Chapter Text
The Esempii was made of several small cities and villages that were all connected to make a country. These towns will be referred to as districts.
District 20 is known as the ‘gambling district’ due to the many casinos that were run there. It is also well known for Las Nevadas, which was one of the most popular casinos there. Though it was shut down for illegal activity.
Then there’s Snow Chester, which is three districts that got the most snow during winter. The resorts really peaked during that time.
Pogtopia was once a base used by villains who wanted to kill the government and anyone that would try to stop them. It was destroyed long ago, and the villains were thrown into Pandora’s Vault, the most secure prison in L’Manberg.
Logstedshire was the most poor by far, which had the least paying jobs and no heroes. While this made it easier to rob people, there wasn’t much to rob. At least until vigilantes showed up and gave them money, along with food and water.
Vigilantes were great like that. Heroes were nice too, but they had rules from the government holding them back, while vigilante didn’t. Yes, it sounded dangerous, but vigilantes were pretty chill.
Fundy himself was one, given the name foxtrot by some people.
He lived in Drywaters, which was one of the warmest places in the country. Not an ideal place for a fox hybrid, but then again, he wasn’t technically one.
A shapeshifter with as much power as him could could become basically anything they wanted.
Well, almost anything. He still couldn’t become any type of inanimate object. It would’ve pretty helpful whenever he needed to hide from certain heroes.
Like right now, he was currently running with Speedrunner right at his heels.
The bad part about this is the fact that Speedrunner was called that for a reason, and that reason was because he was the fastest hero L’Manberg had.
Well, the fastest hero in L’Manberg, which is a completely different district.
Right, let’s go back to what happened earlier.
Fundy, who was currently going by Foxtrot at the moment, was doing his usual patrols. He sat atop a building and watched silently, then jumped down when some guy was being robbed. He apprehended them while the other guy ran off to call the police, shouting a ‘thank you’ and as the mugger sat by the wall groaning and clutching his head, Fundy turned around gracefully to immediately see Speedrunner. They locked eyes for a moment, before Fundy broke out in a sprint while the hero was still, kicking the him in the shins and maybe turning around to kick him again for good measures.
He was not about to get caught like this, thank you very much.
If he and the hero were going to go on a chase, then Fundy at least wanted a head start.
Unfortunately, no matter how swift he was, not even he could outrun the hero. It was his power, after all.
Back to the present where Fundy could feel a hand suddenly being placed on his shoulder. He freaked out, thinking of ways to avoid being caught. If he were now, then his family would find out what he’s really been doing these past few months. Facing the disappointment was not something he was looking forward to.
He turned around, looking at the white porcelain smiley face before the scene suddenly changed.
Because he had turned around a little too quickly, he lost his footing. Thankfully someone stabilized him, and that someone was Time. They looked at each other for a moment before Fundy nodded as a thank you. Time smiled, bringing a finger to his lips and leading him away.
Fundy allowed him to take the lead, he trusted him.
Time, just as his name applied, was able to control time. He originally had no name to go by, but whenever someone needed his help, they would shout ‘time’, which became his new code name.
If Time showed up to save him, and was leading down a specific route while telling him to be silent, then that means someone else was there. Speedrunner didn’t go alone, after all.
“Where the fuck are they?” A distant voice asked.
Fireborn.
“Be quiet.”
And Error404.
Fantastic, the Dream Team were patrolling his district.
Certain vigilantes stuck to certain districts, usually their home in fear of what may happen if they left while some often moved around, never staying in one place.
Thanks to the system, they knew who guarded what, and Drywaters was Fundy’s territory. Some vigilantes came by here and there, which was appreciated, but these were heroes.
Heroes only came by a few times a month, so seeing L’Manberg’s top hero team here and being hunted down like a wild animal was absolutely terrible.
Time eventually stopped when they reached Fundy’s house, which was a bit sudden. One look at Time and he immediately knew that he sped up the process.
He handed Fundy a note, and walked away. He watched as the man in the colourful jacket disappeared into the shadows of the night. Now that he was on his own, Fundy walked inside his house and locked the door.
His took off his gauntlets (which were pretty heavy) and took off his cloak, folding it neatly. Then he took off his boots and carried them to his room, where Boots was sleeping.
Was it really a good idea to get a cat when you were only working as a library assistant with a not-so-good income? Probably not, but it was nice having the company.
Quietly, he lifted one side of the floor board, revealing a hidden compartment. It was by an orange beanbag, and blended in well with the wood surrounding it.
After closing the blinds and double checking to make sure everything was locked, he allowed himself to go to sleep.
Boots loudly meowed at him to get up, which was effective. Fundy groaned, but sat up anyway. He glanced at the clock which read ‘6:09’.
Usually he would go to work at 7, which Boots somehow picked up on, and now woke up him up before that. She was creepily smart that way.
The government said it was impossible for animals to have abilities, but Boots’s intelligence proves otherwise. Oh, and Enderpearl’s teleporting ability.
It was probably because the government wanted to figure it out themselves before alerting the public.
Fundy walked down the hallway and to the bathroom, taking a shower and brushing his teeth. Having that constant need to take care of his hygiene while also only getting 5 or six hours of sleep most nights was annoying and probably not so good depending on how you looked at it.
On one hand, he won’t look like a complete disaster when going out during the day, so he can keep his shape shifting to a minimum. Though the eye bags were quite annoying. On the other hand, he’s doing too much and not getting enough breaks.
But he was fine! It wasn’t like he patrolled every night anyway.
Throwing on his jacket, he remembered the note Time gave him the other night. Boots nudged his leg. He looked down to see the same note in her mouth.
Ok, that was weird, but convenient.
He took the paper and read it.
Heroes have been ordered to patrol every district five days a week. The heroes that have been selected are the Dream Team, Phantom, Captain Puffy, and possibly others. Fireborn wouldn’t tell me everything, so that’s all I got.
Apparently there have been sightings of possible villains, and they are worried it’ll be some type of issue in the future. These new patrols may go one for weeks, so be careful.
Fundy read the list of dates Karl wrote down. Most were for certain vigilantes who patrolled certain districts, but not all were stated. Probably because if Karl prodded a bit too much, Sapnap might get suspicious.
One of them caught his eye.
Drywaters is safe during the weekends, but only for a few hours in the day and maybe past midnight.
Fuck sakes, that’s when Fundy gets his well deserved sleep. He usually had to change his schedule frequently when criminals became too aware, but still.
Though Fundy couldn’t see them, he had a feeling his fellow vigilantes were also pissed off.
Somewhere in district 27, 2 members of the Bench Trio were ranting about how weird and annoying this was while the tallest one listened and agreed. In the districts on the outskirts of the country, one adopted brother ranted to the older about the note, the older nodding and voicing his own opinions.
“You brought your cat again?” His coworker asked, smiling tiredly.
Fundy turned around to see Boots, looking to the side to avoid eye contact. It looked like she was smiling, the little pesky thing.
He turned back to face his coworker who had an amused expression. “I swear, this was unintentional.”
“Sure it was, just make sure she doesn’t make a mess.”
“Alright.” Fundy nodded.
Boots did as she was told, not causing trouble and walking around, sitting on the cushions. She even allowed some kids to pet her.
While putting some books away, he just barely heard the door open.
No matter what he was, his hearing would still be sharp, something that came in handy. But he didn’t hear anything, so he figured it wasn’t a robbery considering how loud those idiots were. What would they even gain anyway-
Boots meowed from somewhere beside him, so he looked down and noticed she was looking to her right. He followed her gaze, and almost groaned when he saw who it was.
“Hello, Fundy!”
“Hey, Wil.”
Wilbur Soot, also known as Phantom Siren, the top 6 hero in L’Manberg. Whether or not he could keep that title against the whole country was debatable.
Oh, and he was also Fundy’s older brother. Adopted, of course.
“What do you want this time.” Maybe he could have said it in a more pleasant tone, but he really wasn’t in the mood to hear Wilbur’s attempt to convince him to join the hero’s line of work.
“Do I have to want something other than your company to speak with you?” Wilbur asked, smiling playfully.
“No, but you do usually come here to ask whether or not I want to become a hero, to which I respond with, no.” Fundy gave him a pointed look before placing another book on the shelf.
Wilbur’s lips pursed, before he replied. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
Boots watched the tension leave, and walked away once she made sure Fundy wouldn’t cuss him out. What a great friend.
“You know, I’ve decided to patrol this area tonight.”
Fuck, out of all the heroes to do so. It had to be the one who could be invisible.
“Yeah?” He says instead.
“Yeah, I’m trying to find the vigilante. Foxtrot, was it?”
“I mean, I live here, so yeah. His name is Foxtrot alright.” Why would Wilbur want to suddenly find him?
“He’s a male?” Wilbur asked, looking at him curiously.
Fuck, Fundy didn’t mean to do that. He was supposed to be gender neutral.
“Well, I assumed he was. And if not, then oh well.” He brushed off, pretending to be a lot more carefree than he actually was.
It wasn’t like Wilbur could force the information out of him anyway, his power didn’t extend that far.
With the way this world worked, there were hybrids and magical abilities. Sometimes people could get both, which was the case with Wilbur.
He could become invisible like a ghost, and command people to do things using his voice. But, like most powers, it had drawbacks. His throat became sore after using it too much, and he could only control someone’s actions if he focused enough.
With enough practice, someone could break out of that control. And, well, you could say Fundy had that practice.
“Since you live here, mind telling me about this vigilante?”
“Sure, I guess.” Fundy shrugged, placing the last book on the shelf and walking to the beanbags, Wilbur following.
Boots was already there, sitting down on a purple cushion and looking at them, as if she were waiting.
They ignored her and sat down on some beanbags, getting comfortable.
Now, where to start?
“So, Foxtrot goes on their patrols usually in the night.” He ignored Wilbur’s small “yes”, then realized he might have to change his schedule in order to avoid finding him.
“Sometimes they take nights off, probably to take a break from everything, but another vigilante usually takes his or her place.”
“Do you know which vigilante this is?”
“No, they usually change.” Fundy rolled his eyes. “Not all vigilantes stay in one place, you know.”
“I know, but do these vigilantes have names?”
Fundy hummed, thinking. “The Bench Trio came here once, I think. Probably a few months ago-”
A ringtone could be heard, and Wilbur quickly reached into his pocket to get his phone. He looked at it, whispered a quiet “shit” and looked up, apologetic.
“I have to go, sorry.”
Fundy waved it off. “No no, it’s fine. That’s all you need to know anyway.”
Not a complete lie, since that’s all the public knows, but there is more he could have told him. Like how Foxtrot wouldn’t be patrolling tonight.