Red

Red

The night breeze whisked past Villain, caressing their cheeks and making them feel colder than they were a minute ago.

"Ugh..." they groaned, pulling their red scarf further up so that it covered a better part of their chin. The fabric felt soft and warm against their cold fingertips, and it reminded Villain of Hero's cape. They had never thought that they would admit to liking how warm the cape felt, when Hero had covered them with it during one particularly cold night, quite like this one, and they were sitting on a high roof, facing the skyscrapers- Villain hadn't expected it to be that cold, so they hadn't worn any clothing that were designed to keep them warm. They were extremely grateful for that warm cape, much like it's owner and ended up buying a scarf that had the same shade to remind themselves about it (they would never tell Hero that though).

They smiled, the memory making them feel a little warm as two shadows zipped past them in a speed that didn't belong to a normal human. From the corner of their eyes, they caught sight of something red before it disappeared around the street corner. And who else other than Hero would wear bright red like that in the middle of the night , moving at a superhuman speed? It was definitely Hero, and they were chasing someone who wasn't them? That fact alone didn't sit well with Villain so they decided to follow them.

There have been new villains popping up here and there around town, not to mention the Supervillain as well... Villain mused, I'll just go take a quick look and then leave, it's not like I'm worried or anything... (Villain was dead set on denying it).

They turned a street corner there, and one more, leading to an alleyway with a dead end. It was pitch dark and the only source of light was a dilapidated lamp barely hanging onto the wall. Villain looked up to find some moonlight but nope, it just had to be a new moon night. They sighed, straining their eyes to spot even a glimpse of the two blurry figures that they had seen earlier and heard a loud crash to their left. They turned towards another lonely alleyway and followed it, heart hammering in their chest.

They hid themselves at the corner and peeped in, definitely not interested in getting involved in some unnecessary scuffle. They could see a figure slumped against a toppled trash can, trash littered eveywhere- so that's where the crashing sound came from. There was another figure looming over them, and even from there, Villain could feel bloodlust washing over their senses, making them freeze on spot. They pitied the person on the ground, unable to imagine the terror that must be coursing through their veins.

This alleyway had better lighting so Villain was able to see their faces a little better- the looming figure was definitely the Supervillain, that bloodlust was a dead giveaway. The slumped figure looked up and glared at the supervillain, eyes defiant and fierce, a symbol that they weren't going to give up that easily and Villain could feel their throat closing up, anxiety flaring up and burning their insides.

Hero... they knew, from the glimpse of red they knew from the start, a tiny inkling that it could've been Hero rushing through the streets in the dead of the night, chasing some terrible foe. Villain knew... but right now they wished that they were wrong, so wrong, because never did they really expect their foe to be the Supervillain. Villain had seen their powers firsthand and it had made them shiver, tremble to their bones. Never had they felt anxiety slap them in their face like that before. And now Hero was there, facing that devil with defiant eyes and a brave heart and Villain's chest almost felt full with something alien to them... was it pride?

Villain was jolted out of their thoughts by a scream that shattered their soul- it sounded so painful, wrecked, and hopeless and with every passing second, Villain thought that it sounded like Hero. They stared at the scene in front of them, immediately wishing that they didn't.

Red... why is there so much red?

To the Villain, red had become something that they associated with Hero- red cape, crimson cheeks, fiery passion, a warm heart, kind touches, sunny smile, and finally, the way they loved -it would put even Aphrodite to shame. Villain knew that too well, after all, they were the only recipient of that love. Hero was their lover and always will be.

Which only made their heart twist and turn with increasing agony because Hero's costume looked redder than usual and Villain refused to accept that it was blood- Hero's blood, their lover's blood.

You shouldn't do this.

Don't lose your cool.

If supervillain finds out that you've betrayed them, and worse, that you're in a relationship with their mortal nemesis, you're done for.

Don't worry, Hero will be fine.

They will be fine.

They-

Villain looked at Hero once again- bruised cheeks, a huge gash in their gut, bleeding out, shallow breaths, their head now leaning completely against the wall for support and Villain waited a couple more seconds, but Hero made no move to get up. And now there's more red, red... red... red... everywhere.

Before Villain could even think about reasoning with themselves again, their limbs moved and in a flash they stood in between their lover and Supervillain, whose face switched from surprise to amusement, as if they couldn't decide on which emotion to portray.

"Well well, Villain. What a pleasant surprise." Supervillain drawled and dread settled into Villain's veins- cold, gripping, merciless. They heard slight movement from behind them and glanced back coyly. Hero was looking at them, surprise written all over their face. Then they smiled (or at least tried to), to Villain, it looked more like a grimace. But they looked more alive than they did just a moment ago, and that single fact was enough to wash away the pooling dread and replace it with something else- courage.

Now, Villain was never a person who would do something so reckless, they were always the brains of their duo while Hero was the power, brains and power. That's how they had always worked together- and thanks to that, Villain got to know that Hero did not possess a single shred of self preservation whatsoever. It made their stomach crawl to think about how many times they had saved Hero from imminent death and Hero would just smile, all sweet and sunny, like they hadn't just almost died a second ago- and that's what they were doing now.

Ugh, the things I do for love, Villan mused, rolling their eyes at Hero.

"Ahem Villain, you alright there? You've been staring intensely at our nemesis for quite a few seconds now."

Villain heard a wheeze from Hero, which was probably meant to be a chuckle.

"Oh sorry, I was just distracted thinking about the numerous ways in which I could kill him."

Careful me. Supervillain cannot know about us- that would be like digging a grave and burying ourselves six feet deep in the ground. Careful.

Supervillain laughed out loud, acting like Villain had just told them the joke of the century and Villain had to hold themselves back from rolling their eyes at them.

" That's my Villain, always thinking about the best possible ways to kill someone."

Hero coughed abnoxiously and Villain wanted to smack them in their face- now is not the time to be getting jealous, idiot.

Supervillain glared at Hero and Villain subtly moved so that they were now blocking Hero completely from Supervillain's view. "I don't see why you have to think that much though, Hero looks like they're going to kick the bucket any minute."

The colour red flooded Villain's vision, making them stagger on their feet. How many more times did they have to see their lover dyed in red before the world would be satisfied?

"V-villain?" Hero croaked weakly and Villain flinched, feeling physical pain as if somebody had stabbed them. They stood back up straight, hoping that Hero got the message. They were okay. Now was no time to be getting distracted, they had to get Hero away from here, away to a safer place.

Supervillain crooked his head at Hero lying behind Villain, suddenly curious. Villain tensed, mind racing to bring back all of Supervillain's attention back on them. Look at me, don't look at them. Look at me, only me.

" Supervillain, I don't appreciate you giving that lowly Hero more attention than to me, you act as if I don't exist." Villain sneered, making their voice sound as deadly as they can. They desperately hoped that their voice didn't tremble.

"Oh, forgive me, I didn't mean to do that." Supervillain said but there was not a single ounce of sincerity in that. Villain simply glared, gaze sharp and cruel.

"Ouch, if only gazes could kill, I would certainly be dead right now Villain, I'm hurt." Supervillain mocked and Villain's brain was working overtime, trying to comprehend the change in Supervillain's attitude- why are they acting like they know something that I don't, they seem cockier than usual.

Villain decided to take a chance, "Why are you acting like this Supervillain, are you perhaps, hiding something from me? Some part of a plan that you don't want me to know about?"

Supervillain chuckled dryly, and Villain felt the temperature drop a few degrees at once, bloodlust making itself known once again. Hero whimpered from behind them and Villain's heart cried out.

"You tell me who's the one hiding things, Villain."

Villain barely had any time to react, their mind knew what was happening, but their body was too slow to comprehend.

A huge blast of power left the Supervillain's palm- right towards Hero.

Move... move... MOVE!!!

Villain was never in their life more thankful for their superspeed as they turned around, grabbed Hero in their arms and zipped past the blast, just as it connected with the concrete behind them, blasting it into pieces. Villain ran as fast as their legs could carry them, trying not to jostle the hurt Hero in their arms too much. They were going to turn around the next corner when they felt something digging into their side. They refused to acknowledge it, continuing to speed away, the only thing on their mind being getting Hero to safety.

Supervillain's coarse laughter echoed from far behind them, as they sped away.

"Llain... Villain... VILLAIN!!!"

Villain was forced to stop, crashing into a concrete wall. They made sure to turn around in the last second, so that their back came into contact with the wall and not Hero who they held in their arms.

Villain gasped out loud, any air residing in their lungs evicted, suddenly feeling more tired than they have felt in ages. They heard shuffling and peeked an eye open to see Hero crawling up to them- all bloody and bruised. Just stay put, idiot, you're hurt, they wanted to say but their voice refused to work.

"You're bleeding!" Hero wailed as loud as they could in their current state, but it sounded more like a whisper to Villain- am I becoming deaf?

Hero finally made it to them, hands clutching onto their leg and slowly pulling themselves up, touching everywhere and spreading warmth with their fingertips. Villain looked up at them from their bed of concrete, "You're so warm, Hero."

And Hero cried and cried and cried, fat tears rolling down their cheeks, just like the way they would cry after waking up from a nightmare (and oh how badly they wished that this was just another bad dream). Villain smiled at them and they cried more. Villain didn't want them to cry.

"S-stop crying, s-silly", Villain somehow managed to wheeze out, their body aching everywhere. Hero bent down, warm fingers touching their eyelids, cheeks and then lips. The next thing Villain could feel was a pair of lips on theirs, Hero's lips, warm just the way they remembered, kissing them like it was the last time they would ever get to do it. Hero pulled away, looking into Villain's eyes and began muttering strings of "sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" and Villain wanted to keep staring at them but they just felt so tired.

They wanted to bring up their hand and wipe away those tears that had no business on their lover's face but their hand wouldn't move. They couldn't do anything.

"G-go and get yourself checked *cough cough* at a h-hospital okay?" Villain wheezed out, struck by another coughing fit.

And Hero just smiled, looking like the happiest person in the world which Villain scrunched their nose at because they were bleeding and this was no time to be happy.

" I will *wheeze*, I love you Villain, so so much." They burst into tears again.

"I l-love-

Villain closed their eyes.

Hero finally let themselves fall on their lover's bloody body- cold, lifeless, unmoving. They couldn't hear the heartbeats that they fell asleep to every night anymore. They knew that they themselves were beyond saving, and so they cried and wailed, wanting to spend the last moments of their life grieving- grieving for the only person who loved them and saw them for who they really were, not just as a hero.

"You kept worrying about me till your last breath huh? You were always too good for me Villain, you loved me too well, too much."

"Maybe if you didn't love me, you would still be alive."

Tears mingled with blood as Hero's warm hands found Villain's cold ones, interlacing their fingers together.

"So this is what they mean by being together until your last breath huh? I never really thought that it would happen to me because love just seemed like too good of a dream to be true."

Hero smiled, heart feeling full because they knew that they had the best lover that they could have ever asked for. And everything that had happened between them was true in every way.

"At least now, we don't have to see each other bleeding out and fighting to stay alive."

T-T

hero and villain really just wanna live life / but no, I had to go and make it angsty / I swear though, this was not how it played out in my head/ why do I do this to myself- /me playing with the word lover because it sounds so good / also let me know if you guys want an alternative HAPPY end for these two in the comments/ if you're okay with this, that's cool too.