Villain of the Year

How it begins

Vera Sable won Villain of the Year with eighty-three percent of the neighborhood vote. The trophy was a small apartment building wearing a cape. Someone had engraved THANK YOU FOR THE AFFORDABLE CHAOS across its base.

She put it beside the retirement forms.

At fifty-two, she was tired of smoke machines, rooftop speeches and pretending her knees enjoyed dramatic landings. Her last attack had been on a luxury development's launch party. The glitter took three weeks to remove from her equipment.

Milo Grant arrived with a delegation from the tenants' association. He carried flowers and a spreadsheet. Vera distrusted the spreadsheet first.

'You can't retire,' he said.

'I filled out the forms. That usually makes it official.'

'Rents have stayed level for seven years because investors think this district is dangerous.'

'It is dangerous. The tram crossing has no light.'

'You know what I mean.'

She did. Every threatening broadcast, every conveniently empty warehouse reduced to theatrical rubble, had become part of the neighborhood's economic planning. Nobody had asked whether she wanted to be infrastructure.

Outside, a new hero landed in the square. His suit shone with sponsor logos. A camera drone circled while he announced a comprehensive safety initiative. On the spreadsheet, Milo's projected rents rose before the applause finished.

Vera opened the window. The hero's team was already fencing off the public benches to establish a secure command area.

'Is he allowed to do that?' she asked.

'His foundation bought the square yesterday.'

She looked at the little trophy, then at the flowers Milo held as though politeness might make the request fair.

'I'm not staying a villain so you don't have to organize,' she said.

Milo lowered the spreadsheet. 'Then help us organize something better.'

For the first time that morning, Vera considered a plan that did not require a smoke machine.