The Villain and Hero (A Hermitcraft AU Rewrite)

Fallen

The boy woke up in a cold sweat, tired and scared. He wasn't sure how long he had been in this wretched place, but any time at all was far too long. The labs consisted of almost all white walls and floors, with bright lights lined up on the ceiling. The smell of bleach tickled the boy's nose and stung his fragile eyes. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked over to the clock on the other side of the room. It was early, but not too much so. Someone would be here to check up on him soon. He sat up and leaned against the wall, curling his legs and arms into his body, shivering from the lab's constant chill.

Somewhere along the night, the boy nodded off once again, only to be woken by loud voices and the slamming of a door. He jerked awake before forcing himself to still, listening carefully to the conversation going on between his normal scientist and someone he hadn't seen before. He understood some English now, from the conversations around him and the scientist talking to him. Not a lot, but enough to get by.

"-fit into the timeline?"

"All of the prep work is done, we'll start the first trial today."

"Good. I expect to hear of the results as soon as you get them."

"Of course sir."

"I'll leave you to it, then. And Pearl?"

"Yes?"

"Don't f*ck it up this time." He walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

"That's Dr. Moon to you, sir." She rubbed her eyes with one hand and turned to the boy. "But that's just Vexlings for ya. So arrogant."

"Trial?" The boy whispered.

"It's what we've been preparing for. We can't have two years of testing and innovation go to waste y'know. And I know you can do it."

"Do what?"

"Survive."

...

Stress knocked on Bdubs' door, not expecting a response. But what she really wasn't expecting was a non Bdubs to answer the door. He was tall, and his crisp uniform caused Stress to take a step back.

"I'm sorry, miss, but Bdubs isn't here right now."

Perhaps it was the sleep deprivation, perhaps it was the instinct to protect her friends, but Stress was not pleased with the officer's response. "And why is he not here?" Stress asked a little too sweetly. "Because you lot chased him off." She ended with venom.

"He's a vigilante."

"He's a hero."

"What he's doing is against the law."

"You've never cared about that before."

A shout from across Bdubs' apartment and the officer turned his head. "Yes, Captain?" A muffled response came and the office gestured for Stress to enter the apartment. She had been in many times before, but never had it seemed so lifeless. His plants drooped and most of the natural light from the balcony window was cut off by a huge tarp.

The officer led her over to who she assumed to be the Captain. He was sitting down in one of the chairs around Bdubs' dining table with pages and pages of reports and files sitting in front of him.

"Back to work, Impulse."

"But-"

The Captain cut him off with a harsh stare, and Impulse scampered away.