I did a little rewrite on the previous version of villain and then wrote two related views of the the question of being a villain.
Villain
“Let’s make sure I understand you. You are an envoy of Lord Nor, a noble of New Krypton who is busy consolidating his power there and to do this he must first defeat a lord Kal-El, who we on Earth know as Superman. He would like me to assist in this because I am a well-known foe of Superman and because this would make lord Nor disposed to appreciate me, feel gratitude and offer me compensation. That compensation to include being able to rule a substantial portion of Earth after lord Nor conquers it. The alternative would be his future enmity. And you, personally, believe I would entertain this request because I am considered a villain on Earth. Is that correct, Hoth?”
Hoth nodded. It was, after all, a good offer and the alternative was foolish.
I gripped the armrests of my chair and drew myself up a little taller. I said, “The answer, Hoth, is-“ and I pressed the button under the padding of my chair. Three lead lined ports popped open revealing three glowing chunks of Kryptonite.
Hoth gasped and staggered. He looked for an exit.
I’d had the system installed in case the inevitable confrontations with Superman happened in my office; I was rather pleased to have an opportunity to test it. I rather suspected that even as trusting Superman appeared, he would have stood so he had a clear line of escape if needed. Hoth wasn’t as prudent. He stumbled and fell to the floor.
“The answer, Hoth, is No.” I stood up.
“I may be a villain, but I am an EARTH villain.”
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Villain 2
“So Hoth has not reported?” Lord Nor asked for the third time as he paced.
“No, my lord. There has been no communications since he indicated he had arrived at Earth and identified a possible villain to serve your plan. Luther has sent a message that Hoth did not arrive when expected but a detachment of Earth constabulary did...Luther believes deception on our part.”
Nor considered briefly. “You know what this means? Hoth has betrayed me! It is obvious! He decided not to make the offer to Luther. Luther would have accepted if he’d received the offer. No one would have refused me.” Nor was speaking quickly, his hair was becoming disarrayed and he was turning pink in the face. “Have Hoth’s family executed,” he ordered.
“He has no survivors. You had his family executed when you determined his brother had failed you.”
“Then find some friends of his to execute! Betrayal must be punished!”
The underling departed, to do his villainous deed, quickly...before Nor realized he had been a friend of Hoth.
“Why am I surrounded by villains,” Nor demanded of the walls.
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Villain 3
Zara and Ching looked over the report Trey had just presented them. “Nor’s henchmen are actually killing each other to try to get in Nor’s good graces?” Zara ask.
“It seems they do not realize he has NO good graces, so yes,” replied Trey.
“If I thought we could wait long enough I believe our problem would eliminate itself, or at least each other.” She considered and finally asked, “Do we absolutely have to rescue them from each other? These are not nice people.”
Trey looked askance, “If I may say, my old friend Jor-El once said that he made a point of rescuing his enemies-“
“Yes, yes,” interrupted Ching. “Because they were far more grateful, more reliable...and,” he smiled as he added the final reason, “because it sowed confusion among his enemies far more effectively than attacking did.”
“Can we at least not feel too badly when we fail to save them, under the circumstance?” Zara asked.
Ching smiled even bigger, “The nice thing about trying to save out enemies is that when we succeed we can enjoy our success and when we fail...well...we can enjoy the repercussions.”
“It’s not very nice of us, pleasuring in other’s loss...” she persisted.
“Yes, Zara,” Trey admitted sadly, “we must accept that in our failings we are villains.”
