A/N: This is the last modern AU; I know most people don't like Modern AUs, but this was a prompt I really liked. I have a sci-fi AU as well, then it's all canon / minor canon divergence drabbles. Also, I have all 100 prompts! Thank you so much everyone; you're the best readers ever, and all of the prompts are fantastic.
(Theme Thirty-Nine) Heroes (Supervillain AU)
(As Prompted By) Fake Nails Real Hearts & HeavenBesideYou13
The newspaper that a man in the diner is reading details the story of The Phoenix and The Acrobat in a fight that took out an entire city block. Their rivalry grows stronger and New York City grows in tension day by day. It has its host of superheroes and villains, but two of them stand head and shoulders above the rest. The Acrobat is the embodiment of good, in many ways, but not afraid to dip to her enemy's level.
The Phoenix is the most competent villain superhero history has ever seen. And they despise each other entirely. The bright taunts and girlish laugh of The Acrobat versus the twisted smirks and clever puns of The Phoenix make quotes in newspapers, and the pictures of their clashes are on the front pages.
But in a world of superheroes, high school and nothing that can keep them together, Azula and Ty Lee could steal time, just for one day.
They are sitting in a diner, Azula looking incredibly uncomfortable. She studies the menu, which is distinctly different from the beautiful ones on parchment or expensive paper at the restaurants her father takes her to. Her date is blowing bubbles in her soda with a straw, as Azula looks at her already cold black coffee and wonders why she is doing this.
"I simply can't decide," Azula purrs sarcastically. "The food all looks so good from the... pictures."
Her lips curl in a snarl at how beneath her this restaurant is. But Ty Lee seems completely content. Ick.
Azula wants to shudder. The hideous red booths, the wait staff that isn't bending over backwards, oh the things she does for love.
There are three things of which Azula is certain. One, pretending to be normal is difficult. Two, she is in love with Ty Lee. And three, she has followed in her father's footsteps and embraced the life of New York City's greatest supervillain.
Azula may be the daughter of a millionaire, making footnotes in gossip magazines, but by night, she is a super-villain. She goes to her lovely private school, meets her girlfriend who likely is skipping school, goes to museums (which Ty Lee is bored by) and diners (which Azula finds cringe-worthy) and then by night, fights against the Painted Lady, Blue Spirit, Runaway and Acrobat just as daddy is proud of.
Her father is slightly less proud of Azula's choice in a mate. But there is something about Ty Lee that Azula finds irresistible. They have been friends for a long, long time, and the attraction has always been present. Perhaps they are bad for each other, but as Azula has learned from robbing banks and a variety of other conniving plots, being bad can feel so good.
"When do you have to be home?" Ty Lee asks as she lifts her coral pink lips from her straw.
Azula taps her expensive phone, carefully maneuvering around her pricey fake nails, and looks at the time. She clears her throat.
"Soon. But we have time. Maybe we should skip out on dinner and go for a walk." Azula crosses her fingers in hopes that Ty Lee will say yes. She would do anything to get out of this place.
"Yeah. Let's just go." Ty Lee tosses her menu aside and leaps up with preternatural grace. She is flexible, strong and moves like a dancer. Her explanation is years upon years of gymnastics, and Azula often wonders why she does not have any Olympic medals.
Azula leaves cash on the table for their drinks and the untouched appetizers and grabs her designer bag. She slings it over her shoulder as Ty Lee grabs her hand, then pulls away, wiping her sweaty palms on her blue jeans with a small apology, and holds Azula's hand again.
Ty Lee gazes at Azula as they head to the door. She can be incredibly mean, frustrating and a constant downer. But Ty Lee is not perfect either, she parties and drinks and gossips. But they are lovers, and that is a fact.
They walk out onto the street, the sun already setting and the moon rising. It is the dead of winter and Ty Lee wraps herself around Azula for warmth. Azula smirks faintly at the source of her heat, of which Ty Lee could never know. A secret identity is intriguing, and Azula cannot exactly go about flaunting that she has strange powers.
She looks at the magazines on one of the stands, the man running it playing a game on his phone. It could be robbed so easily. Ty Lee starts flipping through a celebrity magazine, Azula picks up an identical copy and sees a variety of snapshots of The Blue Spirit, The Painted Lady, The Runaway and The Acrobat. Vigilantes, all of them, in a corrupt city that needs to be cleaned in their opinion. But it is Azula's city, and in her battles, she always wins.
"Oh, look, this one is about you," Ty Lee chirps, opening the magazine and holding it so close to Azula's face that she has to blink several times. It is an article about her, and she has already read it multiple times.
Despite her appearances as a socialite in magazines, she finds the articles about her alter ego far, far more interesting. Her favorite picture is of her with her body coursing with lightning, right before she struck down The Runaway, who had torn up half of the street with her powers.
The Runaway bent a car and threw it at Azula, the metal crunching under her tiny form of a teenager, but Azula melted it with the signature blue fire.
That fight made almost every news outlet, and Azula was quite proud of herself.
Ty Lee pays for her magazine, shoves it into her Hello Kitty backpack and grabs Azula again. They kiss, warm lips against each other. Azula breathes in for a moment, the scent of her perfume always familiar in a way she cannot quite place a finger on.
"Do you want to go to Central Park? Oh, oh, we can go on a moonlit stroll in front of all of the Christmas decorations!" She looks very proud of herself for thinking of that. Azula tries to hide how endearing she finds it.
"I suppose I have no choice," Azula purrs, shrugging. She conceals a smile as Ty Lee tugs her along through the night, talking about so much but saying nothing at all. Azula honestly just tunes her out most of the time, but pretends to be listening.
They find themselves in the park, Ty Lee thrilled by the lights. Azula examines them, trying to look disinterested. But it is fun for her, in a life that is run by strict rules and lessons and the constant need to be perfect for his father. The heir to a company. The... Ty Lee kisses her and Azula forgets for a brief moment that she can feel the weight of the world on her shoulders, slowly pressing down, suffocating her.
It is during that kiss, long and passionate and burning like the fire that Azula can produce, that an actual fire flies at them. Azula pushes Ty Lee out of the way, blocking it and abruptly realizing she is going to have a fabricate some lie for the outlandish act she just performed.
The Blue Spirit. Azula leaps up from the ground, startled he attacked her in the middle of the park and she without a disguise.
Of course he knows her. The Runaway, The Painted Lady and The Acrobat may have no idea, but The Blue Spirit Azula knows. The Blue Spirit Azula trained with before he became a reformed supervillain. The Blue Spirit is her brother.
Azula throws a barrage of blue at him, lightning up the night in cerulean.
"You have a lot of nerve!" Azula shouts, summoning a whirlpool of fire. He blocks it, but it sends him stumbling backwards. "Why don't you take off the mask? You're not kidding anyone!"
He pauses, and then Zuko pulls off his mask and tosses it to the ground. The telltale scar from the day he betrayed his family and their legacy of amorality and superhuman powers. Azula smirks as she stands and decides she will very much impress her father by finishing him off once and for all.
"Any time is a good time to face off with your nemesis," Zuko remarks, cracking his knuckles. "You've really let your guard down now that you're going soft over that girl of yours."
"You think you're my nemesis?" Azula laughs mockingly, not playing along with his attempts at the threatening language taught by Ozai. Zuko is as bland as Superman and useless as Aquaman; he cannot pretend to be Ozai and threaten Ty Lee without looking ridiculous. "You aren't worth the time for me to fight. It never is much of a clash."
"So who is it then? I think the tale of brother versus sister is pretty interesting." Zuko steps to the side and Azula lights her fingers.
"You know, being honest, I'd have to say The Acrobat," Azula says earnestly. She is the only opponent against which Azula has been unable to stand. She is the only one who has stopped Azula from winning. The power to strip away superpowers is... a little more threatening than bending metal with bare hands, controlling water and fighting fire with fire.
Ty Lee stirs slightly at that. She watches the fight slowly, feeling ready to hyperventilate. No, there's no way. There's no way her girlfriend is a super villain. Alright, it's a bit hot. A bit very hot. Ty Lee always did like the bad girls. But as a hero herself... it is probably unwise to be dating her.
Zuko throws fire at Azula and she blocks it.
"Oh, ZuZu," she sighs, clucking her tongue and quickly flipping out of the way of his second attack. "When will you ever learn that if you fight fire with fire, you just get burned?"
The flames that come out of her hands light the trees ablaze. Zuko puts them out and cautiously moves around Azula. He thought he would have it easy, going against her while she was on a romantic stroll. But she is far, far too prepared.
She summons lightning and Zuko's golden eyes flash. But when she releases the bolt, her signature move, he seizes it in midair and it surges through his body. He tosses it back at her and suddenly, she hits the ground. She does not feel the burn of electricity; Ty Lee, the girl who gossips about the rest of the cheerleading squad and still watches children's cartoons, has just shoved her out of the way and narrowly dodged the lightning herself.
Ty Lee springs forward in three flips, and, suddenly, Zuko's powers are gone. Azula's eyes flash.
The Acrobat. Well, isn't this funny. And The Blue Spirit is her ally... and she just struck her ally down to save Azula... Azula supposes it is love.
"Come on, come Azula, we have to go," Ty Lee shrieks, seizing Azula by the arm and pulling her off of the ground. They run through the park and stop at the Alice in Wonderland monument, ducking beneath the metal statues, hidden.
"You didn't tell me you were The Acrobat."
"You didn't tell me you were my arch rival."
"You are the most insufferable goody two shoes. And I thought I was dating someone more morally questionable."
Ty Lee kisses her. "I think I may flip sides."
"Hmm?" Azula smirks wickedly. She may be cold and calculated, but she does find it romantic and messily hot that she could have corrupted the angel of New York City.
"I'm starting to think that maybe evil has its perks." Ty Lee raises an eyebrow with a small, seductive smile.
"Like what?"
"Like you."
A/N: This one was really weird, but fun to write. I have no clue if I pulled it off, but I hope I did.
