Part 1

Context: You were a hero, and you did something horrible. You don't remember. You just know the end is rapidly approaching, but... do you honestly care, anymore?

Setting: A skyscraper rooftop

Tags:[M4F][Lovers to Enemies][Ex-Boyfriend Villain Speaker][Accused Ex-Hero Listener][Mystery][Hero x Villain][HARD Angst][Heartbreak][Argument][Murder Mystery][Betrayal][Lore Drops][Quandry Mention][Moonvale Story][CW: Hard Angst/Mention of Murder]

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[Note: Even though this is the Villain talking to ‘himself’ the Listener can still hear him]

[Scene opens within the Chief of Police’s old office]

[SFX: The Villain pushing through the shadows and entering the room]

[He takes a look around the office and lets out a shaky sigh]

“Christ… I can’t even remember how many times I sat in this office. In this too-big chair in front of Dad’s desk as he scolded and lectured me for my villainous ways. ‘One of these days, you’ll get a Hero who’s too big for his boots that’s gonna kill ya on accident! Or worse! Another damned Villain! You know they don’t have any loyalty!’. Heh… ouch. That one still stings, but what can you do? Not like I asked to be labeled one.”

[Pause]

“...OK, maybe the bank robbing was asking for it, but… Ugh. No time to be nostalgic. C’mon, let’s just check out the lead and get the Hell out. I’ve got several bottles of whiskey at home waiting to help me forget…”

[He sighs again and begins to move around the office, searching]

“Case 017023… Quandry cases almost always have the prefix QC, so why not this one? This should still be Cloak and Cape bullshit, which is under their ‘managing freaks’ umbrella. Sounds more like a generic police case.”

[SFX: A file cabinet opening]

“I swear, the police are twenty years in the past. All of these filing cabinets are still filled with paper so old it’s turning yellow. Let’s see… zero… zero one… zero one seven… Huh? How the Hell is there a Case #018023, but not the number she shouted at me…?”

[He frowns]

“...That’ suspicious as Hell, alright. Fine. No paper reports.”

[SFX: The filing cabinet being closed and him sighing]

“...We keep looking, I guess… Hmph. I remember when I brought her to meet Dad for the first time… His eyes lit up the second he saw you were a hero, my dearest… He probably thought you aimed to ‘fix’ me or ‘reform’ me, but you never did. You loved me for me… Sometimes, given his divorce from Mom, I think that made him insanely jealous… But enough to do something that made you feel like you had to put him down?”

[SFX: Him searching and gently disturbing things as he does so]

“C’mon, there’s gotta be something here… Let’s see… Did Dad stop keeping his passwords on a sticky not on his monitor?”

[Pause]

“Nope… Oh, Dad. That’s why you got hacked so often. You dumb, overbearing bear of a man. I guess his computer would be the next place to check. Let’s see… Ah?”

[His eyes drift to a framed picture on his father’s desk]

“A framed picture? He never kept pictures on his desk…”

[SFX: The picture being picked up]

“...Who are these people in this picture? I’ve never seen a team of heroes posing together… Not since Gabe and his crew, I guess, but they were a polycule or some nonsense.”

[Six young men beam from the picture, each in their own hero uniform]

“All heroes, from the uniforms… I’ve never seen any of them before in the compound, the training grounds, not even on the schedule to fight whatever villain they were paired with…”

[SFX: Typing]

“What the fuck?!”

[The Villain jumps slightly as the keyboard begins to type… by itself]

“...The keyboard is typing by itself… Alright, maybe there is more fuckery going on here… Time to slip into the shadows.”

[SFX: A musical sting to indicate his power being used]

[The computer flicks on after a moment, logging itself in]

“What is it doing…?”

[SFX: Rapid keyboard clicks]

“Wait… it’s pulling up security footage? No one has that kind of access except for Dad himself, so who…? ARTEMIS!”

[SFX: Him bursting free from the shadows]

“ARTEMIS, stop! Order 155!”

[SFX: …The typing stopping]

“...OK, ARTEMIS. I know you’re the AI for the Quandry, and I know you can’t tell me who wanted this footage wiped… But I order you, as a Rank 7, to answer me thusly: one click for yes, two for no. Can you comply?”

[SFX: …One click]

“Good. Thank you. What… is this footage? 3.4653° S, 62.2159° W… That’s, what, the middle of the Amazon rainforest?”

[SFX: One click]

[He leans closer, squinting]

“...This is just some village… Can you rewind a little, please?”

[SFX: One click]

[The footage rewinds for a bit until he says:]

“Stop! OK, play…”

[SFX: The footage playing, if desired]

“...OK, looks like some sort of study group is studying it and passing by… They leave, or at least maneuver off-camera, and then… What the fuck…?”

[He watches, confused, as an explosion erupts off-camera and a sudden storm decimates the poor village]

“...Something exploded off screen and then it looks like a random storm just crashed down out of nowhere… The weather was fine not two seconds ago… It’s time-stamped for 7:04 PM on January 17th… 017. 0…1…7…”

[Pause]

“ARTEMIS… can you pull a Case for me…? Case #017023?”

[SFX: Two clicks]

“Rrgh, godamnit! ARTEMIS, please! If there’s foul play here then I need to know! If she’s innocent, then you have to tell me!”

[SFX: Two clicks]

“...ARTEMIS, as rude as this is, I am issuing a command override on behalf of the Chief of Police.”

[SFX: An alarm blaring]

[He jumps as an alarm rings out]

“Shit! Fuck, fuck, no no no! ARTEMIS, copy that footage to my personal drive and then lock it the fuck down, do you understand?!”

[SFX: One click]

“Thanks! I need to go, now, but… if you find anything else…?”

[...]

[SFX: One click]

“Thanks, ARTEMIS! You were always my favorite AI! See you at the Christmas party!”

[SFX: Glass shattering as he flees]

[He flies off hurriedly as the alarm blares behind him]

“...Something’s not right. Why would she be concerned about some incident in the Amazon? Why would the Quandry be so concerned that they would send their god-tier AI to personally try and delete it? Something happened there… and I think that means I need to go to the fucking Amazon…”

[He lets out a groan and rubs his face]

“...Godamnit… I can’t let you go… No matter how many times I play this out in my head, I can’t… I can’t believe you’d hurt me like that… Fine, love. Fine. If I have to a place with literally ninety percent of my phobias just hanging out, then maybe I’ll at least find the truth… Find peace…”

[Pause]

“...Please be innocent… Please…”

[SFX: Him zooming off, and not in the meeting way]

[To be continued]