The Fake Villain

“You’re… a fake villain!” I pointed at Elizabeth accusingly.

She gasped. “F-Fake?” she stuttered, briefly recoiling in shock before leaning forward and pointing at me in return. “H-How dare you insult me in my own- in S.K.U.L.L.’s very headquarters!”

“This isn’t your headquarters, it’s just a regular house!” I shouted, spreading my arms wide and gesturing at the room around us. “This is a living room, your armory is a closet full of dresses, your training room is a home gym, and your mysterious leader-” I pointed at the scrambled image on the TV. “-Is a damn video loop!”

“Don’t you dare insult him!” she cried, leaping in front of the fuzzy silhouette protectively. “If you do, I shall bring the full fury of S.K.U.L.L. down upon you!”

“Oh yeah? You and what army? How many of you are there?” I made a show of holding a hand over my eyes and looking around the room, searching for agents that weren’t there. “I only saw three uniforms in that closet! Is there even anyone else at all?!”

Elizabeth opened and closed her mouth several times, her face turning red with anger as she struggled to come up with an answer before resorting to her usual response, which was becoming increasingly tiresome. “I am an agent of S.K.U.L.L.-” she started.

I gritted my teeth, my anger building. “You’re not an agent of anything!” I snapped. “You’re just some crazy spoiled rich girl, you- you chuunibyou!”1

Elizabeth looked horrified by the accusation, but her look of horror quickly turned to petulant fury. “I am not a chuunibyou! I am a grown woman-”

“You are! You’re a chuunibyou!” I repeated, raising my voice. “You’re not a grown woman at all, you’re a child! Do you just sit in your house all day pretending?!” I stood up taller, pointing down at her like a disapproving parent. “Stop making trouble for P.E.A.C.E. and pretending to blow things up, or people really will think you’re a villain-”

“Then what does that make you?!”

I stopped mid-sentence as Elizabeth shouted at me, tears in her eyes. “What… does that make me?” I repeated. What is she talking about? I’m just-

“I-If I’m a chuunibyou for pretending to be a villain,” she hiccupped, wiping her eyes on her sleeve, “t-then what does that make you, claiming you were a hero?”

I blinked. “N-No, that’s not the same- I’m not-” I stuttered, shaking my head. I’m not the same! I’m not!

Elizabeth sniffled, pointing at me shakily. “If I’m awful for being a f-fake villain, then you’re just as bad for being a fake hero! You made me- You made me think…” she mumbled, falling to her knees. “That there was actually somebody who felt the same way…”

I stood frozen, watching as she just stood there crying. Somebody who feels the same way? I thought. Could she- too?

“I-I,” I started, tentatively reaching out a hand. She slowly looked up at me, her eyes red and unfocused from crying, before sharpening into a fiery glare.

“G-Get out!” she shouted, leaping to her feet and stamping the ground. “Leave, and never return! Go! Now! Just… Just leave!”

My eyes narrowed, instinctively growing irritated at her berating. “Fine, fine, I’m leaving!” I snapped, raising my hands in mock surrender. “Don’t worry, I won’t come back, you damn f-faker!” The last word sputtered off my tongue before I could stop it, like a final scorching flame.

As I slowly lowered my hands and turned to walk toward the door, I glanced over my shoulder to see Elizabeth, her arms folded across her chest, still glaring at me. I turned my back to her and kept walking, my feet falling heavy as I stepped down to the entrance to get my shoes. What I didn’t see as I opened the door and stormed outside was Elizabeth’s shoulders drooping as she hung her head, a grim shadow falling over her face.

That liar! I thought, grumbling to myself as I stormed down the sidewalk, barely looking where I was going; it didn’t matter, as long as it wasn’t here. I should’ve known there wouldn’t be a real-life evil organization. There wasn’t even one a century ago, or two centuries ago! Truth be told, I was mad at myself too, mad for being dumb enough to think there would be such a thing as an evil organization, despite Elizabeth’s convincing act. I started punching myself in the head. Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

As I kept walking, earning a few odd looks from people I passed, I started to calm down. So what if there wasn’t a real organization called S.K.U.L.L.? A few weeks ago I had never even heard of S.K.U.L.L., so I was just back to square one! I had lost nothing! I shook my head, chuckling to myself. Really, it was all so…

“You made me think… That there was actually somebody who felt the same way…”

…Silly.

I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. It wasn’t silly, was it? Not to her, at least, not to Elizabeth. She was a chuunibyou through and through, but to her, being an “agent of S.K.U.L.L.” wasn’t just some game, it was real. She genuinely wanted to be a member of an evil organization, and I just-

“You’re not an agent of anything! You’re just some crazy spoiled rich girl!”

I winced, recalling the insults I hurled at her. I don’t even know anything about her, I don’t know she’s crazy, or spoiled, I don’t know why she does things or how she gets her money, maybe she works really hard for it! I remembered how much it pissed me off when she called me a fake hero. I didn’t like it when people mocked or insulted me for wanting to be a hero when I was growing up, but I did the same thing to her…

In psychology, projection is defined as a defense mechanism where someone avoids a difficult situation or truth about themselves by projecting it onto someone else, accusing them of doing the same thing instead. Was I really just projecting, hiding from my own disappointment in thinking I could be a hero by blaming her for it instead? It went against everything I had ever discussed with my therapist, everything I had learned about psychology and self-worth, but subconsciously I had still convinced myself I would be a hero one day, and when I was faced with the reality, I lashed out.

I should go back and apologize, I thought, taking a step backward. Just because she’s deluding herself like I was doesn’t give me the right to tell her to stop pretending to be something she’s-

I froze, the wind blowing through my hair, as a thought occurred. I told her to stop pretending to be something she’s not because she reminded me of myself, but look at her! Sure, she doesn’t actually have an evil organization, and her hideout is just a house, but look at everything she’s accomplished! She’s strong, athletic, she made an actual uniform and equipment, she even managed to evade P.E.A.C.E. without getting caught…

I was trembling with excitement now, and I started pacing in a short line, my pupils dilating as a manic grin spread across my face. Yes, even if she’s not a villain now, she could be! It’s not impossible! With a bit of help, she could become an actual villain! And if she can become an actual villain, then I… I looked up at the sky, then suddenly I was looking right in front of me again, turning on my heel and walking back the way I came.

I have to tell her! I thought, my pace quickening as I moved forward, my face set with determination. I have to tell her that she can become a villain! I paused, suddenly realizing something as I looked up at the street sign next to me.

-I have no idea where I am.

Elizabeth Meanes stood in her living room alone, her head hung low. No more tears fell down her face, but there was a dark shadow looming over her that seemed to dim even the brightly lit room. The only sound-

“You’re… a fake villain!”

She slowly turned toward the television, still playing the video of her mysterious leader on loop. Slowly, almost mechanically, she walked over to the coffee table and picked up the TV remote, pointing it at the screen and turning it off. As the image faded, she found her own reflection staring back at her from the shiny black surface, a normal girl, wearing normal clothes. She couldn’t help but think of the her- the person she had brought into her home, and the look of betrayal on his face when she had finally shown him… everything.

He thinks I’m just a spoiled rich girl, playing pretend all by myself, she thought. I can’t say that I blame him. After all, I certainly look the part. She twirled in front of the screen, letting her skirt swirl around her before falling straight against her legs as she stopped and curtsied. She looked back up at the Elizabeth reflected in the television and smiled, sadly. He thinks I’m just pretending to be a villain, and he's-

“What’s wrong with you? Why can’t you just be normal?”

She scrunched up her eyes, tears welling at the corners. He’s-

Wrong! Her eyes shot open, a fire igniting in them. I am not just Elizabeth Meanes, a normal girl! She turned away from her pathetic reflection and raced to the closet, throwing open the door. I am an agent of S.K.U.L.L., the most powerful evil organization on Earth! She carefully removed a uniform from the rack before racing upstairs to her room and slamming the door behind her. And when finally she exited her chambers, it was not as the kind and charming Elizabeth Meanes, but as Elizabeth, the unknown and dangerous girl from S.K.U.L.L.!

As she left the room, she looked down at the mask in her hands, the gleaming white skull polished and smooth. Pushing her hair back, she slipped the mask over her face, pulling down the attached hairnet, and pressed a button on the side. Glowing green orbs flickered to life as she finally pulled her hood up and over her head, and her transformation was complete. “Excellent,” she murmured, her voice deep and rasping through her mask’s modulator.

She stepped down the stairs one by one, her cape flowing just shy of brushing the floor behind her with each stride. I will show that ignorant fool exactly the overwhelming power he faces, she thought, her internal voice matching her external one.

Elizabeth closed the front door behind her, taking care as she strolled the cobblestone path and crossed the threshold of her property, where her P.E.A.C.E.-given right to privacy ended and security recording authorization began. Thankfully, standard P.E.A.C.E. camera placement started at the corner of each block, and from there every hundred meters. How predictable of them, she mused, smiling beneath her mask. It doesn’t matter if I am seen in this neighborhood anyway, my mask protects me from identification. Now then… She looked in the direction that man had left.

…Where are you, so-called hero?

I finally managed to figure out how to get back to Elizabeth’s house, after several minutes of walking down the street in both directions, and asking at least one old woman for help. I still didn’t know how to get back to the main part of town from here, but I didn’t need to. As I made my way toward where the woman had told me Elizabeth, the “Meanes girl”, lived, I found myself getting excited again, but this time for an entirely different reason, clenching my fists in anticipation. I’ll help her become…

Elizabeth strode down the street toward Shuuya with confidence and purpose, a focused gleam in her projected eyes. I’ll show him…

…A true villain!

NEXT: The Girl from S.K.U.L.L., Part 3!

Notes

1. A chuunibyou (中二病) is a person, usually a teenager, who has delusions of being special or having hidden powers.