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Chapter Text

The Esempii was made of several small cities and villages that were all connected to make a country. These towns will be referred to as districts. 

District 20 is known as the ‘gambling district’ due to the many casinos that were run there. It is also well known for Las Nevadas, which was one of the most popular casinos there. Though it was shut down for illegal activity.  

Then there’s Snow Chester, which is three districts that got the most snow during winter. The resorts really peaked during that time. 

Pogtopia was once a base used by villains who wanted to kill the government and anyone that would try to stop them. It was destroyed long ago, and the villains were thrown into Pandora’s Vault, the most secure prison in L’Manberg. 

Logstedshire was the most poor by far, which had the least paying jobs and no heroes. While this made it easier to rob people, there wasn’t much to rob. At least until vigilantes showed up and gave them money, along with food and water. 

Vigilantes were great like that. Heroes were nice too, but they had rules from the government holding them back, while vigilante didn’t. Yes, it sounded dangerous, but vigilantes were pretty chill. 

Fundy himself was one, given the name foxtrot by some people. 

He lived in Drywaters, which was one of the warmest places in the country. Not an ideal place for a fox hybrid, but then again, he wasn’t technically one. 

A shapeshifter with as much power as him could could become basically anything they wanted.

Well, almost anything. He still couldn’t become any type of inanimate object. It would’ve pretty helpful whenever he needed to hide from certain heroes. 

Like right now, he was currently running with Speedrunner right at his heels. 

The bad part about this is the fact that Speedrunner was called that for a reason, and that reason was because he was the fastest hero L’Manberg had. 

Well, the fastest hero in L’Manberg, which is a completely different district. 

Right, let’s go back to what happened earlier. 

Fundy, who was currently going by Foxtrot at the moment, was doing his usual patrols. He sat atop a building and watched silently, then jumped down when some guy was being robbed. He apprehended them while the other guy ran off to call the police, shouting a ‘thank you’ and as the mugger sat by the wall groaning and clutching his head, Fundy turned around gracefully to immediately see Speedrunner. They locked eyes for a moment, before Fundy broke out in a sprint while the hero was still, kicking the him in the shins and maybe turning around to kick him again for good measures. 

He was not about to get caught like this, thank you very much. 

If he and the hero were going to go on a chase, then Fundy at least wanted a head start. 

Unfortunately, no matter how swift he was, not even he could outrun the hero. It was his power, after all. 

Back to the present where Fundy could feel a hand suddenly being placed on his shoulder. He freaked out, thinking of ways to avoid being caught. If he were now, then his family would find out what he’s really been doing these past few months. Facing the disappointment was not something he was looking forward to. 

He turned around, looking at the white porcelain smiley face before the scene suddenly changed. 

Because he had turned around a little too quickly, he lost his footing. Thankfully someone stabilized him, and that someone was Time. They looked at each other for a moment before Fundy nodded as a thank you. Time smiled, bringing a finger to his lips and leading him away. 

Fundy allowed him to take the lead, he trusted him. 

Time, just as his name applied, was able to control time. He originally had no name to go by, but whenever someone needed his help, they would shout ‘time’, which became his new code name. 

If Time showed up to save him, and was leading down a specific route while telling him to be silent, then that means someone else was there. Speedrunner didn’t go alone, after all. 

“Where the fuck are they?” A distant voice asked.

Fireborn. 

“Be quiet.” 

And Error404. 

Fantastic, the Dream Team were patrolling his district. 

Certain vigilantes stuck to certain districts, usually their home in fear of what may happen if they left while some often moved around, never staying in one place. 

Thanks to the system, they knew who guarded what, and Drywaters was Fundy’s territory. Some vigilantes came by here and there, which was appreciated, but these were heroes.

Heroes only came by a few times a month, so seeing L’Manberg’s top hero team here and being hunted down like a wild animal was absolutely terrible. 

Time eventually stopped when they reached Fundy’s house, which was a bit sudden. One look at Time and he immediately knew that he sped up the process. 

He handed Fundy a note, and walked away. He watched as the man in the colourful jacket disappeared into the shadows of the night. Now that he was on his own, Fundy walked inside his house and locked the door. 

His took off his gauntlets (which were pretty heavy) and took off his cloak, folding it neatly. Then he took off his boots and carried them to his room, where Boots was sleeping. 

Was it really a good idea to get a cat when you were only working as a library assistant with a not-so-good income? Probably not, but it was nice having the company. 

Quietly, he lifted one side of the floor board, revealing a hidden compartment. It was by an orange beanbag, and blended in well with the wood surrounding it. 

After closing the blinds and double checking to make sure everything was locked, he allowed himself to go to sleep. 

Boots loudly meowed at him to get up, which was effective. Fundy groaned, but sat up anyway. He glanced at the clock which read ‘6:09’. 

Usually he would go to work at 7, which Boots somehow picked up on, and now woke up him up before that. She was creepily smart that way. 

The government said it was impossible for animals to have abilities, but Boots’s intelligence proves otherwise. Oh, and Enderpearl’s teleporting ability.

It was probably because the government wanted to figure it out themselves before alerting the public. 

Fundy walked down the hallway and to the bathroom, taking a shower and brushing his teeth. Having that constant need to take care of his hygiene while also only getting 5 or six hours of sleep most nights was annoying and probably not so good depending on how you looked at it. 

On one hand, he won’t look like a complete disaster when going out during the day, so he can keep his shape shifting to a minimum. Though the eye bags were quite annoying. On the other hand, he’s doing too much and not getting enough breaks. 

But he was fine! It wasn’t like he patrolled every night anyway. 

Throwing on his jacket, he remembered the note Time gave him the other night. Boots nudged his leg. He looked down to see the same note in her mouth. 

Ok, that was weird, but convenient. 

He took the paper and read it. 

Heroes have been ordered to patrol every district five days a week. The heroes that have been selected are the Dream Team, Phantom, Captain Puffy, and possibly others. Fireborn wouldn’t tell me everything, so that’s all I got.

Apparently there have been sightings of possible villains, and they are worried it’ll be some type of issue in the future. These new patrols may go one for weeks, so be careful. 

Fundy read the list of dates Karl wrote down. Most were for certain vigilantes who patrolled certain districts, but not all were stated. Probably because if Karl prodded a bit too much, Sapnap might get suspicious. 

One of them caught his eye. 

Drywaters is safe during the weekends, but only for a few hours in the day and maybe past midnight. 

Fuck sakes, that’s when Fundy gets his well deserved sleep. He usually had to change his schedule frequently when criminals became too aware, but still. 

Though Fundy couldn’t see them, he had a feeling his fellow vigilantes were also pissed off. 

Somewhere in district 27, 2 members of the Bench Trio were ranting about how weird and annoying this was while the tallest one listened and agreed. In the districts on the outskirts of the country, one adopted brother ranted to the older about the note, the older nodding and voicing his own opinions. 

“You brought your cat again?” His coworker asked, smiling tiredly. 

Fundy turned around to see Boots, looking to the side to avoid eye contact. It looked like she was smiling, the little pesky thing. 

He turned back to face his coworker who had an amused expression. “I swear, this was unintentional.” 

“Sure it was, just make sure she doesn’t make a mess.” 

“Alright.” Fundy nodded. 

Boots did as she was told, not causing trouble and walking around, sitting on the cushions. She even allowed some kids to pet her. 

While putting some books away, he just barely heard the door open. 

No matter what he was, his hearing would still be sharp, something that came in handy. But he didn’t hear anything, so he figured it wasn’t a robbery considering how loud those idiots were. What would they even gain anyway- 

Boots meowed from somewhere beside him, so he looked down and noticed she was looking to her right. He followed her gaze, and almost groaned when he saw who it was. 

“Hello, Fundy!” 

“Hey, Wil.” 

Wilbur Soot, also known as Phantom Siren, the top 6 hero in L’Manberg. Whether or not he could keep that title against the whole country was debatable. 

Oh, and he was also Fundy’s older brother. Adopted, of course. 

“What do you want this time.” Maybe he could have said it in a more pleasant tone, but he really wasn’t in the mood to hear Wilbur’s attempt to convince him to join the hero’s line of work. 

“Do I have to want something other than your company to speak with you?” Wilbur asked, smiling playfully. 

“No, but you do usually come here to ask whether or not I want to become a hero, to which I respond with, no.” Fundy gave him a pointed look before placing another book on the shelf. 

Wilbur’s lips pursed, before he replied. “Sorry.” 

“It’s fine.” 

Boots watched the tension leave, and walked away once she made sure Fundy wouldn’t cuss him out. What a great friend. 

“You know, I’ve decided to patrol this area tonight.” 

Fuck, out of all the heroes to do so. It had to be the one who could be invisible. 

“Yeah?” He says instead. 

“Yeah, I’m trying to find the vigilante. Foxtrot, was it?” 

“I mean, I live here, so yeah. His name is Foxtrot alright.” Why would Wilbur want to suddenly find him?

“He’s a male?” Wilbur asked, looking at him curiously. 

Fuck, Fundy didn’t mean to do that. He was supposed to be gender neutral. 

“Well, I assumed he was. And if not, then oh well.” He brushed off, pretending to be a lot more carefree than he actually was. 

It wasn’t like Wilbur could force the information out of him anyway, his power didn’t extend that far. 

With the way this world worked, there were hybrids and magical abilities. Sometimes people could get both, which was the case with Wilbur. 

He could become invisible like a ghost, and command people to do things using his voice. But, like most powers, it had drawbacks. His throat became sore after using it too much, and he could only control someone’s actions if he focused enough. 

With enough practice, someone could break out of that control. And, well, you could say Fundy had that practice. 

“Since you live here, mind telling me about this vigilante?”

“Sure, I guess.” Fundy shrugged, placing the last book on the shelf and walking to the beanbags, Wilbur following.

Boots was already there, sitting down on a purple cushion and looking at them, as if she were waiting. 

They ignored her and sat down on some beanbags, getting comfortable. 

Now, where to start? 

“So, Foxtrot goes on their patrols usually in the night.” He ignored Wilbur’s small “yes”, then realized he might have to change his schedule in order to avoid finding him. 

“Sometimes they take nights off, probably to take a break from everything, but another vigilante usually takes his or her place.” 

“Do you know which vigilante this is?” 

“No, they usually change.” Fundy rolled his eyes. “Not all vigilantes stay in one place, you know.” 

“I know, but do these vigilantes have names?” 

Fundy hummed, thinking. “The Bench Trio came here once, I think. Probably a few months ago-” 

A ringtone could be heard, and Wilbur quickly reached into his pocket to get his phone. He looked at it, whispered a quiet “shit” and looked up, apologetic. 

“I have to go, sorry.” 

Fundy waved it off. “No no, it’s fine. That’s all you need to know anyway.” 

Not a complete lie, since that’s all the public knows, but there is more he could have told him. Like how Foxtrot wouldn’t be patrolling tonight. 

Chapter Text

“We just want to talk!” Fireborn shouted somewhere behind him. 

“THAT’S WHAT EVERYONE SAYS!” Ranboo shouted back before making a sharp turn. 

Immediately Speedrunner was in front of him, running way too fast for anyone normal human. Damn enhanced speed. 

In a panic, Half Blood teleported behind the hero to avoid colliding. That seemed to surprise the two of them, though Ranboo was more concerned with the fact that the third one was no where to be found. There was a possibility he wasn’t informed, but that was just wishful thinking. 

When Ranboo became a vigilante, he assumed he wouldn’t have to run from the heroes this often. But now because the H.A thinks the vigilantes know something about some upcoming villains that came out two weeks ago along with some enhancement drugs, the heroes have been sent to capture them for some questioning. 

Well, at least they gave them a chance to come willingly. 

Basically, some type of enhancement thing that was discovered by the upper districts thanks to some criminal who used it out in the open when fighting a hero. The same criminal also let the name of the villains slip, but that was as far as he was willing to go. 

It was later revealed that the drugs came from the lower districts, which was where the vigilantes hanged out. 

Maybe that was why the Dream Team came here. 

While Half Blood ran, a plant wrapped around his leg, effectively tripping him and allowing the others to catch up. From the looks of it, 404 was here. Damn. Tubbo was not going to be happy with this one. 

“Can you calm down? We just need to talk.” Speedrunner said, suddenly beside him. 

“No can do, sir.” Ranboo teleported a few feet away from them, now standing up. 

Just in case these heroes actually were trying to be civil, then he may as well get someone else to talk to them. Or just do it himself, that would probably be better. No need to bother the others if it’s not important. 

“Actually, what do you want anyway?” He asked. 

Fireborn seemed relieved that he stayed, if his shoulders drooping was anything to go off.

Speedrunner spoke up. “Have you heard of a certain drug? It makes your ability stronger from what we can tell.” 

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it. If you want to search for it, then this district isn’t for you.” He replied, getting ready to teleport. 

Speedrunner cursed before quickly asking. “Do you know which district we can search?” 

Ranboo stopped, trying to calculate the cases in his head. From what he can remember, they were found in district 38, but then again he wasn’t the most well informed of the group. 

“Well, it was found in district 38, but we think it might have been created somewhere else. I’m not really... good at finding this kind of information.” A bit of a lie. 

He could teleport and hide in the shadows pretty well, so it wasn’t too hard to eavesdrop and get away with it. But drugs? That wasn’t his specialty. 

It was Token’s. 

“Well, I’ll be on my way now.” Not waiting to hear the heroes response, Ranboo teleported away and back to his teammates. 

The next day, he was finishing one of his commissions when Tommy walked into his room. Sorry, he swung the door open which made a noise so loud that Ranboo winced and almost let out a yelp. He didn’t, because he trained himself not to. 

Can’t give those heroes a reaction. 

Tommy either didn’t notice or ignored it and said with an exited smile. “The Shadow’s Ring.” 

The Shadow’s Ring was one of the meeting places vigilantes used. It was located in district 27, where the Bench Trio patrolled. 

Now, something strange happened a few years ago. Somehow, there was a way for nearby vigilantes to get the alert of a meeting. 

When a person was being saved from maybe a mugger, the vigilante says “The Shadow’s Ring.” Or whatever the name of the place they will be meeting at. Then the civilian will repeat those words to someone random, and they tell someone else. Repeat the process until nightfall. 

News travelled fast, so it doesn’t take too long until it begins to travel through districts with vigilantes. Probably people telling their online friends about it. 

It apparently started with Time, which kind of made sense. He had a life outside of vigilantism, and was also dating a hero. Not to mention his time travelling which sometimes messed with his memory. This was basically an easy way of telling as many vigilantes as possible of a new meeting. 

So when Tommy says that, Ranboo nods and returns the smile.

Meeting his fellow vigilantes was actually pretty exciting, especially whenever the nicknamed “Golden Duo” were reunited. 

————— 

Foxtrot dashes through the alleyways, stopping muggings as he goes on. There was a destination in mind, and he’s glad he was going home when someone whispered it to him. 

“The Shadow’s Ring.” 

A message. (Brought to you by the government of-)

A message from his fellow vigilantes. He nodded and smiled at the man who said those words, before walking away to his home. He made sure to repeat those words to someone, both to fit in and to maybe alert the other vigilante that was staying in his district. 

Now, the thing is; Foxtrot patrols district 47. It takes a few hours to get from here to district 27. 

Well, thank goodness the Nether Express made the journey both quicker and easier. 

The Nether Express was basically like a train/subway type of thing. It went both underground and above ground, where it actually was more than fifty feet up in the air, usually on buildings. Crazy. 

So when he got home, he packed his things, and hopped on the train. He took the underground one because it made him feel a little safer. 

A bit odd to say, considering it sounded like the underground was where the shady people lived, but it actually wasn’t that bad. 


Then when he got off a few hours later, he was in district 27. Why did it take so long? Well, there were a few thieves that he wanted to deal with, which made him switch trains because he also took breaks in between, yeah. He was glad the meeting usually happened at midnight, which gave him some time to burn. 

While on the way, he found out the other vigilante in Drywaters was Sonic, nick named that for his onesie. Not saying he wore it on patrol, but he said he owned a sonic onesie, which was why his friend, Fuchsia called him that. 

Fuchsia was... interesting. Very interesting. 

Foxtrot was brought back to the present when someone ran beside him. He recognized them as Mercenary, a previous mercenary that turned to vigilantism two years ago. And where one brother was, the other wasn’t too far. 

When they turned the corner, the younger one jumped down on Foxtrot’s left, lagging behind from landing. 

Martian, the name being given from his brother despite his protests, was younger than Mercenary, but almost as strong as him. The two of them were almost always seen in the same district. 

The three of them turned the corner, where they find the meeting place already with a few awaiting vigilantes. Foxtrot recognizes Sonic, the man with speed far more advanced than Speedrunner, which was definitely how he got here before him. 

Sitting on a dumpster to his left is Fuchsia, well known for her graffiti and reckless behaviour. Beside her was Nihachu, and sure enough Mechanist stood beside the dumpster. 

The Rocket Duo, being called that after going down the wrong path for the sake of their survival. Thank goodness Mercenary stopped them from continuing that journey. 

The King was also there, arms crossed and leaning against the wall beside Mechanist. He was hero once, but quit after deciding it wasn’t worth it. 

Medic was sitting against a wall, fiddling with his painted gas mask. 

It seemed most vigilantes painted their gear to match their desired aesthetic. It made sense, black was pretty boring for some. 

Mercenary and Martian walked to a nearby wall where the shadows rested, being their somewhat dramatic selves. Foxtrot looked around before just walking to his right and leaned against the wall, waiting. 

A few vigilantes waved, some verbally greeting them. Then the man himself arrived, Time. 

Instead of just suddenly appearing out of no where like he usually did, he walked down the alleyway and into the open, like some dramatic reveal. Or maybe he was just trying to avoid messing up his memory. 

It seems that most vigilantes had that dramatic flair, though it was more present in heroes. Drama queens.

Not that Fundy had the right to scold them for that, he also had his fair share of cinematic moments. 

Karl walked to a wall where a rainbow with only shades of Purple and green was painted. 

The graffiti appeared there a few months ago, and they all knew who did it. Fuchsia didn’t bother trying to hide it either, repainting it when it got too dull. 

“Any information on the drug?” A series of no’s and shaking heads followed. 

Time sighed. “Well, have any of you noticed a pattern with the heroes schedules?” 

“W- Phantom,” Foxtrot corrected himself. “said he would be patrolling Drywaters tomorrow, then go to district 46. Crow Father might also end up patrolling this district tomorrow afternoon.” 

Disc was calm on the outside, but may have slightly panicked on the inside. He brushed it away with annoyance, opting to deal with it later when he got home. 

“What about Technoblade?” Fuchsia asked. Some people couldn’t understand her because of her accent, which someway somehow, the device altered in a way that it was more coherent.

Oh, and it made her voice mostly unrecognizable. 

“Knowing him, he probably won’t be far behind.” Foxtrot responded. 

“About the drug thing.” Mechanist said, getting everyone’s attention. ”If we can, do you think we can find... you know...” 

He didn’t finish, but soon, everyone knew who he was talking about. Time stood still, staring ahead and thinking. 

Token was a touchy subject, so they usually didn’t bring him up. It was a reminder of the time they failed to help him, a reminder of the hero that betrayed him, and announced him as a villain to the public. Deep down, all he wanted to do was help, even if he did act a little devious. 

Too bad the law didn’t think so. 

“But where would we look? Time’s been searching ever since he’s went missing.” Fuchsia spoke up. 

“I’ve been looking too, and so has Martian.” Mercenary added, Martian nodding beside him. 

“Token wouldn’t have anything to do with the drug, would he?” Time asked quietly. 

“Not unless he was being threatened.” Nihachu tries to reassure. 

It was uncomfortably silent, suffocating for some. It got heavier and heavier, until Martian spoke up. “Disc, I need a distraction.” 

“An ugly one?” Disc responded, looking at him. 

“...Sure, whatever.” He realized a little too late. 

“Look in a mirror.” 

And just like that, the atmosphere lifted and a gasp followed by a few snickers came after. If a few minor threats were said, it didn’t matter. 

And soon, after a few minutes of knowledge being exchanged, schedules being made, they all returned to their districts unharmed. Time offered to help speed up the process, but they all denied. None wanted the man too lose more memories than he had to, since it would become suspicious. 

Fundy tucked his bag away in his closer and practically collapsed on his bed. As he turned around to get comfy, his eyes landed on the clock which read ‘1:14’. 

Wow, he really needed to fix his sleeping habit if he wanted to patrol during the day as well. 

But that sounded like a future Fundy problem. 

Chapter Text

Despite what some might think, the current government wasn’t actually that bad. Sure, they felt pressured sometimes, but didn’t everyone? 

Still, Technoblade is cautious. He would rather not have a repeat of two years ago, thanks. That government was probably the most corrupt they ever had, though he couldn’t be sure since he wasn’t immortal, and sure as hell couldn’t time travel. 

The president wasn’t strict about vigilantes, which was very different from the last one. They actually prioritized catching villains first, where at one point the previous president let a few people die because of it. Sadly, the blame was placed on the heroes. 

While the government did their best to fix their tainted images, the L’Manberg heroes worked together to track down the source of the drugs. 

They were currently in the living room of their tower, which also acted as their home. Yes, some of them did actually have houses, but they did sleep over occasionally. 

“Does anyone actually have any idea for this drug came from?” Schlatt asked somewhere on the couch. 

“Apparently not from district 27.” 

“What do the vigilantes have to do with this exactly?” 

“Well, they have to know something, right? They’re the ones who patrolled the places and probably know about the drugs.” Dream answered. 

“Half Blood said that the drug was around for a while, didn’t he?” Error404 reminded, fiddling wit the tv remote. 

“I’m sure the government would’ve noticed sooner if it was around that long.” 

“Maybe it wasn’t always that strong?” 

“Why wouldn’t they tell us?” 

“Apparently they did.” Technoblade said, looking at his phone. “We were apparently just too busy. And it just became popular recently.” 

Phil sighed, shaking his head. “We really need to get better at this.” 

“We really do.” Sam agreed, nodding tiredly. 

————— 

Sometimes the kids just don’t put the books back properly. As much as it annoys Fundy, it’s not like he would shout at them, no. He’s pretty sure that would get him in trouble. 

So he just had to suck it up, and organize the books, maybe while muttering a cuss word or two.  

Thankfully Boots decided to not sneak into work with him, but he doesn’t think anyone would mind. Except that one old lady who’s allergic to cats, but that part doesn’t matter. She was a bit rude anyway. 

He let the memory of the last meeting run through his head again to occupy his mind. It happened a week ago, and he still hadn’t gotten used to his new routine. In the end, as hard as it was, he had to accept the fact that he would have to leave the heroes to do his work. Sad. 

When he was done, he walked back to the entrance and behind the front desk to get some water. He brought the still cold glass to his lips when he heard the door open, then put it down immediately when someone tried to push the glass up.

Obviously, he turned to glare at the culprit, who happened to be Wilbur, grinning mischievously. Fundy rolled his eyes and drank his water after taking a step away from him. 

“Come on, don’t be so bothered about it.” Wilbur said, bringing a hand to his shoulder.

“You’d be annoyed too if someone tried stopping you from staying hydrated.” Fundy snapped back, walking back to the staff room to put the cup in the sink. 

“Right right.” Wilbur laughed. He stayed outside at least. 

Did most libraries have a staff room? Well, this one did. It also sold coffee and cookies, so maybe it was more than just a library.

When Fundy stepped out to talk with Wilbur, he cut off whatever he was about to say to ask him something. “If I wanted to, would you be okay if my friends use this as a meeting spot?” 

Fundy was confused, but answered anyway. “Ok?” 

“Yeah, Sapnap complained about how boring the tower was.”  Wilbur said, poking around at some books. 

“Sapnap’s part of the Dream Team, right?” Fundy asked, taking whatever book Wilbur picked up and putting it back onto the cart. 

If he was annoyed by this, it didn’t show. He just nodded. “Yep.” 

“Then why are you bringing him here? Isn’t this a library?”

Wilbur took a book off the shelf. “Well, you said I could come here any time, and I did help you move.” 

“Ok, fair I guess.” 

… 

“So, anything new to complain about?” 

Wilbur whipped his head around, confused. “What? 

Fundy rolled his eyes but smiled playfully. “You complain about your coworkers pretty often when you’re angry.” 

“I don’t always storm down here to rant about my friends and other mishaps.” Wilbur denied. “And how would you know? We don’t even live together anymore.” 

Well, that first part was a lie. Fundy wouldn’t be able to count how many times Wilbur did that using his fingers on one hand. “That’s why I feel bad for Phil and Technoblade.”

He walked to a cart, picking up books and began stocking the shelves. 

Wilbur went to go sit on a beanbag to text someone, probably his friends at the hero tower thing. 

Honestly, this was a chance to listen in on their conversation, see how close they were getting to being found out. Maybe he could warn his fellow vigilantes if one of them was onto them. 

Of course he would have to stay close, but also be careful to not raise any suspicions. Maybe become friends with one of them? Well, that would take more time out of his already shit schedule.

Maybe he should bring it up to the others, they could probably help him. He would only have to wait until their next meeting, which might actually be a few weeks from now. Or if he was lucky, a few days- 

“They’re coming.” 

“Wait what?” 

Wilbur looked up. Fundy could see that he was delighted by his reaction when he saw a mischievous smile plastered on his face. Curse him. 

“Right now?” 

“Yep!” Wilbur was practically beaming. 

“I look like a mess!” 

Wilbur tilted his head and looked confused. “You always look like a mess.” 

Fundy looked away and shook his head. “That’s not the point, Wil. If they see this raggedy looking fox guy-“ 

“Furry.” Wilbur helpfully corrected, much to Fundy’s annoyance. 

“Shut- then what will they think?” 

“That your a mess.” Wilbur responded easily. 

Fundy glares at him. “Your mess of a brother.” 

Wilbur turned in his beanbag to face him. “Fundy, I think you’re just embarrassed.” 

“I’m embarrassed that your heroic friends are going to see me with heavy eye bags, yes. First impressions, Wilbur. I’ve looked like I’ve seen better days, thanks.” 

“If you’re so embarrassed, then just fix your sleeping schedule.” Wilbur said, which was definitely helpful. 

Oh if only it were that simple. 

“You usually don’t care about this stuff anyways.” 

“They’re heroes, I don’t need them judging me while I’m trying to work. First impressions are everything.” 

“Are you trying to impress someone?” Wilbur teased. Fundy scowled. “They won’t judge you.” Wilbur reassured, though he was still smiling like he was amused. 

Fundy sighed and went back to putting the books away. 

So much for trying to leave a good impression. Would the heroes even want to be near him? And where do the books keep going? 

— 

Karl cupped Sapnap face and gave him a kiss. “Come home soon please.” 

“I will.” Sapnap promised. 

“Where are you going anyway?” Karl asked curiously. It wasn’t everyday Sapnap came home early to change into casual clothes for a meeting. 

“To some library for a meeting.” 

Karl looked confused, and Sapnap was trying not to get too distracted by the pretty swirls in his beautiful eyes. “Library? You can read?” 

Suddenly the happy moment was ruined, at least for Sapnap. Karl was now smiling mischievously at him.  

“Wow, ok. I see how it is.” Sapnap lightly shoved Karl’s hands away and turned around dramatically. “Bye then.” 

Even when the door was closed, he could still hear his boyfriend laughing and attempting to apologize. 

Chapter Text

When Sapnap stepped out the train, he immediately felt that the heat hitting his skin was hotter than L’Manberg in Summer. His friends complained about it being too warm in the train, so he could imagine how they must have felt right now. 

“Why do you think Wilbur would bring us to a library?” He asked, ignoring how their breaths seemed to have quickened since stepping out. 

“Not sure, but he did seem excited about it.” George said. 

Dream spoke up. “I don’t think I would call it excited, but he did look… a little too happy about something, and I don’t think it was our meeting.” 

“Yeah.” 

They walked for a few minutes, passing by several people. There was a park with kids running about. Some adults were talking nearby, and some looked to be ordering food and drinks at some stalls. It was a hot day, so everyone was wearing lighter clothes. 

Because of Drywaters being the warmest district, the Dream Team tried to wear thin clothing, but damn it didn’t do much. 

“It’s so hot.” Dream kept his voice low, trying not to attract attention to them. 

Back in L’Manberg, it only got up to 36 degrees, the highest being 52, but here the highest seems to be over a hundred! 

“I shouldn’t have wore black today.” George said. Though it didn’t sound like it, he was getting close to panting. 


Sapnap laughs at their suffering, completely unaffected by the heat thanks to his fire related ability. He didn’t even break a sweat! 

Dream and George both scowl at him. “Shut up.” 

Sapnap covered his mouth with one hand to keep himself from laughing louder. Of course he felt bad, but it was a little funny. 

Dream punched him. 

— 

When the library was close, Dream and George ran to the door, but not before Dream shoved him aside. Sapnap stumbled, before running to catch up, annoyed. 

Phil and Technoblade were waiting inside. The former smiled and waved, while Technoblade verbally greeted them. 

George and Dream smiled in relief when the cool air washed over them. 

“Finallyy…” 

Everyone else soon started showing up, just as relieved to feel the cool air as Dream and George were. 

They walked to the actual library, where the books were, where and saw Wilbur laying on the ground with someone sitting on top of him with their hands around Wil’s throat. The man was smiling nervously as he stared up at the ginger, before his gaze landed on them. 

— 

Fundy didn’t know what kind of first impression he would’ve went for, but it definitely wasn’t this. They looked surprised at their… odd position. Fundy froze when he saw them, Wilbur sat up and casually shoved him aside. “Oh, you’re here now?” 

“Yes.” Dream looked at Fundy, then at Wilbur and back at Fundy, looking unsure about something. 

Everyone shared that look it seemed. It was a normal reaction, seeing your friend about to be choked by a stranger and then acting like they’re good friends a few seconds later. 

Phil didn’t seem to share their confusion. “Hi, Wil and Fundy.” He waved, looking amused if anything. 

“Fundy?” 

“Yeah, hi.” He waved, getting up and offering a hand to Wilbur, who stood up as gracious as possible. Fundy rolled his eyes. 

Wilbur took his silence as an opening and put an arm around his shoulder. “This is the lovely person who allowed us have a meeting in this library! Meet my brother-“ 

“Adopted.” Fundy couldn’t stop himself from cutting in. 

“Fundy.” Wilbur ignored him and continued smiling. 

George was the first to ask a question. “He’s a fox hybrid?” 

“Yep.” Wilbur confirmed. 

“Living in the a desert?” 

Suddenly they were looking surprised with a little horror, but that last one was mostly from Dream.

He walked up to him, face being only a few inches away from Fundy’s. On instinct Fundy leaned back from the sudden closeness. 

“How do you survive?” He asked, staring a little too intensely for Fundy’s liking. 

“Uh…” 

Wilbur answered for him, thankfully. “He has air conditioners, you know.” He said as if it were obvious. 

“Yeah, air conditioners.” Fundy said, suddenly finding the books much more interesting. 

“Do you just never go outside?” 

“I do, just not on the hottest days.” 

“How hot does it get here anyway?” 

“Over a hundred.” 

Phil said something to reassure them, which was effective. “Don’t worry, we made sure he had at least three air conditioners.” 

George relaxed before realizing something else. “Wait, why was he choking you?” 

“Oh, I called him a furry and he got mad.” Wilbur waved his hand, brushing it off easily. 

Fundy scowled, not that it was seen by anybody. He already left them to their meeting, walking to a more secluded part of the library. It was his favourite reading spot, surrounded by books with a beanbag and some cushions. 

Now, Fundy wouldn’t consider himself a book fan, but man he loves reading. 

He took a book off the shelf as he walked, recognizing the spine easily. He found the beanbag in the nook with closed curtains and sat down to read. 

Right now, there was nothing to worry about. No evidence pointing to him being a vigilante, and no harm being inflicted on anyone. It was just him and the books, exactly the way he liked it. 

— 

Honestly, Tommy didn’t like this. He is… very much related to the ‘Sleepy Bois’ and may or may not have run away a few years ago. Yeah, he still sees missing posters. The reason he ran away? Well… he felt like a letdown. Like he didn’t belong, and technically, he didn’t. Being a hero was his dream once, but they found an error in his ability at a young age.

(Schlatt made a comment that his little cousin was similar.) 

It was a danger to him and those around him, though everyone insisted that he still had a chance. And Tommy believed it. 

But the failures… the frustration he felt made him make a decision: leave. So he did. That lead to him meeting Schlatt’s little cousin, and some kid they found on the street named Ranboo. 

Sometimes he does miss his old home, but he sure as hell isn’t going to throw all this away to go back. Not now, not ever. 

—

It was George who found the little nook beside the window. Fundy glanced up for a second before looking back down. 

Originally, he was going to stay silent, but ignoring him seemed rude, so he greeted him. “Hey.” 

“Hey.” George responded, leaning against the bookshelf. “Nice place you have here.” 

Fundy hummed in agreement. He didn’t know how else he was supposed to respond to that. Not saying he had little social skills, he had enough to get along with most people seeing as it came with the job. 

“You read ‘Lines of Code’?” 

Fundy hummed again. “Yep. It’s one of my favourites.” 

“Me too, it’s one of the only books I can actually read without getting bored. Most of my friends call me weird because of it.” 

That made Fundy huff. “Of course they do. They just don’t have good taste.” 

George laughed. He stuck around after that, sitting on one of the cushions beside the beanbag and just talked. He was easy to get along with, and was easy to agree with. Turns out they had quite a few things in common. Other than their love for Lines of Code, they both had morons they were fondly annoyed with, both made sure not to let their emotions get in the way, and have a hard time expressing sympathy/empathy. 

George only listens to his friends suffer, and doesn’t try reassuring because of how terrible he was with emotions. Fundy feels the same way, so they both end up pushing them aside. 

Fundy actually kind of felt upset that George had to go. It was Sapnap who decided to try navigating through the maze of bookshelves and found them. Fundy ended up having to lead them back out. 

Sapnap smiled sheepishly while George teased him. He probably would’ve tried throwing hands if Fundy weren’t there. It was funny to hear them bicker, it almost reminded Fundy of him and Wilbur. 

When they were reunited with the rest, Sapnap rushed to Dream’s side. George followed too, and waved at him when they left. Fundy waved back, smiling. 

He sighed once they were out. 

Want to know something? 

There were two workers besides the owner that worked before Fundy applied to this job. One of them quit a few months ago, and knowing the other one, Fundy will likely be in charge after the owner passes. That means even more work.

Needless to say, he isn’t exactly thrilled about it. Who would do patrols for him? The heroes? Yeah, he didn’t trust them enough for that. The only one he trusted was himself and sometimes he couldn’t even do that. 

— 

Tommy was running like hell, lest the hero behind him catches up. 

So, what had happened was Tommy was just minding his own business, stopping crime here and there like usual. Tubbo was there too, though they separated after the hero noticed them and now Tommy has no idea where he is. All he knows is that the hero is behind him, and that he’s slowly losing him but also losing his stamina. 

He turns around the corner, seeing a hooded figure in the distance holding some guy down with their foot. 

Tommy runs closer to get a better look, recognizing the cowl. The one green eye confirms it when she looks at him. 

Beautie often carried whatever was available as a weapon, and this time she carried a wooden bat with some barb wire presumably left from its previous owner. Some of it appeared to have been torn off. 

Tommy grabbed her by the hand and ran down the alley, having to stop to let her get back up after stumbling from the sudden movement. She followed him without question. 

Her real name was Tay, or so she said. But don’t compare her to Lil Tay, or she’ll use whatever she’s carrying to smack you. Tommy learned that the hard way… 

He stopped briefly to turn around, seeing the hero make it around the corner. He raised his hand, a red light emitting from his palm and finger tips. He missed the way it did the same to his other hand, except it was green. He aimed and shot a beam of what could only be described as magic towards the dumpster, which then nearly hit the man on the floor. The hero stopped to save the man from being crushed, giving the two enough time to escape. 

An energy blast is what they called it. It was busted, and Tommy wonders what he could’ve done if it weren’t. Well, he definitely would’ve been able to control it better, instead of having to time things correctly and rely on luck to not hurt anyone. 

Beautie uses her telekinesis to pull them further ahead and then up a building where a picnic table was. 

Tommy remembers how the table got up there, smiling when thinking of how excited they all were. Beautie was especially proud of herself. 

After setting them down (it was a little shaky) Beautie groaned and plopped herself on the table. “Fuck sakes…” 

“We eat on that, Beautie.” Tommy reminded. 

“I know, shut up… I’m tired and it’s not even 4 yet.” She complained. 

By now it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Tommy had taken some of her energy. He did feel bad, but expressing feelings like guilt didn’t suit Tommy. “Well, I’m sorry that I can’t control it.” He said instead. 

“I know, I know…” She trailed off, he was actually kind of scared she would pass out. 

“Ya know what you need? Some sleep, because I don’t want to crawl through your window again to put you back in bed.” He shuddered remembering what happened last time he did it. Her mom was not pleased, and it didn’t help that it was 3 am. 

“Just steal some energy drinks and I’ll be fine.” Beautie reassured.