TW - dark ending.

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“He needs to be stopped”

“What for? Out of all the criminals we have, he’s probably the most non violent. On our list of priorities, he’s right at the bottom of the totem pole.”

“You don’t understand. He’s the most dangerous of them all.”

“Ok let me look. Dr Death. Damages this month. 4 million. Citizens harmed. 8. 2 dead. Matterman. 15 million in damages. 3 people sustained minor injuries. Ah. Here we go. Heath. Hmmm. 35k in damages. No one dead. No one injured. Only 1 person ever kidnapped. Besides what sort of super villain calls himself Heath. Not even a supervillain name. I don’t know why you’re so bent out of shape over…”

Shadow stormed out. Normally you could barely tell when he came in and out. Probably his biggest advantage. But the door was closed so violently that it came off its hinges. No way it could have gone unnoticed.

“Idiot.” The mayor grumbles under his breath. “When he can’t argue with math, he throws a tantrum.”

The mayor then busied himself in looking at his polling numbers. It wasn’t looking good.

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“You might as well drop the facade and let me out. Or are we going to talk from across the room again today?”

Heath looked up. Their eyes met for a moment but Heath immediately looked away. “Yeah. Uh. That’s not really locked. 3 clockwise and 2 anticlockwise. That will let you out.”

Shawna did as he asked. To her surprise the lock clicked and the door opened. “You do know that it’s a creepy wooing technique right? I assume that’s what you’re doing here.”

“No… I… I’m sorry.”

“Some supervillain you are.” She went to him, and sat next to him. The cave that they were in opened out to a beautiful view of the city skyline. The sun was setting and the sky looked like it was on fire. She looked at his phone that he held.

She raised her eyebrows. “What are you doing?”

“Oh. I… I accidentally destroyed a shop while kidnapping you today. Damages of around 35-40k. I’m just sending them the money back.”

She laughed heartily. It was like a roar of happiness and it made his heart flutter. “You really don’t know how to be a supervillain.”

“Well I’m retiring today. So it’s probably for the best.”

“You’re retiring? Why?”

“He was there today. Waiting for me. He knows I’m targeting you specifically. I tried to keep it random. But obviously he’s been keeping a watch on you continuously.”

“What do you mean he’s watching me?”

“I usually time my attacks based on when other villains attack. When he’s busy. Dr Death is in the middle of a major attack right now. But Shadow didn’t go to help there. He stayed, keeping a watch on you. I missed him, of course. Impossible to see him if he doesn’t want you to or if you’re prepared for it specifically. So he’s prioritizing stopping me over saving the dozens of people who are in danger right now. I can’t do that. I could never live knowing people came to harm because of me. He should be out there stopping Dr. Death. But he attacked me. Once I saw him, I was prepared of course. But the damages. I’m not a rich man. 50k is basically all my life savings. I wish I had more so I could try to compensate for the people Death is…” He paused, realizing Shawna was staring at him.

“You’re a supervillain. You’re supposed to do bad things to get money or power. Not empty out your bank accounts to help victims.”

“As you said, I’m not a good villain.”

“Why then?” Shawna took out her phone, put it on silent and placed it between them.

He looked at the phone.

She smiled. “It’s not recording or anything. Out here at the edge, I have a bar. Inside there’s no signal. As you’re probably aware which is why you’re sitting here to do bank transactions.”

“Oh. Yeah. That and the view is gorgeous here.”

“It really is.” But she shivered a bit.

“Oh I’m sorry. Let me.” He made a wrist movement, and a jacket appeared almost by magic.

“Thank you. Super cool.”

He smiled and stared at his feet. “Nah it’s nothing.” He looked out at the sky again. “It doesn’t seem like he’s coming.”

“I wonder why. Not that I’m complaining.”

“I hope he’s stopped Dr. Death.”

“If it’s the last time, I’d like to know why.”

“Why what?”

“Why do all of this? Who are you?”

“Well the second one is easy. My name is Heath.”

“Not your villain name. Your real one.”

He looked a bit sheepish, as sheepish as possible with a mask on. “It’s Heathcliff. My mom loved the classics.”

Shawna laughed. “What the fuck!!! You didn’t even change your name?”

“I didn’t really think it through! It was just a moment that I went insane. And I do want to apologize for that. I know I’ve caused you some real harm.”

“Not particularly. I’ve come to sort of enjoy our conversations. You’re obviously a smart guy.”

“That’s not healthy.”

“It’s not. But have you seen the dating pool out there? This isn’t even my weirdest date.”

“It’s not a date! I just… ok let me ask you this. Do you believe in fate?”

“Oh god. Now I’m starting to sour on you.”

“I know I know. That sounds weird. High school athletic meet. You were the basketball star.”

“How do you know that?”

“I… well… I was at the finals game. I went to St. Mary’s.”

“No way! Did you play?”

“No no. I wasn’t good at any sports. But I saw you and…”

“Creeping back into creepy.”

“I know! It’s not like that though. I saw you. And I know it’s a bit cringy. But I sort of fell for you. I never intended to see you again. I just knew your name. And I had your smile after the final shot. That was enough for me.”

“You should’ve said something.”

“I was there for 2 days. Then I’d be back miles away. Plus I… well… let’s just say you were always too good for me.”

“That’s silly talk.”

“I know we like to say that. But like, I couldn’t imagine why you would go out with someone like me. Especially since I was going to be gone shortly.”

“That’s quitter talk. What’s the worst that could’ve happened.”

“Nothing I suppose. Let’s just say I was a coward.”

“And then. You decided this was the best way to see me again. As I said, we’re strongly in creepy territory again.”

“I… I don’t know how to explain. Look I gained my powers when I hit puberty. But I was already bullied enough. I was already called freak by everyone. I just hid them. When I first… well kidnapped you, do you remember what happened?”

“I kinda do. There was bad weather and then… oh!!!”

“Yep. It was the day Matterman attacked. The building behind you was about to collapse. I looked across the street and say… well the lost, first love. I panicked. I just wanted to get you out of harms way. But then I imagined exactly this conversation and didn’t want to show you my face or tell you who I was. Because it was obviously creepy as you pointed out. So I just pretended to be a villain. The second time.. again I swear to god I just saw you. I just panicked again. You looked at me and I thought you recognized me. I just quickly put on a mask. People, including you got scared. And i just.. I don’t know why I did that honestly.”

“And then we got to talking.”

“I sort of begin to enjoy our conversations. While I’ve hidden my superpowers I still did want to know more about them. I had researched Shadow and other heroes and villains. I can sort of match up with Shadow as long as I can control the environment. Plus the whole he won’t kill works in my favour.”

“And today?”

“It seems that he has decided I am more important than actually saving lives. So I guess I’m saying goodbye.”

Shawna reached over and took off his mask. “Next time. Just text me. Look I enjoy talking to you. And just to be clear I’m not saying anything is going to happen here. But I’ll give you a chance to woo me.” Shawna took her phone and handed it to Heath. “Put your number in.”

Heath looked shocked. But he took her phone.

Tracking in progress

“Oh no.”