Work Text:
Strongarm set the file on the table in front of him, taking a moment to acknowledge how thin it was. Almost as thin as the man it was about, in fact.
With nothing else to do with it, Strongarm flicked it open to remove the first page, containing the most bare bone basic information they’d been able to scrounge up.
“Dr. Flug Slys, correct?” Strongarm asked.
The man sitting across from him managed to give a court nod, focus still on the bowl in front of him as he twirled his spoon around in what had been ice cream, before it melted into a colorful slop. To be fair, he probably should have finished it half an hour ago.
Melted ice cream didn’t seem seem very satisfying to Strongarm, in fact it seemed more of a shame, as ice cream normally helped people like Flug relax. If only just a little.
Strongarm got that it was probably hard to eat ice cream when you refused to take the paper bag of your head, but it was even harder when the ice cream had already melted. Maybe he could get Flug a straw?
“You came to us for protection.” Strongarm stated frankly, shoving the folder asied. “And the weapons you turned over to us in exchange were… concerning, to say the least. We need to know more .”
Flug visibly shuddered, dropping the spoon in the bowl and shaking his head quickly.
“I can’t. You don’t know what he’d- what would happen to me.” Flug said, voice shaking slightly. Maybe someone should get the poor man some water. “I told you, I can give you anything else, but I can’t tell you about my employer.”
“We’re going to need names.” Strongarm pressed, keeping his voice firm. “Real names. We can’t help you if we don’t know who you’re running from.” And if he were being honest, he doubted ‘Flug Slys’ was his real name in the first place. But he had to admit, it didn’t really matter what his real name was, once Flug was relocated and given a new identity- well, that just about explained it.
This wasn’t his first time dealing with someone like Flug. Some port smart lad had gotten snatched up by a super villain and forced to make weapons of mass destruction by force. And more often than not, those scientists had never had the chance to work for anyone else. It had been their current employer or death for much of their lives, and the hero’s they approached were their only hope out of said life.
That didn’t mean they weren't still afraid of their employers once they were safe.
“I c-can’t…” Flug muttered, his voice soft, as if he was trying not to be heard.
Strongarm shook his head, leaning forward. His hands were clasped together on the table, like a teacher attempting to get a kid to tattle on the bad kids in class.
“You have to.” Strongarm stressed. “If not, they might come and take you back. They’ll keep hurting people. You might be accused of protecting them.” he wasn’t playing bad cop as much as he was… laying out the possible consequences.
Flug shuddered.
“Do you know what you’re asking me to do!?” he suddenly yelped, surprising Strongarm. Flug dragged his hands down his bag, unable to keep still all of a sudden. Strongarm was surprised the bag didn’t rip, with how hard Flug was tugging at it.
“Do you have any idea the weapons I would be taking credit for? All the deaths and pain that were caused by the things I was forced to create?” Flug asked, still unable to stand still. Strongarm watched Flug cross the room, letting him exhaust that pent up energy.
“We can offer you legal protection.” Strongarm offered. “You won’t have to face time in jail, but you will need to prove you dedication to good before you can re-enter society.” okay, maybe he was the good cop now.
“But what about the people who will want personal revenge for what my work has done to their friends, their families?” Flug asked. “What about other villains who had hated the competition? If I tell you who I worked for, I’d be opening the flood gates!”
Strongarm didn’t stop Flug from ranting as his voice grew in it’s panic. He watched Flug instead, waiting to see if he’d slip up.
“And what if you can’t protect me? You can’t be there every second for the rest of my life! I’d be living in constant fear that one day someone would show up to kill me in the most painful way they could think of! Just imagine what Black Hat would do if he found out-!” Flug’s voice shut off in the way it would if he’d snapped his mouth shut, and in the sudden silence Strongarm knew he’d realized his mistake.
“ Black Hat .” Strongarm said slowly, nearly a question. “You worked for… Black Hat .”
Strongarm stood up, watching Flug closely. Suddenly, the meek man took on a new light. “You’re- you were one of the scientists forced to make weapons for Black Hat. To sell them to villains across the globe and watch as what you created tore the innocent apart.” he stated. It was… a bit harsh, but he needed to be sure that Flug regretted what his inventions did.
Flug tugged on his bag hard enough Strongarm was surprised it didn’t rip. “ The scientist.” he responded after a moment.
“The… you were the head scientist?” Strongarm asked. Well, that made Flug a lot more valuable to get away from-
“The only scientist.” Flug corrected.
Strongarm stilled himself, his eyes widening a touch as he realized what Flug admitted to. Every invention that had come out of Black Hat Inc, each and every instrument of torture, the most sadistic and evil devices Strongarm had ever seen…
All came from one man too nervous to eat ice cream.
Strongarm stepped out from behind the table, approaching Flug and putting a hand on his shoulder. This was… well, Black Hat was a hell of a lot stronger of a foe then Strongarm had been expecting. But this was an incredible opportunity to take down the fiendish operation.
“We can help you. But we have to know more .” Strongarm said, keeping his voice firm. Commanding. “Weaknesses, strengths, how to take him down .”
Flug flinched, looking away. He seemed to be thinking, weighing his odds at survival.
“O-Okay, I-”
Before he could utter another word the lights in the room suddenly shut off, leaving the three in a moment of pitch back. Flug suddenly ripped away from his grasp, and a dull thud could be heard from across the room. A moment later the red backup lights kicked in, revealing Flug had flung himself across the room and was now clutching his head, shaking.
Strongarm opened his mouth to speak, only to pause as a muffled explosion rung out from further within the base. He gave a glance to the security camera set up in the corner of the room before he braced himself for a potential fight.
Strongarm moved a hand to his helmet, activating the commlink.
“Strongarm here, what’s happening?” he said, hearing a loud crash through his headset.
“Strongarm, it’s-!” Dr. Stevens began, only to be cut short moments later. Something akin to mechanical whizzing passed through his headset, followed shortly by crazed, female laughter.
Strongarm cursed, shutting off the headset.
“Get down Flug.” Strongarm ordered, moments before a loud CRUNCH came from the wall opposite Dr. Flug. The hero spun around, ready to fight.
The wall was crumbing as what looked to be a girl in a lizard hoodie crashing into the room to land on all fours, in a crouched position. What looked to be a camera with a bunch of mechanical arms and legs followed shortly after, a blue bear waddling in the a confused sounding grunt.
“S-sorry Sir!” for a second Strongarm thought that Flug was talking behind him, but then he realized an identical man was stumbling over the wreckage and making his way into the room, paperbag and all. “They changed some of the codes, we had to improvise.”
“I don't care.” the first Flug snapped, suddenly standing straight and talking in an annoyed voice. Strongarm looked back just in time to see him explode into guts and teeth, body shifting unnaturally as he rose, shape changing to better match a suit, his mouth too wide and too full of sharp teeth, with a black top hat on his head. “Just give me the ray gun, Dr. Flug.” Black Hat ordered.
Before the hero could react, the camera had grabbed his ankle, yanking him into a wall with a loud thud to stun him before tossing him into the bears grasp, who wrapped soft and fluffy paws around him. Yet no matter how hard he tried, Strongarm’s superstrength was not enough to break free of the bears grasp.
“Cambot, set up.” Black Hat ordered, passing Strongarm without sparing a glance. Instead the demon marched right up to Flug and snatched the gun from his hands, the scientist barely flinching.
Black Hat spun around, giving a wide smile to the camera just as the red recording light flicked on.
“Greetings, Villains!” Black Hat declared, raising a hand to fix the edge of his coat. “Black Hat here, with the newest invention to get revenge on the heroes that try and ruin all your hard work!”
Black Hat gestured to Strongarm, the lense camera spinning as if zooming out. Strongarm struggled once more, but still failed to break free.
“Such as this… arrogant hero that thought it be a good idea to raid one of my warehouses.” Black Hat declared, and suddenly it clicked in Strongarms mind. He just didn’t know how Black Hat knew he had been the hero in charge, given that he’d blown out all the cameras before he’d even stepped foot inside.
And to be fair, he didn’t know that warehouse full of weapons had belonged to Black Hat. He would have gloated a lot more had he known.
“As such, he’d the perfect test subject for our newest device to enact revenge on your worst enemies. Observe .” Black Hat aimed the gun at Strongarm, and fired.
The beam hit Strongarm square in the chest, the bear dropping him onto the floor. Rather then jump up and clock Black Hat in the face as he’d planned, Strongarm collapsed to the floor, barely able to keep himself a few inches off the ground.
“As you can see,” Black Hat said somewhere above Strongarm, the demons heels clicking softly on the floor as he approached. “This wonderful device leaves even the most resilient of heroes completely helpless, allowing you to enact whatever form of torture you value best!”
Suddenly, a gloved hand wrapped around Strongarms neck, pulling his weakened body up to Black Hat’s level. A moment later he was flug across the room, smashing into the wall for a second time before collapsing back to the floor.
“Bidding starts immediately.” Black Hat declared. The camera pulled back, the little red light on its side going off.
“Now, as for what to do with you .” Black Hat mused, turning his attention back to Strongarm. “I suppose lit’ Jack would be getting hungry by now…”
“Sir, wait.” Flug spoke up, stepping closer to his boss. “Can I have him?”
“Have him?” Black Hat snapped his gaze back to Flug, pausing for a moment before suddenly grinning. “Of course Flug… just try and keep this one alive for a couple days this time, alright?”
Strongarm was struggling to get up, but when he turned his head to the side he jumped as he realized the girl was… clinging to the wall, smiling brightly at him.
“Night!” she chirped, the last thing Strongarm saw being a mace suddenly flying at his face.