Chapter Text
Skeppy stood with his back pressed to the side of the building, staring down at the dark city streets below. How did I get myself into this situation again? He thought to himself. He stared up at the man who kept him stuck on this ledge, the eye-holes of his mask making it difficult to see his entire surroundings. “Look, man, I don’t have time for this tonight!”
“What’s the occasion?” The villain sneered. “You’re never busy.”
Skeppy didn’t dare disclose his personal information to the Crimson Demon, in fear that his day-to-day life would be impacted by him if his identity was found out. “I have plans in the morning, let me go!”
“Oh, but my diamond frenemy, wouldn’t you like to hear my latest evil scheme?” The man asked, his white eyes sparkling in the moonlight.
“Right, yeah, sure,” Skeppy said, glancing cautiously around to make sure there were no traps that could knock him off and send him plummeting to the street below.
The Crimson Demon seemed pleased by his response and began rambling. “Well, you see, I have a brilliant new, evil plan! I’m going to take banana peels and scatter them around the city, ensuring many people slip and fall! Aren’t I just so evil, Diamond?” Crimson asked, smiling excitedly.
Skeppy knew for a fact that Crimson wasn’t joking, and that was what made this job worth doing. He fought against ‘The World’s Evilest Super Villain,’ who just happened to be The Crimson Demon, a super villain who was very bad at his job. Skeppy feigned a surprised gasp. “You can’t do that! What if a small child slips on one and drops their ice cream cone?”
Crimson’s laughing stopped as he seemed to consider this scenario. “Gosh darn it, Diamond, you’re right! I could never let a child spend their money on ice cream only to drop it! That would make them incredibly sad!” Crimson pouted, his cape flaring in a sudden gust of wind. “Oh my goodness, now I have to go come up with another evil plan. Until next time, Masked Diamond,” he said, and with the wave of his arm, he disappeared into a cloud of black smoke.
Skeppy took another, closer, look at the ledge he was trapped on. There was a ladder not too far from where he was standing, so he made his way toward it. He had to hurry because he didn’t dare let anyone see him when the sun was up, and the faint glow on the horizon told him he was pushing it. He got to the ladder and slid down, finding his way down to the alleyways of the city. Once he was certain he hadn’t been spotted, he pried off his helmet and raked his hand through his hair. The helmet he wore was small and boxy, with a small face drawn on the front where his eyes and mouth were. It wasn’t a mask, so much as it was just a box, but he called himself The Masked Diamond anyway.
He grabbed his backpack, which had been stowed away in a bush, and quickly folded his cape and tossed his costume into the front pocket. He put on a hoodie and some basketball shorts before zipping up his bag and running off down the street towards his apartment. It wouldn’t be his apartment for much longer, though. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, carefully stepping over the boxes and stacks of his belongings that littered the hall and living room.
Skeppy had recently been fired from his job at a library because he kept falling asleep. “It’s not my fault the library is so quiet it puts me to sleep,” he muttered, though he knew it was, indeed, his fault. He wasn’t exactly a famous superhero. Most people didn’t have a clue who he was, and he spent his nights being pushed into dangerous situations by Crimson. It was a choice, but he didn’t regret spending his nights messing around and humoring his frenemy’s evil plans. Although, being a superhero didn’t pay the bills, and so, for the time being, he was moving into a new apartment with a roommate to help him financially until he found a new job.
He hadn’t spoken to his new roommate yet, but he was moving in today, so he figured he’d just have to get to know them and hope they didn’t notice him sneaking out in the night to fight crime. He sighed and stifled a yawn as he tossed his bag down on the couch and returned to packing his clothes. There wasn’t much left to pack and he figured it wouldn’t be too difficult moving his boxes to the new apartment. It was, after all, just a block from his own. He packed the rest of his superhero things into a box and taped it shut. This was the one thing he couldn’t let his new roommate see. He stuck a label on it that said fragile.
Skeppy figured he could get a blink of sleep before having to leave, so he laid down on the couch and stared at the window to his left, which had a warm glow coming from it, alerting him of the dawn that was upon him. He glanced at the clock, which read 6:43. He figured as long as he was up by 10, everything would be fine. Maybe he’d even get a chance to sleep tonight.
…
By the time he blinked open his eyes, the room was brightly lit by the daylight outside. The clock said 11:19. “Crap, I overslept,” Skeppy sighed, blinking the sleep from his eyes. He grabbed his phone from the table beside the couch. It showed several texts from a contact he had labeled “Roommate.”
Roommate (8:27am):
Hey, let me know if you need any help moving today.
Roommate (9:12am):
I have work today from 10 till 3 but I’m available anytime after that to help :D
Roommate (9:49am):
I assume you’re sleeping
I left the spare key under the plant pot outside the front door
I can’t respond to texts while I’m at work but I’ll talk to you later
Skeppy sighed, not sure how to respond. At least his new roommate sounded friendly. He sent back a simple text before tossing his phone in his pocket. Maybe it would be best to move some things before his roommate got home. He opened the fridge in the small kitchen and remembered that he didn’t have much left. Skeppy grabbed one of the last water bottles from the fridge and gulped it down. He’d have to just eat later.
Skeppy looked around for any way to make moving these boxes easier since he didn’t have a car or moving van or anything. A memory popped into his head from when he moved into this apartment a few months ago. He had been pulling his boxes in a wagon. “Where did I get the wagon?” He asked himself, trying to remember. Skeppy stepped outside and took a look inside the small, detached storage outside. He had hardly used it and almost forgot it was there. “Here it is,” he said, grabbing the wagon. It was the only thing in there.
He stacked a couple of the boxes into the wagon, and, by some miracle, he was able to pull 6 without it toppling. Skeppy carefully set the full wagon onto the sidewalk and shut the front door of the apartment. He took off walking towards the new place he’d be staying. The wagon was kind of heavy, but nothing Skeppy couldn’t handle, and nobody stood in his way as he pulled it along down the street.
The front door of the apartment was dark brown and the number 14 was nailed to the wall in golden numbers. This was it, apartment number 14, his new home. He took a peek under the potted plant his roommate had mentioned and grabbed the spare key. The door unlocked and the inside was nicely furnished with a black leather sofa, gray laminate floors, and a soft rug in the middle of the room. The neutral tones felt homely with shades of gray and brown.
He dragged the wagon up towards the door as close as he could and quickly brought the boxes inside. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with the wagon, so he set it to the side of the door and left it outside. Skeppy took a few steps into the apartment, shutting the door behind him. There were a few pictures on the walls and some bookshelves full of books. Skeppy assumed this apartment wasn’t a rental based on how many holes must’ve been drilled in the walls.
Skeppy had never bothered to decorate his apartments. Most of the time, he wasn’t even home. He spent his days at work and his nights in the city, barely even stopping by for anything other than to sleep, and even that was rare. Skeppy picked up one of his boxes and walked toward the other end of the room. In front of him was a nice kitchen and to his left was a hallway that led to the bedrooms. He walked down the hall and saw three doors. One was closed, the other two were open. The one on the right side of the hall, more towards the back of the apartment was closed, the one directly in front of him was a bathroom, and the one on the left was open and empty aside from a full size mattress on a bed frame.
He assumed that was his room. It had a window that looked out to the street with some white curtains on either side of it. There was a small closet with a sliding mirror door. Skeppy quickly stashed his hero box in the closet and shut the door before going to get more of his boxes.
By the time his roommate had gotten off of work, Skeppy had already moved all but a few more boxes from his old apartment. He was on his last trip back to the new apartment, wagon in tow, when he saw his new roommate open the front door of the apartment. He picked up the pace and made it to the door before it could be shut. “Hi-” he said exasperatedly.
“Oh, hi! You must be Skeppy! My name’s Bad, nice to meet you!” Bad smiled at him and stuck out his hand.
“Yeah, nice to meet you too,” Skeppy said, shaking Bad’s hand as he caught his breath. He couldn’t help but feel Bad’s voice sounded familiar, but he shrugged it off.
“Here, let me help you,” Bad offered, reaching down to pick up a box from the wagon. “Sorry I wasn’t here to help earlier, I work weird hours sometimes.”
“That’s alright, I didn’t have much stuff at my old apartment anyway,” Skeppy said, carrying a box in each arm.
“Is this all the rest of your stuff, or is there more back at your old place?” Bad asked as they walked into the living room.
“This is the last of it. This is my room, on the left, yeah?”
“Yep! I left it empty aside from the bed because I wasn’t sure how you’d like it decorated. If you want to decorate it in any way, let me know and I can help.” Bad sure seemed friendly. Skeppy hoped he wasn’t the super nosy and open type.
“Great, thanks,” Skeppy said. “I’ll just unpack my boxes and we can talk about rent and stuff.”
“Right! Well, I own this apartment so rent isn't super expensive. We could just split the cost of utilities if you want, I think it would benefit us both!”
Skeppy thought about it for a moment. Only having to pay for half the utilities would be nice. “Yeah, that sounds good!” He said, opening the box containing his bedding. He continued to unpack his boxes, and by the time he was finished, the apartment smelled of food. Skeppy walked out to the kitchen to see Bad cooking at the stove.
“Hey Skeppy, I wasn’t sure if you liked or disliked anything specific for dinner, so I’m just making some burgers. Would you like one?” Skeppy wasn’t used to people being so nice, especially not here in the big city.
“Yeah, that would be great, thanks Bad.” Skeppy couldn’t help but feel that Bad reminded him of someone. He sat down at the small table with only two chairs. A few minutes later, Bad presented him with a plate that had a very delicious looking burger.
Bad sat down across from him at the table. “I don’t usually have time to make dinner and just get food from somewhere around here, but I figured a nice meal would be a nice welcome,” he smiled.
Skeppy took a bite and thanked Bad. “Yeah, it’s really good.”
They ate for a few minutes before Bad spoke again. “You know how I told you I work weird hours?”
“Yeah?”
“I work at a cafe during the day but I also work a night shift, so if you ever wake up and I’m not around, don’t worry, okay?”
“Oh,” Skeppy laughed a little. “That’s funny, I work a night shift too.”
“Oh that’s cool, didn’t you say you were looking for work though?” Bad asked.
“Yeah, my night job doesn’t pay very well and you know how it is in a big city like this.”
“That is true,” Bad said, taking a bite of his burger. “Y’know, I think the cafe I work at is hiring. I could talk to my boss, she’s super nice and offers flexible hours for employees.”
Skeppy considered this. He definitely did need a job, and flexible hours would provide him with enough spare time to sleep. It seemed like a win to him. “That sounds great, thanks Bad!”
Bad smiled and finished up the rest of his burger. “Looks like the sun’s setting. I guess I better get going.”
“Alright, have a good night!” Skeppy said, realizing he needed to head out too. He continued to eat his burger as Bad walked through the living room towards the front door, a black bag slung over his shoulder. He waited for Bad to leave and then cleaned up the dishes. Tiredness tugged at him, but he could sleep tomorrow. He took a look into the fridge and found an energy drink. Skeppy hoped Bad wouldn’t mind, and drank it quickly. He waited a few extra minutes to ensure that he could get outside without anyone spotting him.
Skeppy slid open the closet in his room and opened the box he had put in there. Inside were two matching outfits. Two sky-blue capes and two of his signature helmets. The helmets worked almost like a one-way mirror glass on the front. He could put them on and see through it, but nobody could see his face on the other side. There were still eye-holes on it because most of the time, wearing the helmet was like wearing sunglasses at night and made everything difficult to see.
He stuck the costume back into his backpack and headed out. Usually, big cities like this had nightlife and were awake all day and all night, but not this one. The streets clear after the sun sets each day, leaving only the occasional pedestrian or car, making it dark and quiet. Skeppy walked for a few blocks before he took off at a jogging pace towards the alleyway that hid his belongings each night. He slowed down about a block before the turn and walked the rest of the way to not draw suspicion.
He changed into his costume and put on the helmet, ditching his bag in the bush before hopping up onto a ledge on the side of the building. Climbing was easy, especially on this building, which he had come to memorize like the back of his hand. He leapt up it with ease and stopped to stand on the balcony that he knew led him into a “secret lair.” It was really just the empty floor of an office building that Crimson had settled into, but Skeppy continued to humor him.
Skeppy slid the door open carefully and quietly stepped inside. The floor was mainly empty aside from a big desk at the far end by a window. Beside the desk was a small dog bed and behind the desk was a huge leather chair. Skeppy tried to be as quiet as possible, but as per usual, the chair turned slowly around to reveal a man with charcoal colored skin, a black hood, glowing white eyes, two small horns protruding from his head, and a long, black coat that flowed like a cape, accented with dark red strips of fabric.
“I’ve been expecting you,” he said menacingly, petting the small, white dog that sat on his lap. It was quickly followed by a sharp shout, “Diamond! You’re late! Do you know how many times I sat here turning around and saying that whenever I heard something? You should’ve been here an hour ago! Why are you late?” He pouted.
Skeppy stifled a laugh, “Well, Crimson, I did say I had plans today.” The helmet muffled his voice slightly, so he stepped forward.
“Yeah, yeah, plans. I had plans today too and I made it here on time!” Crimson said angrily.
“Wouldn’t it benefit your evil plans if I took a night off?” Skeppy asked, almost wishing he could take a night off.
“If you want a night off, I’d want a night off too. You’d have to call and tell me first!” Crimson continued to pout. “I like getting a good night’s rest too.”
“I don’t have your phone number,” Skeppy pointed out.
“Of course you don’t.”
“Why don’t you take a night off,” Skeppy suggested.
“I’m a supervillain! We don’t take nights off! It’s my job to be evil you muffinhead, I’m going to be evil!” Crimson grumbled.
“Right, evil, yeah, so what are your latest evil plans then, hmm?” Skeppy asked, taking a few more steps towards Crimson.
The frown immediately disappeared from Crimson’s face. “Of course! My latest evil plan…” He set the small dog onto the floor and stood up. Skeppy sighed contently as Crimson filled him in on the details of his next chaos causing plan.