1:01am
I just found a sesame seed
Au
—
"Are you sure he doesn't have powers-?"
"For the millionth time YES!" Patton yelled at the two heroes who had returned to his and Logan's home for more questioning. He was extremely stressed and emotional, if these heroes kept asking about his son having potential powers he would lose it more than he already has.
"We would have noticed from birth, he does not have powers" Logan backed him up, easing Patton down onto the couch and curling an arm around his waist. The two heroes nodded, writing a few things down in their notepad.
"We need all the information we can" the male hero explained, "it'll be vital in finding your son. Villains usually don't kidnap children unless for specific reason, and you said you've never interacted?" Patton and Logan both shook their head in agreement and the heroes nodded, leaving the house once all their questions were answered.
Patton sniffled and leaned his head on Logan's shoulder, clutching his hand tightly.
"Do you think they'll find him?" He whispered and Logan sighed, hugging his husband with his free arm. "I am certain" he reassured but it wasn't exactly truthful...
—
A groan slipped the villains lips as his eyes fluttered open that early morning. The sun managed to shine it's way through the leaves, somehow directly onto his face. It took a moment but slowly his memories came back to him and he sat up in a start, expecting the whole forest to be currently burning down but when he realised it was all intact he slowly calmed down.
Then his nerves spiked again when he couldn't see the child-oh there he was. Okay, everything is fine-wAIT is he oKAy?!
The villains emotions were all over the place as he rushed to the boys side, looking over his small figure. Then, very awkwardly, he poked his arm.
...
Why isn't he mOVING?!
Scooping him up from the ground the villain finally took in his surroundings, around them the ground was charred and his eyes widened at the sight, although nothing was on fire light trails of smoke hovered from the trees and up into the air. Quickly the villain teleported back home, laying the kid down in his bed once more and tucking the quilt tight around his body - for some reason the maternal instincts have kicked in and the last thing he wanted to happen was this child dying.
Roman had powers but if he gave him to the heroes, or at least send him their way, one of the heroes could use their 'mind reading' ability to be able to see and basically be in places where someone has been before. The villain couldn't let anyone find him, especially not his home, so call him selfish but the child was his now for awhile at least.
In the kitchen he poured a cup of water and made two sandwiches, one for himself and one for the child. He quickly chowed his down while watching the news, unsurprised to see reports of the missing child - the villain had to be careful with this, heroes were good at finding children no matter what - they hadn't managed to find his home yet which was a plus but this child might put him in a sticky situation.
Teleporting up to his room he placed the water and plate onto the beside table, watching the child for a moment until he realised that was sorta creepy. Teleporting in front of his wardrobe, he unclasped the cloak around his body and hung it up on its stand, then unwrapped the fabric hiding half his face, hanging that up too. Underneath it all he wore black jeans and a black t-shirt but one wouldn't be surprised - the villain sure liked his dark colours.
Turning back around the child was quick but not quick enough, he saw him quickly shutting his eyes. "Kid, get up" the villain walked over, hands awkwardly in his jean pockets. The child didn't move for a moment before slowly cracking open his eyes, gazing up at the villain curiously - no one had ever seen the villain without his usual get up...was Roman the first to see his entire face? If so why would the villain trust him with this?
Not only that but his hair usually hidden underneath the cloak's hood was a dark purple matching his eyes.
"I uh- made this" the villain awkwardly handed him the plate, well held it in front of him. Roman slowly sat up and took it, resting it in his lap while slowly eating the food, keeping his eyes glued downwards most the time - he couldn't help giving him a glance every so often.
"What's your name?" The villain finally asked once Roman had finished. Yet another piece of information he shouldn't give out to strangers but right now he wasn't thinking about his parents rules much.
"Roman" He whispered, picking up the cup of water and swallowing it quickly. He was very dehydrated.
Then Roman looked at him expectingly and honestly the villain wasn't surprised.
"I'm...Virgil"
Roman nodded softly, playing with the blanket that pooled around his waist. "What...happened last night?" He asked in a quiet voice, borderline fearful. Virgil pressed his lips together for a moment, Roman deserved to know - yes he was young but keeping this from him could be detrimental, especially if he didn't know how to control his powers.
"You lost control" Virgil stated it as simply as it was. "You were scared and protected yourself"
Roman frowned, "but I don't have powers"
Virgil sighed, "hate to break it to you, Ro, but you do" he corrected, "the experts keep that under raps. More people than you'd expect do have powers but only people who show their powers at birth are considered important, or powerful. People like you usually go your entire life without ever knowing. Some are usually...killed because of it, they accidentally kill themselves if ever in a moment of extreme fear or stress, like you yesterday but you're young, it wasn't as strong as it could be for adults"
Roman's eyes filled with a wave of fear, looking down at his hands before shaking his head quickly. "I don't want these powers" he refused.
"You can't get rid of them, Ro-"
"No!" He cut him off, backing away. "I don't want them" he reinforced but no matter how much didn't want them doesn't matter, there was no possible way to get rid of powers. Nothing could be done, it was irreversible.
Virgil sighed again, taking the plate before it would fall to the ground and putting it aside. "Want to see your parents?" He changed the subject and instantly Roman brightened up, nodding hurriedly and adding a bunch of 'please's into there too.
"Yeah, yeah, but we can't stay for long"
Roman narrowed his eyes, "why?! You can't keep me here!"
"Yes I can and I will, if I let you go the heroes will find me" Virgil explained while putting back on his cloak and fabric covering his face. "You deserve it! You're the bad guy!" Virgil tensed at that, his movements pausing for a full five seconds. Roman's glare faded away into worry once more, slipping off the bed and backing away from the villain who didn't move an inch.
"I-...I didn't...I'm sorry" he whispered, suddenly fearful that the villain might hurt him.
Virgil slowly turned around, his expression neutral. "Do you want to see your parents or not?"
Roman sniffled and nodded. "Good. But we're coming back, no excuses" he spoke firmly, in a way that brook no argument. His father's used that voice before. Ducking his head Roman shuffled on his feet while waiting for Virgil to be ready, hands fumbling with one another as a habit whenever he was nervous - he didn't like making people mad, being shouted at always made him cry and he didn't like crying. His parents don't do it often knowing it has such negative effects but they still sometimes do it when Roman's been especially annoying.
"Ready?" Virgil asked, suddenly standing in front of the boy who nodded.
Virgil frowned while staring at him, bending down to be head level with him, reaching forward and gently holding his hand. "Look" he murmured, Roman slowly looking up at him. "This situation sucks, I know. I'll let you see your parents as much I can, okay? But villages and towns especially cities have special sensors. They can track when someone has used magic, and if it's not one of the heroes it's obviously me. Do you understand?"
Roman nodded, "we can't stay for long, but I'll try and tell your parents what's happening, you just need to tell them I'm not..." he hesitated, "so bad"
The boy nodded again, squeezing Virgil's hand when he went to retract it. "I'm sorry" Roman whispered again and Virgil managed a tight-lipped smile. "Don't worry about it, kid" he replied, standing back up and teleporting himself and the child directly into his parent's house. Specifically upstairs inside of Roman's bedroom.
"I'll wait here" Virgil patted the bed, "you have five minutes max, okay?" Roman nodded and darted out the room, running down the stairs to see his parents sitting on the couch beside each other, barely watching the television, their eyes staring off in the distance.
"Dad! Father!" Roman cried, alerting the two immediately who jumped off the couch in an instant, tears stinging at their eyes as they stared at their son who crashed into their legs, clinging onto both of them as tight as he could.
"Roman! Oh my gosh, Kiddo, you're back" Patton cried out, falling to his knees to bring Roman close to his chest, hugging him with Logan right beside them. "I love you so much, Roman" Patton continued, rubbing a hand up and down his back.
"Do not run off like that again, Roman" Logan ordered but he was just as relieved as Patton for him to be back. Separating from his dad he hugged his father too, crying into his shoulder. "I-I promise" Roman replied, comforted by both his parents hugging him.
After the rollercoaster of events that occurred this was really...nice.
"We should call the heroes" Logan spoke up which made Roman remember the deal. He wanted to cry harder at the idea of being separated from his parents again but he also knew right now he had to be strong, he didn't want anyone getting hurt, especially his family.
"The-the villain saved me" he spluttered through tears after leaning back from his dad, the adults staring at him in shock. "What? No, no, Kiddo he kidnapped you-"
Roman shook his head and wiped his eyes, "I-I have to go back to him, he can't stay for long"
"Roman what are you talking about? You're not going back to anyone- you're home now, you're safe" Logan tried to tell him but Roman wasn't having it, pushing away from his parents who shared a look of worry.
"The villain saved me and-and he'll get caught if we stay for too long" Roman then pointed up the staircase, "Virgil!" He called, Logan and Patton watching the top of the staircase intently. A few seconds later the villain timidly came into view, teleporting from the top step down to the bottom, way to close to Roman for the parents comfort.
"Roman, come here" Patton spoke quietly but Roman didn't move, instead stayed at the villains side.
"Alright" Virgil sighed, walking over to them, "listen to me" he demanded, the two unable to back up any further with the coffee table right behind them. "Your son? He has powers-I'll explain more when I can but right now? The heroes are on their way and if I stay for longer I'll be killed" he stated firmly, eyes flickering from both adults who were speechless, neither knew what to say or do.
"Killed...?" Patton whispered, the heroes don't kill people, they bring them in to prison...never murder unless absolutely necessary.
"What? Did you think they'd give me the privilege of a cell to think about what I've done? I'll be dead if I can't defend myself and right now I need to protect him" he then gestured Roman who looked up at the adults quietly, listening to their conversation and understanding as much as he could.
"You'll just have to...trust me on this"
"How could we possibly trust you?!" Logan exclaimed.
"Because you have to" Virgil responded coldly, "if you don't and force your child to stay the heroes will feel his powers from a mile away because he's now used them and is aware of them. He'll be snatched away from you and forced to live in a bunker until he's an adult. Yeah you can see him but it won't be an every day thing. The most you'll see him in a year is once a month" suddenly there was a knock on the front door, Virgil's head flicked over in it's direction for a moment.
"I'll protect him, I promise" Virgil looked as sincerely as he could towards the adults who were stuck, deciding whether to trust him or not...
They both looked down at Roman who reached up and held Virgil's hand.
"He'll he kept as a prisoner with them, at least with me he'll see the outside world. I'll be back as soon as I can, as for now don't say a word about this. If they know you know something you shouldn't you'll be taken in and possibly hurt. Stay quiet, stay low, and for the love of god do not try to be the hero" that was the last thing he said before teleporting away with Roman too, leaving the parents to stare straight ahead, new and horrifying information flooding their system.
Another, harsher knock sounded at the door. "Go upstairs" Logan urged his husband who looked close to breaking down again. He nodded and disappeared with a hand clasped over his mouth. Luckily Logan was able to smoothly reassure the police that he hadn't seen the villain at all, Logan tried to ask questions but they were either brushed off or given very short, unhelpful answers.
"If you see anything don't hesitate to call" the police nodded, "don't forget who the bad guys are" he gave one last piece of advice before leaving back to his car, Logan slowly closing the door shut.
He closed his eyes and tried to make sense of everything that had happened but his life was flipped upside down. Not only has he basically lost his son but he's now debating whether or not to trust a villain? Logically that would be stupid, it's how the world works; villains are bad, heroes are good. But after that explanation he wasn't as confident with that answer, he seemed to be telling the truth - plus, Roman trusted him pretty quickly.
He sighed and ventured up to his husband to comfort him - he hoped the villain would be back soon with his son.
—
"Thanks for uh-cooperating, Ro" Virgil awkwardly said as they returned home. Roman shrugged lightly, watching him take off his cloak and mask. "So you're not really a...bad guy?"
The word made him flinch lightly and look towards the ground. "I try not to be" he murmured, surprised to feel Roman's hand slip into his own.
"Then I trust you"
Virgil chuckled breathily, "you seemed pretty scared of me yesterday" Roman shrugged and left his side to head to the door, "I won't be if you don't hurt me"
"Oh? What will you do if I do?"
Roman opened the door, eyeing the villain. "I'll run away again!"
Virgil snorted and hummed, "yeah I'd like to see you try"
And that was a challenge Roman would accept. "I can! I can easily run away from you!" Virgil cackled at the notion which made the small boy pout. "Kid, I can teleport-"
"I have powers too!" Roman replied but Virgil shook his head, ruffling Roman's honey brown hair that was borderline ginger. "That you won't be using inside" Virgil ruled which made Roman whine loudly, following Virgil who walked down the hallway towards the staircase.
"Why not?" He frowned, tugging at Virgil's t-shirt.
"Because as soon as you do I won't have a house, fire-boy" he resorted, flicking Roman's forehead playfully. The boy whined again, glaring at the villain who laughed at the sight, he looked as intimidating as a baby rabbit.
"C'mon kid, I wanna show you something" Virgil led the boy to the end of a hallway on the ground floor, pressing the button on the wall that opened a set of metal doors.
"You have an lift?" Roman asked in wonderment, quickly stepping inside once Virgil did. "Yep. It takes me to the basement" he explained, allowing Roman to press the button after he begged to do so. The villain would never see how pressing a button brought him joy but his smile widened when he did so.
The doors slid shut and the two waited in silence for it to stop and let them out. "What're you showing me?" Roman asked unable to keep his curiosity at bay. "You'll see" Virgil replied with an amused smirk - the kid obviously didn't like surprises much for his response made him whine and pout, staring up at the villain with puppy-dog eyes.
"That doesn't work on me, Ro" Virgil said while stepping out the lift and walking down a small hallway that led to a large doorless room. The walls and flooring were made from metal and the few desks in there were covered with paper and were generally messy. The left wall had a bunch of monitors hanging from the wall showing off the views from the security camera dotted around the house.
Roman tried to keep up but he was just too intrigued, his eyes wandering across the room and unsurprisingly he separated from Virgil to get a closer look of the computers, not noticing Virgil walking further down the room towards a door that led to another, smaller room. The same metal walls and floor but this room at least had a carpet.
Roman twirled around to try and find the villain, frown pulling at his lips. "Virgil?" He called, the room eerily quiet. A sudden hand on his shoulder made him yelp but he quickly calmed down when he realised it was the villain who teleported to him.
"Boo" he murmured jokingly, Roman giggled. "You didn't scare me!" He mocked while darting away from the villain who watched with a half smile as Roman ran across the room towards the doorway he just went through. "Uh-huh, sure" he drawled in a tone that proved he didn't believe him at all. Roman laughed again, closing the door behind him when he entered the separate room.
His attention was quickly caught by the room, behind him were five podiums, on top of each sat a glass box shaped like a rectangle. Slowly stepping over, his eyes widened in awe when he stared inside each box - the one on the far left held a small tornado that swirled around inside, the clouds dark and menacing. The next one along held a floating piece of Earth, from it grew vines that moved around like tentacles, some with leaves attached, others with a flower right at the end of the stem.
The one after that was empty which made Roman confused but he didn't question it - the next one held a pool of water that crashed against the edges of the glass ferociously, lifting up into tall waves that made Roman shudder. He wouldn't want to be caught in that.
And the last one had a cloud like the first but it wasn't a tornado, instead it was at the top of the glass, dark grey in colour and lighting up every so often when a strike of lightning would shoot out and spark against the bottom of the glass. If he leaned close he could hear the faint noise of thunder.
"Cool, huh?" Roman nodded softly, lifting up his hand to poke the glass. He did it again when Virgil didn't seem to mind, it sort of tingled to the touch.
"What are they?" Roman asked curiously, Virgil slowly walked by each podium, stopping when he reached the end. "The five heroes have their own super power, correct?" Roman nodded.
"One of them can fly, another can read mines, etcetera" he waved his hand around dismissively. "But not one of them can control the wind, nature, fire, water or thunder and lighting" he further explained, "these five powers are the strongest of all. It started with these five but others evolved to have different ones, they were mutations basically, someone who can control the wind can fly but the hero right now can only fly. That's because of a mutation which prevented that hero from also controlling the wind and clouds and shit"
Roman gasped, "you swore!" He exclaimed and Virgil wilted.
"That's all you got from that?"
He hesitated, "I...it's kinda confusing"
And Virgil remembered he was taking to a six year old. Kneeling in front of him Virgil explained again the best he could. "Thousands of years ago people had the powers we have today, right?"
Roman nodded.
"Back then only five people on the entire planet had powers and that's how it was for centuries; until a child had a mutation in their DNA"
The young boy's head tilted, "DNA?"
"Basically your...code. It's what gives you your brown hair, what gives me my purple eyes" and Roman nodded happily when he understood. Virgil half-smiled at the sight.
"Originally they were to be born with my power, teleportation, control of thunder and lightning - but they didn't. A mutation caused them to only be able to teleport, do you understand?" Roman nodded slowly.
"So..." he started, "peoples powers...broke?"
Virgil shrugged, "essentially yeah. This kept continuing to happen, people's mutations would affect the next person who was supposed to have their power when they died. Now with the population being so big it was impossible to keep it at just five people, more and more people were birthed with powers but only five people at a time show their powers at birth. It's random, nothing to do with family lines, the power attaches itself onto a pregnant person and gives it to their baby"
"But...there's six" Roman stated, confused. "I discovered my powers at a very early age because I have an anxiety disorder. Due to how I was...raised" Virgil glanced to the side to push away the memories, "I needed to protect myself. I kept my powers hidden, strayed away from people and unintentionally turned into the 'villain'"
Roman frowned, taking a step closer. "So you're really not bad..."
Virgil pressed his lips together, "yep. The world's a cruel place"
"So do you have a mutation?"
Virgil shook his head, "nope, my powers are rare, very rare. To be able to have full control of a power, without the mutation, is something that happens once in a century. But it seems I'm not the only one" Virgil smirked and stood up, pointing to each rectangle. "Wind, Earth, fire, water, thunder & lightning...those are the five powers. If you can control it all with the additional powers it comes with then you are rare, and you" Virgil ruffled Roman's hair, "can control fire. Which means you can not only start a fire whenever you want, put out a fire whenever you want with just your mind you should also be able to manipulate lava, magma and volcanoes" he explained, the more he did the more Roman seemed to light up with excitement.
"But you're also...dangerous" Virgil's voice fell a little, "you can destroy planets as simple as that. Much like someone who can control nature, Earth and fire are the most feared power, which is why you would be put under serious protection and why I am probably going to get injured many times" Roman couldn't really understand the entire implications so instead he focused on the end and giggled.
"Come with me" Virgil held his hand and teleported upstairs, taking him into the dining room and sitting him up onto the table.
"Hey, Virgil?" Roman asked while Virgil grabbed a candle and lit a flame.
"Yeah, kid?" He replied, walking over to him with the candle. Roman watched it while talking. "Will you...protect me? I don't want to live with the heroes"
Virgil put down the candle a moment, reaching forward to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'll do everything I can to protect you. I promise, trust me, I'm stronger than the hero's. They're all mutations" and Roman was smiling again, eager about the candle.
"What can I do?"
"Don't do anything" Virgil stopped him, "I just wanted to show you this..." he grabbed Roman's hand and pulled it to the flame, "do you trust me?"
Roman nodded, watching in awe as his fingers passed through the flame without...pain? It was warm but it was a nice sensation. He giggled and played with it more, frowning when the small flame went out.
"Don't try to relight it, not here" Virgil chuckled while putting the candle away. Roman pouted and crossed his arms. "When can I use my powers?!" He whined while Virgil picked him up and teleported him back to his bedroom.
"Tomorrow, for now you can rest, need all the energy you can for tomorrow"
Roman whined again while he was tucked into bed, "I don't wanna sleep!"
Virgil snorted, "sleep? Who said we're sleeping? We're watching movies"
And Roman was suddenly excited once more. As soon as Virgil took off his extra layers and settled into bed Roman cuddled up to his side, requesting a Disney movie. The villain actually really enjoyed Disney and didn't mind one bit, especially with Roman resting on his chest. It was...nice.
To be trusted like this felt really nice.
—
Woop woop hope you understood the plot lmao-
12:16am