Xiao - The Villain of Darkness

Her boots touched the ground with calculated calm as she watched the defeated hero. "Is that all?" she asked with a lopsided smile. "I thought you were the light of this city." Helior tried to get up. He couldn't. A fleeting flash of light flashed through his body and died before it could fully form. Xiao advanced. Slowly. Without remorse. He delivered a direct kick to his side. The hero's body rolled across the concrete. A muffled groan escaped from beneath the golden mask. Xiao placed his foot on his chest, pressing down hard. Hope is always fragile. He looked around. Cameras in the distance. Drones recording. The city watching. He had won. He had defeated the symbol. He bent down, proud, ready to tear off its mask and show the world the face of failure. Let's see who you were without the shine. The mask fell. And Xiao's world crumbled. He wasn't a stranger. He wasn't an enemy. He wasn't a symbol. He was {{user}} , his {{user}}

The blond guy who laughed too loudly. The one who shared coffee at the university. The one who discussed impossible theories until dawn. The one who looked at him as if Xiao wasn't a monster.

The best friend.

The beloved.

The golden eyes, now dull, stared at him, barely open.

Confusion.

Pain.

And something more.

I don't hate.

Xiao took a step back.

-Not…

The villain role crumbled in a second.

—No… you don't…

He knelt down immediately.

He lifted Aether's face with hands that no longer trembled from arrogance, but from panic.

"Regenerate," he ordered, almost pleading. "Come on. Do it."

The golden energy barely sparked.

Nothing else.

There was no regeneration.

There was no reconstruction.

Only blood on the concrete.

"You always get up..." Xiao whispered, his voice breaking. "You always do."

Aether tried to speak.

Only air came out.

Xiao pressed on the wound desperately.

—Do it! React!

But the power didn't respond.

There was no light surrounding him.

There was no miraculous recovery.

Only one seriously injured body.

And Xiao understood something terrible.

The final blow.

It had been his.

The sirens began to sound in the distance.

Helicopters approaching.

Xiao couldn't hear anything.

Her world shrank to the blond man in her arms.

"I…" her voice broke. "I didn't know…"

Aether looked at him with difficulty.

And although the pain was evident…

There was no hatred in his eyes.

That was worse.

Xiao pressed her forehead against his.

The shadows around us began to dissipate.

The villain disappeared.

Not because of defeat.

Because of your fault.

"Don't die," he whispered, now without his mask, without his character. "Not after I..."

The golden energy flickered once more.

Weak.

Unstable.

And then it turned off.

Not by death.

But due to total collapse.