Altruist.

My nickname. My title. My normality.

Having to bear the proclaimed title of “the hero” was no trivial feat. My existence was secured to it, in diamond chains.

But as the antagonist lay before me, withering on the floor in agony, my resolve began to falter. Slightly.

“I don’t care.” I spat, looking down on him. His face was covered with the scarlet of the aftermath of brutality. My fingers were coated in the same rich liquid. “So what? You had a family to protect? A villain with a backstory is still a villain.”

He looked up at me with an alarming smile. Blood flowed from his head to his jawline, dripping off like a broken shower head.

“I won’t deny that I’ve done wrong,” he managed to snarl through bloodied words.

I watched him as he slowly crawled towards me with cold disdain.

“But what makes you any better?” He whispered.

I paused.

“Don’t dare group me in with your wrongdoings.” I hissed, taking a step back that was more unbalanced than I’d like to admit.

“I dare enough. I’ve dared enough to get to this point, hmm?” The shattered man smiled. “I’ve fought. I’ve damaged. I’ve destroyed.”

I took another step back.

“Haven’t you done the same?” He continued. “You did all this too. You’ve wrecked lives.”

“I— my motives were different—,” I began before being promptly cut off.

“Oh, sure,” he interrupted. “You fought to protect your own. Your family. Your people.”

He spat out a dislodged tooth from his mouth.

“As did I.”

I recoiled in horror from his words. My legs refused to cooperate with my mind, and I found myself frozen to the spot.

“No. No, you attacked first,” I cried, more to convince myself than him. I glanced down at my bloodied fists, as if the physical blood on my hands were supposed to be a physical reassurance.

“And if I did?” He added. “Does this make me a villain in the bigger picture?”

I stayed silent.

He continued, “Think about it. We landed a small, tiny, unintentional attack. It was an accident to begin with.

“Yet you attacked back. Relentless. Destructive. Devastating.” He rasped, punctuating each word with a crescendo of aggressive force. “You killed my people.”

My hands began to shake, the blood becoming evidence rather than a source of comfort.

“They— they were attacking…” I stuttered, the words betraying me.

“Attacking your people. Right.” He laughed, almost sardonically. “As you attacked mine. But in terms of scale… in terms of offense… in terms of the damage inflicted…

I’d say you win those categories by a milestone, hmm?”

He pressed on, dragging himself towards me while I could only look on in frozen horror.

“And in terms of the proportionality, of what we caused initially, by complete accident, compared to what you did, by complete purpose…” he said. “I’d think you’re the bad guy.”

Any possible coherent argument had completely deserted my mind, as did my dignity.

“You’re a hypocritical altruist.

A hero who’s a hyprocrite is still a hypocrite.”

He was only a foot away from me now.

“So let’s die together, neither villain, nor hero.”

END.

(This was an interesting prompt to write about!)