(FICNAP) Nature of Supervillains, Mwahahahahahaha!

This is an idea I had when I first read this fanfic two years ago. I imagined what Sovlin’s encounter with humans would be like in this universe. The original story doesn’t go in that direction, so I figured this alternate version was still worth telling.

P.S.: English isn't my first language, so let me know if I make any mistakes or use any awkward phrasing.

Memory transcription subject:  Captain Sovlin, Federation Fleet Command

Date [Standardized Evil Time]: August 21, 2136

It had been over a month since our neighbors Venlil had been conquered by predators returned from the dead, and the Federation was still doing nothing.

Venlil Prime had simply been quarantined and considered lost, under the pretext that humans posed a far greater risk of PD contamination than anything else, even the Axur. As soon as Aafa was informed that they had returned from the dead, President Nikonus's reaction was to sever all communications and divert all ships en route to the planet, including my strike fleet. I didn't even know what we were up against, though I could only imagine the horrors these monsters must be inflicting on our fellow prey.

But I wasn't about to give up so easily. I patrolled the very edge of the Venlil Republic's borders, looking for anything that might give me a legal excuse to cross the quarantine cordon. Piri was not fooled and did not appreciate me playing with orders like that, but she and Tarva were friends, and she was worried enough about her fate to let me take risks.

That had brought me here, to the edge of the predators' new conquest. The crew leapt into action, as Recel declared a new course for the fringes of Venlil space. We could hide behind the guise that we were patrolling and strayed into their territory by mistake, if we were to encounter a Federation patrol. All I needed was to get in range for our signal interceptors. Local broadcasts could offer some clues, if subspace readings proved unattainable.

Our warship pivoted, angling us toward the forbidden region. I settled down in the captain’s chair and monitored the bridge. We would drift over the border gradually, in the interest of stealth. If we were able to pull this mission off, I would be acclaimed for my initiative. Satisfaction swelled in my chest, at the thought of adding to my repute.

“Sir. You might want to look at the scanner data!” Recel barked. “Venlil patrol ship, heading straight for us.”

I turned my head abruptly towards his station. Survivors of the planet's collapse! This was even better than I had hoped, because in addition to saving lives, I would have the opportunity to get firsthand accounts!

According to the computer, the patrol vessel was on an intercept course toward us. The sensor data suggested their speed was at max velocity, well above all safety recommendations. They were going to burn out their own engines, pushing them to that degree! They must have been truly desperate to escape!

“Venlil ship, do you copy? Captain Sovlin here.” I asked over the comms frequency. “We can send medical assistance if needed.”

“Oh, thank you Solgalik! This is Slanek from the Venlil Space Corps! I escaped from Venlil Prime after capturing one of the predator occupants! I need you to gather all the troops from your ship at the embarkation bay to retrieve him!”

The news left me speechless. In centuries of war against the Axur, no one from the Federation had ever managed to capture a live specimen. Even facing them in the field was difficult. That one of these new predators should be captured almost immediately after their rediscovery, and by an Enlil of every possible species, was inconceivable. Either it was the most miraculous stroke of luck in military history, or humans weren't as dangerous as the Axur, even though everything indicated they surpassed them in cruelty.

“Received, come aboard, and don't worry about the predator, I will come myself with the best exterminators.”

“Really? He'll be delighted to... I mean, I would be delighted to meet with you right away, Captain. I have... urgent information that I must reveal to you in person.”

[Memory transcription skip: 23 minutes]

The patrol ship's door opened slowly, revealing a Venvil in the strangest outfit I've ever seen. He wore metal shoulder pads far too bulky to be practical, studded with spikes, and held a bright red cape in place. A belt with pouches and a buckle shaped like a huge, stylized, grinning predator's face encircled his waist, and his face was hidden by a black mask that covered everything except his mouth and eyes.

I didn't have time to dwell on his strange taste in clothing, though. The predator was in there, and although he told me he was unconscious and tied up, you can never be too careful with those things.

“Good work, soldier. Now, step aside and let us take over.”

“Of course, Captain. Go ahead, it's all yours.”

As he stepped aside, I loaded aboard the ship with my entire team... and came upon what was a human wearing a more elaborate version of the Venlil's costume, perfectly free, conscious, and above all armed.

“SHOOT! BURN THIS BEAST!”

Bullets, plasma, and flames rained down on the vile creature, with no more effect than a mere breeze. A strange, shimmering energy field enveloped its body, leaving it completely unharmed until our ammunition ran out.

“Mwahaha! Nice try, proud heroes! My turn now! Tremble before my CAPTURATOR 9000!“

It pointed at us what looked like an oversized, cheap plastic child's toy in garish colors. Recel tried to shield me with his body, and everything turned white before I felt myself sinking into unconsciousness.

[Memory transcription skip: 18 hours]

I woke up as groggy as if a mazic thing had fallen on my head. Slowly, I took in my surroundings as memories returned. I realized I was in a cell. Probably that monster's cattle pen. Opposite me, I could see Recel, in a prison similar to mine; in fact, there was a whole row of them. The cages were strangely decorated from the outside. They crudely imitated the face of an unidentifiable predator with an oversized maw, its elongated teeth serving as bars.

As the sounds around me became identifiable, I heard the footsteps of a large group of individuals heading my way. A new predator with a flag and a costume as convoluted as the previous one stopped in front of my cell, followed by several dozen Venlil children carrying school bags on their backs. My first reaction was to be angry when I saw this monster filling its cattle pens by specifically targeting children, but... something was amiss. Several in fact. The children did not look terrified, but looked all around them with an air of varying interest. Nothing seemed to force them to follow the predator or prevent them from escaping, and why make them take their schoolbag?

“And here, we have the super prison of evil. Imprisoning one’s enemies in a stylish way is an important job for any supervillain worthy of the name. You are lucky, because today we have a very famous prisoner. Say hello to Captain Solvin, kids”

””HELLO CAPTAIN SOVLIN.””

“Don’t ask for an autograph, please. We must continue our visit. We then go to the parking lot to see the super tank of the death.”

The human left again, dragging with him the venlils. It didn’t look like a cattle guard taking his victims. As absurd as it may seem, it felt like a... guided tour.

”Ah, finally wake up”

I turned abruptly to find in front of me Slanek, the traitor venlil, still in his grotesque costume, entered my cell through a door at the back that I hadn’t noticed because it seemed to merge into the game. He places a bag at his feet. Confusion swept him off, and I pointed to the management where the strange group had left, and asked him. "In the name of the Protector, what is THIS ?"

”That? Just a school trip.” He took one of the chairs hanging out in my cell and sat on it. ”I imagine you have a lot of questions. to begin with, sorry for deceiving you captain, but I was just doing my job. You see, in order to get to know each other, humans have launched an exchange program so that we can see for ourselves how evil they are. Each volunteer is associated with a supervillain to work for him as an evil minion. The costume is provided with it. And on top of that, we have a good dental insurance.”

I was horrified by the extent of the betrayal of the venlils. ”Do you work voluntarily with these beasts? Humans DEVORE your people! ”

Slanek made grand gestures ”No no, it’s a misunderstanding. I know they are predators, but humans don’t want to hurt us!” He fell silent for a moment and took on a pensive air. ”Well, in fact, yes, i think that they want to hurt us, but I think they don’t understand the concept well. I have someone who will explain the situation to you better than me.”

The hidden door opened again, and Tarva entered. Apart from obvious fatigue, she looked surprisingly unscathed for a ruler whose planet was invaded by predators.

”Hello, Sovlin. Sorry to see you again under such circumstances, but I am in a hurry. Humans are frustrated with the lack of epic resistance to their so-called domination. So, since they heard that you were a hero of the Federation, they decided to kidnap you so that you can fight against them. That you struggle in what they consider to be the traditional way, I specify. ”

Slanek opened the bag at his feet and brought out a blue and yellow suit adapted to the Godjid morphology, with the back open for the spines.

”So you must have a motley suit with a mask to hide your identity. I don’t know about the humans want you to hide your identity while they all know it and I don’t want to know it. Recel was not planned, but as it is your right arm, the humans decided to include it because according to them, it’s always good for a hero to have a faithful sidekick. Your pseudonym will be spike-man and his tentacle-boy. Sorry, the human in charge of the project is not good at finding names. ”

Slanek then took out a bottle of alcohol. I recognized the brand, it was the strongest of all. For any other species, drinking it was a direct trip to the hospital, see the morgue. I had known someone who used it as a paint stripper.

”I give you this as a bonus to keep up with your new job. Believe me, it’s very useful for anyone who has to interact with humans. Make it last because it’s out of stock at the moment. now, you excuse me, I have to take Noha, the human ambassador, to Aafa.”

I couldn’t do anything other than listen with an air attracted to all the absurd instructions she gave me, but this last sentence takes me out of my torpidity.

”Do you want to bring a predator into the middle of the Federation assembly and let him out among the deputies? What’s wrong with you, Tarva? You still don’t believe that this ambassador will come to negotiate peace and bring his people into the Federation?”

”Of course not, come on, what an absurd idea. No, he will threaten everyone and declare that his species will conquer the entire arm of Orion to oppress us, make evil laughter at random moments, shoot representatives with a weapon that makes pink fur grow on people, then we will escape by teleportation when the exterminators come to burn us alive.”

For a few seconds I thought Tarva was playing a joke on me. If that were the case, then she was the best actress in the whole Federation. She had managed to keep a total seriousness while exposing all these ridiculous actions. In fact, she even looked vaguely tired, as if explaining something obvious to a child. I began to wonder if she was not seriously affected by the disease of predators. Maybe that was the goal of humans: not to eat prey, but to transmit their defilement to them.

”Tarva, please, why are you doing this? Why do you do exactly what humans want?”

”BECAUSE THERE'S NO REASON I SHOULD BE THE ONLY ONE THEY'RE PISS OFF !!!”

I recoiled at Tarva's completely no-venlil outburst of rage. Even the Axurs had never looked so ferocious. She grabbed me by the shoulders and brought her face just a few inches from mine, staring straight into my eyes in an uncomfortably predatory way.

”Sovlin, listen to me carefully. I’ve had to put up with these parodics predators for two months now. For two months, every single day, they’ve been parading into my office, laughing to themselves as they go on and on about how evil they are, recounting their lives full of ridiculously complicated childhood traumas, and laying out their plans to curl the wool of every venlil or some equally idiotic scheme. And meanwhile, the Federation does nothing. Every time, Nikonus tells me I have to keep the humans occupied as long as possible, that everyone is looking for a solution, that the herd must stick together, that he has to think of the good of the whole Federation and not just one planet, and that he’s very grateful to me for our sacrifice. So his herd, he can shove that deep down where the sun never shines. So now, put on that dumb costume and go play with the clowns, you too.”