The Monster in The Black Room (Hero & Villain story)

Not Alone Down Here

   Villain swallowed hard, mustering all his courage to speak. "I-I'm Supervillain's son," he whispered fearfully. "D-Do you know him?" A growl in the air made him flinch, closer than he would have liked.
   "...Yes. I know him well," the woman hissed from the darkness. "He... is a violent man. You have his face... but not his cruel eyes..."
   Villain didn't know what to say to that. Had his father been torturing this captive this whole time? Left starved and half-dead? Was he really that vicious? He'd never seen his father's dark side before. He knew his dad was certainly capable of it, and had done some terrible things in the past as a feared criminal... but nothing like this. This was too far.
   "H-How did you end up here?" Villain stammered quietly.
   "Your father brought me here," came the answer. "A year and a half ago. Chained me down here to keep me contained. He uses me as his executioner for disloyal accomplices, or anyone who has ever crossed him. He sends them down here to die by my hand."
   "That's... awful," Villain breathed in disbelief. Could she be lying? Surely the kind, caring father he knew couldn't be this evil... right?!
   "You think this is... 'awful'?" The woman echoed, and there was a note of genuine surprise in her tone. "I would have thought the son of the man who put me down here would have blindly agreed with his maker."
   "I can think for myself," Villain argued before he could stop himself. Then grimaced at the loaded silence that followed his words. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean--" he started stumbling over a hasty apology, but his breath hitched when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder.
   "You are... different from the others that visit." The voice was right next to him this time, making him instinctively flinch. "Why are you down here, if not to torment me with more pain?" It was an honest question, and Villain had a hard time figuring out how best to answer. Because he'd wanted to defy his father? To sate his curiosity? Or just to prove he wasn't chicken like everyone else scared of the Black Room?
   "I... I wanted to see what my father was hiding down here," Villain admitted. "I'm not allowed to come here on my own."
   "Ah, so a little rebel," the woman chuckled. "Digging around behind Supervillain's back."
   "I'm not--" Villain caught himself before he could say she was wrong. Because that would be a lie, and she'd know it.
   "Is your curiosity sated, then?" The woman's raspy voice hissed.
   "Y-Yes," Villain said in a small voice, shaking all over. The hand disappeared from his shoulder. "C-Can I go? Please? I-I won't ever bother you again, I swear--" he started begging and pleading with her, but a crackling laugh stopped him.
   "Why wouldn't I want you to bother me? This is the most interaction I've had... in so long... It's entertaining. Time can get... rather dull when you never see daylight."
   Villain's stomach twisted in knots, imagining how lonely and miserable it must be down here, alone in total darkness day and night. Forced to kill again and again. That reminded him of another question. "Can't you just... not kill anyone?" He cautiously asked. "Maybe some of the men Supervillain throws down here could help you escape?"
   That earned another raspy laugh. "Supervillain thought of that already. If I don't kill whoever he sends to me, I don't get to eat or drink. And I'm already emaciated as it is... if I don't do as he wishes, I'll die. It's my life or theirs."
   Villain couldn't help feeling sick. Supervillain would seriously force a prisoner to kill people just to survive? "What's your name?"
   "..."
   "--You don't have to tell me if you don't w--"
   "...It's Hero."
   The name sounded vaguely familiar, scratching at the back of Villain's mind. Then it hit him.
   Oh. Supervillain's enemy. From ages ago. This was seriously what Supervillain had done with his rival when he'd won the battle?! It had been all over the news, that Hero was presumed dead after the final fight with Supervillain. When in reality, Supervillain had captured her and turned her into his weapon of death in secret.