A Peace Sign or Something Stupid.

(You have @nuttynutcycle to thank for this drabble ;) Inspired by this) Gore warning- nothing detailed, but well, if you read the prompt, you know what's coming :) Stitches, dismemberment, yeah.

"Oh, come on, love. Smile for the camera." Villain's brows furrowed and they bit their lip with mild irritation as the Hero only continued screaming. "At least put up a peace sign or something stupid like the teens do."

This made the Hero cry louder, which in turn, caused Villain to roll their eyes.

"Right. You have no fingers- not attached anyways. How about this..." They set their phone down on the tray next to Hero where all of the surgical equipment lay. Villain picked up a pair of gloves and bent down beside Hero. "Move your foot. You're about to step on one of your dismembered parts."

Hero didn't move, but Villain could tell their toes were curled in their shoes.

They laughed. "There's a pedal you have to use when playing piano, right?"

"NO!"

"Alright. Alright, fine. You're no fun. I guess I stole enough from you, didn't I?" Holding one of Hero's discarded digits between gloved fingers, Villain rose again, turning to their tray and grabbing a needle with string. "You really did play beautifully. I'm almost sad that I took your ability, as well as you. Oh well. I'll just hire a pianist if I miss it enough. Say, Hero, did you even know I listened to you play before today?"

There was no answer.

"I thought you said you didn't break?" Villain squinted at the hero adorned with rope. "You're not so defiant in my eyes. I'd call that broken."

Breathing heavily, Hero asked, "What do you want? What are you doing?"

Villain held the equipment up with closed shoulders, as if it were obvious. "First off, I'm stitching for your fingers back onto your hand. Second, I told you my heart is in thievery."

"You've already taken something from me. There's nothing else to take."

"I took it and now I'm giving it back so we can take a pretty picture together, which means I need to find something else to take. Oh."

Hero didn't like that 'Oh'. It was a word of amusement, and that was never good coming from Villain.

"I took your fingers so you couldn't make music. How about I take your ears so you can't listen?"

The hero's attention snapped over to Villain, the pain in their hands suddenly less noticeable. "Don't. Villain, please."

"Oh, I think I will. But first, I need your fingers in place. Hm. I can't tell if this one belongs to the left or right hand. Ah, doesn't matter. No one will pay that close attention in the picture."

Villain proceeded to stick the dismembered piece to Hero's hand and shoving a needle through their skin, earning a loud holler from Hero.

They took their time, placing the fingers where they belonged and bending them into a peace sign position. The pinkies and ring fingers were stitched to the bottom of Hero's thumbs, their thumbs stitched to the ring fingers, and the middle and index fingers were...kinda stitched to everything. It was difficult making them stick up the way Villain wanted, but they managed the task.

Finally, Villain was able to take the picture. "Smile, or else I might steal your ability to frown. I have more string and your cheeks look capable of poking into."

Without a word or noise, Hero painstakingly lifted the corners of their mouth, smiling with closed lips as opening them required too much focus and energy.

The camera sounded and Villain laid the phone down again, replacing it with the same knife from before. "Anything you'd like to hear before you never get to again? Wait. Let me guess. You'd like to hear some music?"

Hero nodded hopefully.

"No." Villain grabbed Hero's chin. "Now, hold still. This will only hurt a little." They laughed. "I love that white lie." And they hacked away with their knife again.

******

@whatwhumpcomments

Lost Their Voice from Screaming

Bingo!!!

Original Work!

Lost Their Voice from Screaming

@badthingshappenbingo

TW: needles/syringe

******

"Sh, sh, sh," Villain cooed. Hero was whimpering, begging, as she lay on the metal table Villain had strapped her to. He hovered above her, a needle in hand.

His hand came closer, and Hero could feel sweat forming on her hairline. She jerked a shoulder, a last attempt to break away before the mystery-filled syringe would be plunged into her arm. "Please. Don't- don't do this."

"My dear, I haven't even said what it is. What if I told you it was a liquid candy?" Villain held the syringe up to the light, flicking it and watching as the air bubbles escaped. It was important that he didn't kill his precious subject. She hadn't been repaid for torturing a close friend of Villain's.

"Of course you wouldn't believe me," he said to her, bringing the syringe to eye level. He glanced at Hero, smiling. "It's fascinating to see how fearful you are of a sharp point. I wonder if you'd feel the same way about a knife?" He cocked his head to the side. "A dull blade is funner, more painful, but if you don't like needles...I can accomdate for that." His lips split like stage curtains, showing his teeth, proving how wicked he was. "I think I have an idea. How about instead of stabbing you with a knife, I do it with the needles?"

Hero apologized, to Villain's surprise. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what happened. We shouldn't have taken [Villain's] Friend. We could have done things differently. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Your words are empty," he told her. "I won't consider them until you understand how Friend felt as you tortured them."

"I didn't do it," Hero tried to use as an excuse. "I never agreed to it. I stepped away while it happened. Villain, I didn't stand for it." Her voice rose with panic as he came closer. She jerked and jerked against her restraints without use. "Villain, please. Please let me go."

He shook his head. "You'll want to stay still, or else I might accidentally poke you more times than necessary- and I don't think you want that."

Hero's breathing picked up, and a trail of chills ran up and down her arms. The needle wasn't even an inch away from her skin. She cried out, now kicking against the restraints. "Please!" Hero screamed, and she said more, but even she couldn't tell what. Her mind was in a frenzy, not understanding anything beyond the crashing waves of fear that were drowning her.

The needle sunk in, and Hero screamed something horrendous. A vicious 'No' escaped her lips one last time before half of her body fell slack just below her neck. The left side tingled for a second before going completely numb, completely still. "Wha-" she tested her voice first, happy to know it still worked- unlike her fingers which she now tried to clench into a fist. "What is this? What did you do to me?" Villain ignored her, moving to her other side, sticking the needle into a small jar with whatever he had already injected Hero with. "No, stop. Stop! What are you doing!"

"A numbing serum- to some extent. You won't feel light touches, see?" Villain reached across Hero, dragging a gloved finger down her arm. He was right; she didn't feel it at all. "Notice I said light touches. You'll feel what I do to you later, and it will be all you feel. It will hurt tremendously." His hand retreated, but he leaned forward, lips on Hero's ear. "You'll wish you were dead," he whispered. Hero felt his lips curve against her.

A small whine rose in her throat as Villain retreated once again, only to return with the needle. She hadn't expected it, and therefore had no time to pathetically fight. Hero was thankful, at least, that her face remained with feeling. "Villain, I didn't do anything to them. Please, please, let me go. I'm not-" I am his enemy. "The others are brutal, and I don't agree with their methods. I don't-" She screamed with freshly sprung tears. Her thigh stung and burned, and the pain...it radiated, as if it had grown roots. The pain was an invasive, spreading plant, throbbing where it went. Hero screamed, cried. Her throat was going raw with just the one stab that Villain gave. "Stop," she shrieked "Stop, it hurts!"

"You said you disagreed with your team's methods, and I believe you. That makes you better than the rest, and that's exactly why I chose you over the others."

Her leg lit on fire once again, like Villain poured gasoline over it. Hero let out a pained holler again, wishing she could grasp her leg, hold it. Was it bleeding? Did he stab her? Was that what this pain was? She couldn't see. She probably didn't want to. But it hurt. It hurt so bad, so irrevocably bad. "Please," she keened. "It hurts. It hurts, it hurts, ithurts, ithurts."

"You're kind, purer than the rest."

"Ah!" Hero's head banged roughly against the table as she gritted her teeth. Her arm was lit on fire now and it spread to her shoulder, nearly into her neck. She stretched her head away from the pain- as if her brain being further away from the source of pain would allow her to just forget about it.

"And in being purer, you don't deserve this."

Another bout of pain and demise blossomed, lower in Hero's arm this time than last. She wanted to ask 'If I don't deserve this then why are you doing it?', but Hero was in so much pain that she couldn't form a single word. All she could do was scream and groan and whine and cry. Her throat was sore on top of it all.

"Did you know that my friend is still in physical therapy? After a whole damn year. Your team wrecked him."

Another plunge of devastation bloomed in her knee. That was the worst stab of them all so far, but now when she screamed, nothing came out except for a wheeze. Her throat was scratchy, her voice gone.

"He'll be in therapy for at least another six months is my guess. He'll heal. You, however," Villain chuckled lowly. "You, I intend to return broken beyond repair."

Hero blinked slowly as Villain seemed to be giving a break. Still, she groaned in immense discomfort and pain. Her breaths became caught in her chest. Please stop. Please stop. She couldn't say it, could barely even think of opening her mouth, in fear that it would tighten the wrong muscle and make the fires ignite all over again.

"Think it's about time to skewer the other knee. What do you think, Hero?"

Somewhat unfortunately- since her words wouldn't matter anyways- she had no voice to oppose. A new fire was struck.