Author: Harper Kingsley
Series: Heroes & Villains trilogy (Heroes & Villains, Allies & Enemies, All That Remains)
Genre: superhero, science fiction, action, mm
Rating: Teen+ (violence, language)
Summary: Vereint Georges has spent his entire life dreaming of being a superhero and making a difference in the lives of the people around him. Unfortunately, his first venture into heroing doesn't go quite the way he plans and he earns himself an undeserved reputation for incompetence. From there, the recriminations start rolling in.
Is it any wonder that he might just chuck all the good and go for the bad? Because if people are going to treat him like he's crap, why should he go out of his way to save their lives? It's a lot easier being rich.
Read: Chapter Five
CHAPTER FIVE
News about Darkstar was spreading fast. Practically overnight he had become a media sensation, and not simply because he was a hero turned villain.
Sprawled out in his recliner, his thumb rhythmically clicked the button on his remote control, flicking through the channels with barely any attention paid to what was showing, Warrick tried to take his mind off that turncoat and on to something else.
Then his attention was abruptly caught by a teen queen VJ on FLASH, one of the world's most popular music networks.
"Darkstar has got to be one of the most gorgeous of the metahumans. Who cares that he's bad--he's frickin' beautiful. I'd let him do whatever he wanted to me as long as I could bask in his sextification," the barely legal host said. There was a flicker, and an image of Darkstar in all of his technicolor glory appeared on the screen behind her, only slightly larger than life, a smirk twisting his lips.
The crowd cheered and whistled.
"He's fuckin' hot!" a female voice screamed, the live feed letting her go through loud and clear. Someone was probably being reamed out about it right now at the station.
"I'd totally tap that ass!" someone else yelled. It had sounded male.
Warrick groaned and rubbed his tired eyes. If he had to listen to one more person wax pathetic about Darkstar's ass of awesomeness he was going to throw up.
Every TV station was running one story or another about that jerk and it was positively sickening. Everywhere he looked, there was that smirking, gloating face. If he could have gouged out his eyeballs he would have.
There was no way he wanted to see that oh-so-perfect face one more time. And not even that stupid domino mask could hide the fact that the guy was almost too good looking. It was sickening really.
And there was no way he was getting a hard on just picturing those chiseled features and those blazing blue eyes focused on him. And that mouth...
Almost against his will, his hand drifted down to adjust himself in his suddenly too small shorts.
Abruptly realizing what he was doing, he jerked upright on the couch. "What the hell is wrong with me? Shit."
Warrick scrubbed his hand across his face. He really had to wonder if he wasn't losing his mind.
Nearly every thought he'd had in the past week had had something to do with Darkstar in some way or another and he was quickly approaching obsessive stalker status. It was very disturbing.
"What the hell is he doing to me?" he murmured, covering his eyes with his hands. There was definitely something wrong with him.
And that something's name was Darkstar.
* * *
Being the bad guy should have been harder. That's all he had to say.
There was just something so freeing about being able to do whatever he wanted without having to worry about consequences or such a common idea as morality.
He could feel it changing him. And he didn't want to stop it.
All those things that conventional life had kept from him were suddenly in his grasp and there was no fear about showing the world the true depth of power he had kept welled up inside. He could do anything and be anything and there was honestly no one out there that could stop him.
It was kind of funny, but he'd actually had a bunch of thugs petition to be his minions. He'd turned them down of course, since he really didn't need their help to be completely bad ass. Still, it was kind of cool that they'd offered.
Word was spreading across the city that he was the newest "It" supervillain.
On one hand it was horrifying that there were so many people that were such supervillain fans, but on the other... it was him they were practically worshipping and that was really kind of cool.
He had finally found something he was good at.
His new outfit was not something he had ever seen himself wearing, but it had quickly become part of his new identity.
Not having to be the perfect, all-American good guy had actually freed something inside him that he had thought long since lost and gone. A happiness that he hadn't felt since he was a child when he had first dreamed about being a superhero... back before he was taught how miserable it really was.
He was free to go out and do whatever he wanted and there was no one that was going to stand in his way. He didn't have to follow anyone's rules but his own.
For his entire life there had always been some kind of plan about how he was going to live, but now he was writing his own future. It was kind of giddy making, and that was all he was going to think about that.
Vereint wasn't going to look for any kind of deep meaning in his life. He was going to enjoy the moments he was living in and understand that even if things didn't last, for the first time ever, he was going to enjoy his life as he lived it and not let anyone else bring him down.
And so it was that he found himself standing in the middle of a bank robbery and not really knowing how he had gotten there.
If he'd been the one robbing the bank, he might have found the situation a little more serious. But here he was, just a bystander to someone else's crime. It was a little bit ludicrous, and a lot humorous, especially when the group of robbers--wannabe supervillains that lacked any kind of superpowers whatsoever--fumbled around like the noobs they were.
The leader was holding something that looked like a deathray made from an at-home kit he probably bought off the internet. It was a lot pathetic.
Vereint stood with his arms crossed, leaning back against the deposit slip counter. Everyone else was ducking down around him, wondering if they should lie flat on the ground or hurl themselves under the nearest solid object.
These robbers were so amateur that they didn't even know to give their hostages clear-cut instructions. They were leaving way too much room for people to panic and do something stupid, like try to escape.
Six largely unskilled robbers trying to hold up the Megacity National Bank, which occupied the bottom floor of one of the largest edifices in the entire city. A building that held several thousand people during the daytime and had a full compliment of lethally armed security officers.
In all, he had to conclude that the robbers were not the smartest ones he had ever come across and there was a fairly good chance that they were going to end up in a holding cell or a coffin.
Vereint looked at the door, seriously thinking about just leaving, but since he was currently out of costume he decided to stick it out and see what was going to happen. He figured it was only a matter of time before some caped superhero...
There was a loud slamming of doors and in strode Fantom Payne, his dark red cape rippling behind him, the faux-muscles of his chest armor gleaming.
Vereint sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. He could already tell that this was going to turn into a complete debacle.
He glanced at his watch: 4:30 p.m. If this went on for much longer, he was going to miss his appointment at Donovans. And if he missed it... he was going to be seriously pissed off.
It was kind of weird being on the observer-side of a "super" battle. Though the robbers were really pretty pathetic, and Fantom Payne wasn't much better.
Watching the "fight," he had to wonder if he had looked that lame when he was being Starburst. And it was kind of sucky to have to admit, even just to himself, that he probably had.
Fantom Payne should have been able to mop the floor with a bunch of not-exactly brilliant normal human robbers, but he was definitely showing the fact that he was having a hard time. Sweat streamed down the parts of his face not covered by his mask, and the fighting skills he was displaying were nothing less than amateur.
The guy had the ability to turn invisible, and that was it. He was basically a normal human strength wise, which he was showing off by the fact that his martial arts skills were largely non-existent and he was being slammed around like a rag-doll.
Vereint shook his head. If his only power was being able to turn invisible, he would at least go out of his way to create some kind of costume that would turn with him.
The disembodied suit being punched, kicked, and slammed into walls didn't exactly change Vereint's opinion of the guy.
Vereint probably would have just stayed watching the show and being bored, except that the leader of the bank robbers whipped his deathray around and shot Fantom right in the chest.
The hero fell to the floor with a heavy thud, flickering back into view as the life faded out of his eyes forever.
"Pathetic," Vereint murmured, turning away.
It was because he wasn't really paying attention that he missed it when the leader of the bank robbers decided to turn the deathray on him and a couple of the hostages behind him.
He didn't really feel it, just this vague tickling sensation across the surface of his skin. The screams were more noticeable, as were the thuds as bodies hit the floor behind him.
Vereint turned in surprise to see everyone in the place staring at him in shock. It took him a moment to realize what had happened.
"Oh," he said intelligently.
"What the hell are you?" the leader asked, taking a step back.
Vereint wondered if he should play the shocked, "I didn't know I had powers" card, but from the look in the guy's eyes, he had a feeling it was a bit too late for that. There was just too much speculation there, and maybe a smidgen of recognition.
Vereint sighed heavily, feeling as though he was almost being forced into what he had to do. "Too bad for you," he said, then grinned.
He should have been worried about exposing his real identity to a bunch of people, but honestly he couldn't even care. It wasn't like any of them knew who he was.
He could feel the violet fire bubbling up from inside, spilling out over the surface of his skin. It was just this warm rush of energy, so utterly refreshing that sometimes it was a trial for him to get it to stop.
When he powered up, in some ways it was like becoming drunk or high. There was no pain, no real transition, it was just this sudden shift in perspective: one minute sober, the next minute flying higher than Jet Girl on methamphetamines. It was never a bad experience, and he never had to put up with the comedown hangover afterward.
Sometimes he wondered if he was becoming addicted to his own power. And if that was so, what was going to happen to him next?
"You know, I really didn't want to get involved in whatever you had going here... but now that you've brought me into it, I'm going to have to beat your ass," Vereint said, cracking his knuckles.
He could feel a nasty smirk twisting his lips and it seemed like a perfectly natural expression. As though his face was simply made to wear the mask of cruelty.
"You... You're Darkstar," the leader said intelligently.
"I wasn't gonna be today, you know," Vereint said. "I was just here to get some cash, then I would have been on my way. But you had to derail my plans. So now I'm going to derail yours."
He could feel the heat bubbling up out of him, spilling over the surface of his skin in a violet rush, burning in his eyes. He rose up off the floor until he would have to bend his feet just for his toes to brush the ground.
It felt like the most natural thing in the world to form a ball of violet light in the palm of his hand and just kind of negligently toss it in the direction of the leader of the bank robbers.
The man's black ski mask covered face didn't hide the way his eyes and mouth opened wide in horror before he was engulfed.
There was a dull "WHUMP!" Then a rain of dust.
There were screams and the other robbers made a break for the door. He was way out of their league and they knew it.
Watching them run out through the double doors, he had to laugh a little. They were so raw they hadn't noticed the building being surrounded by cops with their sirens off.
When he heard them being ordered on their knees while yelling about "Darkstar's gonna kill us!" he smacked himself in the forehead.
Great, now some so-called hero is going to show up and think this was all my fault. He growled under his breath and kicked the ashes on the floor, stirring them up and tickling his nose.
He could hear the sounds of "heroic" voices outside and knew he should have probably already left.
"DARKSTAR, THE BUILDING IS SURROUNDED. LET THE HOSTAGES GO!" the police commissioner called on his bullhorn.
Vereint glanced around the bank, seriously wondering how a simple trip to cash a check had turned into this debacle. And now he had a bunch of terrified hostages to deal with, all of them staring at him with wide eyes, wondering what he was going to do next.
I wonder what I'm going to do next, Vereint thought, then smirked.
If he was stuck in a stupid situation, he might as well enjoy it.
* * *
When the Code Black came across his phone's screen, Warrick quickly excused himself from the board meeting and hurried to change into his uniform.
A Code Black was an all-call to every member of the League of Superheroes to let them know that an Omega-class super power was on the rampage. Those nearest to the scene were supposed to show up with their game faces on.
Zipping across the city, he arrived at the Megacity National Bank to find the whole place surrounded. Cops were trying to keep curious civilians back, though he would have felt better if the lines were pushed even farther back. But that was pretty much impossible on such short notice, and if they were dumb enough to stand that close, he figured they were dumb enough to handle the consequences if things went totally pear-shaped.
"What's the situation?" he asked, landing next to the Police Commissioner. He was actually a little surprised the man was handling the situation himself.
"Darkstar has taken a bunch of hostages in the bank," Commissioner Layton said.
Warrick made an "Oh" face, finally getting why the Commissioner was handling things. Darkstar was PR gold, though any situation to do with him could quickly turn to shit if not handled right.
He looked around, seeing that he was the senior member of the League in attendance. The Juniors were swooping around the building evacuating people from the upper levels. "I guess I'm handling this one," he said. "Don't worry Joe, I won't let him blow up the city."
Layton gave him a dubious look. "Listen, Blue, that guy's trouble with a capital T. We really don't need him having a complete freak out and killing all the hostages. That's bad press for everyone."
"Not to mention those guys would all be dead."
Warrick turned to grin at Caspian Dukes as the half-Atlantean came strolling up. "Who ever knew you would use your superhearing to eavesdrop on my conversations with the Police Commissioner?" he asked.
"Please, Joe knows how we are. How you been, Joe?" Caspian asked, nodding to the Commissioner.
The man stroked two fingers over his rather walrus-like mustache. "Been better. This is a campaign year, so you know Bonita's about out of her mind on this one."
"Why's that?" Warrick asked. "Not to be callous or anything, but this is a simple hostage situation/robbery, right?"
Layton shook his head with a sigh. "Not quite. Seems one of the hostages is Buttercup Lewis, daughter of Ben Lewis of the Clover Foundation."
"So why are we stressing? From her name, it's obvious her father hates her so it shouldn't be too bad if she gets axed," Caspian said.
Layton gave him a dark look. "Yes, I'm sure that's gonna go over well with everyone involved."
Warrick slapped the older man on the shoulder, careful to keep his strength at a non-meta level. "No worries, man. We will do our super best to keep all the hostages undead and the building unleveled."
"I want better than your best on this one," Layton said. "I really don't need the Mayor chewing me a new asshole because things got a little rambunctious on your end. This situation needs to be handled right."
"Well, give us what intel you've got and we'll send in the troops. And don't worry so much Joe, you'll give yourself gray hair."
Layton ran a hand through his steel gray hair and gave him a Look.
Warrick grinned to show that there were no worries involved. It wasn't that hard to show confidence, even if something in his belly was saying that Darkstar was about to make him look like a fool one more time.
It was almost like he was getting used to it.
* * *
He had had the bank manager bring him the man's comfortable executive desk chair and was currently lounging indolently near the deposit counter.
"Wh-wh-what are you going to do to us?"
Vereint turned to glance at the rather rotund man. "Honestly? I'm not going to do anything to you... as long as the cops keep me happy. And just FYI, you really don't want to piss me off either, cause that would be another reason to get rid of you. So just do what I say and every single one of you will get out of here fairly intact. If not... well, then you're perfectly expendable. Aren't you?"
The bank manager obviously thought it was his duty to take care of the rest of the hostages. As though they had suddenly become his property just because they stepped foot in the bank.
Glancing around the lobby, Vereint was pretty pleased with the way things were going, even if he hadn't planned on being in this situation in the first place.
There were so many things he had expected to do today, and a bank robbery wasn't one of them. Still, he was finding that he enjoyed the spontaneity of it all, as though it had brought some thrill back into his rather humdrum life. It was actually pretty amusing.
"Honestly? I was just here minding my own business. If those idiots hadn't gotten me involved in their bit of stupidity... well, none of you fine folk would have had the pleasure of my company. Aren't you just the lucky ones, huh?" Vereint kicked his foot on the floor, making the chair swivel around once. "We'll just wait it out a little while and see what the stooges outside make up their minds to do. Then we'll let the real fun get started."
There was something oddly delightful about controlling people with his will. Because of him, their whole lives had been changed; no matter what happened to them, he was someone they were definitely never going to forget.
Life as a supervillain was so much better than it had been as Starburst, professional candy ass.
He was allowed to do whatever he wanted and if anyone said anything against him, he made their lives miserable until they shut up. It was honestly the awesomest gig he had ever come across. Incredibly lucrative too, since he got to keep all of the proceeds from his crimes.
A self-satisfied smile curled his lips, which only widened into full-blown delight when his superhearing caught the sound of his most favoritest adversary, Blue Ice, cursing up a storm outside.
"Looks like we're going to be having some guests soon," he said, raising his voice enough that everyone in the bank could hear. "If I were as completely helpless and pathetic as you lot are, I would definitely try to stay as low to the ground as possible and out of the range of falling debris. It's in your best interest to try not to die."
He could feel the sudden panic in the room, and it made him chuckle deep in his throat. They were so adorable when they were trying to keep from crapping their pants.
He seriously wasn't going to go out of his way to hurt anyone, and he would try his best not to accidentally crush anyone if a super battle developed, but they were pretty much in it alone other than that. He wasn't going to be anyone's superhero today. That wasn't his business anymore.
His business was anarchy.
* * *
If there was one thing Blue Ice hated, it was going into a situation blind, which was basically what he was going to be doing today.
Some smartass in the bank's administration had thought it was a good idea to lead line the whole building. Which was an awesome way to keep supervillains from peeking into the vaults, but made it miserable for a bunch of superheroes trying to save some hostages.
"Dude, calm down a little. What's up with you?" Caspian asked, slinging an arm over his shoulders and solidly steering him away from the bank official he had been glaring at so hatefully.
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me? I'll tell you exactly what's wrong with me. I've got a bunch of hostages, an unknown bank situation, and that Candy Ass is probably laughing his head off in there, just waiting for the chance to vaporize us all. That's what I've got wrong with me. And what do you have to say about that?"
"Nothing, really. Except that in all the years I've known you, I've never heard of anyone that's so totally made you lose your cool before." Caspian shook his head. "It's actually rather illuminating, if you must know. It's like a whole book-length novel I'll be adding to my personal profile folder on you. Interesting."
Warrick slapped him on the shoulder. "Oh, shut up. Sometimes I don't even know why I keep you around, when all you want to do is mock the situation."
"You keep me around because I'm awesome," Caspian dead-panned.
Warrick couldn't help the little laugh that escaped, but he was careful to keep his expression semi-bricklike. There was no way he wanted the public to see him laughing during such a "serious" situation. If there was one thing he really didn't need on top of his other problems, it was bad press. That was the kind of thing that made a career go short.
"All right, let's think this through very carefully," he said, turning back to his waiting squad. "Does anyone have a way for us to get into the bank without him killing any of the hostages?"
"Or possibly one of us?" Caspian added, sotto voce. "I'm just saying."
More than anything, Warrick really wanted to hit his friend. He felt practically holy for refraining.
They had a job to do now.
"I think I've got an idea, sir," a young voice said.
Warrick looked at the youngest member of the team. "All right, Green Ghost. What've you got?"
"Well, sir..."
* * *
When he'd been Starburst, Vereint had wondered if keeping his superhearing to himself had been exactly ethical. Now, he just thought it was the greatest joke he could have played.
Sure, he didn't quite have the range to listen to conversations on the other side of the world, and if he didn't know what he was listening for everything just came at him like a mass of sound, but right now... He could hear all of the plans the superheroes and SWAT teams were making, and it made him want to cackle with glee.
Now he just had to figure out something to make their day that much worse for them and awesome for him.
An idea poked at his brain, and he chuckled a little to himself. It only took a second for him to send small blasts of energy toward each security camera in the lobby, melting them into vapor.
"All right people, I want you all to strip down to your underwear," he called.
"Wh-what?" the bank manager asked, his face going a bit red. He was sweating up a storm, his bald spot gleaming.
Vereint sighed heavily. "Dude, I want you and all the rest of my wonderful hostages here to strip down to your underwear and toss your clothes over here in a pile. And if you all don't hurry up and do what I say... well, then I might get a tad bit testy. And things might totally go bad for everyone here. Except me of course."
They were incredibly reluctant, but one glare of his eyes vaporizing a teller's nameplate, and the clothes practically flew off to land in a pile in front of him.
A manic grin spread across his lips as he quickly picked through the clothes, tossing things at various people. "Put those on," he ordered.
There were some murmurs of protest, but no one outright defied him, so he was willing to overlook it. Besides, if it were him, he would have been pretty unhappy too. But it wasn't.
He found a baseball cap, a blue 3XL "I'm Your Girlfriend IRL" tee shirt, and a pair of overlarge shorts. They wouldn't exactly make him attractive looking, but that was kind of the idea.
Ignoring the eyes that flickered across his body, he quickly stripped down to his boxers and dressed in the outfit, tossing his own clothes towards a half-naked girl. "Here, you wear these."
She shakily complied, though it took her twice as long as it should have with the way she was trying to keep her hands crossed in front of her chest and crotch. Her pale skin was blushing red.
Glancing down at himself, then across his hostages, Vereint felt a bubble of delight. This was going to be epic, either as a win or a failure. He didn't really care one way or another, since it was all for the lulz at this point.
* * *
Warrick was really hating this, but there wasn't a whole lot of choice unless they wanted to wait for the bodies to start piling up. Darkstar was not well known for his patience, or his sense of fair play.
"All right, you all know what to do," he said into his communicator.
There was a murmur of assent.
"Green Ghost, you in position?" he asked.
"Stet, sir."
"All right, Flame, blow us a door."
There was a moment of stillness, then a dull whump and a roar of sudden flame. Warrick counted out three seconds, then surrounded himself with a shield of ice and flung himself across the street and through the gaping hole in the side of the bank. He felt Caspian and the Flame Burst at his heels, but trusted them enough not to have to police their every action.
"Nobody move!" he shouted, his hands ready in front of him to shoot out a flood of freezing cold.
His nerves were on high alert and he was ready for some kind of epic battle... What he got instead was a bunch of scared looking people huddled away from the hole in the wall. There was no sign of Darkstar at all.
He didn't let himself relax.
"Where is Darkstar?" he asked, his eyes flicking around the lobby for the hidden supervillain.
"He... He told us to stay here," a young man with a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes said. He was leaning close to a teenaged girl that was silently crying, tears just streaming from her eyes. His arm was around her shoulders and it was almost touching how much he cared about her.
Warrick wrinkled his brow when he looked over the hostages. They were all dressed in a mishmash of clothes that obviously didn't belong to them. "So why are you all still in here?"
"He said he would be watching," the young guy said. He seemed to be the spokesman of the group, what with the way everyone looked to him to answer questions.
"Which way did he go?" Caspian asked.
A middle-aged woman made a squeaking sound deep in her throat, her eyes showing white all around. Her eyes flicked to the young man and the girl, then back to Warrick and Caspian. "He just... he flew away."
Warrick frowned. She didn't seem a hundred percent on that. There was something very wrong here and it was giving him the definite sense that things were about to blow up in his face.
"Which way did he fly to?" he demanded.
Twenty-seven people, and not a one wanted to say anything. It set his danger-senses screaming.
"So, what's with the clothes?" Caspian asked.
"He thought it would be funny," the teen girl said, her voice cracking and breaking into tears. Her brother--boyfriend?--hugged her closer against him, whispering "Sh, sh" to calm her down.
Warrick wasn't really for teen girls at the best of times, and crying ones were very much his limit. "All right. So are all of you all right? Did he hurt anyone?"
"No, no, we're fine," the bank manager said.
Warrick looked at him for a long moment, seriously wondering what was going on. The guy should have been stepping up with the authority, but he still looked like he thought he was going to be pistol whipped at any moment.
"Cas?" he murmured.
"Yeah, boss, I am totally feeling the vibe," Caspian said, making sure to stand at least an arm-length away in case stuff went crazy.
Warrick let a ball of ice form in his right hand, while his eyes tracked across the hostages. Things were not right, and he was going to figure this out.
They were saying that Darkstar had already left the building, but if that was so, how could no one have seen him? Which meant that he was still here, close enough that none of the hostages wanted to say anything.
Warrick examined the hostages as closely as he could, trying to see familiar features. Female, female, too old, too yuck, too short, too tall, female...
"Dude, I counted the hostages," Caspian drifted close to whisper. "There's twenty-eight of them."
"Shit." Warrick tried to pierce the hostages with his eyes.
It seemed almost like fate that his eyes would land on the loving brother/boyfriend with the cap on. His eyes brushed against then locked on a pair of blazing blue.
"You..."
Darkstar grinned a blinding flash of teeth and wrapped both arms tight around the girl, who gave a piercing shriek as she was lifted off her feet. "Wow, dude, took you like forever to spot me. I must be better at cosplay than I thought."
Warrick held out his arm to stop the Flame Burst from rushing forward just as Darkstar pressed a kiss against the girl's cheek.
"Uh uh," Darkstar said. "You might be able to flambe this sweet girl here, but take it from me... you won't even show up on my personal harm-o-meter. I'm fireproof."
"Come on, you don't want to hurt the girl," Warrick said, trying to sound reasonable, but probably just coming across as being pissed off. He could feel that vein throbbing in his forehead.
"I don't know," Darkstar said, kissing the girl's neck gently before audibly sniffing. "I kind of smell a victim here. Do you smell it too?"
"Come on, man, why would you want to hurt a little girl like that?" Warrick asked, taking a slow sidling step forward.
Darkstar gave him a piercing glare that stopped him and forced him to take a step back instead. "Why don't you shut up and let me think about what I'm gonna make you do for me today?"
"What do you mean?" Warrick asked.
"Dude, did you really think I was going to give up these lovely people for free? Uh uh. You're gonna have to give me something first."
Warrick clenched his hands into fists, ice cracking and breaking against his palms. This jerk hole really thought he was going to get his own way. And honestly, he probably was, mostly because the League didn't need any more bad press.
"What do you want?" he gritted out, his jaw aching and his eyes burning with rage. More than anything he wanted to smash his fists into that smarmy face.
* * *
What did he want? He honestly did not know.
It wasn't like he had come into the bank today with any intention of robbing the place. And now, because of a group of inept robbers, he was probably never going to be able to come to Megacity National or any of its branches ever again. So he would have to make this whole thing worth it.
"Look, I don't want to have to haul any of these losers with me," he said. "So why don't you offer yourself up instead?"
"What?"
"Come on, Blue, you want to save these poor people, don't you? And I'm willing to let them go if you put on one of your fancy League power zappers and come with me. I promise I won't do anything permanent to you."
He didn't really know what he was doing, but that huge part of him that loved messing with the guy was pushing him to do this. And there wasn't really anything holding him back from doing what he wanted.
Blue Ice flicked his eyes across the hostages again, then looked to his partner in crime, Caspian Dukes. Who was so super cool he didn't even need an alter-ego and was a full-time superhero with corporate sponsors and everything.
Which made Vereint seriously wonder what Blue Ice did in his spare time.
"We are not doing this," Caspian said, shaking his head.
"Oh, but Dukes, what about all these poor people?" Vereint asked, mock-sweetly. "It's not like I'm going to hurt him or anything. I promise that tomorrow he'll be back at your little Rotunda of Righteousness, or whatever you guys are calling it this month. And he'll be just as much of a douche as he's always been. And I'm sure Captain Dickhead won't have anything to yell at you about."
"That's Captain Victorious," Caspian said, not even able to say the guy wasn't a complete dickhead.
"I don't care what his name is," Vereint said. "You either do what I want... or these kind folks here get to stay with me for awhile longer. Not for too long, though, since I'm not really into hanging out with Nominals."
"Nominals? Is that really what you call normals?" Blue Ice demanded, completely unable to help himself.
Vereint smiled at the man, full-knowing that it wasn't a very nice expression. "Sure. To be nominal means to only exist in name, but to not be real. 'Cause that's what they are. Not real people."
"That's sick," Blue Ice growled, his eyes squinted behind his mask.
"Aw, don't be like that," Vereint cooed, enjoying messing with the guy. Blue Ice always took himself so serious that it was the greatest amusement ever to see him lose his cool. "Just think, you come with me now and all these people you care so much about are going to make it out of this all right. You can tell all your fans that you sacrificed yourself for the greater good, or whatever, and all it'll cost you is a few hours of your time."
"Do not do this," Dukes ordered, grabbing Blue Ice's arm. "Darkstar is a snake. There's no way he's going to keep his word and bring you back all right. And if he wants you to wear power suppression bands... he can do anything he wants to you and there's no way you'll be able to stop him."
"Ooh, I'll be able to do anything I want to you. I never thought about that," Vereint said, then laughed. "Please. I just want to take your buddy here and talk to him for awhile." He held out his left pinkie finger, wiggled it a little. "I pwomise I'll bring him back. Pinkie swear."
Dukes glared at him. "You're nothing but a scumbag. I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you."
"Which isn't very far, considering our comparative power levels," Vereint said, suddenly serious. He looked at Blue Ice, locking their eyes together, knowing that his were glowing with violet fire. "It's a simple choice I'm giving you. You either come with me and save all these fine people, or you stay here and reap the consequences. That's all."
He pressed his cheek against the bleach blond hair of the girl he held. "She's real pretty, isn't she? She's so young and has her whole life before her. It would be a real shame if something were to keep her from that, wouldn't it?"
Blue Ice was resolutely silent, trying to be the strong guy. But Vereint could practically hear the gears churning in that cowl covered head. Looked like the guy just needed a little push to do the "right" thing.
"What's your name, sweetheart?" Vereint asked the girl in his arms.
"B-B-Buttercup," she whimpered.
"Whoa, your parents don't like you much, do they?"
She sobbed and looked to the woman she'd been with before he'd grabbed her. The lady looked like she was about to completely lose her mind, her hands clamped over her mouth to keep from screaming. "Mo-mommy."
"Aw," he looked at Blue Ice, "isn't she a real sweetheart? Not too bright, just the way you like 'em, huh?"
"Shut your mouth!"
Vereint sighed. "Make up your mind, 'cause I don't have all day. Either you come with me, and Buttercup and all these other nice people go free. Or you dick me around, and things happen as they happen. Either way, I always have a good time."
He could practically taste the hate in Blue Ice's glare. It made him want to giggle like a nerd.
* * *
"Tick-tock, tick-tock," the asshole taunted him, wagging his finger back and forth.
Warrick wanted more than anything to slam his fist into that smug face, but there was nothing he could do. He wasn't going to let a bunch of innocent people die.
"I'll go with you, but no suppression bands," he said.
"Hm, no," Darkstar said, grinning. "I want you on your knees before me, a lovely collar around your neck. I want you to be completely helpless."
"Come on, you said you didn't want to kill me," Warrick said. "You and I both know that I'm not quite in your power league. So I come with you without a suppression collar on, or we have to find something else. But there's no way I'm coming completely helpless. Just let me keep the thought that if I have to, I'll be able to save myself if you break your word. And we both know it won't do any good."
"I could kill you in a moment," Darkstar agreed musingly, his eyes half-lidded. "Even without the collar, your full powers won't even scratch me."
"See? So I'll go with you as long as I don't have to wear a suppression collar," Warrick said.
"Fine," Darkstar said, grabbing the girl by the back of the neck and pushing her away from him, but still keeping a good grip. It would only take a second for him to squeeze his hand and kill the girl.
He looked at Warrick, holding out his free hand. "When you come to me, I'll let the girl go. But not until then."
Warrick looked back at Caspian. "Don't do anything stupid," he said. "The minute we go, you get all these people out of here just in case."
"No, man, don't do it," Caspian said, trying to grab hold of his arm, but Warrick shifted aside.
"Don't," he said. "You just make sure you get these people out of here. And don't worry so much." He tried to give a comforting smile, but it was harder than he had ever thought it would be.
"No." But Caspian wasn't grabbing at him, seemed to have actually accepted that he was going to do what he was going to do.
"Don't worry," Warrick said one last time, walking toward Darkstar and taking his hand.
It was kind of a weird thought to realize he was touching the man's bare hand. There was only one pair of gloves between them, and only one of them was wearing a cape. They were as close to being naked in front of each other as they had ever been.
It didn't thrill him as much as he thought it might.
* * *
He hadn't really believed he was going to get his own way. He just hadn't thought that Blue Ice would ever give himself away just to save a bunch of hostages.
Vereint would have been happy to be given an ultimatum that would have had him huffing and puffing and flying off with nothing. Whereby he would have been completely out of the situation and free to do anything he wanted, knowing that he had gotten off scot free once again.
Instead, Blue Ice had given in to his demand and now he was going to have to figure out what he was going to do with the dude. It wasn't like he could take the guy to his apartment, and he'd long since dumped his last secret lair. So now he was going to have to find a nice warehouse or something.
Still, he had put one over on the League of Superheroes. And how cool was that?
"Come on, don't be scared," Vereint said, pushing the girl away to wrap his arms securely around Blue Ice. He leaned close and whispered in the man's ear, "It feels like we're going on our first date, doesn't it?" then laughed when the man went all tense and nervous.
As he flew off with Blue Ice in his arms, he realized he had completely forgotten his appointment at Donovans. It made him laugh a little.
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