The Hostage Game

The city spread out below her, a crazed jigsaw of buildings, streets, and flashing light. The night sky clung to her skin, and the wind rippled through her chestnut hair. The heroine known as Redwing was in her element, surrounded by a corona of fire, she traced a pattern over the city, watching and waiting. She knew at any moment, she could be called upon to act. Her senses were extended, blanketing the whole of the city. When she closed her eyes, she could see the world around her, traced in golden light. Distantly, she could sense the presence of her team mates, all of them were operating tonight, but it seemed that they shouldn't have bothered.

It was quiet.

After a moment, she landed on top of a building, the ghostly shape of fiery wings burned along her back for an instant as she dropped, landing easily and nimbly. Her costume was body-fitting, traced in reds and golds, the image of a fire bird boldly emblazoned upon her chest. She looked down, seeing the city below her, the streets, the cars, the distant sounds of people.

She smiled. It was all good.

Redwing was twenty six years old, and for the last seven of those years, she'd been a hero. She'd started small, petty crooks and criminals, but she'd worked her way up over time. She'd had some big throwdowns - she'd faced Dogma, Gorehound, managed to put up a decent fight against Time-Master, though of course, she hadn't won that one on her own. Nevertheless, she'd been invited to join the League of Heroes, and she'd never looked back.

She looked down, seeing the city, her city, the people she protected, and the world she had worked so hard to save. A fierce sense of pride burned in her breast, and she shook her head, chiding herself with a grin.

"What would Avatar saw if he say you wasting time like this?" She smirked.

"He'd tell you that as his eventual successor, you should be using it on more productive matters," came a voice from behind her.

Redwing swung, her powers blazed forth, an aura of heat rose around her, the air dancing and shimmering. Behind her, a shadow had started to cover the wall of the roof, it was deep and dark, far darker, in fact, than it should have been. The voice was echoing from it, and a moment later, a man stepped through as well. Redwing took a step back, bracing herself as she recognised him.

"Dusklord." She said, "Are you here to cause trouble?"

"Unforgivably, no." The super villain said, patting down his suit as he dragged himself free of the wall. "I hate to travel this way. You know the dust gets everywhere? Damn shadows can't seem to screen it out. Ah well..."

Dusklord was a tall man, with a lanky build. His skin was pale. He had a handsome face, Redwing considered, if you looked past said paleness. It was an almost unhealthy shade. He had dark hair, which he'd cut carefully into a fancy style that probably had gone out of date twenty years ago. He was wearing a suit of dark cloth, more like evening wear than an actual costume. His boots were made of dark leather, he was wearing dark gloves, and - and she checked out of vague curiosity - the socks that she could see just pecking out of said shoes were, indeed, dark.

Villain or not, she had to admit, man could stick to a theme.

She watched him for a moment, wondering why he had come. It was true, Dusklord was hardly the worst of the villains faced by the league. He was very powerful, but mostly seemed content to play his own games, using his own rules. He was never the sort to go around killing people, and while he might steal things, they were typically grand gestures, more a way to keep score than something that he actually needed. She'd never heard of him robbing a bank, for instance, or hijacking a truck full of money, which was more than could be said for most of her villains.

"Well then?" She asked him, "What did you come here for?" An idea occurred to her, and she shot him a sharp look. "Don't tell me you're going to try and do that whole ''kidnap the heroine and hold her hostage'' thing? Because if you are, it won't end well for you."

"I would never dream of it." Dusklord said. "Besides, you're the second most powerful hero in the city. If I could overpower you, I probably wouldn't need tricks to beat everyone else. Except for Avatar, but he's a monster."

She nodded, agreeing with the sentiment. Avatar was a monster. An elemental hero who had learned long ago that he could replace parts of his body with constructs that did the same thing. Over time, he'd replaced a good chunk of himself. Bones were made of stone or metal, organs of pumping air or glass, magma blood...

He was a good guy, but god damn was he hard to hold a conversation with. You kept waiting to see if he was going to either crystallise or explode.

"Besides," Dusklord went on. "The only way I'd ever get to tie you up would be if you let me."

She shot him another sharp look.

"That sounds like an invitation."

He shrugged.

"Take it as you want. Don't tell me you're not interested. How many times have we fought in the past?"

"Well, a lot." Redwing had to admit. "Probably more than you and anyone else..."

"Definitely more than me and anyone else." Dusklord said. "I've counted. And let's be honest, I'm one of the few villains who can face your full power and not crumple in an instant."

He waved a hand, a tendril of living shadows extended from his palm. Redwing watched it. She'd seen him use it many times before. Dusklord's power let him turn shadows solid, manipulate them like a part of his body. When he used them, they were stronger than steel, and sharper than any blade. Not quite sharp enough to cut her skin, but deadly for almost anyone else.

And that was with him holding back...

"I have to admit..." Dusklord said, stepping to the front of the roof, and looking down over the city with her. "I've grown tired of it all."

"Really?" She shot him a look," Why don't I belief that? Could it be that the last time we fought was... oh yes, four days ago, and as I recall, you were cackling madly."

"Part of the job, part of the job." He gestured with one hand as though to dismiss the point, "If you don't enjoy it, why do you even do it in the first place? But no, I mean overall. What do I really need? Money? I have enough money for a thousand years now! Excitement? I mean, that was how it was at first. I wanted to challenge myself, and see what I can do. But now I know how strong I am, the only ones in this whole city who can face me are you and Avatar, and to be frank, I can only fight the same two heroes so many times before I grow bored."

"You could always move on to the big leagues." Redwing said, not sure why she was even discussing the topic. "Try to take over the world or something. That's what you villains do when you can't think of anything else, right?"

"Oh thank you for that." Dusklord said, "Yes thank you indeed. I see stereotyping is alive and well in the hero community. I'm a villain, so I must be a bad guy!"

"Yeah...but you are a bad guy. Your name is Dusklord. Dusklord! Who chooses that if they're not a bad guy!"

"Details!"

"Last month, you robbed a zoo!"

"They had a rare golden-backed tiger! What was I supposed to do, just leave it in their hands?"

"YES! It was a zoo!"

"It's much happier now, I assure you."

"You mean you sold it to someone, and they probably ate it or something?"

"What? No, that would be cruel. I just wanted a tiger for my lair. Training it is a bit tricky, I admit, but I am making great strides!"

"Really?"

"It no longer tries to eat me on sight!"

She said nothing.

"Well, mostly..."

"You can always bring it back to the zoo if you want..."

Dusklord tried to bear himself up.

"A villain never looks back, my dear! I admit, stealing a tiger may not have been my most well thought out move, but now I have a tiger, and I have to deal with it. I am not a cruel man, so I will care for it, but I cannot give it back. That would be against the point of the thing."

"I thought you didn't want to be a villain anymore?"

"Well, yes..." Dusklord looked awkward. "But I'd rather be a reformed villain with a pet tiger..."

Redwing sighed.

"Fine. Whatever. Forget the tiger - for now! - you've still not told me why you came to me instead of one of the others."

"Well...." Dusklord looked even more awkward for a moment. It wasn't a look she was used to seeing with him. Usually, he was cool and calculating, confident. Even if he was prone to a bit of maniacal laughter on thematically appropriate moments. "I mean, between all of the heroes I've fought during my career, you're the one I've faced most, right?

"Yeah."

"The two of us have fought loads of times. Since I'm one of the few bad guys who can go toe to toe with you, and you're the same for me but with heroes..."

"That is correct." She nodded, "What are you getting at?"

"Well, we've spent a lot of time together as hero and villain... I probably know you better than anyone else in the city, and you could say the same about me. And I sort of noticed... um, you make a lot of jokes about being tied up or held hostage by villains..."

Redwing felt her face colouring, and was keenly aware of how the butterfly mask which covered only her eyes and upper face failed to conceal her cheeks. She felt her heart beat fast for a moment, and turned to face Dusklord properly.

"it's a cliche." She said, "We all know that. I am just making jokes, that's all. Banter."

"if that's how it is, then that's how it is." Dusklord looked out over the city again, Redwing noticed that he was flushing as well. "But I wondered after so many times...honestly, I thought that I was insane at first, and I had to talk myself up to this, but..do you want to try it?"

"Getting kidnapped?" She shot him a flat look. "What do you think? Is this some clever way to actually try and kidnap me here? You figured you can't do it by , so you're going to just convince me? If so, it's an original one, I'll give you that..."

"I was thinking...maybe... we go a bit further than just ?" He turned and shot her a hopeful look. "I mean, we've been friends for a while.. or, well, kind of friends... nemesis is practically the same thing, right? I mean, I'm not asking for a relationship or anything, but you're really sexy, and I've always kind of wanted to see what you look like under that costume. S-since I am getting out of the whole villain game, and since you're always making jokes about it, I thought....maybe... if we both wanted to give it a try, just once..."

Redwing shook her head, her face was blank. A sort of disbelief had settled through her body.

He can't seriously be saying this. This is the most insane thing I have ever heard...well, this week at least.

"That's madness." She said, "What you just said is absolutely insane. You want me to, what, let you kidnap me? Let you have your way with me? Be your hostage? For how long? Why do I think it's just a weak attempt to get me to be your prisoner."

"Well, firstly, I can't hold you prisoner anyway." Dusklord said, "'cus no restraint I made could possibly actually keep you down, and while I admit, if I used my full power, I might - might - be able to hold you, it would mean that I'd need to spend every waking day doing so. And since as we've just covered, there's like three villains in the city tops who could fight you, I'd be top of the list for suspects. I don't kill people, and I don't do brainwashing, so if that really was my scheme, I'd basically just be handing myself to a very angry league of heroes."

Redwing considered his point of view, frowning as she did so. She looked over at him. His skin was pale, but his facial structure was handsome, his eyes were deep, and his voice was refined. His lips were a little thin, but she imagined how they might feel pressed against her own, and a secret shiver wormed its way down her spine.

Wait, what? Why am I even noticing that! Damn it, Lilly, are you really taking this offer seriously? What the fuck?

But she couldn't help it. Some part of her was considering it. It made her skin tingle, she could feel her blood rushing through her ears. Her heart beat frantically, even as she tried to pretend on the outside that she wasn't effected at all. The truth was, that she did like to be tied up. The idea of being helpless really turned her on, and it had since before she donned the mask. Maybe it was because she was so powerful, she knew it would never happen for real. But she'd always secretly wondered what iit would feel like to be one of those helpless heroines that showed up on TV all the time, the sort who got the ambiguously erotic restraints, and who were left alone with the villain for large amounts of time with their hands tied up, and their arms and legs bound. Anything could happen to them like that. The idea of being in that position herself had always had a sort of fascination for Lilly.

She did her best not to look like she'd been struck by lightning.

"Just so we're clear..." She said slowly, "and not that I am actually considering it or anything, I just want to know what I am turning down... what exactly would you have in mind?"

"Well...." Dusklord honestly looked like he hadn't expected it to get even this far. "How about a traditional hostage situation? let's say I was able to fiendishly overpower you in a sudden and surprise attack. You would have to play through my game to win your freedom, wouldn't you? Seven days, a trial each day, a test of your heroic resolve, that sort of thing."

"A week..." She considered. "I probably wouldn't be missed for that long..."

"If you sent a message then you would be." Dusklord pointed out. "Just say that you're going on an extended patrol of something. They'd figure it out eventually, but it would probably buy a week."

"I see." Redwing said, her voice barely trembled at all. her mind was spinning, her heart beating like a drum. Static electricity was rolling along her skin, and her throat was dry. Why was she even giving this a second thought? If it had been any other villain, she would have laughed in their face, but...

Well, the fact was, Dusklord was right. The two of them had a rivalry that went back seven years. In all of that time, she'd never seen him do something petty or cruel. Oh, he stole things, yes. But only from those who could afford to lose them. And he fought heroes, but the ones he beat, he always made sure to leave where they would be found safely, and he never used more than he had to. Fact of the matter was, he treated it like a game. He never killed or maimed or crippled, he never stole anything that couldn't be replaced. He'd helped them take down bigger villains a few times.

And now, he was offering her something that reached down and squeezed her heart, stealing her breath as she tried desperately to pretend she wasn't tempted.

"M-my mask?"

"You would keep it, of course. The point is that after the week, there is no lasting effect, no harm done. We go our separate ways, and I give up villainy. Mind you, the mask would probably be the only clothes you were allowed to keep."

Lilly took a sharp breath at that. She tried to hide how her body was trembling. Desire roared through her veins, making it hard to hear her own thoughts. she was aroused, she could feel a tautness between her legs, a gentle heat situated around her womanhood. Fuck, was it really hitting her this hard already?

"The rules are this." Dusklord said. "For a week, you're my prisoner, you're utterly under my power, I can do whatever I want to you, just as though your own powers had been turned off. Every day, I am going to give you a challenge, and if you complete it, you're fine. If you fail it, you're punished in some cliche super villain manner. At any point, you can stop it, and we'll go our own ways, no harm done. After the week, it's over, and we never speak of it again. That's my offer, Redwing. I think if I gave it to anyone else, they'd refuse at best, or laugh in my face. But you might be actually tempted. Unless I'm wrong. Am I wrong?"

He looked a bit worried as he said that.

"I mean..." Lilly bit her lower lip, desire and common sense warring in her mind. Part of her was screaming this was the most stupid thing she had ever considered. To think of doing something like this with a villain! But at the same time, the rest of her argued, it was Dusklord... his name was edgy as hell, but she'd never seen him actually hurt anyone for real, and she'd always thought he looked sort of handsome. She didn't feel like she'd be in any real danger.

Besides, when would she ever get a chance like this again?

"I must be insane to even consider this..." She muttered to herself, "if I don't like it, I can break the thing at any time?"

"At any time." Dusklord nodded. "I won't fight you on it. I may be a bad guy, at least technically, but I'm not the sort who ignores consent. If you want it to end, it ends."

"Then..." Her heart hammered, butterflies filled her stomach. She felt as though her legs had turned to led, and her anxiety churned inside of her like a writhing knot. "I accept."