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sanders-sides-fic · 2 years

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I'll be good

He laughed, honestly happy in that moment. His heart swelling fondly, he pressed a kiss on his lover's forehead. "That's just not how it works, love. You know that."

Gasping for air, Nightmare desperately fought to get back up. He ignored the tears in his eyes, the screams in his head, the tick layer of fear in the air that seemed to beg him to play with it, its constant threat to suffocate him if he left it alone. There just wasn't any time for any of that. Not right now. Not even for him.

"Oh? So how do your powers work, then?” Janus looked up at him through his thick eyelashes, a content smirk on his face as Virgil played with his hair.

His eyes, dyed purple with his powers, flickered in between the hero and the other villain. Nightmare knew he had one more shot in him. Or two very ineffective ones. The point was, he couldn't take care of both of them. But with powers like his, it didn't really matter which of the two he aimed for. He knew he'd succeed, especially with the tension around them. It'd be harder not to fire a shot right now, really. Who to aim for, though?

“I can hear their fears. They scream in my head, and I can feel their anxiety on my skin.” Virgil thought about how to best describe it, fingers changing directions to trial the snake tattoo Janus had on his left cheekbone. “It’s like static in the air. And I can either wait until it explodes, or I can let it free. That’s what those lightnings are, just… The tension from the air gathered into sheer fear. If I condense it enough, it makes them pass out from fear.”

He could… If he wanted to, he could make the hero pass out and be done with this. He'd save himself that way. But then the people here would be in danger by the other guy. Nightmare wasn't even sure what his name was, really, but that guy most definitely was about to hurt a whole lot of people.

Janus sighed, mismatched eyes closed. “Mine’s so stupid in comparison. So I can control metal that looks like animals, wow. It’s useless, really. Like, what am I? A fucking jewellery box? Stupid!”

And, like, sure. Nightmare was a villain. And he was feared far and wide, the worst of the worst, enemy of the people number one, yada-yada. Still, though, this situation left a sour taste in his mouth. He… He didn't want the other guy to get his way. He didn't like this situation.

Virgil couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah, yeah. But it’s fine, isn’t it? Since I was able to capture you that way. If you hadn’t become my hostage, you wouldn’t be with me right now.”

But what could he even do? Making someone black out cold was so much more easy than getting someone to stop doing whatever they were. Nightmare was tired. He'd been fighting all night. He didn't have it in himself to do that kind of precision work right now.

“Like me!” The two of them startled, looking at the man hanging upside down from the ceiling. “Though I suppose I’m less hostage and more freeloader…”

And if he started now, he'd be in for a whole world of trouble. He'd have to take out that villain's entire group, and he'd have a shit ton of enemies he hadn't had before. Villains didn't take kindly to one of their own "switching sides". But on the other hand…

“You both are technically freeloaders,” Virgil corrected with a smirk “and I didn’t kidnap you. You followed me and begged me to take you in because your brother’s my enemy. What was it again that you said?”

Nightmare's eyes locked onto the unconscious hero the struggling reinforcement had managed to pull behind himself. The Prince was his enemy, but his friend would be sad if something serious were to happen to him. And the other one… Well, Nightmare didn't really know The Brain but he was sure that one was a really good guy. Like, not pretending to be one but actually one of the good ones. It'd be a shame to see one of those rare people get crushed here.

“I’m leverage so you don’t kill him! So I am a hostage. A willing one, though. And it’s not bad, you don’t torture me or anything. You’re surprisingly gentle for a villain…”

Well. Nightmare hadn't ever been that good at being a villain anyways. Well, he was good at doing the whole villain stuff, but he was terrible with the moral stuff that came with it. Being ruthless was taxing.

“Yeah, well, I… It just happened. If I'd had the choice, I…”

He wasn't cut out for it, really. And he'd never actually wanted to be one either. It was just… He couldn't do anything else either. this had at some point turned out to be the only thing he could chose, the only place he could go. And that had been that.

Janus sat up suddenly, a serious look on his dolled-up face. “But it did happen. And that’s good, because there’s no way either of us-” he pointed between Remus and himself “-will be on any other side anymore. It’s too late for us, and we like it here. And you do too, right?”

And he knew, Nightmare knew all to well that no one would be grateful if he helped the hero. He'd just earn the ire of every villain in the world, on top of the ire of every hero that he'd already earned. And a bunch of vigilante's ire. So it really was a horrible idea.

Virgil looked at the eyes of the man he loved, the man who he pretended not to know had bought a diamond ring just a few days ago. And he couldn’t answer. So he just sighed and kissed Janus's forehead instead.

But for some reason, there was a horrible, terrible, awful flame burning in some corner of his heart still. He couldn't ignore this. He just couldn't. It wasn't possible. That flame wouldn't let him, because that flame was only horrible, terrible and awful towards himself.

“If you ever change sides” Janus muttered as he snuggled back against Virgil “I’ll come and terrorise the entire world to get you back.

So he finally resigned himself to his fate of being buried under a mountain of consequences because of an unthankful decision. He just hoped that he would get a chance to explain himself to the people that the villain cherished outside of his villainous deeds.

The fire crackled in the chimney. Virgil once again kissed the top of his lover's head. But he still didn't say anything. He couldn't. Janus would know every lie, every half-truth. So he just kept silent.

Stepping up, Nightmare gathered the fear around them, let it gravitate towards his hands. It was painful after the fight he'd just had, but he was used to doing this so he could handle it. He could do this. He would.

"I’m no hero, but I’m on the right side.” Virgil didn’t see it, but he knew Janus’ face got considerably darker when Janus filled his silence with that sentence. “So I’d sacrifice the world for you.”

Nightmare cleared his throat, getting the attention of both the cornered hero and the overly smug asshole of a villain. But what could he say? It wasn't like he could just suddenly pretend he was a hero.

There was another beat of silence. Remus was hovering somewhere in a shadow, but you could tell that he wholeheartedly agreed. And yet, without Janus talking, there was no words to fill the air. Because Virgil still had no words to say.

"It is incredibly rude to interrupt someone else's fight, you know?" Nightmare finally settled on, air around his hands lighting up with purple lightning "Besides, civilian hostages? Really? What are you, an amateur? That's just pathetic."

“I’ll never forgive you if you leave.”

"What?" The villain Nightmare still didn't know the name of seemed pissed off about his comment. Understandably so. But Nightmare didn't bother to react to his threatening tone. Instead, he stealthily begun to lead the fear towards the other.

Virgil didn’t plan on leaving. Of course he didn't. He had never planed on leaving Janus. Looking into his eyes, there were no words in the world to describe how little Virgil wanted to leave. If only he had the power to freeze time, then he'd be able to stay in this moment forever.

"I said what I said." Nightmare clicked his tongue. "Just beat it, or you'll have to go through me to continue this." That actually earned him confusion all around him. Startled whispers from the civilians, a distrustful look from The Brain, a smugly unbelieving smirk from the nameless other villain.

"Don't worry," he was finally able to say, one hand caressing Janus's face, the other patting the armrest next to him where, little later, Remus just all but appeared "I'd never leave you. Where else would I go? I'll come back no matter what."

"I can't believe this. The mighty Nightmare, standing in between a villain and the citizens of this city. Are you playing hero now? Switching sides?" The villain snarled. "You are the number one villain here, and you're abandoning that position for what?"

It was Remus this time, the one to mutter something. And he did so in a voice that was too small, to vulnerable to ever be acknowledged as his should the moment pass: "You promise?"

Nightmare increased the level of fear directed at the other villain, slowly increasing it until the other's grasp on his power loosened. Slowly enough for the other not to notice his barrier flickering, letting the first few civilians out. Good. A glance at the hero confirmed that he had noticed, so Nightmare could probably let the expert handle the hero work.

Virgil chuckled again, surrounded by the two most- or, well, the only two important people in his life. And he affirmed, pulling both of them close: "Oh, I swear it."

"What is it to you?" Nightmare asked, trying to keep the attention of the other villain with him. "It's not like I have ever pretended to care about those labels. I do what I want to do, that's it. If that makes me a villain, fine. If it doesn't, that's fine too. You, on the other hand, seem to care about your reputation a lot. So if you don't want to ruin it and be known as a scaredy cat, I suggest you don't bite off more than you can chew."

There was a long beat of silence before Virgil spoke up again. Hesitantly, this time, he opened his mouth and glanced at remus from the corner of his eye. "By the way… I'll have to get going later. There's still something I have to do tonight. I… Might run into your brother."

"What? I'm not scared of you!" He was obviously lying, especially since Nightmare knew he was supplying the other with a constant stream of extreme fear by this point. It was a bit impressive that he wasn't showing it on his face, really.

"I see…" Remus nodded, trying and failing to hide his frown with a pout. "Don't traumatise him with your little foggy trick. That's my job."

Nightmare made sure once again that The Brain had figured out the perfect opportunity to save the civilians that he had created. When he was absolutely sure that the hero would be able to handle whatever would happen next, Nightmare smirked at the other villain, leisurely looking at the sparks forming around his hands still. "Oh, really? Let me change that, then."

"Oh please. Virgil doesn't do trauma, you of all people should know that! Besides, he didn't do it in forever." Janus smirked at the memory, though Virgil wasn't sure if the shudder was from fear or excitement at the memory - or both. "Not since that time I distracted him enough to make him loose control, that is…"

And for the first time in a while so long that he was sure everyone else had already forgotten he was even able of doing this, Nightmare released his raw power. The other, nameless villain screamed in horror as the fog engulfed him, slowly seeping into his skin and painting his eyes black.

Remus laughed delightedly while Virgil hid his face in his hands. He, apparently, was the only one who didn't care for that particular memory. Why he had no idea. Well, maybe it was because they hadn't needed to live with the horror that they had caused. Or the constant fear-supply from everyone in the vicinity because of it.

The world seemed to screech to a halt as the last of the other's power crumbled, rendering the citizens free to leave but also putting them in danger of being squashed by rubble if The Brain didn't react fast enough. Shooting just the smallest bit of fear at the hero was enough, though, to remind him of where he was. Nightmare redirected his attention to the other villain.

"Well… I'm just saying~ After all, I would kind of loose my raison d'être as a hostage otherwise." Remus chuckled delightedly.

A terrified gaze clouded over by Nightmare's fog and a thick layer of tears fought and failed to meet his even as the other villain screamed so loud Nightmare wasn't sure he'd ever be able to use his voice after this. "As I said: Taking hostages is pathetic. See? This is how a real villain fights. I even gave you your chance to bug off out of my fight… A piece of advice? Next time, don't pretend to be braver than you are."

Though Virgil was unbelievably grateful that the conversation had gone back onto another track, he couldn't help the indignant scoff that escaped him. "I- You're not a hostage. You're a freeloader who keeps bugging me to spare his brother when I never even thought about execution or something like that!"

Nightmare watched his victim crumble to the floor, mind unable to take any more of the fear Virgil had shoved down the villain's throat. He tried not to feel too guilty about it. The effects of his power would subside soon. And, with a lot more time and a very good therapist, the trauma caused by the memory of it might do the same. But either way, he had saved people. No one had died. That had to count for something, right? It ought to soothe the unbearable feeling of guilt in his gut soon enough. Right?

"You're a ruthless villain, darling. If he was a mere freeloader, would you really have stood for all of… that?" Janus smirked as he gestured to Remus from head to toe, who in turn wiggled happily like that'd been a compliment. "No, no, no. Remus is… Hm~ Our cute little pet?"

When he was sure that he had his powers under control again, Nightmare looked over to the people around him. The Brain gave him a weary look as his eyes kept flittering over to the unconscious bodies of his friend and his enemy.

Virgil raised an eyebrow. "Cute? He just ate my carving knife again - yes I know, don't look at me like that. Bit annoyed, honestly. It was a good knife, too." He ruffled Remus's hair, his hand coming away a bit goo-y.

And Nightmare knew that he owed the hero an explanation, that he had to somehow save his face as a villain before it was too late, that he should fight the hero. But he also knew that he had to get out of here. Fast. Before the fatal flaw of his powers, the backlash of overuse caught up with him and was revealed to the world. Before he, too, collapsed and was send to prison forever. Together with the other villain. Whom he'd just overused his powers on. Shit.

"I'm cute as fuck!" Remus exclaimed, proudly puffing his chest. "Your cute little homicidal pet cryptid!"

"Well…" Nightmare finally sighed as dramatically as possible, trying and failing to keep the quiver completely out of his voice. He hoped everyone else was terrified enough not to notice. "The mood is ruined. Let's keep it at that for today." He could see the hero's hesitance. Shit, shit, shit! He couldn't keep fighting, he had to leave, right now! So Nightmare opted for curling a bit more fog around his hand, taking on a mocking tone as he pointedly looked at the hero's injuries. "Unless you'd rather keep going? There's enough fear to go around."

"Every good villain has a strange cryptid at their side." Janus nodded with conviction Virgil couldn't understand. "A strange cryptid and a strong spouse~"

Thankfully, the hero stepped back. The citizens also didn't dare standing in his way, parting like the red sea for him. Soon but not soon enough, Nightmare made it out of there.

Virgil ignored the excited flutter in his chest, knowing that the love of his life was very much testing the waters. He knew that Janus had bought the engagement ring already, and he couldn't wait to say yes. Spending the rest of his life with Janus was the best thing he could imagine, the thing he wanted to most in the world.

He would hide inside an abandoned ally, unsure if he'd make it home on time. No, actually sure that he wouldn't. Hoping no one would find him, he succumbed to the stream of memories drowning out reality. He thought that he might not come to for a while - and he knew the memories wouldn't be pleasant. Those were his last thoughts as he left for good.

A little while later, Janus stood up announcing that it was time to take the quiche out of the oven. And as he parted from Virgil and Remus with a kiss to the top of the villain's head, Virgil could have sworn he heard the love of his life mutter under his breath: "You swore to stay, so don't forget."

#sanders sides #sanders sides fic #sanders sides au #villain and hero au #this will be a series #I’ll properly tag this later #maybe #if i remember

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