The Animal Trainer
I kind of cheated and used the same prompt again:
Write a story about someone larger than life (superhero, werewolf, sorcerer, movie star, rock star, super spy, etc.) in one of the following situations: dealing with the mundane, on vacation, on a blind date, changing sidekicks/minions/personal assistants.
I really haven’t done much with super villains. I guess that’s kind of strange, given that I’ve written a bit about superheroes. But villains, on the whole, just don’t interest me as much. I get why they’re fun and everyone loves them, but for the most part I don’t care. I guess there’s just not as much variety in villainy – I almost feel like they can write themselves. You can plug a villain into a story without really explaining much. Most of the have pretty much the same motivations and goals, so you end up treading a lot of the same ground over and over again. Plus, I feel like it’s easy to be a villain. The world gives us plenty of opportunity and reason. It’s pretty much the natural state of humankind to be dicks to each other.
That’s not to say there aren’t great villains that buck the trend. But a lot of times they feel interchangeable and disposable. Not everyone can be Magneto or Doctor Doom, I guess.
Anyway, I need some villains for my world of heroes, so here’s a fun one – Lord Drak of the Imperium, a cluster of conquered parallel dimensions over which he rules with an iron fist. Of course, the heroes of earth have frustrated him several times. I put in this idea of a time shift between the dimensions, so time passes more quickly on Earth than it does in the Imperium. Presumably, Drak would try to conquer Earth, get defeated, then flee home to come up with new weapons and strategies. After spending a couple of years on this, he returns, prepared to annihilate his old foes, just to discover a whole new generation of heroes for whom he’s completely ill-equipped. Thus the cycle begins again. It amuses me.
I also mention a new hero, Astro Jack. I’m imagining him as a ’40s-’60s era Superman-type. I may explore him more later.
Drak is probably the most generic alien warlord name ever. Drak’s little pet is heavily inspired by jinxlets, but not nearly as cute. About 900 words. Continue reading
