[hider=Untitled Hero vs Villain Scene]
Lukas stared out at the city. It was in ruins, fires burned on buildings half crumbled. Sparks flickered from downed live wires. Sirens screamed in the distance, and the screams of survivors carried on the winds. The wails of mourners. He could see it all from the roof he stood on, staring - gaping really - at the destruction laid out before him.

He hadn’t wanted any of this. A tear rolled down his cheek; he felt it only as the salt of it soaked into the large gash on his cheek to mix with the blood still creeping down his chin and neck. It wasn’t fair. 

“Are you ready to surrender yet?” 

His breath hitched for a moment hearing the tired grunt in the voice that came from behind him. He didn’t want to turn. He didn’t want to put his back to this mess. It needed someone to acknowledge it. It needed someone to figure out a way to fix it.

“Make it easier on everyone. Surrender. Then this city can finally rest.”

His hands balled into fists at his sides. Another tear chased after the first as his eyes narrowed. “You say that like I did this,” he growled. His eyes closed, trying to force the last of his tears to escape. He had felt cold seeing how much destruction had been wrought upon an unwitting populace. Now...a fire started burning in his gut. If he wasn’t careful, wasn’t mindful, it wouldn’t remain there.

“Considering we’re the only ones that know better - “ there was a pause. He could almost hear the speaker smile. The villain that called himself a hero. “That’s all anyone will believe. A lie that comforts someone is better than the truth that people may not understand. In the end, this is for the greater good.”

Lukas turned. The fire within erupted, engulfing his fists as he glared daggers at the villain in hero’s clothing. They were both tired, both hurting, but now...He was pissed. “How can this ever be for the greater good? Because you dubbed yourself a hero? Foiled petty criminals and decided to stand against someone that was trying to do some good?” He spat every word with all the venom he could muster while not just losing himself to the rage burning within.

Sentinel let out a huff. “Don’t try painting yourself a hero. You weren’t trying to help anyone. You just weren’t being petty about it.”

“And what makes you any better? No one innocent got hurt until you stepped in! Now look!” Lukas thrust a hand back at the city in turmoil behind him. He was barely containing the fire from leaping from his fists. “Because of you, people are dead. It will cost millions to rebuild. To recover. You’ve destroyed families! People don’t just recover from that.”

“And no one will know.” Sentinel’s lips twitched into a lopsided smile. It didn’t look like he was happy. Just that he was right. Because....he’d done such a good job painting Lukas the villain in all of this that no one would believe it if anyone said it hadn’t been him to start. No one would believe Lukas had tried to [i]stop[/i] this. Lukas would be alone against the world if he didn’t stop it.

His shoulders slumped. The fire went out. From his hands, from his eyes. Tears slipped forth again as his face crumbled from the rage to heartache. He dropped to his knees, just staring at the masked crusader before him. His head slumped, eyes closing, as he raised his hands. “Fine.” He breathed the word, almost impossible to hear over the sound of the city crumbling around them. “I’ll take the fall. All I ask...”

Sentinel had started toward the kneeling man, but at the stop of the request, he hesitated. He eyed the man suspiciously, and silently waited.

Lukas lifted his head to look at the city’s false hero. “You go to every funeral you caused. Someone has to. Someone that is responsible has to be there to show that it mattered they died. That they weren’t just a faceless casualty.”

The other man blinked, gaping - now - at the person they’d painted a villain for years now. “Why does it matter so much to you?”

“No one is just a faceless casualty. And so far...this city hasn’t had a single savior that acknowledged that.” Lukas dropped his head again. His voice went quiet. “You know what causes a person to become the bad guy?” 

Sentinel stepped closer, leaning to hear what Lukas was saying. “What?”

“The indifference of someone that claims they’re the hero.” Lukas shot to his feet. His fist ignited in a heat so hot, the fire burned white. He drove that fist straight into Sentinel’s chest, in the spot he’d cracked in the man’s body armor during the fight. The heat seared the skin as soon as it neared, and the force helped him break through to the bone. 

Sentinel’s eyes went wide. He gasped, losing his breath from the force and unable to suck in another decent one. A bit too much blood escaped with a cough. He shook, a very subtle full body tremor, as he turned his gaze to fix on the cold stare of the dark haired man before him. He folded over the fist, unable to keep his footing.

Lukas opened his hand, letting the fire ignite around more of him before he forced all those flames to encompass the man in his grasp. “I swore the day my mother was put in the ground that I wouldn’t let another person be a faceless casualty. I swore to my mother’s grave that this city’s only heroes would be the ones paid to do so. You weren’t a problem until you escalated. And now...” He stepped back to let the man crumble to the ground. If the masked vigilante was able to draw breath, he was sure he’d be screaming. “You won’t be a problem again.”

Lukas turned and walked for the roof access door. He heard Sentinel shift on the ground. He could smell the burning flesh. He never enjoyed it. But it was work that needed to be done. And now, he needed to start taking tally of all the funerals he needed to attend.
[/hider]