An unexpected invite arrived at my home two months ago.

'Lon, aka my archnemesis Xarg,

as much as we are rivals, we are, in a way, friends.

That is why I'd love to invite you to my wedding.

I have the pleasure of being with a wonderful woman who enjoys adventure, so I know she is not afraid of our conflict.

Her name is Iva, and I couldn't be happier with her.

She's really looking forward to meeting you.

Trint, aka your archnemesis Valour.'

Of course it was my honour to accept the invite and meet my rival's bride, and soon-to-be damsel in distress haha.

I'm just arriving at the venue. It is absolutely beautiful! I get out of my car. "LON! YOU MADE IT!"

That unmistakable voice... I turn. "Trint!" I call with a grin. The two of us have a 'civilian greeting' where we give each other our best punch to the chest. As usual, his is stronger. As we laugh it off, I see a gorgeous woman approach.

"Lon, meet my lovely bride, Iva!"

I give her a smile and grab her hand, kissing it. I'm quite the gentleman when I need to be. "It is a pleasure, Iva. You've chosen a wonderful man."

She blushes. "Well, thank you! I must say, you're quite formal for a villain."

I shrug. "We know how to behave ourselves... we just choose not to!" I smirk, then motion for Trint to follow me to a quiet spot.

"You know I can't go a day without causing trouble" I start. "I thought just as the reception winds down, I could give Iva her first 'adventure'. You know, a beautiful wedding, followed by her being captured, with me trying to get on your nerves... I won't even stop you from saving her, at least this time, just give her a taste of what it's like to be married to a hero."

Trint smiles and nods. "I'll give you a signal. Wait for the signal."

"I know the rules" I say sarcastically, earning myself a punch in the shoulder. We both go back to join the guests.

​

The ceremony starts shortly afterwards. I watch as Iva, looking very angelic, is walked down the isle. I remind myself to wait, my chance will come. Just as the speech begins, the doors burst open, and some teen dashes over to the hero. "I got your invite, stupid! How did you mess up so badly?"

This kid proceeds to shove Trint against a wall. I watch as Trint tries, but fails, to move his arm. I know this ability - the ability to control the muscles of another person. Trint, I mean Valour, is helpless. The kid looks at me. "You're Xarg, right? Known for controlling the mind? Together, we can both crush this 'hero'!"

I stand up, casually walking over. I see the terror in Valour's eyes. But he is not my target. As I walk over, the kid is compelled to let Valour go, much to his confusion. I force him to his knees.

"What is your name? Both civilian and villain."

He looks at me, completely bewildered. "Umm... Milo, and... Bolt... what..."

I nod. "You're new to the game, aren't you? You've made a very big mistake today."

"Mistake?" I watch as Bolt's expression goes all over the place, his eyes fidgeting, his mouth trembling, his nose twitching.

"Valour, right now, is Trint. I am not Xarg, I am Lon. Trint invited me as his archnemesis... and friend. Who invited you?"

"Umm... Iva, my... my cousin... I thought she set this gig up... she knew I always wanted to-"

I look at Iva. "Is this true?"

Iva nods, her face red. "I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to ruin my wedding. I... I thought he knew..."

"Knew what?" Bolt is scowling, eyes glaring at me.

"Rule number 1 of the villain-hero conflict: know your time and place. You attacked a hero at his wedding. No-one will stand for that." I will him to his feet. "I'm going to have to break a rule myself, it looks like..." I look at Trint, who gives me the go ahead. I proceed to pound this kid until he's a bruised, bloody mess.

I then pick him up as I hear ambulance sirens. The kid is taken in. "He won't make that mistake again" I state, taking my seat. Just before I sit down, I get a quick hug from Trint.

"Thank you" he whispers. The wedding continues, and the rest of it goes off without a hitch.

​

Just as people are preparing to leave after the reception, I get the signal from Trint. I put on my evil grin, and tear off my tuxedo to reveal my villain outfit (tux bought, not rented, I'm not stupid), sending everyone into shock. "Well... this wedding was fun, but now the party's over, I'm ready to go back to being Xarg."

Trint gives me his angry stare. "You were waiting for this, weren't you, Lon?"

I cackle. "You didn't really think I'd leave without causing trouble? I even have something precious I can take from you!" Using my powers, I force Iva forward, walking towards me. Valour, dropping his civilian act, attempts to stop me, but I will him to stay put. I take Iva's hand, spin her so my arm is wrapped around her, and vanish.

"So, Iva... how do you like my place?" I've tied my captive to a chair, which is bolted to the floor. My hideout is dark, designed to be creepy. Despite this, Iva smiles at me.

"I was hoping for an exciting married life... and already you don't disappoint!"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading! More stories here!

[Surge of Confusion]

"Please please please...," Icesurge scanned the League's courtyard as soon as he arrived. He'd missed the ceremony but the reception was in full swing. It was a big event with dozens of known Supers on both sides of the law mingling together. It was a beautiful, cool Fall evening, possibly helped along by the League's weather manipulators. Most of the attendees dressed as formally as Icesurge had. He wore a navy blue suit with no mask. He was a recognized Supervillain and had no secret identity to speak of. He was only 14; but, no one cared to make him go to school. On any other day, it might have bothered him to see villains and heroes getting along so well. But, he was there for a different reason.

"YES!" He cheered to himself the moment he found who he was looking for. He immediately moved toward the pair of teenage girls. One had golden-blonde hair and the other had chestnut curls with pink highlights. They were dressed for the event too. The blonde wore an off-white dress with red trim and the brown-haired girl wore a cotton-candy-colored dress with neon pink boots.

"Alis?" he walked up behind them and spoke the name. Both girls turned at the same time. "Mad Doctor?" he looked at the blonde. "Do you remember me?" he asked.

"Yes," the blonde nodded; but, she tilted her head at him in confusion. "You remember us?" When she asked that, Icesurge noticed both of the girls' eyes flash gold. It only lasted for a brief moment.

"Why wouldn't I remember you?" he asked. "You saved my life." she nodded.

"By the way," she offered him her hand with a smile. "My name's Molly, not 'Mad Doctor'," she said. Icesurge shook her hand as she continued explaining. "It's a little complicated," she said. Then, she gestured at the reception happening around them.

"I'm getting ready to work on something, but we'll help you after if that's okay?" she asked. Icesurge nodded.

"I know," he said. "I remember when you were saving my life you said you had to heal during a super battle." Then, he shook his head. "I don't know how I know, but I feel like there's going to be a super battle here at the wedding."

"There is," Molly nodded at him. "It's a scripted event; some troublemaker villain is going to come in and stir things up. Then, everyone takes sides and I have to start healing."

"I'll help," Icesurge nodded. "If you don't mind? You said you needed help staying safe too, right?"

"Thanks!" Molly grinned. "I have the rest of my team showing up to help; but, that just gives you a chance to meet them," she said.

"It looks like everyone's late today...," Alis chimed in. Molly giggled, but Icesurge gave her a questioning look.

"How so?" he asked.

"Well, the team can get here pretty fast," Alis shrugged. "So, we're not really waiting on them. But whatever NPC villain is supposed to come and kick things off isn't here yet. The fighting should have started already." Icesurge took another glance around the courtyard, then shook his head.

"It looks like all the villains are already here."

"AWwwwww, wait a minute!" Alis whined. Golden stars glowed in her eyes and she took a careful, slow look around the courtyard. Then, she ended by staring at Icesurge.

"You're the problem!" She said with volume. It would have almost sounded insulting if she wasn't laughing at the same time.

"What?" Icesurge shrugged.

"Yesterday, when Molly healed you, you were still an NPC. Now, you're Awake and not an NPC anymore, but the AlterNet still thinks you are."

"I don't know what any of that means," Icesurge half-nodded and half shook his head at her.

"You don't have to right this minute," Alis grinned as she gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. Then, she flicked her wrist upward at around waist height. A broad, smoky-grey glass pane appeared in the air in front of her and hovered in place.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's a Slate," Molly answered as Alis began moving her fingers over the Slate's surface as if she were typing. Then, she flicked her own wrist upward and one appeared in front of her. "All players get one, it's where we access all our menus and inventory and stuff."

"Okay, that should do it," Alis said. She gave a dismissive wave with her hand and the Slate disintegrated into white powder, then disappeared. Molly dismissed hers too.

"What did you do?" Icesurge asked. He was having trouble keeping up, but he trusted he would get in-depth explanations later.

"I told the AlterNet that this quest was bugged and the NPC needed to be replaced," Alis replied.

"Okay... who's the Alternate?" he asked. Both girls giggled.

"Not who," Alis said. "It's more of a 'what'. Or, maybe even a 'where'."

"THIS WEDDING IS AN INSULT TO VILLAINS EVERYWHERE!" a raspy, high voice filled the air. It sounded like it came from above. Everyone looked up and saw a black-caped villain gliding down to the ground as a soft rain began to fall.

"Who's that?" Icesurge wondered aloud. Then, another, older villain stepped forward from the crowd.

"Mind your elders, Flash Flood," the old villain said. Orange flames ignited around his fists.

"Yeah!" Alis cheered and pink flames burst to life around her hands. "Let's get started!"

"I've never heard of this guy...," Icesurge shrugged.

"Why would you?" Molly asked. "You're the one he replaced," she said. As Icesurge tried to comprehend that, he was nowhere near ready to hear what she said next. "He didn't exist until just now."

***
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1733 in a row. (Story #287 in year five.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at this link.

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