[F4A] Turning to a Telepathic Villain for Help[villain speaker][comfort][touch starved]

[F4A] Turning to a Telepathic Villain for Help[villain speaker][comfort][touch starved]

Freeze! When I say "freeze," I mean it. Hands above your head if you want to live past the next three seconds. Think you’re smart, do you? Yes, that’s true. I was in battle this morning; it’s a reasonable theory that my mental powers may be depleted. That’s why I brought a gun. Hands up and turn around slowly!

Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in and threw up all over my porch. Hello there, baby hero. Didn't get enough this morning? Decided to come back for more? Those heroes must be desperate to put you in the field. Would you like a list of all your deficits? Let’s start with your lack of tactical thinking. Case in point: your decision to come here alone. There’s no backup. You liar! You can hide your thoughts from me but you’re not strong enough to mask the presence of another person.

You may think I'm tired after this morning, but you look exhausted. Not used to the rigors of battle, I take it? They got the Whim Wizard out of the mothballs to train you, didn't they? Because your technique stinks of desperation and lies. Please don’t feel obligated to defend old Wizzy—your shielding is so atrocious, I can taste your disdain for him from here. But there aren’t many telepaths out there, are there? Not counting Wizzy, which I don’t because he’s barely more than a B-class psychic conman. When it comes to real mental power, it’s just me, and now you, which makes me think this would be an ideal opportunity to remove a potential obstacle.

Now, unless someone explains themselves quickly, you just came to talk? Oh, well, that explains everything. No, I can’t read your thoughts, but—and I do mean this with full offense—you are spraying your emotions left and right like a skunk trapped on a porch full of rocking chairs. Are you trying to goad me into attacking? Do you want to become another one of my helpless puppets? Please believe that I can easily smash my way through all those so-called mental defenses if I have to. Why haven’t I? I don’t know. Maybe you were right, and my powers are depleted. Maybe I just like the novelty.

If anyone else came here, I’d have their number at 100 meters, and they’d be fully under my control by 50. But here I am, having to ask you what you think you’re doing here, trying to puzzle it out via clues from your emotional state. Your shielding is pitiful, but the fact that you have any shielding at all, it--it’s refreshing. Talking to someone without being subjected to their most private thoughts screamed at me like a Wagner opera, only somehow worse.

Oh, that’s it, isn’t it? That’s why you’ve come to me. You’re exhausted. That tremble in your hands is not from our fight this morning. You hear them too, don’t you? All the time, the crushing, overwhelming noise of humanity’s basest, most selfish thoughts broadcast into your mind 24 hours a day, every day. Do those heroes force you to live in their stupid residential tower in the middle of a packed city? You poor thing! I can’t believe you held on to your sanity this long.

Shush, shush. You don’t have to say it. You were right to come here, to me. Come, sit down. I don’t bite, hero. You don’t have to recoil from me like that. Touch makes the thoughts louder? Interesting. So those gloves are practical? No, it’s not the same for me. It's physical proximity, not physical contact. Wait, hold on a second. Touch makes the psychic noise worse for you, so are you saying you’ve been avoiding physical contact for how long? Yes, it matters. How long since you’ve touched another human being? Take off the gloves. You heard me, take them off. Good. Hands out. Stop shaking. I'm not going to hurt you.

You know how you were shielding those civilians from me this morning? That's what I'm going to do here. I'm going to extend my shielding to you, then I'm going to take your hand. Close your eyes if it helps. There, now don’t panic. I’ve got you. See, skin-to-skin contact, and not a single thought bleeding through from you to me. It’s a muscle you do have and can develop. Whoa there, all right. Uh, we're hugging. You're hugging me. Okay, this is... okay. Are you crying? Oh, no, of course you’re not. There, there. I—I know. I’ve got you. You’re already doing better with reigning that emotional spectrum, and you’re pretty quick on figuring this stuff out by yourself. I imagine you’ve had to be. But that’s all right now. You’re with me now.

What do you mean you’re not here to change sides? Stop, stop, stop. You are here for my help, building better shields, learning to cope with mental overload? Yes? Right. And you remember that I am, in fact, a villain? So, to summarize, you expect that I will help you despite knowing that you fully intend to use what I teach you against me? Explain your thought process on why the hell you think I’d agree to that.

I offered to help because I assumed you were here to join me. That’s the only logical response to powers like ours. Yes, logical. You hear them too—the human smog of petty, nasty, selfish, and short-sighted thoughts every day. The sheer humdrum evil of it all, and from those heroes too. Humanity cannot be allowed to go on like this. They need to be shown the errors of their ways! I was not monologuing, I was explaining. Look, the point is, humanity sucks, and you and I just know how deep the rot is.

That is so disgustingly curing—it could only come from a person who thinks they can walk up to their enemy’s house, ask for their help, and that they’ll get it. Oh, really, and how do you know I’m going to help you? Nonsense. You got nothing from me. The shields around my thoughts are impenetrable; you just experienced that yourself. An emotion I let slip in this morning’s battle? I don’t believe you. No, I don’t remember shouting it… Oh, you mean when that team captain of yours turned around and yelled at you for not countering my mind puppets fast enough? Yes, I do remember that. What of it?

I’m sure I was feeling rage—it’s my secret, hero. I’m always—pity? No. Or maybe when I saw your face crumbling as that muscle-bound idiot scolded you while you were doing the mental equivalent of juggling chainsaws on a tightrope. Sure, I felt pity for you at that moment. That is not why I freed my puppets. It was—I—it was an accident. It certainly wasn’t to help you. If I wanted to help you, I’d have ordered the puppets to swarm that hero captain and his smug, stupid face.

Okay, okay, listen, listen. Fine. You know what? I’ll help you learn to shield with no obligation to join me. Now you’re wondering what I want from you in return? Seems like that’s something you should have asked yourself before coming out here. Let’s say I’ll do it for the pleasure of your company.

No, not like that. Don’t flatter yourself. My shields are better than yours, but I'm still forced to isolate myself out here. But this head of yours is so quiet, so soothing. I’d forgotten what it’s like to be around someone without wanting to murder them. Though if you want to fling yourself into my arms again, I wouldn’t say no.

Don’t blame me for your actions, hero. You’re the one person on this planet who can’t claim I forced you to do anything. No, I’ll train you, and I won’t have to force anything because once you get your head sorted out and you aren’t getting hero Kool-Aid poured directly onto your brain anymore, you’ll realize I’m right. I'm just going to buy you time, hero. Then we’ve got a deal, and we will see who convinces who. Figure out your own excuses for getting away, and I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow. How about one more of those passionate embraces for the road? A handshake, then. Goodbye for now, hero. I'm quite looking forward to seeing you again.

Keywords

• Telepathic Villain
• Battle
• Mental Powers
• Tactical Thinking
• Desperation
• Shielding
• Emotional State
• Physical Contact
• Mental Overload
• Humanity's Thoughts
• Villain's Help
• Pity
• Hero Training
• Isolation

FAQ

Q: Why did the villain bring a gun if they have telepathic powers? A: The villain assumed their mental powers might be depleted from a previous battle and brought a gun as a precaution.

Q: Why does the hero seek the villain’s help? A: The hero is overwhelmed by constant psychic noise and needs help building better mental shields and managing mental overload.

Q: Does the villain help the hero out of pity? A: Initially, the villain denies helping out of pity but eventually admits to feeling pity for the hero being unfairly scolded by their team captain.

Q: What is the nature of the relationship between the villain and hero by the end of the conversation? A: The villain agrees to help the hero build better mental shields without any obligation for the hero to join their side, in exchange for the hero's company.

Q: Will physical contact continue to be necessary for the hero to manage the psychic noise? A: Yes, physical contact is part of the method the villain uses to extend their shielding to the hero.

Q: Does the villain expect the hero to change sides eventually? A: The villain believes that once the hero gets their mental state in order, they will see things the villain's way and possibly change sides.

Q: What does the villain gain from helping the hero? A: The villain enjoys the soothing quality of the hero's quiet mind and finds it refreshing to be around someone without wanting to harm them.