Whumpril 2026 - unnecessary risks
“What if I brought all this down upon you all, huh, Supervillain? What if?” Hero forced a huge smile on their face as the room’s lights flickered with unwanted energy. Hero watched their team, which was behind Supervillain, tied up on their knees, and giggled at Sidekick’s small flinch. So scared and for what. They were doing all this to save them. “Now wouldn’t that be funny.”
“You wouldn’t.” Supervillain only smiled, a possessive hand on Leader’s head. “I have the feeling you don’t recognize how much is at stake, my dear.” He gestured at the team held hostage by his goons.
“No, I don’t think you recognize,” Hero took a deep breath before letting out a small giggle, “the massive elephant in the room. This wasn’t supposed to happen. You were never supposed to find us. I-we failed.” Their breath hitched. “So, one must take responsibility for their crimes.”
“And take your friends down with you?” Supervillain chuckled. “I didn’t expect this behavior from a hero. Least of all you.”
Now what was that supposed to mean. The electricity around Hero crackled. One of the light bulbs exploded.
Leader surged forward before he was stopped by Supervillain’s hand on his hair. “Hero, stop this!”
“Please, Hero, it’s gonna be okay.” One of Hero’s other teammates looked at them with concern… which was unwanted, and it only aggravated them more.
“Let me do my thing.”
“Hero, there are innocent people in this building.” Leader growled. “Don’t take unnecessary risks.”
“I know what I’m doi-”
“Oh, relax, would you.” Supervillain had the nerve to laugh and clench his fist around Leader’s hair. The captive hero gritted his teeth. “Can’t you tell they’re bluffing?” They gave Hero a knowing look. “You’re not fooling anyone, my dear. I know you heroes, I know all your rules, your moral codes, your ethics. I’ve been dealing with your kind since-”
Hero snapped their fingers. The air buzzed and a surge of energy flashed across all their faces. Multiple of Supervillain’s goons gasped, and a few jumped and yelped when they were shocked. So did one of their teammates. Hero ignored that last part. “Hehe, got a few.” They smiled.
“Hero!” Sidekick pointed at Sniper in the back, horrified.
“Oh, calm down, they’re alive. I told you, I know what I’m doing.”
Sniper’s whole body twitched.
The hero had no idea what they were doing. They only had one goal in mind and that was getting their team back, go back home and pretend this whole mission-gone-wrong thing never happened.
Sniper groaned and Hero fought the urge to run and help. They told themselves they'd be fine. All heroes had personalized medics back at the base anyways. And this was a last resort, Hero was sure their team would understand why they were acting this way. It's not like the hero was hurting them on purpose.
Sure, they could give back the documents they stole from the villain, but after what their team went through to get those damned papers, Hero refused to even let those go. They had a goal in mind and, unfortunately, it involved those cursed papers too.
Besides, Hero has had this power for years, they had it all under control. Sure, electricity was impossible to control in general, and fatal, should one start randomly generating it with no concrete target… kind of what Hero was doing right now. But it didn’t matter. They had it all under control. They knew what they were doing. They had a goal in mind.
Supervillain's disbelieving laugh brought Hero back in the real world. They saw the villain purse his lips. “A fine little show, but you don’t really expect me to believe-”
Another wave of lightning, a bigger one. All the people in the room curled into one another. Hero thought they heard screaming in the distance.
“Hero, there are innocent people in these building!” Sidekick scolded.
Hero shrugged. “Small sacrifices, I guess.”
“Hero!” Leader looked at them, horrified. Hero’s chest would’ve stung at the look he gave them, but they had other things to worry about now.
“Here’s what’s going to happen.” They shifted their focus on Supervillain, who had a small frown upon his brow. His hand had left Leader’s ruffled hair, taking a more guarded stance. Finally taking them seriously, huh. “I am leaving and taking my team with me. Or else I’m going down.” They grinned. “And taking everyone in this room with me.”
The villain stared at them for a few long moments. Then he straightened up and smiled. “No, I’d rather you see this through the end.”
Hero blinked. “Very well then.”
Even Hero was blinded by the flash their power caused.
@whumplicity @jumpywhumpywriter @dreamingofviolence I present you my mentally unstable hero