Hero X Villain 2 Read online

  He wouldn’t blame them if they had. Shit, if Nic had truly ever been a proper hero, perhaps he should have struggled and fought against his captors until they killed him. And yet, some part of him still wanted to live. He didn’t even know why.

  “You’re such a good boy,” Crane said as he reached down and released Nic from the restraints. He felt power flow through him, real power, and Nic could have knocked him over then and there if he wanted, even with a lower body weight and diminished strength. Nic did no such thing, however, and Crane proudly showed him off like the good little trophy he was. “Now, come, come, let me show you your task for today.”

  Nic watched as an armored man was dragged into the courtyard, his chains massive and heavy. They clanked and rattled as he grunted and bellowed, and Nic wondered how the fuck these villains managed to get Colossus into that tiny little tram that brought him up to the main set of buildings. “You want me to kill Colossus?” The hero was a brute, a known killer of members of the Order. Nic could see why these people wanted Nic to kill the man, as it would be the exact sort of twisted revenge they would enjoy. Alyson’s face twisted up as she watched the giant of a man get pushed around. He killed her brother, the man with fire powers. Oh fuck they want me to slaughter him, don’t they?

  Nic was psyching himself up to do it when Crane chuckled and gently took his arm. “No, little dove, I don’t want you to kill him. I want you to get his armor off.” Nic remembered the day he’d been taken. Colossus heard his screams as Crane dragged him, and he remembered the way the man sat back and let it happen. Him, Magenta Mind, Great Patriot, they’d all just watched as Nic’s life came to an end. They’d wanted it. They wanted him gone. Whether it was jealousy or not, he didn’t know. The League always hated how weird his powers were, and they’d even feared him for it. I just wanted to help. I wanted to be a good guy.

  I still want to help.

  Nic flinched at the sound of the loud clank as Colossus was forced to his knees. Crane made a face and gestured for him to be brought back up. “Come now, we need that armor off first!” The two lackeys in their dweeb costumes bowed in apology and Crane rolled his eyes. Colossus roared in anger as they hauled him back up, his armor creaking with him as he moved. Rumor had it the metal came from a meteorite, which didn’t surprise Nic. Half the people in this room had powers as the result of some weird space shit, so he wasn’t at all shocked to see how the villains struggled with this dude in particular.

  Colossus roared again and bashed his head into one lackey, killing him instantly. The body hit the floor was a sickening squelch, and Nic grimaced. While ‘he was just doing his job’ was no defense for villains of any kind, including the Nazis, Nic really felt bad for him. His heart hurt as he watched the other lackey’s face twist up. The poor guy managed to wrangle Colossus by quickly securing his chains through the metal loops attached to the spikes driven into the stone floors. Those were for special prisoners, and Nic knew if he wasn’t careful, he’d end up in chains wrapped around those same spikes for a public display.

  “The armor, Nicholas,” Crane said softly into his ear. “You don’t have to kill him. I’d prefer if you didn’t. Just get rid of that armor and you’ll be rewarded.” Nic could already imagine his award. Maybe it would be a new sketchbook, new pencils, maybe colored ones? He didn’t have colored pencils yet. Maybe he’d get an extra piece of cake on his tray, maybe he’d be given an extra subscription service for his TV. And yet, he found himself desiring all those things, his mind desperate for something new to enjoy.

  Nic stepped forward and Colossus screamed at him. He paused and waited for the man to finish, which took a solid thirty seconds. “Nicholas, be careful.” It was the first time Crane had ever shown this level of concern for Nic, and it almost frightened him.

  Colossus was massive. His muscles were beyond anything a normal human could possibly achieve. The man apparently required 15,000 calories a day to maintain his form, which Nic totally could believe. He was just… massive. There was no other word for it. Nic raised one hand, his gaze never leaving the man’s face. He supposed they were enemies now. More likely that they’d never been allies at all.

  “You’re a little punk, you know that?” Nic felt a flash of anger as the words hit him in the face. His hand twisted and there was a flash of blue.

  “And you’re nothing but a bastard.” The words came out colder than Nic expected them too. Colossus’ armor dissolved into a mass of bubbles, and Crane clapped in delight as Colossus was left only with his underwear beneath.

  “Very good, Nicholas.” Nic felt drained. He didn’t fully understand his powers himself, but he never really ran out of energy. He just got tired after a particularly difficult… use, if that was the term. He stepped back, blinking as he tried to pull himself together. Crane smiled at him, that same smug smile as always, but there was something there now, a light that Nic had only seen a few times before. “You did very well. This is exactly what we were all hoping for. You have my thanks, and that of the Order.”

  “You’re welcome,” Nic said. He didn’t feel hollow about it at all, and that frightened him. His gaze strayed to the dead man on the floor, the lackey with blood spilling out. Crane followed his gaze and sighed.

  “A shame, truly,” Crane murmured. “Brian was very helpful.”

  “May I try?” Nic’s voice was quiet. Crane turned to him, surprise written across his features.

  “Hmm?”

  “Let me see him.”

  “Sebastian, we mustn’t get distracted,” Alyson urged. Crane nodded to her.

  “Hang on. You’ll get your revenge, my dear, I promise. As all of you will,” Crane said, addressing the other villains in the courtyard. Some of them were masked, some of them in full costume, most of them in either casual or semi-formal clothing. Nic watched them all emerge from behind planters and water fountains, all of them ready to take down Colossus. The ‘hero’ pissed off a lot of them over the years. Nic couldn’t count how many Colossus had killed, but it was more than enough to apparently make him enemy #1 in the eyes of the Order of Darkness.

  “Look at him, even his cock is huge,” Baron said as Colossus roared. Nic pretended he didn’t hear that comment, and he tried his best not to look. Why the fuck did he only have underwear on? What the fuck?

  “Go on,” Crane said as Nic went to the lackey’s- no, Brian’s side. The man was dead. His friend was still trembling, Baron rubbing his back soothingly. Nic felt a jolt in his chest. These villains cared for each other. They were friends, family to each other. When he’d joined the heroes, he’d never experienced this. He was always excluded for being different despite having powers, always.

  I’ll never know what that’s like, now. Nic stared at the dead body as he knelt down. I’ll never get to have a family, now. I’ll never be a hero again. He pressed his hand to Brian’s bloody forehead while Colossus screamed at him. I’ll never get my freedom back. He pressed his lips together as he felt power move through him, energy blooming at his fingertips. But maybe I can give him that chance back.

  Brian gasped and sat up. Despite the blood on the ground, he was perfectly healthy. Colossus’ eyes went wide and he bellowed, enraged that his last kill was now a dud. Nic stood up protectively and shielded Brian with his arms. “NO!” Nic bellowed back at him. Colossus snarled and Nic snarled right back.

  “Whatever’s coming to you, you deserve it,” Nic said as he helped Brian up and got him away from Colossus. Brian ran to his friend and Crane pulled Nic close by the arm.

  “Well, I am very impressed,” Crane said. He spoke louder so all could hear. “It seems dear Nicholas has not only restored Brian to us, but he has humiliated our enemy by rendering him a failure!” Colossus screamed again and pulled against his chains, and Nic willed them to be stronger so he couldn’t get away. I don’t need him going on a rampage, holy hell.

  “I want you to watch this,” Crane said. He let Nic go and Baron took him by the arm, but it seemed the chains w
eren’t to go back on for a minute. Nic felt a bit weak and in need of a nap, but he was grateful to be free of his restraints a moment longer.

  “I’ll kill you all! You’re dead, you hear me? DEAD!” Colossus pulled hard against his chains as he screamed and spit and snarled. Nic kept his gaze firmly on his face as Crane and Alyson stepped forward.

  “Come, all who have been wronged by this beast ,” Crane said. “This month we have enriched ourselves and gained a foothold in Echo City. Today, we celebrate as one of our enemies meets his end. Shall we?”

  Nic watched as what seemed to be a hundred different attacks hit Colossus at once. Crane’s powers were especially insidious, and just as strange as Nic’s. He seemed to draw power from this around him, but unlike the others, he wasn’t interested in the kill. Crane’s power became like a red rope, glowing and writhing as it wrapped around Colossus’ throat. His last moments, as a shard of ice grew from a wound on his arm, poison filled pustules bursting on his legs, his hair turning white, and there Crane was to make it all even more miserable.

  Nic watched Colossus fall over dead. He looked utterly alien, his features ruined from all manner of attacks that had hit him. And then the finality of it all was ruined, because then his giant wiener slipped out of his underwear and Nic loudly groaned. There was uproarious laughter, and Crane looked particularly gleeful as the Order laughed at the dead giant with his dick out. Baron has the good sense to cover Nic’s eyes, and even he was chuckling as he turned to take Nic back to his cell.

  What the actual fuck is my life.

  CHAPTER III

  Two days had passed since Nic removed Colossus’ armor, and he had yet to see Crane or his reward. He didn’t want to bring it up with Baron lest he lose said reward, but it was hard checking his food trays to see if anything was different. Nic scrolled through Netflix and hit the play button on the next episode of Jojo. He’d already finished The Witcher, and he wasn’t quite in the mood to start anything else new. TV and books helped him with his boredom, and sometimes Nic liked to lift weights while watching Geralt of Rivia tear through a monster. Not today though, today wasn’t his exercise day.

  There was a knock about five minutes into the episode, and Nic looked up to see Crane walk in. To his amusement, Crane’s face screwed up in confusion as he stared at the TV. “What the hell are you watching?”

  “JOJO’s Bizarre Adventure.” There was a cry of ‘Emerald Splash’ in the background and Nic gave Crane a winning smile.

  “I never got into anime,” Crane said as he gave Nic a skeptical look. “Do you actually like this?” Nic nodded.

  “This one is my favorite.”

  “Your… favorite.” Nic turned off the TV and Crane came to sit next to him.

  “I’m taking you out tonight,” Crane said. “Your reward. I do expect you not to run off, I won’t have you restrained.” Nic nodded. Even without his restraints he was little match for Crane, especially in this state. His superhero days of being massively jacked were well over, and despite still being strong and fit, Nic would never regain what he once had.

  “I won’t,” Nic said. He’d tried so many times to run away when he’d been captured, but every time he’d ended up being humiliated and beaten down for it. Alyson used to laugh in his face, starve him, give him frostbite with her powers. Nic still had scars on his back from being whipped and from the frostbite. He didn’t know if they would ever fade.

  “I also wanted to thank you,” Crane said. “You saved Brian.”

  “I- I didn’t know if I even could,” Nic admitted. Crane looked surprised. “I just… when he went down I felt bad.”

  Crane chuckled. “You really are the golden boy, aren’t you?” Nic snorted.

  “The League never saw it that way.”

  “No, I suppose not. When I took you I was concerned they’d be after my head. It really was shocking when they didn’t come for you, and after the three month mark I was really surprised.” That hurt more than Nic wanted to say. It really hurt. He’d worked so hard to be a hero, to be a good hero, and now… well. None of that mattered now.

  “Go get your coat,” Crane said after a minute of silence. “I’m taking you to the movies.”

  “The movies?” Nic sounded like a little kid as he jumped up.

  “Yes,” Crane said as he watched Nic jog over to his closet. “Anything you want.”

  “Really?” Nic almost couldn’t believe himself with the way he was acting. Two years before he’d never considered ever submitting to Crane, his rival in battle, but now? That seemed like the best thing ever, to go with him on a night out. You’re that desperate for normalcy, huh? Nic pulled on the black linen jacket at the far end of the closet before following Crane out of the room. He chewed on his lip as he walked. I am.

  No chains went around his wrists. No tight grip on his arm, no derisive smirks. Perhaps Nic’s performance leading up to Colossus’ death has endeared him to Crane and the Order. Compared to his other rewards, this seemed a major thing, to go out into the real world. The sun was just setting, and Nic paused for a second to watch it hit the buildings. He didn’t like brutalism, but he admired their beauty as the light hit them.

  The tram ride was different this time, but Nic was forced again to sit on the side facing his prison. Crane sat next to him, one leg crossed over the other. Nic scrolled through the available films and picked one, and Crane picked the seats for him. There’s no guards in here. Is he literally taking me out in public by himself with no backup? He can’t be that stupid. Nic didn’t dare try anything, but he was struck by Crane’s boldness.

  There were two guards waiting at the bottom of the tram, destroying Nic’s theory. Crane offered his arm and Nic took it, remembering that his choices weren’t really choices at all. He went willingly into a black car with tinted windows, and they sped off.

  “Dinner first,” Crane said airily to the driver. Nic leaned back in his seat and tried to look out the window, but he quickly realized the tint was to prevent him from looking out as much as it stopped someone else from looking in. Crane tapped his hand to gain his attention.

  “Before I forget,” he said as he pulled out a small box. “This is for you.” Crane opened it, revealing a thin silver bracelet. He secured it around Nic’s wrist and his powers faded. Nic tried to breathe in but it felt like the wind was knocked out of him. He fucking lied to me.

  “Something pretty for the golden boy,” Crane said. “Make no mistake, little dove, you’re still on a very short leash.” Nic nodded along. I’m such an idiot.

  “It’s beautiful, thank you,” Nic said smoothly. It really was a pretty trinket, but it felt tainted by its true purpose. Nic exhaled slowly and kept his face neat so he didn’t pout. Crane’s smile was a satisfied little smirk, and Nic repressed the urge to wipe it off his face.

  Dinner was an Italian restaurant that Nic didn’t catch the name of. They weren’t in Echo City, which was still in absolute chaos from the attack by the Order. No doubt the League was helping with the cleanup. After the “death” of Nic’s persona thanks to the Order’s machinations, the League had a bit of an image problem. Maybe they really did think I got killed, Nic thought to himself as he was escorted to his seat. He remembered the feeling of fangs in his neck, the way Crane used him to create an image of the two of them fighting, the Emperor killing Ghost…

  A plate was set in front of Nic and he looked around. The entire place was empty save for the two of them and the guards posted at every corner. Nic swallowed as he realized the guards posted had merely been for the car, and there were at least ten in this room. So much for normal.

  “Eat, Nicholas, you must keep your strength up,” Crane teased. Nic nodded and he picked up his fork to start on the antipasti. His gaze drifted as he watched the waiter, who was no doubt under some kind of mind control, walk over and pour him a glass of wine. Nic could already tell it was drugged to keep him docile. He ate half his plate first and drank some water before taking a sip of wine so i
t wouldn’t hurt his stomach. Crane smiled as Nic drank, he wondered if Crane knew that he knew. Nic pretended that he didn’t know, as if he had a choice to not drink. It was better to just play along and be docile instead of putting up a pointless fight. He really doesn’t trust me, huh?

  Thankfully for Nic, the drug didn’t start to hit him until the pasta came. He definitely felt it then and tried to act normally, but that proved to be… difficult. Crane pulled the glass away and snapped for more water to be brought. “I really need to ask the doctor to adjust, I think he’s still drugging you for your old body weight,” Crane said apologetically. “Are you alright? I can take you another night, I swear to you that you’ll get your movie.”