Based on a writing prompt I found on Reddit by the user u/DragonEyeNinja

The prompt went as followed: "The villain is tired of being sent heroes who are barely teenagers, thrown to him like lambs to the slaughter. Instead, he takes them under his wing. He's amassed roughly 200 of them now."

Requested by Crimea66

Narrator's POV

A notification rang in the room Ivan sat in.  He looked to the side to see a monitor going on, showing the image of the front door to Ivan's fortress.

It showed a blond teen with bright blue eyes in a flashy heroic outfit.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!  Today is the day I end your evil reign Ivan!"  The boy said.

"Hmmm... Which hero is he?"  Ivan asked absentmindedly.  A follower stepped forward from the shadows.

"He is Hero number 345, known as Mr. America."  The follower said.  The follower bowed and returned to his place by the wall.

"345?"  Ivan said.  "Da, that makes him the 245th hero to come since I started my collection."

"Do you plan to add him?"  A new follower said.  Ivan tilted his head, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Friends are always a good thing, da?"  Ivan said, a small, innocent smile on his face.

"""Da""" Many voices rang out in the room, almost mechanically.

Ivan smiled in response, his eyes closed as he his grip tightened on metal pipe.

"Da, then let him in, kolkolkol."

------------- Time Skip --------------

"Ha! Ha! Ha!  I've made it past all your traps Ivan the Terrible!"  Mr. America said, bursting into a large meeting hall.  It resembled a throne room.

Clap.  Clap.  Clap.

Mr. America looked towards the throne where he saw a dark figure sitting there.  A man dressed in a dark grey outfit sat, clapping slowly as he smiled softly, his beige hair falling just above his eyes.

"Da, you have," The man, undoubtedly Ivan, said.  He opened his violet eyes, which seemed to glow in the dark and dreary room.

"I'm here to end your reign dude!"  Mr. America said, preparing to fight.  Ivan gave a soft giggle.

"Da, I know,"  Ivan said, giving a smile to Mr. America.  "You are not the first person to declare that to me."

"Yeah but I'll be the last one!"  Mr. America said, rushing forward.  As if in slow motion, Ivan stood up and batted Mr. America away.

"Ouch..."  Mr. America held his head and looked up, seeing Ivan holding a metal pipe, a bit of blood on the end of it, no doubt Mr. America's.

"Do you want to try again?"  Ivan asked, sounding and looking innocent.  But Mr. America refused to believe that.

"Heroes don't give up!"  Mr. America said, lunging forward again.

"Are you sure about that?"  Ivan said, just as some vines seemed to come out of nowhere, holding Mr. America in place.

"Gah?!"

"Struggling is useless against these vines," Ivan said, walking closer to Mr. America, holding his hands behind his back.

Once in front of Mr. America, Ivan leaned forward.

"Are you sure that heroes don't give up?"  Ivan asked softly, his voice husky.

"O-of course!"  Mr. America said, still struggling.  Ivan shrugged.

"My oh my... Are you sure you can say that against these vines?"  Ivan asked.

"What do you mean?"  Mr. America said, shooting Ivan a suspicious look.  Ivan laughed softly.

"Does this really not seem familiar to you Hero number 345?"  Ivan said, looking at Mr. America through nearly closed eyes.

"What do you mean when you say 'Hero number 345'?"  Mr. America asked.  Ivan turned his back to Mr. America, waving his hand.

"Da, you are the 345th hero to be sent to try and kill me."  Ivan said, making Mr. America stop struggling.

"W-what?"

"Da, those governments always send so many heroes to come kill me and yet..."  Ivan turned to Alfred and gave him a sweet smile.  "It always fails~"

"..."

"The first few dozen were true heroes - strong and brave, smart and kind.  Da, I liked them quite a lot, even if they were annoying enough that I wanted to bash their faces in with my magical metal pipe of pain."  Ivan said, a dark psychotic grin on his face before he reverted to a small and innocent smile.

"Then around the 100th hero, the quality... it went down," Ivan said, sounding sad.  He shook his head.

"..."  Mr. America looked at him, a shadow covering his face.

"I think they started running out of heroes to send, at least, fully matured heroes."  Ivan said, musing quietly to himself as he reached the throne, standing by it.  He gently caressed the arm of the throne.

"Do you know what it's like to see a bunch of young heroes, barely trained, unable to fully use their powers, sent to try and fight against me?  To try and kill me?"  Ivan asked, turning  his head to look at Mr. America.

"..."

"I did not like that."  Ivan said simply.  He turned fully to Mr. America, standing in front of his throne as the vines brought Mr. America closer.

"Do you know what I did?"  Ivan asked.

" Y-you killed them," Mr. America said, stuttering a bit.  Ivan stared at Mr. America with a cool expression.

"... Sometimes, sadly, da, I did kill a few," Ivan said, turning his gaze downward, looking sad.

"S-sometimes?"  Mr. America asked, not liking the sound of it.

Ivan shook his head and gave Mr. America a bitter smile.

"Da, and other times, I talked to them like this," Ivan said, a small smile on his face.

Ivan stood in front of Mr. America and leaned forward.

"I mentioned this earlier, but are you sure you don't recognize these vines?"  Ivan said, a strange glint in his eyes.

Mr. America gulped as he thought of why Ivan was saying that, his eyes widening as he stared at Ivan who moved back.

"Da, these vines below to Hero number 331 - Rosey Lover."  Ivan said, making a cold sweat run down Mr. America's back.

"B-but you k-killed h-him," Mr. America stammered.  "H-he was r-reported d-dead!"

"Hmm... I can see why they would report him as dead," Ivan said, an uninterested look on his face.  "Failure heroes aren't allowed to remain."

"What?"

"Da, you didn't know," Ivan said, shrugging a bit.  "No one knows until it is too late.  They return failures and suffer... complications, and are found dead."  Ivan said, hinting at the truth.

"No..."

"Da, it is true, that's what happened to the first few heroes who I convinced to retreat.  Their governments simply killed them."  Ivan said, a sad look on his face.

"Ugh..."

"I know, I was quite sickened too... that's why I started my collection," Ivan said, sounding more cheerful.

"C-collection?"

"Da, a collection of Heroes," Ivan said, an innocent smile on his face as he stood with his hands behind his back.

"Rosey Lover... The Gentleman... The Ancient Warrior... and so many others came here to kill me but ended up more or less like you right now; caught, hurt, and with no home to return to."  Ivan said, making Mr. America grint his teeth.

"So I gave them a home as one of my followers!"  Ivan said cheerfully, spreading his arms as figures emerged from the darkness.  They have been in different costumes but Mr. America recognized his friends, seniors, and mentors.

"Guys..."  He murmured out as Ivan smiled at him.

"Da, they are all here.  I take them in and show them how to use their powers while giving them a home, so..."  Ivan trailed off, snapping his fingers, causing the vines to vanish, dropping Mr. America to his knees in front of Ivan.

Ivan bent down as Mr. America looked up.

"Would you like to join my collection?"  Ivan asked, holding out a gloved hand, a closed eye smile on his face.

"..."

Mr. America looked at the man who held his hand out to him and hesitated.

After an eternity of silence and stillness, he finally made a move.

"I see you made your decision da?"  Ivan said, opening his eyes as his grin got bigger.  "And I will hold you to it~"

~Fin~