level the playing field

[ldfsh]

THE NO POWERS MEME

You have powers? That's nice. Now you don't. Time to see how the other half lives.

Comments

[mybadhabit]

[he shrugs] Happiness is a luxury not everyone is allowed. That's simply a fact of this world.

[heroforfun]

It's not.

[mybadhabit]

[snort] You would think that.

[heroforfun]

Yeah. Because it's not.

[mybadhabit]

No. It's because you're a Hero. Heroes always believe in things like that. But I'm a villain, and I have grown up in a world made of suffering and disappointment. It's all I know, and there's nothing you can do to convince me otherwise.

[heroforfun]

We don't live in different worlds. If you think that, then leave that "world" and come live with everyone else. Sounds easy enough to me.

[mybadhabit]

Ugh. [If only he could facepalm right now, because he would really like to] It's not that we live in different worlds, it's that we view the same world differently. You see only the good, I see only the bad, two sides of the same coin, blah blah blah. Look, if you're trying to talk me into becoming a good guy or whatever, you're wasting your breath. Change can only happen when you want it to happen, and I don't want to change.

[heroforfun]

I don't only see good. That's pointless, right? Idealistic. But so's your way of seeing it, and it's just as bad.

You have to see things for what they are.

[mybadhabit]

Saitama, what makes you think I care?

[heroforfun]

Well, I care. Normally I hate trying to talk forever about stuff, it's so tedious.

[mybadhabit]

Why?

[heroforfun]

Because it feels like you should be able to get the point across in just a sentence or two.

[no Saitama he means why do you care]

[mybadhabit]

[huff. He should have known Saitama would do that. The thought had crossed his mind to be more precise, but he couldn't get the words out. Nothing really... felt right, and even just blurting it out...]

[biting his lip, he swallowed down his pride, hating that Saitama was making him ask like this] Why do you even care? About me?

[heroforfun]

[Huh. He never thought about it.

There's a silence before he just shrugs.]

Dunno.

[mybadhabit]

Saitama... [he growled, then gave up. He might as well be pounding his head against the wall, talking to Saitama was turning out to be such a tedious chore] I hate you, and I am going to hate you until my dying breath. Stop wasting your time trying to save me and either finish me off, or just die yourself!

[heroforfun]

So? Why do you care? Why be angry all the time? Isn't that exhausting?

[mybadhabit]

I'm not angry all the time. [he sighs, closing his eyes and sinking deeper into the bed. The band around his left wrist feels looser, something he makes a note of for later, when Saitama is gone or suitably distracted] I ran out of anger a long time ago, and I've been left feeling disappointed and dissatisfied ever since. People are dull, predictable, and pathetic, and I struggle to find meaning in their existence. Before I met you, I could feel myself languishing. I struggled to find meaning in my own existence, and every day felt the same as before. Every job was the same, and every challenge I faced was easier than the last. And now... Fighting against you makes me feel like I am drowning. I can't win, it doesn't matter how hard I try. Even when I have you in the palm of my hand, you still win. I'm not angry, I'm tired and I'm frustrated and I'm disgusted with every inch of myself and the rest of the world.

[heroforfun]

The drowning feeling is kind of amazing, isn't it? The desperate feeling, like you have to win.

[How dare this asshole sound jealous of you, Sonic]

[mybadhabit]

[The problem is is that he's right. The drowning feeling, as much as he hated it and wanted to cleanse it from his soul, was so... so invigorating. He hadn't felt so alive in years.] I don't like it. It makes me stupid. I should have killed you when I had the chance, instead of playing around like that. I just... [He just didn't want it to be over so soon.]

[heroforfun]

Do you really want to lose that feeling? There's nothing else at the top.

[...]

But now we're back to square one. We can both train up and get powerful. I'm even growing my hair back.

[mybadhabit]

[If only his ninja techniques were working right now, or he would be out of these restraints and throttling Saitama right now.] We're not the same, Saitama. [just grit your teeth and breathe, Sonic. It was the only thing you could do right now] I admit, reluctantly, that we aren't that different, but we're still not the same. I didn't spend my life perfecting my techniques just for the fun of it, I'm a perfectionist, especially when it comes to my job. The very idea of not being the best... [he shudders at the thought, swallowing thickly against the bile rising in his throat.] I don't care if there's nothing else at the top, I simply can't stand the idea of being anything less. To that end, I am confident that whatever is affecting us now will soon pass. It must pass. That I cannot ever surpass you is bad enough, but if all my life's effort was rendered obsolete at the whim of some unknown force, I couldn't stand it.

[heroforfun]

It only took three years on my regimen.

[mybadhabit]

[That's it, Saitama's dead. He's going to strangle him with his bare hands. He's going to slam his skull against the floor until there's nothing left but bloody shards of bone.]

[He gets his left wrist free, then starts working on the strap binding his right. Then he has to get the straps across his shoulders... oh god, why are there so many straps? This was so much easier when he could do this in the blink of an eye!]

[heroforfun]

[Oh.

Well, that gives Saitama plenty of time to press the button for nurses.]

[mybadhabit]

[Sonic saw that]

What's wrong, Saitama? Afraid to try and take me on yourself without your powers, now?