Work Text
Blurb.
All that filled the brief seconds from the moment the antihero left to the screams of commands was silence. To the press, it was known as 'The Silence', the seconds of contemplation on what monstrosity they had just laid their eyes on... That monster would later be known under many names, however, the name that stuck instantly was 'Void'. Can the Heroes push aside their hatred of one another to work in solidarity to find this Villain killer, or will their hatred force them to work in disharmony?
This chapter.
The team of heroes had the villain surrounded, each of them bloodied and battered from the brutal fight. All of them were exhausted, ready for the end of their battle with the super-powered tyrant, waiting to hear him admit defeat, to finally surrender after years of tormenting the world. Many of the heroes are more than eager to avenge all those that had fallen, to wipe that insufferable smirk off of the evil bastard's face, but even after the fight that levelled almost half of the city and left so many of the heroes on the verge of death, the smirk is still there, plastered on his smug face. He lowered his head and chuckled, however, the quiet noise seems to echo through the barren city. "That is it... I am spent... You win..." The heroes take a split second to register what the villain just said. Some of them cheer wildly, and some begin to attempt to reach the villain and get in a few hits before the head hero, Rónán, hands the villain over to authorities, and the rest are simply too tired to do anything but let the relief wash over them. However this feeling would be short-lived, the hero's celebrations are abruptly ended by the villain's maniacal laughter. The heroes closing in on the villain halt their advancements and look at one another. All are confused by the uncharacteristically unhinged laughter now pouring out of the villain's mouth.The villain suddenly halts and gazes down at the sizable gathering of heroes beneath them."How cute thinking you have saved the day and all..." The villain slowly raises from their knees, their words no longer pained or weary. The broken leg that was deformed seemed to not affect the villain as painfully anymore, and no longer a hindrance as they rise to their eloquence, taking on a much more bestial sound, a guttural quality that makes many of the heroes uneasy."Unfortunately for all of you..." The villain takes a small yet sharp dagger out of his pocket and sliced his palm in one quick motion. He outstretched his palm and let the blood drip from the wound, as it leaves his skin the once crimson liquid turned a dark obsidian black. "You are not who I was talking to..." The blood drops to the floor, and the dagger follows shortly, the clatter of the blade almost caused an uncharacteristic outburst of joy from the drowsy heroes. The twisted scene made many relieved and almost all thought the villain had attempted to surrender in a ritualistic format, however, one hero instantly shot up from his sat-down position and raised his hand hastily. A dome of transparent hexagonal shields shot up from the ground and encased the enormous group. Many looked on in awe and thought for brief moments that this was just a dramatic show of someone's power, yet, those thoughts were quickly cast aside as a large opening formed out of the air, dragging most of the surrounding light into the dark void.A dark humanoid figure stepped into the sunlight, their figure, however, was not lit by the sunny day. Silence deafened the crowd. They all waited in agonizing pain as they looked on in horror, even the medics were briefly drawn away from their jobs. Nothing happened though. Not even a single movement for what seemed like minutes. Unexpectedly the villain weekly stood and turned to the dark figure, he took a deep and apologetic bow, a brief conversation could be seen but not heard. "Valor! Lower the barrier!" Someone yelled out and a few others joined in. The yelling was nothing one person alone could protest against. Atlas looked around, a swarm of heroes begging for this nightmare to end, they all wished for this evil tyrant to collapse and die. Even the level minded were on the verge of breaking down and passing out... Valor lowered his hand reluctantly and the barrier lowered, the conversation between the two men was now audible and the voices sent shivers down Atlas's spine... Was he the only one thinking straight? He should raise the barrier once again."Thank you for finding it..." The voice spoke lowly before walking past the villain, his characteristics becoming more visible the closer he stepped towards the army. The villain seemed confused but still kept his head low in a bowing fashion. Atlas took a deep breath. He knew this mysterious man would be the mastermind Ernesh that stood shakily behind him was alluding to. Atlas let out a quiet breath and followed the gaze of the other heroes, only to see the gaze of the new villain locked onto him.Upon realizing that the mysterious figure's gaze was fixed on Atlas, Atlas diverted his full attention towards the ombre-haired male to confirm that he was indeed the subject of his glare. The exchange of looks continued until the villain turned to look out at the swarm of restless heroes that were all desperate to finally finish the battle that had stretched on far too long.In the brief moments that the figure was gazing at Atlas, he was now able to observe certain characteristics of the individual believed to be the mastermind behind this war, such as the black whisps of hair that faded into a soft shade of grey at the tips that swayed over the structure of his face. Both of his eyes were slightly visible, however, he was not close enough to be able to determine the colour of said irises.The general idea of his outfit could be distinguished, but not in great detail. To Atlas's eyes, he had a black trenchcoat, similar to his own, that stopped just below his knees. A white button-down shirt that did not look comfortable to fight in, seeing as it hugged his body tightly, and finally black trousers. He seemed to have a formal event planned and was rather unexpectedly called to where he was, it seemed he was summoned rather than teleporting on his own accord.Atlas was never one to get freaked out by a villain, he had seen his fair share of villains and had never been officially afraid of someone, however this... being... terrified him. He had not even attacked yet, he had only spoken a few words and was already petrifying. The way he directed his words towards everyone, reducing them to mere objects with just five short words, was truly intimidating and could frighten anyone. "My, my... What a mess you have left my city in..." The new villain voiced as he examined the scenery that once was a heart of a busy city that he seemed to be familiar with. It was eerie, to say the least, for a man no one knew to stand over the dusty remains of normality with an unfazed expression. "Hm..." Silence followed his words until he turned on his heel and touched the villain's shoulder, "Well done, however, you messed up my one simple rule." And with those words, the villain they had been fighting for years dropped with a loud gurgle.A death rattle many would call it.It is a noise that sticks with you forever, a noise you will eventually grow accustomed to in this line of work, but will always haunt you. It is very easy to tell what is a death rattle and what is just choking on water. Many recoiled at the noise while others stood concerned about what they have just witnessed. Some paramedics instinctively shot up and were prepared to run for the hill but stopped in their tracks as they had their patients to deal with, some who were already on the cusp of death and could not leave to go save a villain."His city?" A feminine voice whispered, provoking a hoard of snaps of necks to face the woman, all the expressions silently screaming at her to shut up. She lowered her head back down to the barely conscious patient she was treating, her hand shaking slightly as a pink glow caused people to divert their attention back to the male standing upon the debris of the city. She was a young girl who was put into the force because she was a healer, and for that reason alone. Sadly she was not one of few.Was this it, all these years of fighting just for another villain to easily kill the male they had such trouble catching? It was rewarding in these moments but logically this was the worst outcome. This just proved the ungodly strength of this new threat. However, in the heroes' dazed joy, they were over the moon, a possible anti-hero in the bounds, one that would be of great help to them. Little do their exhausted minds know this 'anti-hero' they were so greatly praising silently, was their worst nightmare.The fresh addition of blood was not an unwelcomed addition to the battleground, and quite frankly for half of the heroes, it was a relief for blood to have been shed in this situation, the only issue was the fact they now had to, by law, do an autopsy to determine the death. They had no clue who this mysterious figure was and subsequently, they had to find out what killed the villain so they could determine the power of the mysterious figure. The supposed anti-hero calmly knelt by the corpse, his hand outstretching and resting his hand on its head, a dark void-like substance engulfed Ernish's corpse, and when the void dissipated, the remains had vanished.It was evident to Atlas that Rónán already had plans to manipulate this being into joining his force, he would take the male under his wing and mould him into an arrogant and narcissistic leader. It is a concerning fact that he has inflicted the same harm on numerous individuals in the past, and those people have grown into rather ill-wited leaders.As if the heroes' concerned prayers about where the corpse was were answered, the villain spoke, "Please, do not concern the corpse is in your forensics lab." A surge of confusion swept the teams of heroes, only people in the hero career knew where this lab was, "I do encourage you to sample it. You will be relatively surprised to discover what his power was." The tanned male stood tall again and looked over the swarm of heroes, each in their squadrons. He seemed rather impressed at their organisation for a brief second before turning quickly on his heel, "Sorry for my early departure, however, I have a meeting to attend to." And with those last words he had walked back into the void that sealed up as quickly as it emerged.Atlas was correct. Whoever, no whatever that being was, it was a force not to be trusted. A force that seemed to be unaware of how many people will be looking for his ass now, looking into every small detail to find out who had the nerve to kill the city's most wanted villain so effortlessly.Atlas remained wary of the dark-haired male, his suspicion only heightened by the fact that they were most likely enemies. However this guess was just based on appearance and the obvious fact that he has just killed a man, to him it does not matter that Ernesh was an enemy and was most likely going to be put to death anyways, the point was that this figure still killed a man so he was not to be trusted in the realm of powers and distrust. Despite the lack of true reasons to be so untrusting, Atlas knew better than to let his guard down around someone with possible ulterior motives. All that filled the brief seconds from the moment the antihero left to the screams of commands was silence. To the press, it was known as 'The Silence', the seconds of contemplation on what monstrosity they had just laid their eyes on. That monster would later be known under many names, however, the name that stuck instantly was 'Void'.