed. “From you.”

Ah, so she knew. That made it problematic.

The prince knew what he must do, and didn’t bother masking the grimace. “My way, the kingdom’s way, who can keep track? Regardless, you, my lady, are an obstacle.”

As soon as the knife came a centimeter closer to her, the hero pounced.

When the blade met skin, the hero met the villain, a strong and graceful arm swinging around the villain’s neck, the other pulling back the villain’s arm. An equally strong and graceful leg kicked the inn-keeper forward.

Then they fought, like heroes and villains often did.

The inn-keeper grasped at her neck, relieved to find herself still breathing, still alive, and able to help.

Despite something warm dripping down her neck, she joined in, scraping and clawing at the villain with unkempt ferocity.

The inn-keeper might have made a better hero, a more straightforward hero, but her vicious streak was brutal.

A prince eventually found himself on the floor, a baker on top of him.

“Tell me!” The baker demanded, carefully investigating the pinned down prince. “What are you hiding?”

“Nothing for you to worry about, pesky thing.”

“It is,” the baker gritted, their grip on the prince beginning to shake. “when you imprison me.”

“Imprisonment is a strong word, a correct word, but still-”

The hero punched the villain, and a baker began to shake, while a prince only smiled in appreciation.

“I’m not trying to fight you.” He claimed, eyes drifting to the hero’s hands.

There were bandages. Presumably the cuts made from the hero breaking and jumping from the window.

“Oh, that’s rich. Not trying to fight the one person who’s been-”

“Inn-keeper.” The hero stopped her before moving onto the prince. “You know what an indirect attack is?”

And the prince, who had seen battles, did. The villain, however, struggled with this.

“You don’t harm me directly. You go after people I care about, places I care about.”

They were right. The question was if it was an attack from the prince or the villain, as he had a habit of slipping into both roles unknowingly.

“True enough.” The prince conceded. “But there’s no other way. I need you gone, you won’t go.”

“Yet you won’t kill me.”

“Baker!” The inn-keeper exclaimed.

“I know what I’m doing.”

The prince took another glance at the hero’s hands. “Most definitely you do. No. I won’t kill you. I would never kill you.”

“You want a trophy, then?”

“No. I have no need for those.”

The hero didn’t glance back to speak. “You should go, inn-keeper, make sure your patrons are alright.”

“Baker, I can’t leave you, he’s manipulating you, and-”

“No he’s not.” The hero said, still focused on the prince beneath them. “He can’t. Please, inn-keeper. Whatever happens in here will be for the good of the kingdom.”

With sly eyes, the inn-keeper focused on the prince and the baker, some sudden realization hitting her.

She snatched the discarded knife off the floor before she left.

Then a baker and a prince were alone.

“Do you plan on staying there the whole time, or are we going to be able to talk civilly?” The prince’s tone was joking, his face anything but.

“You are about as civil as a wild animal.”

“That’s not right. I have excellent manners and social poise.”

The hero scoffed, releasing the hold they had on the prince before standing.

“Plead your case, your highness.”

“You should come back with me, quickly, quietly.”

The hero snorted. “Horrible argument. Why should I?”

“I could threaten you all day long. Hurt the inn-keeper, destroy your bakery, have the kingdom burn, but none of it would work. You ran, knowing well enough that I could have destroyed your bakery.”

The hero glared, trying desperately to ignore the growing pit inside their stomach.

“Killing the inn-keeper would do nothing. I would have nothing motivating you after the fact.”

“Don’t try it again. You’d have better luck killing me.”

The prince rolled his eyes at the melodramatics.“So, Hero, Baker, whatever title you prefer. This isn’t me threatening, manipulating, indirectly attacking, this is me asking you to come with me. To stay out of the way, please.”

“Hm. You still haven’t given me any reason to. I don’t enjoy your company. I don’t like villainy. I prefer free range.”

“Most people do, but you do not have the opportunity to be most people.”

“Why?” The hero demanded. “You really believe you’re doing the best for your people, why is this the best?”

Standing in an inn room, a prince spoke, and a hero listened.

“You do everything for Hero, don’t you?” Villain patronized them, an unsettling grin rising on their face.  Hero’s sidekick felt adrenaline course through them, already not liking the turn the conversation had taken.  They kept silent, adamant not to give Villain the attention they so clearly wanted.  

“You’re their soldier. You do anything and everything for Hero- you live and breathe for them.” Villain continued.  Sidekick bit the inside of their cheek hard, restraining themselves from rising to the bait.  

“If only they knew, how you feel about them.” Villain mocked, a deceivingly sympathetic expression on their face.  Sidekick gulped, clenching their shaking fists.

“You know, Hero cares about me far more than they ever cared about you.” Villain continued. Sidekick rubbed their face, feeling the familiar burn of tears lingering at the back of their eyes.  “You’ll never have a chance with them, and you know it.” Sidekick immediately felt what little self-preservation they had left disappear, and they launched themselves at Villain in a rage.

“Shut up. Just shut up!” Sidekick screamed, fists flying at Villain before they could even register what they were doing.  Villain fell to the ground, but Sidekick  didn’t care. They didn’t think, just punched and punched and punched-

“Sidekick?”

Sidekick froze, their fist only a couple inches from Villain’s beaten and bloody face.  They turned around, heart pounding, and they met Hero’s shocked eyes. They glanced at Hero, at Villain’s barely conscious form behind them, and tried to come up with an explanation.  Sidekick tried to talk but their mouth felt sewn shut.  Their lips wouldn’t move, and all they could hear was the sharp ringing sound reverberating in their ears.    

“Sidekick, what have you done?” Hero’s eyes were blown wide, a frightful expression on their face.  

“No, wait, Hero, I-” Sidekick tried to justify, walking up to Hero and looking up at them.

“I don’t want to hear it.” Hero said with an icy tone, shoving them aside and walking over to Villain.  Sidekick reeled back, the disappointment in Hero’s voice hurting more than any punch or blow could.  They watched as Hero knelt down and touched Villain’s cheek in an intimate gesture that made Sidekick feel sick to their stomach.  Villain was right. Shaking their head, Sidekick turned around and bolted, tears blurring their vision as their shoes slapped against the pavement.