Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The moment the door swung open was the start of a new life. The apartment was a clean white modern style but the walls and rooms were pretty bare. Wilbur and Quackity moved all the boxes and bags of luggage into their new home; it was going to be a change for them both. It took a few hours for them to get them all in.

Quackity wipes the beads of sweat from his forehead as he fixes his beanie "Damn that took longer than I thought and we haven't even opened the fucking boxes, fuck this is going to be a pain in the ass" lightly kicking one of the heavy boxes pushing it to the side. Wilbur chuckles quietly.

"I know ducky I am tired too and we don’t even have the furniture here yet, but let's just try moving the boxes to the rooms they belong to and order I don't know...do you want pizza?”

Quackity nodded "Sure, I'm fine with anything as long as I don’t have to make it" before grabbing the first box labeled ‘DUCKY'S BEDROOM’ on the side, and heading into the larger bedroom on the right. Wilbur pulled out his phone dialing the local pizza shop in the area.

They only got halfway before the sound of the doorbell went off. Quackity was the first to reach the door to get the pizza. "Wilbur, pizza's here," Wilbur comes out of his new room on the phone.

"Yes...yes Tommy we're fine....no you can't come over now it is almost 9:00 you are going to your first day of school tomorrow and it's your first day of high school and on top of that we haven't even unpacked anything yet." There was another voice at the end of the call, speaking very loudly about something Quackity couldn’t hear. Wilbur shook his head "No Quackity wouldn't back you up" More gremlin noises on the other end before "Yeah good night Toms" and then he hung up.

Wilbur started to hear muffled laughter and looked up to see Quackity covering his mouth with his hands shaking from the struggle to hold in his laughter. After about a minute he calmed down "So I take it that was a peaceful conversion with our favorite gremlin?" Wilbur took one of the slices from the box "Oh fuck you" Quackity smirked "So I take that as a yes" taking a bite from his slice.

In the end, the pizza box was in the trash and all the boxes were everywhere in the apartment, the two roommates were now in their rooms.

Quackity was in his room he was glad he was able to take the bigger room sure it wasn’t that bigger but it was the best he could get. He was pushing boxes into groups one for clothes, another for school things, etc. It was getting late. He was probably going to hit the hay soon when his phone started to ring on the mattress on the floor he was using as a bed at the moment. He walked over to grab his phone answering it.

"Hello, who am I talking to?"

"Hello, Qu- oh sorry. Hello, Jester of Las Nevadas, this is Ch- oop sorry Slime and I am calling you" a cheerful voice answered.

Quackity smiled at the familiar voice "Hello Slime are you calling from the casino's phone?"

"Yes and we have a problem or Warden says we do"

This got Quackity's attention Sam never called for a problem unless it was serious so what would it be "Ok so what is this problem that we have?"

"Oh that Ram guy wants to meet up with you and wouldn't leave but Warden called Golden to remove him so I don't think it is a problem since he is gone now but Warden wants me to still inform you. So yea that is the problem"

Quackity could practically hear the proud smile through the phone. Ram has been such a big annoyance for Quackity lately. "I swear you go on one date with this guy and next thing you know he thinks we have been married for years" Quackity mutters to himself. "Well even if he is gone or not I will be coming around tomorrow night as usual" Hopefully he wouldn't be there.

"Ok, I will tell Warden. Have a good night, Jester! Oh and good luck with the new apartment"

Quackity chucked "Good night Slime" and then the call ended. Quackity moved into the bathroom, the only one in the apartment now that he is going to be roommates with Wilbur it is going to be harder to hide his wings from now on. He unwraps the tight fabric that bonded his wings to his back until his wings are free to do a few little flaps stretching them wide. They were a pretty golden color but they were also a mess from being bonded for so long and not being well taken care of but lately, Quackity has been far too busy to even think to preen them.

Quackity moved back into his bedroom and double-checked that the door was locked so that his giant British roommate wouldn't try to stumble into his room in the morning to wake him. He let out a sigh digging into one of the many boxes in the room searching for something, before grabbing his secret duck plush then went to lay down on his new bed for his first night in his new apartment.

Chapter Text

"TOMMY wakes up or else I am leaving you" Philza banged on the teen's door waking him up. Tommy rolled out of bed, his hair a mess and clothes wrinkled, the alarm clock beeping at 7:45 AM. He slammed his hand onto the alarm clock "Fuck" he put his cleanest shirt from a pile on the ground, his room was a mess, clothes spilling out of his closet, and an enclosure was sitting on the top of a dresser. A spider named Shroud he found on a patrol a few days ago. He opened the top of the terrarium to put down a small bowl of crickets outside the little log cave the spider claimed as his little home.

“TOMMY" a voice screamed from downstairs. "Fuck, guess no breakfast today god Deo is going to kill me" Tommy mutters as he stuffs his backpack with his textbooks, and stuffs his phone into his back pocket. He swung his door open and immediately ran into his older brother, Techno. "Phil left he told me to take you instead" Tommy sighed with relief "Thanks big man"

Techno just shrugs and walks down to the car "You won't be able to eat breakfast so just get into the car." Tommy smiled, he shouted into his room "See you when I get back Shroud, big man Tommy loves you" and closed his bedroom door. He stumbles his way down the stairs.

"Do you have to yell when you leave and enter a room, makes you sound more like a child?" Techno says in a pretty neutral tone as he puts on his coat at the entrance.

"One I am not a child I am a big man and two of course I need to let my child know I'm leaving" Tommy smirked as he opened the front door and jumped out the door down the steps with Techno following right behind the blonde gremlin and closing the door behind him.

Techno stopped the car in front of the school "Ok get out I need to get to work at the bookshop" Tommy rolled his eyes at the comment "Ok ok I am getting out don't get your bubblegum hair in a fucking knot." He got himself out of the car, shutting the door shut. Techno rolled down the passenger window "Do you have your schedule with you?" Techno said through the window. Tommy took his bag off his shoulder and it opened up and after digging around for a bit he pulled out a crinkled-up sheet of paper. Zipping up his bag and swung it back over his shoulder.

"See I have it 'mom'." He lifts it up to show Techno. Techno nodded at the paper "Ok go you are already late" Tommy rolled his eyes as he walked away from the car and walked to the school’s doors as he pulled out his phone to check the time.

8:30 AM

Shit

Tommy ran through the halls as he tried to figure out where the hell he was going. He looked down at his wrinkled schedule finding his first class which was in room 214. "Room 214, room 214, room 214, room 214, fuck fuck fuck! Where is it?" Tommy repeats to himself over and over again, none of the rooms on the first floor were not the right one. He climbed up the stairs and into the second floor and that is where he found room 214.

He opened the door to a room of students and all of them stared at him "Uh this is Homeroom right?" The teacher who was standing at the front of the class walked up to Tommy holding a clipboard. "Hello, you must be one of my students Tommy uhh" He looked down at the paper he was holding.
Tommy nodded looking to see what seats were open "Craft, yep that's me" Tommy cringed as his voice cracked a bit "Shit what the fuck happened to my voice," Tommy thought to himself. The teacher looked up from the paper with a small smile but his eyes were cold.

"Hello, Mr. Craft and yes this is English class. Now I would like you to take your seat. You can sit in any open seat." His was stern and Tommy could just tell he somehow had already pissed him off. Somehow he always seems to have that effect on people. So he turned his attention to the new problem at hand. There were three, one at the front Tommy already knew he wasn’t going to sit at the front all the boring kids were at the front. Another one was in the far back next to some hooded kid who was in the middle of picking his nose. Yuck no way he was sitting back there. The other was in one of the middle rows right next to the big window and was in front of a tall kid (there is no way that can be a teenager) with half black and half white hair.

So Tommy looked at his choices and after a moment of thinking he chose the window seat because hey it is not like he would regret his decision (he will). He walked over to the new spot, setting down his bag. The teacher moved back to the front of the room "Well, hello everyone to a brand new school year I am Mr. Dude and no I am not joking so don't ask. Got it?”

“All the students either nodded in response" Good now today Principal Eret just wanted you all to get used to the classmates that are around you and where your classes are so just go around so just talk to each other I guess. And one last thing no phones. If I see your phone out I will have to take it and trust me you do not want me to take it on the first day"

Mr. Dude sat down on his deck. Tommy looked around the classroom (not like are many people that are good enough to be a friend with such a big man like himself) but he didn't find anybody familiar but, then again it is a new school so well of fucking course there will be no one familiar. But then again there were a few people that he did know in this lame school. Thought It would be fun if I could text them.

"Hello, are you new here?" a new voice broke his train of thought

Tommy took a second and looked around no one seemed to be looking at him.

"behind you," the voice said again.

Tommy turned around to look behind him, and it turned out the super tall giant from before was the one talking. "Oh, it's you. You need something big man" A wave of confusion crossed over the teen's face "Big man? Um, I- I wanted to introduce myself to you. My name is Ranboo."

Ranboo? Ranboo. That is an odd name but not like Tommy could really judge if one of his brothers has a weird name and don't get him started on all his friends' names.

"Well hello, Ranboo. My name is Tommy and I am the biggest big man you will ever meet" A big smile spread across his face. Ranboo nodded to this and gave a small smile of their own "Well would you like to be friends?" Ranboo asked quietly, almost like they didn't even want Tommy to hear it, but he did.

"Sure I will be your friend" To this Ranboo's face lit up "Really that is umm great anyways are we supposed to just talk to everyone for about an hour or uh.." Ranboo said as they looked around, all the other students seemed to have already known each other before, talking to one another with such ease. Tommy shrugged "Sadly, I think so, and even worse none of my friends are in here well minus you of course but seriously my first class in this fucking prison and no one is familiar." he sugged deeper into his chair.

Ranboo looked at him "He probably was relying on the fact that his friends could help him" Ranboo thought to themself. "So..." They try to get the conversation back up "Who are your friends?"

Tommy sat back up and thought for a moment before a new smile appeared "Uh well Tubbo is my childhood best friend. He is actually set to graduate pretty soon maybe even early. He is smart and shit in like most APs so we aren’t in classes together a lot minus English he is shit at that" He looked up to Ranboo for an answer. It took a moment for Ranboo to realize that he was serious before responding “Uh that's cool after all APs are hard”

Tommy nodded "Yeah anyway there is Purpled he is a bit of an asshole but at least he can be fun to game with even though he always cheats.” but something told Ranboo that it might not be the cheating that was making him lose. “And then there is my group of my other best friends Deo, Luke, and Bitzel. Too bad they are older than me but now I'm in high school too so they can’t hide from me hehe" To this, Tommy had a wide smile but that smile soon quickly fell once he saw Ranboo's face.

Ranboo looked horrified but Tommy didn't know why "You ok man?" Tommy asked though he was a bit hesitant when asking. Ranboo made a small cough sound as they tried to clear their voice "Y-you are friends with them?" This made Tommy more confused "Uh, yea we have known each other for god fuck I think four years now? Damn, that makes me sound so old." Ranboo seemed to have gotten a bit less tense but something was still off "Why do you ask?"

Ranboo tensed back up again "Uhh well um" They took in a deep breath before they continued "They are known to fight other students a lot" Ranboo made another coughing sound before continuing "Not like they are bad people, like they don't seem to fight people just for the fun of it but…" But they didn't get to finish because Tommy finished for them. "They beat up criminals or bad people in general" saying it almost as if it was the plainest thing in the world. Ranboo simply nodded to this. Ranboo opened their mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"Ok student" Mr.Dude knocked onto his desk "Go to your next class if you need help finding it. Ask the people around you if they don't know which should not be true, because at least one of you should know but if not ask me."

Tommy lifted himself out of his desk, grabbed his bag from the floor and swung over his shoulder, turned to his new friend "Well, do you know where?" He picked up his schedule to see his next class "Uh, son of a bitch it is motherfucking algebra" Ranboo got out of their own seat "Can I see your schedule" Now that Ranboo was not sitting down Tommy could see how tall they truly were. It was like standing next to a statue or something. Tommy hands over the schedule to them.

Ranboo took it gently and glanced over the page and their eyes widened a bit as they looked down at the paper "You take AP Algebra?" they asked. Tommy nodded "Yep I got help from Tubbo so now I am in AP though I doubt I will be able to continue once I don’t have Tubster’s help" Ranboo looked back at the schedule there were two classes marked as AP. Algebra 2 and Art History? They looked back at Tommy handing him back his schedule.

"Well luckily I know where AP Algebra is and I am in it too" As they walked to the front door Tommy followed right behind "Thanks man you are very poggers"

The two walked to their new class having a simple and loud (Tommy) conversation. "The jar of Tubbo's bees broke and they were everywhere in the class" Tommy shared the story with Ranboo laughing at his story. That is when Tommy felt someone wrap their arms around his sides, their hands covering his eyes. For a moment he panicked thinking of all the ways he could escape or who the person covering his eyes was. That is when he heard their voice.

"Welcome back, Boss"

"Deo?”

Chapter Text

“Deo?”

The hands moved away, their arms away for Tommy letting him turn around and he was right. There stood Deo in a simple orange shirt and jeans with his sunglasses that always covered his eyes. Tommy has always wondered what his eyes looked like.

“Boys no stalling in the halls,” a teacher said, interrupting the boys. “Shit, come on let's go Toms” Deo grabs Tommy’s hand as he pulls him to their class with a confused Ranboo following behind the two. They entered the classroom but they only found that there were only a few seats left. Sitting down, luckily there were many open seats Deo sat in; he wasn't going to stay long since he wasn’t in that grade.

“So, Tommy how has it been?”

Tommy thought for a moment. “Well, Wilbur finally decided to go to college and he got out of the house and is sharing an apartment with Big Q who I think is Wilbur’s crush he denies it but he can’t lie to me” Tommy then starts his usual blabbing “Techno started working at that bookshop about a month ago he is still kind of figuring out if he wants to go to college with Techno too or military, oh I finally found out what to feed Shroud. Turns out it is like crickets and bugs. Philza lets me get that stuff at the pet store” he thought again for a moment “And I think that is it.” He looked up at Deo.

Deo was silent the whole time as he listened even though Tommy couldn’t see his eyes but he could feel he was being stared at. He smiled “Damn that is a lot, seems you had some adventures” he then started to look around or at least Tommy could tell from his movement. Once he felt like no one was watching he looked back at Tommy.

“So have you heard of these vigilantes that have been helping people all over the city?” Tommy’s eyes widened, and thoughts started to run all through his head. “How does he know? I never told him anything or did I? No, that is impossible. I haven't even messaged him for a while.”

“Tommy, are you there?”

Tommy mentally shook his thoughts there was no way he could know. “Yeah, just a bit tired.” dammit now Deo knows that my sleep schedule is still fucked. “Anyways, why do you ask?”

The teens sat there like Deo was trying to think before speaking, the room felt so quiet if not for the teacher's voice breaking it. “Deo you aren’t in this class please head to your next class” Deo nodded “Sorry I'm going don’t worry” he went to get up before he leaned over and whispered into Tommy’s ear “Meet me and the others behind the school after school we have something we want to show you” and with that, Deo turned back around heading for the door leaving.

This left Tommy even more confused about what in prime do the others want to show him but the more he thought about it the more it made sense. Tommy hasn’t been around for a while since he went out of town to go see Mumza so he hadn’t got to see them all summer. So maybe they have found, made, or done something sick that they wanted to show him. It made Tommy a bit sad knowing that he might have missed out on something big. Ranboo looked over at Tommy. They wanted to ask about what on earth that was but decided not to since it wasn’t their business.

The class was the same as the first, just a bunch of students whispering and talking to one another with the teacher either being on their phone or shhing at the girls in the back that were becoming too loud. It was boring and Tommy was happy to get out of there. Ranboo had a different class so they went the opposite way.
Tommy has only been in school for a day and he already felt like he was in hell. The only good parts were P.E., English, and Lunch since he shared it with Tubbo other than that it was shit. “Good prime, finally it is over” He was walking over to the front entrance to wait for Techno’s car then he remembered what Deo said to him. The thing they wanted to show him. But now he would have to walk all the way to the back of the school…dammit.

Tommy half walks half runs down the halls to the gym and exits through the back door. He walked outside and looked around no one was there. That is when he heard Deo's voice "Tommy over here" Deo was peeking over the corner of the side of the building but Tommy couldn't see the others...weird. The blonde walked over to where Deo was and once he passed the corner he spotted both Luke and Bitzel with Deo sitting on the curb but they weren't wearing their usual clothes, instead they were wearing odd clothes. What was this dress-up day?

Deo was also dressed weirdly. He was wearing a black suit with an orange tie but also an orange belt with different-looking tools, hell even something like a sword or something, and was wearing a Santa hat on top of his head.
"Uh, what the fuck are ya'll wearing?"
The three looked at each other, almost telling each other something with a single look. There was a long and awkward silence after a moment of silence Deo was the first to break it "Tommy you remember how I told you about how we wanted to tell you something?" Tommy nodded.

"Well, you know how we don't have any powers?" Yes, Tommy does remember when we all first met for the first time we asked about powers, Tommy was always told by his brothers and dad that he should never tell anyone about what his power is. He always felt bad that he lied but it is not like they always bring up powers so why now? "Yeah, I know what about?"

Now the three looked more than a bit uncomfortable but Deo still continued "Well don't be mad but we all lied” Then there was silence.
.
.
.
.

It was silent for what felt like a whole minute before Tommy broke out into giggles "Haha, that was a good one! You almost got me!" Tommy laughed because that was just a joke yeah just...a...joke. Then why isn't anyone else laughing...no one is laughing, instead they looked uncomfortable and none of them looked at Tommy...they were serious.

It...was...not...a...JOKE.

Tommy wanted to laugh a big loud laugh because it was not like he could be mad about them lying to him for he was guilty of the same thing. And that is when he started to laugh. "Shit really... damn and I thought I was the only one." Now the others were looking at him with a different look in their eyes (well not for Deo because he sunglasses).

Luke spoke up first "Wait you're saying that you also have powers?" Tommy nodded before deciding to instead of telling them what his power is so why not show them? Tommy put out his hands almost like he was reaching for something but there was nothing there to reach. And then the weak little breeze that barely was able to move the boy's hair was now blowing, moving the small pile of leaves everywhere, the boy's hair was now blowing into their faces, then he lifted from the ground not too high, only a few inches but it was noticeable difference before he landed back down. "Yeah I think I do" Tommy chuckled “So if y'all also have power…what kind are they?”.

“Oh, I want to go next!” Luke was almost bouncing like he was full of energy Deo and Bitzel looked at each other with a shrug "Uh- okay go for it, Luke" Luke stood up from his spot on the curb, he raised his hand in front of Tommy "Look at this." Then a light blue light glowed all around his hand. It looked so pretty that it was as if Tommy was in a trance. He didn't even notice that he went to try and touch it until the glowing stopped "You can't touch it" Luke pulled away Tommy put his hand back down "Why can't I?" Tommy asked confused that is when Luke started his ramble "Well it is like a laser but it can also be used as a force field but it can fucking cut through anything"

Bitzel got up from his seat on the curb "Okay Luke that might be cool but my power is cooler we all know it" he stretched out as both Luke and Deo who were both closer to him started to back away, Deo grabbing Tommy's arm to also take a step backward. The first thing Tommy saw before the fire was the smoke, even though Tommy was a yard or two away even after a few seconds he started to feel the heat, and then is when his fire appeared.

It looked a lot like Flames but the color was a lot darker in color and it looked like it was taking a bit more of Bitzel's energy. The fire went away and the smoke started to clear. Bitzel looked beyond pleased with himself "And that is what real power looks like" Tommy grinned he couldn't believe how sick his friends' powers were. Luke clapped before turning to Deo "Okay your turn TimeDeo."

"TImeDeo?" The three looked at Tommy forgetting that he didn't get the joke of the nickname but then again he would understand soon. Deo smiled "You will understand soon" he reached up to his sunglasses and took them off. At first, Tommy didn't understand what he was looking at, instead of Deo's eyes being normal eye color like brown or blue his eyes were pure white. Not like a silver but pure white, there was no sign of a pupil or iris in sight.

Then he was gone Tommy swore that Deo was right in front of him but now he wasn't "Behind you~". Tommy jumped, turning himself around and there was Deo with his white eyes staring at him. Does he have some kind of teleportation power? Tommy opened his mouth to ask but he was stopped "No, my power is not teleportation it is time control" he answered simply.

"How did you know I was going to ask that?" again Deo smiled "Because you asked that before so I went back in time to answer your question before you asked." Time…he can control time. That is sick! Wait time...Deo...TimeDeo that is what the nickname is about. "TimeDeo, shit now I get it now" Deo signed “Well you aren't the only one who pointed that out both Luke and Bitzel have and it's annoying.” He straightened up still looking at Tommy "But our powers aren't the only thing we want to tell you. You see what we are wearing?"

Now that Tommy wasn't looking at his friends' powers he remembered about the weird clothes and for Deo or TimeDeo's weapon and hat. Tommy nodded “Yeah they look weird” "Well, we have started to become..." he looked around for a quick second to make sure no one was around but them "We have decided to become vigilantes because the dumb heroes haven't done much for our part of the city.

Tommy's eyes widened but he was not wrong. Despite how bad liars his brothers and even Phil were he had almost always known that they were all villains but they still did good for people but also some shady stuff on the side but they were still good, well to Tommy at least. And Tommy himself…well he was probably the farthest thing from a hero anyone could ever get. "What are your vigilante names?"

Luke was the first to answer "Laser simple but cool" Then it was Bitzel's turn "Blister."
"Blister? But doesn't that sound a lot like your real name?" Bitzel shrugged "It is not like people will know that" Then Tommy turned to Deo "Timer I don't know how I feel about it but Luke is that choose it for me and I can't really think of anything else that won't sound awfully close to Clockwork" after a few seconds of silence where Luke looked proud of himself before Deo asked the question he's been waiting to ask "So would you like to join us, Boss?" the smile back on his face.

Tommy didn't even have to think. He had been so bored wanting to join his brothers in whatever they were doing as villains but they always said that he was too young, which was bull shit it was not like he was a kid, a big man. "YES yes yes a million times yes!" And right at that time, Tommy's phone pinged. He pulled it out to look who texted him, it was Techno and it was almost thirty minutes after the end of school. "Shit, I forgot Techno is picking me out. Fuck, I gotta run. BYE!" Tommy started to run down the side of the building up to the front of the school when he heard Deo's voice scream out to him.

"I will call you later to explain more!" Tommy gave a thumbs-up before he finally made it to the front and there at the front doors stood Techno. "Hey sorry Tec, just catching up with friends," Tommy said between breaths. Techno looked down at his watch "You were thirty minutes late. Phil is already worried" Tommy wiped the sweat from his hair "Well, shit I am here now so you can tell the old man to not call the police for something" Techno gave a small nod and started heading back to the car.

Once they got to the car Tommy tried to get into the passenger's side but was stopped "No you going in the back"
"What, in the back why the back?" Tommy argued
"Because you made me wait for thirty fucking minutes so you are going to stay in the back"

Tommy opened the passenger's door "Well what if I don't listen" as he started to make his way into the car.
"Well, then I am not taking you to Wilbur's this weekend"
Tommy immediately got out of the car knowing that Techno was serious "Okay fine fine I will sit in the back. Closing the passenger door shut and opening the back door hopping inside.

Chapter Text

Wilbur was lost again. Now that he lives in a different part of the city he has been getting lost more and more often he thought after the many patrols he has done he would already know the roads. Turns out the streets look really different from roofs than it is on foot. He was just following behind Techno, he turned around and he was gone. Now Wilbur was on the top of a building blowing out smoke from a cigarette, trying to search for a glace of that pink hair that his brother had. How could he lose someone that stood out so much?

There were no heroes, no stupid pink-haired villain, it was just quiet. Too quiet. It is never quiet in this city. Wilbur pulled out his phone. Maybe he can skip today and go back to the apartment and complete his music history assignment.

MusicMan: Hey lost you can I go home

FavoriteChild: *Hey, I lost you do you think I can go home*

FavoriteChild: Yes you can

MusicMan: Fuck yu

FavoriteChild: *you*

MusicMan: I AM GOING HOME

FavoriteChild: I said you could

Wilbur turned off his phone “Stupid fucking Techno” he muttered. He blew out his last puff of smoke before throwing the cigarette onto the top of the roof before stomping it out. He took a second to look at his surroundings trying to find anything familiar that would lead him back to the apartment. He spotted the university a bit in the distance, maybe he could follow the road back to the apartment though he and Quackity use the car to get there, but he was sure he would know the way once he got to the university.

He decided to use the buildings instead of using the street since he was stuck wearing his villain outfit so he would probably end up scaring some citizens that were still out at this time. And he does not want to run into a hero at this time. He made it to the school and was about to turn to the left but that is when he heard a voice.

“Come on love, Let's have fun tonight. I know a good bar in the area that sells great whiskey and I know how much you love whiskey~” the voice sounded already drunk. Wilbur walked to the right side of the building, leaned over to see who was talking, and was surprised to see the villain Jester. But there was someone else with him, another person with large curved ram horns, Wilbur couldn’t see their face though his voice sounded familiar but he wore no hero or villain costume that Wilbur had seen in fact he was wearing a normal gray and jeans.

“No, we went on one date fucking months ago and you were shit through the whole thing and trying to make me some step-parent to a kid that doesn’t even care about you” Jester sounded angry though it is not like Wilbur could tell from his expression thanks to that mask that he wears. Wait Jester dated a citizen and from the sound of it did not sound like it ended well.

“Oh come on you liked Tubbo you didn’t sound upset at all when I showed you a picture of him,” the goat said. Jester sighed “Don’t you dare bring up Tubbo of course I didn’t say shit I have seen the kid around the block for years, and you shouldn't even bring your own kid into this. This is between you and me and you should stop trying to get me back” Then he turned on his heel and tried to head out of the alleyway but was stopped. The horned-looking man grabbed Jester by his wrist, pulled out a knife, and placed it on the visible part of his neck. That is when Wilbur finally got a good look at the other man’s face, it was the ex-mayor of the city, Schlatt.

Wilbur was about to jump there to stop this, sure it is not like Wilbur has really met Jester in person but he was not going to watch as someone got stabbed for something as stupid as a breakup. In a loud voice Schlatt said “You know Tubbo has always loved you he actually talked to me when he saw a picture of you, and now that you're gone Tubbo stopped showing up to the house claiming he is going to sleepovers which are shit” they started to struggle “I don’t have him dumbfuck besides it doesn’t matter either way you're a shit dad.” Now is probably a good time to jump in.

Wilbur swung his legs over the edge and shouted down below using his power “Put the knife down” The knife dropped clanging as it hit the ground. He still clutched Jester’s wrist but now they were looking up at Wilbur. Wilbur jumped down landing on the ground. “Hello Schlatt, Jester, how have you both been?”

Schlatt looked pissed and smelt of liquor. “Siren fuck off this isn’t your problem” Wilbur smirked “Well I don’t think it would be nice to put a knife when someone is trying to talk to you like an adult” Schlatt rolled his eyes with his eyes landing on Jester, who was still struggling to get his wrist free.

A smile spread across his face, he looked almost crazy “Well, don’t you have to worry about anybody getting stabbed” and then he didn't waste a second before pulling out a gun from one of his pockets and was about to pull it up to Jester’s head but Jester was faster. Now that Jester had been given a second to come up with some sort of plan in his mind. A card was in his free hand, touched Schlatt’s arm with the card and immediately he was up in the air. Schlatt had lost his grip on his gun and his grip on Jester’s arm.

He was about ten feet off from the ground “What the fuck” was all he was able to get out before the card’s power ran out of power and dropped him back to the ground. He didn’t move, after a few seconds, Jester made a quick check of his pulse acting almost like Wilbur wasn’t even there.

“Is he dead?” Wilbur asked, looking down at the old mayor. Jester shook his head “No, he is breathing he will probably wake up in a few hours or so and walk back to his shit condo he calls home”

Wilbur felt the awkwardness in the air, Jester picked up Schlatt’s gun and pocketed it. The villains were both silent the whole time Wilbur didn’t know if he should leave or not. “How much did you hear?” Jester asked to break the silence but Wilbur could almost hear the slightest hint of fear in his voice even though the voice changed. “That you and him dated and that he thinks that you took his son away from him” Wilbur can now feel the other’s eyes trying to burn into him even through the mask.

“Don’t you worry I won’t say anything about it but what made you do to date the fucking ex-mayor” Jester was moving Schlatt’s unconscious body to hide behind a garbage dump “Well, one he was the mayor at the time, and two we met by accident also I thought he was actually sane during the time” now Wilbur was intrigued “The mayor was in love with a villain I would have never would have guessed” Jester picked up the knife and the card that was still left on the floor and pocketed both. “You don’t have to guess because now you know and you said that you won’t tell so that’s it also I didn’t date him it was one damn date” Jester answered sternly. Now what about the other question that was on Wilbur’s mind, the kid…was he safe? His name was familiar but it was on the tip of his tongue he couldn’t really figure it out.

“What about the kid?” Jester stiffened “What about him?” The fear in his voice was more noticeable than he would have liked. “Well, he just accused you of kidnapping or influenced him to move in with you so yeah even though he might be a dick I still don’t know anything about any of this” Jester sighed “No I didn’t fucking take him. I love that kid even if I don’t know much about him and I do know where he is. I like to check in from time to time but not like I'm doing to tell anything to this alcoholic” pointing down at the unconscious body. “Man is probably closer to alcohol poisoning than he is to his own son.”

“So he isn’t with you” Now Jester was getting frustrated “No he isn’t with me god what are you the fucking police? Besides my roommate would probably ask questions if I brought a kid from a fling that is the fucking ex-mayor’s son” Well he is not wrong if Quackity brought home the mayor’s son and told him that he was going to be living with them, Wilbur would also be asking questions as well.

“Sorry I just got curious this was not how I thought my night would turn out but hey it has been entertaining and like I said before darling I won’t tell a soul. Besides who would believe me I am a villain just like you” Jester nodded “Yeah cool whatever” he muttered in a low voice then he turned on his heel and exited the alleyway as if nothing had happened leaving Wilbur with an unconscious body hiding behind a garbage dump. Wilbur to a moment before heading back to the apartment.

It was far easier to get to the apartment from the roofs. He sneaked through his bedroom window and changed into the same pair of clothes that he left with he climbed back out of the window and headed back to the front of the apartment just in case Quackity was inside. Wilbur didn’t know Quackity’s schedule so it made things a bit too easy to get caught by him. He unlocked the front door “Quackity, I am back home.” No one answered he was alone. It has been about two weeks since they moved in and they have already made the place their own. They were allowed by their landlord that they could paint their walls, he remembered him and Quackity looking for hours at the different shades of paint, trying to find the right colors for their own rooms. And painting oh that was a mess of a time paint got everywhere but it was a fun time.

Wilbur entered back into his room, closed his bedroom window, and pulled out his laptop to get back to his music history assessment that was due this week. About an hour had passed until the front door opened again and Wilbur heard Quackity’s voice calling if Wilbur wanted late-night dinner. Wilbur closed his laptop, got up from his desk, and left for the kitchen. “Wilbur you home?” Quackity called again from the living room, “Yeah I am home and I don’t mind a little late-night snacking. Does pizza sound good?” Wilbur leaned over the kitchen counter. Quackity’s back was facing towards him as he put up his coat but he didn’t turn around. “Okay, I will order it and will call you when it gets here.”

But Quackity still kept his back facing Wilbur which is odd considering there is nothing to hide well from Wilbur’s perspective for he did have one thing that Quackity had that he was still insecure about. His scar, for as long as Wilbur remembered Quackity, had always had a large scar that was across the left side of his face all the way from above the top of his right eyebrow down to the top of his lip. But Wilbur had already known about the scar so why did he still have his back to him?

“Hey, is there something wrong?” He asked simply. Quackity was quiet as he took off his beanie, odd he doesn’t usually take off his beanie. His black hair came out of the beanie making it look longer without his beanie, he walked in the direction of his room, his hair covering his face. “Hey, are you ok?” Wilbur spoke again.

“Yeah, something came up at work” his voice was raspy. Wilbur then remembered the last time he sounded like that after he broke up with his ex-boyfriends a few months before he suggested they both move out and get an apartment since they both had their eyes on the same university. “What happened?” He asked again, this pulling at Quackity’s strings “Nothing fucking important” he yelled and he got to see his face. His eyes were puffy and red, he had been crying, but why? Wilbur didn’t know when but the next thing he knew he was not in the kitchen anymore instead he was standing in front of Quackity arms wide allowing Quackity to come and get a hug. After a moment Quackity just stared at him then after that moment he took Wilbur’s hug.

Quackity was so much shorter than Wilbur reaching to Wilbur’s shoulder “I ran into an ex today it didn’t go well” Quackity cried into his shoulder. Wilbur tried to calm him down by telling him to breathe as Wilbur ran his fingers through his hair. He never got the chance to touch Quackity’s hair, Quackity didn’t like it when someone touched his hair but it was so soft and felt just as fluffy as it looked. Wilbur wondered which ex for Quackity had quite a few. There was Eret but they have stayed pretty good friends afterward so it can’t be them, Karl and Sapnap? They had a pretty messy breakup. It could have been them for how much Quackity had loved them in the past. “Was it Karl and Sapnap?” Quackity moved out of his arms, Wilbur started to miss the touch.

“No, it is not Karl and Sapnap, it was someone else. I never told you about them because of how much I hate him” Wilbur nodded knowing that is all Quackity would tell him about this mystery guy. “Okay how about this I will order some of your favorite tamales from the place downtown that you like, you take a shower and by the time you are done food should be here.” The two both agreed to this plan.

Chapter Text

Tommy couldn’t wait for Deo’s call to explain more about them as vigilantes sure he was a little bit mad that they didn’t tell him but he knew he wasn’t very innocent either also having his own share of secrets. He was still keeping the secret of who his family was as villains and…well there was still himself.

Ring….ring…ring

It was Deo, Tommy almost jumped onto his phone to answer the call. It was not a Facetime so he didn’t need to clean his wrinkled shirt and messy hair “Hey Deo or should I say TimeDeo” he said with a smirk.

“Hey Tommy, are you alone?”

“Yep now are you going to be telling me what y’all been up to while I was gone I have been waiting for aaages”

“Oh uh yeah” The sound of a car passing could be heard in the background. “Well I forgot that it is my turn to patrol so I am walking around in my vigilante uniform so if I have to jump in a fight you will know”

“Wait, you are out there alone? Where is Luke and Bitzel?”

“It is Basketball practice today so they’re both out anyway. I think you should start picking out your costume and a name we can call you by”

“Okay does it have to be like yours?” remembering the black similar-looking clothes the three wore.

“Oh, the suits? No, that was our old design. We decided that we would make up different costumes because of how different our powers are but I like it and my power doesn’t get affected by it so I guess I am the only one still wearing the suit design I personally like it” Another car goes by.

“Cool because I think I need something more flowy so if I need to I can lift myself easier” Tommy explained as he started to dig through his mess of a closet he already had something in mind he already was a vigilante but not known at all only wearing the clothing he normally wore one with an old fencing mask Techno has. So now would probably be a good time to actually put a real costume together.

“You could always wear a dress?” Deo offered with a laugh. Tommy’s ears reddened “Haha very funny even if I was going to wear a dress I would still beat up heroes better than you could ever” Tommy pulled out a shirt from the clutter and threw it to the side.

Deo laughed “Oh yeah I know you would” Tommy pulled out a pair of jeans that looked too big to be his so it had to be one of his brothers. “Shit I need to clean my fucking closet, I can’t find shit in here” Deo laughed at this “You still don’t clean your room? The last time I was there it looked like a tornado hit it”
Tommy looked around his room, clothes were everywhere on the floor near his hamper his desk had papers and textbooks he never really used on it and his trash can was overflowing with paper balls some still on the ground, either the trash can was too full that it fell out or he just missed “Yeah your description is not far off my room hasn’t really changed from last time you visited” Tommy pulled out a shirt but he didn’t recognize it.

“So it’s still a mess why am I not surprised” Deo chuckled then he went into silence for a long moment then in a hushed whisper “Shh I hear something” Tommy froze dropping the shirt he was holding and and listened trying to make out anything on the other end of the call. He could hear the voice of an older man but couldn’t make out what they were saying and out of nowhere, there was a scream and then silence. Tommy wanted to say something but he waited quietly.

“Okay I’m back” Deo sounded a bit out of breath “Someone was trying to mug someone but it’s okay”.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN OKAY!! Did you get hurt? Did he have a gun? What the fuck was that scream?” Tommy sounded more panicked than he wanted to be but hell this is his friend. Deo chuckled “Don’t worry Sunshine I froze time to take his weapon away along with any other weapons he might have had on him, then I had to take the victim out of the way so they would be safe but I have a limit but hey I got out of there just in time.”

“When you unfreeze time is when the man screams?” Tommy went back to the pile of clothes pulling out a long-sleeved shirt he didn’t recognize it and couldn’t figure out when he got it, but it looked his size.
“Yeah he did, I think it surprised him because I went from in front of him to the person he was going to steal from to them being gone and me as well,” he said finally getting his breathing back to normal. Tommy put the phone on speaker so he could still hear Deo as he tried on this mystery shirt. It was pretty cool with long red sleeves but the rest was black it even had those holes for your thumbs. Tommy used to like it so much that he tried cutting his own shirts before Philza stopped him. “Okay got it also I found a shirt but I have never seen it before” Tommy put the phone down on his bed getting up from the ground.

“Could the shirt be one of your brothers?”

“No Techno likes wearing clothes that make him look like he walked right out of a history textbook and Wilbur moved out and even if he did leave this behind it is not his size, it's a lot smaller besides he likes very…artistic clothes” The shirt fit him pretty well he didn’t know where it came from but who cares it would make a good vigilante outfit. “Well it doesn’t matter, the shirt looks sick anyway” But he only had a shirt. He needed some pants too so back into the closet he went.

“Really? Well, can you at least describe it to me or do I have to wait until I see you in action on our next patrol tomorrow?” Tommy almost jumped onto his phone when hearing this “Wait, really I can start being a badass vigilante by tomorrow?!” Deo laughed at this statement “Yes, yes you can Sunshine but what would your name be?” he asked curiously.

“My name?” Tommy asked, he was getting to the back of the closet now and yet to find anything that he had deemed worthy to be a part of his vigilante costume. Even when he went out trying to start as a vigilante he didn’t really come up with a name or anything really.

“You know your vigilante name, have you thought about one?” It hit him like a brick when he understood what he meant but…what could he pick? “Oh…uh no not really I haven’t thought about it. Do you have any ideas because I got nothing” he pulled out a pair of black and red pants that matched his shirt. What kind of angel had blessed him, he didn’t know but not like he really cared as he tried them on.

“Okay well let me think of something. Hmm…your power has something with the wind so let’s think of a name with that, sounds good?” Tommy was busy looking at himself in the mirror. He looked different when not wearing some baggy shirt and wrinkled shorts that he always wears on a daily basis. It looked good and made him almost unrecognizable if not for his face. Maybe he could use the mask from his ninja costume last Halloween all he had to do was find it.

“Uhh well like I said I can’t think of anything, do you have something, Deo?”

Deo thought for a moment “Umm how about Whirlwind?”

Tommy thought the name over it sounded like a sick vigilante name “Yeah I like it sounds badass vigilante name what made you think of that?”

Deo’s footsteps stopped on the other end “Well, when you showed us your power I noticed that the wind seemed to whirl around you as you floated so whirl and you control wind so whirl…wind, Whirlwind. It has a nice ring to it” Tommy nodded before remembering Deo couldn’t see him “Oh yeah Whirlwind sounds nice I'm going to use that”

Tommy went back to his closet to find that black mask he found it and put it on it looked nice he grabbed his phone and took a pic and sent it to Deo to have him see “I sent you something it’s a pic of my vigilante outfit tell me what you think I think I look fucking sick” Tommy laughed. He walked back over to his mirror holding the phone up, giving out a peace sign before taking it. He thought he was pretty cool, sure the clothes probably needed a wash. They have probably been in the back of his closet for who knows how long. But he likes the black and red. The top was a bit tighter than he expected showing his skin a bit and the pants hung a bit lower than his usual shorts but hey if that isn’t how fashion is now he is going to make it like that.

Deo checked his messages with Tommy getting the reply back “Wow you actually look pretty sick in all black and red it makes your hair and eyes stand out more” Tommy also agreed the so-called mask he was using was pretty shit just a ribbon of red fabric tied around his face with eye holes cut into it and a regular black mask he bought from Amazon or something. “Yeah told you I would look badass anyways, anything else you want to tell me that y’all have been hiding?”

“Oh yes, our group kind of has a name. Well, the name isn’t well known of course it’s not like vigilantes like ourselves are really big when there are people like villains running around. But we call ourselves Business Bay” Business Bay huh? Well, it’s not as bad as the Dream team as the top three heroes call themselves. “Not the worst name I heard, boss man but I like so about patrolling and shit when can I do that?” Deo chuckled “Well not tonight Tommy but tomorrow if you are okay staying out a bit late for school”

“Ha you know I don’t give two shits if I’m late to that prison so will we all patrol at once tomorrow?”
“Yeah, there is nothing going on tomorrow so we all should be able to go. Oh, also we all meet up at Pink Treats before patrol and after” Pink Treats? Oh, that bakery isn't too far from Tommy’s place. “Oh I know that place, yeah I can meet there but tell me why are we meeting at a bakery?”

“Because turns out the owner doesn’t really care if there are vigilantes in her bakery as long as we pay or pick up some goods when we come back so she won’t have to throw away as many baked goods” Tommy laughed really a baker who doesn’t care if vigilantes meet up at her establishment as long as they are good. “Wow I get to be vigilantes with my friends and I get baked goods? Sign me up” Deo chuckled to this “Yeah I know it's great how nice she is anyways we are going to meet up there at 8 pm okay?” Tommy nodded Techno and Philza left for patrol at 7:30 and stayed out pretty late so it worked perfectly. “Yeah, I can do that. Anything else?”
Deo paused thinking “I can’t think of anything at the moment so I guess that’s it well then I got to continue patrol see you tomorrow”

“Okay see you tomorrow big man!” Tommy hung up looking back at the mirror he felt energetic with happiness he was surprised he wasn’t jumping off the walls. He wants to get on his phone and call Tubbo to tell him but wait…can he even do that? He never asked really hmm maybe he can just ask tomorrow. Tommy looked down at his new vigilante outfit despite how much he liked it. It's probably a good idea to wash them. He changed into his other clothes walking out of his room Techno was already out on patrol meeting up with Wilbur and Philza had gone to handle patrol on the west side of the city so he was pretty much home alone. He walked down to the laundry room throwing the clothes along with some other dirty clothes he had as well.

Tommy was about to head up to his room again when the doorbell rang. Huh odd he didn’t invite any of his friends over unless Techno came home early he went over to the front door peeking a look at the peephole to see a pizza man. Sweet Philza must have ordered him dinner.

Chapter Text

Quackity was tired. He knew he shouldn’t be crying over a man he only went on like one date with but he really thought he was going to die that night if Siren didn’t appear. At least Wilbur was very nice about it and didn’t ask too many questions. He let out a sigh he hadn’t gotten out of bed even though he had a class in an hour he couldn’t even remember if he slept at all last night and his back ached he forgot to unbound his wings for bed now he couldn’t do it since he has to get up. He groaned as he sat up putting his duck plushie to the side god it was going to be a long day. 

Wilbur could tell something was off with Quackity he didn’t want to ask about it worried it to hurt him further but he was curious he couldn’t lie after all Quackity had a few exes some he knew others he didn’t so it must have been a real shit relationship to someone like Quackity cry. So in the morning before his first class of the day, he bought some donuts leaving the box at home for when Quackity wakes up.
It took Quackity fifteen minutes just to roll out of bed and get dressed in some fresh clothes. He probably didn’t have enough time to take a bath. Whatever he can just take one when he comes back he walks into the kitchen and spots the box. “Huh?” He walked over and flipped open the box looking at the arrangement of donuts. A few were taken, probably by Wilbur when he left but the ones that were left were all of Quackity’s favorites. God, why does his roommate have to be the sweetest, most annoyingly affectionate person Quackity knew?

Quackity felt like tearing up again. Why was he such an emotional sap but he can’t cry now he has to get to class…but a few donuts wouldn’t hurt. Quackity took a few in a bag before he had to hurry to class.

God, it was a long day. It always was with classes but sadly his day wasn’t done. He still had to check on his casino after what happened yesterday. He needed to make sure everything was good, also boring paperwork who knew owning a casino would have a lot of paperwork entailed. Quackity got to the apartment, luckily Wilbur had a night class or something tonight so he didn’t have to worry too much as he went into his room. He dug into his closet where he hid his villain costume. Honestly, it wasn’t really a costume, just a nice pair of slacks and a dress shirt something you probably see some casual bartender. The only difference being the mask he wore after all the scar on his face was pretty noticeable, a unique feature the heroes will look for to find out villains' identities. The mask was pretty simple, really all white with a half smile and half frown right down the middle in red ink with a star-shaped cut out over his right eye.

He put it on clicking the buckle so it could stay in place and exchanged his blue beanie for a red one. It felt weird not wearing one even in villain attire. The only good thing that he liked was his wings. When being a villain he did not need to hide them, sure they weren’t the prettiest looking thing but hey at least he can fly. Quackity opened his bedroom window glancing around just to make sure no one was watching as he jumped out his wings spreading wide and catching him as he flew into the air. He looked down and the city looked beautiful at night full of lights and busy roads but there was a sort of peace to it.

He flew downtown following a path he knew once he knew he was closer he flew down, and a few golden feathers flew in the air as he flew probably loose ones since his wings were still unpreened. He landed with ease walking a few blocks to a small pub. He walked around the back door. He didn't want to freak out any of the citizens inside. Whistling out a tune as he walked down around the back into a small lounge for the staff to just chill it had a few comfortable chairs, a fridge, and a very dusty unused bookshelf. He was still whistling quietly as he pulled out one of the many dusty books and the shelf moved out of place revealing a staircase.

He walked down the stairs to the hidden casino down below his pride and joy Las Nevadas. The place lit up with all different kinds of lights from all sorts of machines and neon signs other than that and the hanging lights from the ceiling near the bar. The casino was mostly in dim glow, the smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol in the air. He felt at home already. The people in this place didn’t flinch as he walked by as he headed for the back he was walking past as a pair of strippers walked by. It was just a normal day at work. A place of ease where fun and pleasure are free and fine, follow the words and you get to stay.

He got to the door unlocking it and walking in Slime was already there waiting for him. “Jester of Las Nevadas! I got the papers from this month’s finances” he held a stack of papers…great he was going to be here for a few hours. Quackity nodded as he sat down at his desk “Thank you Slime so tell me anything you have heard at the bar?” Slime despite not being the smartest person Quackity knew he was really good at collecting entail, people think he is stupid he actually has a good memory.

Slime put down the papers “Oh, yes I do Jester so that politician came in last week and…” Slime spoke on and on honestly Quackity felt like he could listen forever. It just felt better than just silence but that didn’t mean he didn’t listen as he wrote and looked over papers. Sure some information Slime collects can be pretty useless or could be of mild interest but he does have a few gems in the words. He found a few bits of his information this way either if it was plans to try to take down his business (which he finds stupid who the hell plans out to take someone down in the place that belongs to that person) to some juicy gossip about a few celebs.

Quackity was only halfway through the papers when something caught his ears. “...he had to walk out with the drink all over him and then Tubbo came by this morning he-” “Tubbo?” Quackity looked up “What did he come in for?” He didn’t want to sound worried but it did poke through a bit. God, why does he have to be as worried about some kid he didn’t know oh so well, especially the son of the ex-mayor? God, he always gets himself in shit situations. “Yep he came by only for those honey waffles we have for breakfast and left”
Quackity nodded “Alright…did he mention anything about his father or anything?” Slime shook his head “No sir only how stupid school is now that it has started I keep on forgetting how that kid is still in school” Quackity nodded along as he put another paper to the side “Yes…he is a kid after all. You can continue with other chatter you heard” he looked back down at his paperwork.

He hurried up with his papers so he could leave early. He needs to just chill, take a smoke or a fly, maybe both. He walked down the streets going into a nearby alleyway. He needed a good smoke before he flew home so he lifted his mask so he could have a cigarette. Leaning against the wall of the alleyway the smell of trash and garbage filled his nose but he was used to it after so many years as he blew a puff. God he was tired he just wanted to sleep and had only been in college for a few weeks but he knew at some point things had to get better right? There was nothing from here other than up. He threw the cigarette down, stomping it out onto the floor along with the many other people smoking as he fixed his mask back on. Quackity looked up at the sky…time to fly.

Quackity’s golden wings stood out against the night sky like a dash of color on a fully black canvas he wondered what he looked like from down there as he felt so high loose feathers falling every once and a while from lack of preening. He looked down below at all the tall buildings and at all the lights he could hear the busy streets and such from up here but they were almost…muffed making things far more peaceful. But of course that never lasts long as he notices a flash of red, a flickering flame so bright it puts to shame the normal lights he knew that light as well as the hero Flame.

He knew the best thing to do is to just ignore it and fly his happy little ass back home before Wilbur’s night class ends but now he just has to be curious as he flies lower circling the area to see what is going on. Once he flew down close enough he could see what was going on. It was a fight between the heroes Flame and 404 oh it's Siren again hmm he seems to be struggling. Quackity landed on a roof. The three seemed to be so busy with the fight that he was left unnoticed but…it seemed a bit unfair two against one. Wait, when did he care about fairness? He should just walk off but then again Siren did help with Schlatt…fuck this is just going to be a one-time thing. 

Quackity jumped down using his wings to glide as he got his cards ready luckily Dream wasn’t with the two heroes or else he would be in a mess he took a glance at his deck before grabbing the one he made for an ice blast. Flame caught the gold color in the corner of his eyes and looked up, noticing Jester flying in he raised his hand blasting large flames in the villain’s direction right as Jester threw the card. It was like a ticking timebomb as the card exploded with ice engulfing the flames into smoke as he landed on the ground wings folding back. 

Quackity scooped the fight around him. 404 is keeping Siren out of his range which means his voice won’t be as loud and won’t have that strong of an effect on the heroes. Every time Siren tried to find an opening to get a bit closer or would open his mouth to use his power 404 was quick to fire another dagger in his direction. Hmm maybe if he can take care of 404 and at least distract him a bit Siren can get closer…well it's worth a shot.

Jester flew at 404 he knew he couldn’t touch the hero not if he wanted to fall asleep to nightmares and wake up in a cell but if he flew above him and used the right card it might work. But Flame seemed to catch on well calling out to his partner “404 look out!” Shit. 404 looked up at Jester turning to him as he threw the dagger in his hand at him instead of Siren. Jester just barely dodged it would have been a world of hurt if he got hit right in the wing “Hey watch it! You almost got my damn wing” He shouted back, pulling out a card. Hmm, he doesn’t remember making this one it would use a lot of energy though but if it catches the heroes off guard then it will do. 

He flew a bit higher into the air throwing the card down upon the heroes. With one snap of his fingers, it blew up into dozens of arrows fired down on the heroes who had to scramble not to get in the crossfire. God, he missed this, the fight, the confusion among heroes' faces with his power. It used to be so fun when he was just starting his villainy, and the heroes couldn’t figure out his power since it seemed like he had many before they started to notice the cards he had when fighting.

Siren noticed the distraction and took his opportunity to get closer. His voice rang out “Freeze heroes” The moment the words hit the heroes’ ears they froze where they stood. The fire that Flame was building up went out like a candle and the dagger 404 was about to throw fell out of his outstretched hand. Quackity flew down dusting his pants off. “Well well, thanks for the help but I had it you know” Siren spoke walking over with a relaxed walk almost as if he didn’t have daggers thrown at him just a few minutes ago. 

“Yeah sure you really had it, what were you going to do run around hoping the heroes would just fall asleep? You’re lucky it was only a quick fight.” Siren let a soft chuckle “Fine you got me but I'm sure I would have come up with something at some point. Anyways, what made you help me? From what I heard from the grapevine that Jester doesn’t really help many people I guess I should be grateful to be in your presence” he gave a smirk and a mock bow.

If Quackity’s face was mostly hidden Siren would see how hard he was rolling his eyes. “I'm only doing this because you helped me before anything else. So don’t let your ego get any bigger” he crossed his arms he felt a bit tired from that last card he was probably going to pass out asleep when he got home. “Oh well too bad for me then but thanks for the help maybe we can fight together another time” Quackity knew that would not be likely it was just a one-time thing despite Quackity also being a villain he isn’t a big famous one liking to stay more on the down low than Siren who tries to be flashy almost like he is begging for a fight. “Yeah yeah sure now if you don’t mind me I will be going don’t get your ass in any more trouble”
He took flight once more though now he felt heavier and more tired yeah it's probably a good time to call it a night. He took a turn to fly back to the apartment.

Siren watched as the winged villain flew off a golden feather floated down to him landing on the dirty cobblestone floor he stared down at it before taking a glance at the heroes he knew wouldn't be frozen for too long. When it was time to head home he climbed up to the roofs Quackity might be worried when he gets home he should probably get some candy lying he was late getting it.

Chapter Text

God, Tommy felt like he was bouncing off the walls with energy he was going to go on his first patrol today sure he had to suffer through school but hey if he had to he had to. Even some of his classmates noticed his energy but didn’t say a thing about it all but Ranboo waited until Mr. Dude finished his lesson the man seemed already done with students’ shit even though it was the second day. Honestly, Tommy couldn’t blame the guy.

The moment the bell rang Tommy almost flew out of his chair grabbing his bag and shoving notebooks and other things in his bag Ranboo raised an eyebrow at his action.
“You going somewhere?”

“Oh uh yep just umm” Tommy tried to think up an excuse before remembering something that Mr. Dude went over “You know me I just want to be first to see what clubs are coming up to sign up for” he hoped Ranboo didn’t think anything of it.
“Oh I get it I heard a few new clubs were coming up maybe there are a few good ones maybe we can be in a few together” …well fuck Tommy honestly didn’t care about joining any clubs he didn’t really see the point but now he has to take a look. Maybe he can just go take a quick peek and lie that he doesn’t find anything good for him or something.

“Yeah sure Ranboob well got to go before all of the slots are taken up” Tommy swung the bag over his shoulder hurrying to the door “Oh we can go together” Ranboo followed behind him quickly. Curse Ranboo and their long legs. Guess Tommy won’t be able to get rid of them hopefully, this can be quick “Sure only if you can keep up with me” Tommy kept up his usual speed which Ranboo kept up with ease as they made their way to the gym where tables were set up all with sign up sheets and posters.

“Okay, so where do we start?” Tommy asked but was focused on the time of his phone Deo said to meet them behind the school in 20 minutes luckily the gym was close to the back exit he just had to make sure this didn’t last too long. “Well, why don’t we just go in a circle and get a sweep of the place?”

“Uh sure okay that works” The two went off and yep Tommy was right he hated many of them like Student Council or worse Mathletes. Like come on Tommy thought clubs were supposed to be fun things not just more work.

“So have you found anything interesting?” Ranboo asked as they finished writing their name on the signup sheet for some kind of board game club. Boring. “I don’t know nothing is really fun, to be honest” Tommy shrugged fidgeting with the strings of his hoodie hoping this whole thing could go faster.
“Hmm well, what do you like? Maybe we can go off of that” It took a bit for Tommy to answer but he decided why not “Well I like gaming but mostly with friends, music I guess I mean my brother is a musician so I find it kind of cool but honestly I don’t think anything will fit.”

Ranboo tapped their chin “Hmm maybe something out of your comfort will work it's not like you have to keep going if you don’t like it” Ranboo was right Tommy checked the time 13 minutes left. “Okay fine, so what do you recommend?” “Well you are pretty energetic so much something like drama or theater” Tommy stopped turning around “Really? Drama do I really give off that vibe?” which got a shrug out of Ranboo “Well you are pretty animated so you could do well why not give it a shot”

Tommy sighed but grabbed a pen from the cup and wrote his name on the signup sheet for theater something Ranboo themself already put their name on. “There now we will be on stage together”

“Oh actually I think backstage is better for me actually”

“Oh well, at least you can watch me be a star and rule the show” Tommy bragged bringing out a snort of laughter from Ranboo.

By the time Tommy was able to leave and signed up for a few random clubs to try out (most Ranboo had to talk him into) he was seven minutes late. He ran down streets since he asked Techno to not pick him up this time, having to use his phone for directions to get Pink Treats, a small little shop tucked away beside a bigger shopping center. There was a small alley in between the two it was probably the entrance to the back so he ran in there turning a corner where the three waited. Tommy panted “Im…h-here”

“A bit late aren’t you,” Deo said a bit smug.

“Oh fuck you,” Tommy said back before swinging his backpack off his shoulder “Okay now Im ready for action I even got my cost-”. “Woah woah woah slow down a bit Sunshine I get you want to get out there and kick some ass but throwing yourself out there without knowing anything isn’t a good idea.” Deo lightly put a hand on his shoulder.

“Besides if you leave quickly you won’t be able to try a cupcake” a woman spoke near the back door of the building. The lady had pink short hair wearing an apron and holding a tray that had cupcakes on it Luke already taking one. “Yep listen to Niki besides you will need something sweet before going around town” Deo agreed as he grabbed a cupcake for himself. Well, Tommy can’t argue with that.

Okay the cupcakes were worth the wait, man they were delicious. The group threw away their wrappers “Okay Luke you got the route?” Deo asked as he started to pull out a set of clothes from his bag. “Yep, I do we can split up but Tommy has to stick with one of us to learn the ropes” The group followed along pulling out their costumes. “Okay cool well he can stick with me then”

“Sweet so me and Luke will go west and east of downtown you will take Toms north or south?” Bitzel asked grabbing a black mask “Probably north since it's a bit safer than south lately”

“Oh come on I can take a bit of danger” Tommy isisteaded. “I know but like I said you need to learn the ropes not to get in a fight right off the bat. You haven’t even been in a fight before.” Tommy wanted to deny that but he can’t really say that he has been training for longer than they were because he would have to explain why. “Fiiiine okay let's go I still want to get out there”

The four split up walking through alleyways and man was it boring Tommy kind of expected that not like he will be out there kicking ass on the first day but it didn’t mean it still wasn’t boring. “So we just do this for a few hours and go home?” he asked looking over at Deo who was messing with some kind of switchblade that looked old probably his dad’s or something. “Basically sometimes we come across people in need of help or maybe a villain causing problems”

“So no sick fights with heroes who want to see who is under our masks?” that got Deo to laugh “No no of course not after all we aren’t that well known but we help where we can better than heroes that only patrol the higher class areas only coming down here to catch villains.”

Everyone knew the heroes cared for the people who had the money they didn’t really hide it. They don’t patrol through downtown only going there when they are called when a villain got up to some trouble not even the police cared for downtown. Oh, a person went missing? Well, they probably ran away. Stuff like that even if Vigilantes aren’t police or such they helped in their own right and were well liked by many citizens. A pair of famous ones, Swarm and Ender a duo that got so popular the heroes try to reveal their identities but they always slip away. Tommy wants to get so popular that he can fuck around with heroes.

“Okay we aren’t getting anywhere like this” Tommy groaned as another half an hour passed “I'm going to float up to get a better view it's better than walking around these maze of alleyways in circles.” Deo didn’t deny it being boring as well. The wind picked up swirling around him it was like Tommy was light as air as he went higher in the air he managed to get up to a roof and took a look around. There weren’t much mostly many roofs most were pretty old with loose shingles Tommy hummed to himself as he went higher just to get a bird’s eye view.

There weren’t many people since it was nighttime when he spotted something or more like someone a person in darker clothes running through the streets. Suspicious. Tommy went back down landing on the ground in a cool badass way and totally didn’t stumble and almost fall (he did).

“Okay, I saw a dude running uphead if you turn to the left since it splits in two. I couldn’t really see who they were but kind of sus for someone to run through alleys in the middle of the night”

Deo nodded at the new information “Okay got it too let's go we need to see what's up” and broke out into a run Tommy following along not that far behind. “Do you even think we can catch up?” he asked the person was already far ahead by the time he spotted them. Deo stopped “...shit okay I think there is a shortcut I will go through that you get on the roof and tell me where they are”
Tommy nodded since it sounded like a solid plan before he remembered a pretty important thing. “And how the hell do you expect me to tell you where they are?” Tommy didn’t bring his phone not wanting to drop in while floating high in the air and did not want to explain to Philza why he broke another phone. “Right um oh we can use these” Deo brought out two walkie-talkies “They are Bitzel’s but he forgot to grab them from me so we can use them for this”

Tommy grabbed one of the walkie-talkies “God it well up I go” The wind picked up again as Deo started to run once more. Up in the air the wind blew around Tommy whistling in his ear as he looked down below “Okay look for a suspicious-looking dude running…can’t be hard right?” he muttered to himself. But it was a lot harder when looking for a guy when you know you have to find it in a time crunch.

It took a bit too long but it's not Tommy’s fault by the time he found the dude they were pretty far out damn they could run fast. Tommy fiddled with the walkie talkie “Hey Deo I finally got a view of them and they are pretty fast but I don’t see anyone chasing them” The person was keeping up a good speed wearing darker clothes there was no running ahead of them or behind them so this wasn’t some kind of big chase.

“Really? Can you tell who they are? A villain? Hero? Or maybe another vigilante?” Deo’s voice came through a bit rough and static from the walkie-talkie itself. Tommy moved closer trying to focus so the wind won’t just shoot him forward which has happened a few times if he doesn’t focus on his control. He kept up with the figure and spoke what he could tell about their appearance.

“Darker clothes so they are blending in and there is something red under their large trench coat looked pretty tall and fast. Does that seem familiar to you?”

It took a bit for Deo to answer “No it doesn’t I can’t think of many heroes that wear darker clothes since they were brighter styles…it could be Halo that one villain that wears black and red” Tommy shook his head he has seen Halo when he had visited Philza and this person wasn’t him for one the person was smaller and for another Halo was out of town for the week something about going on some kind of romantic thingy with Diamond. Yuck! “No, they don’t look like Halo too small”

“Well then keep on their tail if they do nothing come back I don’t think I can keep up unless I freeze time”

“Got it”

The figure got to the town square the usually busy place was quiet with closed-up food trucks lined up along a sidewalk. The only real sound came from the water fountain in the center of the place the figure moved quietly over to one of them unlocked the door and walked inside. Tommy reported everything but honestly, it seemed more like it was just some dude going home since they haven’t come out yet also who the hell steals from a food truck?

“Hey uh, I don’t think this is anything” Tommy got up from his spot on the roof he watched from. “Yeah me too well just great we chased after a weirdo running their way home…just come back to Pink Treat maybe we will come across something tomorrow.”

“Yeah okay, over and out” Tommy put the walkie and talkie down and fixed his hood about to summon the wind.

“And who are you?” A voice spoke from behind a very…very familiar one. Even with a voice changer, he could pick out the person’s voice out of many. Tommy spun around coming face to face with Zephyrus other words Philza…his dad. Well, shit how will he get out of this one?

“I asked you a question. Who are you? A hero in training?” but before Tommy could think to speak he instead answered himself “No you would be with a real hero not out here alone and far too small to be a villain” Ouch okay that stung. “Are you a vigilante?”

“Well, you kind of answered yourself didn’t you?” Tommy tried to deepen his voice since he hadn’t gotten a voice changer yet. Clearly, it didn’t fool the villain. “Hmm, you may go my boy you bring no harm to me just don’t get in any trouble mate” And with that, Zephyrus spread his wings lifting up into the air…welp that went better than Tommy thought it was only when he couldn’t see Zephyrus did he let the breath he was holding. “Holy shit” he couldn’t get down fast enough.

Everyone was already at Pink Treats eating cupcakes before he could get there. Fuckers. “Hey y’all better have saved some for me” he pulled off the mask plopping down tired running most of the way after encountering Zephyrus. “Yeah don’t worry you gremlin” Deo put down a small box and Tommy flipped the lid to see six cupcakes two of each, the favors being vanilla, chocolate, and… “Oh sweet red velvet” Tommy was quick to grab one of them barely taking off the wrapping before taking a bite.

“So did y'all come across anything?” Tommy asked Bitzel and Luke with a mouth filled with cake both shook their head “Not much tonight sadly” “Oh but I helped Ms. Miller get down her cat” Luke spoke up making the group look at him “...anything else?” Luke went quiet as well.

It was silent for a while minus the sounds of chewing from eating cupcakes before Deo broke the quiet “Well I guess that is it anyways now that extracurriculars and clubs are starting up we will need to set up new patrol times okay?” the group nodded gathering their small boxes of cupcakes gifted by Niki giving a goodbye to the owner as they lived. Now Tommy’s new goal was to make sure Techno didn’t eat his cupcakes.

Chapter Text

Quackity tapped his pen lightly. He had been at this for an hour, and at this point, he was just staring down at his paper. It was supposed to be a music history assignment, but right now, it was filled with holes made by his pencil and random sentences that hardly made sense. He let out a sigh before letting his head fall onto the wooden table with a thump.

“So I see it's going well”

Quackity was quick to turn his head to the side to see Wilbur, who was leaning against the door frame, a cup of hot coffee in his hand and a smirk on his face. Fuck Wilbur and his stupid pretty face. Quackity straightened himself up, fixing his beanie, he probably looked like a mess. 

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to see you try and murder your paper with your pencil.” Quackity’s paper was like a massacre of lead and eraser marks; it was useless at this point. “Yeah well homework is shit and I give up for today. I will try it again tomorrow” he picked up the ruined paper and ripped it into pieces before pushing it off to the side. Wilbur let out a chuckle as he moved off the door frame over to the couch. “Oh good since it's 11:37 pm. So you only have a thirty-minute break until tomorrow comes”

Quackity blinked before grabbing his phone to check the time had he really been working on the paper for so long? But nope Wilbur was right it was 11:37 god he has been working on this trash for almost three hours and still has nothing to show for it. “Fuuuck” he let his head fall back onto the table.
“Stop doing that you will get brain damage…or more brain damage than you already got” Even with the warning Wilbur didn’t move from his new spot on the couch after all this wasn’t the first time Quackity was dramatic about schoolwork.

“Oh fuck you just let me suffer I finish this shit and turn it in by the end of the week.” he lay there in silence the only sound was the annoying slurping of Wilbur’s drink but he knew he had to finish his work. Quackity looked over at the ripped-up pieces …okay maybe he can do it tomorrow instead like very very late into tomorrow, if he did it tonight he was going to pop a blood vessel. So he instead picked up the pieces of the destroyed paper.

“Now that you have finally given up you want to watch a movie or something. That might relieve that headache of yours” Of course Wilbur would have a perfect solution to everything. “Sure you pick just don’t pick one of your shitty romance movies” 

“I can’t make any promises” It was peaceful between the two of them for a moment. Quackity could forget about Schlatt or the casino but he still had work later on but a movie wouldn’t hurt.

(In the end, they still ended up watching another one of Wilbur’s romantic comedy movies.)

A phone pinged which made Wilbur turn he was expecting it was Quackity’s phone since he left his own phone back in his room only to find his roommate fast asleep and the phone pinged once again. By the third ping, Wilbur was curious, after all, they were still new to the large university neither knew many people nor had they made friends yet. So who is texting him?
Wilbur’s mind wondered if it could be a lover? No that didn’t sound right or else Quackity would be gushing about them. It could be a person he has a project with that sounded a more likely opinion but there was only one way to know.

So he grabbed his phone, a worn leather case with a little duck popsocket that was probably close to falling off at some point. Wilbur made a mental note to buy Quackity a new one for his upcoming birthday, he flipped over the phone it lit up revealing an old picture on the lock screen one of him and Quackity at a party after graduation both singing at karaoke, it was liking Wilbur was too drunk to remember the photo. Wilbur trailed his eyes from the photo down to the messages there were three of them all from the same person under a contact number that was not saved but the messages were far worse. 

The first one was the nicest “Ducky I'm sorry I shouldn’t have caused a scene just come over to that pub we like and we can talk about this” and it all went downhill after that since the message literally two minutes after that was far different “What the hell are you going! I know this is your phone number you never ducking cange your shit so you better answer” And the final answer “FOR THE LUVE OF FUCK ANSWER!!1!”

Wilbur didn’t know who this was nor did he want to know he looked over at his still-sleeping roommate; he didn't want Quackity to wake up to all this. He let out a quiet sigh as he unlocked Quackity’s phone he was never told the password but it was just the word duck so it wasn’t that hard to figure out, and silently blocked the person deleting the messages before putting the phone back next to Quackity.

The movie was done the credits rolled as music played Wilbur didn’t want to wake him by taking him to bed so instead he helped Quackity lay down fully, and walked back to Quackity’s room to grab the bright yellow duck-covered blanket Wilbur himself bought a few years back for him when he spotted a duck plushie sitting on the bed. It drew a low chuckle out of the taller man “And he said he grew out of it” and picked it up as well. He threw over the blanket adjusting it around Quackity’s body fitting the plushie into the smaller’s arms.

Wilbur walked down the short hall turning off the lights as he walked and went into his own room. By now he was late to his normal patrol time but he knew he could just throw an excuse or two not like Techno would care. Wait, was he having patrol with Techno or Philza? Wilbur couldn’t remember so he checked his phone.

“Shit it's with Philza yep he is surely going to wonder why he is late” He sighed hurrying himself up to get dressed making sure the voice changer worked it became a normal part of the routine when there was one incident when his voice changer broke making his voice sound like a chipmunk from Alvin and the chipmunk. So he would love to avoid something like that again. Making sure to triple check the door was locked he finally opened his window out to the darkness of the night where the only sound was cars driving along the roads and the only sources of light were the many many lights in the city like stars in the sky. 

He took in a deep breath the air was not fresh but it was still life what he was used to. Wilbur crawled out of the window, fully closing it behind him before he slowly walked the fire escape up instead of down; it was a better chance to see Philza. 

It didn't take too long even against the night sky; it was easy for Wilbur to spot those big black wings the moment he spotted him Wilbur took out his ear piece putting it in. “Zephyrus guess who is here?” He watched as the figure hidden among the dark sky turned towards him a voice crackled through the earpiece. “About time I was thinking you forgot” he was closer now swooping low as he landed wings folded back they made him look tall towing over him by half a foot but still smaller than his own son.

“Yeah a bit I was with Quackity” the other nodded “Ah I understand how is he anyways? I hope y'all are adjusting well to living on your own?” Wilbur chuckled “We are fine dad you will get more gray hair if you keep worrying over me”

“Ah well, what can I say it's instinct to care for one of my kids even Quackity he has been around for quite a few years as well.”

“True but like I said we have moved in fine the most fights we have had was over a damn pop tart the worse thing we got is school but we will manage” Wilbur muttered remembering the petty argument over pop tarts he and Quackity had which only led to a fit full of giggling. Philza nodded “Good good speaking of which I have some news from patrol earlier before you arrived.”

“News? Interesting, well then tell me what it is?” Wilbur was curious that the news could be many things from a problem with stupid heroes to just Bad making a new batch of muffins knowing Philza. “Well I ran into a kid”

“A kid?”

“Yes a kid, maybe a teen around Tommy’s age, they wore black and red and had a mask over their face. They were pretty surprised to see me”

“I would be too if I was a kid out at midnight and was jumpscared by a man with giant wings like an angel of death the second most well-known villain of L’Manburg” Philza nodded he couldn’t really deny that fact many feared him. “Yes but still this teen I think he is one of those kid vigilantes there has been a lot of them lately it's quite sad that there are so many of them”

Wilbur has seen a few teens who have been helping regular citizens in the poorer places of L’Manburg. “True but it only proves how useless the heroes are if literal kids are doing a better job than them” An awkward silence came between them since both didn’t know what else to say after a bit before Wilbur spoke once again “All we can hope is that Tommy wouldn’t be as stupid to do that right?” he tried to joke.

Philza chuckled shaking his head “No he is stupid enough to do that let's just hope he won’t” he checked the time it was a bit before two “Let's get this patrol started for real now that you are here since you have a full day off we can do a full patrol.” Wilbur nodded “Yeah let's go."

Chapter Text

Finally, Tommy pushed through the first week of school and Tommy was already done with it basically dragging himself into the cafeteria and into one of the hard uncomfortable benches. He poked at the sandwich Philza made for him the night before but he wasn’t hungry, more tired if anything from staying up patrols haven’t been very well organized not with extracurriculars going on. Getting to know the times for sports practices since tryouts are coming up.

The sound of a metal tray hitting the metal table shook Tommy out of his tiredness. “You okay boss man?” Tommy looked up at Tubbo, an old friend since god diapers at this point. “Oh yeah man just tired as hell school sucks”

“It's only been one week Toms and you are already done with it?” Tubbo laughed as he stabbed his fork into that sad rubbery excuse of a patty. “Speaking of which, are you going to do tryouts?”

“Me? Tryouts? Seriously, why the hell would I do that?” Tommy laughed, tearing off a piece of his sandwich and popped it into his mouth. Tubbo shrugged moving his long bangs to the side honestly he needed a haircut for him to actually see “I don’t know I mean it could be fun you could go out of state if you are good enough” Tommy shook his head “I just don’t see the point I mean don’t get me wrong it’s cool and all but still like what would I do? I have never been a sporty kid the most was maybe being into fencing because Techno is into it, but that is pretty much it”

Tubbo nodded understanding Tommy’s point of view “What if I show you the sports as an option” Tommy shrugged seeing what could be the problem “Fine show me”

Tubbo put down his fork, digging through his bag to pull out a flyer, one that Tommy remembered throwing out a few days before he slid it over to Tommy’s side. Tommy looked over it, and the flyer was split in two, one for girl sports teams and one for boy sports teams.

“Okay let's see hmm Basketball? No, I might be tall but I am more likely to hit my head with the ball if anything. Soccer? nah. Golf? What is this? Some boarding school for 50-year-old men? Big no. Baseball? It was boring as a kid when Dad put me in. Footba-...wait why is Football circled?” Tommy tapped at the word which was circled with a faded pen and looked up at Tubbo for an answer. “Oh uh I was thinking about joining…you know I mean I like football and I am pretty strong but I don’t really kn-”

“Holy shit! You gotta do it now, man” Tommy was pretty surprised he knew Tubbo liked Football in the past but never really did it on a real team (probably because he is a nervous wreck) now Tommy was going to make it his personal mission for Tubbo to not chicken out this time. “Yeah well we will see tryouts are in two weeks so there is still a chance I won’t even make it on the team”

“Sure sure but at least do the tryouts I am going to make sure you won’t chicken out last minute got it?” Tubbo nodded he expected as such coming from Tommy. “Now have you picked any sport that interests you?” Tommy almost forgot about that part looking back down at the list “I don’t know if anything volleyball seems the least less boring but not like I am ever going to do it…then again it would be funny to do tryouts in something I know shit about.” He slipped it back over to Tubbo grabbing his simple sandwich, finishing it quickly before pulling out a bag filled with apple slices. If Tommy made his lunch bag he would stuff it with candy but then again that is probably why Philza doesn’t let him pack his own lunch.

“Anyways, did you sign up for any clubs or anything? Ranboo dragged me around to sign some up” Speaking of Ranboo where were they today? He didn’t see them back in the first period too. “Really? I'm surprised they got you to do that but anyway, I decided to take computer science”

“Computer science? Really? I mean I guess to me that is boring at shit at least it's not mathletes that is the most boring one of them all.” Tubbo shrugged once again “Yeah I can see why you wouldn’t like it oh I also took robotics” “Robotics? Now that sounds a bit cool without all the work. I would love to control whatever robot you make” Tubbo nodded “Of course man but it might take a bit. I have never built a robot from scratch before.”

“Anyways you haven’t said anything about what clubs you signed up for or at least the ones Ranboo talked you into”

Tommy sighed he barely remembered what he signed up for since he had been more busy with this new vigilante thing “Um let’s see there was drama because Ranboo is going…or was it theater club? Doesn’t matter they are basically the same right? Anyway, there was music club…I might not do that one though but hey it wouldn’t hurt to go for like one meeting. I think gaming club and think that’s it.”

Tubbo nodded along “That sounds fun. I think theater is a broader term because people in theater could be actors or backstage people. But drama is like only acting.” Tommy nodded “Okay I get it so it was probably a theater club then because I signed the same sheet as Ranboo and they want to be backstage.”

A bell above the boys rang out. “Welp lunch is done I swear it used to be longer where I could finish my whole lunch without stuffing it all into my mouth” Tommy hurried with the last of the apple slices stuffing the bag back into his lunch box. “I know right? But I think that is because middle schoolers get a 45-minute lunch while we get 30.”

“Thirty minutes? Seriously next thing you know we will have a 15 minute break next year or something” Tommy said exasperated “I doubt that is legal, Tommy”

“Yeah yeah see ya, Tubs”

“See ya”

“Okay, so I know patrol schedules have been pretty shit lately. I think once everyone figures out what the hell they are taking we can figure out a good rotation” Deo explained. The group was back at Pink Treats taking up a small table set for them in the back of the establishment and eating cupcakes.

“Sure but what about tryouts? That is in two weeks” Luke brought up before going back to his sprinkle-covered concoction. “True I can’t argue with that okay so who is doing some kind of tryout?” Bitzel was the first to raise his hand…and no one followed.

“Well I’m thinking of doing the volleyball tryouts for the hell of it I don’t know shit about it so I’m probably not going to make the team anyways” Tommy brought up with a shrug which Deo nodded to writing it all down “Okay so we will just wait a week to figure out all the patrols around school clubs and other stuff and we will go off from there”

Everyone else agreed though their focus was more on the cupcakes than anything else. Finishing up the last few this time they will be going on a patrol together hopefully something interesting will happen this time.

“Luke, have you picked up something?” Deo turned to Luke who was messing with some kind of radio “Uh yeah there is police activity some villain robbing a bank but they are struggling it seems to be Vulpine.

“Vulpine? I haven’t heard of him before” Tommy stated, he knew many villains most attended Philza’s meetings but Vulpine was a new name to Tommy. “What are they? Villain? Vigilante?”

“A villain or so they claim honestly they barely do anything bad honestly I wouldn’t really call them a villain” Deo answered “What bank is it, Luke?” “The West side bank. It is pretty close I believe”

“Yeah it's just a few blocks up…well do y’all want to go and check to see what is going on?” Deo stopped turning at the group for an answer. And from the urge of excitement, it's clear that from all the lack of activity made this small robbery seem like something. “Okay then Luke lead the way”

Police lights flashed down below as the four watched police were swarming the small bank seems like they haven’t found this Vulpine yet. It was silent between them before Tommy spoke up “Do you think they already escaped?” it was a possibility since it shouldn’t take that long to search a bank that looked pretty small. Luke let out a dramatic sigh “This is more boring than I would have thought should we call it a night? We haven’t had an luck”

Deo nodded but tried to keep up everyone’s sprites “Yeah but then again it's not like we will come across random mugs or criminals or heroes on our first day it's not some superhero story.”

“No, it is not” a voice spoke from behind causing all the teens to spin around coming face to face with a very familiar man. The man was dressed out in green with a white mask that hid his face a simple black smile on it. If Tommy didn’t know who this was he would have made fun of the stupid mask but it wasn’t the clothes that caused the fear in between the group it was the person himself. Dream top hero of L’Manburg. They. Were. Screwed.

“Oh, Shit!”

Tommy was running the wind picking up as another string flew past him nearly out of his grip as he ran faster trying to keep up with the group, his eyes on Deo who was up front. Tommy knew this path they were about to hit a split in the road which caused the group of four split in two, Bitzel and Luke going left and Deo and him going right, yet Dream was still on Tommy’s tail. “Faster FASTER!” was the only thing repeating in Tommy’s mind as he followed Deo as they took another turn only to come face to face with a wall.

“Fuck!”

They both turned their backs to the wall backing up as Dream calm closer as those stings came closer. They were so dead! A small sound caught Tommy’s attention he turned to the sound as a small little ball bounced down from above it clanged as it rolled down the roof and fell off rolling right in front of Dream all three of them stared down at it each one confused. A small dinging sound came from it picking up pace before going silent.

“Well that was anticlimactic” Dream chuckled when the ball exploded a thick smoke filled in the air. Tommy coughed. He tried to use the wind to blow away the smoke but it only pushed it around and he felt more and more dizzy. He stumped back, feeling around he couldn’t see anything. He felt a person next to him and moved close to see Deo’s masked face; he wasn't awake. Tommy coughed more and more choking on the smoke as he tried to shake Deo awake but he couldn’t fight it…it didn’t take long for everything to turn black.

Chapter Text

Who knew being a college student and a secret villain was a lot of work? Wilbur was managing only, and he sure as hell was not mastering, and the apartment was a clear sign of that. It was a little messy. The sink was overflowing with dishes, and the trash cans spilled out onto the surrounding floor. Okay, maybe a ‘little messy’ was an understatement, but it still wasn’t great.

He let out a sigh looking around at the moment Quackity was out for a night class about something Wilbur didn’t really care about. And he wasn’t going to be needed for any late-night patrols, leaving him with the dreaded task of cleaning up the apartment.

The kitchen was probably the worst at the moment with dishes in the sink and if they didn’t eat at home that night they would get taken out so the trash was also pretty much overflowing. Wilbur let out a sigh, something had to be done so it was either going to be Wilbur to do it or Quackity and he doubted Quackity would ever get enough motivation to clean up more than just a little here and there.

Wilbur went from room to room before stopping at Quackity’s door. Should he go in? The two usually stayed in their own rooms. Wilbur couldn’t think of a time he would need to go into Quackity’s room, but it had to be just as messy as the living room.

Neither door had a real lock on it well there was but of course, cheap apartments don’t work very well so neither lock worked well just a simple push could make the lock go with such ease. So that is what Wilbur did leaning into the door until the door gave way into Quackity’s room. The smaller took over the bigger of the two bedrooms but it really wasn’t that much bigger. Only a bit wider yet still just as small enough to fit in a full bed, a small closet in the corner, a desk to work, and storage probably filled with random junk Quackity likes to collect.

Just like Wilbur thought the room was a mess with clothes spilling out of the closet, papers thrown about around the desk and floor around it and the trash can was like the others in the apartment, overflowing. The best was nowhere as neat with blankets thrown about even falling over the sides of a used duck plush sitting up the well-used pillows. The duck gave Wilbur a small chuckle knowing Quackity was lying when he said he didn’t have his old plushie anymore.

Wilbur walked around the room making sure to not step on any clothes picking them up and gathered them as he went. He tossed them into a hamper but it too was a bit too full. “He seriously hasn’t done any laundry” Wilbur muttered to himself but decided to do it himself it wasn’t too hard he could just have Quackity pick up his clothes once they were done. He let out a soft hum to a song as he took the hamper going into the laundry room. It was a small room that barely could fit in the washer and dryer and left enough room to move around. Luckily neither cared enough to use the ironing board in the corner of the room since it would be a struggle to take it out all the time. Wilbur opened up the top of the washer lifting the hamper up and pushing the clothes down into it, most clothes were a mix of darker hues Quackity rarely wears any color brighter than wine red. He almost reached the bottom when something fell into the pile of clothes below it was bright in color making it stand out.

Wilbur paused his humming and looked down, stopping his motion of pushing clothes in instead of putting the hamper down on the ground and pushing around the clothes to find whatever it was. It took a bit to find it but it wasn’t any piece of clothing that he thought was. Instead, it was a feather, it was fluffy, a bit messy, and very ruffled, but what was it doing in Quackity’s dirty clothes?

He picked it out from the washing machine looking it over. It didn't feel fake instead it felt pretty real but then again maybe it was some art project. Something from his art class he had to do with feathers and a feather got stuck in his clothes? Feathers is an art material, right? Wilbur was unsure all he could do was come up with some excuse but it did remind him of someone.

It took a bit for the pieces to click together, but the golden feather looked familiar; it was like Jester’s wings. They, too, were ruffled and a bit damaged like he never fully took care of them and barely cared for them. The feather looked just as messy, but that could be because it had been in a hamper with a bunch of clothes. Still, why would Quackity have a feather like Jeaster’s?

Is he…?

No

Wilbur shook his head. What was he thinking? After all, it was Quackity he wasn’t some cold-hearted villain who runs hidden casinos all around the city. What a stupid idea. He threw in the rest of the clothes and threw away the feather, going back to his cleaning.

It was a long night and an exhausting one, all Quackity wanted to do was fly up to his room and pass out on his bed but Wilbur was home he couldn’t enter his room through the window without being suspicious. Luckily he always brought spare wrapping and casual clothes in desk drawers at his favorite casino just for cases like these.

Slipping the clothes was always the easy part but the part that gave him a fight was tying up his wings no matter what they seemed to hurt even after years of doing it but the pain was something that became dull over time. Once dressed he set out to home.

“I’m home” Quackity called out into the dimly lit apartment before slamming the door shut, already pulling off his coat.

Wilbur called out sounding like he was in the kitchen. “You're back late. Was class longer than normal today?” Oh, right class Quackity forgot he gave that lie. “Yeah went too long in my opinion but oh well what can you do” he gave a small shrug hanging up his coat onto the wooden hanger in the entrance hall as he walked into the living room. Yet paused, seeing Wilbur “Is that my pop tart?” and of course Wilbur was eating one of his pop tarts like it was one of his own.

Wilbur looked down at it but only gave a shrug “Yeah so? I was hungry” Quackity let out a scoff “Yeah well it's still my food you little shit” but dropped it he was too tired to really put up a fight and started to make his way to his room when Wilbur called out to him.

“Oh yeah I cleaned up a few things and did laundry yours is still in the dryer for you to grab” It was just one more thing for Quackity to do before he could lay down and pass out, but still, sometimes, he was grateful that Wilbur was around to do some of the most boring of chores. “Thanks, dude. I will go grab it before I doze off,” he said, changing his path to the laundry room instead. His hamper was already on top of the dryer waiting for him, so he got to work. He threw the now warm clothes into the hamper, pulling out the dryer sheets as he went.

He managed to pull out a few once the basket was full, walking over to the trash can to drop and throw them away when he paused. He stared down into the trash can surrounded by the lent and old dryer sheets, standing out like a sore thumb was a golden feather…one of his own feathers. Did a feather get lost in his clothes and Wilbur found it when he was washing Quackity’s clothes? Does he know? Just that single thought brought a wave of fear up Quackity’s spine.

Wilbur can’t know his secret.

That is a secret Quackity would like to take to the grave. All Quackity can hope is that Wilbur thought it was some weird material for an art project. Still, when Quackity dropped the sheets in his hands, he placed them on top of the feather, hoping to hide them further.

Chapter Text

When Tommy woke up, it was all very blurry and dark, and he still felt tired from whatever that gas was. Once his eyes adjusted more to the light, he realized he seemed to be in some kind of dingy warehouse of sorts. It looked pretty abandoned since there was no product on any of the shelves, and the smell of dust filled his nose even though the mask made him choke up a bit.

When he tried to move he realized he couldn't, rope was wrapped tightly around his body keeping Tommy in place in the chair he sat in. It wrapped around his chest and legs, even his wrists. Dream must have gotten him and Deo but if the hero did why would he take them to some shit cell. Don’t they have interrogation rooms for that?

Tommy was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard a groan behind him. “D-Timer? Is that you man?” he internally cursed at himself they didn’t know if the heroes were actually watching or if a camera of some kind was watching them it was too dark to tell. They can’t let any bit of their identity slip.

“Yeah, it's me. God my head, where are we?”

Tommy wished he could answer. “No clue but we are tied up but I don’t think we are at the hero agency. If we are, these are pretty shit conditions.”

There was the sound of movement as Deo tried to get out from the rope but whoever tied the two knew what they were doing. How are they going to get out now? Tommy tried to think, his power was pretty useless, there was no wind in here, not even a draft he could feel, sure there was air but it was not like he could cut the ropes with the wind. Deo was also pretty useless. What was the point of pausing time if you are still trapped and going back a few minutes is also useless? They have probably been tied for a while by now. Tommy wished Luke was with them, the dude can make lasers and they would be out of here in two seconds.

The silence was interrupted by the sound of the click of a door making both vigilantes turn as a door opened. A figure walked out of the dimly lit hallway walking into the room, they were shrouded in shadows but Tommy could make out a few things about them. They seemed on the shorter side, a gas mask covered all but the eyes but those too were covered but goggles instead which seemed to have a yellow lens.

They were no heroes, that was for sure. No hero wore gas masks, and no hero worked with smoke bombs. Was this a villain? Some villains are pretty well known, but it's not like Tommy knew all villains. Some stayed to themselves, their crimes quiet and more secret.

“Good you two are awake” Their voice was deep and muffled probably because of the gas mask even a voice changer would be muffed in that thing. “Now you can answer my questions”

Questions? What kind of answers was this dude expecting from them? “Questions? What kind of questions?” Deo asked what they were both thinking. The villain didn’t answer at first walking past the two over to a worn-looking sofa that surprisingly didn’t crumple under them. Like seriously Tommy knew not all villains aren’t rich but this whole place looked like a safety issue.

“Why was Dream after you two?”

That’s it? “He caught us snooping around the bank after it was robbed,” Deo answered.

“Were you the ones that did it?”

“What of course not. We were just patrolling near the area when we heard on the police’s radio station what was going on.”

The villain was silent for a moment. It was like he was trying to see if Deo was lying. After a few seconds passed the let out a sigh “That’s it really? The heroes will go after anyone these days but then again you were at a crime scene after said crime dressed clearly as vigilantes. God this was a waste of a day” He muttered the last part to himself but the two could still hear it.

“Well let's get you out of these things” He got up from the sofa which creaked loudly as he did so. The villain took out a dagger from a back pocket because of course they were armed. Great.

“That’s it? You're just letting us go?” Tommy really wished right in that moment he had his hands untied to hit Deo. Was he seriously questioning the villain for letting them go?

“Yes I have no use for you besides it's not like I'm a villain or anything”

Tommy stopped looking at him all over, sure there was the whole ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ and all that mambo jumbo but seriously. He just looked like a villain right out of some steampunk kind of comic book he would read. “Wait you're not?” he spoke up for probably the first time since the vil-or whatever they were came in.

“No, I'm not” their voice was blunt as if Tommy was just supposed to know this wonderful information. “What gave you that impression?”

“What gave me that impression? Dude have you not seen a mirror before? You look like one also I don’t have some kind of super list of all the villains that have ever existed”

The insult seemed to amuse him as he cut the ropes carefully enough to not cut the two’s skin. “Well I am a vigilante like you two I'm guessing but I work alone” he cut the last of the rope letting them fall to the ground. The moment Tommy was free he got up stretched the other was pretty small like he thought ha if only he could joke to Tubbo that he found someone that is as short as him. “Fine, you're a vigilante can I get something a bit more than that? Like how I am Whirlwind and that is Timer” he gestured over to Deo.

“Swarm”

“Swarm?”

“Yep! My power is that I can control bees, so like a swarm.” He seemed a little too happy about that part. Note to self: Don’t mess with a crazy dude with bees.

“So now that we had all our greetings done and over with, can we go?” Deo spoke up, making the two turns. “Lazer and Blaze are probably worrying about us right now” Oh right the two probably are at Pink Treats thinking we have been kidnapped and going to be on the news with the headline of vigilantes caught. “Yeah let's go uh nice to meet you Swarm even though you did kidnap us…and saved us at the same time” Probably not the best way to meet someone new.

Swarm only nodded “Yeah sure let me just lead the way out” and turned back towards the doorway. Tommy noticed two odd slits on the back of the plain brown jacket Swarm wore but decided to not comment on it.

It was mostly a silent and awkward walk through the abandoned building even once they were back on the streets the two were mostly quiet the whole walk. The moment Tommy opened the back door into the lounge room Niki let the group stay in, he was tackled down by Luke Deo barely missed the tackle. Tommy was less lucky.

“You idiots! We thought you were dead. Why the hell did you not answer your walkie-talkies?!” Oh…well shit Tommy forgot he even had one and from the lack of an answer from Deo, he did as well.

Chapter Text

Even after days, Quackity was still a nervous wreck about the feather. No, he wasn’t worried that Wilbur called the hero agency because they would have come by now; they weren’t the subtle type. It was more of the fact that if Wilbur did know he was a villain, then he could get hurt, or even worse, the heroes could use Wilbur against him. For a reason, he kept people at a distance if things fell apart, no one but him would get hurt.

Yet it's not like he could just go up to Wilbur and just ask “Hey Wil that feather you saw in the trash can where do you think it came from?” because if Wilbur really thought it was something so innocent he wouldn't know if Quackity was one to bring it up. So now here he was in the middle of a lecture about who knows what mentally punching himself for a slip up.

He let out a tired sigh letting his head fall into his palm, checking the time every now and then that he needed to get to the casino soon. It was Friday, the worst day. The day he has to do all the shit paperwork the downside of running a ring of underground casinos but it brought good money at least hell he could probably pay for a large manor in the good part of town but that is too suspicious of a move.

Besides he likes the apartment and Wilbur even if he was an idiot sometimes, he was still his friend and has been for…god how many years has it been? Quackity tried to count but the moment he got passed six he gave up the number made him feel odd. So instead of passing the time he kept his eyes focused on the clock instead of being sure he could technically leave this isn’t high school but he rather not push and squeeze his way past through a row of kids just because he was bored. But the moment the professor called the end of class, Quackity was packing his bag at lightning speed and was one of the first out of the door. He had some work to do before he could go home.

Work wasn’t too bad until he had to sit down and actually had to start doing the paperwork, from bank statements to doing the weekly orders for whatever supplies they would need to be restocked. Sure technically he could just pay someone to do all of this for him but it wasn’t like he was running some small coffee shop in the corner of town. No this was a whole ring of casinos, bars, hell a club or two, one wrong person that is set in a bit too much power could ruin everything. So Quackity put it all on himself like he would ruin his own business that he built from scratch.

At least on nights like these he isn’t technically lying to Wilbur when he says he is working, since he really is just not as a bartender in some fancy restaurant like he told him. Yet he still felt kind of bad, which is odd why did he feel bad lying to Wilbur of all people? Sure the two were roommates now it could be because it was a lot harder to hide, far more lies, more ways he had to sneak around yet he had done this before with roommates in the past, with past partners.

This shouldn’t feel any different. He wants to be honest with at least someone but the last time he did that did not go as planned. God he needs a smoke or something before he heads home but for now he was going to be glued down to his seat with an overflowing desk of papers.

Okay so overflowing may be an overstatement considering all he had to do was look over order slips, double check it and the profit making sure they were all in the positives, and write out all the employee checks. He got it all down in about an hour but that still felt like forever to him, but finally he was outside behind the casino, his mask slightly lifted to smoke. It was bad for him sure hell Wilbur would probably give him a lecture for it but it's not like he cared. He didn’t care what Wilbur thought of him.

“So you're still smoking” a very familiar voice spoke so familiar it made Quackity sick hearing it, he didn’t even have to turn around to know it was Schlatt he could already smell the alcohol. Yet he did turn around. “What are you doing back here? I already told you about your ban coming near any of my establishments.” But Schlatt only scoffed leaning against the wall; his actions were a lot less sluggish, his face less red than he usually was. “Well I'm not in the shit place beside all I want is to talk”

Great talk? The last time they did this rodeo it led to Siren of all people having to break them up. “Uh no not after the last shit show you threw” Another scoff but Schlatt raised both hands up, “You can search me if you want I don’t give a crap but Im not letting you leave without talking”

Now that was new, not only was Schlatt looking sober even if he stunk of the stuff, but he also didn’t go straight to yelling the moment he saw Quackity. Yet should he even bother? He knows what this is about and he could simply walk away and his answer would never change…yet again. Quackity sighed, throwing down his cigarette, stepping it out, and pulling down his mask, letting out a sigh he couldn’t believe he was entertaining.

“This is about Tubbo isn’t it?”

Silence…of course it is. “You know he doesn’t want you around right?” Schlatt looked down, his brows furrowed, clearly upset by the comment. “He hasn’t come home in a week or I think it's been a week at least and I know you know something. So stop playing around with me just say it” Quackity shook his head. “Sorry I can't be sure I can’t stop you from trying but you know I won’t tell you anything but I will say this I don’t really know myself he just comes by every once in a while.”

In truth Quackity rarely saw him, Charlie saw him more probably because Tubbo comes by the casino when Quackity is at home or in late night classes. But then a question came into mind. “Why haven’t you gone to his school? He is still in classes you know”

“You don’t think I thought of that? It didn’t work. It took me weeks to remember what school he even goes to and since I hadn’t gone to any parental things the staff doesn’t know me. Turns out they called Tubbo down and lied that he didn’t even know me. He could have gotten me arrested.”

Quackity had to hold back his laugh, of course, Tubbo would have lied and how does one forget the name of their kid’s high school? There are only like two in the whole city. There are more colleges than high schools here. “Really? They don’t have your number, name, or anything on the parent information. All kids have that just in case they need to be picked up early or something.”

“Yeah they did, turns out the information was updated or something now Tubbo’s “parent” is someone named Alexis. Who the hell is Alexis” …well shit…good thing Quackity gave the school his middle name or else he would probably have another knife at his thought. “Sorry that name isn’t familiar to me but Tubbo is smart. He could have made up a parent for the papers.” Schlatt seemed to think it over while Quackity watched him with a nervous glance if he didn’t have his mask on he would be clearly sweating.

“Hmm you could be right, but still I can’t get near Tubbo, and when school is over he seems to always be with someone or slips away on his own.” He was clearly frustrated that Quackity couldn’t get why he wasn’t getting the fact that Tubbo didn’t want to be near him anymore. “Why do you try? You know he doesn’t like you so why keep trying?”

That seemed to make Schlatt confused. “Wel,l I’m getting better now duh so I want to be there to play baseball with him or something” Quackity let out another sigh leaning against the rough brick wall. “Considering you tried to slit my throat only a month or so ago says otherwise, you stink of alcohol and barely make enough to cover your housing”

“You don’t think I don’t know that?” Schlatt snapped back. “I get it I'm the bad guy to you but I'm better, aren’t I? So I need my kid back” Quackity shook his head “But why? Why do you really want Tubbo? You clearly don’t sound like you want him back because you love him.” Once more Schlatt seemed hesitant thinking on his words.

“Because…Because I just need him okay why do I need to tell you?” Defensive it isn’t good to be defensive, but why would he? What reason could it be for him to want Tubbo back? Could it be because he needs someone to bring in money? Schlatt wasn’t recovering well since he was kicked out of office so it could be like a crutch of some kind? “Fine be that way but remember I am not helping you for shit we barely even dated and you being my ex does not help you”

“Fine whatever I just thought you would be useful for once but clearly you won’t be I will get to him another way” ‘Get to him’, for some reason that comment made a small pit in Quackity’s stomach but he pushed it to the side after all the kid was safe where he is where that may be. He didn’t take off the ex-mayor until he was out of sight, only then did he let out a sigh. Maybe he needs a drink this time.