I'm the Victim.

"You can't lie to a telepath."

Villain's eyes glimmered. "Pray tell, how not?"

Hero rolled her eyes. "Because I'm in your head, ding dong. I know everything you're thinking. I hear your every thought."

"How do you know it's the truth?" Villain's lips split to reveal a clever smile.

Stammering, Hero said, "Well, you can't- you wouldn't...thoughts can't be engineered by your own self!"

Villain repeated, "Pray tell, how not?" His smile widened as the hero became further stumped.

He was right, wasn't he? If you've done something wrong, and you're fully aware it was wrong, why couldn't you lie to yourself until you believed it? Then that lie would be the only truth you would know. It was a maddening scenario to think about, but it was a very possible, very likely, one.

"You justified your own actions," Hero said with a sigh.

"Justified?" Villain scoffed. "I seem to only recall being terrified by the screams floating around me. And now here I am, tied down- restrained- like a bad guy when I'm the victim. How can you call yourself a hero?"

Hero quirked a brow and clenched her jaw. "You don't actually believe that, do you? You must be...must be hiding the truth from yourself, stopping yourself from thinking it so I can't find it."

Hero was a pinch away from bring in her associate and torturing a confession out of Villain. But if the villain really believed he was a victim of some horrible accident, how would that blow over? Villain would no doubt take it to the media that the heroes of the city were bad guys behind closed doors, even though they weren't.

"I believe I have done bad things," Villain said with a closed shrug, "but I don't remember being the cause of this 'incident' you speak of. It traumatized me, and you are not helping by continuing the trauma."

"If you were so traumatized, you would be shaking or begging me to release you. You're lying."

Villain gave a dry laugh. "I cannot believe the city believes your bullshit," He shook his head. "As a telepath, you should know that everyone responds to stress- and trauma- differently. I'm fine now, but I might be shaken into a pit of depression in the next month. You don't know me. You don't know my responses."

"I know what you did, and I know that a part of you knows, too." Hero stepped closer to the proud villain and crossed her arms. "Believe me when I tell you, I am going to pull that truth from you. And when I do, you'll be screaming, begging for mercy." Telepathy wasn't naturally painful, but Hero was trained. She knew how to make it hurt.