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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#263: Heroes and Villains

If you’re an avid cinemagoer, you’ve probably seen trailers or posters for the recently released superhero comedy film Deadpool & Wolverine. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing two beloved characters set aside their differences to save the world — and potentially start an unlikely friendship along the way.

Inspired by Deadpool & Wolverine, this week's prompts center around protagonists and antagonists. Create a new kind of hero or villain, parody a character who already exists, or go totally off script and interpret the prompts in a creative, unexpected way… the choice is yours!

This week's prompts

Write a story from the antagonist’s point of view.

Character – 84 stories

Start or end your story with a hero losing their powers.

Character – 42 stories

Write about two mortal enemies who must work together.

Character – 29 stories

Center your story around someone facing their biggest fear or enemy.

Character – 71 stories

Write the origin story of a notorious villain.

Character – 89 stories

Stories

“The Contest” by Tove Sama

Submitted to Contest #263

The ContestI am Harriet Underwood. I remind myself that, with conviction, make it my mantra. It does not matter that I was born on the wrong side of the tracks in this little hick town I never left. Using my considerable skills and wit I have clawed my way into owning the old Peyton place. The grandeur of this magnificent neighborhood gives me great pleasure. The only fly in the salad the last years is the fact that only a garden fence separate me from the towns leading lady, Bernadette Sherman. Bernadette Sherman has a lineag...

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“Riders in a Stormy Sky” by Jeannie Labelle -Potvin

Submitted to Contest #263

Today seems packed with memories and stories.As I reflect back over recent years, especially the last 75, battle scenes drift across the landscape.I often feel like I’ve come through several wars and as I age, the battle scars heal slowly.I’ve stood against some formidable enemies and faced death several times.As a Leo, born in the year of the Ox, I arrived those many days ago destined for battle.There may have been real enemies hiding on the periphery of my consciousness and yet, it was those nearest and dearest to me who stabbed me repeate...

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“The 23 Year Old Soldier ” by Molly Milsom

Submitted to Contest #263

As I breath, I feel the dirt rattle in my lungs, and scratch my throat. I stand there, in the midst of such destruction. A lonely tear falls from my eyes, trailing down my cheek and reaching my dry lips. The salt, reminding me of the sea. Infront of me is the last straw. How can someone endure this? How could someone move past this? I fall to my knees, as my heart falters. I don't cry, only a single tear will represent my sadness, the heartbreak. I exhale, but no air comes out. No air is left in my lungs. As my knees dig into the earth and m...

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“The Brave Green Frog” by Melissa Polk

Submitted to Contest #263

The evening chorus was the highlight of every summer night. The crickets chirped their clear song from the long grasses along the shore. Reeds rustled in harmony as the muskrat scurried on the hunt. The bullfrogs had a monopoly on the bass section while the green frogs strummed their banjo tune. The cicadas spun a rhythm to which mosquitoes hummed; so many of them that they filled out the symphony. Iphicles was a green frog and he was just waking up to his place in the chorus. He was timid and did his best to stay hidden among the reeds of ...

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“Fate's Weaver” by Angela Wicke

Submitted to Contest #263

Darkness fell on the small, rural town of Devenport, but none were abroad to see it. They’d retreated to their homes with the light, huddling around their hearths for warmth, chatting animatedly about nothing in particular around the dinner table, or curling up for bed under the heavy fleece blankets the season demanded. It was peaceful time in a peaceful place. On the edge of town stood a cemetery, its brick walls and wrought iron gating overrun by foliage. It, too, had been abandoned as night crept along, the stone ghosts of Devenport the ...

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“Secrets and Waffles” by CJ Sieling

Submitted to Contest #263

Secrets are powerful. And nauseating. They weigh you down. Sometimes they are waffle irons pressing on you from every direction with so much force and heat you can’t breathe. Marks imprinted on your life that leave you forever changed and scarred. My whole life has been a constant barrage of secrets. Unbeknownst to their owners, their deepest treasures of knowledge leak out to me. A steady drip, drip, drip creating my own personal torture method. That is when I am careful. The little kid with his finger plugging the hole in the dam. Wa...

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“Collateral Damage” by Bill Bibo

Submitted to Contest #263

The car is going to kill me. I don't have time to jump out of the way. But then I didn't expect it to come from above. When the gas tank explodes two stories above, the blast throws me nearly twenty feet. A mailbox stops my bouncing. Flat on my back, I see the battle raging above. Awesome Man and another alien robot are in another battle to the death. *** Awesome Man. The city's self-proclaimed superhero. No one knows where he came from, but since he arrived, life in this city certainly hasn't been dull. Let’s flashback to that first day....

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“Safety of Your Death” by Brittany Luckham

Submitted to Contest #263

Note: brief mentions of blood, war, and death. Ziva didn’t ask to be the villain. She never desired such an accomplishment. Life merely…necessitated…her acts of destruction amidst the seemingly idyllic Kingdom of Tajiem. Beyond the fanciful and harmonious citizens, the lush fields that never suffered drought, the economy that never depressed, the taxes that never rose, and the kindly population of shops and homes in an ever-expanding city beyond the palace walls. Beyond all this, King Luther feasted on his soldiers, bellowing orde...

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“The Duke of Honour” by Rubekkah Estero

Submitted to Contest #263

All eyes turned to the towering frame of Alistair Wraxall, the Duke of Darbleton, as he crossed the threshold of Lady Yardley’s ballroom. Quiet murmurs spread throughout those gathered for the biggest squeeze of the season- the coming out ball for Lady Yardley’s youngest daughter, Miss Emma Yardley. Miss Yardley, finishing up a dance with a dashing young suitor and linking arms with her older sister, Miss Kate Yardley, made her way towards the lemonade stand.‘The pluck of that man, to stroll in here as though it wasn’t only a senni...

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“Lancelot Tickles” by William Siebold

Submitted to Contest #263

As a bureaucrat of strict procedural righteousness, Lancelot Tickles loved overly complicated paperwork. Lancelot challenged himself to turn the simplest administrative process into the most tediously convoluted and nightmarishly improbable task possible. He throttled innovation and strangled interdepartmental cooperation. He buried every assignment, function or undertaking in a grave of administrative trivia. Tickles dreamed of bringing down entire governments through mind-numbing paperwork, impossible approvals, and infuriatingly jargon-fi...

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“Commodus” by Melissa Taylor

Submitted to Contest #263

Marcus Aurelius. Faustina the Younger. Mother and Father. How I adore them both. I long to be as loved as my father. I long to find a wife so blessed with children as my mother. There are four of us and I am the only surviving son; I know they must pass the throne down to me, but I should like to believe that although I am their only choice, I would be their first choice regardless. I work tirelessly to prove myself. I excel in all sports, war time and otherwise. I am among the best riders in Rome. I aim to make them proud. I aim to be ...

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“The Big Bad Wolf” by Marie-Chantal Wang Iriart

Submitted to Contest #263

The Big Bad Wolf The whole world thinks I’m a villain. In fact, in every child’s story, there’s never a happy ending for me. Humans think we're the villains? Please. They clearly haven't met my Aunt Lupina at family gatherings. Parents warn their children to stay away from me. They tell kids to take the three little pigs as role models and take me as trash. The fear of wolves in Europe was so intense that there were actual trials where people were accused of being werewolves. This historical paranoia could be an interesting element to explor...

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“The Rise of Ruin” by Emily :)

Submitted to Contest #263

He was nicknamed Little Prince ever since he was a young boy. He would spend hours on the palace grounds, hiding in nooks or storage closets with his storybooks, pretending he was in a much more magical world than this one. A world filled with fairies, dragons, elves, and dwarves. Magical objects that held extraordinary power, elves with healing powers, wizards and mages who ruled the earth with their magic. It was much better than this dreary planet, which had none of these things. The others called him strange and weird, always in his head...

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“I stand alone” by Justin Diaz

Submitted to Contest #263

Footsteps echoed off the brick walls of the buildings, the night was calm and allowed the sound to travel unabated, Connor led the way for him and his date. She wore an elegant yet practical red dress that seemed to flow nicely behind her catching the dim light of the moon above. Being a full moon, it shined rather brightly over the city below. “How did you enjoy dinner Laura?” asked Connor as the two walked along the sidewalk all the while he did everything, he could not let his emotions show too much but despite his self-control he ...

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“Villain by Bureaucracy” by Michael Palmieri

Submitted to Contest #263

"Notorious Super Villain Ethereal Spear Strikes Again As He Destroys Prison To Break Out A Man Named Markus Kay!" Lance read aloud, a smirk curling his lips as he sipped his espresso at a small Italian café. "I see you made the front page again," a familiar voice remarked. The sound of a chair scraping against the stone pavement cut through the quiet atmosphere as Bryce Benson, one of the world’s leading superheroes, took a seat across from Lance, his expression a mix of annoyance and begrudging respect. Lance didn’t bother looking up. "You ...

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$250

Prize money

315

Contest entries

109

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 16, 2024 EST

Won by Eliza Entwistle 🏆

Title: Petrified

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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