Writing Prompt

Brainwash, a mind controlling hero, loves his job. He gets to put away the bad guys, and without anyone getting hurt.

All he has to do is take control of their thoughts and get them to turn themselves in! It is easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Sometimes he even sees a shady character and has them commit a smaller crime than whatever they would have done, so they are already in custody.

His associate, Beacon, calls him teetering on the edge of something bad. She says that controlling minds the way he does is close to playing god. And no one should be able to do that. She’s just jealous. He is a better hero than she could ever be. Under the confinement of limits, she has to wait for the crime to happen.

But Brainwash? He can stop it before it ever occurs.

He can use his abilities so no one in the town ever fights. Never to have a single bad thought.

All it would take is a massive energy source and his own powers. It would drain him, so he needs a boost. Searching for that said source is that as easy as one would think. A potentially infinite amount of energy from one entity can be hard to come by apparently.

That plan will have to wait as he hears over the police radio that Nightfall has struck again. A man is dead with the reoccurring message etched into the floor, ‘dead by Nightfall’.

Rolling his eyes, he goes to where he knows the villain to be.

Letting himself into a normal looking cottage home with the poorly hidden key, her back is to him at the kitchen sink.

“Nightfall? What are you doing?”

Her shoulders tense for a brief moment, but she quickly adjusts her posture before turning around. Those familiar green eyes stare back at him, never to hold the brightness that they used to. “Hello, Brainy. Whatever are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb. We both know you’re not. Why did you kill the man?”

Nothing about her loose posture makes him think that she is surprised by his question. If anything, she was expecting it.

“He killed his wife, Emma Hartman. Abused her for years and she even reported it. Had a restraining order. Even when he violated it on several occasions, no one ever did anything. Not when she was alive.”

Brainwash has tried this before. No matter how he points out how killing is wrong, she still continues doing it.

“I can’t let you keep doing this, Mar,” he finally breathes out.

This gets a visible flinch from her. She abandons the kitchenware and marches right up to him so they are toe to toe. A hard look is on her features as she faces him.

“We don’t call each other by those names anymore. Not after what you did.” There is an accusing lilt to her voice. Brainwash doesn’t blame her for it though.

“I had no choice.”

Nightfall scrowls. Ducking her head for a brief moment, her eyes are shielded from his view. Brainwash has telepathy and mind powers, he’s not an empath, but he doesn’t need to be to know that she is experiencing a wide variety of emotions right now. Probably sadness, distain, and hatred to name a few.

Her head lifts and the steely expression is there. “No, you just took mine.”

“It was for your own good.”

Her eyes become glassy and a bitter smile forms, “It always was.”

He wonders what she means by that but he doesn’t get to ask. Instead, she becomes guarded again and has this determined stare.

“If you really want to stop me, then go ahead and try. I’ll always resist you.”

His hand reaches out to lay on her shoulder, but he refrains. “I don’t want to hurt you, Nightfall.”

Shaking her head, her chestnut strands move with her movement, lifeless. The brown waves used to be full of life. “You already did, Brainwash. You can’t hurt me more than you already have.”

If she wanted to play this game, he could too.

“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Brainwash counters, a dark shine in his eyes. It doesn’t deter her. She isn’t one to back down.

“Then you underestimate what you did to me.”

He leaves her house with the knowledge that he cannot talk her out of it. Nightfall will reign down on anyone she deems guilty. Their connection isn’t enough to stop her.

So if they meet on the street, in costume, as hero and villain, he knows what he has to do. Whatever it takes to stop her.

——— (For anyone who watches The Boys, I didn’t want to make Brainwash like Homelander levels of detestable. I wanted him to be unlikeable in a more subtle way than that.)

(This isn’t great but oh well! :3)

Prologue; Meeting

It was a normal autumn day, and Gray was relaxing in his chair, reading a (totally not romance) novel. He let out a deep breath and thought back on the past day. So many job interviews, and so many: “I don’t think you’re right for the job,” or “maybe try another place?” and even, “you’re a little to gruff….” All he wanted was to make some sort of living. But no one liked him, and he thought it was most likely for two reasons: 1) they all have heard of the stereotypical “big bad wolf” (he’s a wolf) and are afraid customers won’t like him, and 2) he doesn’t like people… at all. Suddenly, interrupting his train of thought, an annoyingly familiar cheery whistle came flowing into his house, and he groaned.

Gray sneered, that business girl—Apple was her name, right?—was here… again. She pranced down the sidewalk to his house, her reddish brown tail swaying from side to side and her black jacket made her look extra prissy today. Gray slowly opened the door as she gingerly stepped onto his porch.

“Why hello, Mr. Wolfe, how are you today?” Apple asked, straightening her jacket and smiling sweetly. Gray held back a snarl; he hated that cat. “I’m fine, Ms…?” He growled through clenched teeth, but also not wanting to use the wrong name for her.

Apple kept her smile and pulled out a business card. “Please, call me Apple.” She grinned and handed him the card. “Anyways, I came here to talk to you about an offer.” She flicked her tail and shifted her wait from one foot to another, staring down at her fancy black boots;

“My good friends, Ace and Arrow, have started an airline… well a rather low income one, with only one plane and two pilots… Eh, back to the point. Arrow said she’s heard of your expert engineering and wanted me to hire you. So, what do you say, Mr. Wolfe?”

Apple extended out her white gloved paw for her to shake. Gray let out an exasperated—yet strangely pleased—sigh and shook her paw, “please… call me Gray.”

(This will be my new characters that I will be writing short stories about + Arrow and Ace whom haven’t been introduced) (Also sorry for not posting in forever, but I hope you liked this, and tell me which character you liked best!)

"You're not getting away this time!" Goble shouted.

"I better." Kils growled to himself.

Kils flew quickly behind a building and hid. When Goble didn't appear, he cautiously peeked his head out of his spot. That's when Goble grabbed him and tossed him against the wall of the building nearby.

Kils groaned as he hit it and fell.

Goble flew down and stood before him. "I told you, Kils."

Kils looked up at him with blood trickling from his mouth. "I guess you did."

Goble sneered.

Kils got up and tried to fly away. Goble grabs his leg and throws him back down. He hits the wall with a growl.

"Try again next time." Goble laughed.

Kils smiled and got up again. "Oh I will." he bursted off the ground and managed to get away.

Goble quickly followed, slowly getting bigger.

Kils turned around. "Oh shit."

Goble flung his hand and knocked Kils down. He quickly recovered and headed straight for the Mayor's building.

"Hey! You can't go there!" Goble shouted angrily.

"Then try and stop me!" Kils shot back.

"Oh I will." Goble promised.

Kils made it to the building and tossed one of his bombs. Goble quickly reached it too and tossed the bomb back at Kils. Kils flew back at the force and Goble returned to a normal size.

Kils rushed back and tossed another bomb. It exploded right near Goble, who used the smoke to get close to Kils and pull him down. Kils grunted as Goble moved his hands to his throat. He tried praying his large fingers away.

"They'll never come off, idiot. Geez, villains these days." Goble rolled his eyes.

Kils struggled to breath. Citizens started crowding around them and praising their oh-so-precious hero.

"Just kill him already!"

"Goble saved us again!"

"Down with Kils!"

One of the people around pulled a camera out. Goble noticed and dropped Kils. Kils gasped for air.

Goble was already at the person, posing for a picture with them. A bunch of others pulled their cameras out and took pictures with him too. Kils just watched and growled.

He pulled one last bomb out and held it above his head. He rose up and threw it, right between himself and Goble.

"No villain, no hero." he whispered.

The bomb hit the ground and exploded with a bunch of smoke. It was done.

Lizi Sat across from Lee, a pleasant smile on her face, as all Co counseling sessions start. This was the first time the pair would counsel together outside of class. Lee noticed that Lizi had a face that always looked like it was about to yawn, in a way that was disarming, inviting, and curious all at once. For "new and goods" Lee could hardly think of anything to share. Nothing seemed quite new or quite good enough. It's going to be one of those sessions, Lee thought, opting instead to talk about the first thing that came to mind, the small plant in front of her that she hoped would bloom into a grand bird of paradise some day (if lucky). Lizi had just gotten out of a workshop, so ended up sessioning second. Immediately, her tears fell from her face as she talked about her mentor, Jeanette, who had recently died of cancer. Lee, listening, was all too familiar with Jeanette, who was a leader in the community. Many others had sessions about the late leaders passing, and each time, Lee couldn't help but recall the first time they had met years ago when she had first moved back home to Portland. Having just come to terms with her Transness, Lee was of course discussing the dirty details of a later in life transition. After the vulnerable session, however, it was jeanettes turn to speak. She took the time to share about a student she had known who had transitioned and then de-transitioned. That was the last time lee would ever see her alive. The back to back session comparison left Lee feeling excluded. If that was my first entry into the community, I surely would have left, she thought. Years later, with jeanettes death, Lee was suddenly barraged with sessions from others about the importance and greatness of this person. She looked out for me. She had her flaws, but she was a great teacher. She triggered me, but I stood up to her. She called people out for being late, but she did it in a gentle way. She dedicated her life to fighting for feminism, even if she did it in a white way. Everything Lee knew and heard about her was always qualified, and as a white woman, she got away with it. Lees own interaction was not only violent, but so unnecessary. How could this woman who counseled so much still come up short so often. How could this woman be allowed to be so mediocre so consistently. How could this woman have such an impact on so many impact people in lees own life that seem so much better than the great leader herself? She was a local hero, and all Lee saw was a white woman who was taking up too much space.

“Hahaha I have finally won I have finally defeated you. Now I will take your power and claim it as my own then I will be the greatest of all time.” “Please don’t do this. I only wanted to help people.” “I don’t care anymore.” “But you promised! You promised you would help me!” “And what about what YOU promised ME! You promised me that after I helped you you would help me save him, but YOU LEFT. Left to bask in your glory and because of you he was left to face a fate worse then death.” “And why should I have helped you? After all the evil you’ve done?” “He was a child!!” “He was the child of the most evil villainess the world has ever seen I did what I had to.” “My son!! My precious son. My little baby. And you took him away from me.”

“Morning, darling.” She heard a voice echo across the room. Part of her was sure that the voice was familiar, in a strangely infuriating way. “Any ideas for breakfast? I have another present for you afterwards, don’t worry.” She blinked, her eyebrows furrowing as she adjusted to the light. This place seemed a lot less like a comfortable cave and a little more like a lair. “What the-“ her breath caught in her throat as she looked up. God, this was the last thing she wanted. “When are you gonna stop doing this?” “What?” She grinned as she passed a tennis ball between her hands. Once again, a showoff. “I got a whole stadium for us. And a pretty good grill I promise I did not steal.” “Jesus christ, I just wanted to fill out paperwork this weekend. Maybe plan next year’s break.” She sighed. “You know, you’re the reason I cant have nice things.” “I know.” That annoying giggle filled the air. “That’s why you like me, right? I make your life a little less boring.” “You make life hell. But, uh-“ She couldn’t believe she was saying this. “You did pay for that barbecue. Just don’t give me blackmail on the mayor as a present again.” “Oops.”

To come across someone who experienced all the common situations y’all been through, can create an established connection. The connection & security grows stronger because of time. Becoming a “friend” have several different definitions for many different people. My definition is to have elements of integrity, trust and empathy for one another. That is the reason why I can’t have established friendships. I lack these characteristics therefore that makes me the friendship bandit.

In the kingdom of Angbotean, it was a peaceful land. They had a genuine king and queen, magic was everywhere. Some could fly, some could heal, predict the future, and some were faster than sound or light. For many years the king and queen tried to create an heir and had failed so when the queen finally bore a beautiful son it was a joyous occasion for all the kingdom. He had hair white blonde and piercing blue eyes, he was given the Name Angel. When he was three, his power manifested and he could control the water. They trained him right away and he perfected it in a year. The town was suffering from a drought and he ended it. They believed him to be their savior.

Not long after he perfected his power, the queen bore a second son with jet black hair and the same piercing blue eyes as his brother whom they both shared with their father. He was given the name Ozzy and the the town believed him to be a thing of nightmares. They treated him as such as he grew up mocking him and beating him including the children in school. It only got worse when his power manifested at seven when another child taunted him and his temper flared burning the kid inside out. His father spent several years trying to train him to control it, but to no avail. As a last resort, he put magic bindings on his arms, something they put on prisoners. This worked for a little while, but soon his magic was too strong and it wasn’t enough to keep it at bay. Then his father had to put a magic collar around his neck to completely cease any magic. The townspeople mocked him and called him a dog. They would throw sticks at him and call him a bastard because many refused to believe he was the kings son, even though his mother had always been faithful. At 17 years old and his first day of junior year, the kids had mocked Ozzy as they always had. His temper flared, he hated these kids, his perfect brother and all the kingdom. Without realizing, the collar had failed to work and the school had filled with molten hot lava and burned everyone inside except Ozzy who had escaped. Returning home, he found that his older brother, the towns beloved savior Angel was now the king as their father had a heart attack and took his last breath. His first plan of action was to put a stronger magic collar and cuffs on his younger brother and throw him in the dungeon. “My father failed to protect all of us from this monster, but I will not,” Angel promised the people. “I will execute him.” Their mother struck him. “You can’t do this your father wouldn’t want this and I don’t, he is your brother,” she pleaded. “Your a monster as much as he is, I will have you executed for putting your hands on me in front of the kingdom and the monster you bore,” he warned. He took his sword, unsheathed it and struck his mother’s head clean off. The anger pulsed through Ozzys veins and his magic broke the bindings placed on him. “I hate you all and I hate him even more,” he said looking out to the crowd. He snatched the sword from his brother with their mother’s blood on it. “I will take your hero from you, and you will suffer the way I have,” Ozzy said briefly and shoved the sword straight through his heart and Angel was dead instantly. The town feared that the only leader they were left with was the one of their nightmares.

“I just came to assassinate a politician, not blow up the entire White House!” As Alistair said this he pulled his hands against the cuffs that chained him to the table. He kept them in motion, constantly clinking the chains together as he made elaborate hand motions. The secret service agent’s eye twitched slightly at the jangling but his face was otherwise impassive as until he heard the assassin’s next words. “You should really get your agents under control. It was way to easy to knock them out and now you got this one guy of yours just going berserk! I thought you were supposed to be like… I don’t know… good at this whole protection thing.”

“We are good at this ‘protection thing’ but you should know, there’s always one.” The nameless agent smirked, as if he had said something funny, as if he’d scored a verbal hit. Alastair simply raised his eyebrow in a long practiced motion.

“Oh yes… always one.”

“So who, exactly, we’re you sent to assassinate?” The mercenary glanced around the bare room, casually interested in the mildewed walls.

“Liam Michaels. I believe he’s your ambassador in Argentina. After the recent… disaster there, he was brought home. Kicked out of the country more like but either way, my benefactor believes it would be best if he was… suitability taken care of, after his last performance.”

The agent’s eyes had constantly narrowed while Alastair spoke but now they flew open. “Oh, don’t get too excited.” He told the guard. “I’m well payed and my word is well. You won’t get the name from me under pain of death. The assassination was my plan until your guard heard about the casualties in Argentina. Now, he holds several important names, begging for the codes to the Football. And politicians aren’t like us.” He leaned forward for dramatic effect. “They will break under pain. They won’t even have to be close to death. The first time a paper cut it is inflicted they’ll beg Mr. President to give him the codes.”

The agent licked his lips, seeing sense in his enemy’s words and hating himself for it. “What are we supposed to do?”

“Nothing. Let me go and I’ll stop him and rescue the hostages. Including P.O.T.U.S..”

“How can we trust you?”

“I’m a mercenary. I’m the bad guy. But one of your hero’s is holding a gun to the Secretary of Defense’s head because he wants revenge. I came to kill a corrupt man, selling arms to the other side, the reason for the failure in Argentina. I had friends there too. I had family there too. But I have no desire to fix that by killing an entire continent. I’m just here for money so I can give them a proper burial.”

“We don’t have money for criminals.”

“Not turning into a giant glow stick from radiation poisoning will be reward enough.”

There was once a town, and a mayor who spoke on behalf of the people in it. The town was a safe spot, away from the evils of worshippers. The mayor had friends.

Audria, a loyal assistant and love of the mayor’s life.

Sebastian, the town’s messenger, a kind and caring resident to all.

And Hamny, a girl of importance, head of the trade.

The mayor was never quite fit for the job mentally, but her father had insisted that she took the title of the town’s head, and how could she say no?

Life was wonderful. For a while.

But when Sebastian came, saying that Audria’s dog, Bread, went missing, her happiness bolted to the deepest depths of her mind, and the mayor spiraled.

The mayor decided if she were to go mad, she would do it silently.

So, the mayor had Audria take her to her house.

When the door has opened, the mayor grimaced at the setting before her.

The moon shone ahead, quietly observing the discussion the two were having.

“Is this all, Audria?”

Audria turned her head to face her.

“I don’t believe there is anything else if suspicion, Celeste.”

Through the watery flame the candles produced, the mayor could see the distress that rested in Audria’s face. Her eyes were rimmed with panic, and her mouth rested in a way of mourning.

The mayor felt like the heart within her broke, crumbled slightly.

“Say, you look rather shaken. Are you alright?” The mayor walked closer to her beloved.

Audria whimpered with sadness.

“It’s nothing, really,” Audria reassured, “I just hope Bread isn’t sad or confused. He’s a weak dog, he’s twelve.”

The mayor watched her beloved with pity.

Strange, how someone does not feel care or empathy for their love.

They sat in a tense silence.

“I also don’t know what to do about my sleeping arrangement,” Audria admitted suddenly, “Bread was a presence in the house, but now I’ll be sleeping alone.”

“I’m sure Sebastian has a spare room you could stay in.”

Audria’s hope seemed to dim a little.

“What about you?”

“I have to do something.”

Silence once more.

“Will our relationship be on pause forever?”

“No.”

So, the mayor walked her beloved back to Sebastian’s residence, and walked home.

When Hamny found out, she seemed devastated. Bread had been a comfort for her, as her parents were rather cruel.

All together, they would search. One would take over the town, with the exception of Audria. She hated being alone.

Until one day, when Audria mentioned something.

“I’d forgotten to tell you that night,” Audria explained, “But I noticed that some of the wax I own had gone missing.”

The mayor spiraled more.

A worshipper. It was right under her nose.

Hamny tensed slightly.

But the mayor had no care in the world, because she stormed off after Audria’s statement.

She arrived at her houses desk and got out a feather and some ink. She flipped through her bookshelves and found an empty notebook.

And she wrote.

And she theorized.

And she spiraled more.

Eventually, she’d gone back out.

“Celeste. The others have been worried.” Hamny caught her off guard. The mayor hadn’t heard the rock path echo footsteps of another person.

“As I’d assumed.”

Silence.

“You have suspicions, it’s evident on your face.” Hamny spoke, clearly observing the mayor.

“Or is it more like theories?” Hamny questioned.

“It is not a suspicion if it is true, Hamny. There is a worshipper among the town.” The mayor snarled. “Keep your dirty mouth shut about suspicions and theories, you dirty bastard.”

Hamny’s eyes darkened with hurt and amusement.

“I don’t think you have a right to speak that way.”

“I’m your superior.”

Hamny said nothing. She walked away.

After that, the mayor approached Sebastian and Audria about searching once again.

They both seemed surprised by the mayors sudden appearance, but they agreed immediately.

The trees swayed.

The rotting corpse of Bread was stowed away, under the dirt.

The three of them argued. The two of them seemed to think that there was no worshipper. They were fools.

But there was a small detail.

Sebastian was sweating, and it wasn’t from heat. It could be, because it was the middle of December.

The mayor called everyone over to the campfire one day.

She called Sebastian up.

He almost died. But Hamny came up.

She admitted to her crime.

And she payed the best possible price.

Sebastian was in prison. And Audria was alone.