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Heroes and Villains

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Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by Meeper

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Credit for raps, story plan and plot go to Meeper, the commissioner.

www.furaffinity.net/user/meeper23

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"Oh, dude..."

Mordecai laid back on his bed, holding a comic book above his face, the blue feathers of his wing-tips curled around the pages. Luckily for the blue jay, who got around just as well as the other humans and strange creatures on his planet on two legs, the feathers at the ends of his wings just like fingers. It was just the way of it for them, the blue jay chuckling at his comic, though turning the page was harder than it should have been, consider how he held the comic above his face as he was.

"Yeah, yeah, what's up?"

Rigby was hardly listening to him, intent on a video game, the brown raccoon button-mashing as he was wanting to do. Even after losing to so many games to Mordecai, it went without saying that he was a little too intent on them, his mouth agape and grumble-wailing under his breath. As if that would help him defeat the forces of darkness in the old-style game that had been adapted for a newer console!

"Hehe, hey, dude, check out this comic. They've got supervillains and heroes and stuff..."

Mordecai chuckled, turning the page, near the end of the book.

"Oh, and, first this guy's like whoosh, then this guy's like, "oh no you didn't"! Wouldn't it be so, like, totally awesome if we were superheroes too? Huh-huh, huh-huh."

He chuckled but didn't look over at Rigby, who, of course, was not even listening to him.

"Oh, dang it!"

Rigby growled and threw the controller aside, lodging it into the wall (which had already been repaired many times over), their shared bedroom a little worse for wear. No doubt Benson would shout at them later for that but, well, it had so many bodged and shoddy repairs in it already, it just wasn't something that was at the forefront of anyone's mind.

"Uhhh!" He groaned, rolling on the floor, paws pressed over his eyes as if he could shut out the fact that, once again, he had lost the game. "I never win at this game! And I'm not even playing against you here! I hate this game!"

Leaping up, he growled, though he didn't manage to look all that intimidating at all, the little raccoon storming over to the gaming console and giving it a swift kick. If the kick had come from the blue jay (or perhaps after some earlier training in Death-kwon-do), it would have done some damage. As it was, all it did was have Rigby howling and hopping about on one hind paw, clutching his leg as if it was about to drop off.

"Arrrgh! Dang it, this stupid game!"

"Whoa, dude, chill out, it's not that big of a deal, it's just a game." Mordecai blinked, sitting up, the comic set aside. "You're going to break it, jeez."

Of course, Rigby was not all that capable of breaking anything, as much as he liked to think that he was bigger and stronger than he already was. That was why they couldn't play "punchies" with him anymore after Skips had put him through a wall, as funny as that had been. Mordecai chuckled at the memory.

"Hey, Rigby, do you remember "punchies"? That was so crazy, dude!"

"Aw, I don't want to talk about that! Can't you see that I'm in pain here? Aren't you going to help me?"

"Uh, I would, but I'm reading my comic here, so, yeah...you know..."

Mordecai delved into his next comic as if he had never read them before, though they were dog-eared and tattered from being picked up and put down so many times over. And, just like that, Rigby was up and scrambling up onto the blue jay's bed next to him, the pain gone as soon as his attention was elsewhere.

"Whoa, they're all so cool! What's that guy's name?"

Rigby jabbed a finger at the comic, Mordecai ripping it away with a grimace on his beak.

"Wait - you'll rip it! Jeez, you've really got to be more careful!"

The raccoon was hardly phased, however, grabbing the earlier comic and reading for himself, though he couldn't stay still as he wriggled around, on his back, on his side, twisting around with his tail crushed under him... There was no one position in which he could read easily, changing his position with every page, his eyes wide and racing.

"Whoa... The Death Cutter? Masked Bounty Hunter? These are awesome!"

Mordecai grinned.

"I know, right? Wouldn't it be so cool if we were superheroes too? We could be all, like, whoosh and flying and stuff! Benson wouldn't ever be able to get us to stack chairs ever again!"

"I hate stacking chairs!"

Yet not even Rigby's anger at past escapades of putting chairs out for birthday parties and more was enough to drag him away from the comic, regardless of how much he hated anything at all to do with the goddamn chairs. His raccoon tail twitched back and forth as he giggled, lost in the comic, flipping the pages, his eyes roaming more and more swiftly.

"Whoa... No, not superheroes... The villains there are wayyy cooler! Don't you think, Mordecai? I bet the villain would be stronger! You'd be such a weak superhero, focusing on the powers of good and all that... No one wants to think about that! Villains rule! Mordecai?"

But the blue jay had a grin on his beak, nodding with his usually little "hm" of agreement. It was decisive and sharp and the prelude to something more that would change the fabric of their reality - at least in how they imagined it.

"Let's see just who is better: the superhero or the villain!"

The game was on!

*

MesMordo, Mordecai the blue jay, stood on the precipice of the skyscraper, the night steaming around him in the heat of the city. No more was he a simple avian working at the park with Rigby, under Benson, but a superhero whose sole purpose in life was to beat back the forces of darkness.

"No matter how long it takes," he groaned, pressing his fingers to his temples, though a portion of his face was obscured by a stark, red eye mask, his identity concealed. "I must...keep fighting."

What was he fighting against? Ah, that was something that would only be revealed in time. His past, oh, his torrid past... That was why he fought so hard but it was so painful and twisted that it was not even something that Mordecai could reveal to himself, let alone to anyone else.

"All blocked out... Oh, the pain."

He groaned, straightening, a like-coloured cape to his mask flowing out behind him. Standing tall, MesMordo was the most powerful superhero of them all, staring out over the city that was "his", the place for him to protect above all else, defending the city like many masked crusaders of the night had done many things over.

He didn't wear shoes, as normal, his avian feet curling over the rough stone of the building, though the raised edge was not much of a wall to prevent anyone falling over. Just as well he had the power of flight then! Ah-hah!

The straps of the eye mask fluttered around his face in a light breeze, tied with a knot at the back of his head but still with an extra bit of strapping that was excess to his needs. MesMordo didn't have any shirt on but his red and white trousers were as skin-tight as underwear designed for the utmost flexibility, leaving nothing to the imagination, though his legs were a little slimmer than perhaps a powerful superhero may have wanted to be. But his powers more than made up for that, racking up his infra-red vision, eyes glowing faintly, though it was the more discreet of his superheroes.

"There he goes."

His head turned as if Mordecai already knew where he was going and where he was looking, seeing through the buildings, in a sense, to the shifting, moving life-forms within. There was one, however, that was of particular interest to him - and that was the form of a villainous racoon who only went by the name of "Mr. Rigbinder". Not the most threatening of names but even Mordecai supposed that villains were not apt to be the cleverest of beings. That was why they always had superheroes to push them back down where they belonged!

"Mr. Rigbinder... I believe your time...has come!"

His wings spread and he soared through the night without even feeling as if he had jumped off the building, for flying came as naturally to him as walking, though MesMordo was normally landlocked. He shook off the thought. No, that was another thought, another time, the night air ruffling through the bare feathers of his chest, the chill enough to bring a prickle of tension to the skin beneath.

"The jewellery store... Of course!"

The stupid villain knew what he was doing in taking on the jewellery store, surely, though he should have known that he would never get away with it. The priceless gem, the rarest of all diamonds, the Simply Awesome Stone, was the coveted joy of many a villain and to say that it had been something of a target in the latest weeks would have been an understatement.

"Never fear, city of mine!" Mordecai crowed. "The Simply Awesome Stone will never fall into such evil hands!"

Once again, he would be the hero as he folded his wings into a dive more befitting of an eagle, his eyes watering, streaming downward at a greater and greater velocity. He cut a V-shape through the air as he plummeted, trusting his powers to keep him safe, for he was hardly as vulnerable as any kind of mortal that walked the streets below. Although there was no city on the planet that ever truly "slept" anymore, there were few about as he dropped into the back alley, turning about in mid-air to land on his feet as if it had been his intention all along.

"Yes! Stuck the landing!"

He hunkered down, tracking the raccoon's progress as he scurried through the store, though, once again, Mordecai could not help but wonder why the Simply Awesome Stone was on view so publicly. It was a risk for so many villains but was there anyone that didn't want to get a good view of the Simply Awesome Stone, just once in their lives? Mordecai grunted a "hm" and a sharp nod of agreement, although that was only with himself.

"Where are you, Mr. Rigbinder?"

The raccoon slipped behind the front counter, giggling to himself as his tail flicked back and forth. Wearing only a pair of swim briefs, or what may have counted for them in the normal world, his black and yellow outfit contrasted starkly to MesMordo's, a similar eye mask in yellow with a black rim and edging covered his face, shielding his entity as the straps hung down against the back of his head. Unlike the avian, he did not wear a cape, the rest of his brown-furred body otherwise completely bare and his chest curled over, fur hiding any musculature in his back that may have been present.

"I think there's plenty of money in here for Mr. Rigbinder! Yes, oh, yes, all the money! So much money!"

A black bag appeared out of nowhere as he yanked open the drawer to the cash register, scooping out all the cash inside and yanking the register out of the counter too, just for good measure. It ripped free, cables sparking and dangling in the absence of it, though that was not the villain's concern in what he left behind. As long as he had the Simply Awesome Stone, he would have everything in the world that he could have ever have wanted! All the riches, anything that he saw - it would be his, his forever!

Mr. Rigbinder threw his head back and laughed, tail lashing the air, though he did not know that he was being watched intently, the one who sought to stop him lurking only around the corner. Mordecai crouched, hidden for the moment, taking a deep, steadying breath.

"It's now or never...to face the danger of our city."

A jewel-thief, truly, was most likely not the most dangerous creature that the city harboured but he was the only one that mattered to MesMordo, the blue jay whipping around in a flurry of feathers, cape whipping behind. His bare chest led the way, just behind his beak, and he howled as he brought back a fist for a punch, not beating around the bush at all when it came to making himself known. The raccoon gasped and blocked his punches, gifted with the ability of extreme agility to dart and dodge, though that did not stop Mordecai from landing more than just the one in the barrage of demolition. Three, maybe four, blows struck home as he grunted and snapped, beak agape in a raging yowl of destruction.

"MesMordo! I should have known your stinking feathers would show themselves here!"

Mr. Rigbinder hissed and leapt away even as Mordecai pressed the attack, smashing him back into a case of jewellery, glass shards everywhere. Miraculously, neither of them suffered a single cut from the razor-sharp projections jutting out at obscene, digging angles.

"Mr. Rigbinder! Your time has come!"

Thus it was so, grappling and twisting together, arms locked as their hands grabbed and grasped. It was a bastard form of wrestling that would never have flown in any pro wrestling ring but it was something coarser and more brutal, better-suited for the streets. Fingers dug viciously into the raccoon's pressure points, as much as Rigby squirmed and lashed the avian with his tail, yet both of them were as skilled at that sort of grappling and pressure as the other. It was only Mordecai who had a little bit of the upper hand, so to speak, lifting the raccoon even as he thrashed, his arms around the smaller creature to dig into the pressure points under his arms, the blue jay's tailfeathers shifting to allow him to balance his weight more aptly, thighs tensing with muscles needed to keep him steady.

"Give in, feather-breath!"

"This is not for you, you scavenger!"

Rigby staggered back, the raccoon's eyes comically wide as he broke free from the hold, his elbows throbbing a little on the inside where MesMordo's fingers had dug in more furiously. He wasn't playing around and that meant that the raccoon was not to hold back either. The blue jay pressed the attack.

"Yahhh!"

Mordecai launched a punch at Rigby, hand balled up, though the raccoon was quick enough to bring his arms up with the forearms pressed together to block it, backing off a step as Mordecai pressed the attack with a right cross.

"You can't touch me!"

Mr. Rigbinder boasted, flinging his arms out wide, though the left jab directed right at Rigby's face struck home, smacking his jaw to the side, spittle flying, his lips trembling with the force of the impact.

"Aha! Oooooh - I got you now, Mr. Rigbinder!"

Perhaps not the best thing for a superhero to howl but he did his best as he struck with a kick, rocking back onto his left foot to lash out with his right.

"Ki-yah!"

His foot sank into Rigby's stomach, the effect on the raccoon instantaneous as he doubled over.

"Oooof..."

Mordecai laughed out loud as he encased Mr. Rigbinder in a bearhug, tighter and tighter, squeezing the breath from him. It may have been the end for the squirming raccoon if not for the backwards headbutt the wily raccoon gave in the nick of time. The blue jay's grip loosened and Rigby shoved him off: not out for the count as yet.

Mordecai cursed, stumbling backwards. He was sloppy... The moves that he was most familiar with cleaner than the stranger ones. Sloppiness, however, was something that could just about get a guy killed in that sort of scenario, something that the bird would have done well to remember.

Yet for him it was all about throwing caution to the wind and performing as a superhero the very best he could. His past would catch up with him, if he did not push into it so far, and he grappled with the raccoon, bearing down on him, though, to his surprise, his strength was no greater than the smaller creature.

"What's the matter?" Mr. Rigbinder sneered, his lip pulling back distastefully. "Giving up so soon? I've had a few changes since we last fought, MesMordo! And now is not the time for you to beat me!"

The tables turned, the raccoon scaling the bird as if he was a building, or at least a cabinet of jewellery, so many jewels glittering all around in the security lights of the store that Rigby could have very well been too easily distracted by them. But he could use his weight to pull MesMordo off-balance and off his feet and crashing bodily down to the ground as Rigby's well-timed sleeper hold tightened around his neck. The bird thrashed and kicked, finding himself on his back, Rigby holding him there, the edges of his vision greying out as the raccoon heaved over his chest and midsection, growling ferally. All Rigby had to do was dig in his arms, choking him out, Mordecai's eyelids fluttering.

"Unff... No..."

The blue jay coughed and twisted but he could not so easily get free as the raccoon used everything he knew about the superhero against him. A moment, of course, where the blue jay could not react in time. That was all he needed. No one could react so sharply all the time and every being had their weaknesses to be exploited, Rigby leaning in harder and more hungrily than ever as he clutched the bird back and down into his hold as if he was going to snap his neck. Of course, when it came to dominance and control, things would never go quite that far, readying another power, a smirk dragging his lips up too high on just the one side.

"Must...hold...on..."

Mordecai's vision slipped, greying out, yet he had to hold on, had to cling to the fight at all costs. He was the hero - he wasn't just any player two, second-best. He was the winner! And that was just how Mordecai managed to find the energy to dig his elbow down into the ground, a thrust of his hips flipping the two of them over, rolling and turning across the ground, neither gaining the upper hand.

MesMordo may have coughed and hacked but launched himself shakily up onto his feet - there could be no pause in the ATTACK! Yet punches were played out, thus he struck out with his feet instead, the kicks not landing as the agile raccoon stayed one step ahead of him. But what he did manage to do was to sweep the raccoon's legs out from under him in a dirty move, one that had Rigby squalling and screaming, blazing with rage even while it had not hurt that much. It didn't seem to take much at all to set off a supervillain when they were on the back foot; Mordecai knew that from experience and, well, his reading too.

"I'll see you in chains, superhero! There's nothing super about you, stopping people from taking gems! You're just a glorified cop!"

The blue jay's eyes narrowed, zeroing in on his target. Control... Sometimes it was needed at the best of times, slipping into a deeper state of being.

"That's not all I've got for you!" Mordecai snapped, fists balled up as he stamped on the ground, shaking the earth below. "You think you can beat me when you're the villain here? That's not how the game works!"

It was no game, though there was no one there to tell the two of them that, so wrapped up itself that to interrupt them would be a travesty. Mordecai scoffed and shook his head, grunting under his breath, but what he did not know was that Mr. Rigbinder already had him right where he wanted him.

He took a deep breath, Rigby spreading his arms with a smirk pulling viciously at his lips. There were more tricks up his sleeve to play... Er, even though he didn't have sleeves. Maybe he'd have to think that daring and dastardly line through a little more the next time he wanted to play it out.

"Oh yeah? What do you think you can do to stop me? What powers do you have that are any use in here? Well, you can fly but what use is flying in here, bird-brain?"

Mr. Rigbinder scowled and pulled on his telekinetic ability, his arms still held out as he launched a full, glass case of jewellery at MesMordo, though that one was easy enough for MesMordo to dodge. The blue jay grunted and twisted, cavorting through the air as he dodged more extravagantly than was strictly necessary, though more and more projectiles came his way. The raccoon simply was not letting up that easily as he grunted and howled, huffing and puffing with every projectile, sending them forth at the only target that sought to stop him taking the jewel that was rightfully his.

"Yeah, that's all you got?"

Mordecai grinned, posing on top of a fallen case with one foot raised onto a counter, proudly displaying his prowess as if he, as the superhero, had already won the battle. Ah, but Mr. Rigbinder had more in store for him than that, grunting and balling up his fists, a gleam in his eye.

"Beware...the power of levitation!"

"Like that's any different to flying!"

Yet it was a power that meant that the raccoon did not have to flap his arms, or his arm-wings as was the case for Mordecai. The blue jay cursed and leapt to the side, the ability to levitate putting the raccoon at an advantage. He could not attack with his fists and only somewhat his feet when he was airborne, though the raccoon could do anything that he wanted while he was levitating. In a way, it was a superior ability, though he was better than that in other ways too.

Mordecai lunged and twisted, dodging, projectiles flying, though he was still landlocked for the moment, feet pounding from one end of the room to the other, twisting to use the walls to spring off. Rigby, however, was relentless as he hurled more and more items at the bird using his telekinesis powers, even forming his energy-laced projectiles, sparking and snapping like fresh kindling in a firepit, when he ran out of easy projectiles to hurl forth.

"You're going down MesMordo!"

The raccoon lunged in an agile dart of energy, though it was MesMordo who had a hold on his powers again, reaching for them with a tingle of desperation, needing them more then than he ever had before. It was the only thing that could save him as his eyes glittered, sparkling along the lines of his irises as he screamed and blazed out hypno-shots, a straight beam of hypno-powers that could control anyone that they touched. Anyone that fell prey to that beam would be lost to his control until he decided to release them, though it was a power that was only to be used on the ones in the world truly decrepit, the terrible souls that deserved to be brought down so low.

"Your hypno-powers! Blast you, MesMordo!"

Cursing, Rigby shook his fist at the bird and dropped back to the ground, for the one thing that he was not able to do while shooting around levitating was dodge effectively. Sure, he could attack but defence and dodging were two things thrown off by using his power, his shaky sense of the world tilted askew as levitation kept him above the ground. The beams followed him as Mordecai stood firm and pressed the attack, chasing him all over the store with the beams alone, though they were not the kind that would leave gaping holes in the war. No, that was for the villains and heroes of the world that had laser-vision: a skill that had its limits, as far as the two of them, in all their sassy back and forth, had determined.

The raccoon scurried behind the counter, blocking the beams with a tray that had once been used to hold and display jewellery. The hypno glare bounced off it, lancing straight up into the ceiling and threw MesMordo off, though the blue jay was not one to be startled for long.

"Darn you!"

The raccoon's head poked out, his attire more just underwear that cut high across the top of his legs. Maybe he should have gone for something a little more concealing but it was too late for that when it, at least, allowed him greater flexibility, reach and agility, with so little to restrict or hold him back there.

"Aha! But I also have the power of hypnosis! Hypno-beams activate!"

Rigby's eyes glowed a startling white, rings blazing out as they connected with the straight, lancing beams from Mordecai's eyes. The clash blazed, striking one another in the middle of the store, though neither of them noticed the audience on the outside that they had gathered, sirens blazing, bystanders pushed back. Law enforcement did not want anyone getting hurt in a battle between a superhero and a supervillain, regardless of just how often things seemed to go down in that city.

Yet neither of them were committed to the outside world, howling as their hypno powers collided, the stark beams glitzing from white to shades of blue and violet, shimmering through colours that did not have a name yet. Such was the trial and tribulation of being a superhero, though perhaps one could not say the same of being a villain. They stood off against one another, howling and screaming, Rigby's eyes blazing so fiercely with his hypno-beams that he could not even see what was before him. He could only trust that the push-back and force that he bore into was MesMordo's, throwing all caution to the wind as he hurled himself forth into the battle.

"Oooooohh! This is so awesome!" Mordecai howled, forgetting himself for a moment, fist-pumping over his head. "Dude... You're, like, going down so hard!"

That may not have been as becoming of a superhero as one may have liked but it was as it was in the moment, feathers ruffled, raccoon fur flying as any loose chunks that had been working their way out were ripped free. There was nothing that could be left there as Mordecai howled and cast aside his cape, fluttering free in a gale of wind, the blast of their powers colliding.

"Oooohh!" Mordecai threw his arms up, daring Mr. Rigbinder to challenge him, a superhero at the height of his prowess in the fight.

Yet they could not hold the moment forever, bracing against one another, digging their feet in, the force shoving them back and back from their powers slamming into one another sliding them back, second by second. There was no way to hold out right then and there as Mr. Rigbinder finally gave in, screaming as he ripped himself free and, in a shocking feat of agility, leapt to the ceiling.

"This isn't over, MesMordo!"

And so it was not, the raccoon launching himself as the power-blinded blue jay before him could swing his hypno-powers up to him. His legs swung out and locked around the blue jay's neck as MesMordo toppled to the ground, crashing over the counter, glass shattering, groaning thickly.

"Owww..."

That was a break to the reality of it but not enough of an interlude for Rigby to stop and see if Mordecai was okay. It would be fine, just fine, the small raccoon trembling with the power of taking down his biggest rival in the world. With his legs locked around the blue jay's neck in a scissor hold, he put pressure on his instep, squeezing together, tighter and tighter. That his legs were not as strong as they could have been was no matter in such a hold, for he was the one who had had the advantage and was taking full benefit of it.

"You'll break," he growled, lips trembling with the force of his terror. "The city will no longer have a superhero to protect it once I've brought you under my control!"

Mordecai groaned, his vision dipping and swaying, but he still had moments of clarity, shuddering in and out of the present moment as his lungs ached. There was a pressure point on his neck too, but Mr. Rigbinder had not borne down on it with enough force to knock him out so swiftly, thankfully, and he twisted with a snarling grimace that should have looked more out of place on his beak than it did then.

"Never!"

MesMordo would never give in, not even the once, his hypno attack slamming into the raccoon. In but a moment, the smaller creature was sent flying, howling out in raw and ragged anguish as he screamed.

"Curse you!"

But it was Mordecai who had the upper hand all over again, lunging after the raccoon, his wings slapping out. A strike to the cheek and an uppercut to the jaw - there were no rules when it came to the battle between good and evil and every move was possible. Some had been butchered from the many TV shows that he had watched, his memories flashing back to a time where he had sat on the sofa watching wrestling and other like things with Rigby - but things had changed since then, crushing them down to opposing ends of the spectrum.

No... No, he couldn't think like that, could not pause, not if he wanted to bring Rigby down. The raccoon sprawled, trying to scrape himself back to his feet, but Mordecai was quicker than him, leaping with a battle cry with his leg out in a leg drop. It slammed down on the raccoon's chest as Rigby rolled away, howling, yet the attack was pressed further still as the blue jay grappled with him, slamming his muzzle down to the ground.

"Submit!"

The raccoon blinked, stunned, vision blurring.

"Unnff... Never!"

The blue jay pushed him with his foot, smirking as he shoved Rigby over onto his front, latching onto the raccoon's arms for one of his favourite moves: the surfboard wrestling submission hold! With the raccoon face-down, he groaned, muzzle shoved into the floor, wriggling, weakening, muscles twitching as his arms were ripped back behind him, the blue jay's feet digging into his lower legs, though they did not need to bend so much as to keep Rigby under his control.

But the raccoon was not down and out yet as he thrashed his tail, the part of him that MesMordo had clearly forgotten about. It struck the bird's foot, sending him toppling aside. His head struck something as his belly lurched, nausea half-overwhelming him, though he managed, just about, to scramble up into a sitting position when Rigby, yowling like a wild thing the whole time, locked onto him in a nelson hold.

"Unff... No..."

But Rigby had him, clutching tight and flipping him to the ground, a schoolboy pin dominating the blue jay just when he'd thought he'd been the one with the upper hand. Rigby's hypno-powers slammed into him, blitzing maniacally from the raccoon's eyes, the smaller creature laughing and laughing, no halt to be had in his madness.

Mordecai groaned.

"Get off, you...you brute!"

Not the best of terms with which to refer to a supervillain but such words did not come easily in the heat of the moment. With his breath raking raggedly through his chest and windpipe, it was all Mordecai could do to rip himself bodily free of the raccoon's hold, headbutting the raccoon at the same time as he thrust his hips up furiously, using the power of his glutes to shove off the raccoon. It may have been a daring move but a Moonsault all that he had in mind. Oh, but it would take great finesse to execute aptly - just the thing for a superhero of his stature.

"This isn't over yet, mutt!"

MesMordo smirked, clambering up the cabinets of the store and hurling himself backwards with a shriek that sliced through the air. A bird could squall like no other and Rigby was only just half-staggering back to his feet before the blue jay smacked into him, somersaulting onto his opponent to bring him back down to the ground. For the battle was not about who could blast the other with enough of their hypno-powers, throwing them around the room or even bringing them entirely under their control, but the brute force of using absolutely everything at their disposal.

And everything was at their disposal in the realm of such imagination.

"Aaarrrgh!"

Rigby howled like a wounded animal as he slammed back into the ground, though his super strength lingered at his fingertips. The blue jay scrambled off him, the raccoon's strength billowing, a raw, ragged scream rising, wrapping around Rigby like a rising wind, a hurricane that was yet building. A learned ability, not one that he had been born with as a grand and destined supervillain, he snarled and growled and bore down into the ground, putting every ounce of pressure he had down into the ground. His fingers dug in, ripping up the tiles of the shop floor, gouging out divots as MesMordo reeled. He did not get back to two feet instantly, however, but hunkered down on all fours, languishing in his strength, tearing through the ground with his feet and short claws as if it was nothing at all to him. The bird gaped.

"Mr. Rigbinder!"

"Yeeeessss!"

Mr. Rigbinder's eyes shot through with blood, strained as wide as they possibly could go, a lunatic in such a moment of complete and utter power. Mordecai was on him in a moment but he had his hypno-powers back in a moment, slamming into the blue jay. They were not merely for hypnosis and mind control, of course, but something more intricate, allowing him to jerk the bird's arm-wings about as he grunted and shrieked, protesting at the treatment.

"You think this is enough to defeat me?" Mordecai grunted, eyes narrowing. "Dude, that's so not cool."

Rigby smirked. A slip back to reality told him that he was getting the better of the superhero but that only meant that he would have to press the attack, leaping out and releasing his hypno abilities only to dodge the same from Mordecai. All was relentless, burning through, a searing blast of it catching Mr Rigbinder's tail and yanking him back and up into the air with the psychic force of it.

"Ach! That stings!"

It was not a decorous moment to find himself in, though such battles were not to be had with the law enforcement forming a perimeter outside. They forced citizens of the city back and back to keep them out of danger, though not even they dared interfere until the masked superhero who had done so very much for them had done the deed.

Swinging Rigby around by the tail, using only the hypno-power blasting forth psychically from his eyes, Mordecai screamed. When he released the raccoon, it was a moment of release that he could not lean into any more, howling with his head thrown back, though the dazed Mr. Rigbinder simply could not react in time.

"Ooohh!" Mordecai howled, heart pounding.

The raccoon screamed, flung over the counter and sliding in a crumpled heap to the other side, hissing and spitting like a wild thing in the heat of the moment. He had to fight back, had to win, though he was clutching at straws already, trying to bear through a battle that, truly, he had never been destined to win. He was the villain and, thus, it was written into the stars and decreed that he would fall.

Everything happened in slow-motion, wailing as he leapt back up onto the counter, the wailing of his own cries pinging and bouncing off the inside of his skull.

"Yahhh!"

Rigby thrummed through with power, Mordecai joining him there, though with Rigby up on the counter and Mordecai standing on the floor they were about the same height. Mordecai's fist connected with his jaw, the raccoon bearing through it, rocking back onto one foot and spinning as he launched a kick into the blue jay's chest.

"Ka-pow!"

Mordecai reeled, eyes bulging. His teeth showed down the line of his beak, chest aching, yet he bellowed more fiercely than ever, his eyes blazing with hypno-beams.

"Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!"

That referred to the sound the beams made as they slammed into counters and the walls, the nimble racoon dodging, off the counter and putting more distance between them. Rigby traded him more hypno-beams still as he levitated, hanging in mid-air to put himself at a better height, cases shattering around the store, one after the other as they destroyed all that MesMordo had set out to protect.

"Hi-yahhh!"

The blue jay lunged through, striking the air with his arm-wings to speed up the power of his hypno-beams, lancing through the air between them even as he launched his body into motion too. For distance-fighting could only take them so far, two bodies in motion, lunging for one another until they connected with bodily force.

"Oof!"

They slammed into each other, glancing off, shattering more and more cases in the store until there was very little at all left in there. The store was completely and utterly destroyed as shattered glass rained down like precious gems, the sparkling of the stones beyond even what Rigby could focus on.

"Arrrgh!" Mr. Rigbinder screamed, eyes bulging, wide and wild, desperate at the peak of something that was not even his, in any, tiny fashion, to control. "Throat chop! Arrrrghhh!"

All he could do was wail, the sound waves bouncing off the blue jay, though he could not be prepared for everything. As much as Mordecai tried to leap free, he was simply not as agile as the raccoon, shrieking as Mr. Rigbinder's hands came down on either side of his neck, a strike that had him juddering in pain.

"Ow! Dude!"

That may have been a break from their back and forth but it was for them all the same, Mordecai rising to the challenge. He tried to jam a thumb into the raccoon's neck, missed, and went for a sleeper hold instead. Alas, his hands just could not grapple around the slippery mammal's body quick enough as he squirmed and wriggled, just a little bit "twistier" than Mordecai, to the blue jay's detriment. Still, he had to try, slamming his fist into Mr. Rigbinder's belly in a gut punch, the raccoon heaving and retching, though the battle was not over as yet.

"Do you give up, fiend?"

Mordecai stood tall, his tail-feathers flicking as if the superhero already anticipated a victory. It may not have been over, however, and that was his failing as Mr. Rigbinder scrambled up, screaming out his fiercest battle cry yet, head thrown back as he layered the blue jay with punch after punch. There was no rhyme or presence to it, nothing but raw and crude street fighting, Mordecai catching some punches even as some connected.

Boom!

_ _

A fist slammed into the blue jay's face, snapping his head to the side, spittle flying.

Oof!

_ _

MesMordo traded a low kick back, striking the raccoon's shins, though he was not caught off-guard.

Ka-pow!

_ _

Mr. Rigbinder fought back, chomping and digging his teeth into the blue jay's arm. But it was a dirty move that was not in the spirit of the fight, Mordecai howling and bashing his elbow into Rigby's face.

"Yow!"

But the battle was not yet one or assigned to either side as they rolled and grappled, neither gaining the upper hand as they twisted through the shattered glass. It didn't cut them, even though they were so skimpily dressed that so much of their bodies were on show, Mordecai struggling to his feet, though he could not get enough power back in his arms in time to launch Rigby in a throw. The supervillain and the superhero, therefore, were caught up in a tussle, crashing back down to the ground in a cacophony of flailing, twisting limbs, screaming out their wrath.

"Submit!"

"Never!"

"The jewel is mine!"

"It will never be yours!"

And that was the truth of it, for it was not for the raccoon to win as Mordecai tossed him in the air.

"Ki-yah!"

The blue jay used one foot to strike straight up, slamming Rigby into the ceiling. The ceiling panels splintered off, connecting to solid concrete, as Mr. Rigbinder groaned. Dazed from the impact, he wriggled free, calling on the power to levitate to save him from an untimely drop to the ground where he would face another shock and concussion. The height gave him an advantage, however, as he slapped his feet brutishly down onto MesMordo's shoulders, knocking him over backwards, aiming for a scissor hold. His legs pressed around, tightening, and yet the blue jay was ready for him, digging his fingers into the back of the raccoon's knees, forcing him to let go as just the right pressure points to secure his release were hit.

"Hypno-beams!"

The raccoon screamed, leaning forward, blasting Mordecai with everything he had - but the desperation behind his glaring eyes told him that he was winning. The blue jay could not fight through hypno-powers with his fists and feet alone, as powerful as he was, but his own powers of hypnosis could be played back.

Blast!

_ _

A shock had the raccoon standing on one foot and spinning and spinning, controlled with the blue jay's powers as MesMordo pressed the attack.

"Ahhh! No!"

Rigby knew it was over, crushed and broken, falling and failing, the moment twisting around him. He cried out and shook his head, his juddering hypno-beams lashing out in spirals of rings, but MesMordo was not to be taken down so easily took him in his arms for an Airplane Spin, closing the distance between them as the raccoon lay over his shoulders. He was spun and spun, a passive player in his own demise while Mordecai laughed, spinning him more and more.

"It's time for you to face up to your true dominator! Evil never triumphs, fool, and good is the dominator!"

"Noooo!"

Mr. Rigbinder snarled and fought, wailing as he was hurled forcibly to the ground and pinned, forced face-down in a Facebuster, his muzzle connecting with the ground in a sickening twist and clench in his stomach. To pull out such moves in the heat of a fight... It didn't bear thinking about, not even as he twisted, dazed and still fighting, not willing to give in to the ultimate end. Mordecai's fingers dug into his armpits as he clung to the supervillain for the finishing move, slamming Rigby down into the ground for the grand finale. Finally, Mordecai blasted him with a screaming, full-dose of his hypnosis powers, beak open. Whether or not that better allowed him to channel his hypno-powers was up for debate but there was nothing that Mr. Rigbinder could possibly do up against that, his lower jaw falling slack, a drop of drool spilling forth from the corner of his lips.

"Uhhh..."

He tried to fight back as Mordecai gave him space, the beams of light heralding the encroach of his power. He hollered as he piled it into the raccoon, slamming him down into the ground without even using anything physical, intent only on his hypnosis, how it would draw the raccoon under his control. He had to do it, had to bring him down under his feet, under his hold, broken and fallen, the supervillain no more. It was not a position that anyone would have wanted to be in but, really, was there anything less that could be considered the job of any superhero worth his salt.

Mr. Rigbinder wailed and stretched out his hand, but he could not hold on, not even when he so very desperately wanted to complete his task. All he craved was the beauty of the jewels, the power of riches, untold wealth stretching out before him - all snatched away in a moment that was never for him to take.

"No... This...can't...be..."

But he was gone, whimpering as he fell under the blue jay's control, the bird standing tall and proud, though his chest heaved with the exertion of all that he had done. Using his hypno-power may not have been a strictly physical move but it was something that drained him, something that he could not use ultimately, however much he yearned to keep Rigby under his control forever. He shuddered, drawing in a gasp. It would keep the city safer if he was able to but, alas, his abilities still had their limits in the end too.

"Stand."

The raccoon blinked but, helpless in his own mind to MesMordo's mind control, could do nothing to resist. Against his will, he found himself on his feet, whining and shaking his head, trying to hold on, take himself away, the humiliation of being brought down to such a level searing through him. It was worse than being embarrassed publicly, for that would surely come in time too, to know that, once again, he had been bested, never a player one but a player two at best.

Always second best.

"Get down!"

It was just a gesture of control and yet it was worse for being played out like that. Rigby could only be grateful, in some small way, that Mordecai did not have him spin around the store dancing a jig, for that would have very much been within the realm of humiliating possibility. The raccoon knew what he was doing, even though he was horrified by it, lying on his back for the blue jay to take his revenge and his prize. Even superheroes, after all, were not entirely amiss when it came to taking advantage of their power, which was the greatest flaw in falling prey to Mordecai at any time.

There was no one outside to witness the humiliating defeat of Mr. Rigbinder, but they would be there when they were needed, exactly when they were needed. In that moment alone, however, it was for the two of them, the victor taking up his victory pose with his foot on Rigby's chest, pressing down, digging in the short claws that were on the ends of his toes.

"Oof..."

That was the only involuntary sound that Mr. Rigbinder could make as he was humiliated, debased beyond anything that the raccoon thought was possible, his face screwed up. And yet he was frozen in place there even as the blue jay smirked down at him, hollering his championship, his power over him.

"Oooohhhh!"

It was not suited to a superhero and yet MesMordo was not just any superhero just like Mr. Rigbinder was not just any supervillain.

"Yes... No more jewels for you, Mr. Rigbinder! This is the last stop for you!"

MesMordo held the pose as if he was looking into a camera, his blue feathers fluffed up so that his bare, glorious chest appeared larger and certainly wider than it naturally was. He swapped feet, pressing the second into the raccoon's face and grinding it down lightly, though he did not put as much pressure there as he had on Rigby's chest.

"Unff... Stop...it..."

"I see my hypnosis does not last as long as it used to." Mordecai shook his head. "You fight a good fight, Mr. Rigbinder. You are an enjoyable opponent to face indeed, though I would rather see you on the right side of the law rather than...this..."

He waved his arm-wing vaguely, grunting as he pressed down. The raccoon tried to swim back to reality but being fully hypnotised was like being asleep while still being aware of everything that was happening around. Even his hypno-power too had a time limit and Rigby growled mutely in the back of his throat, though he thought that his own would last longer than MesMordo's. That was something that he would file away for a later time, another battle where he was sure he would not fall before one who only knew how to break down such villains.

The villains would rise again. And all they could do was fight to take their own place in the world, their rightful place.

He had to try, had to fight it, though he was not strong enough to break the blue jay's will, even if he was awake. That he was not completely wiped out was by the by as he groaned and shook his head minutely, barely turning it from one side to the other, the raccoon so very weak that it was hardly possible for him to make something of a pretence at being in control of himself.

Mordecai leaned over him, a grin stretching his beak as he nodded with a short, sharp "hm" that was as absolutely decisive as ever.

"Worship and massage my feet, cretin..."

Rigby had no choice but to obey, his cheeks and neck heating up with humiliation, though it would only set the precedent for more to come as his fingers moved over the blue jay's feet. The bird sat on the ground with his legs stretched out before him, ensuring that Rigby had easy access, a smirk pulling at his beak. It was not just the one foot either but both, feeling out the space between the toes and massaging, digging into the sore spots as the blue jay groaned.

"Ah, yes... That's better..."

He took full advantage of the moment in a way that any superhero should never have done, rolling his shoulders back, those nimble fingers doing their best work under the control of his hypno-powers. Rigby tried to grumble but no words would pass his lips as he worked them over, murmuring only his verbal worship.

"Glorious power, glorious superhero..."

Mordecai laughed, wriggling his toes in Rigby's face.

"Oh, is that so? Bow before me!"

The raccoon groaned as his body folded forward into a bow, his arms stretched out before him as he prostrated himself before the dominating force of the blue jay, who was getting to his feet. Everything took on a more serious note, the lights outside fading away, zeroing in on the scene that was right there before them, even though Rigby knew that there was no escape to be had so easily. But the blue jay was not about to let him get away with his villainous deeds so easily as he crowed and fist-pumped the air, yet another victory pose.

"Ooohh!"

Mordecai's toes dug into the raccoon's shoulder, curling around, his fist raised triumphantly high, dominating him in one of his favourite victory poses. It had the added effect too of pushing the raccoon down further, his nose pressing into the ground as he was forced to bow.

"That's it! Say that I'm your superior, that I am better than you! This is why you're always the villain and I am the superhero!"

Mr. Rigbinder flinched and visibly squirmed. But as much as he wanted to beg for some kind of mercy, to cry out for relief and say something else entirely, his lips moved without his consent, forming the words that MesMordo forced him to speak.

"Oh, Great One," he said, his voice taking on a glaring monotone that simpered forth. "You are the best and the greatest of us all, my superior in every way. You are always better than me, regardless of everything."

MesMordo drew his head back, blinking twice.

"Huh. I didn't think my hypno-powers were _that_strong. Just another mark in favour of the marvellous and grand MesMordo, where good has triumphed over evil once again!"

He knew he was strong but he didn't know he was that strong! His passion for justice came through in the greatest of ways but he was flawed, alas, falling prey to those whims and wiles that could fester in the hearts of the unjust of the world. MesMordo could not fall so far, however, as he grinned and wriggled his foot so that the instep and his toes lay beneath Rigby's muzzle. The raccoon was forced to look hopelessly up at him while bowing, his chin digging into the blue jay's foot while he had to keep his eyes up. Roughly, Mordecai untied the knot of the mask behind his head and took it away with excruciating slowness, drawing out the humiliation. However, he already knew quite what Mr. Rigbinder looked like without it: it was only done to make him squirm, his humiliation and degradation heightened for the lack of his mask. It didn't matter when the raccoon was bowed down so weak and so small, Mordecai posing once more with his foot on the raccoon's head, arms thrown in the air to herald his victory. As if he had not enjoyed his moment in the spotlight already...

"Now, tell me, the unmasked Mr. Rigbinder," MesMordo said slowly, dragging out the words and each syllable as if that would call pause to the moment itself. "What would be the most humiliating way to bring you down, to knock you out?"

He renewed his hypno-power, the beams from his eyes giving the raccoon a top-up of shocking immobility, his eyelids heavy, though that was merely his conscious mind wanting to submit to the hypnosis. It would be easy, so easy, to let himself slip away, to never have to think again of what Mordecai wanted, only doing. If he was truly and completely under the blue jay's control, after all, there would be nothing of his mind left.

In that way, perhaps the superhero, one day, could become a supervillain. But maybe that would be another day and game entirely. Who was to say?

"Unnff..."

Alas, Rigby was not broken so far from the reality of being hypnotised that he was not aware of what he was doing and saying. He hated how the words slipped from him, gut twisting, his stomach churning, everything howling around him. There was an unseen and unfelt wind bearing him down and down, shoving him into the ground, broken and humiliated, though there was still more to come in that regard.

"I..." He couldn't hold back, he only had to obey. "It would be... Oh... Feet. Breathing..." Rigby shuddered in absolute revulsion. "Breathing in your feet..."

Mordecai drew his head back sharply, a smirk lighting up the glint in his eyes in the wickedest of ways. Sometimes it was more than a little difficult to tell just which of them was the superhero and which was the villain when the game and the jig was up. But that in itself was for another time.

The straps of his fallen mask fluttered against his face as the raccoon turned his muzzle, hopelessly, to the broken glass, light glancing off it, fractured and broken in the beauty of it.

"Weak, so weak..."

Rigby muttered, MesMordo's hypno-power still in effect for him, loosening his tongue and making him speak words that may have been well buried so deep inside him that there was no other way that they could have come out.

"Breathing in your feet, having you shove my face into them... That is the most...ah...humiliating thing I can think of."

Although it may have been unexpected, there were no limits or laws to be had between superhero and supervillain, though just one of them was super at that very moment in time. To have the raccoon's weakness, however, be feet... That was something different indeed. He'd have to commend Rigby a little later on his range of imagination for that particular idea he'd cooked up.

"Now, Mr. Rigbinder... No more will you be a supervillain but be brought down to the position of just another regular person like everyone else!"

"Noooooo!"

But Rigby could howl and cry out with all his might, not even possessing enough strength in the fading of the hypnosis to get back to his feet. He could no more fight back against him than Superman himself could have fought back against the draining force of kryptonite, weak at the mere thought of it, sickened to the pit of his stomach though not quite able to bring anything up. The nausea, despite everything, was not quite to that point.

"Be weakened, Mr. Rigbinder, for your reign of terror is at an end! Ooohh!"

He howled out his triumph as he pressed one foot smack over the raccoon's muzzle, bearing him down into the ground, the glittering of the beaten and bashed-up jewellery store heralding his debasement. Mr. Rigbinder grunted under the blue jay's foot, though the mask in itself was power and his mask was ripped off, exposing Mr. Rigbinder to be nothing more than a raccoon. Like MesMordo had said, he would be just another regular person where no one would ever need to fear Mr. Rigbinder ever again.

Until the next time the game was on, of course.

The raccoon squirmed and wriggled, pressing up to him, but he could no more push back weakly against the bird's foot as he could change the course of the tides. Everything was out of his control as he faded more and more, going down and down and down, though it was hardly a slow fall. He was broken and drifting, his fingers aching so much that he could not even keep his arms lifted to MesMordo's foot.

"Unnff..."

"Take big, deep breaths..."

Mordecai goaded him, beak stretching in a wicked smirk.

"Come on... It'll take you straight to dreamland... Knocking you out, drifting you off into sweet, sweet sleep..."

A grunt or a groan was not going to save him either as he whimpered and let first one arm and then the other fall, his strength draining from him, bit by bit. If he had not been hypnotised, he bitterly imagined fighting back but, as it was, all he could think of was the fact that he would have his revenge. He could only hope to have the chance for that, for he would surely be locked in prison, his powers slipping, one by one.

It was his strength, evidently, that went first of all, giving him the impression that his muscles were wasting right there where he lay. In just the skimpy undergarment-like costume, he was exposed more than ever before with nought to be done about such a thing. Everything was exposed and on show as his toes wriggled, barefooted and wishing that he knew the blue jay's true weakness so that he could turn the tables, more aptly, on him in times better come.

His fingers could not even twitch as such strength faded from him, arms slack and limp, his legs falling loose as he grunted thickly in the back of his throat.

Away, he had to get away... And yet there was neither any "away" nor any escape to be had with the blue jay pressing up onto his toes so that he could cover the raccoon's face with the flats of one foot. His heel bore into the raccoon's muzzle and covered his nose, though it was not the blocking of his actual ability to breathe that continued the stripping of the raccoon's powers.

If he had been able to levitate before, he would not be able to again while his powers were drained, the raccoon's body feeling heavier and heavier, as if he had never truly felt the effect of gravity before that moment. Breathing in the blue jay's foot was the only thing he could do as his chest rose and fell over and over again, shuddering gasps and intakes of breath. If only he could have breathed more slowly and evenly, maybe he would have been able to hold back for a while longer and yet it was the humiliating of it, so very gut-wrenching and twisting, that broke him in the end.

For it was not merely the act of having his breathing, somewhat, restricted that softened the edges of his vision and the aura surrounding him. He was there in the moment but not really as he tried to gasp and breathe in fresh air. Though all the raccoon could see was a foot blocking out his vision, restricting his sense of the outside world, fading and drifting, his guts aching as he longed to be somewhere else. Embarrassment, let alone such devout humiliation did that to a person, even a supervillain like him.

"There you go, take deep breaths, you're going to sleep now..."

"Errgh... Please stop..."

Mordecai grinned.

"It's okay, won't be much longer now. If you take bigger breaths, it'll all be over sooner. Isn't that what you want?"

Yet begging for mercy, not even then, would not save Mr. Rigbinder of his ultimate fate and fall. There may have not been anyone else there, not as yet, to observe him, but there was no telling just how apt the security cameras had remained in the destruction, recording his debasement for the wider world, even other supervillains, to see.

Rigby could not breathe, his lungs tightening, the blue jay shifting his position so that the flat of one foot pressed all the way up his muzzle, bending it painfully back. Yet even that pain was not the moment on which the raccoon could focus, fading, slipping, the feel of the bird's foot sending him down and down and down. His ability to breathe was cut off more and more, everything wrapped up in Mordecai's foot, how it felt around his face, the tiny claws digging in.

It was the humiliation though that did it for him. He whined and whimpered and tried to wriggle away, yet even with the hypnosis fading he no longer possessed the strength to do so anymore. He could barely move, his eyelids feeling heavier than ever, a grunt trapped in the back of his throat where it could not even be released. He was that low, his skin prickling with humiliating heat, sweating profusely.

Who was watching? Who would know of his humiliating defeat? Oh, he would be the laughing stock of all the villains, of even the entire city! All because he had been crushed under the blue jay's feet once again, the villain meeting his end and fate in that one particular brand of embarrassment that could never be escaped. For the failure of the villain was written into so many tropes of good triumphing over evil that it would be difficult to break through that even at a time that he thought that he could come through, just the once.

He'd never be the first player in his own life.

He was helpless. Maybe Mordecai would be just as helpless if he used the same thing on him, a dirty trick that could be turned upside down. The raccoon clung to that thought, tucking it away deep back in the recesses of his mind, though he did not quite know why he thought that that could be important. Yet every defeat brought with it an element of coming through the darkness into the light on the other side, his passion and villainous deeds wanting to find a way to triumph even against all the odds.

Was that not just what being a supervillain was all about?

And then he was gone, slipping into unconsciousness, his lower jaw slack as he was no more in the present world. The humiliation of it all had stripped everything from him, more and more, his eyes closed, forgetting that he had been there, fighting Mordecai, to begin with. The blue jay knew his victory.

"Ooooooh, yeah!"

The blue jay grinned and nodded three times, giving a little grunt each time. He posed with his foot on Rigby's face, pressed around his muzzle, toes curling, his triumph complete.

"That'll be the fuzz coming to take you away! They know that I've done my job in delivering justice yet again to you, though, this time, you're going to be locked away for good!"

Of course, there was no way for either MesMordo or Mr. Rigbinder to know what would come of their time there, only that it was in Mordecai's realm of jurisdiction to pass Mr. Rigbinder on to the cops. They would take care of him, red and blue lights flashing and searchlights sweeping as they advanced on the quiet scene, finally understanding that the battle was done. Truly, there was no one at all sensible that wanted to get up close and personal with a superhero and villain at the height of their battle, which was fair enough even as MesMordo posed proudly with his foot on the raccoon's stomach.

"Ahahahaha! Ooooh - the victor!"

What came next would be out of their hands.

*

"Argh! What's that?"

Rigby reeled back as Mordecai yanked his foot away from the raccoon's stomach, throwing his hands in the air. Back in their bedroom, the room itself was thrown into complete and utter disarray. Bedding was on the floor, boxes from the shed and basement stacked up into weird and wonderful configurations, though there was some sense of order to it, if one did use their imagination.

He pressed his face to the window, tail flicking and wagging, nose crushed lightly up against the glass.

"Sirens! And it wasn't us for once?"

Mordecai shook his head and snatched up his cape, joining Rigby in looking out the window with his beak crushed up more firmly against it. He did not, however, say anything about the pain, despite his eyes watering just a little.

"Yes! Dude! The bandstand's on fire and, like, Skips is nowhere to be seen! Where's Skips? He always gets us out of trouble!"

"What about Muscle Man? Dude, where is he?"

"Nowhere!"

Rigby cast his eyes down, melancholy for a moment. For a heartbeat, he was not there, in the bedroom, but a raccoon right back in his supervillain persona, reflecting on all that had come to pass, even though there was still more ahead. He was no longer just any other raccoon anymore but a partner in crime, one who could do so much more.

He was not...only a villain! Not there!

"In that case..." He whispered, his voice barely rising above a husky, hushed tone. "It looks like it's up to us to save them!"

Yet the sirens were from those in positions to better take care of the fire and, truly, their mission right there and then was cleaning everything up to get back to work. Or start work that day, as it was, for the hour was late and there was a party scheduled for that afternoon that they had to have the centre up and running for. That was not the easiest of things and, still, it seemed more difficult than fighting as superhero and supervillain in a fantasy world that, all too often, seemed to intersect with reality.

Hustling around to tidy and flatten all of the boxes that had made their "city" and the "jewellery store" that they had fought in, the two of them still understood one thing in their childish delights.

Heroes and villains never truly went away. Mordecai laughed, his feathers still clumped up and ruffled where he had gotten a little too into their game of imagination. But it had all been worth it, even if there was still a day of work ahead for them. What more could both of them have wanted, however, than something of a break from reality, after all? The real world was too serious...

And heroes and villains always lived to fight another day.