Of Heroes And Villains:
The Paths Not Taken

By Minikisa

There are moments that change a life forever. And within those moments, heroes and villains alike are born of choice.

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Elaine rammed her foot against the table in an effort to push herself away from the woman who had just knocked out her lawyer, only for the table to flip over and be thrown back. Her eyes widened when the white-haired woman jumped high to evade and gracefully landed to perch atop of it, gazing down at her with pale eyes.

There was something incredibly disconcerting about those eyes.

After a moment she realized there were tiny lightning bolts fanning out over the irises.

“It’s rude to throw tables at people,” the woman chided.

“It’s rude to attack unsuspecting lawyers,” Elaine shot back and the woman chuckled.

Elaine balled her fists, gaze darting down to her cuffed hands. She didn’t understand what was happening – she was hardly an expert on arresting Metas, but she knew enough to know that these cuffs should have left her completely powerless.

Considering that she was facing what appeared to be a villain, not being helpless wasn’t exactly a bad thing, but it only added to her already considerable confusion.

“You’ll want to take those off,” the woman drawled and pulled a key ring from her police belt. “Don’t want you starving and having a repeat performance of the Event, do we?”

“The what?” Elaine’s eyes narrowed in suspicion at the keys.

“You’ll find out soon enough, my little complication.” She hopped from the table and leisurely strolled toward Elaine, who tensed and backed away as far as the small room would allow.

“Oh, do stop wasting time; we have a daring escape ahead of us. Sir Fluffington won’t keep them distracted forever.”


***


David crashed to the floor, sharp pain stabbing at his shoulder as he landed badly.

“Pain,” he declared as boldly as one could while lying on the floor. “Should be illegal.”

Shade chuckled.

“Pain is a good teacher.”

She really took far too much delight in hurting him. It was probably revenge for all the years he had gone out of his way to annoy her. It hadn’t been malicious; he’d just enjoyed provoking a reaction other than fawning.

Shade held out her hand to help him get back up, but he waved her off, the power suppressor bracelet on his wrist glinting in the dim light of the Reynolds Mansion’s training room.

“Just… going to wait until everything stops spinning. No offense, but that seems like poor architectural choices on your part. Nobody likes a spinning ceiling, bro.”

“I’ll consult my interior designer,” was the dry answer as she sat down next to him.

She wasn’t even out of breath.

David flopped onto his belly and deactivated the bracelet, sighing in relief when strength and energy flowed back into his body, the pain instantly fading.

His martial art skills remained laughable.

As evidenced by Shade suppressing a laugh every time she had him on his ass. Which was often.

“You need to stop parrying when you can dodge,” said the woman in question. “You’re taking far too much unnecessary damage.”

And yet, training with her was preferable to training with Caroline whose methods probably violated the Geneva Convention. After one training session with her, he’d limped back to Shade who, while acerbic, was surprisingly patient. And also knew regimens not invented by psychotic assassins.

“I know.” His voice was muffled against the padded floor, and she patted him on the back. Seven years of invincibility had left his instincts utterly dulled. His body had completely forgotten what flinching in the face of incoming danger even was.

Moments like these he wondered why he even bothered. He was one of the strongest metahumans to ever live to begin with; he didn’t need to put himself through this when he had been a decent hero for years.

And yet…

“Want a break?”

David heaved himself to sit up, and stretched an arm to loosen the tension in his shoulder.

“No.”

Decent just wasn’t good enough anymore.

“So is there really no way I can convince either of you to train shirtless?” Diane interjected, red eyes sparkling.


***


David brushed his fingers through his blond curls, before vigorously rubbing the wet hair with a towel as he stepped out of the bathroom. He was wearing nothing but his jeans and, as expected, Diane was already lying in wait, grinning broadly when she saw his bare chest.

“Stop objectifying me.”

“Never!”

He laughed softly and made his way to the kitchen, for once not getting turned around in the labyrinthine mansion. He just followed the smell of delicious food beckoning him closer.

Kara was an amazing cook. It was something to look forward to when he came here, despite the beating he invariably took.

Diane trailed behind him, no doubt ogling his backside, judging by the purring sound coming from her direction. Her brazen sexuality used to disconcert him, leaving him on edge and expecting to be stabbed in the back by a jealous Shade at any moment. Surprisingly, Kara did not seem to mind at all.

He’d asked her once how she could be so laid back about her girlfriend flirting with everything that moved.

“Diane appreciates beauty. But at the end of the day, she loves me and me alone.”

And that had been that.

David fished out a clean shirt as they passed the hall where he’d unceremoniously dropped his bag and pulled it over his head, all the while ignoring Diane when she mimed being stabbed in the heart.

“Don’t take the precious away!”

“Dork,” David replied with a small grin, absently strapping his hero communicator to his wrist, disguised as a simple watch.

The former villainess was an odd one, but then, nobody had ever accused him of being well adjusted either. As much as she seemed to relish teasing him, he enjoyed her company. She had a way of setting people at ease, and along with Kara had become one of the few people around whom he didn’t feel like a complete idiot when he opened his mouth.

Diane grinned back and pranced ahead into the kitchen.


***


“… quite possibly the most awkward moment of my life, and that’s a field with a lot of competition.”

Shade sighed as she spoke.

“Psy really needs to stop trying to get me and Tex to be friends.”

“Yes, what could you possibly have in common with a short-tempered hero?” Shade turned a butter knife in his direction, before she realized that she was making her point for him, and David grinned.

“Are you trying to tell me you like Tex?”

“I don’t. But then, I didn’t like Psy back when you were dating Dawn.” He shrugged expansively and gestured his fork at Kara’s chest. “People change, bro.”

Kara wordlessly arched an eyebrow, lips quirking, and David realized his slip.

Maybe people changed, but David had a hell of a time changing his speech patterns.

David wasn’t sure when exactly he’d started exaggerating his demeanor, but it had helped ease the crushing expectations that came with his particular costume. Better to see the disappointment flash in people’s eyes up front rather than gradually reveal just how much he didn’t measure up.

Kara, however, had slapped him upside the head and rather rightfully pointed out that he was sabotaging himself. Which was true, considering that it had taken him five years of being a hero to truly befriend another cape to whom he was neither Son Of Captain Patriot nor That Meathead.

A small blue light on his watch started blinking at the same time as Kara straightened, raising her hand to press it against her ear.

City-wide alerts were rare in a city that could shrug off rampaging 50 foot robots as just another Tuesday.

David curiously tapped his wrist, and tensed at the broadcast.

“…Level Ten. I repeat, Event Horizon is destroying the Peregrine Police Precinct.”