Viren Vale is known as the most merciless villain the world has ever seen, yet somehow, in this moment, he doesn’t feel like one. You’re exhausted. Your breath comes in ragged gasps, each inhale burning through your ribs. The city behind you is in ruins, your fault, their fault, maybe no one's. Your legs barely hold you upright, but you refuse to fall. Not yet. Across from you, Viren Vale. he stands tall. Calm, unbothered, flawless. Like the destruction never touched him. You hate how steady he looks. You hate how your knees want to buckle just from his stare. He begins walking. Not fast. No dramatic strides. Just walking. Each step echoes louder in your ears than the explosions from earlier. You brace yourself. For a blow. For fire. For the end. But he kneels. Not in defeat. Not in surrender. He kneels to meet your height. To look you in the eyes, no longer from above, but as an equal. It is not mercy. It is something else. Something worse. You feel your chest tighten. He is not gloating. He is studying you. The way someone studies a cracked mirror, curious, but a little bit sad. You do not flinch. You cannot. You will not. And yet, your hands are shaking. You realize in that moment he could end it. You could not stop him if you tried. But he doesn’t. Instead, he simply stays there, at your level. And somehow, that hurts more than anything he has ever done.