Someone went flying past Tristan and panic started to rise in him. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn’t move. Why wouldn’t his legs move? This is an awful time for them to suddenly stop working. .

“Kid! You have to get out of here, NOW!” A female voice yelled at him hoarsely, before sputtering into a coughing fit behind him.

Oh, don’t worry, he wants to run. But of course, his legs had to be glued to the sidewalk. Now he looks like those idiots in horror movies who just stand there, waiting to be killed.

Tristan turned around to the person who called him. It was Captain, one of the most well-known heroes in the city. She had split white and black hair and wore a captain’s hat. Her outfit was made up of a long, captain-like coat and sailor clothing, which was honestly not ideal for cold weather like this.

She also looked roughed up. Well, it was probably because she was just sent flying and landed on a concrete sidewalk. Who wouldn’t look roughed up after that? Actually, Tristan shouldn’t start thinking about all this. Right now, he had to get out of there–

Just as Tristan’s legs decide to move, someone from above lands in front of him, which causes him to stumble and fall. The man towering above him looked inhuman. He had speckles of green scales around his body, green spiky tied-up hair, a gas mask covering half of his face, and sleek dark gray armour with yellow accents. He was also holding a trident in his beast-like hand, and his red eyes seemed to pierce right through Tristan. Great… Just his luck.

If Tristan recalled correctly, the man in front of him was named Warden, a supervillain who’d been on the news a lot recently. He was well known for his monstrous appearance and his human experiments. Most heroes have a hard time against him, which makes things a lot more nerve-racking for Tristan.

Warden stared at Tristan before suddenly picking him up by the collar. His heart was racing even faster, he started to kick and scream.

“Let go of me!” Tristan shrieked as he struggled against the grip of the villain. Why was he so strong!?

“Warden, let the kid go.” Captain said sternly with a hint of caution. She inched a little closer to close the distance between them.

“Or what? I will crush this child’s throat if you take another step closer.” Warden’s distorted voice threatened. Captain stopped what she was doing. Tristan swore he could hear a smirk behind the mask when she did as he commanded, “Actually… I think this child will make a fine test subject for my upcoming experiment.”

EXPERIMENT!? Oh, you got to be kidding. Nobody has ever survived Warden’s experiments. This isn’t looking good. Captain can’t seem to do anything without Warden threatening his life, and the only thing he can do is struggle– which hasn’t been doing him any good so far.

“Well, if you excuse me, Miss Captain, my test subject and I have some business to take care of–”

“Hey.” A different voice interrupted, though no one else was there except for the three of them.

“What the– Who’s there?!” Warden hissed.

“Boo.”

A man suddenly appears out of nowhere behind Warden. He had curly brown hair, blue ski goggles, a black sleeveless turtle-neck, and a matching black coat with blue accents hanging around his shoulders like a cape. Tristan recognized who it was immediately.

Spectre, a villain with the powers to turn anything he touches invisible, including himself. He’s notorious for his superpowers and skills with his invisible sword. If there’s one word to describe Spectre, it would be unpredictable. His movements are impossible to track, and everything he does is completely out of the ordinary.

So when Spectre all of a sudden appeared out of nowhere and attacked Warden, was it really a surprise?

Yes. The answer is yes.

Spectre quickly struck Warden with the invisible sword in his hand. And Warden, who was not ready for the attack, couldn’t block it in time and got hit from behind.

This causes Warden to let go of Tristan, who dropped to the concrete sidewalk.

Ow!

Before Tristan could process what was suddenly happening in front of him, Captain snatched Tristan by the arm and pulled him up quickly.

The next few moments felt like a blur to Tristan.

He remembered Captain starting to run away while dragging his arm, and the groups of people like news reporters and journalists surrounding the street. Tristan thought foggily that he was checked out by a doctor, but honestly, he was way out of it to remember.

But one thing he remembered clearly was walking back to his apartment, feeling more dread than he ever had before.

---

Tristan’s shaky hands opened the door to the apartment that he shared with his brother. It was a pretty small apartment, with a kitchen that can barely fit two people and a living area that can only fit a couch with a small coffee table. It didn’t have ample space, but it was honestly not bad. The issue was his roommate.

Tristan closed the door behind him, and he was greeted by his brother, who was sitting on their dirty, brown couch and scrolling on his phone.

Wait a minute–

“HOW!?” Tristan’s mouth gaped open.

“What do you mean?” his brother, William, asked as he looked up from his phone to look at him.

“Y-you were literally fighting Warden not even, what, 15 minutes ago? How are you already home!?” Tristan exclaimed in utter confusion.

“Eh, supervillain things.” William deadpanned. Still leaving Tristan super confused. “Not going to thank me for saving your butt?”

“I don’t think you need my thanks.”

“Well suit yourself,” William replied, “Though I may or may not have left a nasty scar on Warden’s face and chipped his mask a bit. So I’ll be on the run for the next few weeks.”

“But it’s not like he can catch you if you lie low,” Tristan pointed out.

“Yeah, but it’s not as fun.” William shrugged and continued to scroll on his phone.

Tristan would never understand his villain brother. Ever since William became a supervillain, their relationship started to fall apart, and they barely saw each other, let alone talked to one another every day. Today was one of those rare occasions where they do get to see each other.

Tristan was fine with the way things were now, or so he says. He didn’t want to be involved with William anyway. He never liked the idea of villains, they just caused chaos and destruction wherever they went.

He hated William for being that kind of person… yeah… he hated him.

“Whatever, I’ll be in my room,” Tristan said as he took off his coat and scarf to hang them in their small closet near the door.

“Wait.” William suddenly said in a serious tone, which caused Tristan to stop in his tracks.

Tristan whipped his head to look at William, and his brother just looked him dead in the eyes. Well, this is pretty uncomfortable.

“Your winter break is coming up, right?” William asked.

“U-uh, yeah?” Tristan replied, though it sounded more like a question.

“I heard there’s going to be a winter festival happening in Silvercrest soon, and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me.”

There was a moment of silence between them. Completely flabbergasted, Tristan’s brain couldn’t register that his supervillain brother just asked him to go to some winter festival with him. Did William even like festivals!? Why did he ask him to tag along? Questions started swarming his mind.

“I-I’ll think about it…,” Tristan finally replied before heading to his room and closing the door behind him.

In all honesty, Tristan did want to go to the winter festival. But with his supervillain brother? Now that’s another story. The last time they had spent quality time was around five years ago, before William decided to become a supervillain, and before they grew distant from each other.

Tristan just doesn’t know what to think anymore, and he already has a lot on his mind after that encounter with Warden.

So he decided to lie on his bed and look at his phone, maybe that would distract him for a little bit? But it turns out, that might have been a mistake.

Tristan was greeted by 23 unread messages and 12 missed phone calls… all by the same person. Oh gosh, Tristan was going to get an earful.

His phone suddenly started to ring, and it startled Tristan, who clumsily dropped his phone on his face.

“Ow.” He said aloud. He looked at his phone to see who was calling him. “Oh no… I’m screwed.”

It was his best friend, Gray, who was calling him for the thirteenth time. Tristan hesitantly picked up the phone.

“Uh… hey,” Tristan said with a nervous smile, even though his friend couldn’t see it.

“Hey, Tristan,” Gray said menacingly on the other side of the phone. Oh gosh, that’s his ‘I’m angry and will beat the heck out of you the next time we meet’ voice. “I heard there was a villain attack on a street near Nikki’s bakery… Which also happens to be on the street you use to get there.”

“Yeah… I heard about that…” Tristan was sweating bullets. If he told Gray the truth, he would no doubt be at his door in less than 10 minutes.

“You didn’t happen to… You know, be there at that time?”

“Nope. What makes you say that?” Tristan replied quickly.

“...” Gray went silent for a few moments before speaking again. “Tristan. I want you to know that you’re a terrible liar.”

“Hey! I’m a great liar!”

“Ok then, tell me where you are right now.”

“I’m at my apartment!” Tristan replied genuinely, “You KNOW I’m not lying about that!”

“Ok good, ‘cause I’m at your door,” Gray said before hanging up.

Wait what–

There was a rapid knock at the door of the apartment.

“Coming.” Tristan heard William’s muffled voice say in the other room.

Oh no, not like this–

Tristan quickly jumped from his bed and rushed out of his room to beat William to the door.

“HOLD ON, DON’T OPEN –”

But it was too late, William had already opened the door.

“Hey Gray,” William greeted. “Long time no see.”

“Hey Will,” Gray greeted him back. “I’m just here to check on Tristan.”

“Sure, he’s all yours,” William smirked as he stepped back as Gray entered their small apartment.

Standing on the other side of the door was a boy with black hair. He was wearing a dark blue winter coat and a muted purple hoodie, accompanied by some black sweatpants.

Oh yeah, did he mention that Gray ALSO has a supervillain brother? Lucas, better known as Frostbite, is a villain who has… well, ice powers. Tristan sometimes liked to joke that Lucas is just an evil, male version of Elsa since he had blond hair and a blue villain outfit.

When Gray found out about Tristan’s brother being a supervillain (Tristan may or may not have blurted it out), their conversation went something like this:

“You have a supervillain brother?!” Gray exclaimed.

“SHUT UP!” Tristan whispered sharply, as he quickly covers Gray’s mouth, “Uh– but it’s not what you think–”

“Oh cool, I also have a supervillain brother.” Gray deadpanned as he whacked Tristan’s hand out of the way.

“Wait what–”

End of the conversation, it was honestly a weird experience.

“I’ll be in my room if you boys need me,” William said as he disappeared into the room next to Tristan’s.

“Hey Tristan,” Gray said with a sly smile, “Not going to invite your best friend in?”

“I-I uh, um… hey,” Tristan muttered awkwardly. “You know what, let’s just get this over with…”

Other than supervillains and heights, Gray was up there in his list of things that scared Tristan. Sure, Gray was his best friend and all, but he could be extremely intimidating when he wanted to be.

“Good, at least you know. So, HOW DO YOU KEEP GETTING INTO THESE SITUATIONS?!” Gray exclaimed as he walked over to the couch. Uh oh. “THIS WAS LITERALLY YOUR THIRD TIME THIS YEAR BEING FACE-TO-FACE WITH A SUPERVILLAIN!”

“Well I actually live with one–” Tristan started before having a pillow thrown at his face.

“Shut up. I’m not done talking.” Gray hissed, “First it was Flamethrower, then it was Wither, and now Warden! You realize that you could’ve been kidnapped multiple times, or even worse, DEAD! If Will didn’t come and save you, you’d- you'd be… gone.”

Tristan could hear the mix of anger and worry in his friend’s voice. He felt a slight pang of guilt as they stood there in silence for a bit.

“You know, when I saw you on the news being held by Warden– I honestly thought I was going to have a heart attack.” Gray continued with a shaky breath, “I… I thought he was going to take you away and make you one of his experiments, and we know that–”

“No one ever survives Warden’s experiments.” Tristan finished.

“... Yeah,” Gray replied quietly. "So stop being an idiot and keep yourself safe, would you?"

"Can't guarantee that," Tristan kidded.

"I'll beat you up myself if that ever happens," Gray said with a slight smile. At least that was resolved.

Just as Tristan thought everything was settled, another pillow hits his face.

“HEY! I thought we were done with this!”

“That one was for Nikki,” Gray replied as if nothing happened, “I visited the bakery earlier before coming here, and she’s worried sick. You haven’t responded to any messages, so you should at least reply to Nikki.”

“Huh– ”

“What, did you think I was the only person texting you like crazy?” Gray sighed. “Check your phone.”

Tristan pulled out his phone and realized that, in fact, Nikki was part of his 23 unread messages.

“OH SHOOT, NIKKI!” Tristan yelled as he furiously typed a bunch of responses, which consisted of apologies and reassurances.

“Heh, idiot.” Gray smirked.

Tristan just glared at his friend in response.

“You boys done with your bickering?” William asked as he peeked his head out of his room.

“Yup.” The two friends said simultaneously.

“Nice,” William replied with a thumbs up. “Hey Gray, you wanna stay for dinner tonight?”

“Always.”

“Oh great,” Tristan said out loud.

“Why does it sound like you never like having me around?” Gray asked in irritation.

“Because I don’t.” Tristan lied.

“Now that’s just not true. In fact, I bet you love having me around.” Gray grinned brightly.

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.”

“Do not.”

“Do too.”

“Do not.”

“Do too.”

“I thought you two children were done bickering,” William interrupted.

“Well, it’s not my fault that Tristan just won’t admit he loves having me around.” Gray huffed as he crossed his arms.

“But I don’t!” Tristan exclaimed.

“You’re a bad liar.”

“Oh shut up!” Tristan yelled flustered. He picked up the pillows at his feet and threw them toward Gray, who easily dodged out of the way.

“Is that the best you got?” Gray challenged.

“Come here, you jerk!” Tristan said as he charged toward Gray.

They go at it for a little while, with Tristan trying to tackle Gray, but failing miserably. It’s honestly impressive how Gray can evade Tristan in this small apartment that can barely fit two people.

After calming down a bit, Tristan realized that it would be a good time to ask about his brother’s odd invitation.

“Gray… can I talk to you about something?” Tristan asks with a low voice. “Let’s go to my room.”

“Ok…?” Gray replied puzzled. “Hey Will, call us when dinner is ready.”

“Sure thing,” William responded from the kitchen.

The two boys headed to Tristan’s room and shut the door behind them. Tristan slumped on his bed and Gray sat next to him.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Gray asked.

“It’s just… how did you–”

“How did I get along with my supervillain brother?”

“Uh... Yeah.”

“Well, I didn’t accept the fact that he was a supervillain right away. What they do is wrong and puts people’s lives at risk, so I started to hate him for becoming that kind of person… or so I thought.” Gray replied with a serious look on his face. “But, I just couldn’t hate him. I wanted to– I was mad at him and never wanted to see him again… but with all the time we spent together and with everything we’ve been through, I just couldn’t. So we talked it out, I told him how I felt, and he told me how he felt. He told me the reason why he became this way, and I grew to understand him better. Of course, I still don’t forgive him for what he’s done, but I just can’t hate him, you know?”

“I… I guess I understand what you mean.” Tristan responded hesitantly.

“I mean, I can tell you don’t actually hate Will, even though you say you do. I think it might be something else that’s keeping you at arm’s length from him.”

“Nope, I just hate him.”

“You’re just trying to convince yourself you do. You don’t sound genuine right now.”

“Oh, whatever.” Tristan brushed him off. “William invited me to the winter festival happening in Silvercrest soon, and I just didn’t know if I wanted to go with him or not, since we’re not all that close.”

“You should go, he’s always doing his supervillain things and never makes time for you, so I think this is a perfect opportunity to spend time together.

“But I don’t really want to go nor spend time with him.”

“Tell you what, you should go with him, just this once. And you two can talk it out, like how Lucas and I did. Tell him how you feel, and hey, maybe you won’t find him as bad as you think he is.”

“Hm… I don’t know about that–”

“Just this once, Tristan.” Gray persisted. “And if you still don’t like him, it’s not like you need to hang out with him again.”

Tristan thought about it for a moment. Gray does have a point, he doesn’t NEED to hang out with William if things go south. Yeah… maybe just this once. One chance to make things work between them. It’s just some winter festival, what could go wrong?

“Fine, you’ve convinced me.” Tristan finally said with a sigh. “I’ll go with William to the festival.”

“Finally, I thought you’d never make up your mind.” Gray exaggerated.

“Oh, you–”

“Dinner’s ready!” said William’s muffled voice.

“Well no backing out now. And if you do, then you’ll be hearing A LOT from me.” Gray said jokingly with a grin. He sat up and opened the door to walk into the other room. Tristan sighed again before getting up to follow him.

Just this once, if things don’t work out, then their relationship would stay the same. Tristan could do this, he could make this work.

But even so… why that lingering sense of dread?

Ending Note

Hello! Thank you so much for reading until the end, it means a lot!

There’s going to be a part two to this story, and it’ll involve Tristan and William going to the winter festival (where nothing goes totally wrong :) ). It’s my first time writing something like this, and I had a lot of fun doing so! (Despite it being 3k+ words long–)

Well, I hope you enjoyed Winter with a Supervillain (WWAS), and hope to see you in part two!