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shady-tavern · 8 months

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A Dash of Villainy within a Hero, Part Two

Part One can be found here. Warnings ahead for murder and mentioned/implied though not graphic torture, mind manipulation and human experiments. Please take care of yourselves.

***

'I know a place' Madness had said after Song had landed, dropping him first and keeping her wings slightly flared after touching down with you, keeping a wary eye on him. You knew the only reason she didn't protest his presence was her trust in you. She trusted that you had a reason for this.

So you had followed Madness with careful caution, for there was no way either of you would lead him to your little hideout for the conversation you all wanted to have.

And, well, considering the glimpses of what you had gotten this night, it looked like you would need allies. You had no idea if villain allies were the way to go, but in this instance it might be something to consider.

Madness led you through a complicated route after sending a text and receiving one in return. The old house he ended up stopping in front was most likely a safehouse that he was going to burn after bringing Song and you here.

To your surprise, there was already someone waiting inside. A kid, sixteen at most and once they opened their mouth and said, "Hey!" you immediately recognized Doctor.

You felt Song tense at your back, heard the ruffle of her wings. Song had always had a massive soft spot for kids and even you had to admit that it unsettled you whenever underage villains or heroes showed up. The latter at least were put into training and were sent out with mentors until they were eighteen, but villain kids seemed to have fewer protections.

You glanced at Madness and noticed the way he watched you and Song from the corner of his eye, the angle of his body. He was ready to protect the kid, no matter what and somehow that made you feel a little bit better.

You were suddenly glad that Doctor was largely known for breaking in and stealing or destroying things and less for going up against heroes the way Madness did. The thought of having attacked a kid made you feel vaguely ill.

"So, I heard you know about Phoenix Project now," Doctor said, casting a quick glance at Madness, their shoulders relaxing a tad at whatever they saw on his face.

"Someone tried to kidnap me last night," Song answered. "Do you know anything about that?"

Doctor glanced at Madness again, a silent conversation taking place that ended with Madness sighing and Doctor looking smugly happy.

"Possibly," Doctor said and reached over the counter of the kitchen island and produced a laptop. They opened it, tapping away with quick fingers and then held it out.

Song and you stepped forward, you taking the laptop while Song leaned a bit onto your back, one wing coming up to curl against you as she looked over your shoulder.

"We don't know a whole lot yet," Doctor said, voice quieter than before and you still tracked Madness from the corner of your eye as he came to stand beside the kid.

His eyes were a slightly darker violet when you glanced up. He was trusting you around Doctor about as much as you trusted him around Song, it seemed.

Then you focused on what was on the laptop and the more you read, the grimmer you grew. Doctor and Madness had created a chart, heroes retiring without ever being seen again, or dying with no proper proof of their death. They had even dug up a few caskets, only to find them empty.

And then they had stumbled across the term Phoenix Project and had traced it back to The Defenders. Where you had most likely run into Madness after he had broken in.

And now you had the name of someone involved in whatever the project was, one of your higher ups.

"Why do you care?" Song asked, looking up while you studied the chart again. There were more heroes they considered 'missing' rather than dead than you had thought.

Doctor was silent for a long moment, then sighed heavily. "My older brother," they said quietly. "He was a hero and one day a year ago we got a call, that he died in the field. It was a closed casket funeral because of how mangled and burnt he supposedly was."

You glanced up and the kid looked angry and grieving and mulish. "I believed it at first," they continued. "But I kept thinking that something was off. When I asked his teammate, Quake, he was super evasive. And, uh, maybe one night I got super drunk and decided to dig him up. To see for myself that he was really gone. But his casket was empty."

Quake. It seemed he was another person you should chat with. You pulled out your phone after handing the laptop to a very quiet Song, showing Doctor and Madness the photos you had taken, catching them up on what you and Song knew.

Song glanced at you. "Guess who knows where Quake lives," she said and you found yourself grinning. It was not a nice grin.

"How about we extend our truce?" Madness offered and when you looked up, he had a smile on his face that looked the way your grin must have. "I bet my powers come in handy for interrogations."

As would yours. Song glanced between you and Madness and you could tell that she was imagining the sort of 'questioning' you two would create. She knew that you would not hesitate to hurt Quake in order to get your answers.

You weren't as much of a good person as Song was. After what he had intended to do, what he had already done to Song, you absolutely were vindictive. A part of you hoped he would resist interrogation.

"If we do this," Song said quietly, "We may never be able to be heroes again."

"And if we do nothing and they catch up with us, I am dead and you will get dragged off to whatever and wherever this Phoenix Project is," you answered and she grimaced but didn't argue.

"Alright," Song said after a moment of silence, her voice grim. "I'll lead the way."

*.*.*

Quake was visibly agitated. He was pacing and continuously calling someone. Dawn was only just starting to break and despite this being a very long night, you were too wired to feel tired.

Whoever Quake wanted to contact, he clearly wasn't getting through.

Crouching side by side with Madness was...quite frankly, it was very weird. There was no way you trusted him, nor did you stop tracking his movements from the corner of your eye. It was best to be cautious, especially with someone who could mess with your mind at the drop of a hat.

"I can send him to sleep," Madness whispered and when you glanced at him, one brow raised, he shrugged. "My powers can do more than drive people to temporary insanity."

"Never would have guessed," you muttered and at his unimpressed look, you gestured for him to go ahead.

Madness moved cat-quiet, lowering himself from the ledge of the building to set down on the balcony across from Quake's home. You felt the hum of his power in the air, as did Quake, but he reacted too late. Most people reacted too late, and even then all one could do was try to run to escape from Madness' range.

Quake's eyes rolled back and he dropped limp to the floor. You felt Song's hand grip the back of your jacket and a moment later you were airborne. She dropped you onto Quake's balcony and landed, shifting her wing to the side to make space for Madness to leap across.

Breaking into the apartment was easy and it looked exactly like the sort of place a hero like Quake could afford. Until you looked closer and you saw that everything around you was expensive and new.

From his fridge to his dishwasher, shiny marble countertops and solid wood furniture, things had been paid for with the sort of money Quake shouldn't have.

Little rat.

You dragged Quake away from the windows to his bedroom, where Madness pulled the curtain closed beforehand and Song took up a sentinel position.

"Alright, ready?" Madness asked as soon as Quake was tied to a chair and you gave him a nod. A moment later, Quake woke with a ragged gasp. He was, unsurprisingly, not pleased.

"Traitor," he hissed at you and you couldn't help but bark out a sharp, incredulous laugh.

"Pot, meet kettle," you said with a grin that was more a baring of teeth. "Tell me, how soon after Nightingale's disappearance would you have found a way to murder me?"

Quake grit his teeth but mulishly kept his mouth shut. "Madness," you said with such artificial sweetness your voice rivaled overly sweet, artificially colorful candy. "Would you like the honors?"

"My, I thought you would never ask," Madness answered with that same sort of over-the-top sugary sweet voice. "With pleasure."

He reached out a hand and you felt dark satisfaction at seeing Quake's eyes grow wide in fear. You shoved some of his balled up socks into his mouth just in time to muffle his howling.

Madness eased up after a moment and Quake was panting, his face having rapidly grown damp with sweat. He spat out his socks, shivering and gasping and his eyes were darting from side to side wildly.

From witness accounts you knew, while people didn't remember whatever Madness had put into their heads, the intense fear lingered. It faded within a half an hour, leaving them confused and vaguely unsettled, but nothing else.

"Now," you said and snapped your fingers together, creating brief sparks. "Wanna talk or do I get to play too?"

Quake swallowed harshly and audibly and you saw the exact moment he caved, the panicked hopelessness that gave way to grim resignation. Pity, you really would have loved to hurt him a bit for what he had done to Song.

"I'll tell you what I know," he grit out and you clapped your hands together, smiling brightly.

"How lovely, but do be truthful or my new friend here is going to have another jaunt in your gray matter."

Madness shifted his stance to something smugly satisfied, looking for all the world like a relaxed big cat after a successful hunt. "Indeed. Now, what do you know about the Phoenix Project?"

Quake swallowed again and seemed to want to resist just a little anyway – hero pride, you didn't blame him for that – before he caved, "I know they want heroes for it. The occasional villain too." He shrugged. "It's not really like the public can check the prison records."

You hadn't even thought about how unexpectedly...vulnerable captured villains could be. Considering the way a muscle in Madness's cheek jumped, neither had he.

"Who is involved?" Madness asked and Quake wet his lips.

"I don't know." He saw you lift your hand and Madness' eyes grew dark and hurriedly added, "I'm serious. I get a burner phone and laptop when I'm supposed to get them a hero or a villain."

"Who introduced you to them?" you asked and Quake looked away.

"I...might have done some illegal things," he said, shoulders hunching a bit. "And whoever 'they' are, they found out. I had a package delivered home, with copies of their evidence and demands to do what they wanted or I could kiss my job and reputation goodbye."

"And people like you dare to call themselves heroes," Madness sneered and you couldn't help but agree. What a selfish coward.

Quake gave up the rest of the information willingly. He told you which devices the information was on, that he had tried to gather as much blackmail as he could in return. He told you the passwords for all of his things and at last, Madness reached out and touched his forehead.

Quake went limp, staring dully into nothing, his breathing slow and even.

"Don't ask what I did," Madness said without looking at you. "And don't say he didn't deserve it."

You could take an educated guess on what he might have done, considering Quake's catatonic, empty eyed state. You shrugged. "I won't complain." Madness looked at you, surprise openly visible on his face.

You held his gaze. "Don't think you're the only vindictive one, Madness. He hurt my friend and tried to kill me and he has done so to other heroes in the past. Leave him trapped in nightmares for eternity for all I care."

As you left to join Song in the living room and start collecting Quake's things, you felt Madness' gaze on your back. Weirdly enough, the hostile air from before was gone.

Instead, he seemed almost...thoughtful.

*.*.*

Madness was infuriating and maddening and brilliant and you had to admit, after weeks of working together to uncover more about Phoenix Project, he was, maybe, possibly, perhaps growing on you. Like stinky fungus.

You could admit that you were grateful to him and Doctor. Thanks to the two villains Song and you had an actually safe place to hide in without going mad in the process. They offered protection as well, more than Song and you would have had on your own.

And tonight, at long last, you had a chance to get your hands at your former superior. Both Song and you had been declared rogues and to be captured upon sight for questioning.

Song, sadly, had a hard time going anywhere incognito, her wings were a dead giveaway, so she was staying in the hideout a lot. It wasn't easy on her, but Doctor had found an old factory, a place with incredibly high ceilings so she could at least fly around and train.

Which meant you were teaming up with Madness in the meantime.

You once again crouched at the ledge of a building and watched the woman you were after leave her car, her butler opening the door to her mansion for her. The very same mansion you were already crouching on, ready to strike.

"Pretentious," you muttered, just as Madness whispered, "Tacky."

You didn't look at him, but you felt a smile tug at the corners of your mouth. It was perhaps softer than the usual sharp, toothy smiles that you aimed his way.

"Let's go," you whispered and got up, Madness following you.

With your powers it was easy enough to disable the lock on the rooftop door and slip inside. Madness took care of all the guards, though he was far gentler with the maid and butler, who he caught after putting them into a dreamless sleep for the next hour or so.

And then you were back to the fun part: questioning assholes.

The woman, a hero who had retired early and had made a ridiculous amount of money by taking a top-notch position in The Defenders, blustered and threatened but caved almost just as quickly as Quake head.

One of these days you'd have to ask Madness what exactly he was putting into people's heads.

This time, at least, you got some zaps in before the former hero, Paralytica, gave up. She had far, far more information than Quake and while it took some more persuading in-between the questions, you at last got names. You got names and you got a place.

"You won't get away with this," Paralytica snarled, sweating and panting and trembling slightly in the chair she was tied to.

You sent all the information on her computer to Doctor, who would make sure nothing could be traced back to them. Her gaze burned into your side. "I will have you hunted down like the mangy dog you are."

Before you could so much as roll your eyes, Madness had gripped her head, making her flinch and go very still, her eyes wide. "And yet, somehow, this 'mangy dog' is worth more than all of you combined." Madness' eyes were a dark violet when they met your surprised gaze. "I might even start believing in heroes again."

You looked away, a near overwhelming mixture of emotions rising within you at his words. You felt touched and all soft and gooey-sweet inside and at the same time, you wanted to bluster and curse at him. Stupid asshole, what was his deal, saying nice things out of nowhere? That wasn't what you did, you sniped and argued and verbally elbow-checked each other. Not whatever...whatever this was.

"We're done here," you said just as the door was kicked down and previously silent heroes rushed in.

Paralytica had just one second of smirking in ugly triumph, before Madness' eyes turned almost black, his grip on her head tightening. She went limp, staring into nothing like Quake had, while the two of you sprung into hurried movement.

Madness wanted to fight, but when you hauled ass for the window, to your surprise, he followed instead of going on the offense. You jumped first, arms raised to protect your face, while he tossed out his powers, sending the all but one of the heroes to their knees with screeching, blood curdling screams.

You landed on soft grass, surrounded by glass shards and looking up just as Madness was forced to topple backwards out the window by a powerful, telekinetic wave. Huh. The Defenders had dug out one of ten people capable of withstanding Madness' powers it seemed.

You didn't even think about it as you took a step forward, arms rising and you grunted as you caught him. He wasn't too heavy thankfully, especially since you were used to lugging Song's weight around in training.

His eyes were wide in surprise and the next moment you tightened your grip and zipped away with him. You were faster than Madness, even with his added weight. You were among the top ten fastest heroes currently employed in The Defenders and it really came in handy right now.

Or well, formerly employed, you were pretty sure after today at the latest your fellow heroes would no longer consider you one of them.

The moment you were far enough from the mansion, you set Madness down, clapping him on the shoulder, "Let's scram."

You felt his gaze on your back again, staring and strangely heated.

*.*.*

You winced when you heard something break, exchanging a look with Song. Doctor wanted to come to the location where the Phoenix Project was supposedly taking place, while Madness was very much not in agreement. They were arguing very loudly and intensely.

"I'm not letting you risk your life!" Madness shouted.

"That is not your decision!" Doctor screamed back. "This is about my brother, you fucking asshole. I know you don't care, but I sure as shit do -"

"I care about you," Madness snapped back, Doctor falling silent. In a forcibly calmer voice, Madness continued, "I want you to have a life, to actually get to enjoy having your brother back. He'll need you. Whatever they've done to him in that hellhole, he's not going to be alright."

"If he's alive at all." You could barely heard Doctor's voice now. "And he'll be so disappointed in me. He always said I could do so much good with my brain."

"And you will," Madness said, voice as unyielding as the ocean tide. "Look at all your inventions, at all the good you will do for the medical field once you are ready. He can't blame you for taking what routes you had available in order to find him. Just let me go in and help me from the outside, like usual. Alright?"

"But what if something happens to you?" Doctor's voice was unexpectedly small. "I don't have anyone else, you know? No one else listened to some scrawny kid, especially not a dead hero's sibling."

"I'm not alone," Madness said and you felt a jolt at surprise at his words. You hadn't expected that he'd believe Song and you would watch his back. And you would protect him, you owed the infuriating man that much at least. "I'll have someone at my side and you for backup."

Doctor huffed a soft sound that was almost a laugh. "I thought heroes were pretentious bullshit people selling a long dead dream?"

"Most of them are. But...maybe there are one or two that are alright," Madness said and his voice had gone a little softer around the edges in a way that did funny things to your insides.

Oh. ...oh fuck no.

When you glanced at Song, feeling slightly panicky, she blinked, then snorted. "Finally figured it out, huh?"

You made a face at her, she made one right back and you gladly hopped upon the distraction. That was how Doctor and Madness found you, with your tongue sticking out at Song, who was wriggling her fingers at you beside her temples.

"Children," Madness said with a mock-heavy voice. "I am surrounded by children."

"And I am surrounded by idiots, but what else is new," Doctor shot back and before you knew it, you were laughing.

It was a mixture of stress release, nervous realization about feelings and giddy anticipation for the upcoming infiltration. Along with the simple fact that Doctor was right, they were incredibly smart.

It had also been a while since you had last laughed like this and Song's smile turned warm, one of her wings extending to curl around your shoulders.

To your surprise, even Madness seemed to soften, a little smile playing in the corners of his mouth that had no right to look this cute. You forcibly shook the thought away. You had no reason to look at a villain and consider him cute. That would only end in disaster. Any of these newly realized, far too soft and squishy feelings would only end in disaster.

Heroes and villains didn't work out, that was a song as old as time.

"So," Song said, removing her wing to shake them both out. "What's the plan?"

The plan wasn't overly complicated. None of you were under any illusions about this. You didn't have the forces to storm the old prison the Phoenix Project was in, but you could infiltrate the place, set as many if not all of the captives free and gather enough information to present a case to fellow villains and heroes respectively.

The Defenders itself wasn't involved in the whole thing, but enough people in high positions along with a good handful of heroes were corrupt to cause problems. You would need a lot of good, hard evidence to convince everyone else of the truth. To make them fight back and clean the rot out of their ranks.

Villains didn't care about the troubles of heroes, but they would not like the thought of getting kidnapped once heroes defeated and imprisoned them either. Most villains were solo fighters and crusaders, but Madness had mentioned that there was a sort of unspoken codex.

That sometimes, if necessary, all the different people and factions worked together to protect their collective future. And considering that goal of the Phoenix Project was to create synthetic powers or transplant powers, this would be of interest to many.

Who knew what other goals the Phoenix Project had, Paralytica hadn't known everything after all. She had just been interested in making more money.

"Song and I will create chaos," Madness said. "While Doctor's robot and you will infiltrate the building."

"I insulated my little helper well enough that he should be able to withstand your powers to a certain degree," Doctor said when you glanced at them. "And I can make it explode if necessary. It packs quite the punch."

Which was how you found yourself squished into a box in the back of a truck. Doctor had been the one to figure out the deliver routes to the old prison and now you were going to infiltrate the place through the backdoor. With a robot squished in beside you, all hard metal edges that were going to leave some weird looking bruises.

You were meant to wait until chaos broke out and sneak your way further in, hopefully encountering less resistance. No one would look at the delivery ramp when Song and Madness were attacking one of the side entrances. The main entrance would have made it too obvious that they were just the diversion.

The moment the box was set down with a grunt and people complaining how heavy it was, alarm sirens rang out shrilly and shouts were heard muffled through doors.

You waited until you couldn't hear rushing footsteps anymore, before you cracked the top of the crate open and slipped outside. Doctor's robot followed you silently and with surprising smoothness. The kid was really going to revolutionize so many fields once they went public with their inventions.

You had a comparatively easy time slipping inside, knocking out distracted guards as you went. Doctor's sleeping darts helped a lot too, if you couldn't sneak up on people to touch them.

You got a brief glance out the window once to see Song and Madness fighting in tandem, people littering the ground around them. Some were clutching their heads, screaming, others just grew slow and sluggish and then fell asleep the moment they heard Song's lullaby.

They were a nasty team, you had to admit. If Song had turned to villainy instead of heroism and those two had ended up working together, the world of heroics might just have been thoroughly fucked.

"This way," Doctor hissed through the speaker on the robot, which looked more like some kind of alien dog than humanoid. They had mentioned it had made balancing easier at the time of its creation.

Doctor and you made it up to the main control room, which doubled as an office for the big boss, with relative ease. You cracked open windows along the way to let Song's song in, your special ear plugs – made back when Song and you first started heroing – the only thing currently keeping you safe.

People inside the building grew ever more sluggish and sleepy, which made it easier to take them out. If they weren't already asleep by the time you snuck past them.

"I'll get the data," Doctor said the moment you knocked out the big boss of the place – a tall, muscular man with a shaved head that had turned a startling, angry red when he had spotted you too late. "You go free the prisoners."

You went to the control panel at the side of the room and started flicking switches. On the monitors cell doors opened with metallic screeching and the first person stepped outside.

You were horrified to recognize her as Supernova, a famous hero celebrity that had been widely mourned after her death. Even on the slightly grainy feed she looked half skeletal and very, very desperately determined.

You bit back a wince when she immediately tossed out her powers, shredding guards that rushed towards her with a miniature black hole. Supernova had never killed before, if anything she had been so very careful to never hurt anyone with her destructive powers. She staggered and sagged, only to be caught by a villain who had rushed out of the neighboring cell.

You recognized that one too. Their name was Sun and they pulled one of Supernova's arms over their shoulders, slamming a foot against the ground and making it erupt with intense enough fire and heat that you heard people scream somewhere outside the camera focus.

More and more heroes and villains left their cells, all working together to break out. To help each other escape. Not a single one was left behind. It seemed you wouldn't have to tear the place down later after all, not much would be left standing in the aftermath of their escape. Good.

"My brother?" Doctor asked, sounding half focused and half desperate.

"I haven't seen him in the cells," you answered and you heard the click-clack of the keyboard grow faster.

"Found him!" Doctor half shouted. "He's currently in one of the examination rooms."

"I'll go get him," you said. "You focus on downloading everything."

"Understood," Doctor's robot looked up briefly, the single camera lens visibly focusing on you. "Please, be careful."

You threw him a quick salute before you slipped out of the room. The old prison was in such brutal chaos, people running and rushing about, the smart ones even running away, that you had it laughably easy.

The examination rooms were half filled with doctors and a handful of heroes and villains when you arrived. The electronic doors were locked and the doctors looked tense but vaguely, grimly victorious at the same time. They considered themselves safe, behind these thick, reinforced doors that could withstand a lot of superpowers.

But this was where your powers really came in handy, because they could not keep you out if you fried their pretty little mechanical doors to death.

Those doors always clicked open when they were overloaded, a safety mechanism to avoid locking people in, in case of emergencies. They had to be able to leave if they wanted to after all. You made quick work of the doctors, most which had no powers at all.

The second you had knocked out the first set of doctors and freed two of the people on the tables, they threw themselves into the fight alongside you. They didn't have much stamina anymore, but they were fierce, bringing with them a brutality born out of a soul-deep desperation to finally make it out. They knew this might very well be their only chance to escape.

You found Doctor's brother last, he was unconscious and looked rather awful. Scarred and thin and visibly exhausted even as he laid there limply. You pulled the needle out of his arm – it was most likely feeding him sedatives – and threw him over your shoulder.

"Everyone out," you shouted just as the last doctor fell after a big, burly woman had grabbed his head and slammed it hard enough against the wall that you knew this man was never going to get up again.

In all honesty, you did not care, there was even a part of you that felt quietly and darkly vindictive. If anyone asked you, those people had gotten their just desserts – if anything, they deserved worse.

As you led the group of limping, swaying people up the stairs, most of them supporting each other to keep going, acrid and thick smells filled the air. Smoke and acid and ozone, along with something that tasted metallic on your tongue.

You made it past people half dissolved in acid, past scorch marks and walls that looked like they had turned liquid and pierced inward, impaling guards, before turning solid again.

Doctor's robot slid up to your side as you rushed towards the delivery hangar and you heard his audible gasp as he saw his brother across your shoulder.

You heard more gasps and even a sob as you broke out the door and into sunlight. There was an audible fight still going on elsewhere, so you entrusted Doctor's brother to his robot and told the group to follow them. They'd be led to safety.

When you joined the main fight, it was a brutal showdown between the fighting forces of the old prison, along with some suit and ties that had shown up and the banded together heroes and villains.

Most of them were no longer capable of battle however, swaying in place and some were already crumpled on the floor. Song had stopped her lullaby and was now swooping in and out of the rows of enemies, knocking people over, while Madness extended his powers further.

When you reached his side, he was out of breath and sweat was rolling down his chin.

"We're ready to leave," you told him and he grinned briefly, an expression of such fierce, relieved victory that you could only grin back. "Don't hit me with your shit."

With those words you threw yourself into the fray, dodging around the guards to square up with the three suit and ties, for they had brought rather strong powers with them. If you could take them out, everyone could get away with little trouble.

They were nasty pieces of work, forcing you to duck below blades thrown by telekinesis – and the bodies of some of the guards – as well as dodge conjured vines that wanted to tie you down.

One vine snapped around your arm, ready to fling you back and you grit your teeth against the pain as you threw yourself forward. You heard a bone crunch before you felt the pain, a dagger slicing past your cheek, another finding the meat of your thigh.

But now you were right in front of them and they clearly had no idea who you were outside of your hero costume, for they did not dodge back. Their eyes grew wide in realization when the one with the vine powers crumbled at a single touch and now they were hurriedly trying to get away.

Which was when Song swooped in from overhead, dropping her full weight on the suit and tie to the left, arching her wings up high to ensure she would not block your path.

Her rapid descending and distraction was all the chance you needed. You slammed the bare palm of your good hand against the woman's nose, who fell like a sack of bricks, daggers clattering to the ground as her limbs twitched slightly.

"Are you alright?" Song asked, wings snapping out to topple two guards that tried to rush in.

"I'll be fine," you said, her gaze already spotting the knife in your leg and your awkwardly held arm. A heavy wave of power in the air caused the rest of the guards to scream, all of them dropping their weapons, half of them running away, the other half clawing at their own skin.

You'd really have to ask Madness about the details on his powers one of these days. Song gripped you around the waist and with a quick hop and flap of her wings, brought you back to Madness and the rescued heroes and villains.

Madness' face grew tense and pinched when he saw you, eyes briefly turning black, before he exhaled roughly and focused on getting everyone up and moving.

At least the escape part was easy enough with the old prison utterly disabled. It was in a remote location, so no one had to worry about outside help arriving. Not that anyone in that cursed place would have called The Defenders for help, they wouldn't want the scrutiny after all.

You got first aid treatment by none other than Madness. His hands were surprisingly gentle, while Song pointed out all the cars around the place, getting the rescued heroes and villains organized.

They were soon ready to head to a pre-prepared place to group up and decide what they wanted to do. They would need proper medical treatment soon though, that was for sure.

You drove back with Madness and Supernova and Sun, the two considered-dead people conked out on the backseat, while Song flew overhead to watch for danger. She wouldn't have fit in the car anyway, not with passengers and her large wings.

"Get some rest," Madness said after a couple of minutes of silence. "If you think you can sleep around a villain."

You snorted and closed your eyes. The pain meds you had gotten were really starting to kick in. "I let you at my injuries, didn't I? And I think our truce can extend until we're all ready to go home."

Madness just hummed quietly. "Could be more than a truce," he muttered, but by then you were already slipping off to sleep, so you weren't sure if you imagined it or not.

*.*.*

The Phoenix Project made headlines everywhere. Doctor had made sure this horror story could not and would not be kept secret by anyone who wanted to keep heroes from looking bad.

The Defenders had a lot of hard work ahead of them, convincing the public that they were still trustworthy, that arrested people would not disappear without a trace again. That the heroes they employed could not be bribed too.

Song and you, meanwhile, were lauded as heroes. As in, a different kind of heroes. The kind that, well, that heroes were meant to be. Saviors, defenders of the weak. People who did the right thing, no matter who else was against them.

It was weird, was what it was. Song and you picked a new apartment with the help of Doctor, who made sure no word of its location got out. The kid had contacted you a couple of days after everything started blowing up, letting you know that they were hanging up the villain mantle.

They wanted to go back to school instead and take care of their brother. Though, they had mentioned that Madness was helping them get allies so that, when they did decide to present their inventions to the public in a year or two, no one would take advantage of them.

Madness had gone quiet and you were absolutely not thinking about that one frigging bit. He was a villain, you were a hero and your truce was over. You'd go back to the regularly scheduled program soon enough.

"Don't look so sour," Song said as she fixed her dress, turning once to show off the way it swirled and sparkled. Her wings were freshly groomed and shone beautifully in the overhead light. "How do I look?"

"Drop dead gorgeous," you answered honestly. "If people don't lay themselves at your feet so you can step on them, I will be sorely disappointed."

She laughed, reaching over to haul you into a tight hug, her wings encircling you. You hugged her back, some tension leeching out of you.

"Let's have a good night, alright?" Song said. "We deserve that much after all that we've been through."

"It's a party in our honor, it's going to be weird," you said and Song snorted.

"It's a party to celebrate the survivors. And maybe us, a little bit." She pulled back to grin down at you. "But what this really means is that we get to eat all the cute little fingerfood and if anyone looks at us weirdly, we just remind them that we were the ones to save the day."

You couldn't help but laugh, giving her arms a pat. "Alright, you win. But if I get tired, I'll just go home."

"Let me know and I'll go with you," Song offered. "We can put in one of the movies that came out while we were in hiding. I'll go make drinks and you make popcorn and we kick back for the rest of the night."

That actually sounded preferable to the party, but you had already agreed to show up. And, as Song said, the fingerfood was amazing. To die for, really.

The party was, indeed, a little bit of a stiff affair. Or rather, it was meant to present a united front to the press, show forgiveness on the side of the survivors and it allowed people to network.

You spoke with a couple of the rescued heroes that had shown up, Supernova frowning heavily and looking ready to bolt. You didn't mention the sun necklace she was wearing and fiddling with like it was a good luck pendant.

"Hey," a familiar, cheerful voice chirped behind you, just as you gathered as much fingerfood as your plate could hold. The server meanwhile looked on in horrified awe.

Surprised you turned around to see Doctor with their older brother. The brother looked miles better since you had last seen him. While he was still a bit gaunt, he had lost much of his thinness and his smile was sweet and charming, if a bit tired.

His scars had faded a bit too, clearly the work of some great medical care. You wouldn't be surprised if Doctor played a part in that.

"My little sibling said I have you to thank for freeing me," he said and held out his hand. You quickly handed your heavily laden plate to the poor server, shaking his hand and then taking the plate back before any of the precariously stacked fingerfood could tumble to a sad little floor-death.

"No thanks necessary, but I am glad to see you're doing better," you answered, while Doctor stood beside you grinning and swaying back and forth a bit on their feet.

"Oh, I doubt you are as glad as I am," the brother answered, only for the smile to slip and crack like fragile glass. "I thought I was going to die in there," he said quietly and Doctor's cheer vanished instantly. "We all did. And then you guys showed up. You have no idea how grateful we are."

This was making you uncomfortable. "Are you still in contact with the others?"

He gave you a surprisingly sharp look, before relaxing a bit. "Yeah, we meet once a month to talk about things. In there...being a hero or a villain stopped meaning anything." He smiled a sad, shy little smile. "Can't count the amount of times a villain held me while I cried."

He cleared his throat, quickly moving on before you could respond. "But that doesn't matter anymore. Now all that matters is healing and making sure my sibling doesn't drop out of school. Again." The last word was said with a bit of reprimand.

You couldn't help but glance at Doctor, wondering if they had told their brother what they had been up to during his presumed death. Considering the stiff, warning smile Doctor gave you, they had said nothing. Fair enough.

"Are you going to eat all that?" Doctor asked instead, nodding at your full plate.

"Double if no one stops me," you said, which made both of them chuckle.

"Don't let us keep you, then," the brother said. "And, again, thank you. You're my hero." Well, now you felt too touched for words.

Mumbling something incoherent but vaguely nice sounding, you shuffled off to one of the open balconies to eat your fingerfood in peace. Your position gave you a good look across the large ballroom, where Song was dazzling a group of people with an adoring shine in their eyes.

She deserved it and considering the brief wink she threw your way, she was making sure to hog all the limelight to give you some peace and quiet. If Song ever wanted the world, you'd damn well fetch it for her.

Your gaze wandered and you nearly choked on a piece of food when you saw Madness of all people brazenly striding towards you.

"How?" you said when he leaned against the balcony railing at your side. "are you here?"

He tapped his temple. "People think I'm Doctor's uncle, they don't see me when they look at me."

...you really had to ask him about his powers in detail one of these days. Well, if he ever properly talked with you instead of going radio silent.

"The brother must know you're no uncle of theirs," you pointed out, instead of asking him why he was talking to you now when he hadn't reached out once since the prison breakout. Since bandaging your leg and putting your arm into a temporary sling.

"He knows who I am," Madness answered. "Doctor said I was the one they reached out to for help. They are hiding what they've been up to, though I think their brother is going to find out soon enough."

Doctor's little jaunt into villainy was hard to ignore, that was true. You hummed in agreement and you half expected Madness to move on. That he had just come here to say hello and keep you from making a scene.

"Why come talk to me?" you asked when he just...remained. Quiet and steady at your side. "I haven't heard from you in a while."

Madness was silent for a long second, then he took a deep breath and straightened. His shoulders rolled back like he was ready to fight, but he didn't feel dangerous. You were still ready to toss your plate of fingerfood at him as a distraction.

"I tried to forget you," Madness said, his words surprising you enough that you paused. "I thought it was for the best. But I couldn't and when I saw you here today...well, I'm a villain. Taking every chance I can to get the things I want is what I do, isn't it?"

You stared at him, befuddled and you allowed him to, ever so gently, take the plate of food from your hands and put it onto the wide railing of the balcony beside you.

"If I overstep let me know and you'll never hear another word from me," he said and his fingertips brushed your hands, leaving warm tingles behind. "But if there is a chance you are interested in me the way I am in you..."

He trailed off, his pale eyes searching yours, hopeful and hesitant in a way you hadn't really seen him before. He was...he was actually showing vulnerability right now. It made you swallow.

"It would never work," you said, because that was the first thing that always came to your mind when you thought about kissing him or holding his hand. About reaching out to him. "We're on two opposite sides of the law. Maybe it's fun at first, but what afterwards? When we have to keep hiding things, have to clash out there in battle?"

Madness didn't brush you off, growing more serious instead, while the hope in his eyes sparked brighter. "You and I are going to retire one day," he said. "Maybe even soon, our lot rarely grows old in this field of work. And I would refrain from attacking you, no matter what."

"It would be hard to make this work," you pointed out, gesturing between you and him, but considering how his eyes sparked with a challenge accepted, that wasn't a problem. "Are you sure? I thought you didn't like heroes."

"I don't," he agreed easily. "But you're different." He tipped his head slightly to the side. "There is a dash of villain in you, isn't there?"

You could admit that he was right and maybe, there was sometimes a bit more than just a dash. You knew that if Song turned to villainy for some reason – it would be a good reason, knowing her – you'd ultimately end up following her.

"My morals are...flexible, sometimes," you admitted. There was a reason why Song was your anchor and compass, your lodestone. Why her light guided your way and you knew, if someone ever took her from you, you would not stop until that person was dead.

Madness smiled and you liked it. A lot. You liked the way he looked at you, as if you were something amazing. As if he never wanted to look away.

He reached into the pocket of his suit and pulled out a beautiful bracelet. "Doctor made this for me, it blocks my powers." And, just like that, he held it out to you.

"Why trust me like this?" you couldn't help but ask and his answering, crooked smile had no right to be this charming and sweet.

"Because you never used a situation against me," he answered, with an earnest shine in his eyes that made you want to look away, your heart going all soft and vulnerable. "Not when the building collapsed and you had the upper hand, nor any time later when you could have just knocked me out with a touch."

"I don't even know your name," you said.

When you didn't move to take the bracelet, he took your hand carefully, turning it palm up to press the cold metal against your skin, curling your fingers closed around it. Once you put this on, he wouldn't be able to use his powers against you, not even in defense should you decide to turn on him.

"Then I'll tell you," he said quietly, his free hand coming up, slowly enough for you to pull back. When you didn't, he cupped the side of your face, this thumb brushing gently over your cheek. "And anything else you want to know."

"We'll need as safeword," you blurted out, because this was already getting too important to mess up needlessly. "When we do encounter ourselves or just in general, to make this work." To not hurt each other by being heroes and villains.

"What do you propose?" he asked and you almost said tic-tac-toe, but that was kind of long, wasn't it? Before you could say something, his eye brightened with mirth. "How about checkers?"

You huffed. "I did have you beat in checkers."

He laughed, low and amused and very fond. You were fonder of him yourself than you liked to admit on your good days. "Keep telling yourself that, my villainous hero. Checkers it is. So, what do you say? Want to give me, us, a chance?"

You tightened your grip around the bracelet and leaned your cheek into his palm. His eyes darkened with want and something soft as you allowed him to cradle you. As you allowed him so close to your mind that he could ruin you, could destroy you forever, before you could ever hope to stop him.

"Touch civilians or Nightingale and I will end you," you said, a steel-solid promise uttered in a low, dangerous voice that made a darkly pleased grin appear on his face. He liked you sharp, he liked it when you showed that villainous streak that lurked below the surface. "Alright. Tell me your name, Madness, and then kiss me."

And so he did.

*.*.*

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shady-tavern · 1 month

Text

Preview for "The Magic of Consequences" the April Patreon Short Story

(warnings ahead for temporary, implied child death and implied abuse. Please take care of yourselves)

*.*.*

See, the thing about being a witch was that people had misconceptions about your profession. They thought you were busy cooking soup made of eyes and frog feet, or bottling the souls of whoever pissed you off to sell them to monsters and demons.

And sure, sometimes you handled disgusting ingredients – some made you whisper 'ew ew ew ew' under your breath the entire time. And sure, sometimes you made deals with unsavory, strange creatures. And, yeah, alright sometimes you did bottle souls, but you had never cut off a poor frog's feet. Or plucked out someone's eyes.

The sad part was, despite your best attempts to polish your reputation, people rarely sought you out for good reasons. You had made so many health tonics at the beginning of your career, excited to go around and make things a little better, only to be semi-gently reminded by reality that you should have gone and become a herbalist instead.

But herbalists had little to no magic and wasting your talent for the arcane had seemed stupid at the time. You hadn't had the money for the mage schools growing up and when a hedge witch had found you spelling apples to turn your bully's hair a bright, ugly color, you had found yourself with an impromptu teacher instead.

By now you were used to being sought out for less than savory deals, people appearing in your shop with hooded cloaks and shifty eyes and overly-obvious glances around for any witnesses. The utterly unimpressed face you greeted them with tended to make them even more shifty.

More often than not you managed to talk them down from their really, really dumb ideas – like desiring to love-potion-trap a prince in marriage or robbing a barony – but the rest of the time people were too intent on their dumb decisions.

Everything had consequences. You had written that in big, big bold letters on everything you sold. You pointed it out verbally as well every time someone bought an ill-advised potion or spell from you.

"Why did I become I witch," you groused to yourself as you bottled a potion that made flowers smell like rotting corpses and beer-farts, because some asshole two towns over knew he wouldn't win the flower presentation competition next week with honest, hard work. What a loser.

"Oh, I'll help people, I said," you grumbled, stuffing a cork into the bottle and almost making it spill in the process. "Oh, I'll make people happy, I said."

You set the bottle aside and started to clean the cauldron when you heard the bell of the front door jingle. "I'll be with you in a moment!"

After cleaning up and making a face at something squishy that squelched beneath your foot – some things liked to bubble over and this potion had just been an all-around headache – you walked to the front of your shop.

A very young woman, clearly a noble considering the stupidly fancy clothes and jewelry, was waiting for you, peering at some of the bottles for sale.

See, nobles were trouble. Nothing but trouble. If the farmer wanted to take revenge on his cheating wife, fine. If a bandit wanted to conjure a storm for his robbery, whatever. If a miner wanted to steal jewels from his employer unnoticed, it was none of your business.

You could deny those people whatever you wanted or grant them whatever you wanted. At the end of the day, they were just normal people who were more or less stab-happy.

But nobles? Ugh.

They had mages in their employ to deal with many problems, Astrologers who could tell their fortunes, treasurers who ensured they could afford nearly anything they wanted and there were other nobles they were allied with. In short, they had power and if they showed up at your doorstep it meant they wanted things that their already impressive collection of options couldn't grant them.

Which was curses.

"I hear you're quite the competent witch," the young noble said and you eyed her warily. She looked like she was barely eighteen, it wouldn't surprise you if her wedding was in, like, a month or something.

Nobles always got married to someone, last you heard, which made many lads and lasses, no matter their station, sigh and day-dream about one day being chosen as a spouse, no matter how impossible that dream was in some cases.

What, did she want to ensure her future spouse wouldn't cheat? Or had she been spurned and turned away in favor of someone else and now she wanted to get rid of the competition before she had to officially cancel the wedding? It happened sometimes and people really loved to gossip when nobles chose a different partner than their intended.

"I guess," you said, barely keeping a sour tone in check. This young woman probably wanted nothing good from you. Great.

You really should stop stocking healing tonics. For some reason, people always thought they would turn them ugly or give them illnesses or crooked dicks.

The young woman frowned. "You don't sound very sure about that." She then pressed her lips together. "But no matter, you are my last resort."

She turned to face you fully, her fancy dress sweeping dramatically with the movement and she raised her chin, proud and confident and it could almost hide the anxious shine in her eyes. "I need a curse."

Outwardly you nodded sagely. Inwardly you sighed so dramatically and theatrically that you had to bite down on the urge to whine like a spoiled child. You didn't want to do curses. Curses fucking sucked. But who were you to deny a customer? Especially one with both the money and the ability to make your life either better or a living hell.

Because, surprise surprise, plenty of the ingredients you needed for potions or spells did not come cheap. No one had ever bothered to tell you that being a witch in general was not cheap in the slightest. All the stories about witches in walking huts or in cottages in the woods had really set you up for disappointment.

"What kind of curse?" you asked and then pointed at the sign hung right behind and above you. 'Everything has Consequences' was written in big, big letters by a really fancy hand.

You had even paid a fairy to make it glitter a bit. People liked glittery stuff, right? So far the glitter certainly had made sure everyone read the signs, but that was it. At least, the ones that could read did.

The young woman read it quickly too, then focused on you with more determination. "I need a curse that turns a princess into a monster."

Oh. Uh. That was...well, you could do it, but... "That's a very hefty curse, with equally hefty consequences," you said cautiously. "Maybe there are other ways to get you what you want? Maybe a temporary transformation spell? Perhaps something to pretty you up to catch a prince's eye, not that you need it, of course."

You were not in the business of selling love potions, because ew. Same with those annoying sleeping-beauty potions that required the asleep one to be kissed awake. Look, you were an asshole and you had cursed a couple of people already, but you did draw the line at all that non-consensual love stuff.

Even witches needed to draw lines somewhere.

"No, I need a curse," the young woman said, with a voice firm enough to give mithril a run for its money.

You considered saying no, before you remembered all the reasons why you shouldn't. If you refused her you'd probably have to escape her wrath, uproot your life and settle down elsewhere.

You were lazy, though, and you didn't want to do that unless it became necessary. Besides, every curse could be broken and you'd just give this curse a really easy way to get out of it. You did that for every curse you sold, because you weren't asshole enough to leave people stuck in some horrible reality for years on end.

"Do you want the monster to be sentient or not?" you asked. In case she didn't, you'd make sure the curse could be broken by, like, drinking water or something.

The young woman blinked, then seemed to perk up, looking suddenly eager. "I can decide what the monster is?"

"If you're willing to pay more," you said with a shrug. You were a good witch and curses, for as little as you liked to cast them most of the time, had always been your best subject.

You threw your health tonics a forlorn look, noting the faint dust that had started to gather on the shelves around them and a bit on the bottles themselves.

"I'll pay you anything you want," the noble lady said, her eyes suddenly filled with a hopeful gleam and a smile appeared on her face for the first time. It made her look even younger and you realized just how grim she had been previously. Huh.

You leaned against the counter to be more comfortable and reached for a piece of paper and a quill to write down what she wanted. The young woman was downright grinning by the time she had the curse tailored to her every whim.

"Wait here," you said, studying the list of demands as you ducked into the backroom. Thankfully, you had bought a couple of rare ingredients just a couple of days ago, so you managed to cobble together what you needed for the spell.

Fairy wings – not plucked, because again, you weren't that kind of asshole and a number of fairies had to molt their wings a number of times as they grew and some even every spring - wolf teeth and a griffin feather.

You carried everything out, the young woman watching curiously as you ground the teeth and wings to fine dust which you then rubbed thoroughly onto the feather. All that was left was the transformation spell that would complete the curse.

Dark magic flowed through you easily enough, the wood around you graying and the very air itself growing cold and hungry, like a drooling beast was gnashing its teeth, bright eyes focused on the tooth-and-fairy-wing-dusted feather.

Once the spell was completed, your surroundings returning to normal, you put the feather into a silk bag and handed it over.

"Put it under the pillow of the one you want to curse, they must sleep on it for six hours straight," you told the young woman. "And remember, consequences."

The young woman clearly wasn't listening anymore, accepting the bag while she absentmindedly set down a pouch of coin. You started to count out the gold you'd need, since she had brought more than enough, when you heard the bell and the door closing.

Looking up, the young woman was gone.

Huh. Well, you weren't going to say no to all that extra money. You scooped everything up and dropped it off in a spelled chest to protect your most precious possessions from sticky fingers. That taken care of, you returned to cleaning up the backroom, especially the squishy smear on the ground.

A couple of days later you heard of the terrible curse that had befallen the kingdom's princess and how the wedding between her and some kind of far-away prince was off the table for the time being.

The thing with your curses was, the cursed one instinctively knew the cure the moment they got cursed. You ensured that, to give them the chance to go and fix the problem themselves. None of that 'someone must fall in love with you' nonsense. This particular curse could be fixed by seeking the nearest doorway, doing a little chicken-dance and clapping trice afterwards and et voilá, the curse was gone.

Easy-peasy. The princess should be back to her old self in no time.

You quickly got distracted by some asshole teenagers that wanted to buy itching-powder to prank someone and just as they left with a vial of the stuff in tow, a little boy hurried inside with tears on his face. He put down three copper, looking very, very scared and asked in a wavering voice if you could fix his dog, holding up a tiny and very weak puppy.

It was the first time someone had asked you for that kind of help. To heal. You grabbed harpy feather and reached out to rest your fingertips on the tiny puppy's tiny, feverishly hot head and the light magic spell you used felt like a warm embrace. As though someone powerful was wrapping their arms around you and the boy and the puppy with endless kindness and soft reassurance.

It was the most beautiful spell you had ever gotten to perform and the moment you were done, the feather turned to dust in your fingers, the puppy opened its eyes. It wagged its tiny little tail like mad and when the boy broke out into tears, it licked the tears away.

"Thank you," he sobbed and you gave the boy's head a few pats, resisting the urge to tear up yourself.

"Of course," you said, pretending like you weren't touched and glad and emotional. There was just so much dust in this stupid shop. That was all.

You gave him back the copper, telling him that he got the spell for free if he promised to take great care of the dog and to bring it to you if something bad happened to it again.

The little boy grinned, so relieved and happy you swore he was the reason sun shone through the window in that moment, before leaving with his puppy who looked perky and awake again.

You puttered around, restocking some things and you set the health tonics up by the counter, hoping that maybe now someone would buy them.

When, a couple of days later, a merchant asked for a spell that turned all his copper to gold, you heavily considered getting 'consequences' embroidered on your clothes as well. But he really wanted the spell so you gave it to him and of course he didn't want to buy a health tonic.

You were sulking on your counter when the door opened and a very fancy young man entered. You resisted the urge to groan like a blacksmith's bellows. A noble, again. Nothing but trouble.

"Good witch," he said with a small bow, the fancy feathers on his fancy hat bouncing perkily. "May I trouble you for a curse?"

You waved grandly at the sign behind you. "You may. Please read the fine print." The very big, very bold fine print.

He did, nodding solemnly. "I hear you offer curses that turn people into monsters?"

He must be a friend of that young lady. Lovely. Now that you thought about it, you hadn't heard anything else about the princess. Was her wedding off the table for good? Surely not, she had to have broken her curse by now.

Or had that noble lady pounced on the far-away prince instead and there would be a wedding announcement once a proper amount of time had passed to avoid rumors from spreading? Maybe the princess would go and marry another prince. Well, it was none of your business.

*.*.*

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#my writing #preview #witches #found family #no romance #magic #fantasy #short story #I hope you'll like it!#i had a lot of fun writing this one

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