Prompt: “Hero and Villain”

Pairing: Sehun/Tao

Words: ~1600

Sirens shriek loudly overhead, as Sehun sprints down the corridor, a metallic clang of his footsteps mixing in with the din. Sehun reaches a heavy, armored door and quickly hits a switch, watching as it opens with a screech. He slows to a steady pace, stepping stealthily into the control room, crimson cape trailing behind him, the outline of his chiseled abs visible under a layer of flexible blue fabric.

Sehun was the most popular hero in Seoul, according to several large and influential women’s magazines. People seemed drawn to his physique and standoffish attitude; it was something about the jawline when Sehun’s lips were turned down in a scowl, the way he carried his toned torso with an air of haughtiness, that made all the young women want to swoon over him. Or, swooning over ‘Lightforce’, the dumb hero name he thought up when he was being particularly foolish, and now achingly regrets.

Little did his adoring fans know, Sehun wasn’t sure ‘hero’ was the best career choice for him, even if he did have super strength and laser eyes.

It was all because of Tao. That handsome idiot next door that liked to chat endlessly about all the morally ambiguous activities he got up to in his spare time; that annoyingly attractive guy that liked to tease Sehun about how much he was a stick in the mud for not going out at night or having much fun at all. All because Sehun was always too busy with saving the world to even have a teensy bit of down time.

Admittedly, Sehun’s become a bit of an to him. Tao seemed to have all the time in the world and Sehun had become quite jealous of him. Tao, however, seemed cheerful and seemed to take all of Sehun’s grouchiness into stride, instead using it to fuel more sarcastic and (in Sehun’s opinion) endearing hallway banter.

Tao, who he had always wanted to ask out but could never pluck up the courage to, so worried he was that his identity would be compromised.

Sehun reaches the main control panel and quickly slides his fingers over the buttons, lighting the screen up in front of him. He waits until a box flashes into the middle of the screen, and slips a piece of paper out from his spandex underwear, one with a password on it from one of his most reputable sources of information. Sehun types in the password, holding in his breath. In a few seconds, he exhales sharply the screen reveals a simple desktop background with several folders.

He’s in.

It was a gamble, of course. Some of his sources liked to provide false leads to him, because information wasn’t something that was ‘good’ or ‘evil’. Information simply existed, and with economic pressures those who provided it usually gave it to the person who could pay the most. Luckily, this information happened to be legit, and Sehun was well on his way to overriding the code to an armed nuclear warhead.

Sehun flicks through a few more screens. His eyes scan the contents of the folders, widening slightly as he finds pictures of himself mixed in the files. Some look like they’ve been clipped from newspapers, but others are taken by amateurs, or from great distances from crime scenes or after epic battles Sehun won in the bustling Seoul streets. Sehun flicks through a couple more folders, finally finds the nuclear warhead in amongst the files, and begins typing in the disarm code.

“Not so fast!”

Sehun spins around in surprise. He takes a hesitant step forward, squinting into darkness. A tall figure prowls slowly towards him, a high-pitched laugh escaping his lips. Sehun’s eyes fix themselves upon leather shoes streaked with red, travelling up a pitch black and tight-fitting costume worn by one of Asia’s most notorious and elusive super villains.

“So, you managed to find my lair,” the villain drawls, almost purring at Sehun. The lights suddenly switch on, and Sehun finds himself surrounded by the same figure which continues to materialize and multiply, all of them leaning in and whispering to each other. This is one of his special abilities, Sehun thinks to himself, the ability pull copies of himself out of his own shadow.

“You won’t destroy the city, Starsplitter!” Sehun says boldly, trying to cover his nervousness with an air of indifference. The villain rolls his eyes at Sehun, and Sehun notes several of his clones moving slowly towards him. Sehun backs toward the control panel, punches in the last digits of the code, and turns back around waiting for Starsplitter to make his move.

Red lights begin to flash. The floor begins to vibrate. A face pops up on the screen and an eerie laughter fills the room.

That information, apparently, was not legit after all, Sehun thinks to himself.

Starplitter makes a couple clones run towards Sehun, and Sehun quickly breezes through them, sweat colouring his brow as he tosses clone after clone into the air, punching through them. He can’t remember where the original Starsplitter was standing, all of the mirages having moved since he punched the last of the code into the computer.

Sehun spins and backflips his way across the room, eyes scanning for a master switch to shut it down. However, within the following seconds, Sehun finds himself in a dire predicament, as the floor splits into two large panels that slide with a screech to the sides of the room. Sehun quickly grabs onto the control panel as the floor sweeps out from underneath him. A giant, round object begins to peep its way through the gap, and Sehun almost shrieks with surprise.

“That’s the warhead!” He shouts, fingers grasping around a small lever in his haste to hold on.

Sehun shuts his eyes tightly, breaths quickening as he hears a countdown start up, a robotic, booming voice counting down from ten, shaking the room. Sehun opens his eyes and looks around, still not able to find the master switch. The room is now empty, and all of Starsplitter’s clones must have dematerialized the second his plan fell through.

It seems devious for a villain to bomb a city of innocent civilians, Sehun thinks to himself. More so if the hero is tricked to do the evil deed for him.

Honestly, Sehun doesn’t think his emotions really fit this situation too well. He should feel empathetic, concerned for the billions of people out there unknowing that their lives could be snuffed out in little less than ten seconds. Instead, he feels a little irritated that he got outsmarted so easily. He should have realised that the information he’d gathered was too good to be true. A path straight to the control room and the codes to dismantle the ultimate weapon? Was he really that gullible?

Sehun tries to pull himself further up against the wall, but ends up pulling down the lever he’s been hanging on accidentally. Suddenly, the floor swings back into place. Sehun quickly somersaults across the room, searching for any signs of Starsplitter. He soon finds him, tucked in a corner of the room, eyes wide in surprise.

“You figured out my secret switch?” Starsplitter asks, as Sehun grabs him by the scruff of his neck, holding him in the air. Sehun tosses Starsplitter to the ground, straddling him as he grabs handcuffs off his super belt and cuffs his hands together. Starsplitter wiggles on the floor for a few moments, before Sehun picks him up and sits him in the corner of the room.

Sehun reaches for Starsplitter’s mask. He finds the edge of the fabric, savoring in his surprising victory, and pulls it off with a swipe.

“TAO?” Sehun shouts in surprise.

“Do I know you?” Tao responds, eyes widening. Sehun can’t believe it. He quickly rips off his mask and Tao can’t help but let out a squeak of surprise.

“SEHUN?” he shrieks.

The two stare at each other for several seconds. Tao arches an eyebrow at him as Sehun uncuffs Tao, tossing the metal aside. Sehun exhales sharply, shaking his head as he stands up and offers Tao a hand up. A smile plays upon Sehun’s lips as Tao takes it, and the two break into devilish grins.

“I wouldn’t have taken you for a hero,” Tao says after a while. “You weren’t exactly hero material. Even your actions as Lightforce weren’t as ‘heroic’ as one would expect from a superhero… I had actually planned to unmask you myself today, to see if I could get leverage on you to switch sides.”

“You planted that information… You totally had me fooled!” Sehun groans in annoyance. Tao responds with a shrug, though Sehun can see smugness in his shiny eyes.

Sehun scowls at Tao for outsmarting him, but not for long. His lips turn upwards in a smirk as Sehun imagines the wider range of career options now available to him. He elbows Tao in the side and Tao glances at him quizzically.

“So, if I was to hypothetically switch sides, what sorts of things would we be getting up to?”

“Oh, the usual,” Tao says with a grin. “A bit of theft, espionage, working black markets, threatening the world... just the usual day at the office. You up for it?”

Sehun tears off his crimson cape, throwing it to the ground. He gives Tao one of his most devious smirks. Tao cackles as they march hand-in-hand back down the paneled corridor into the hesitant breaking of dawn.