Chapter Text
Everyone knows the story of the hero and the civilian. A damsel in distress is stolen away by the wicked villian, all seems lost, but the brave hero intervenes. They defeat the villian and save the damsel, carrying them in their arms as they run away into the sunset, to their happy ending.
But that isnt how this story goes.
This story starts with a robbery.
Televisions in stores and homes all across Hermitcraft are all turned to Sahara News, people stopping what they were doing to tune in.
The screen was focused on the anchorman, a brunette with a green cyber eye, blabbering in a panic. "I'm just getting news in- It seems that someone has broken in and lit fire to Skeppy's Jeweler's! And- Oh! We have someone on the scene!" The anchorman signals his hands and the camera changes. Now the screen focused on a man in front of a wrecked building.
The mans hair was a messy sandy blond, moving wildly in the breeze. His glasses are crooked on top of his dull blue eyes. He gripped his microphone like it would fly away.
"Thank you, Iskall," He thanked the anchor as the camera shifted to his POV, slightly out of breath. "Good evening, people of Hermitcraft. My name is Grian Dreamslayer and right now I am on front of the scene of a newly developed crime!" He greeted, trying his best to keep his voice level.
This is a bit of an overwhelming start, isnt it? Let's backtrack a little.
Grian will be honest, when he went searching for a story with his camera crew today, he didn't expect a goldmine to fall directly into his hands.
Grian was a news reporter, evidently, and it had been an incredibly boring week. He and his cameraman, Mumbo, had been searching for a good story for weeks. Easy to say they were struggling. Theres only petty theft and missing animals these days, and any time theres a big crime with juicy details, heros or the fuzz cover it up quicker than Grian can grab his camera. It was frustrating.
At some point the two friends had just decided to get some ice cream and lay back for awhile.
“Just for a while,” Grian had said.
“Anything to chill, my feet are killing me.” Mumbo had replied.
Grian giggled. “Its literally your job to stand and record, suck it up.”
Mumbo had let out a long whine. “Youre so cruel to me.”
They were relaxing in their news van. Grian was finish up his ice cream cone and Mumbo was cleaning his camera, and then it happened.
Grian jumped out of his seat at the sound of the piercing alarm, Mumbo frantically looking from his friend to where the noise was coming from. A nearby jewelry store, windows broken and smoke spilling out the cracks.
“Holy- Mumbo! Mumbo this is it! Come on!” Grian had shoved the camera into Mumbos hands before jumping out the van and running to the scene of the crime.
”Oh-! Oh! Okay- Goodness, uh-“ Mumbo fumbled with the camera, trying his best not to drop ot as he ran behind the reporter.
Unfortunately, the culprit was no where in sight by the time they got there, but that wasn't going to stop Grian. This was the best thing he'd gotten in months and there was no way he was throwing away this opportunity.
He called into the main office and screamed at Mumbo to get the camera rolling.
“Mumbo, hurry! Start the camera!”
The anchorman, Iskall, quickly shifted the topic from whatever it was before (maybe the weather or some uneventful story) and now all eyes were on Grian.
It was show time.
"From the looks of it, it seems our local jeweler has not only been robbed, but it is now on fire!" He exclaimed, his news reporter voice making him sound far more enthusiastic than he really was. Grian always loved the suspense of cases like these, winding in the audience like a fish on a hook.
Sure, it might be a bit insensitive to use other people downfalls for entertainment purposes, but who is he to care? He may have cared about his first few villian cases, but now he was numb to it.
"People are crowding around the scene, trying to get a look. Everyone wants to know, who caused this?" Grian asked the audience, aware he wouldn't get an answer.
At least, he definitely didn't expect an answer.
A distant laugh echoed through the burning building, causing Grian's eyes to snap away from the camera. His whole body swirled to the direction to the noise, his microphone now at his side. Mumbo, thankfully, hadn't been a complete idiot and turned the camera up to where the noise had come from.
A figure walked on top of the crumbling building, and it didn't take long for Grian to recognize the villian.
The man had short brown hair, most of it being hidden away in his tall red hat with a green ribbon around it. He stood tall, a velvet tailcoat and green vest fitted around his torso. He had ripped grey pants a big black boots, all topped off with a golden mask that covered his entire face. The mask had a smile on it, one that mirrored the masks offen depicted in theater.
Grian wasnt sure if he wanted to smile or cry.
Realistically, it would have been smart to run. But Grian was desperate, and with so much happening at once his blood was pumping with pure adrenaline. In a sudden burst of foolish confidence the reporter took a deep breath and raised his microphone to his mouth. "Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that none other than the Jangler has entered the scene! Could he be the culprit we have been looking for?" Grian didnt turn to face the camera. Maybe it was bad reporter editqite, but it didn't matter. Hed rather risk his job than risk his life.
At the sound of Grian's voice, the villian (or the 'Jangler' as he was called) snapped his head towards the reporter. Grian winced, hearing the frightened yelp his friend holding the camera let out.
Everything was still for a moment, Grian swore he could here Iskall screaming warnings into the radio, but he was to focused on the danger in front of him.
Suddenly, Jangler bolted into a sprint and jumped off the building, landing right in front of Grian.
The report yelped and stumbled back, accidentally bumping into Mumbo before standing his ground. The villian tilted his head and Grian didnt need to see his face to know he was smiling.
"Well, well, well!" Jangler started. Very original. "What do we have here? A little camera crew just for little ol' me? I'm flattered!" The villian purred, a hand placed on his chest.
To be perfectly honest, Grian didnt know what to do. This had never happened before. Villain's dont tend to go out of their way to actually interact with nearby reporters. As a matter of fact, villains usually flee the scene before reporters even show up. So Grian could easily say, he was terrified.
But he was also very, very stubborn.
”Well, you have made quite a scene here, Jangler. We’d be stupid not to show up.” Grian replied, mirroring Janglers tone. He could see Mumbo in the corner of his eye frantically shaking his head. Grian gave Mumbo a look that quickly haulted his movements. Yes, Grian was aware that talking to a villian who just robbed and wrecked a jewelry store was incredibly dangerous, but he was getting desperate! Sue him!
The Jangler let out an ammused scoff and tilted his head. He hummed. “Id argue the opposite. It was very stupid to show up here.” His voice was dark, slightly distorted by a voice changer. “Dont you know who I am?” Jangler didnt seem to be in an offensive position, unphased by the mere citizen in front of him.
Dangerous or not, his patronizing tone was starting to get on Grian’s nerves. ”You call us stupid, but youre the one making petty conversation instead of leaving?” The reporter tilted his head with a smile. “If anything, youre the stupid one. Just sitting and waiting for heros to catch you, especially when your location is being broadcasted on live television, Jangler.”
He could see Mumbo tense behind him. Jangler rested his hands on his hips, taking in the insults Grian just spewed. It was quiet for a moment which gave Grian a moment to think about his terrible life choices.
Why on earth had he thought insulting a villian was a smart thing to do? What the hell was wrong with him?? As ridiculous as Jangler apeared, he could rip Grian into two. Jangler was twice his height, so he didnt need to get a closer look to know the guy was ripped.
”You have quite the attitude, dont you?” The villian asked with an ammused tone, voice oddly smooth even with the crackling distortion. Grian had been so focused on the man in front of him that he hadnt realized Mumbo backing away. His focus only broke at the sound of police sirens, snapping his eyes near the direction they came from. Jangler laughed, backing away slowly. “Well, I’d love to shut that pretty little mouth of yours myself, but I have places to be, crimes to commit, you know how it is.”
Grian faltered, taken aback by the words. What? He quickly turned to face the villian once again only to see he had already made his way back up to the top of the crumbling building. “It truly was a pleasure, weather boy! May we meet again!” He called out from the roof, taking an over-dramatic bow in a way that made Grian want to climb up the building and kill the villians himself. He didn’t, of course, and simply watched as the crazed man ran off with a maniacal laugh.
Grians face turned into a frown at the villians words. Weather boy? Really?
A few police cars showed up followed by some heros that Grian could easily reconize. A man with blond hair and wings dark as night followed by a taller man with long pink hair and a boar mask. The two heros chased after the villian, but Grian had a feeling he was long gone.
He ran a hand through his sweaty hair, taking a deep breath. He had been running on adrenaline earlier and now everything was starting to settle. The fact he just bantered with a dangerous villian settled, aswell. He felt nauseous.
He turned back to Mumbo, who was now a large distance away from Grian, but still had the camera up and roling.
Oh, right. That was all live.
Grian inhaled sharply and approached the camera, shooting Mumbo a look that he took a moment to understand once he snapped out of his shocked state. The mustached man fumbled to readjust the camera to focus on Grian, who honestly looked terrible.
”Uh- Well, that was certainly an unexpected turn of events!” The blond began, sounding out of breath and taking a moment to regain his thoughts. “Well, on that note, the robber of the jewelry store has been identified as Jangler! And as of now heros are already on the hunt for him! This is Grian Dreamslayer, tuning out.” He nodded at Mumbo who shut off the camera quickly.
The two stood quietly for a moment.
Mumbo inhaled. ”Grian, what the hell.”
~~~
Grian flopped down onto his couch with a groan.
After the eventual day, Iskall insisted he and Mumbo get the rest of the day off. It was only 6:12PM but Grian felt exhausted.
He tried his best not to think about what had happened with the villain earlier that day, but he was struggling. Who wouldn’t? He could have died. He had been so desperate to get up and close, so high on adrenaline as the tall villian spoke to him, he hadnt even processed everything until it was over. In a weird way it was almost thrilling, how dangerous the situation was. He hoped it at least made good content.
Speaking of,
Grian roled over onto his back and leaned against the couch arm, grabbing his phone from his pocket and turning it on. Being a news reporter, it was important to be caught up with social media, so he was fairly active online. He opened Twitter, not expecting much, and at first it wasn’t! Couple of funny tweets, random fanart of heroes that he enjoyed far more than the heroes themselves, the usual.
That was until he found a certain tweet that had his name in it. His eyebrows raised. He didn’t know this person, it was a total stranger, why on earth were they talking about him?
It was someone who had seen the news, seen him and that villian, and they were invested. As a matter of a fact, multiple people were. The more he dug, the more post’s he found about his interaction with the Jangler. There were people who said they were on the edge of their seat, there were people who said it had been badass, and some people even thought it was funny.
People had loved it.
As Grian continued to scroll through various social media post’s, something sparked in his mind. An idea. An incredibly stupid idea. He bit his lip, thinking for a moment. After allowing his two shriveled braincells to contemplate with eachother, he finally made his decision.
He needed to learn more about The Jangler.