The Villain Who Saved Me First
No one remembers the day he saved a single life.
Mine.
I was sixteen when the sky cracked open.
Sirens screamed, people ran, and the ground trembled like it was afraid of what was coming next. I stood frozen in the middle of the street, my backpack slipping from my shoulder, my mind unable to process the chaos unfolding around me.
That was when the shadows bent.
He stepped out of them like he had always been there.
Black coat. Silver mask. Eyes glowing faintly blue.
Void.
The villain every broadcast warned us about. The one blamed for collapsing districts, shutting down power grids, and defying every hero the city worshipped.
He looked at me.
“Move,” he said.
I didn’t.
Before I could react, the street exploded behind me. Something massive crashed where I had been standing seconds earlier. Void’s arm wrapped around my waist, and the world blurred as shadows swallowed us whole.
When the darkness cleared, we were in an alley miles away.
I pushed myself out of his grip, heart racing.
“You—you’re him,” I stammered.
“Yes,” he said calmly.
“Why didn’t you—” I swallowed. “Why didn’t you let me die?”
He tilted his head. “Because you weren’t supposed to.”
Then he vanished.
That should have been the end.
It wasn’t.
Over the next three years, the city fell further into chaos. Heroes fought villains. Villains fought each other. The news painted everything in black and white.
Void was always on the wrong side.
Yet every time disaster struck, there were whispers.
Someone pulled from rubble before the building collapsed. A train mysteriously stopped before derailment. A child found unharmed in the center of a war zone.
No one ever saw who did it.
Except me.
I started seeing him everywhere.
Watching from rooftops. Standing at the edges of crowds. Always distant. Always silent.
Until one night, he spoke again.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said, stepping into the flickering streetlight behind me.
“I could say the same,” I replied, surprising myself with the lack of fear in my voice.
He studied me for a long moment. “You’re older.”
“So are you,” I said.
He let out a quiet breath that might have been a laugh.
“Why do you keep saving people?” I asked.
He looked away.
“Because no one saved me.”
That answer stayed with me.
The truth came out the night the city burned for real.
The Core—an experimental energy source built beneath downtown—overloaded. Heroes rushed in, cameras following every step.
Void didn’t.
I found him standing alone on a bridge, staring at the smoke rising in the distance.
“You’re not going to help?” I asked.
“I am,” he said.
“Then why aren’t you moving?”
He turned to me.
“Because if I do this the way it needs to be done,” he said, “I won’t come back.”
My chest tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“The Core needs someone to absorb the backlash,” he explained. “Someone whose body can survive it. Someone like me.”
I shook my head. “Then let the heroes—”
“They can’t,” he interrupted. “Their powers are visible. Celebrated. Watched.”
He looked at me with those glowing eyes.
“Mine were designed to be forgotten.”
Understanding hit me like a punch.
“They made you like this,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
He stepped closer. “That’s why I saved you years ago. You reminded me of who I was before they turned me into a weapon.”
The city shook violently.
Void turned away.
“Stay here,” he said.
“No,” I said immediately. “I’m coming with you.”
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
The Core chamber was blinding.
Energy pulsed violently, tearing metal apart like paper. Heroes lay unconscious around the perimeter, their cameras shattered, their symbols broken.
Void walked to the center.
“I need you to remember me,” he said quietly. “Even when no one else does.”
Tears burned my eyes.
“I will,” I promised.
He reached out, placing his hand against the Core.
Light exploded outward.
I screamed his name.
When it was over, the chamber was silent.
The Core was gone.
So was Void.
The city called it a miracle.
They praised the heroes who survived. They blamed the villains who didn’t.
Void became a footnote. A rumor. A threat neutralized.
But sometimes, late at night, I feel the shadows shift.
And once, in the reflection of a dark window, I swear I saw glowing blue eyes watching over the city.
Not as a villain.
But as the hero who saved me first.
Comments (13)
Absolutely beautiful work!
Imaginative and love your thoughts
Not at all surprised to find this in top stories, stunning imagery and so poetic, you're so talented!!!
Congratulations
This was a really beautiful story with vivid imagery, it had a poetic feel to it! Nicely done! Congratulations on Top Story! 💜
Stunning sensory creation. Congratulations on top story!
Very unique and imaginative. Congratulations!
Oh, I love the idea of this...so mysterious but also kinda soothing. Fantastic work so saying much, beautifully, in such a short span of words. Congratulations on Top Story!!
Could not understand it...
This was great 🎉😉Congratulations on your Top Story😉🎉
Oooo, this was so wonderful! It also had a poetic touch to it!
This is lovely! I love the whispering white umbrellas. I'd be up all night listening, too. Great piece.
Very cool microfiction! Spooky and a good read!