A/N: My expertise on the Fannihilator! Maybe it wasn't just the fashion and cool weapons that made Fanboy want to be a villain. Being evil isn't caused by the media, not by the comics, but within.
Fannihilator weakly hunched within the pile of rubble, humiliated, and worst of all, defeated. He was in unbearable pain, almost dead, but his anger burned, fueling his energy. Fresh blood spotted and stained his electrified costume with crimson. A few of his broken ribs poked through his clothes. His bright emerald eyes flickered up to his defeater, Super Chum, and anxiously waited for his death blow. But nothing happened. The silence was tremulous.
The villain opened his mouth to speak and large blood droplets spewed from his mouth, "What are you waiting for?" he spat, "This is the big moment, right? You've done it! You've defeated evil! Now finish the job!" He would lose his life than lose what little dignity he possessed, and even now, he was struggling to maintain it. He was planning to go down with fire left in his mind and heart, triumphant in his own sick, twisted way.
He shifted his beaten body in the rubble of the fallen bookcase, now smashed to smithereens as pain shot up his spine. At least he could still move. He would use his ray gun to blast is former best friend's face off, but it to lay broken at the feet of his enemy.
Super Chum just gave him a pitying gaze and dropped his massive, muscular fists that could end the Fannihilator's life in one swoop. He watched the other male's emerald eyes widen in surprise. "I can't."
Fannihilator actually flinched in fear that was quickly replaced with anger. "What do you mean you can't?" he yelled, chest heaving. He was quickly losing the battle of life, his breath shortening, and Super Chum could sense it. He quickly knelt down next to the other man, who shut his eyes and tensed up, waiting for the end. But it never came. Instead he felt a large hand gently pick his body up out of the rubble, and then gently set down onto clearer ground. He opened his eyes and snarled, "What are you doing? Just kill me, you idiot! You've won!"
"Like I said, I can't do that," Super Chum repeated, his heart clenching at the sight of his enemy so broken, who used to be his best friend. He eyed the villain's injuries. He actually looked alright on the outside, with a few cuts and scratches here and there, but the real damage was on the inside, in his mind, in his heart. "You're hurt."
The other man chuckled quietly under his breath at this obvious statement. "Of course I'm hurt! You slammed me into a bookshelf!" He lifted a violet-gloved hand and made a weak attempt to punch at his enemy to create some fire, but failed.
"No," Super Chum murmured, once again kneeling down over the Fannihilator. "I didn't mean it like that." He took one of the gloved hands in his own and held it to his chest.
"Just kill me," Fannihilator groaned, almost exasperated, "Finish me off. The world will be a better place, and you're the savior, and… blah, blah, blah." He glared up at the younger one when he shook his head in refusal. "Fine, if you don't kill me, then I'll jump off a building first chance I get." He couldn't go on suffering. He needed to die.
"I won't let that happen. I'll pluck you out of the air before you hit the ground. I'll save you," Super Chum said.
"W-Why?" the villain asked, and his emerald eyes widened in utter confusion. This wasn't supposed to be happening. He was supposed to be dead and gone already!
His former best friend smiled. "I think you know, Fanboy. You know quite well."
Just the sound of his former name caused the villain to hiss in anger. That Fanboy was gone forever. "NO! No, no. Don't call me that," Fannihilator whispered, shutting his eyes, but only backfired as happy childhood memories flooded back to him. "I don't know anybody with a stupid name like that."
"I do. And I should be asking you 'why'. So, why?" Super Chum asked. He gently lifted the body up in his arms, and felt it tremble with either rage or fear.
"Why what?"
"Why everything? Why are you like this? Why did you turn into a villain? It's me who should be asking the questions, not you."
"Who wants to know?" Fannihilator scoffed. "It doesn't matter. Why should you even care?"
"I care because you were my best friend!" Super Chum abruptly yelled, causing Fannihilator to jolt. He struggled to get out of the hero's arms, but they held him tight. "Y-You practically raised me! We grew up together, and you are the one who taught me to be a super hero! You were like a brother to me, my only family! I-I thought you loved me! And all you say is that it doesn't matter? And questioning why I care? That is crazy!"
"I DID love you! I did! You were my whole family!" Fannihilator shouted back, and he was in danger of crying, "But things changed!"
"No! YOU changed!" Super Chum accused, tears spilling from his chocolate eyes. You abandoned me to be a villain! A villain of all things! Why? What happened?"
Fannihilator finally broke down. "BECAUSE…!" he screamed.
Super Chum screamed back, "Because why? What motivated you to do such a stupid thing? Why did you turn evil?"
The villain seemed to be thoughtful for a moment, moving his gloved hands over his chest for a sense of security. "I…" he began, then stopped, then continued in a hushed whisper, "I-I was so scared…" he whispered, trembling a bit as he stared into space, the memories washing over him. Super Chum watched, waiting impatiently.
Scared? Fanboy? Of what?
"I was so scared to be… good, I suppose. Whenever I tried to be a hero, it just turned out worse for everyone else," he whispered, "Remember Kyle? Yo? Lenny? Mr. Mufflin (rest his soul); They all went through so much because of me. And I didn't want you to be in the mix."
"But you were good!" Super Chum insisted. "I thought so!"
"You were manipulated," Fannihilator muttered, still lost in his world. "And I didn't want you to… turn out like me. Good or bad." He gripped his own arms and dug his fingers into them. "You didn't know, but I was always so hurt on the inside… because when I tried to be good, bad things happened. And people hated me for it. So I figured I'd turn into what I was good at. Being evil."
"But you were NOT evil!" Super Chum whispered, and clutching the man's gloved fingers in his own. "You were just scared," he amended, "and confused, just like you said!" He stared desperately into the dull, dead emerald eyes of the man, trying to find the ones that used to be so bright, youthful and innocent.
"I am evil, and that's why you should kill me. The world will be better off without such trash," Fannihilator grumbled, trying to twist his fingers away from the hero's. "A waste," he finished with, "That's why you should kill me. I was a waste of life, and I wasted my life chasing a dream that I would never catch."
"Stop saying that," Super Chum whispered, his shiny tears dripping onto his buddy's face, "You mean much more than what you think. You were the best friend I've ever had, and I-I love you."
"Stop it. I don't want to hear any of your lies!" he growled, moving his hands to his ears. Yes, Super Chum could see now. As he stared into the bloodshot emerald eyes, he could recognize that tortured look that resembled years of confusion, hurt, lost morals, fear, anger, and denial.
"I'm not lying, you are. You are lying to me, to the world, and yourself. All these years pretending to be someone you're not, because you feared the world, was a waste."
"Me? Scared of the world?" Fannihilator gasped, "I dare say not! Besides, changing now won't make a difference! I'll die soon, and it won't change a thing!"
"You can be good again! It's easy—" Super Chum began, but was immediately cut off by a slap to the face. He reeled backward, almost dropping the other man, and then placed his free hand over the reddening mark on his cheek. He stared at the Fannihilator—who was fuming—in shock.
The villain pointed an accusing finger at the hero. "Don't give me that garbage!" he yelled. "Don't tell me that it's easy to be good! Because when I was young, whenever I was trying to be good, nothing good came out of it for anybody else! There was only pain and humiliation and LOSS!"
"You were young! You didn't know!" Super Chum argued. He watched as the Fannihilator's breath began to shorten, foreshadowing his near death. He shook his head as tears spilled down his chiseled face. "I don't care. I don't care what you think, because you used to be my hero! I looked up to you so much and you've made me what I am today! You inspired me to help so many people! And have you ever, for one second, thought about how I felt when you just out of nowhere abandoned me? I was terrified! And I was lost. But I pressed forward to meet my lifelong dream. And when I found out that you turned to the dark, I just…" he paused to wipe his eyes. "You were my hero," he whispered, finally, "and I looked at you like you were my big brother, and I was your little brother. And you made so that it was us against the world. But now, the world is only against you. You…" he paused again to bore into Fanboy's angst-ridden mind, "Something was wrong with you. You were always in some sort of pain and I didn't even know it. Yes, I see it now. All of the terrible things you've done: adultery, theft, murder. Yes, I see it now. You are not crazy, Fanboy. You are evil. You are… lost. You went from an innocent child to someone who deserves to rot in prison, and you broke my heart. Do not blame it on the media, or anyone else but yourself."
Fannihilator moved his lips in what Super Chum took as a smile. "I blame myself," he whispered, his high-pitched voice turning raspier due to the blood traveling up his throat. "I blame myself every day." His hands shook as he removed one of his violet hued spike-studded gloved and let it fall to the ground, exposing his wrists. "I have been blaming myself for as long as I can remember." Super Chum gently held the pale, lanky wrist and noticed the multiple, horizontal, thin scars left behind from the self abuse. Some of the scars were recent, but many were fading, old.
"W-When did this…?" Super Chum couldn't finish.
"That day... That day when I revealed to you that I wanted to be a villain. It all went downhill. Heh... You thought I was kidding." He smiled weakly, "Chum…I don't want to be in this world anymore. Not anymore. I have nobody left."
"You have me!" Super Chum cried, gripping Fannihilator's hand in desperation. He felt like a little child again, pleading for his best friend to please don't go!
Fannihilator shook his head, "Chum Chum… It's over." The hero's head snapped up. He hadn't been called that for years. "It's over… for me. Please. It's what I want."
The next thing Super Chum did was out of pity, not vengeance. He gently laid the silent male on the cold hard ground, and placed a hand on his masked forehead, staring into his eyes, and slowly removing his life essence with his powers. "You are done here in this world," Super Chum muttered, "There is nothing left for you here, because you chose the wrong path."
The Fannihilator was taking short little breaths now, his chest heaving, his broken heart weakly struggling against Super Chum's power. His once wide, dilated emerald eyes were closed, one hand on his chest which rose and fell abruptly with each breath. "When I became a hero, I promised myself that I would never kill a human being. But I'm making this exception, for you, my best friend forever, to put you out of your misery. Don't worry. I'll never turn out like you." He gripped the male's free hand and held it to his cheek, a few of his tears making contact with it.
Then, it was over. Fannihilator's heart stopped beating and his body went limp. Super Chum felt the grip on his hand loosen, and he gently let go, placing the hand on Fannihilator's chest. All the years of training, learning, and blindness to what was good, all thrown away? In a way, the man was right. He had wasted his life. He was hurt, confused, and evil. But now it was over. His suffering was gone, at least on Earth.
Chum Chum started to sob, cradling the limp, lifeless body in his arms. "I love you… I love you… I love you…" he whispered repeatedly into Fanboy's ear. He looked down at the man's face and was surprised to see that a wave of relief seemed to be washed over it. "May God be with you, Fanboy, for no one else will be."
Please reveiw!
