Chapter Text
Morgan could escape from a lot of things but a solid steel door welded shut by fire powers was not one of them. He leaned back against the cold stone walls of his cell, heart beating fast as he listened to the footsteps outside. From what he could tell he’d been imprisoned in some sort of rudimentary cave system. The so-called “heroes” came and went down the passageways, occasionally dragging one of their unfortunate, pleading victims with them.
Over the years Morgan had been captured or abducted for many things but this was the first time he’d been captured for having a superpower- albeit a meek one. He could still hear the monologue of the vigilant group as they carted himself and a dozen or so other C and D tier villains and heroes alike off in a windowless van. “No powers, no problems,” they chanted. Morgan didn’t feel the need to tell them his own superpowers played no role in his crimes, still, it was a part of him and he wasn’t willing to let it be zapped out via ray gun.
After wrangling his wrists free from the duct tape he explored every nook and cranny of his makeshift cell, running his fingers along the rock wall for anything that might help him escape. He found nothing and it was almost his turn to be dragged before the machine.
At least he still had one option left. If he was smart he would have summoned his parents, Dave Dodgers, or literally anyone else but he wasn’t smart he was desperate.
Morgan clenched his eyes shut and concentrated, pressing his back against the wall as if it could protect him from whatever chaos was about to rain down upon him. He raised his thumb and forefinger up to his ear and snapped. The sound was like thunder. Electricity filled the air and sent an awful tingle into his spine.
When Morgan squinted his eyes open he found himself staring into a pair of slitted eyes that glowed like burning coals in the darkness. Alex, the most dangerous criminal in the universe, and Morgan’s only hope.
Alex stood there, tilting his head as he surveyed Morgan like a cat just before the pounce. An unreadable expression played out on his face, something between scorn and amusement. Somehow he still had his clothes which were just as pristine as in all the news articles and wanted posters that littered the town. If not for the mass murders he could have been a supermodel.
“Oh, Jesus. Fuck, you’re here. I didn’t even know if that would work because you’re you and I’m me. Oh, fuck fuck,” Morgan blubbered, words spilling off his tongue like a waterfall. It suddenly dawned on him that he was not only still imprisoned, but now trapped within a four-by-four cell with the most dangerous man alive.
“If this is the latest foolish attempt at imprisoning me I have some terrible news for you,” Alex said. His voice was a dark, pointed whisper.
“No, no no no! I wasn’t trying to imprison you, I swear! I was trying to anti-imprison myself.”
“You called me here to rescue you?” Alex asked with a slight quirk of his brow. His lips twitched, almost smirking. “You must be very confused.”
“No no. I just wanted to tell you that outside this cell there is a group of hyper violent vigilantes who are zapping away superpowers left and right. Do whatever you would like with that information. I am just the messenger,” Morgan said, holding his hands up in as placating a gesture as he could manage.
Alex rolled his eyes. “And I care? I have a trophy room in my base dedicated exclusively to the skulls of those who would try and take my powers from me.”
“They aren’t after your powers, they’re after all low ranking hero and villain powers. They already took the Super Best Friend Corps.”
Alex’s face suddenly changed. Anger spread across his features like a wildfire.
“I was waiting for them to rank up before I killed them,” he said in a low, angry tone. “I wanted to rip them limb from limb as a group. I had plans for those heroes.”
“Well, now you can’t because those hyper-violent vigilantes just stole their powers away. If I were you - and I’m clearly not - I would go and stop them, or you may never have a new hero to fight again.”
“And why shouldn’t I kill you along with them?”
“Because I would be a terrible fight and every second you waste time on me you could be fighting someone more formidable?”
For a moment Alex was silent. Morgan half expected a sudden end to his existence, but when Alex spoke again it was in a slightly gentler voice.
“What is your name?”
“Morgan.”
“Morgan. You did a good thing bringing this to my attention before they could break any more of my toys. Therefore, I will place you on my “do not kill” list, though I caution you it is not a guarantee, only a promise to try.”
“Oh, thank God,” Morgan breathed.
“No, thank me.”
“Thank you?”
“Much better,” Alex winked. He turned around, sizing up the steel door keeping them inside. He snorted, and then ripped it off its hinges as easily as if it were cardboard.
“Ah!” Morgan ducked as the door landed to his right.
Alex strode out into the hallway and disappeared around the corner without a glance back. As soon as his footsteps started to fade Morgan fled out the door and down the path in the opposite direction. As he passed the containment cells he couldn’t help but notice they were nearly all empty.
He cringed as he heard several bangs and shouts, along with sounds he couldn’t even begin to describe. His stomach knotted, but he didn’t have time to ponder what kind of hell he’d created back there as he suddenly came to a dead end.
“Fuck,” he breathed, turning around and sprinting the other direction. The paths twisted and turned and Morgan couldn’t remember which way he’d come, or whether he’d been down a route before. They split off into so many branching directions that after a few minutes Morgan was completely lost.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m going to die in a goddamn cave.”
“No you won’t,” came a dark voice beside him.
“Ah!” Morgan jumped and turned around, scrambling back until his back hit the wall.
Alex chuckled. In the flickering torchlight his glowing yellow eyes were even more apparent. His clothes were still just as pristine, only a few flecks of something dark appeared on his shirt. Morgan hoped it was dirt.
“I come with good news and bad news,” said Alex.
“Bad news first, please.”
“The good news,” Alex said, “is that your little problem with the vigilantes has been taken care of. You’re welcome, by the way.”
“Oh, good. I’ll just be- “
“The bad news is that they destroyed their ray gun before I could get my hands on it, and I can’t have it getting out that I did a good deed.”
Morgan swallowed down his fear. “I won’t tell anyone. I swear.”
Alex stepped towards him, a sinister smile spreading across his face as he raised his hand.
“Oh, I know you won’t. I’ve always wanted a pet.”
Alex snapped and it echoed like thunder in Morgan’s ringing ears. the earth suddenly disappeared from under him as his vision went dark for just a split second. A moment later and his knees hit the ground, but rather than a dirt floor he found his palms stinging against cold tile as he caught himself.
Morgan gasped and wheezed. He’d never been teleported before, but he was fairly certain it wasn’t supposed to hurt like that.
When he looked up, almost surprised to find a rather luxurious living room.One wall was entirely made of glass showcasing a sprawling landscape of rocks, snow, and sea. He could just make out a group of ice flows out in the distance. Wherever they were, it definitely wasn’t walking distance back to Central City.
“Welcome to my base,” Alex said in an uncomfortably cheery tone.
“Oh, my god,” said Morgan. His heart stammering in his chest. A cave deep underground with hyper violent vigilantes was bad. This was a waking nightmare.
“Yes, you’ve said that. Let me give you the tour.”
Morgan was hauled back up onto his feet and dragged out of the living room into an equally extravagant kitchen. Alex was already giving an explanation of how rare and expensive the furnishings had come from. For a villainous lair it was rather spacious and light. Most of the appliances looked brand new, not a single speck out of place. Under different circumstances Morgan would have wrapped his sticky fingers around anything and everything not nailed down. A knife block in the center of the large island caught his eye.
“-Are you paying attention? This is a very rare opportunity for you.”
“Sorry, I’m just a little teleport sick?” Morgan said, turning away from the knife block. Even if he could grab it it was unlikely a knife would have helped him anyways.
“Fine. We can continue this later. I have a surprise for you anyways,” the sinister smile was back on Alex’s face as he pulled Morgan down a corridor. His grip was surprisingly soft as he tugged him along.
“Oh god no,” said Morgan, his stomach knotting once again.
“It’s non-lethal,” said Alex, as if that were any kind of comfort.
He pulled him deeper into the base past several corridors and doors with titles such as ‘hero skeletons’ and ‘villain skeletons’ and ‘miscellaneous sentient items,’ all the while Morgan kept looking longingly back at the large windows.
“THIS is your new room,” said Alex, stepping in front of a door simply marked ‘prisoner.’ “I made it just for you. It has everything you like, four walls, a bed, and confinement. You’ll be so happy here.”
“What? Hey!” Morgan protested as he was abruptly shoved inside the cell.
“Have a nice night. I’ll probably remember to feed you but if I don’t feel free to teleport anything you want from the fridge. That’s your power right?”
“No. My powers don’t-”
The cell door was shut and once again Morgan found himself alone in yet another cell. At least this time he had a bed and the door had a mechanical lock.