Crumbling Pedestal
Prompt: Trapped with the Enemy
Fandom: Bravoman
Summary: Bravoman and Reverse Anti get trapped in a basement after an old building comes down on top of them in the middle of a fight. Perceptions of each other are challenged.
Bravoman roused to a dull ache over his entire body. His vision swam as he forced himself to his knees, bringing one hand to the side of his head.
“Anyone get the license on the truck that hit me?” he groaned, shaking his head as he tried to reorient himself and remember what happened. He was in a dark room — or room of sorts, at least. A spattering of light filtered down from above, illuminating the space just enough that he could take a look around. He spotted stone and debris, old electrical equipment, the unconscious form of Reverse Anti-Bravoman, ratty old furniture — wait.
His head snapped back to Reverse Anti, who was slumped over a rock pile, out cold. It all came back to him at once. He’d been fighting Dr. Bombs latest upgraded attack bomber when he’d spotted the villain skulking about near an old, abandoned hotel. He’d wrapped up the fight with the giant robot before chasing him inside, but the wood panels of the flooring had given out, sending them both tumbling down here.
Annoying, but that wasn’t so bad. All he had to do to escape is stretch back up to the hole and leave, right? Except, as he looked back up, he couldn’t spot any holes large enough to be the hole they’d fallen down. But that didn’t make sense? It should be immediately visible, shouldn’t it? Unless…
The ceiling creaked, showering Bravoman with a cloud of dust.
Oh right, he’d knocked the robot onto the building. It must have collapsed the building on top of them. Which meant… Getting out might not be so easy.
A groaning noise brought him out of his thoughts. He turned back towards Reverse Anti, who was finally stirring. The antimatter clone brought a hand up to the right side of his face, sliding it under the visor to rub at the skin around his eye. He, too, took a slow, bleary look around the room, only to freeze and stare at Bravoman as soon as he made eye contact. Bravoman was inclined to stare back.
Reverse Anti scrambled to his feet, swaying unsteadily for a few precious seconds before jabbing a finger in Bravoman’s direction. “You! What did you do?”
“What did
I do? You’re the one that started the fist fight!”
“Only because you were chasing me! Where are we?”
“Good question. I think we’re in the hotel basement.”
“In the…” Reverse anti paused. The antennas on either side of his helmet drooped as he seemed to think about it. “Actually, that’s pretty sound logic.”
“Yeah. I can’t think of anywhere else. But it looks like the way we fell might have caved in, so we’re going to have to find another—” He was cut off when a sucker punch smacked him in the jaw, sending him stumbling. He threw his arms out to catch himself, then pushed back to his feet and held a hand to his jaw.
He whirled back to see Reverse Anti retracting his arm, expression seething. “What’s the big idea? I was trying to discuss a way out of here!”
“I don’t need your help,
cheater,” Reverse Anti snarled, shifting back into a fighting stance.
Bravoman let out an exasperated sigh. “Really? Could we maybe
not do this when we’re trapped?” Reverse Anti didn’t respond. “Fiiine. You asked for it.”
He launched himself at the false hero, arms outstretched. Reverse Anti dodged to the side, so Bravoman used one stretchy arm to pivot, spinning back in Reverse Anti’s direction. His opponent jabbed at him, and he blocked the blow with his gauntlet before tackling reverse Anti to the ground. They rolled together in the debris, until Bravoman’s back struck a pillar. More dust rained from above, followed by a creaking noise.
Bravoman had just enough time to say “Wait—” before the ceiling above them caved, raining debris down from above. He squeezed his eyes shut and held his hands above his head, pelted with wood and stone, and heard Reverse Anti let out a yelp.
Only once the debris seemed to stop did he dare to lower his arms and open his eyes. Wood and cement and plaster littered the ground around him. But he was, ultimately, barely harmed. Clearly, the universe still favored him.
The sound of heavy breathing dragged him out of his thoughts. Right, he wasn’t here alone. Sitting up, he noticed Reverse Anti on the ground nearby, propping up his torso with one arm while he twisted and tried to knock debris off his back with the other.
While the worst of the debris had spared Bravoman, that didn’t seem to be the case for Reverse Anti Wooden planks and chunks of cement had landed on and around him, with one particularly large chunk pinning his legs to the ground. As Bravoman watched, he twisted as best he could and stretched his arms, trying to push the stone off his legs. He huffed, arms trembling as he managed to lift it an inch or so, only to lose his grip. He let out a strangled cry as the stone fell heavily back onto his legs.
Bravoman winced, sucking in a breath through his teeth, and Reverse Anti suddenly seemed to remember he was there., snapping his head back to face him. “
What?!” he snarled, voice pitched with distress. “
What do you want?!”
After a few seconds of hesitation, Bravoman started to scoot closer, but Reverse Anti swiped at his legs with his hands, making him stop in his tracks. “That, uh. That looks painful,” he said dumbly.
“You think?” Reverse Anti growled. He dug his fingers into the cement and tried to drag himself free, but it didn’t budge. Then he twisted back around and tried to push it away again, muttering obscenities under his breath.
Suddenly, Reverse Anti didn’t look like the formidable enemy Bravoman had come to expect, but instead a pathetic, panicked man, desperate and afraid. But it seemed like he was too proud to ask for help.
Bravoman
could just leave him here to sort himself out. It was probably what he deserved. But no, that wasn’t a heroic thing to do.
“You, uh, need help with that, bud?”
“No!!” Reverse Anti screeched, slamming his fist on the chunk of cement. “I don’t need you! Or your help! Or your stupid luck that lets you get out consequence free!”
“You sure?” Bravoman asked, leaning closer, flashing Reverse Anti a coy grin. “You look like you could use it.” He watched fury flash across Reverse Anti’s features, and felt only the tiniest bit guilty about the satisfaction it brought him. Was this what Brave Man felt like when he antagonized him? No wonder he kept doing it.
“I mean, if you’re sure, I could just go and leave you here to sort yourself out. Or send Bravowoman to round you up.”
“Fffffuck you!”
“Hey, hey hey! We like to keep a pg rating around here!” Bravoman said with a frown, crossing his arms. “That’s like, at least pg-13 language.”
“Do I look like I care?! I can’t feel my fucking legs!” Reverse Anti spun back around, huffing as he tried to push the boulder free, muttering under his breath. His movements became more frantic, the longer Bravoman watched, until his satisfaction died away, replaced with pity.
This was the man that kidnapped the Bravoman of his universe. Who brought his world to ruin to stoke his ego and hero complex. Heck, Reverse Anti even tried to imprison
him, too
. And yet, at the moment he didn't look like the danger Bravoman knew he could be; he looked frightened and in over his head, almost like
his Anti-Bravoman.
Bravoman crossed his arms, tilting his head from side to side until he came to a decision. He took a few steps until he was staring at the chunk of cement, looking it over.
It was a good two to three feet across in both directions and at least six inches deep. On one side, pieces of rebar poked out, bent at the end.
“Geeze, this place is really falling apart,” Bravoman grumbled. “Did we really do that much of a number on the old building?”
“Did you forget the giant robot you abandoned fighting just to chase after me?”
“Hey, I didn’t abandon fighting it! I took it out first!” Reverse Anti gave him a deadpan stare. Bravoman gulped. “I did! I knocked it out!”
“Yeah. Right on top of the building, idiot.”
Bravoman huffed, crossing his arms. “Look, do you want help or no?”
Reverse Anti glared and said nothing for a moment, before his anger shifted to unease. “What's the catch?”
“The catch is that if I help you out, you don't attack me.”
“Seriously?” Reverse Anti barked out a harsh laugh. “Do you think I’m stupid? You think I’m just going to let you drag me out of here?”
Bravoman shrugged and turned around. “You’re choice, pal.” He started to walk away, looking up towards the ceiling for an opening. It looked like more of the building had collapsed where the ceiling had caved in, so that wasn’t going to work…
“Wait!!”
Reverse Anti’s voice cut through his thoughts. He turned back to see that his doppelganger was looking away, antennas drooping. “I suppose if the alternative is remaining stuck, that I will
allow you to assist me. But this truce is only temporary!”
Fully turning around, Bravoman strolled back. “I expected it to be. You’ve proven to be too stubborn for your own good, anyway.”
“I don’t need your lecture!” Reverse Anti spat. “If I were in a better position, I’d have enough leverage to get this off! Then you’d be sorry!” He twisted around to prop his hands against the cement chunk and waited.
“Sure you would,” Bravoman said with a roll of his eyes. Still, he stooped down to press his palms against the edge. “On three. One… Two… Three!” With all his strength, he heaved upwards, lifting the chunk a few precious inches. Geeze, this was heavier than it looked. This was one of those moments where he really wished he had Bravowoman’s levels of enhanced strength.
Still, it was enough. Reverse Anti pushed off against the block, giving him just enough leverage to push himself out of the way. As soon as he was clear, Bravoman let the block drop with a heavy thud that sent a cloud of dust into the air.
Reverse Anti hissed through his teeth as he dragged himself over to the pillar, using it to try and prop himself up. But he’d only made it up to his knee before one of his legs gave out, only his grip on the pillar keeping him from collapsing entirely.
Now that it was free, Bravoman could see that the villain’s leg seemed off, twisted at an awkward angle. He sucked in a breath. “That doesn’t look good.”
All he got in response was a glare before Reverse Anti tried to put pressure on it again, only to let out a pained scream as it gave out again. “Don’t. Say. A word.” He let himself sink back to the ground, breathing heavily as he leaned over to get a better look, running his hand over he leg, hissing when he found the tender spot near the ankle. As it was, Bravoman wasn’t sure if it was broken or not, but he definitely wasn’t walking on it any time soon.
He shouldn’t feel pity for Reverse Anti. Not after everything he’d done. Not when half of this was his fault. But watching the man tremble as he tried to drag himself to his feet again, despite the injury that
clearly shouldn’t be walked on, well… it was hard to feel anything other than pity.
Sighing, Bravoman offered out his hand silently. Reverse Anti stared at it as if he’d been slapped.
“You’re supposed to hate me,” Reverse Anti snapped, shrinking away from the offer.
“Uh… yeah?” Bravoman replied. “Who said I don’t? But you look like you need a hand, and it wouldn’t be very hero-like to leave you here when you need help, now would it?”
Reverse Anti’s expression was unreadable. His eyes darted between the offered hand and Bravoman’s face. Then, after a long moment, he gingerly reached out to take his hand. Gingerly, as if he thought it was an animal that would bite if he moved too quickly.
Bravoman gripped it tightly, hauling Reverse Anti to his good foot, then helping sling his arm around his shoulder for support, so that the injured leg didn’t have to touch the ground.
“Look. I don’t like you. You hate me. And if you try to snake your hand around and choke me I will kick your injury, so don’t even think about it. Let’s just figure out how to get out of there, okay?
Then we can worry about all of that.”
For a second, Reverse Anti looked like he was going to argue. Then he averted his gaze and let out a gruff, “Fine.”
Satisfied for the time being, Bravoman started taking slow steps towards the edge of the room, keeping an eye out for stairs or openings in the ceiling. All the while, Reverse Anti’s fingers dug into his shoulder tightly, shaking with strain. Maybe he was more hurt than he let on.
“Don’t think me weak, Bravoman. As soon as I’m well enough, I’ll make you regret this.”
“Oh, joy.”
They couldn’t get out of here soon enough.
