Chapter Text
Parrot POV :
Sunday, 10 am
Minute closed Unstable Café for the next few days
Parrot didn't question it
If anything, he appreciated the unexpected break
Besides...
He knew more about his boss than Minute probably realized
Or rather—
He knew Minute was actually monarch, the infamous vigilante who guarded the End Dimension
Parrot had figured it out months ago
He always noticed things other people overlooked
Little habits
Tiny details
The way monarch instinctively ruffled Mystic's hair whenever the purple-haired villain complained
The way Exploit unconsciously leaned toward him whenever they walked together
Those habits never disappeared once they changed back into their civilian identities
Minute still absentmindedly patted Wemmbu and Spoke on the head whenever they looked exhausted
It was exactly the same gesture
Minute also sometimes ruffled parrot hair, he thought the gestures were nice
Parrot hadn't needed any more proof after that
"He's either a vigilante or a villain..." he'd thought at first
Spoke and wemmbu also mentioned how cool monarch is.. and they sometimes slip minutes name when they are talking about monarch
And.. They wasn't being to secretive about it either.. They just throw the name monarch and minute at the same sentence in their note
Finding out he was monarch hadn't even surprised him
"maybe I should teach them how to be more secretive " parrot thought
With the café closed...
And it being the weekend...
Parrot had absolutely nothing to do
He considered visiting the hospital to practice bandaging techniques.
"...Maybe next time."
Instead, he stayed home
Medicine textbooks slowly gave way to notebooks filled with observations
Within an hour...
His desk was completely buried beneath papers
==============================
Hero and villain current Analysis :
~Starlight
Current Status: Inactive for several weeks.
-Possible Reasons:
*Severe injuries.
*Underground mission.
*Intentional disappearance.
*Protecting an unknown target.
~Inferno
*Fighting style becomes more aggressive.
*Increased use of wide-area attacks.
*Seems tired recently
~Mystic
*Strategy execution improved
~Emperor
*Growth are growing fast and climbing the hero rank rapidly
===============================
"Looks like mystic really did followed my revised plan..."
Parrot paused.
"...Then why did he still end up unconscious?"
His pencil stopped moving
Something wasn't adding up
His phone suddenly vibrated
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Spoke
:Hey Parrot! We're hanging out at Planet's house! Wanna come?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Parrot smiled despite himself
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Parrot
:Sure. I'll be there in five
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
He quickly cleaned his pile of analysis of his desk before leaving
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Calling Planet's home a "house" felt like a crime.
It was practically a mansion
Planet's parents were ridiculously wealthy
His dad was one of the city's most respected heroes
His father was an internationally famous architect
Unfortunately...
Both were almost always busy
To make up for it, they'd given Planet, their one and only son one simple rule
##############################
"Invite your friends over whenever you want but make sure to clean the house back."
##############################
When the familiar mansion came into view, parrot didn't hesitate to step inside.
The guards at the front gate recognized him immediately
One even greeted him with a nod.
"...I really do come here too often." Parrot thought
The sound of laughter echoed through the mansion
Parrot followed it until he found the game room
One even greeted him with a nod.
"...I really do come here too often." Parrot thought
---------------------------------------------------------------
The sound of laughter echoed through the mansion
Parrot followed it until he found the game room
Spoke was somehow hanging upside down from the ceiling
Planet and Mapicc sat comfortably on a sofa
Planet was an alicorn hybrid, a rare mix of a pegasus and a unicorn. His wings tucked at his back while his horn sit on top of his head. His long white hair flowed past his shoulders, contrasting with his gentle light-purple eyes. He wore a light-purple hoodie with a matching bandana, making him look calm and approachable
His parents gave an item to planet to hide his alicorn feature whenever he wanted to go out, they said it's for his safety
Planet trust his parents so he only show his alicorn feature to those he deemed close
Next to him sat Mapicc, an ordinary human with messy black hair and striking dark-red eyes. His dark-red hoodie and matching bandana mirrored his eye color, giving him a surprisingly intimidating appearance despite his relaxed personality
Then there was Spoke
Unlike the other two, the voidling was impossible to miss. His rainbow accessories clashed spectacularly with everything he wore, yet somehow it suited him.
If there was one thing people knew about Spoke, Planet, and Mapicc, it was that the three of them were practically inseparable.
They had even commissioned matching hoodies and bandanas as proof of their friendship, proudly wearing them wherever they went
The trio had become so well-known together that seeing one without the other two felt... wrong.
The moment Spoke noticed him—
"PARROT!"
He immediately teleported beside him
"...Hi."
Planet laughed.
"Come on in."
Mapicc slid over, making room.
"You're just in time."
-------------------------------------------------------------
UNO
The world's greatest friendship destroyer
The game had barely started before chaos erupted
Spoke shamelessly leaned over to peek at Planet's cards
"...Seriously?"
Planet sighed
A glowing portal appeared above Spoke
Before anyone could react—
Whoosh!
Spoke vanished
"...AAAAAH—"
He fell from the ceiling moments later before he quickly made a hand gesture of typing
Gravity abruptly slowed around him
He landed gracefully.
"...Worth it."
"No, it wasn't," Planet deadpanned
Parrot laughed so hard he nearly dropped his cards
Right parrot never mention about their power
Everyone in the room possessed unique powers
Planet could create portals between locations he knew well
The more familiar he was with a place, the easier it became, since he needed to imagine the terrain for him to open a portal
He can't teleport to places he hadn't been nor a place that doesn't exist
Spoke's ability was even stranger
He mentioned he can summoned an invisible keyboard and literally typed commands into reality
Simple commands barely affected him
Powerful ones...
Could leave him temporary paralyzed
One forbidden command—
/kill
was so dangerous he'd likely never recover if he used it
Mapicc's ability was much simpler
Anything he touched...
Burned
To avoid accidentally setting the world on fire, he always wore specially-made gloves
Overusing his flames exhausted him quickly
Parrot, meanwhile...
Kept his own power as vague as possible, "macaw avian" he always says to people who ask about his power
Hours disappeared in laughter
Arguments over UNO
Cheating accusations aimed at Spoke and mapicc
Parrot somehow winning despite playing terribly
Planet threatening to ban everyone from his house
It was...
Fun
Parrot cherished moments like these
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday,11:00 PM
Parrot stood up.
"I should head home."
"You could stay the night," Planet offered
Spoke immediately nodded.
"Yeah!"
Parrot smiled apologetically.
"Maybe next time."
After several minutes of convincing...
The trio finally let him leave
The streets were quiet
Almost too quiet
Parrot's instincts suddenly screamed
Someone was watching him
Before he could react—
Cold steel pressed against his throat
A knife
Parrot instinctly flinch, startled by the sudden contact
"...."
A knife
Behind him stood a low-ranking villain
Someone Parrot hadn't bothered remembering
Across the street—
Three heroes
Ares
Artemis
And Cartbomb
The three heroes standing before him weren't ordinary members of the Hero Association.
Ares was one of the Association's underground operatives. His missions were almost always classified, earning him a reputation as one of the Association's silent spies. A white mask bearing the LW symbol concealed most of his face, while his black combat suit was traced with glowing yellow lines that stood out even in the darkness
Beside him stood Artemis
Like Ares, she operated in the shadows. Rather than engaging enemies head-on, Artemis specialized in gathering intelligence, commanding an invisible network of spies spread throughout the city. A sleek black mask covered the lower half of her face, and her black tactical suit was accented with vivid magenta lines
The last hero was Cartbomb
Unlike the other two, Cartbomb usually preferred working alone, only teaming up with Ares when missions required overwhelming firepower. His bright blond hair contrasted sharply with his simple black jacket and a mask that hide his lower face
making him look more like an ordinary civilian than a professional hero
Parrot blinked.
"…He kind of reminds me of Theo."
The thought made him chuckle internally.
"If Theo ever became a hero, he'd probably dress exactly like that."
The famous Cart Duo stood frozen while
Artemis dismissed her spy behind her
Cartbomb can be seen putting his bomb away
"huh? That's weird.. Cartbomb loves his bombs so much that he never put them away before even when a hostage life is in the line.." parrot thought
Cartbomb specialized in heavy combat
But ares and Artemis are the underground hero while Cartbomb work as both the underground and at the spotlight hero
Cart duo, is the duo name given by the public to ares and cartbomb as they are always in a team
Together...
They rarely lost
Yet now...
None of them moved
Because a civilian had been taken hostage
Parrot sighed internally.
"If they weren't here..."
He could've disarmed the villain himself
Years of secretly learning self-defense would've made short work of it
Unfortunately...
Officially in his civilian document...
Parrot had never learned martial arts
So he had to stay perfectly in character
He looked directly at the heroes.
"Don't worry about me."
The three heroes blinked
"If you hesitate..."
"...the villain will escape."
Silence
Then—
Ares nodded
"Artemis!"
She vanished
A blur
CRACK!
Her kick slammed into the villain's wrist, sending the knife flying
Before the villain recovered—
BOOM!
BOOM!
Twin explosions erupted beside him
Cartbomb attacked in prevision
While ares give command in the back to give cartbomb and Artemis perfect synchronizing
Within seconds...
The criminal lay unconscious
Artemis quickly restrained him
"...Clear."
Only then did the three heroes finally turn toward Parrot
...
Their expressions immediately changed
"Wait..."
The once-vibrant feathers were blackened along the edges, thin wisps of smoke still curling into the air
Cartbomb's expression immediately changed
"The sparks..." Parrot muttered, glancing over his shoulder
"Guess my feathers caught fire."
His voice remained surprisingly calm
Ares wasn't.
"Cartbomb."
His tone was sharp.
"Take him to Hyperion .Now."
Parrot's eyes widened.
"W-Wait, there's really no need for that!"
"I can just visit the hospital . "
(The hospitals are already close my boy parrot ( ･ั﹏･ั))
Neither hero responded
Before Parrot could protest again—
A strong arm slipped beneath his knees while another supported his back
Parrot's entire body jerked
His wings instinctively snapped halfway open
His shoulders stiffened so suddenly that Cartbomb almost thought he'd hurt him
For the briefest moment...
Fear flashed across Parrot's face.
"..."
Then it disappeared just as quickly
He forced himself to relax, letting out a slow breath
"It's... fine."
"I'm okay." Parrot reminded himself
Cartbomb frowned
He had expected embarrassment
Instead...
For a split second...
Parrot had looked...
Terrified
"Sorry," Cartbomb said quietly
"I should've warned you first."
Parrot blinked.
"...It's okay."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Thanks for helping."
Cartbomb wasn't completely convinced...
But there wasn't time to question it
With one powerful flap of his wings—
They shot into the night sky
Calm down
It's just Cartbomb
You're safe.
"..."
Parrot stared at the city lights below, desperately trying to ignore how close he was to a complete stranger
"..."
Why am I shaking?
He quietly curled his fingers into his sleeves until the trembling stopped
By the time parrot realizes what situation he's in...
He glanced down toward..
People below were staring
Children pointed
Adults whispered
Parrot turn red immediately
"This is so embarrassing..." He mumbled
Parrot tried to to ignore it at first but then it gets overwhelming
Parrot made a decision.
"Nope."
He immediately went limp
Pretending to faint
"...!"
Cartbomb's eyes Widened
He accelerated
Flying even faster toward Hero Tower
The moment Cartbomb landed outside the Hero Association headquarters...
Cartbomb ignored every confused stare around him
There was only one priority
Getting the injured civilian medical attention
What cartbomb didn't notice...
Was a figure watching from a nearby balcony
Inferno
Inferno's golden and red eyes narrowed beneath his blindfold
Locked completely...
On the unconscious bird in Cartbomb's arms.