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epiclamer · 1 year

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Can you please write a whumper to caretaker snippet please h Im sorryr please h

Anon— are you okay???

Disgrace

The villain had sworn that next time Sidekick showed up in their base, they’d kill them. Strip them of their dignity and pride and humiliate them in front of their team—if not the entire world. They would torture them every single day and berate them to no end.

Villain promised that they would suffer; and now they were seated here in front of them.

Shaking like a leaf in their bonds, one foot caught and clamped in what looked like a new age bear trap, was Sidekick. Doing their best to mask the pain in their leg while attempting to seem aloof.

“So. You little heroes think that because I let you off the hook once I’ll do it again?” Villain drummed their fingers rhythmically against the metal table they lounged at. Eye to eye with their captive.

“Villain I-I swear that’s not—”

“Save your sorry excuses. I warned you, Sidekick. Yet here you are again…”

From the sidekick’s view, the villain looked almost disappointed, as if killing them was going to be a nuisance to clean up, not that killing someone would be on their conscious for life. Sidekick was going to puke or pass out, they weren’t sure. All they knew was that either their foot would be amputated by morning or their head would be.

“P-Please, Villain, I told them— I-I said that you’d kill me if they sent me in and, and they knew— They would never do this on purpose I-I swear—”

At that, Villains gaze darkened, something horrible brewing behind their eyes. Quietly, they opened the bag they had entered with, a high quality, leather satchel and in it, a computer.

They flipped the screen open and tapped away at it for a second while Sidekick contemplated begging for their life once more. But before they could open their mouth, Villain spun the computer screen around, angling it so the contents were visible to the sidekick.

It was a video.

A body-cam video. Specifically, Teammate’s body-cam—since they were the only one not in the picture besides the sidekick. A lump formed horribly in their throat, why was their team having meetings without them? How had Villain gotten the tape? Were the others here too?

Too many questions flooded the up and coming hero’s head at once, adrenaline pumping through their body and filling their lungs until they couldn’t breathe. They were having a panic attack. In front of Villain.

Gods, they were so pathetic. Hero always hated when they cried like a baby, slapping them to get them to shut up and part of them wished the villain would now too. It would at least allow them to get a hold of their spiralling and the pain would be familiar, if not comforting.

“Sidekick.” Their name cut through the haze of panic as they gasped for air. “Look at me.” Villain’s hands were on their shoulders, shaking them roughly and they winced when their foot jostled. Snapping back to reality at the pain just in time to see the villain’s worried face staring back.

Worried? They must’ve been mistaken. They were an enemy. Hero had warned them about Villain and their cruelty, they had no remorse for heroes. That included Sidekick.

Carefully, the criminal smoothed the sweaty hair from Sidekick’s face, wiping away the blood and tears that covered their cheeks with a gentle hand like none other. No one had ever touched the sidekick so kindly before, it hurt their brain to picture it was coming from the one that had threatened to skin them alive last week, and they had to refrain from leaning into the touch entirely.

Villain stepped back, catching their softness with the other, before returning to their seat. Allowing a moment of rest for the sidekick to regroup, then the villain continued.

“If your team supposedly had nothing to do with your capture, then explain this.”

They tapped the spacebar and the video jumped to a start. Volume turned loud enough to echo slightly off the concrete walls around them.

“Think about it.” Came Hero’s crackling voice over the footage, in their hand they held the device currently trapped to Sidekick’s foot. “It would get them out of our hair for at least a week. Villain wouldn’t kill them, they’re practically still a kid, Villain has stronger morals than that.”

The rest of the group looked uneasy, silence stretching for another opinion to take place.

“Sidekick said that Villain swore to kill them next time—”

“And when was the last time Sidekick was right about something? Anything for that matter. They’ve led us straight into traps “due to their miscalculations”. Besides, I’ve known Villain the longest and they wouldn’t do anything like that.”

To Sidekick’s surprise, their team looked more reassured after that statement. “It was only once…” they whispered under their breath, defending their reputation to a crowd that would never hear them.

Hero groaned at the lack of compliance from the rest of the group. “Look, just three days ago they tripped over their own feet and sprained their ankle. That cost us medical supplies and precious time, imagine we didn’t have to deal with those losses.”

The heroes began nodding in unison, weighing their options. Less and less favourable to the sidekick’s survival.

“It was an accident…” Sidekick’s voice cracked and they hated the slight pity in the look Villain gave them.

“Not only that but they’re always complaining about needing a prescription refill for their medication or whatever. Nagging constantly about not being able to go on missions without it.”

In truth, Sidekick figured it was their inhaler that was being referenced. It was expensive to buy it and the agency promised to cover it with insurance, but they hardly ever did. It was starting to cut into their food rations with how much it cost and how many times they had to use it daily on missions. But it kept them alive, without it they would die and if they kept paying for it, soon enough they wouldn’t be able to buy their basic necessities.

“I have asthma, I-I need it to go running a-and fighting on missions…” They filled the question for the curious looking villain, who raised their eyebrows slightly in response before turning back to the video.

“When they completed their task force, their average was a minute forty per challenge.” Hero paused for what could only be dramatic effect. “The average among us, you might ask? One minute. On the dot.”

A clamour of voices spilled from speakers, multiple in agreement, finally deciding to use the sidekick as their sacrificial lamb all because they were too much to handle. Not because they sucked at their job, but because the other heroes found them annoying.

Sidekick shattered. Their heart breaking into a million different pieces, throat burning, eyes stinging with a new ferocity and heart beating like a jackhammer.

Villain closed the screen and the audio was cut short, they slipped it back into their satchel and sat patiently while Sidekick sobbed. Trying and failing to hide their face as their arms were tied tightly behind their back. They wanted anything but to have to look at the villain while they cried and they were sure Villain would exploit this moment later.

They didn’t know how long it was until they quieted down, reduced to heaving sniffles and the occasional outburst. Whether it came from the pain in their foot or the pain in their heart, Sidekick had no idea, they didn’t honestly care, this was the first time they’d been able to let all their emotions out in peace and it felt incredible.

When the young hero was in enough control to only hiccup every few seconds, Villain stood up, walking around the table and over to the other as they knelt down. Sidekick flinched, body too exhausted to try and remain collected, if the villain wanted to hurt them now then so be it. The day couldn't get any worse.

But they didn’t, the criminal knelt down and delicately they untied the sidekick, from their wrists down to their good ankle. Standing back up to see the shock portrayed in Sidekick's body language as they reached for their face to wipe their tears once more.

Wordlessly, once they were done wiping the sidekick’s face, they hoisted them into their arms in an attempted bridal carry. When Sidekick whimpered and sobbed against their shoulder, Villain only shushed them sweetly, leaving the room with them in their arms as the sidekick began to cry again.

They clung to the villain like a lifeline, crying out the hidden truths behind their so-called teammates' lies. Especially Hero.

Especially their mentor.

“T-the average time f-for sidekicks is two minutes.” Weakly they squeezed the villain’s shoulder in anger. “I-I was the t-top of my class and, and, and Hero— was just j-jealous because they never were.”

Villain shushed them again, reassuring the other as they spoke.

“T-they told me every time I-I messed up that t-they would hurt me b-because I deserved it.”

“You didn’t deserve it--”

“I-I didn’t deserve it. T-they just wanted m-my performance t-to lower so I wouldn’t t-take their spot—” Sidekick seethed, "T-they whipped me, t-they beat me, they e-even w-waterboarded me, when t-they knew it was my biggest f-fear."

They wheezed, squeezing their eyes shut as they cursed under their breath at the pain in their foot. It was becoming unbearable. All to find out Hero was the one who placed it. That only made it hurt more.

"I-I was pronounced d-dead for a minute and a half-- a-all because they w-wouldn't bring my head u-up when I begged." Sidekick gasped, shaking hands prying at the villain's suit. "I b-begged for my fucking life a-and they still w-wouldn't listen--"

The criminal kicked open a new door, nothing like a cell one and took them both inside. Past hallways and storage closets until they reached an empty room with a free bed. “I know, I know. It’s okay, you’re safe now, okay?”

Sidekick shook, crying, laughing and hyperventilating all at once, it felt like their whole world was coming apart; the people they loved and cared for, everything they knew, all their training, all their hard work. Just to end up deep in the Villain's lair, an inescapable trap--placed by their own teammates--clamped on their worsening foot, an enemy comforting them and a betrayal worse than death destroying them from the inside out.

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