#villain x hero
Concept: a superhero whose civilian identity is five different people. Not like they’re a hive mind or they can duplicate themselves or anything – they’re just a group of five people who all have different powers but coincidentally wear roughly the same size costume, who’ve decided to team up and share the same heroic persona. As far as both the general public and the broader super-powered community know, they’re a single incredibly hard-working super with a bewildering variety of seemingly unrelated powers, except they only have access to any given power some of the time owing to complex criteria they refuse to adequately explain.
(Thus far they’ve been very careful to ensure that their heroic persona is never provably in two places at once, though honestly it’s only a matter of time; there’s some argument among the group whether to deal with that eventuality by coming clean, or by claiming that bilocation is also one of their powers.)
Each of them has a different specific weakness. After a long and harrowing fight their Archnemesis discovers that the Hero’s vulnerable to silver. Three weeks later they’ve got the Hero wrapped head to toe in silver chains, only to have the super-strong Hero break out like it was toilet paper.
(That one’s allergic to bees, not silver.)
The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Superhero Spandex
I reblogged this, and a second later remembered Isabel Allende’s Zorro. Who isn’t a superhero as such, but still, there are three simultaneous Zorros.
Now I’m imagining the challenges involved in the traditional Superhero/Nemesis relationship, when the poor Nemesis doesn’t realize he’s
datingfighting five different people.Who has already had the discussion and agreed to share him.
Concept: a superhero whose civilian identity is five different people. Not like they’re a hive mind or they can duplicate themselves or anything – they’re just a group of five people who all have different powers but coincidentally wear roughly the same size costume, who’ve decided to team up and share the same heroic persona. As far as both the general public and the broader super-powered community know, they’re a single incredibly hard-working super with a bewildering variety of seemingly unrelated powers, except they only have access to any given power some of the time owing to complex criteria they refuse to adequately explain.
(Thus far they’ve been very careful to ensure that their heroic persona is never provably in two places at once, though honestly it’s only a matter of time; there’s some argument among the group whether to deal with that eventuality by coming clean, or by claiming that bilocation is also one of their powers.)
Each of them has a different specific weakness. After a long and harrowing fight their Archnemesis discovers that the Hero’s vulnerable to silver. Three weeks later they’ve got the Hero wrapped head to toe in silver chains, only to have the super-strong Hero break out like it was toilet paper.
(That one’s allergic to bees, not silver.)
The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Superhero Spandex
I reblogged this, and a second later remembered Isabel Allende’s Zorro. Who isn’t a superhero as such, but still, there are three simultaneous Zorros.
Now I’m imagining the challenges involved in the traditional Superhero/Nemesis relationship, when the poor Nemesis doesn’t realize he’s
datingfighting five different people.Who has already had the discussion and agreed to share him.
Prompt #37
“Light cannot truly shine without darkness, you claim to never want to fight me but I’m the reason you have a job, [hero]”
Villain’s cocky attitude peaked further. Causing Hero to groan, they knew villain was right. They knew they wouldn’t be where they were if villain wasn’t around. Villain was a powerful, uncontainable force. Yet the flirting from villains part, the times they let the other “slip” off, the teasing touches when Hero got too close. Is what made hero fall for villain so hard.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t..-“
“Go on darling, finish that sentence, I’m dying to know what in that beautiful mind of yours,”
There they were again. Hero’s face felt hotter while their hands began to shaken. Bundling into fists to try and keep themselves together, but they knew they couldn’t. They knew that couldn’t be that easy.
Prompt #30
A caring hero who always makes sure that their villain is ok, even if it was at first platonic worrying after the hatred died off - at leas that’s what they told themselves. Villain believes it’s a trick but can’t help but swoon and melt whenever the fight ends when hero talks so sweet to them and lets them ‘slip away’ for another fight - so the cycle never has to end.
&. .
( enemies to lovers? slow burns? say no more. various sentence starters for all your hero x villain ship needs. )
- ❛ i could keep you safe. they’re all afraid of me. ❜
- ❛ you can’t do this for me. i won’t let you. ❜
- ❛ it’s not for you. it’s not a favor. it’s the cruelest thing i could do. ❜
- ❛ i warn you. i’ll break your heart. ❜
- ❛ i know you better than you know yourself. ❜
- ❛ i’m replaceable. you’re not. ❜
- ❛ i hope to be the one you break your rules for. ❜
- ❛ why am i so fascinated by you? ❜
- ❛ when i watch the world burn, all i think about is you. ❜
- ❛ your hands are scarred from murder, and yet i trust them completely. ❜
- ❛ whatever you do. you’re still my family. ❜
- ❛ we could be the greatest team the world has ever seen. ❜
- ❛ how many times are we going to keep meeting like this? ❜
- ❛ i just wish i could protect you from everything. ❜
- ❛ enemies make the best lovers, you know. ❜
- ❛ sleep. i’ll fight the bad dreams off if they come to get you. ❜
- ❛ you know, they’re going to use the things you love against you. ❜
- ❛ truth is, i didn’t expect to get this attached to you. ❜
- ❛ you frustrate me incredibly. ❜
- ❛ love me like my demons do. ❜
- ❛ thinking of you is a poison i drink often. ❜
- ❛ please don’t make me do this. ❜
- ❛ don’t do anything stupid until i get back. ❜
- ❛ you protect what you love. ❜
- ❛ my heart scares you and a gun doesn’t? ❜
- ❛ you bandaged my wound with one hand, and held a knife in the other. ❜
- ❛ you save everyone, but who saves you? ❜
- ❛ you kill me and you accomplish nothing. your world as you know it will end. ❜
- ❛ all we do together is make love or fight. ❜
- ❛ i love the way your eyes light up when someone says ‘it might be dangerous’. ❜
- ❛ when is a monster not a monster? when you love it. ❜
- ❛ it’s pathetic really, how much i hope it’s me and you in the end. ❜
- ❛ you were right. you break everything you touch. ❜
- ❛ i would destroy myself to fix you. ❜
- ❛ i’m not going to kill you. you don’t deserve that. ❜
- ❛ that’s how you want me, isn’t it? desperate, jealous, and willing to kill for you. ❜
- ❛ i’m sorry you’re afraid of being alone. ❜
- ❛ they made you into a weapon, and told you to find peace. ❜
- ❛ i wasn’t there for you when you needed me, and i’m sorry. ❜
- ❛ ‘all right’ is not a term anyone would use to describe you. ❜
- ❛ just like old times, huh? ❜
- ❛ then we fight. together. ❜
- ❛ oh, i’ve missed this! ❜
- ❛ i know you. you’re me. ❜
- ❛ i’ve seen who you are under the mask. ❜
- ❛ i should kill you. why can’t i kill you?! ❜
- ❛ i don’t know what i’d do if they hurt you. and that terrifies me. ❜
- ❛ the world doesn’t need someone like you. the world needs you. ❜
- ❛ bullet wounds don’t just miraculously heal overnight. ❜
- ❛ you were fighting to survive. i was fighting to win. ❜
- ❛ i wasn’t a person to you, i was a weapon, and you needed me to work. ❜
- ❛ you’re pulling your punches. ❜
- ❛ i wish things were different between us. ❜
- ❛ don’t scare me like that. i thought i lost you. ❜
- ❛ don’t you die on me. ❜
- ❛ you’re so bad at this. it’s cute. ❜
- ❛ they don’t know you like i know you. ❜
- ❛ i broke my rules for you. doesn’t that mean anything? ❜
- ❛ do you think i’d let anything happen to you? ❜
- ❛ if i told you about the darkness within me, would you still look at me as you are right now? ❜
“It’s okay,” the hero whispered, voice cracking, hands shaking as they took a hesitant step toward the villain, even as fear drummed in every frantic beat of their heart. “It’s okay, it’s not your fault—”
“It’s not your fault,” the villain mocked, sneering as they turned away from the hero. “That’s what they always say, isn’t it? It’s not your fault, you were mistreated, you poor thing, it’s not too late to change… Ugh.”
The villain paused, flashed a crooked grin over their shoulder, eyes dancing with mischief and chaos.
“A bit of credit, please, darling. I did this all on my own.”
“Please,” the hero whispered, bound hands shaking in front of them as fear thrummed in every frantic beat of their heart. “This isn’t my fault. I…”
The hero whimpered, pressing their eyes shut against the flow of tears.
“Oh, darling, I know.” The villain crouched down to wipe away a tear, lifting the hero’s chin so that their eyes met—there was real guilt, true pity, shining in the villain’s eyes, not that it made a difference now.
The villain pushed theirself back up to their feet with a sigh, turning away from the sight of the hero, scared and helpless and completely innocent, a sight that sent daggers straight through the villain’s heart over and over again.
“Such a shame that you must be the one to pay the price.”
“I won’t let you do this.”
The villain laughed at that. “And what could you possibly do to stop me? Die?”
“If I have to.” The hero’s voice was calm, their heartbeat steady, their eyes set with determination.
“Oh, no,” the villain grinned, plucking the sword from the hero’s hand like it was nothing as pure chaos swirled in the depths of those dark eyes. “No, you’re much too precious for that.”
“Miss me?”
A crooked grin spread across the villain’s lips at the sight of their hero standing before them once again.
“Yes,” the hero whispered, without hesitation. Their voice was small and weak, but their heart warmed at the sound of the villain’s voice, tense shoulders slumping in relief as they met the villain’s eyes. “Yes.”
The villain’s face fell into a frown, eyes flicking up and down the hero, taking them in—they were thinner than before, tired and bruised and beaten, their eyes empty and broken—the villain’s heart cracked at the sight of it.
“Come on in, then,” the villain said, voice soft as they stepped aside for the hero. “I’ve missed you too.”
“How does it feel?” the hero grinned, voice dripping with venom. “To be powerless?”
The villain strained desperately, helplessly, against the chains that bound them, reaching inside theirself for the magic that should be thrumming through their veins, for any hint of their power, but they were empty. Trapped.
“Please,” the villain whispered, voice cracking.
“Not so fun, is it?” The hero flashed a wicked smile, cruel delight shining in their eyes as they leaned over the villain, trailed a finger down the villain’s shoulder.
The villain flinched at the touch, at the hero’s closeness, thrashing wildly against bonds they had no hope of breaking—not with their power gone, stripped away by the hero. Panic hit the villain in full force, blurring their thoughts, burning in their chest, crushing the air from their lungs.
“Please,” the villain whispered again, a soft, broken plea. “I’ll do anything.”
“Oh, darling,” the hero sighed, nails digging into the villain’s skin as they stood to tower over their prisoner.
“It’s too late.”
“You really thought you could get away with this?”
The hero towered over the villain, strong and composed even as their hands shook with the pain of the betrayal. Their eyes shone not with anger but with pity, disappointment, and the force of it hit the villain like a brick to the chest. They wished the hero would cry and rage and scream, wished they would just explodewith anger at what the villain had done, but the hero only stood there, tall and silent and so very, very disappointed.
“No,” the villain whispered, head bowed, eyes locked on the ground, cheeks flushed with shame.
“But I didn’t see another choice.”
“Oh, darling,” the villain sighed, voice laced with mocking pity. They crossed their arms lightly over their chest as they leaned back against the doorframe, each casual movement lined with grace and power.
The hero froze in place at the sight of them, suddenly unable to move, to breathe. Their legs that had been prepared to run and run and run, forever and ever until their lungs gave out, until the villain could never find them again, now trembled in place as their heartbeat spiraled out of control, thundering so loud in their chest that they couldn’t think beyond a panicked no, no, no—
The villain only smiled, cruelty gleaming sharp in their eyes as they strode slowly toward their prey.
“Did you really think I’d let you leave?”
“Please,” the villain whispered.
They didn’t fight as they were thrown into the cell, only stared at the hero with pleading eyes so full of guilt and regret—and so at odds with the cruel, merciless eyes of the villain who had slaughtered innocents and leveled cities without a second thought.
“Please, just one more chance. I’m trying—I’m trying so hard to be better, for you,” they pleaded, kneeling on the floor of the cell. “Please, please don’t leave me here again—”
“You’re out of chances,” the hero said—cold, unflinching, apathetic. They should have felt some pride at the sight of the mighty villain kneeling, begging at their feet, but they were so tired of dealing with this, of putting up with the same act over and over again, that they felt nothing.
And whatever small part of the hero that had tried, over and over again, to hope, to forgive… it shattered as they slammed the cell door shut on the villain.
“I hate you,” the hero snarled, burning with the force of their rage. “You deserve to suffer, to die for the things you’ve done—”
“Oh, come on, darling,” the villain laughed, stalking closer and closer to the hero’s outstretched blade. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
The hero didn’t, couldn’t, pull away from the villain’s touch—not as strong, gentle fingers traced a line down their cheek and along their lips, not as their traitorous heart started beating faster, faster, faster.
“You’ve always been so terrible at lying.”
“Please,” the hero whispered, blade slipping through their fingers to clatter against the stone floor.
They had no strength left to fight this, to do anything but stare in terror as the villain’s power swirled around them, an angry mass of shadows stretching farther and farther out into the world. The villain only laughed, cold and cruel, as that monstrous power burst out of them.
“Please, you don’t want to do this.”
“Oh, darling,” the villain sighed, the words laced with venom, a maniacal gleam in their eyes that was beyond saving, beyond stopping. “I most definitely do.”
“Please,” the villain whispered, “just stay. We can talk about this—”
“I have nothing to say to you,” the hero snarled, pushing past the villain.
“Wait.” The villain grabbed the hero by the arm, a desperate pleading in their eyes as they met the hero’s stare. “Please, I can’t lose you.”
Shame flushed bright red across the villain’s cheeks—shame at their own weakness, at the vulnerability they couldn’t hide—but the hero only jerked their arm away, anger burning in their eyes.
“I am not yours to have or lose.”
“I can’t do it,” the hero whispered, hands shaking.
They had the villain pinned beneath them, tip of their blade balanced directly over the villain’s heart, yet they couldn’t bring theirself to land that killing blow. Victory was theirs, yet they couldn’t bring theirself to take it.
“Pathetic,”the villain snarled, spitting in the hero’s face. “You’ve always been such acoward.”
Maybe so, the hero thought as they shifted their weight, lowered their blade. Maybe they weren’t cut out for this, to fight and defeat a monster that they only felt sorry for.
The hero reached down to help the villain to their feet, but the villain only scowled at the outstretched hand, at the pity in the hero’s eyes.
“If you can’t do it, I will,” the villain snarled, and plunged their blade deep into the hero’s chest.
“No,” the villain gasped, falling to their knees beside the hero’s body. “No, no, no.”
They pressed their hands to the hero’s chest in a pitiful attempt to stop the bleeding. They were shaking from head to toe, trembling as panic built up in their chest. The hero couldn’t die. The hero couldn’t die. The hero couldn’t die.
“Hey, it’s okay,” the hero whispered, placing a hand over the villain’s, intertwining their fingers together, holding them close to their heart.
“You promised me you’d be okay. You promised me you would live,” the villain whimpered, a single tear falling down their cheek. “You promised.”
The hero only let their eyes fall shut with a final sigh, a soft smile twisting up the corners of their lips.
“Sometimes it’s easier to lie.”
It was the fear that froze the villain in their tracks. It was the fear that dug a knife into the villain’s heart, brought tears to their eyes, sent shards of glass shattering through their soul.
It was the pure, undiluted terror that shone in the hero’s eyes, the tremors that racked their entire body, and those broken whimpers that broke from their throat… God. The villain’s hand went limp at the sight of it, weapon falling forgotten to the floor.
The hero flinched at the sound. “Y-you… you’re not going to kill me?” they whispered, the words barely more than a shaky breath that broke the villain’s heart.
“No,” the villain whispered, falling to their knees beside the trembling hero, taking the hero’s hands in their own and holding them tight.
“No.”
The hero’s strength was lagging. They could feel exhaustion pulling at their bones, in every clash of swords that sent them staggering back a few steps.
They were on the verge of losing, but they had been outmatched from the very beginning. Every move they made, every breath they took, was just a delay of the inevitable, a hopeless battle against fate itself.
And the hero was so, so tired of fighting.
They barely registered the feeling of the sword slipping through their fingers. Barely registered the shock that shot down every nerve as their knees crashed into the cold stone floor.
“You don’t get to quit,” the villain snarled, but the hero barely heard the words, the world around them fading to a dull buzzing in their ears. “Pick up your sword and fight back!”
But the hero had no fight left in them.
“I trusted you,” the hero whispered, blinking fast against the flow of tears.
The wounded beats of the hero’s heart were the only sound to break the silence stretched thin across the room. The hero lifted their head to meet the villain’s eyes, searching for something there—some guilt or regret or pain to match the hero’s own—but there was nothing. The villain was nothing more than a statue, cold and unmoving, eyes dark and empty when they finally opened their mouth to speak.
“Your mistake.”
“Leave me alone.”
The words were cracked and broken, muffled with the hero’s head buried in their arms. They didn’t bother to look up as the villain entered the cell. They didn’t bother to hide their pain, their fear.
“I’m sorry,” the villain whispered, watching the hero’s shoulders shake with silent tears.
“I really thought somebody would come to save you.”
