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gbee-writes · 6 months

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CW: multiple mentions of child death/murder and intent of child murder (not descriptive but main focus), implied/mentioned adult murder x2 (not descriptive), needle mention, dehumanizing language and conversations, HEAVY ANGST with happy (bittersweet?) ending.

“It isn’t right.” Scientist spat out, venom dripping from the words. “That thing came out wrong.”

Supervillain gently pulled Scientist away from her work table. Each time she had failed her attempt she seemed to get more and more angry with herself. It broke his heart to hear. The mistakes weren’t her fault, Scientist was brilliant and her work was brilliant.

“I just- I want him back Supervillain…I want our baby back…” Her voice wavered.

He cupped the back of her head as she pushed her face into his shoulder. “We’ll have him back darling, we just need to try again. If anyone can do this right, it’s you.”

Scientist twisted his cardigan in her fists as she clearly struggled not to cry. It had been almost a year now without any significant progress in bringing Child back but Supervillain had absolutely no doubt in his wife.

This was the woman who had somehow cured what would have been the terminal illness to take him out, the woman who took control of a hero’s powers through the use of their own body like a puppet, the one who Supervillain knew with full certainty could take the world down without true opposition. There was a reason he had fallen so deeply and irreversibly in love with her.

His heart wrenched as a broken, muffled sob shook her frame. “I can’t stand that thing walking around looking like him. It’s mocking me, Supervillain! I can’t stand it! It’s going around with his face as if it deserves to take his place. It’s mocking my failure!”

“Hush love, hush now.” Supervillain scooped her up and carried her from the lab.

The walk to their room was a long one as the lab was on the other side of the manor and they passed several henchmen on their way. Each one of them quickly averted their eyes, either from respect or from fear. They all knew what Supervillain would do to them if they even just thought of using Scientist’s vulnerability to an advantage. Even still, it was a relief to finally reach the carved oak doors.

Scientist was coaxed into her pajamas before Supervillain tucked her into their bed. It was only noon but she had been up the whole night trying to find what had gone wrong with that thing and she needed the sleep.

He laid a soft kiss to her forehead. “Don’t worry darling. That imposter will be gone by the time you wake; I’ll take care of it.”

---

“Six.”

Supervillain paused. It was rare that his captain of security said anything. He preferred to be monosyllabic or simply silent most of the time. “Excuse me?”

“This is the sixth child you will kill.” Captain was still standing at attention by the clone’s door but he watched Supervillain out of the corner of his eye. “You’ve made six of them since you lost Child. Scientist was crying again; you’re going to kill him too.”

It wasn’t a question.

Supervillain pulled his hand from the nob. “Your point, Captain?”

“How many of these poor children need to die before you two realize there isn’t any getting Child back? How many more before Scientist is too broken to keep trying? Before you finally stop adding to that grave pit in the garden?”

Rage ballooned in his chest, threatening to break his ribs. “Scientist is brilliant, if any one can bring him back-”

“No one can bring him back.”

“Captain-”

“Sir, no one can bring Child back, not even Scientist. This isn’t healthy for you two or fair on the children you bring into short existence before ripping them back out of it.”

“They aren’t children!” Supervillain roared. “They’re just clones, mockeries of my son, failed resurrections!”

Captain finally moved to fully face him. The disgust on his face was jarring to Supervillain, startling and unfamiliar. “Even with all your power you aren’t a god Supervillain and neither is Scientist. You can’t bring people back from the dead. Child is gone. He’s never, never going to come back to you.”

Supervillain’s rage flipped around wildly with the soul crushing grief that had taken over far too much of his life. “He’s not-!”

“He. Is. GONE. You’ve thrown away five perfectly good children that you might have grown to love and now you set another one up for slaughter like a pig. That’s all you two are doing; making pigs for slaughter. What has Clone ever done wrong by you besides deciding he didn’t like something that Child did? He isn’t your son, none of them will be, not because he isn’t Child, but because you decided so the second he was made.”

Silence blanketed the hall. The tension could have been cut with a knife. Distantly the ticking of a clock counted seconds away. Finally;

“You have gotten far too comfortable with speaking to me in such a disrespectful way, Captain. We aren’t your friends, we are your superiors, and I expect you to treat us as such. Never question our work again, just follow your orders.”

Captain’s features hardened. “Of course Sir. I’ll go clean the bathrooms as punishment and I’ll be sure not to let myself care for you two again.”

Supervillain growled as Captain strode off with a sneer. His white knuckled fists crackled with energy. Captain didn’t understand, he didn’t grasp the devastation that came with losing Child, nor the pain of having the clones turn out so different from him.

He thrust the door open. The clone was seated with its back to the door, cross legged on the side of the bed. It was smaller than the rest, maybe younger? Scientist had taken it out of the growth tube sooner than the others.

“How did he die?” Clone asked without turning around.

“What?” Supervillain growled.

“Child,” Clone mumbled slightly. “How did he die? No one will tell me, and I’m going to die too either way, I figured asking you personally before it happened wouldn’t hurt…”

Wouldn’t hurt? Thinking about that day always hurt. His teeth nearly cracked from how tightly his jaw clenched. “What makes you think you deserve to know?”

Clone twisted a little scrap of cloth in his hands. He seemed less scared of his imminent death than the others had been. How odd. “Nothing, I guess. I was just curious really, everyone looks…I don’t know, kind of sick when they think about it. I guess I just wanted to know what would make everyone feel so bad. No one seems to feel that bad about me dying I don’t think. It must have been really bad then.”

Supervillain’s eyes stung. “It wasn’t just how he died, it was the fact that he’s not here.”

“Why isn’t anyone sad about that with me then?”

It was clearly just an innocent question, a child clone trying to understand, but it made fury lick against Supervillain’s ribs. This stupid thing really thought it mattered as much as Child had? “Why would anyone be sad at your death? You’ve only been alive three days, no one knows you, no one loves you. We love Child; that’s why we aren’t sad about you.”

“Oh.”

A long stretch of nothing happened where Supervillain only watched the little clone. He noted that Clone worried at the cloth in much the same way Scientist worried at her sleeves when she was having trouble with an experiment. His eyes creased the way Supervillain’s did when he overworked.

Odd…none of the others had shown similarities. Or maybe they had and he’d been too blind to notice it?

A wobbly, thick-with-tears voice broke the trance Supervillain had fallen into. “If I had been alive as long as Child, would anyone be sad at me dying then?”

‘Would anyone love me then?’

The insinuated question lingered in the air. Supervillain clenched his jaw tighter. Why was his throat suddenly thick with a pesky lump, why did tears track down his cheeks, why was he hesitating at such a stupid question?!

Dragging air into his rattling lungs burned like drowning.

He couldn’t do it.

Supervillain turned heel and threw himself out into the hallway. Several henchmen flinched as the door slammed shut. He couldn’t choke out the order not to clean up, there was nothing to clean up after all, and as he rushed to get to his bedroom he heard the clone’s door creak open and poorly muffled exclamations of shock.

---

Telling Scientist was less frightening than he thought it would be. She had been angry at first, furious about having to see a false Child running around any longer. He ended up sleeping in a spare room that night and the next. Eventually though she had sought Supervillain out.

He had been in the study failing to read when Scientist found him. “I don’t know why I thought killing them wouldn’t affect you…they look just like him…”

He set the book down and gestured her into his lap. “I promise I didn’t want to hurt you by not-”

“Oh Hon, I know you didn’t.” Scientist curled in close. Her warmth was a much welcome comfort. “I couldn’t kill them myself because they looked like him, of course so many of them would be detrimental to you. I’m so sorry Supervillain. It was selfish of me to ask you to dispose of them so I wouldn’t have to.”

Child used to sit with them in the library, snuggled right beside Supervillain as Scientist curled in his lap, the pair of them listening as he read whatever book Child had picked out. A lump formed in his throat again. God did he miss those moments. His chest ached. He hated that ache and how familiar it had gotten.

“I…I can do it again. I think I just need more time to brace myself. I’ll get rid of him Darling, I just need some time.”

“Okay dear.”

---

A week later Supervillain was back at the clone’s room preparing himself for what had to come. Only he wasn’t in the bed like last time. Clone was curled up in the egg shaped wicker chair on the balcony. He was so small that Supervillain had almost missed him. “I’m sorry…”

Supervillain furrowed his brows. “You’re sorry?”

“For upsetting you…the guards told me asking about Child made you hurt. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.” His brows furrowed together. Supervillain wasn’t exactly being courteous to this child, why was he apologizing? “Are you gonna do it now?”

“Pardon?” Supervillain startled. Right; kill him, Clone was asking if he was going to kill him yet. “Oh. Yes, I am.”

Clone nodded before twisting around into a more cozy spot, pulling a pillow up to his chest to cuddle. He rubbed his face on the fabric a bit before going still. “Okay, I’m ready.”

No tears...no fighting...no begging?

This wasn’t right.

“Aren’t you scared?” Supervillain found the words leaving his mouth without permission.

“Yeah…I’m really scared…but seeing me hurts you and your wife. One of the guards told me that. He said seeing the others did too so you got rid of them so she wouldn’t hurt anymore. I don’t want to make anyone hurt…”

“...getting rid of you won’t make it hurt less.”

Clone blinked up at him with watery doe eyes. “It won’t? But you don’t know me.”

‘You don’t love me.’

“No, it won’t.” Supervillain let his legs give out and landed in the second egg chair with the soft thump. “It’s not having you here, it’s having him gone.”

“Then why are you sad when you see me?”

“You look like him. You’re meant to, of course, but you aren’t him and that…” Supervillain chuckled without humor. He ran his hand through his tangled hair that he realized he’d forgotten to brush. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

“Does it make you feel better?”

“I don’t know. A little, perhaps.”

Clone thought for a moment. “Then…I can listen until you want to get rid of me…if it’ll help.”

Supervillain pulled his hand down his face. What was he doing? He hadn’t let the others talk but here he was, sitting down with Clone as if he were...

“Did you really want to know how he died?”

That’s where it started, telling Clone how Child had begged to join the heroes. How they had made a deal with the agency to never cause further harm as long as Child could apprentice with the best hero in the city.

How that hero had betrayed the trust that Scientist and Supervillain, that Child, had placed in them.

How the agency had covered it up as an accident to save face.

The funeral, Scientist’s desperate attempts to bring Child back, the toll of taking the lives of children who looked like Child just so Scientist would hurt less.

Once he started talking about it, Supervillain couldn’t stop. He choked on his words at times, bit back tears unsuccessfully, but for the first time in a year the grief ebbed if only just a fraction.

When it was finally all out Supervillain looked over to Clone, who was shivering. It was pitch black out. How long had he been talking?

Supervillain wasn’t sure why but he grabbed the throw blanket on the edge of the bed and tucked the child in with it. He knelt down so he could be face to face with him. “I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have this hanging over you...”

“Supervillain?”

He whipped around to see his wife by the door. Horror washed over her features. “Scientist-”

“You haven’t killed it, have you?”

“I-”

“You said you were going to get rid of it now, not talk to it as if it were him.”

“Please listen-”

“You lied to me, Supervillain! You said it would be gone by dinner but it’s nearly midnight and you’re coddling it!” She threw herself about and stormed out the door.

Supervillain launched to his feet. “Wait! Scientist please-” The door slammed behind him as he bolted towards the shrinking figure of his wife. “Scientist!”

Henchmen and guards leapt out of his way as he tried to catch up with her before it was too late. He didn’t care about the shouts of surprise, or the hushed questions that trailed behind, he only cared about stopping his wife from taking a child clone’s life.

He didn’t catch up to her until she was in her lab. “Scientist, listen-”

“No! I won’t have that thing in my home anymore! I want Child not some clone.” She spat vitriol with the words.

Something hot and bitter built up in his chest, an emotional bile leaving a horrid tang at the back of his mouth. “They’re ALL clones! Even if we had Child back in a new body it would just. Be. A clone!”

Scientist whipped around. There was a syringe fulled with a liquid he didn’t know clenched in her fist. “I can get him back; I have to get him back!” There was a crazy light in her eyes that Supervillain had never seen before. “I have to get him back, it’s my fault- I have to...I HAVE TO GET HIM BACK!”

“Scientist!” Captain’s voice cut through their argument. She looked to him. “Put the needle down.”

Tears streamed her reddened cheeks, nose scrunched with frustration and rage. Her knuckles turned white around the syringe. For a terrifying moment Supervillain feared he would need to overpower her to get her to stop.

Then her face fell. Relief flooded him as her arm went limp and the needle clattered on the floor.

“I can’t…I can’t do it, can I?”

Captain shook his head. “No.”

The way Supervillain’s heart fractured hurt so much worse than he could ever describe, swearing he could almost hear it. He didn’t want to admit it out loud but Scientist needed to know the truth. “Child is gone and we…we can’t bring him back…” He tried to swallow down the lump in his throat. “...and I can’t take having another son dead…”

Scientist looked at her hands with horror. “...we went too far…Supervillain we-...we killed our children…” She broke down, collapsing into Supervillain with a devastated cry. “We’re no better than Hero!”

“No, we’re worse...” He dug his fingers into the back of her lab coat. “And it’s about time we made that clear.”

Supervillain handed Scientist off to Captain with a pointed look. Captain nodded. “I’ll make sure she’s well.”

“Clone too, he was-”

“Already in bed, sir. I had the others care for him as soon as you left the room.”

“Good. I don’t know when I’ll return.”

“Understood.”

---

The streets were quiet, the people locked away in their homes as if they could sense Supervillain’s rage flooding the city. He followed the route he knew Hero took for patrols.

Soon he was rewarded with a figure crouched at the edge of a roof. She was stocky and short, her hair tied up in a thick ponytail.

“Nope, it’s quiet here. ETA for base is about an hour. I want to check the low income districts one more time.” Supervillain padded up behind Hero silently. “Alright, I’ll check in in thirty. Hero out!”

“Hero out, indeed.”

She flipped around with a yelp. Her expression only became more frightened as she took in his towering form. A smirk pulled his lips. “It’s been quite some time. A year, right?”

Hero swallowed before trying to control her expression. “Since the funeral. You and Scientist...are doing well I assume? You haven’t kept in contact with the agency.”

“Why would we speak with the people who didn’t punish our son’s murderer?”

“The coroner declared it as an accident, Supervillain.” Her pointed glare only cased the burning rage to flair.

He sneered at her. “But it wasn’t, was it?”

Hero’s fear morphed to rage. She balled her fists as she stepped closer to him. He had to keep from throwing her as her face pushed right into his. “I deserved better than a villain kid as my sidekick. I’m the greatest hero in this city! He should have been put with Astra or Blackout; someone who’s just as much of a joke for a hero as your kid was.”

Supervillain held up a small remote. “Child idolized you. He used to say he wanted to be just like you when he grew up.” He hit the button on the remote. Hero flinched and grabbed at her ear where her communicator was. “I’m glad he never got the chance.”

“What was that? What are you-”

“EMP. Scientist designed this one. I don’t want you calling for help before I’m done.”

Her face paled again, bravado leaving in an instant. “You won’t, you can’t! The agreement-”

“Means nothing if Child is not here. We agreed to stop so long as he was training under you; he is no longer training.” His fingertips lit up with energy. He lifted them close to her face and the green reflected in Hero’s widening eyes. Supervillain considered his next move with a devilish grin. “I’ve been holding in quite a lot of pain this last year.”

“Supervillain-”

“I think it’s time I let some of it out, wouldn’t you? It’s so much more healthy to the grieving process.”

“Don’t be hasty!” Hero’s voice broke. Satisfaction rushed him as she scrambled to add back the distance she’d closed.

His laugh echoed in the empty streets. Deranged, heartbroken, lethal. Supervillain had missed the utter terror in her eyes. This was who he was at his core; a weapon that reveled in the destruction it caused. A predator killing just to see the blood painting the streets and bodies left in it’s wake.

For Child he would deny that part of himself; for his son he would sacrifice everything but his wife. Power, money, satiating the blood lust, he would give it all away for his son.

But Child was gone. Child was dead.

“Eleven months of stewing is hasty to you? How odd, it only took one for you to kill my son.” His tone was hard. It was clear he wouldn’t back down.

Hero tried to step back again but only found air. Supervillain closed the distance. Energy crackled from his hands all the way up to his shoulders. He felt a deep gratification as Hero decided to scramble from the building and run.

The hunt was on.

---

Supervillain loved when the agency begged. One of the lower heroes was cowering by the door, clearly wanting to be elsewhere.

“Supervillain, I’ve been sent to request-”

“Another peace meeting, I know. I’m afraid we no longer have interest in such agreements.” He ran his hands through Scientist’s hair. It was a shame the request had come during family time. Clone Kid was asleep in Scientist’s lap, she was leaned on his side, the book he’d been reading abandoned on a side table.

Blackout swallowed thickly. “Please, it’s been months. The agency is willing to do anything.”

He raised his brows. “Are they? Absolutely anything?”

“...yes.”

“Fine. We’ll pace ourselves.”

“They want you to stop-”

“That is not a possibility anymore.” Blackout looked like he swallowed a rock. “We will pace ourselves if they denounce Hero and reveal what they did to Child.”

At this Blackout bristled. “What does it matter what Hero did to them? They’re dead and you have a new Child! Why would you need-”

Energy crackled up Supervillain’s hand, ruining the arm of the couch and waking Kid. Scientist shifted so he could stand. Rage boiled in every cell. “New Child? New? Child?! Kid is not Child, he never was and he never will be. Child is gone because of your Hero and it’s a dishonor of his memory to hide it!”

“A dishonor like cloning him and pretending it never happened? Using his DNA as a plaything to create a little fake so you can play house again?” Blackout’s rage disappeared instantly as the words registered. “No, wait I didn’t mean-”

Supervillain lunged. His hand wrapped Blackout’s throat as he slammed the hero against the wall. “Don’t you dare pretend to know why we made Kid, you insolent moron!”

Blackout clawed at his hand desperately. “I’m sorry!”

“Hmm.” Supervillain tightened his hold. “Hero was right; you are a joke. Not even a little fight.” Energy surged through his hands and the body hit the floor. “Captain?”

“Yes sir?”

“Have that delivered to the agency. Maybe they’ll get the message this time.”

“With pleasure.”

He turned back to his family. Kid was rubbing sleep from his eyes with a yawn as Scientist stretched out her legs. A softer smile pulled up the corners of his mouth. “We still have time before I need to go to my meeting, would you two like to walk with me?”

Master-list

#My writing #hero and villain #scientist x supervillain #corrupt hero #corrupt agency #child death #murder #the very last bit got lost and I frankly do not have the energy to re-write it #it just had a description of the memorial they made to the lost clones #I'm sorry this is late but I lost two of my pets and I needed time to grieve #uh hang on this needs a title #uh #a dozen for a dime

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little-blurry-stars5 · 2 months

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do you think if chuuya joined the ada and became an offcial member hed be able to control corruption bc of fukazawas ability.

#bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #jett posts #chuuya nakahara #bsd chuuya #ada chuuya #corruption chuuya #ada #armed detective agency

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 3 months

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Supreme Court poised to appoint federal judges to run the US economy.

January 18, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

JAN 17, 2024

The Supreme Court heard oral argument on two cases that provide the Court with the opportunity to overturn the “Chevron deference doctrine.” Based on comments from the Justices, it seems likely that the justices will overturn judicial precedent that has been settled for forty years. If they do, their decision will reshape the balance of power between the three branches of government by appointing federal judges as regulators of the world’s largest economy, supplanting the expertise of federal agencies (a.k.a. the “administrative state”).

Although the Chevron doctrine seems like an arcane area of the law, it strikes at the heart of the US economy. If the Court were to invalidate the doctrine, it would do so in service of the conservative billionaires who have bought and paid for four of the justices on the Court. The losers would be the American people, who rely on the expertise of federal regulators to protect their water, food, working conditions, financial systems, public markets, transportation, product safety, health care services, and more.

The potential overruling of the Chevron doctrine is a proxy for a broader effort by the reactionary majority to pare the power of the executive branch and Congress while empowering the courts. Let’s take a moment to examine the context of that effort.

But I will not bury the lead (or the lede): The reactionary majority on the Court is out of control. In disregarding precedent that conflicts with the conservative legal agenda of its Federalist Society overlords, the Court is acting in a lawless manner. It is squandering hard-earned legitimacy. It is time to expand the Court—the only solution that requires a simple majority in two chambers of Congress and the signature of the president.

The “administrative state” sounds bad. Is it?

No. The administrative state is good. It refers to the collective body of federal employees, regulators, and experts who help maintain an orderly US economy. Conservatives use the term “administrative state” to denigrate federal regulation and expertise. They want corporations to operate free of all federal restraint—free to pollute, free to defraud, free to impose dangerous and unfair working conditions, free to release dangerous products into the marketplace, and free to engage in deceptive practices in public markets.

The US economy is the largest, most robust economy in the world because federal regulators impose standards for safety, honesty, transparency, and accountability. Not only is the US economy the largest in the world (as measured by nominal GDP), but its GDP per capita ($76,398) overshadows that of the second largest economy, China ($12,270). The US dollar is the reserve currency for the world and its markets are a haven for foreign investment and capital formation. See The Top 25 Economies in the World (investopedia.com)

US consumers, banks, investment firms, and foreign investors are attracted to the US economy because it is regulated. US corporations want all the benefits of regulations—until regulations get in the way of making more money. It is at that point that the “administrative state” is seen as “the enemy” by conservatives who value profit maximization above human health, safety, and solvency.

It is difficult to comprehend how big the US economy is. To paraphrase Douglas Adams’s quote about space, “It’s big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is.” Suffice to say, the US economy is so big it cannot be regulated by several hundred federal judges with dockets filled with criminal cases and major business disputes.

Nor can Congress pass enough legislation to keep pace with ever changing technological and financial developments. Congress can’t pass a budget on time; the notion that it would be able to keep up with regulations necessary to regulate Bitcoin trading in public markets is risible.

What is the Chevron deference doctrine?

Managing the US economy requires hundreds of thousands of subject matter experts—a.k.a. “regulators”—who bring order, transparency, and honesty to the US economy. Those experts must make millions of judgments each year in creating, implementing and applying federal regulations.

And this is where the “Chevron deference doctrine” comes in. When federal experts and regulators interpret federal regulations in esoteric areas such as maintaining healthy fisheries, their decisions should be entitled to a certain amount of deference. And they have received such deference since 1984, when the US Supreme Court created a rule of judicial deference to decisions by federal regulators in the case of Chevron v. NRDC.

What happened at oral argument?

In a pair of cases, the US Supreme Court heard argument on Tuesday as to whether the Chevron deference doctrine should continue—or whether the Court should overturn the doctrine and effectively throw out 17,000 federal court decisions applying the doctrine. According to Court observers, including Mark Joseph Stern of Slate, the answer is “Yes, the Court is poised to appoint federal judges as regulators of the US economy.” See Mark Joseph Stern in Slate, The Supreme Court is seizing more power from Democratic presidents. (slate.com)

I recommend Stern’s article for a description of the grim atmosphere at the oral argument—kind of “pre-demise” wake for the Chevron deference doctrine. Stern does a superb job of explaining the effects of overruling Chevron:

Here’s the bottom line: Without Chevron deference, it’ll be open season on each and every regulation, with underinformed courts playing pretend scientist, economist, and policymaker all at once. Securities fraud, banking secrecy, mercury pollution, asylum applications, health care funding, plus all manner of civil rights laws: They are ultravulnerable to judicial attack in Chevron’s absence. That’s why the medical establishment has lined up in support of Chevron, explaining that its demise would mark a “tremendous disruption” for patients and providers; just rinse and repeat for every other area of law to see the convulsive disruptions on the horizon.

The Kochs and the Federalist Society have bought and paid for this sad outcome. The chaos that will follow will hurt consumers, travelers, investors, patients and—ultimately—American businesses, who will no longer be able to rely on federal regulators for guidance as to the meaning of federal regulations. Instead, businesses will get an answer to their questions after lengthy, expensive litigation before overworked and ill-prepared judges implement a political agenda.

Expand the Court. Disband the reactionary majority by relegating it to an irrelevant minority. If we win control of both chambers of Congress in 2024 and reelect Joe Biden, expanding the Court should be the first order of business.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

#Corrupt SCOTUS #Robert B. Hubbell #Robert b. Hubbell Newsletter #Expand the Court #Chevron deference #regulatory agencies #consumer protection #government by Federalist Society

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hufflepuffwritingstuff2 · 5 months

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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.

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#pen's song-story writing challenge extravaganza #the law by reach #the law #hero x villain #heroes and villains #corrupt superhero #corrupt league #corrupt hero agency #writeblr #writing #creative writing #whump #snippet #drugging #captivity #rescue #arson

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jeanmoreaux · 1 year

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me @ everyone responsible for sacrificing good storytelling on the altar of fanservice and making the decision to undermine the thematic and emotional core of the og trilogy:

#shadow and bone #mish watches sab #it was supposed to be about how being greedy for power will cost you EVERYTHING you care about 🤌#it was supposed to be about realising that by choosing power you will keep yourself from any genuine and fulfilling emotional connection 🤌#it was supposed to be about how power corrupts and love restores 🤌#it was supposed be about a young girl who is used as a pawn by people reclaiming her agency by choosing a life of freedom and love 🤌#but instead it's about the girlbossification of alina starkov #i am angry can you tell.

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occvltswim · 6 months

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The CIA As Organized Crime: How Illegal Operations Corrupt America And The World

#c.i.a.#organized crime #government corruption #central intelligence agency #espionage #psyops #the deep state #books

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winters-dream · 11 months

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tw: death

“Don’t touch me!” shouted the villain. They scrambled away from Hero to the best of their abilities with a smashed in rib cage and shattered ankle. “Don’t come anywhere near me! Don’t treat my wounds, don’t help me. Just stay away!”

They scooted away from them until their back hit the cold concrete of the basement wall. They heaved in a wheezing breath, they were ninety percent sure their ribs had punctured both their lungs and heart. And the entire right side of their body was a bruise. A deep purple, the same shade as a plum. They weren’t sure of their chances of survival, but they were definitely sure they didn’t want Hero’s help. Not after everything they did.

“Villain, if I don’t treat your wounds you will die,” said Hero. They knelt in front of Villain, medical equipment in hand but Villain used their good foot to kick it away. Hero watched as it slid against the far wall then turned back to face the villain.

“I’d rather die,” sneered Villain. “I’d rather die a thousand deaths than be indebted to you, not after what you did.”

Hero shook their head, confused. “After what I did?”

“Yes, after all of this torture, being beaten bloody and electrocuted and torn apart over and over," Villain said. They coughed, turning their head to spit blood. "You want to swoop in and patch me up just to throw me back to the wolves? Forget it."

Another shake of the head, Hero spoke. "None of that was me, Superhero did this to you."

Villain rolled their eyes with a scoff, the action causing a sharp pain to spread through their chest. They winced from the pain but still pulled away when Hero reached out a hand.

"No, all you did was hand me over on a silver platter," they said. "You walked me in here, watched the other heroes lock me up, disappeared for months while Superhero did what they wanted to me. You're the reason I'm like this."

Hero gazed down at the broken mess of the villain’s body, their eyes watering at the realization of the truth behind Villain’s words. They turned Villain in, they left them in the agency's care, they lived their life like normal. They were promised Villain would be in safe hands, they didn't know this was Superhero’s idea of 'safe'. They didn't know.

"Villain, I had no idea you were being treated like this, I thought you’d be safe—”

“Safe—” Villain shouted the word, but that seemed to be a mistake as a sharp pain pierced through their chest, knocking the air out of their lungs. They gasped for air, a hand clinging to their chest as an invisible fist seemed to close tightly around their heart. Still, they pushed Hero’s hands away, refusing any ounce of help from the person who put them here.

“I should have died my first night here,” they choked out. “I’ve been through Hell and back and again. You have a sick concept of the word ‘safety’.”

“I didn’t know,” whispered Hero. “The plan was to only have you imprisoned for a couple years and then I’d help you escape. If I had known Supervillain would do this, I—”

They broke off with a hitch of their breath. They reached out and held onto Villain’s arm, refusing to let Villain shake them off.

“You’re my best friend, I would never hurt you.” Villain made a noise at the back of their throat, but Hero continued. “It’s not too late. I can fix you up and get you out of here. I’ll keep you hidden, you’ll never have to face Superhero again. Just please, let me treat your wounds.”

Tears had begun to cascade down their face, Villain’s hate-filled eyes, usually so full of life, becoming duller by the second. They shook their head, angling it to face away from Hero.

“How dare you call me your friend?” they muttered. “You lost that title years ago when you literally stabbed me in the back. Piss off.”

They felt a few tears of their own to fall, but they refused to acknowledge them.

“So you’re going to refuse help that you desperately need just because I’m the one offering it?”

It took more energy than Villain cared to admit to shrug their shoulders, to act like their next words didn’t hurt them as much as they hurt Hero.

“It’s better to be dead than receive help from the enemy.”

That was that last thing they said before they couldn’t anymore. They tasted blood in the back of their throat, felt the thick liquid rise up, cutting off their air supply. They took one last gasp of air, the pain in their chest unbearable as they did. They lifted their gaze to Hero, their crying face the last thing they saw as death finally took them.

#my own #writing #fantasy #imagines #oneshot #writers of tumblr #female writers #hero #villain #hero x villain #villain x hero #villains and heroes #heroes and villains #whump #imprisonment #captive #corrupt superhero #corrupt hero agency #tw death

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carrotkicks · 1 year

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role reversal aus are fun. this time lets do like. 60% of the cast

#reverse skk aus are great but consider. consider. reverse fukumori #this is just my excuse to push my Good Person Mori agenda tho tbh #mori being a kindhearted doctor who takes in yosano after the war and they start their funny little detective agency!#ranpo and fukuzawa in their evil era take over a criminal organization because they can do it better #Oda is killed by the mimic situation but this time it happened bc the government commissioned him for that case #dazai has a corruption arc. he leaves the light for darkness because he doesn't think justice for oda will ever be served by the agency #so he joins the mafia. it's never what Oda would have wanted for him and he only gets more miserable #I havent figured out the logistics of chuuya's story but like. 15 and stormbringer happen in some way #and Higuchi the new recruit and defos the protagonist #bsd #bungo stray dogs #not art #reverse au

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lotus-pear · 9 months

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THE NEW BSD CHAPTER?????? HELLO?????? EHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK FYODOR

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the-starlit-authoress · 1 month

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Chance

Part Two

Villain coughed as they pulled themself out of the wreckage. The wreckage the heroes caused, but would surely be blamed on them in tomorrow's news. Their knees gave out immediately the first time they tried to stand, pain went shooting through their side.

Sitting on the ground, they surveyed the damage. There was a gruesome gash on their side, probably caused by the broken chunks of stone ceiling they had been buried under. Their ribs were probably fractured, if not broken.

Carefully, ever so carefully, they managed to stand up. With a hand clutching their side they started limping in the vague direction of their base, planning to get home, do the bare minimum required to treat their wounds and pass out.

And that's when they heard it.

Crying. A baby crying. It sounded close. Too close.

It only took a minute or two of looking around to find the source of the sound. It was a struggle to lift the debris given the state they were in, but Villain managed. It was in fact a baby, and probably the only reason it had survived was because who Villain assumed to be its mother had used herself to shield it. They frowned at the sight. Another causality caused by heroes' disregard for civilians. This too, would probably be blamed on them.

Villain wasn't sure what to do. They couldn't take the child in somewhere, they'd be arrested on the spot. And they couldn't leave it here either, who knows when someone would come back to clean up the mess. It wouldn't survive here on its own.

They really only had one option.

"Uh, hey there, little buddy." the Villain said awkwardly as they tried to scoop the wailing baby up into their injured arms. "could you maybe, uh, stop crying? Please? It's a long walk back to my house and I'd rather not draw attention..."

Unsurprisingly, the baby did not comply.

They frowned but didn't know what else to do. What they did know was if they stood here much longer their legs were gonna give out again. So they began the slow, and painful, trek home.

Eventually, the baby did stop crying. Perhaps it just exhausted itself. Whatever the reason, Villain was grateful. By the time they made it home the baby had fallen asleep. They laid it down on the sofa and dragged themself to the bathroom to deal with the gash in their side, the rest could wait until they rested.

When they came back, the baby was awake and crying again. They gathered it into their arms and sunk into the couch. "....Sorry about your mom little guy. The heroes are pretty reckless."

They could feel themself getting closer to passing out. "You're lucky I found you, though it was purely by chance....Chance, huh? That seems like a pretty good name for you."

Their eyelids slipped closed as they fell asleep with the baby in their arms and mumbled. "Welcome to the dark side, Chance."

#heroes and villains #villains and heroes #hero and villain prompts #writing #villain and hero #Hero and villain #hero and villain community #corrupt hero #hero agency #good villain #accidental adoption #parent villain #reckless hero

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gbee-writes · 1 year

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Viva La Revolution

Chapter one

Tw: Death mention, funeral, corrupt agency, torture, imprisonment, borderline dissociation

---

There was only numb anymore.

Hero had been to plenty of funerals in her time, plenty of close friends gone, and after years of it she couldn’t help but feel hollow in that damn church hall. This was what it was to be a hero in this city.

When she first joined her agency she had been full of vigor and passion. The injuries used to be laughed off in the cafe. Everyone did it; everyone but the older heroes. Hero used to be baffled by their behavior towards the medical mishaps.

What were broken ribs if a dangerous criminal was now behind bars?

What was a major concussion when the death weapons were disabled?

What were the third degree burns?

What were the vicious lacerations?

What was she if not a martyr?

The head of the agency droned on about sacrifice and dedication. “Other Hero was a true hero, he was a man of strength and protection and love.” Hero let out the tiniest huff. As if the head knew anything about her friend.

As if it weren’t his fault Other Hero was in a casket.

Heroes never made it past their fifties. Hero hadn’t noticed at first but she certainly took note after trying to reach out to old retired heroes for advice. She had found that there wasn’t any.

No retired saviors from the city; no true elders to nurture the youths taking over their roles. It hadn’t taken much digging to find out why. Her contract had said it all. Heroes in this city signed their lives away.

She had seen Other Hero’s death from a mile away of course. The week before his final battle they had tea together and she could see how worn down he was. His final words to her drifted through her muddy thoughts.

“I think it’s time for me to rest, Hero.” He had said it with a haunting melancholy. “I’ll miss these tea times.”

Her hands tightened on the skirts of her black dress. Now that she was considered a ‘senior hero’ she finally understood why none of them laughed at the injuries with the fresh meat.

Hero’s body had been ripped apart and forced back together so many times in her long stint as a hero that no part of it felt right. Her knees cracked as she walked, her hands lost objects unless she held them in death grips, her back ached to no end, her mind was too slow in the worst of times.

One injury became two, then three dozen, then four hundred, thousands if you lasted long enough, and all of them came with residual effects.

Retirement would be a dream but no hero retired. If that dotted line was graced with your signature, you weren’t allowed to leave the agency until you were put six feet under. If there was enough of you to do that.

Some of her past partners had tried and they were hunted down and brought back with great prejudice. A few had tried to go over to the other side. Those few were labeled as the highest ranked criminals; kill on sight.

None were still there.

Of her original team, Hero and Sidekick were the only ones left. She could tell Sidekick was close to taking the only way out too.

This wasn’t how she thought her life would go.

Hero thought that by then she would be happily married with a few kids, maybe a grandchild or two as she was pushing fifty, but instead she was bunked with Sidekick in a crappy apartment so the new recruits could get the better accommodations and think they were in good hands.

She was yanked out of her thoughts by Sidekick giving her a gentle nudge. Hero blinked for a moment before realizing it was her turn to speak. Her agency approved note cards were pulled from her pocket.

Up at the podium she could see every person there. The higher ups who were only there to save face, the new recruits shaken, the old heroes with relief on their faces.

Several people jumped when she cleared her throat. “Thank you all for coming.” The camera she had to pretend didn’t exist broadcast her words across the city. “Other Hero was one of my closest friends. We’d defended the city together for nearly two decades and through it all I always admired his conviction to keep fighting.”

Her eyes trailed to the head of the agency. The man who continued to trap young powered kids into lifelong torture with no remorse. ‘For the greater good’ was his motto.

Fire burned in her chest. She was tired of feeling numb, tired of watching her friends let the villains kill them so they could rest. Her cards crumpled in her fists.

“Until the brutal working conditions took that away from him.”

Murmurs spread through the crowd. Head leaned forward, his mask of somber respect replaced with a barely controlled warning.

Hero didn’t care anymore. “Other Hero went the way so many others of us go; letting villains kill us so we can finally get the rest we deserve. We don’t get retirement, or vacations, or break days!”

The other older heroes in the room shouted confirmations. At the realization that he was just about to lose control, Head gestured for Hero to be removed from the spotlight.

She was grabbed from behind and put in power suppressant cuffs. As she was dragged down Sidekick shot to his feet. “We break ourselves with no guarantee of proper medical care! We sacrifice ourselves with no hesitation and are given nothing in return!”

His voice was followed by another, a hero called Fire-bird. “We are not machines or tools, we are people!” Some of the younger heroes joined in the shouts. “We deserve rights, and we won’t stand for less anymore! All heroes strike!”

“Strike! STRIKE! STRIKE!” The chant covered Head’s desperate attempts to calm the situation. Hero felt a wave of satisfaction even as she was dragged from view, probably to be thrown in a cell for inciting rebellion.

---

Week two.

At least Hero was pretty sure it was the start of the second week. Head had visited her cell every day, and today was no exception. His face was twisted in a dangerous snarl.

“The mess you’ve started is getting worse.” He growled out. “People are dying without their heroes.”

Guilt threatened to break her. She hadn’t wanted that. Without the heroes who was stopping the villains? She hadn’t been thinking; she had been in the throws of grief!

A blow to her ribs brought her attention back to Head. “More of my younger recruits are joining this stupid strike!” Another blow to her face.

Hero tried to blink out the spots in her vision but he’d broken her nose the day before and it was stinging fiercely. Her chest heaved painfully; broken ribs from the third day.

Was she going to die trapped there? Beaten to a pulp as punishment for wanting better? Hero bit her tongue as Head slammed his fists into her aching body over and over again. She thought she’d experienced hell before but this...

The weaker part of Hero wished the black on the edges of her vision would take over. Shame mixed with the guilt. She didn’t deserve to black out. People were dying because of her.

Loud thuds and shouts made there way through the door. Head stopped his attack. Both of them stared at the exit, waiting.

Silence.

Hero glanced at Head and saw the fear in his eyes. She looked back to the door.

The quiet was electric with tension. Her nerves were on fire.

Suddenly the door flew off its hinges and smashed a dent in the wall behind her. Silhouetted by the frame was Sidekick, hands held out where the door used to be, and Villain. Hero’s eyes widened.

Her Villain and Sidekick? Together?!

Villain took in the scene rapidly. “You’ve been beating her?” There was a dangerous possessiveness in his voice. A dark chuckle made Head flinch. “Oh naughty naughty. I’m the only one allowed to wail on her.”

Everything moved so quickly Hero struggled to keep up. Head was knocked to the wall just like the door, Villain slamming full force after him. She was scooped up by Sidekick.

“What-”

“Hang on, I’ll get you to our med-base. Villain will take care of that-” Sidekick stopped himself with a growl. “Damned man put the whole complex on lock down so he could keep the rest of the heroes trapped here. I wanted to bust in the first day but Supervillain wanted to get the public on our side before we tried anything.”

Hero gasped out as Sidekick jumped down a full flight of stairs and jolted her numerous injuries. “The people-” She wheezed a bit. “We have to stop the strike, the villains-”

“Aren’t going on rampages. Turns out when you fight the same people for decades they get attached a bit. Most of them took up our mantle in support of our strike.”

“They what?”

Sidekick smiled down at her. “They took our places. When you want to inspire you do a damn good job of it.” Hero’s brain reeled. Head had said that people were dying in the streets, villains killing unstopped, mass chaos!

He seemed to understand her wordless bafflement. “I don’t know what Head told you but the city’s been safer than it has been in years.”

----

I might continue this if people are interested. I had ideas for later scenes but this is as far as I had for this section? Sorry if the ending isn’t great, I had trouble with that.

Edit: continuing this

First | Previous | Next Chapter-list Master-list

#My writing #hero and villain #hero x sidekick #villain #corrupt agency #don't know how to tag lmao #tw torture #tw death #tw funeral #Viva La Revolution #<-- title

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