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> "Take it from someone who has batted for both teams..." The villainess purred in deliberate innuendo just to enjoy getting the defiant heroine's face to turn that lovely shade of embarrassed pink. "...deep down, regardless of whatever bull they might try and sell the world and themselves, heroes and villains are exactly the same."
> She regarded her cocktail a moment, draining it then tossing the glass carelessly aside, leaving her seat and beginning to approach.
> "We all do it for that high we get from facing incredible danger. That rush that can only be felt when you are a whisker away from victory or defeat and you know that even the slightest mistake will cost you everything. Ultimately, we're two sides of the same coin."
> As the heroine sputtered for a retort, she continued, with the same level tone of a schoolteacher reprimanding a stubborn student.
> "If we didn't have you, we'd rule the world and be bored stiff from not being able to break any rules, and if you didn't have us, you'd be at exactly the same level of apathetic doldrums as you would have no rulebreakers to fight."
> She grinned viciously, getting right in the face of her young nemesis, savoring the look in her foe's eyes as the girl pondered this notion.
> "We're both adrenaline junkies, cupcake, we just habitually lie to ourselves about the reasons for doing what we do so we don't have to admit it..." -- Anon Guest

Villainess expected a speech. It was almost written in the universal script. Something about the kindness of the human heart and what the choice to be a hero was all about. Blah blah bla.

Instead, the brightly-costumed hero said, "Well, you're not wrong."

This was not in the script. So much so that Villainess said, "Of course you'd say--" before her brain caught up with current events. "Wait. What?"

"You're not wrong. I was into parkour before my powers kicked in, and being a queer in a strictly right-wing area comes with its own adrenaline rush. Try walking home late after Pride with half your glam still on, sometime. It's in my origin story."

Villainess stumbled. What was next in the way the game went? Oh yes. "You could join me, and we could recreate the world in our image."

"Already working on that," chirped the hero. "I mean, you're hot and all, but you're doing only _some_ right things the wrong way, know what I'm saying? Trashing human rights just so you squish the bigots under your thumb isn't going to make them any less bigoted. Hell, it's probably going to make them even more militant. You can't answer force with force and expect things to de-escalate."

This was so blatantly against the way things ran that Villainess had to think on her feet. "What? So I should roll over and play Little Miss Nice Bi. Look just like everyone else and keep my mouth shut when Karen goes off about everyone like us lurking in bathrooms so they can abuse children?"

The hero rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you're never going to stop Karens from believing in Schroedinger's Child Abuser. You can well-actually yourself to death on those idiots and they'll trot out, _I still don't support the lifestyle,_ like it's some kind of trump card."

Together, they both grumped, "Don't get me started on Trump..." Then shared a mutual Look. They were attacking the same problem from opposite sides, with opposite methods, and perhaps a few opposing ideas.

"Join me," offered the hero, "and we can figure out the logistics of where and how to apply the right kind of leverage..."

Tempting... so tempting... "Like staging a bunch of terrorist attacks and linking them to white supremacy organisations?"

"Hasn't worked before," sighed the hero. Interesting... "Neither has getting them to act like terrorists. The root of the problem is that the governing body is still old white men who like being white men in charge and not listening to anyone else _but_ old white men."

"So... assassination?"

"Tempting, but no. Assassination only turns them into posthumous heroes. You need to get them to sabotage _themselves_ to the point where even their most neurotic fanbase can't support them. I've had some progress with memetic infiltration in the lighter edges of the right wing. Changing the pinion opinion, if you will."

Villainess started undoing the hero's bonds. "We really _aren't_ that different, you and I... What was your codename again?"

"Alm. It's a long story."

Villainess made herself comfortable on the former death trap table. "Tell me more about this memetic infiltration..."

[Image <a href="https://www.canstockphoto.com">(c) Can Stock Photo / Jiripravda</a>]

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