Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

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

“Shadow and Light” by Annette Davis

Submitted to Contest #263

I watched the light fade in the boy’s eyes as death drew near. It didn’t give me pleasure – it never had – but it still fascinated me, the way the soul can be perceived through the eyes. If you stare into someone’s eyes, I mean really stare, sometimes you can start to feel it. A slow cascade of warmth, a pull, a desire to lean in closer, to touch. Gradually the lights in the eyes become more than just reflections of their surroundings; they become windows to the soul. I watched as the lights flickered in the boy’s eyes, then winked out one a...

Read story

“Dear Hero” by Tracy Cantrell

Submitted to Contest #263

My dear hero, never has a wretch as repugnant as you have dared to invade my halls. A toast to your bravery! It truly is a testament to your sheer lack of intelligence that you’d so arrogantly show your face here. Even kings beg permission before entering my domain. How many times must I beat it into you until it gets through your thick skull? You are nothing but an insect, a cockroach too stubborn to die. And yet you deem yourself divine! How sickening.Worse still, you claim the high ground labeling my actions atrocious. Tell me, chosen one...

Read story

“7 Minutes” by F.S Smithard

Submitted to Contest #263

Flashes of memories pass by. Snippets, like the perfect trailer, spoil nothing and build an insatiable desire to keep watching. It's hard to make sense of exactly what's happening, but the genuine feelings of joy wrap around me. It was filled with a warmness only comparable to that of a mother's embrace, with euphoria quickly replacing any notion of guilt and seclusion I had previously had to endure. My muscles relax, my breathing slows and my teeth unclench. I still don’t know exactly what is going on, but those thoughts don’t bother me as ...

Read story

“Covid vs Human” by Chris Broome

Submitted to Contest #263

Covid vs. HumanI look at them and all I feel is disgust. They walk around in happiness and perfect health. Well, most of them anyway. Some are not so fortunate, but all the more reason for me to exist. They have had plans for years to snuff me and my brethren out of existence. They tried, and they have failed. In all their glory and pride, they walk around and flaunt their superiority over me and my ilk. This is the bane of my existence. This is the reason why I have destroyed so many of their dreams and hopes. I have won whether they unders...

Read story

“AMERICAN HAREM STORY: Thaddeus” by Christopher Rothschild

Submitted to Contest #263

Thad had been awake for two days, but his excitement kept him alert. The prototype was set up and ready to run. The machine was a bulky mess of metal and cables and took up a sizable area of the warehouse his associate Othello had purchased through a shell company. He had stolen and spent millions of dollars to cobble this contraption of magic and science, and if it worked, a decade of research would come to fruition. It was essentially an unlimited clean energy device. If you drew from a magical source like a Bind, it could generate ma...

Read story

“Icarus Retold” by Pyrrhic Everby

Submitted to Contest #263

Norman Vincent Peale once said, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.” Little did he know how suffocating it’d be to land. Icarus had gotten his namesake from the famous myth. Yes, the guy who fell from the sky. No, his parents don’t hate him and/or want him to have the same demise. Or at least he had hoped that they didn’t. They named him Icarus because Icarus had flown toward the sun; but it seems that they had censored the part of the story where Icarus falls miserably to his death. His parents ha...

Read story

“From the Eyes of the Koopa General” by Roxie Piatigorski

Submitted to Contest #263

(Trigger Warning: Some violence, death, suicide attempt and mild language)Shortly after I hatched from an egg back in the Dark Lands, my parents had abandoned me for only Grambi knows why. Ever since then, I knew I had to do whatever I could to survive, so I would search for food, even when that meant going from trash can to trash can. Then one night, some Rex woman found me rummaging through a trash can for food, so she took me in and gave me most of her roast chicken, which I had graciously eaten. However, little did I know that she was pl...

Read story

“Hero Heart” by Sophia Steele

Submitted to Contest #263

Never meet your heroes, they’ll just let you down. It’s a phrase we’ve all heard before. Born from the countless tales of naive and passionate fans meeting their flesh-and-blood gods only to learn the same disappointing lesson over and over again: mortal heroes are just as flawed as any other human being alive. Whether it’s from a rude comment or an imperfection in a performance, there is always something to break the spell. That moment where the hero is smaller than expected. That moment when you finally realize their perceived greatness wa...

Read story

“Don't Mess with Barbara Taylor” by James Spurlock

Submitted to Contest #263

I think this is the worst place to be in. There are no calendars; I don’t know what today is. No clocks; what time is it? There are no menus; I’ve been eating the same food since I got here. I can’t sleep; the lights are on all of the time. There is no privacy; anybody can see what I am doing. This place is really driving me mad. “I hate this place! Jail sucks!” “What are you in for?” asks John, the other guy in my cell. “I’m not sure why I’m here. It started out because I was hungry and went out to get something to eat.” “And they arrested ...

Read story

“Good Boy” by V. Alex Marquez

Submitted to Contest #263

I used to be a good boy. But that morning I jumped on the unmade bed of my neglecting owner and pooped on her pillow. Things didn’t have to be this way. That day, as I usually do, I took a morning drink from my bowl as soon as I got up. But there was nothing usual about that day. The was a different smell in the air. She woke up and didn’t rub my head. Her attention was some place else. Then I heard an unfamiliar sneeze coming from the bedroom. “Do you have a dog?...

Read story

“The Prince Taking Back His Lost Kingdom” by Samantha Kabiling

Submitted to Contest #263

“So you mean to tell me, you can actually build a whole house, Pierre?” Lilliana questioned. There was an obvious I don’t believe you in her tone looking at me. I chuckled, “Yes it was very effective in helping the kingdom, but alas, I never knew how to properly create windows.” I whip his locks dramatically. “Gods, I wonder how you’ll be if you were able to create brick or concrete like structures,” Lilliana added. I shrugged. I know how concrete is made, but properly creating it from the elements of nature itself was hard on its own. It’ll...

Read story

“Truth Alone Lives On Forever” by Jeffrey K Schmoll

Submitted to Contest #263

Two of the train robbers lay dying in the dust, their blood leaking out and horses scattered. A third robber was riding hard, whipping his lathered horse, trying to get away from the famous lawman and his Native-American partner. The Legend sat tall in the saddle and drew his gun, his white hat and iconic black mask steady as a rock. The gun barked twice but the robber wheeled his horse and charged back towards them. The Legend had missed! After all these years, he had missed! The robber fired and three bullets tore into the trusted partner....

Read story

“The Fall of Lady Mara” by Elan Ricarte

Submitted to Contest #263

August 11, 2024 – 2:39 PM She felt it the moment that it happened. One moment she is zipping through the air, causing the golems to explode into fiery shards with a flick of her wrist, and the next moment, she is falling through the air, concrete-bound. Winds whipped past her, her arms flailing for purchase. Anything, anything. She tried flapping her arms repeatedly, trying to will the air around her to buoy herself back up the air as it had for the past 105 years. Nothing. The concrete just rose up faster and faster and— A loud CRASH expl...

Read story

“Beets Anyone?” by A.Y. Nook

Submitted to Contest #263

“It’s all right, I peed on it.”Four hardened adventurers drew back in disgust. The client looked around at them all in confusion. “But that’s what you’re supposed to do!” he protested. “I mean, it’s common knowledge!”What does it say about us as a society, Milton pondered, that this idiot has urinated on himself without a qualm because ‘common knowledge’ told him to? He sighed in exasperation. “Lissa, see what healing herbs you can find. Tarmenghorst, prep some bandages and hot water. Halvsig—” The dwarf looked at him pleadingly, beady ...

Read story

“When the Light Flickers” by Elena Balaguer

Submitted to Contest #263

When the Light FlickersAuthor: Elena Balaguer Chapter 1 - Who Stopped the Music? Aris, short for Aristotle, has wandered the globe throughout his whole existence, a Mary Poppins of sorts, I’ll go where I’m needed. So with the next change of wind, he found himself in the world’s busiest city, New York. It was a brisk morning, the kind that has you snorting out cold vaporous fumes, as Aris walked the early commuter-filled streets of New York. He excitedly let out, conversing with the morning air, "Time to infuse some magic," as he hurriedly ...

Read story

Load more stories

$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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢