September 2021 Microfic!

Hey all,

Whoa! I’m tired!

But, I’m settling into a new routine in a new place and I hope to get back on the ball soon. If I was ever really on the ball to start with, I guess. Last month’s move really threw my schedule for a loop, which is why everything is behind. Melty Blood coming out had nothing to do with it. Anywayyyyy, I’ll pick a theme for next month soon!

~Benn {Doomgender} Ends

Theme: One Last Kiss

Prompt: “With the villain triumphantly towering over the hero, gloating, they ask the hero for their last words. Shame the hero is begging the villain for a kiss... ”

Suggestion by: Emma-Jade Dwyer

~3007 words

CW:

Not really much to speak of, I mostly got caught up in banter and monologuing, much like a supervillain

~~~

“Ohohohoho, that could not have gone any better had I planned it! Eh..”

You look around quickly to make sure no one heard that. Your two henchmen, Big Jen and Little Jen, look the other way innocently. But, from where she lays battered in the grass, your lifelong enemy glares at you defiantly. 

You adjust the asymmetrically pointy collar of your cape and clear your throat.

“I did, of course, plan the whole thing! With my genius brain, outsmarting you was trivial.”

Your enemy doesn’t say a word in response. It irks you, the whole silent, nobility in defeat thing. Normally at this point in an encounter you’re kicking your feet and screaming in the back of a police transport. Annoyed, you walk closer and poke her side a little with your heel.

“You’re really just going to sit there and pout aren’t you? You could at least let me enjoy this like, a little bit. Say ‘oh, Fever, you’ll never get away with this’ or like, ‘Fever, you dastard! Release me at once!’ You know, that kind of energy. I’m having a hard time carrying this whole scene on my own, you know?”

She spits at your feet, and looks in your eye with an undoused fire.

“I’ll never give you what you want, you lowlife.”

Big Jen gasps, but you split your face with a wicked grin.

“Oh yeah, that’s the stuff!! Here we go, I’m in the mood now. Little Jen, music!”

Little Jen nods somberly, and holds the boombox over her head. Big Jen hits the button, and a triumphant, yet tastefully evil beat starts up. You bob your head along with it for moment, then groove a little.

“Yes yes YES. Jens! Groove with me!”

Big Jen goes hard, and Little Jen just sort of bends and unbends her knees a little in time with the music. You laugh, and spin, and plant your foot hard, pointing down at the fallen hero.

“Tempo Adagio, hero of sound! Look upon me and weep! At long last, you are in your proper place! Brought low, by the villain of your own making. It is the time of my ascendancy! With you out of the way, no one will be able to stop the living experiment, Fever Pitch, from achieving her dreams!”

You look off into the middle distance with your best ‘sinister but still sexy’ expression. Both Jens clap politely. You glance down just in time to see Tempo roll her eyes. 

“I’m not responsible for you Fever. What you did to your body is your own business.”

You drop into a crouch, poking her cheek with a long black nail.

“You can be a real buzzkill you know that. Does it really hurt to play along for a minute? Can’t you just be happy for me?”

Tempo struggles weakly at her bindings. 

“No, actually. Because what makes you happy is tormenting innocents and formenting unrest across nation states.”

“Come on, everyone’s got their naughty side.”

“Bringing an entire country to it’s knees is not ‘naughty’! It’s just evil!”

“Blah blah blah. They had a fancy secret tech lab I wanted to check out, and it seemed the shortest path to access. Besides, they were *capitalists*.”

“Being capitalists doesn’t mean they deserve to have everything taken from them!”

“Ugggggggghhh.”

You look over to Little Jen and point at Tempo with a disappointed look on your face.

“Can you believe her? Like come on, this is ideology 101.”

Little Jen shakes her head somberly.

“Yeah, cut the music too. It’s distracting me.”

You stand, and plant a heel on the prone hero’s chest.

“I’m gonna be the bigger person and overlook those problematic beliefs of yours for now though. I’m in such a good mood after all.”

“Go to hell.”

“I plan to! Not today though.”

“You only caught me because you have no honor whatsoever.”

You snort, and grind your shoe into her ribs as she winces.

“Not my fault you tired yourself out with a big all-out practice duel with your rival just before I showed up to cause trouble. If you were smart, like me, you would conserve your strength for important stuff. Get some henchmen or something, it’s really convenient.”

From behind you, Big Jen yells “We love you boss!” You wave at her evilly. 

“You see what I mean? It’s fantastic. They hype me up, fight my battles, and they can get things off the low shelves without me having to strain my motors. I’m living a dream here.”

“I’m sick of listening to you talk, Fever. Just cart me off to your lair, or leave me here, whatever you’re planning.”

“Ohohohoho. You think I’m some kind of idiot.”

“I do.”

Your temper flares, and the air around you trembles. The servos in your hand squeal as you grab a handful of bindings over her chest, and roughly lift her into the air over your head. She winces, but grits her teeth and stares you down. With one hand, you hurl her, sending her bouncing and scraping fifteen feet across the grassy field. You stalk over at your full height of ten feet, one hand on your hip, the other two palm up in a cool pose.

Tempo tries to pull herself up even with her hands bound, but you kick her in the ribs, sending her tumbling.

“You’ve been destined to be a thorn in my side from the moment you were born, Tempo Adagio. Now that I’ve beaten you, you think I’m gonna let you go with a warning? Throw you in a secret cell till you get rescued? No, that’s your role. You’re a hero. I’m a villain. I can just kill you.”

Tempo’s eyes widen, almost imperceptibly. But, you’re very, very perceptive. A thrill crawls up your spine.

“That got your attention!”

You do a cool gesture with the fingers on your third arm, and it splits open, revealing a hexagonal teal crystal, naturally sharpened to a long thin point.

“You annoying heroes and your annoying natural-born powers. Your bodies are all so fucking durable. The only thing guaranteed to kill you is a strike through a vital point with a Bow-Rider crystal. But, aside from being quite rare, these things are so fragile, you could smash it with your bare hands.”

Tempo watches the crystal warily. It makes your heart race.

“How lucky, then, that you tired yourself out completely with your little rival! We just had to wait behind a rock for that fool to leave, and we swooped in, tying you up with my Heroes Bane - Reinforced Soundsteel Cable!”

“I know, I was here for the whole thing,” Tempo says through gritted teeth.

“Well you won’t be for much longer.”

You loom over her, arm twisted into a spear, ready to thrust, aimed inexorably at her heart.

“You’re really going to just stab me to death in the middle of an empty field, with only the two goombas as witnesses?”

Your eyes glint violently.

“Yes. I’ve already wasted as much time gloating as I can spare. I hate to squander the opportunity to show off, but I can’t afford to let you wriggle out of my grasp.”

Rather than somber and stoic, Tempo looks to be at a loss for words.

“If you’ve got any last requests, my tragically fallen nemesis, now would be the time.”

Tempo looks down at the ground for a long moment. Long enough you start to get slightly annoyed. But before you can say anything.

“A kiss.”

“Oh what’s this? The great protector, forced to beg for— wait what was that you just said?”

“I think she said a kiss boss.”

“Shut up Big Jen, I heard her the first time. *You*. You’re making fun of me, right?”

You get up into her face, but Tempo doesn’t meet your suspicious gaze. She looks down and to the side a little, a hint of pink staining her cheeks, her lip ever so slightly quivering. 

“No… This is a prank or something. Am I being punked. Little Jen, did you help set this up? Little Jen, I see you shaking your head, you better not be lying to me!”

“You’re such a idiot.”

Tempo’s voice quavers, barely audible.

“W-what?”

She turns to look at your confused face, her breast rising and falling quickly, tears beading up in the corners of her eyes.

“Why do you think I’ve always gone easy on you?? You big idiot! I always hoped you would give up on evil!”

“Wh- I- no, what?”

Her face is full of conflicting emotion, fear and anger and something more complicated. You can’t even breathe, you’re so taken aback by this turn of events.

“I’ve been love with you since the first time I saw you present your work at my university. Before you went bad. You were so passionate, intelligent, and just. You had an energy that I’ve never seen in anyone else.”

She takes a deep breath with her eyes closed.

“So if you’re gonna kill me anyway, I might as well be honest with how I feel.”

She says it sulkily, and looks away again. Speechless, you stay rooted in place.

“Um, boss, do you two need a minute? Me and Little Jen can go get coffee.”

It finally breaks the spell on you.

“You— No, I’m coming over there.”

You glance nervously at Tempo.

“Wait right there. Er, you can’t move anyway. Gah! Just give me a minute to work out my thoughts!!”

You clomp away from her as fast as you can, and gesture at the Jens to huddle up.

“Did anyone see that coming? I certainly fucking didn’t.”

Both Jens shake their heads.

“Boss, are you blushing? It’s kinda hard to tell with the visor thing.”

“Shut up! No I’m not! But I am at a *goddamn loss*. What do I do? What do I do??”

Big Jen looks at Little Jen and back to you.

“Well, what do you feel about her?

Your mind casts back, the the first time you heard of her.

You were preparing for a meeting with a panel of investors. Your greatest ambition was within your grasp. A workable method for 3D printing solid objects out of soundwaves that could remain stable for months without additional electricity. An impossible creation, a stroke of genius. You had perfected the theory, and created a prototype. No one but you knew what you were working on. It would change every imaginable industry, cut down on every kind of waste, replace plastic in almost all forms without any waste whatsoever. Your horizons were endless, your future bright.

Until the news reports started to roll in.

A new hero had debuted.

A young woman, calling herself Tempo Adagio.

One of those strange people affected by the Bow-Rider Phenomenon, born with impossible powers.

And what was her power?

Why, it just happened to be an effortless, natural perfection of your life’s work. She could produce anything out of sound. What you were seeking millions of dollars in investment to achieve, came to her as simply as breathing.

And not a single person would let you forget it.

‘Oh, you’re trying to imitate that hero girl’s powers? Are you working with her? It seems your prototype is lacking compared to her. Can’t you make it work better? Why is it so expensive to develop if it can already be done?’

And, most annoyingly.

‘Can it be used as a weapon?’

You told them you were trying to fight climate change and industrial waste, not wars. It wasn’t well received. Tempo’s very public battles made it impossible to ignore the combat applications.

Disillusioned with the scientific community, rejected by every potential investor besides weapons companies and various warhawk governments, and increasingly angry at the growing popularity of Tempo, you finally made a decision.

They wanted a weapon?

Fine.

You’d give them a weapon.

You’d become a weapon.

You began to graft your prototypes into your own body.

You became something other than human.

Maybe you couldn’t save the world.

But you wouldn’t go quietly.

And so you began to lash out. Sometimes you would try to do what you think is right. Sometimes you’d just act selfishly. But either way, every time, one annoying little gnat would get in your way.

Tempo. 

The hero you (unfairly, you know) blame for everything.

The one you’ve now beaten, and are on the verge of executing.

You peek over your shoulder at her. She’s still looking off and blushing. 

“So, what do you think boss?”

“I— I don’t know. She’s definitely an annoying little centrist.”

“But, like, you could probably help her get over that?”

“Well, I mean—”

“You’ve got pictures of her up in your bedroom. Like, posters and stuff.”

“That’s so I wake up bursting with rage!”

“What about the daikimura from her official merch store?”

“I- I got that from a secret santa! I can’t get rid of it, it would be rude!”

“Yeah sure. I’m just saying, have you considered you might both be acting out cuz you both have a crush? I hear love can bloom on even on the battlefield you know?”

“Well- Love— I— I’m 34! She’s only like 26. That’s too much of an age gap! Probably.”

“She’s not even asking you to get engaged to her and stuff, she just wants a kiss before you off her.”

“That’s worse! Big Jen, am I fucking up? Should I let her go? Maybe killing is a bit over the line. Maybe.. Maybe I could get her to read theory— Little Jen, what are you waving at me for? Behind me? What—”

You turn just in time to catch Tempo’s boot in your chest with a loud POP. Bits of your armor breaks off, wavering and breaking down into nothingness with a barely audible hum.

The rest of the fight goes fast. The Jens are great moral support, but neither of them are really up to fighting a top hero. And you’re so off your game, you can barely hold your own. Tempo makes short work of you, culminating in crushing your third arm under her boot, shattering the Bow-Rider crystal along with it.

Breathing heavy, she stands over you, grinning. You snarl at her.

“You little brat! You’re lucky your ridiculous diversion worked or you’d be dead as hell!”

With a smirk, she pulls you upright, a rumbling hum coming from her body as cables appear from thin air, a copy of those she was wrapped up minutes ago.

“You’re really funny when you’re flustered, Fever. Even funnier than you are already.”

“Yeah, keep mocking me.”

“I’m serious! I’ve never had as much fun fighting someone as you. Even if your skill is pretty solidly midtier, there’s something thrilling about a mirror match, you know?”

“Your flattery won’t work on me anymore! Demon! Temptress! *Hero!*”

She sighs, and leans in close to say something in your ear.

“You know,” she whispers. “I wasn’t lying, before. I really do love you.”

Your breath catches in your throat and your whole body goes stiff.

“L-liar..” You murmur hopelessly.

“It’s true. My eyes are on you. So if you really want to show me that I’m fighting the wrong fight—”

You gasp, as she kisses a line slowly up the curve of your throat. It tickles, and her cool lips burn against your flushed skin.

She steps back, looking smug.

“You’ll have to beat me yourself. No jumping me when I’m already worn out. Do that, and maybe we can talk.”

With a wink, she turns and walks away, towards the sunset. It takes you a minute to remember how to speak, and you reach out in her direction.

“W-wait! You forgot to call the cops on us!”

Tempo waves back.

“Don’t remind the teacher she assigned homework! I’m letting you go!”

“Bu- But! You blew up my transport! We’re stranded!”

She turns, and fixes upon you that gaze, those eyes of fire that make you tremble.

“Then walk.”

With a simple laugh, she keeps walking.

You stare after her until she’s out of sight. Eventually, Little Jen limps over and puts a comforting hand on your shoulder. You look up at her, almost crying from a cocktail of emotions you don’t quite understand.

“Little Jen. You’re always there for me, from the start. What do you think?”

She nods quietly, and then, in a soft voice.

“She’s out of your league.”

You grit your teeth, and force your battered machine limbs into action.

“I know goddamn it!”

You point at Big Jen, who just regained consciousness.

“Pick up whats left of my arm! Get the crystal shards too, we might be able to study them at least.”

You glare in the direction Tempo left in.

“I’m going to beat the pants off that girl.”

“Lewd,” says Little Jen.

“Hush! Listen up losers. We came closer to our ultimate victory that I ever imagined! And! We have an opportunity to turn one the the greatest heroes of the modern era to our side, probably! And get me a girlfriend at last! No more awkward villain speed dates for me!”

Big Jen looks over from the pile of scrap metal she’s scooping up.

“You sure she’s not just fucking with you boss? She had a scary look in her eyes.”

“And I liked it! The last few times we fought she seemed so.. Bored! Rote! It was good to see her fired up again! I’ll work harder than ever to match her, and then when she joins us, we’ll be unstoppable!”

You raise your still functioning arms over your head triumphantly, pretending not to be in a lot of pain.

“This is a new beginning for us! Now, my loyal followers! Let’s, ah, walk back to base.”

And with the setting of the sun, so ends the saga of the ultimate almost-victory of Fever Pitch, mid tier supervillain and self styled greatest scientist ever to live. 

~~~