Hero Factory Oneshots

Face the consequences

"I brought this upon myself."

He reached out a hand to his brother, but he just turned away.

"I was aware my actions had consequences. I brought this upon myself. And I'm not ready to face them."

"You think running away is going to help?"

"If by any means I'm able to live even just a few days longer, then yes! I'm not ready to die, Surge."

"No one said anything about dying, brother."

"But the law sure did. Listen, I ain't no genius when it comes to listening to authorities and laws. But I know damn well that there ain't no way out of this."

"Look, I already talked you out of jail, at least let me try to talk you out of death sentence with a parole or community service or some shit."

"This ain't property theft we talkin' about. This ain't some bank heist or burglary or attempted murder. This is first degree murder we talkin' about. First degree murders, that thousands of people lost their life to. I killed innocent people, who were not ready to die just like myself right now. Eighteen years of my villainy, I killed people. Two in one week. You know what the total number is?"

Surge did not answer.

"One thousand eight hundred seventy two. How the fuck am I supposed to dodge this bullet, when a single first degree murder already doesn't allow the killer to go out on parole. If I only killed one person, I would just get a life sentence in jail. That I can handle. I can handle torture if that's necessary. I'll work years of community service if I have to. But this ain't a case like Caleb and Ace or Blake. I didn't kill because I had no choice or by accident. I did this shit intentionally. For eighteen years. 'An eye for an eye a leg for a leg.' I know the only right punishment for me is to get back what I gave to others. But I ain't ready to face it. I am not mature enough to accept what is only right."

"Brother, come on. If the trial doesn't go according to our liking, we can just bribe the high authority, if we have enough money. You know how corrupt people are in that field."

Purge gave him a look in disbelief.

"You're seriously going to take advantage of the corrupted government? You heroes are supposed to fight against it! Not use it!"

Surge took a breath and let out a huffed sigh.

"Well I ain't letting you die either, man. And by all means necessary, I will prevent you from receiving a death sentence. You're a redeemed villain for fuck's sake!"

"I may have gone through my redemption but the people damn sure don't see it. I'm still a serial killer in their eyes. I'm still the sociopathic, corrupted serial killer and villain version of you, that I was eight years ago in their eyes. Society don't think the same as you brother, and you know damn well that their opinion is justified."

"..."

"I am literally your villain counterpart. You wouldn't be ready in my place either. You wouldn't be ready to hear the sentence with your own ears, you wouldn't be ready to see the look on your family's faces when you receive your death sentence."

"Who else knows of your plan?"

"... No one."

"And if I didn't stop you, I wouldn't know either, huh?"

"Yes."

Surge sighed and rubbed his face.

"If you go to trial, then we at least know what happened to you. You run away, away from this city, and we ain't got a clue of where you are or what happened to you. You know what that means? We gon' be looking for you all across the galaxy, I would be looking for you. You could be dead by next week and we ain't got a single idea about that. We ain't gonna know what you doin' or how you doin'. You'd rather let us live in ignorance than depart this world with a proper goodbye?"

Purge was silent.
He looked away and walked to a shadowy corner.

"I'd rather die alone than see my family hurt."

The shadow rippled and Purge disappeared into the ground like water, and everything became silent.

Surge stared at the corner. He picked up a black feather from the ground and cupped his hands around it. The hero stood there for a while until Quadal called him for a mission.
As he walked, Surge turned to look at the empty spot.

"I won't tell the others. Stay safe brother."