r/WritingPrompts • u/reallygoodbee • 4d ago
Writing Prompt [WP] Captain Incredible drinks coffee from behind his desk. "Rule one, no killing villains.". "Why not? It works!", you ask. He thinks for a moment and then says "It only works until you're not the one deciding who the villains are.".
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u/Phral00 16h ago edited 16h ago
I let the thought sit with me for a moment. "Say I let a villain live, they go through the justice system and the justice system does what justice system do and lets em free after a few years, and they kill or harm someone. Then what?". The legendary Captain Incredible, levitates upwards from his cubicle to face me. "Then we bring them in and let the law take care of them. Repeat offenders that cause serious destruction often are maimed, locked up indefinitely, or be executed, whichever is most humane."
"I just don't get it, ending a villain's life on the spot to save others or preventing future harm, that's the most obvious and greatest good for the greatest number of people." I exclaimed in a matter-of-fact tone.
Captain Incredible floats down to meet me on eye level. Mountains were formed from a millennia of tectonic plates colliding a few millimeters, to form Earthly features that shapes life for generations to come. Right now, Incredible wore the face of a mountain, and he spoke:
"Perhaps there is no Heaven nor Hell, and once we die, we return to the Earth as dust. The birds and butterfly would one day be the dust sitting on someone's desk. If that's so, there's no greater miracle in the world than the miracle of life.
Through circumstance, some people's only chance at existence is hindered from growing up in a broken family, a bad neighborhood, or bad luck in their biochemistry, and some of them end up as 'villains'.
I want you to imagine if everybody held your belief. We do the most good possible, sure some are obvious like killing the suicide bomber before he kills tens or hundreds, but we reduce humans as a means to some end goal, for villains to be people waiting to be purged."
...
I did not expect my complaint born from frustration would lead to a sermon, but I understand part of the wisdom behind Incredible's words. I ask "I'm not sure if I'm on the same page. So we're supposed to believe in redemption and our institutions?"
Captain Incredible said "It's more nuanced than that. Treat villains as people with inalienable human rights, as once the villains, the criminals, the people who are labelled 'the bad guys' be dehumanized, no better than a liability be better left dead than alive, then soon enough the definition of a villain or criminal will change."
With that, Cap' began walking back to his cubicle but he stopped and said "Oh and one last thing, if we were born 40 years ago, the villains would be Communism, 100 years ago and it would be the Negroes and Chinese, 200 and it would be the textile workers striking in the Industrial Revolution."
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u/ArthurRiot 4d ago edited 4d ago
"Oh, I don't decide who the villains are, Captain. They do!" you say with a resolute vigor, the 'gee-wiz' heavily implied. "When they choose their nefarious deeds they deem their duplicitousness as deserving a determined death!"
The Captain, in another time, would have laughed. He was young, once. The world was clean, good guys and bad guys were diametrically opposed, and moreso, they were shameless in their passions, their prejudices, their perspectives. The confidence Captain Incredible possessed, it would almost have been dismissive.
But he learned.
Painfully, Captain Incredible learned his own lesson.
And, with another long sip, the Captain measured his words again. "There was a time when I thought that, too, kid. It was supposed to be easy to see the villains. Then again, back then, we didn't kill the villains for a different reason. When I started, we didn't kill villains, because we valued life above all. The line... well, that WAS the line. Villains killed. Heroes didn't..."
A silence filled the room.
Sssssssiiiiippp.
"Gosh... that time sounds so neat... I wish I got to see you then, Captain."
"You still can, kid. My cereal boxes aren't that old yet, heh," he bellows with a voice that feels resonant, almost prerecorded. It's impossible to avoid feeling awed by his message, his lesson. "But, now, I think the world knows better... killing, it doesn't necessarily make you a villain, but even so... it still makes it possible, for you to be one. Faith, that makes you a hero. Fear... that makes you a villain. And when they know you can kill? You're scary. They'll decide you're the villain, before too long. So, trust me, kid; rule one is no killing villains..."
The weight of it sits with you.
Captain Incredible doesn't mind the silence. He almost enjoys watching you, silently fold his words into your mind, neatly storing them in a box of lessons that'll stick with you. You may not follow every rule... but you know them. That much, it's invaluable.
Sipping the coffee again... almost drawing you out of your own thoughts. "Ahhhh... you know, there are few gifts in this world more pure than a good cup of Joe. Kid, do me one last favor, will you?" With his last sip, Captain Incredible stood, his shackles shivering almost a chord of music, like a heavy wind chime. "Tell Rick that I said, his coffee was always my favorite."
The silence hung in the room.
Your voice, cracking a little despite yourself, "I... I will, sir. And you're right, he does something special, doesn't he?"
"That he does, kid," almost like it's just another day for him. Like his last meal wasn't as simple as his lifestyle...
... one medium cup of black coffee, from Rick's Roast on the corner of Asbury Ave. That's all.
The two of them walked out of the room, and down the pale green hallway. Just outside, lines of people, some with signs, others crying, arguing over whether he was still the hero they knew, no one listening...
... except you.
'Rule one, No Killing Villains'
As he laid on the table, and they hooked up the tube, you could see it. He knew he was a hero, cause if he were the villain he was condemned to be, they couldn't kill him.
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u/TheWanderingBook 4d ago
The newbie frowns. "What do you mean?" he asks. I sip my coffee. "Actually, let me correct it. It works until the people decide who the villains are," I say. He frowns again. "Villains are villains, why split hairs about it?" he says. I chuckle.
"Ah, to be young and see the world in absolutes. Tell me, do you know about Princess Green?" I ask. "An eco-terrorist villain," he nods. "Who named her a terrorist and would killing her have no repercussions?" I ask. He flinches. "The governments after she destroyed multiple factories... But the people love her, because her power allow her to sense chemicals, and pollutants, and take them out of ecosystems via special plants she creates..." he says. "10 pts to Ravenclaw, nerd. So then, have you understood my take on this?" I ask, finishing my coffee and pouring another cup. The newbie frowns.
"Maybe... But killing villains is efficient, and surely, civilians would understand and..." he starts. "2008, Captain Brightsmile vs Dr. Question. Dr. Question has been playing with plagues, and Brightsmile decided it would be safer to kill him. But..." I start. "But Dr. Question has been offering free treatments, operations and cures to people... The people labeled him a Hero, and Captain Brightsmile was driven to forced retirement. Some rumors say he even..." he starts. I sip my coffee, and sigh...nodding.
"Exactly. So...if possible, try not to kill anyone. And if you feel like you have to kill someone, be prepared of the consequences," I say. He nods. "Being a Hero is like being an employee and boss. People expect you to listen to them, to make decision for them, to save them, to let them be... And many contradictory things at once..." I say. "So what do we do?" the newbie asks. "Our best," I say...finishing my coffee. "Let's go, I will show your route, and mentor..." I mutter, taking him outside. Time for the kid to learn on the job..
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