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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 Dark Soul” by Dana Orr

Submitted to Contest #263

“Your soul, it emanates death, Melantha.” I sneer, as I begin to pick my bruised and broken body up off the ground and raise my hand to face her. “But not for much longer.” “Oh, you stay down. You won’t be touching my soul, Eleni.” Melantha spits with a roll of her dark eyes. Then she raises her arm and shifts it high above her head before downswiping it. Following her arm, I lift further off the ground straight into the ornate ceiling and then get propelled right back down to the tile, cracking yet another rib. I close my eyes, w...

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“The Glassmaker's Curse” by Melody Ong

Submitted to Contest #263

In the heart of a quaint European village, where cobblestone streets wound through markets and the air was filled with the scent of fresh bread, lived a man named Henri Duval. Henri was a glassmaker by trade, renowned for his extraordinary skill. His delicate hands shaped sand and fire into magnificent creations—crystalline chandeliers that captured the light like prisms, and goblets so fine they seemed to hum when touched. But despite his artistry, Henri was a man of modest means. His shop was small, tucked away in a corner of the village, ...

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“Meridian” by Harper Harris

Submitted to Contest #263

The Geminae hunted only by starlight, because the hard silver of their skin reflected the sky’s faint glow and turned them into ghosts. From a distance, they were barely wisps that floated gently above the horizon. But there was nothing gentle about the Geminae. By the time their padding footsteps were audible, it was too late. Everything was like that on Kyto: soft, ethereal, deadly. There was nowhere to hide. The planet’s surface was a flat, unbroken sheet of rock, and the sky stretched into infinity in every direction. It was so fast...

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“I Hope I Live Long Enough To Be Wealthy And Not Long Enough To Regret It” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #263

Fires burn throughout the city. The excruciating cries of people being torn apart and eaten make King Decimus Metallicus cover his ears. From their vantage point above the city, King Decimus and General Gaius Regulus hold back their tears as they watch a winged creature swoop down from the sky and gut a woman trying to protect her baby. The creature crushes the baby’s skull with its powerful talons and swallows it whole. A second creature lands on the back of a horse, which tries to bolt free. The creature jabs its talons into the horse’s n...

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“Prophet of Doom” by Ariah Em

Submitted to Contest #263

I anxiously prowl the length of the meeting room while racking my brain for a way to alter my cataclysmic future. Images of last night’s dream swirl around me viciously, shaping a future so dark I simply can’t think. The worn carpet hides no more answers than my desperate march but I can’t force myself to slow so I continue to pace. It’s becoming no less than torture waiting for Cuda and the president to arrive. Unlike most times, this vision isn’t one I can handle alone. I can see the government crumbling like a rockslide and Cuda, our...

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“Two Lives and One Dragon” by Niyumi Hewa Pelandage

Submitted to Contest #263

Waiting on the top of a castle, with a young girl caged inside. The walls thick enough to keep in all her cries and complains about ruining her puffy dress. Thick enough to block off my own life. I’ve been told the world is bigger than you think, yet it hasn’t been proved. To me at least. The discoveries would have been made if I could soar through the sky with the wind brushing my cheeks and wings. Staring down at the sun-kissed hills below me with others by my side. What a miracle! Yet as day reaches night; here I am. Staring down at an em...

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“I'm a Villain Now” by Tyler Porter

Submitted to Contest #263

They call it rock bottom when you lose everything. When you have nothing left. When the only direction you can go is up. It can only get better from here, they say. At least it can’t get any worse. Except it can. It can get worse. It can always get worse. Most of the bad guys are dead or in prison before they get to show the world just how bad they can really be. The truth is though, that when you reach a point where all the good is gone, the point that most people call rock bottom, you realize that there is an endless sea of darkness to exp...

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“The House of Deadly Treats” by Kelsey Fish

Submitted to Contest #263

I sat waiting for my turn to speak, my palms sweaty and leg bouncing slightly. Baba convinced me that this meeting would be good for me, that it would help me to move past the absolute horror that had befallen me at the hands of hate; but, I had my doubts. After all, how on earth could any of these other women possibly understand what it was like to bear witness to the greatest enemy of us all? Everyone began clapping, signaling that the young lass before me had finally finished droning about her neighbor and their distaste for all things “s...

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“Childhood idyll” by Astrid De Keyser

Submitted to Contest #263

*Splash* The ripples made by the big rock falling into the water had barely disappeared when Valerie took another one and hurled it in as well. She'd come to the river to cool down, maybe skip a few rocks, but the anger living beneath her skin was a living thing. It twisted and turned and tried to claw its way out. Throwing increasingly large rocks into the water at least gave her the satisfaction of seeing its still surface disturbed. A small act of violence rather than the large ones she increasingly wished to carry out. It was ridiculous...

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“A Notorious Villain Explains” by Mark Asher

Submitted to Contest #263

It ain’t easy becoming notorious. Said notoriety implies being known and talked about, and the most successful villains are the ones no one knows or talks about. Anonymous like. So my becoming notorious took some missteps on my part. Made my name something to scare children with – I’m Abominable Fred Marker. “What am I ever going to do with you?” a mother might say. “Abominable Fred will be climbing through your window if you don’t go to sleep, you silly child!” Abominable Fred I am I guess. Nothing against the little gits,...

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“The Rise of Dr. Biblio” by Bethany Walters

Submitted to Contest #263

It was a Tuesday afternoon when I turned evil. Nobody thinks of turning evil on a Tuesday. Now, Mondays that’s the day for evilness to occur, or maybe even five o'clock on a Thursday when your boss decides to take away casual Friday. But, for me it was a Tuesday. I should have already left work that day, but I had stayed behind to catch up on some last minute paperwork. That’s when he came in… I don't know how he did it, but he always managed to find me at the most inopportune time. I swear he must’ve put a tracker somewhere on my pers...

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“Vanishing Point” by Jamie Watson

Submitted to Contest #263

Apollo stared at the red neon sign flickering every few minutes, illuminating the foggy night sky and giving him a subtle, eerie feeling in the pit of his stomach. “The Corner” he read out loud, making sure he had come to the correct location his friend Nasir had told him to meet at. Apollo started to regret coming out so late after telling his mom that he would be spending the night at Nasir’s place. He was actually planning on going out to see his crush, Kiara, at The Bowling Bonanza across the street where she worked, but Nas had sent a c...

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“Baron's Last Hunt: PRIMAL EDITION” by Pres T

Submitted to Contest #263

I stared at him bloodied and bruised as he awoke. A slumber utilizing blunt force trauma allowed him to be rendered unconscious. As the sun set and the night began to slither in I felt deep within myself that I had accomplished my dearest goals. “You can tell a lot about a creature based upon his habitat, what he eats, and where he sleeps if he travels in a pack. The little subtle things that make a being truly who they are. Their environment gives all these truths away.” I said slowly walking towards the soon-to-be carcass, I couldn’t...

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“The D.E.V.I.L” by Nick Physick

Submitted to Contest #263

“Well, I’ll be damned,’ the man said. ‘You’re him, aren't you? You're the Devil."Alastor rolled his eyes. "No, I'm just--'“You have the horns and everything!"“They’re not horns,” Alastor explained, with the heavy monotony of a man repeating himself for the billionth time. “They’re epithelial lesions. It’s a skin abnormality. If you don't mind, can we--"“Wait…does this mean I’m in hell?”Alastor rubbed his face in his hands.“No way!" the man raved, "That’s crazy, man! What did I do?! I don’t deserve this!”“You’re not in hell," Alastor said, ...

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“Thug” by Sean Keeley

Submitted to Contest #263

I wish it hadn't been raining. My most frequent tangle with the Defender, self-proclaimed savior of Edison City, has me sitting in a puddle. I hear the roll of thunder. It's going to rain again. Of course it will. I look up at my hands stretched over my head, tied to the handle on the dumpster behind the Old Stone Bar. He used a zip tie again. He's been favoring those lately. I look at Link, still unconscious and hog-tied on his side. It's probably for the best. He'd just make some crass BDSM comment if he saw me tied like this. I take a de...

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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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