#tbh proof that Angie and Max weren't meant to be is the fact that they control opposing elements lmao | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

Best Revenge

Figured I’d name this ficlet with the AU name that I decided upon earlier today and am very proud of. This ficlet is a follow-up to the previous ficlet in this variation of my Superhero/villain AU, which you can read here. Be prepared for some more reasons to hate Angie’s ex-husband. Enjoy.

——————————————————————————————

Max took a deep breath. He got out of his car and slowly walked up to Lute’s house.

Well, it’s Angie’s now, too. After all, she moved in. He knocked on the door.

“Just a sec!” Lute’s voice called. Max stifled a groan. He’d been hoping that Angie would answer it. Lute had hated his guts for years now and, since the divorce had happened, didn’t bother hiding it.

Not like he hid it much ‘fore the divorce… The door opened. Lute’s kind face promptly warped into annoyance. He leaned against the doorjamb, crossing his arms.

“An’ what exactly do ya want?” Lute asked snidely.

“I just…I just want to talk to Angie.”

“Hell, no.”

“C’mon, Lute, we were friends fer years!” Max begged. Lute shook his head. “I haven’t even seen her since she filed the papers.”

“That’s fer a reason, Buster Brown. She don’t want to see ya.”

“I-”

“Unless yer here to drop somethin’ off or pick somethin’ up, get back in yer car and leave,” Lute snapped. Max straightened.

“No.”

“If I have to make ya leave, I will,” Lute said. Max couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. “What?”

“Lute, yer the most athletic of yer fam’ly, but that don’t mean much. I know fer a fact that you wouldn’t stand a chance against me.”

“Maybe not against his skinny little ass,” a voice said. A strange man appeared in the doorway. “But you’d have a hard time taking me out.” The man smirked at Max.

Shit. He’s right. The stranger was much bigger and bulkier than Lute, even more than Max. No, calm down. He could only take ya down if he’s a super. And he could easily be a normie.

“Oh, I should prob’ly introduce the two of ya,” Lute drawled lazily. “Stan, this is Angie’s ex-husband, Max. Max, this is Stan.”

“Lemme guess. He’s yer new boyfriend?” Max asked.

“Nope. Angie’s,” Lute said. Max’s jaw dropped. “Yeah, she fin’ly found someone who was more her league.”

“She’s- she’s already moved on?” Max whispered.

“Yeah.” Stan looked at Max with pity. “Honestly, man, it’d be best if you moved on, too.”

“I-” Max clenched his jaw. “No.”

“No? Fine, fuck up your life, I don’t care,” Stan said with a shrug. He turned around. A rock flew into Max’s hand. Max growled softly and threw the rock directly at Stan’s back. With unnervingly fast reflexes, Lute caught it before it could hit.

“All right, that’s it,” Lute snarled. “Get off my property.” Without waiting for a response, Lute shoved Max off the doorstep. Max lost his balance, falling to the ground. He threw up a hand. A chunk of rock erupted from the ground, forming a barrier between Max and Lute. “What the-”

Dammit! I shouldn’t have revealed that I’m a super. Max got to his feet. Better get out of here ‘fore-

“I don’t think your ex-wife would appreciate how you messed up her garden,” Stan whispered from behind him. Max slowly turned. Stan jabbed at Max’s chest. Max let out a gasp of pain. The poke felt red-hot. “Fix it, then get outta here.” Max waved a hand. The chunk of rock retreated into the earth. “Good. Now, leave, before Lute and I decide to pull that same trick and use our powers to intimidate you.” Stan’s hair was smoking. Between that and how it felt like Stan’s touch had burned him, Max could tell what Angie’s new boyfriend’s power was.

He’s a pyro. Of course he is. Pyros suck. Max’s own archnemesis, Flamethrower, was a pyro. His mind suddenly registered what Stan had said.

“Wait, Lute is-” Max looked over at Lute.

“No shit he is,” Stan scoffed. “You know Angie is. Did you really think her twin would be a normie?”

“I-”

“You’re fighting outside your weight class,” Stan said, talking over Max. “Go home.” Max clenched his hands into fists. Something flew overhead. Max looked up.

“Was that-”

“Yeah. It was Angie. You were picking a fight to see someone who wasn’t even home,” Stan said shortly. Max’s fury was wiped away. His head hanging low, he walked to his car and got inside.

-----

Stan watched Max drive away. Lute came over.

“He’s geokinetic,” Lute commented.

“Yep. And there’s only one geokinetic hero in this area. Richter.” Stan grinned. “Wanna team up against him next time we see him in his mask?”

“Of course.”

“What are you boys doin’ in the front yard starin’ at the street?” Angie asked. Stan and Lute turned. Like usual, she had landed in the backyard, then entered the house through the back door. Now, she stood in the front door, looking at them curiously.

“Oh, nothin’,” Lute said. “Just people watchin’.”

“Hmm.” Angie crossed her arms. “Don’t know if I believe that, but whatever.” Lute and Stan went inside, Stan kissing the top of Angie’s head on the way.

“Coming in?” Stan asked.

“Nah, I’ve got to weed the bluebells,” Angie said. “I’ll come in when I’m done.” Just as Stan closed the door behind him, leaving Angie on the doorstep, there was a shout. “What happened to my garden?!”

-----

It took a week before Lute and Stan had the opportunity to come face-to-face with Richter, aka Angie’s ex-husband. He showed up at the outskirts of town, trying to stop them from a basic robbery. Stan assumed it took so long because Richter was supposedly taking some personal time off. He raised an eyebrow as he looked at Max.

He shoulda spent a few more days on vacation. Even behind Max’s mask, his eyes were red and swollen. Damn, he’s really head over heels for Angie, isn’t he? Stan actually started to feel a bit bad, before reminding himself of what Max had put Angie through. No, he doesn’t need your sympathy. He kept trying to force Angie to have kids and quit her job.

“You seem a bit under the weather, Richter,” Stan taunted, easily catching the rock that had been halfheartedly thrown at him. “Maybe you shoulda stayed home.”

“Stayed home and had yourself some tasty chicken soup,” Lute added. He hit Max over the head with a whip of water. “I don’t really want to catch whatever bug you’ve got.”

“I’m not sick,” Max said in a choked up voice. “I’m just- I’m going through some stuff right now.”

“If you really were going through stuff, you wouldn’t be here, completely failing at beating us,” Lute said. Max growled. The ground Lute was standing on erupted, sending him flying. “Son of a-” Lute shouted as he faded into the distance.

“I was a fool to think villains might go easier on me when I’m in crisis,” Max spat. “Only someone with a shred of humanity would care about my life falling apart.” Stan snorted.

“Sure, we’re the ones who don’t have any humanity,” he said. “We’re not the ones controlling our significant others.” Max froze. He stared at Stan in horror.

“What do you-”

“I’ve made a lotta bad decisions,” Stan continued, ignoring Max. “But not once have I tried to use a baby to trap the person I’m dating.” Max clenched his hands into fists.

“That’s not what happened! I wouldn’t- I wasn’t-” Max ground his teeth. “You know who I am and why I’m a mess.”

“Sure do.”

“How?” Max’s eyes narrowed. “Angie.” Stan marched up to Max and grabbed him by the collar.

“Don’t ever blame her, you piece of shit. She’s a good person. Too good for you. I asked, but she wouldn’t say anything.”

“Then how-”

“You snitched, genius, when you used your power in front of me.” Max’s eyes widened.

“Yer her new boyfriend,” he whispered, no longer hiding his southern accent.

“And circle gets the square,” Stan said coldly, letting go of Max. Max brushed off his costume, glaring at Stan.

“Was this some sort of scheme to get back at me?” Max demanded. “Did ya seduce my wife to get her to divorce me?”

“What? That’s fucked up! No! I was in the right place at the right time to comfort her after you pissed her off. Like I said, I didn’t know your secret identity until you had the fantastic idea to use your power in front of me.”

“Hmph.” Max crossed his arms. “I can’t believe Angie would date a villain.”

“You’d be surprised by what Angie would do when she’s not under someone’s thumb.”

“She wasn’t- she-”

“You tried to chain her to you with a kid!” Stan snapped. Max snarled.

“I did no such thing! I just thought that we should get to havin’ kids quickly.”

“Because then she wouldn’t be able to leave you.”

“No, ‘cause then she would be more open to takin’ in Junior!” Max shouted. Stan frowned.

“Junior?” His eyes widened. He grabbed fistfuls of the front of Max’s costume and pulled him close. “Buddy, are you saying what I think you’re saying? Are you- are you saying you already have a kid?” Max paled. “How the hell would you have a kid, if you and Angie have been dating since high school? Huh?”

“Let me go,” Max whispered.

“No. Tell me. Tell me you cheated on Angie,” Stan snarled. Loose dirt flew up, blinding him. He let go of Max to rub the grit out of his eyes. To his surprise, when his vision was cleared, Max was still there. “You shoulda left when you could,” Stan said. His hands burst into flames. Max stood his ground.

“If you say a word to Angie, I’ll tell everyone who ya really are,” he said calmly.

“What makes you think I won’t spread your secret identity to all my coworkers?” Stan demanded.

“If you did, Angie would never forgive ya,” Max replied. Stan ground his teeth.

Dammit. He’s right. It doesn’t matter how justified it would be. She wouldn’t tolerate me snitching like that.

“Fine,” Stan spat. “I won’t tell Angie.” Max nodded. “Leave, before I beat your ass into the dirt.” Max smirked, then turned around and slowly walked away. By the time Lute had finally rejoined Stan, the hero was long gone. “Took you a while.”

“Unlike some folks, I can’t fly,” Lute said. He brushed dirt off his costume. “So, what happened?”

“The guy’s even more of a douche than we thought.”

“Really? Why?” Lute asked. Stan groaned.

“I can’t tell you. If I do, he’ll leak my secret identity.”

“Wh- ya really showed yer hand, huh?” Lute said, putting his hands on his hips.

“I wanted him to know who was kicking his ass and why.”

“Still…” Lute sighed. “So much fer the big revenge plan.”

“Yeah…hang on.”

“What?” Lute asked. Stan grinned.

“I promised I wouldn’t tell Angie. I didn’t say anything about not telling you,” he said. Lute’s eyes widened. “Who knows, maybe what I told you somehow reaches Angie. After all, you didn’t promise not to tell her.” Lute grinned as well. “Then she can kick his ass.”

“Look, Stan, I agree that Angie should be the one to handle him, but it took this long fer her to just divorce him. What makes ya think she’ll go after Max?”

“He cheated on her and had a kid with some other woman,” Stan said flatly. Lute opened and closed his mouth a few times. After a moment, he nodded.

“Yeah. I think that might be enough fer her to finally kick his ass like she should.”