Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hello, how may I help you?” 

“Just one locker, please. Thank you.” 

The woman behind the desk nodded, handing him a temporary locker card. Ranboo grabbed it with one hand, smiling at her kindly before heading towards the locker rooms. 

He grabbed his bottle, moving towards the treadmill with his earphones plugged in and blasting a random assortment of music.

He set it to a comfortable pace, running on the treadmill with a relaxed expression. And just like that, he kept that pace for around fifteen minutes, not a single drop of sweat pearling off of his body. There were no signs of exhaustion at all, no heavy breathing, no sweat, no sluggish movements- it looked like he had never worked out to begin with. 

He steadily upped the pace starting from there, his expression still as lax as before. 

Ranboo’s current pace was at an incredible thirty-seven kilometres per hour, which looked like child’s play if you watched him like this. His legs were moving at an impressive speed, barely visible to the naked, human eye.

This wasn’t his maximum- Ranboo’s natural top speed without the use of his superpowers was at a whopping forty-two kilometers per hour, and with the use of them, at about two-hundred. 

After looking at those stats, it might be a surprise to hear that Ranboo’s superpower isn’t speed related at all- in fact, his power was very simple. 

Ranboo was an enderman and a ghast hybrid, with a small percentage of human genetics from his ancestors. This made him naturally very agile and gave him impressive strength and speed. 

His power was to amplify the gifts he already possessed- His incredible speed would become even more unbelievable, and his strength would resemble multiple times of a regular person. His senses, which were higher than that of a trained military officer, would be heightened to the maximum, and his dexterity, agility, health, intelligence, wisdom, stamina and durability would also be significantly more powerful than others. 

It was a blessing, if Ranboo were to be honest. Nobody would turn down the opportunity to get his powers if they were offered to. 

But, Ranboo didn’t want to pursue being a hero, or a villain per se. Ranboo had helped some civilians here and there, tidied up one mess or the other, stopped a few robbers or crimes he could see happening, but he never thought about becoming someone officially being in charge of helping the people. 

Because, all in all, Ranboo didn’t have a reason to. Ranboo had no family to protect, no people he was attached to, no friends, no distant relatives, no lovers and simply nobody he cared enough for in order to motivate him to do such things. 

“Haah..” 

With a few clicks, the treadmill slowed down, until it came to a full stop. He got off, wiping the small amount of sweat that had finally built up. He took a sip of his smoothie from the bottle he had slid aside, sighing as he put the cap back on. 

It was almost six AM. He should be heading to work soon. 

~~~

“Oh, Ranboo. Fancy to have you here- I’ll be taking my leave then.” 

“Of course.” 

Niki, his coworker and one of the few staff members of the small bakery that he worked at. A smart and kind woman, with a polite smile and a very nice personality that was comfortable to be around. 

He wouldn’t say that they’re friends, per se, but… acquaintances? Maybe that was the right word to describe their relationship. 

She was the only one of the staff he really talked to during his shifts, though he tended to keep quiet while he was working. Usually, Ranboo avoided actively baking and making the food for the customers, rather preferring to work the counter and open the shop instead, with most of the stuff already prepared by his coworkers. It felt more comfortable, especially since he had to avoid getting water on his hands. 

As an enderman hybrid, it was obvious that coming in contact with water would burn him. Although the water didn’t do significant harm when it was in small amounts, the chance of spilling something on himself was not low either, so the kitchen was, most of the time, off limits for him inside his head. 

With a sound, the little machine clocked him in, and Ranboo tied the apron around his waist, grabbing the tray with the baked goods and setting it into the glass panels for the customers to see. There were cakes, muffins, waffles, and plenty of other treats to grab, all which were handmade, which gained them a lot of popularity and returning customers. People that went to work early in the morning or students that passed the street would stop by to grab some food for either on the way, or to enjoy it during work or recess. 

Ranboo knew most of the people that came to the store during his shifts, unless they were first timers. Then, he wouldn’t bother to remember them if they decided not to come again. But, usually, their bakery had a charm that made people return at least once or twice. 

He sighed, removing the oven gloves from his hands and laying them down on the counter. It was now six AM in the morning, so people would start coming in about ten minutes from now, beginning with students, and then approaching seven AM, it would be young workers, and then going towards eight AM, the middle aged workers. 

The small bell on top of the door signaled that a customer had entered the store, and Ranboo, who was caught off guard by the early appearance of a customer, straightened his back from where he was leaning on the counter and put a smile on his lips. 

“Good morning. What can I get you today?” 

The half-assed joy on his face was certainly not reflected in his voice, sounding more tired and exhausted rather than happy, but the customer paid him no mind, instead walking up to the glass showcase. 

The customer was a man with pink hair, cut short and slightly messy- it intrigued Ranboo, since contrary to his hair, his clothes screamed a mixture of old money and antique western, quite classy. 

His ears had a multitude of golden piercings, some small, and some embedded with jewels and dangling. They were polished quite well, and instead of making it look tacky, the man actually pulled them off well. 

Most mesmerizing however were the man’s eyes, a deep shade of velvet red, with a glint of brutality, but the pool of red was calm, yet to be disrupted. It felt like danger, but also like an unprovoked rose that made one want to touch it, despite knowing it had thorns, and would most definitely stab. 

Ranboo blinked, disrupting his own thoughts. He most definitely does not want to touch an eyeball, much less a stranger’s eyeball. He should be focusing on work instead. 

“One of these velvet cakes and an Americano? Half-half.” 

“Of course.” 

Internally, Ranboo hummed at the choice. Their velvet cakes were very nice, so he commended the man on that decision, but it felt odd, pairing it with an Americano. A cappuccino may have gone better with it in his opinion, but who was he to tell a customer his own tastes? 

The pink haired man seated himself at one of the tables, taking his black trenchcoat off, revealing the dark red turtleneck underneath it fully. Ranboo marveled at his stylistic choice, but instead of staring longer, he brought over the velvet cake with a fork, setting it down on the table. 

“I will prepare your drink quickly.”

“Sure.” 

He noticed that he was a man of few words. The customer had simply pulled a pair of glasses from his pocket and began reading the news while waiting for his beverage. Ranboo turned around, turning on the radio with some light jazz to fill his ears as he began his morning with the Americano. Half-half, just like the man had wanted, and in less than five minutes, it was steaming and ready. 

He brought it to the table with a teaspoon and small packets of sugar, as well as a small porcelain cup full of milk. It clicked as he set it down on the table, and without words, he smiled at the man, who nodded, and then went back to his newspaper. Ranboo also simply went behind the counter again. He felt that it was a nice way to start the morning. A calm little bakery, jazz playing softly in the background with only one singular customer, and the occasional clacking of porcelain dishes against each other. 

It was nice. 

Ranboo felt at peace. If it was to protect this kind of life, Ranboo would even risk becoming a hero. 

Just kidding. 

~~~

“Your total is 5,98$. Cash or card?” 

“Card.” 

He pulled out his wallet, picking out one of the many cards inside of it. Ranboo didn’t mention that it was a black card, golden rimmed with the name of the government bank on it. He simply took it, swiping it through the machine and smiling at the pink haired man. 

“Thank you very much. We hope to see you again soon. I hope you enjoyed your stay,” 

And although this was an automated response that he had been saying at the end of every person checking out, he felt like he actually meant it, and hoped that the man had enjoyed his stay at the small bakery. 

“Mhm.” 

With the hum he could barely count as a reply, the man turned around and left the bakery, and as the door closed, Ranboo’s smile faded slowly. 

He could only hope that today’s morning wouldn’t be chaotic and ruin his entire mood. Because, for some reason, unlike all the other days he had spent in his life, this day felt nice. It felt like this day had been one he didn’t mind.

“Good morning!” 

“Oh my, Mister Bailey! Good morning!” 

The man who had just stepped in without Ranboo noticing- Keith Bailey, a young man in his mid-twenties who came every morning to grab a Cortado along with a Vanilla donut, talk to Ranboo for about two minutes before realizing he would be late, then apologizing and hurrying off. Even though it had almost been a year, there was not a single day in Ranboo’s shifts where this exact event had not happened. 

“May I get a Cortado and a Vanilla donut?” 

“Of course. That will be 7,89$. Please give me your card.” 

Keith handed him his card without any refusal, and Ranboo slid it through the machine before handing it back. He turned around, laying the already bagged donut in front of the man. 

“Here is your donut. Your coffee will be ready shortly.” 

And without any disruption, the Cortado was soon ready in a to-go cup, handed to Keith with a smile. 

“Thank you very much. Please come again, Mister Bailey.” 

“I’ve told you to call me Keith?” 

“And I have told you to eat healthier, Sir Bailey. I guess we both don’t listen, I hope you have a good day at work, but you should leave now, for you will be late if you don’t.” 

Looking at his watch and gasping, Keith smiled and scurried off towards the underground. Ranboo watched the man’s broad back for a moment, feeling a pang of jealousy at the amount of muscle he had despite eating as much sugar as he did. 

It was incredibly difficult, or rather impossible for Ranboo to gain muscle due to his enderman genetics. He stayed lanky and thin no matter what he did, so he didn’t bother working out with the goal of muscle in mind anymore. 

Thinking about it, the pink haired man from the morning was also pretty buff. He obviously couldn’t tell that well through the clothes, but he was definitely a big man, with large shoulders and a wide back. A thick biceps and large hands, along with darn long legs. 

Letting his jealousy slide off of him, he shook his apron and walked towards the back of the shop, drinking from his smoothie bottle, relishing in the banana flavor. 

“...I should just stop.” 

What was good about muscles anyways, tsk. 

Chapter Text

“Alright, Ranboo, you now can clock out. I’m ready to fight!” 

Although Niki said this every day, she nevertheless always ended up half dead on the counter every time Ranboo checked in for his night shift. Niki was a woman of great character, and refused to be rude to anybody, so keeping up that kind of personality must be a great ordeal for her. Ranboo didn’t bother as much as she did, and was blunt and dry the moment even a speck of his little motivation ran out. 

“You know, I really don’t mind staying for a bit longer..” 

“It’s okay, Ranboo. You know I do this every day. Today won’t kill me.” 

With hesitation, he nodded, taking his green apron off and clocking out. He looked back one more time, but Niki was already humming a tune to herself and organizing the glass panel. He huffed, leaving the bakery and walking off towards his apartment comfortably. 

It was chilly outside, with a gentle breeze that made the weather very enjoyable for an enderman hybrid like him, who was used to cold climates. The ghast part of him wasn’t dominant enough to make him seek warm climates, contrary to his enderman part. The only things his ghast side really affected were his hair, his skin and his height. His hair had white streaks on the left side, and his skin was incredibly pale. And, for some reason, he was also stuck at the amazing height of 5’3, which was not only confusing, considering him being part enderman, but also simply inconvenient.

The cold breeze felt nice on his skin, and Ranboo was relieved at the thought of almost having reached his home. 

But, on a nice day like this, with no inconveniences… Ranboo had already thought that things had been looking a bit too good for him. 

“Hey, you there.” 

Ranboo’s ears twitched at the words that were obviously addressed to him. He could feel a pair of eyes lingering on his body. His senses were alert. 

“Do you have a bathroom I could borrow?” 

He turned around, looking at the lady who had talked to him. Her lips were painted in a bright shade of red, and her black hat covered her eyes. She was clad in a black dress with a cut not very appropriate for daylight. 

“I’m sorry, miss, but I live a bit further away..-”

“Oh no, I don’t mind.” 

Ranboo’s senses were already very tense, and he knew that for some reason, he should under no circumstance be accepting any request from this woman. But, his mind felt muddled. He was aware of this, which was definitely a sign that whatever that woman was doing to him wasn’t as effective as it should be. Is her super power some sort of mind manipulation? A drug mist? Mind control? He didn’t know, but he did know that the longer he stalled like this, the more this bitch would be in control of him, and that he needed to break free, now. 

“...If you just follow me like this, miss.” 

All that Ranboo needed was for that hag to lift her hat the slightest. He needed her to look his way. 

“What’s your name, dear?” 

“...It- It’s Rain…” 

“Rain? How nice.” 

She smiled, her red lips curling viciously as she followed him, her heels clacking against the asphalt in the alleys where they were. 

“What, about you, miss? What is your name?” 

“They call me Rouge, dear.” 

And with her smile, and slight arrogance, she lifted her head ever so slightly. Both Ranboo and the woman stilled at once, his eyes now open wide, like a deer caught in headlights. But, it felt more like the woman had been caught, rather than him. 

“You dirty snake..” 

That’s right. Ranboo, as part enderman, had rendered her paralyzed. She was frozen on the spot, unable to move as her eyes were interlocked with his, glowing in their bright green fashion. Normally, the left eye would be glowing red, but with his enderman power now in focus, they were both alit, neon green.

“You vermin..!” 

She was trembling, her gorgeous face twisting into an unsightly grimace. It looked so horrific, Ranboo almost blinked, but instead, he focused his ears on the sound that he could pick up from slightly further away.

Someone talking. Wings flapping. But they’re alone. A communicator? A hero. 

This woman was a villain. 

“Let me go before that bastard gets here! Now!” 

She was still trembling in her still position, and at some point, Ranboo’s nose had started bleeding, which he barely noticed while controlling her. 

In the woman’s eyes, Ranboo’s face was growing more and more distorted, getting more terrifying the longer she held eye contact with him- It felt like a nightmare, or a fever dream, like those horror stories one would read with badly described images of horror monsters, but now they seemed so real, reflected in his visage. 

“L-Let me go..! Let go!!” 

And with a thud, someone landed between them, with wings spread out and a few feathers falling onto the asphalt, leaving a silence between the three. The villain, Rouge, now finally out of the mind control, slumped to the ground with gasping breaths, tremors taking over her entire body. 

The man with the large, obsidian colored wings only looked at her, then slowly turned to Ranboo, the emotion behind his gaze hidden. He had seen the incredibly unepic showdown between the two just now- With the boy he had never seen before, simply staring and doing nothing, and the villain Rouge on the verge of losing her mind as she also simply stood there, on the receiving end of the boy’s seemingly endless stare. 

The longer he watched, the more mindless she was becoming, as if she was facing her worst fear- It was like watching someone’s entire being corrode in a matter of seconds. It scared him, so he had decided to step in. 

Phil was looking into the boy’s eyes now, but there was no evident sign of his movements stopping, or losing himself. 

Before Phil could even ask the boy for his name, the boy vanished. 

Wait. 

Wait, what?  

“Wait, no!!!” 

~~~

Ranboo was confident. The man he had been facing just now, with the wings, that it was the hero Philza Craft. The third ranked hero in the international ranks, also going by the name Angel of Death. 

“Shit.” 

He wiped his bloody nose with a tissue. Ranboo had quickly teleported away after he had realized the situation he was in. Had he known that the woman was being pursued by the Angel of Death, would he have dilly dallied? Of course not! 

With a sigh, Ranboo sat himself down on the leather sofa inside the small apartment. It couldn’t be that big of a deal, right? No way. 

~~~

“You don’t understand- It is that big of a deal! A fucking teenager, was stopping S-Level threat Rouge? We’ve been pursuing her for years!” 

Phil was desperately explaining the situation to Technoblade, who was sitting and reading the newspapers. 

“Maybe his super power just coincidentally ended up being her weakness? And besides, she was already weakened from her fight with you.” 

The blond man sighed, holding his head in his hands. He was incredibly worried about the situation that had happened. Not only had a new power holder appeared, but it was one that wasn’t registered, and was potentially an incredible danger if he wasn’t on their side. 

“Techno, she was beyond terrified when looking at him! Not to mention that he fucking teleported-” 

“He what ?” 

At the mention of him teleporting, Techno perked up, finally looking up from the newspaper in his hands, instead locking his gaze on Phil, who was panicking on the seat. 

“That guy is at least an A-Level threat if he can teleport and also has some sort of mind corrosion.” 

Technoblade mentioned the fact that he was dangerous now , after Phil had been begging him to listen for the past hour or so. Grumbling, the blond stood up, pacing around the room nervously, nails clicking between his teeth. He was worried for good reason, since it had been ages ever since the last unregistered power holder had appeared at such a high risk level. 

“What did he look like? Any dealbreakers that could help us identify him?” 

“Honestly, It might have been due to his super power or whatever, but my mind felt a bit fuzzy when I looked him in the eyes. Not like Rouge did, with the paralyzing and going nuts, but more like no signal-ish.” 

“...” 

“He definitely had green fucking eyes. Like a traffic light. Oh, and he wasn’t really tall. Like 5’2? And I’m guessing he lives around that place, since Rouge always leads her victims home…” 

“Silverstein alleys.. Somewhere around there. Green eyes, and short. I’ll tell everyone to be on the lookout. “

Philza only nodded, sitting down in the seat once more. Techno, who had now completely set down his newspaper, dialed something on his communicator, sending the message around the heroes of the headquarters.

Blade: [ Be on the lookout for unregistered with green eyes, 5’2, around silverstein quarters. Estimated level of threat at least A. Do not engage in combat. ]

Soon, just about anybody had received the ping from Blade, the number one hero in the international ranks. 

~~~

“You’d be lifting a great burden off my back if you just told me, you know.” 

Philza looked at the woman inside of the cell. The cell looked more like a contamination box, sealed beyond the power of any hero. Rouge, who was inside and shackled with power-binding cuffs, simply turned away. 

“I have no idea who he is. I was just desperate to get away from you, you dirty bastard. And he was the first person I saw.” 

Contrary to her usual elegant look, the woman looked distressed. Even after fighting Phil, she managed to look her part. But now, ever since the encounter with that boy, she looked shaken. Traumatized, even. 

“I just want to know what you saw. If you tell me, I might even let you have a hairbrush and your fucking lipstick, you hag.” 

The villain looked away. After that experience, she had not slept even for a moment. Every occasion she closed her eyes, she could only recount what had happened then. Her nose starts running, and her eyes tear up. Her entire body shakes in fear. Every reflective surface is like a nightmare to her. 

As if it was etched into her eyelids. 

“...” 

Phil was struggling on how to make that damn murderer say anything to help him. He refused to offer her any sorts of freedom, as she didn’t even deserve to see the daylight with how many people she had innocently murdered. 

“If you tell me… and I find him, he might be able to undo what he’s done to you.” 

At that point, the woman whose tears and snot had again begun to flow, looked at him with such desperate eyes, he had almost thought she was a victim. 

“I- I thought, that I could control him… There was slight resistance, but what would I think of that..?” 

She let out a shaky breath, her tears seeming to find no end at all. 

“He asked for my name… That’s all I remember… Then, then he looked at me.” 

The tremors racking through her body looked pathetic as she seized in the chair she was chained to. Philza couldn’t even believe that she was the woman that the entire hero commission had been chasing for years. 

“I saw everything… It was so terrifying! His- his face..! Like a vulture, an abomination… All the horror in the world… He was all- all of it.. Aeughh..” 

At that point, it was impossible to get any more words out of her. Phil was now convinced that it was an ability related to mind corruption based on eye contact. But, if that was the case, then how come he could teleport? There was no such thing as two super powers… 

What they didn’t know was that it wasn’t a super power at all. It was simply the power he held as an enderman of the purest bloodline. The ability to corrode one’s mind with the power of their eyes, which were blessed by the ender dragon. 

It was nothing but innate. So was his teleportation. 

He was a freak of nature. A monster. 

But that was something they didn’t know. 

Chapter Text

The next morning, Ranboo was once again ready to open the shop at six after Niki finished baking the assortments. The green apron was tied around his waist securely, his sweater was comfortable, he had gotten a horrible night of sleep and looked like he came out of both world wars. Just like any bakery employee would. Perfect. 

And, just like yesterday, right after he finished setting up the backed goods, the door opened with the chime of the bell, and a muscular man with pink hair and golden accessories walked in, at exactly five past six. Just like yesterday. 

“Welcome. What can I get you?” 

“A velvet cake and an Americano. Half-half.” 

The same order as the day before. Ranboo smiled, and turned around to prepare it. The pink haired man sat down in the same seat, pulling out his glasses and reading the newspaper. Today, he was wearing a dark brown turtleneck. 

This time without speaking, he set both the coffee and the velvet cake down on the table with a click, smiling at the man who nodded back. He then turned around, putting on some light jazz and packaging the donut for Keith, who would undoubtedly be coming by, like he always has. 

Ring! The doorbell chimed once more. Another customer had entered. Ranboo was surprised, turning around to greet the new customer who had entered oddly early.

But, to his surprise, it was Keith. 

“Good morning.”  

“Good morning, Sir Bailey…” 

A tingling feeling inside Ranboo. His ears twitched. 

Something was off. Terribly off. 

“Can I have a Cappucino and a donut?” 

Weird. That was not Keith’s usual order. Where was the gidiness? The Cortado was an essential, is what he had said. Not even specifying what kind of donut he wants. Not insisting he calls him Keith? 

“You…” 

Ranboo inched away from the counter, every single hair on his body standing up. He looked at the man with pink hair, who also had his gaze slightly shifted. Ranboo could tell the man had also sensed something wrong.

“Keith… I already have your order prepared… Like always. You’re oddly early though?” 

That was a lie. Keith Bailey would know that that was a lie. 

“Haha, yes, of course, like always. I’m just up a bit earlier today…” 

Ranboo’s nose twitched. It’s light, but he could smell copper around the man’s body. The clothes he was wearing were a little more crumpled than they would usually be, as if his shirt was hastily buttoned. 

“You are not…” 

The man in front of him suddenly opened his eyes wide, looking Ranboo square in the face. An eerie smile rose, and before he knew it, Ranboo smashed a scorching hot cup of Cortado right into his face. 

There was the sound of someone- something grunting, and slight sizzling, with the smell of fermented coffee. 

“Damn you, you bitch..” 

The face of Keith Bailey contorted, revealing an ugly mash of faces that were glitching together, with Keith sometimes showing inbetween. 

“Did you kill him..?”

Ranboo, who was still trembling, looked at the disgusting man in front of him dripping in coffee and porcelain shards, holding one of the knives used to cut the cakes. 

“I even fucking ate him, haha… How else you think I got his face..” 

He shouldn’t have put his hopes on Bailey surviving. Damn it. 

Ranboo was about to raise his knife and defend himself from the guy, who looked like he was about to charge in on him at just about any moment, but all of a sudden, there was a thud, and Ranboo made eye contact with the pink haired man, who was still holding his Americano with one hand. The other raised in a chopping motion.

He had knocked the villain flat out. 

A bit… Uneventfully ? 

~~~

[117 Hero Commission, how may I help you?] 

“C-Level threat ‘Mimic’ is currently unconscious in this store. I’ve sent you the location, so come here quickly.” 

And with a click, Technoblade shut off the phone. He looked at the unconscious body on the floor, feeling slightly bad for the barista working at the bakery. 

The young man was looking at the body with an absent gaze, clutching the bag with the donut meant for the man. 

“…” 

But, like always he simply kept quiet. Techno didn’t have any comforting words to offer, and he wasn’t going to try comforting someone whom he didn’t even know. It would be in vain either way. 

The barista sighed, tossing the small bag aside and picking up the cup that he had thrown in the villain’s face earlier. He looked at it for a few seconds, reading the name written on the cup with a smiley, then putting it in the bin along with its lid. 

The worker went to the back, grabbing a mop and starting to wipe the excess coffee that had dropped to the floor, skilfully avoiding the collapsed body on the floor. Technoblade simply watched him without saying a word, alternating his gaze from the young man to the villain occasionally. 

After a while, the people from the Hero Commission came in, locking up the man and questioning the two people. Ranboo only said what had happened, then once it was over, also cleaned up the mess the body had made on the floor. 

“…I guess he won’t be coming back.” 

‘Because he’s dead. ’ 

~~~

Ranboo ran his hands through his hair as the shower head thoroughly wet it, rinsing off the excess shampoo that might still have been in there. 

The scorching hot lava that poured out of it felt comfortable enough on his skin as it slid off without issue, leaving no burns or injuries behind. He hummed, shaking the red droplets off of his body and stepping onto the cold floor. There was no towel, since there was no reason for anything to dry. He waited a while for his body to cool down, enjoying the coolness of the air inside his apartment, and put on clothes in order to sleep. 

His mind had still been stuck on the incident that had happened earlier today- The thought of never being able to see Keith Bailey come into his shop again, order his Cortado and Vanilla donut bothered him. He would even admit that he had become fond of his daily interaction with the man. Knowing he was dead made him a bit upset, but what bothered him more was the fact that he had died in such an inconvenient way-

Being eaten by the villain Mimic, while he suffered and was scared beyond belief. Leaving behind not even his body for the family to bury or cremate… It did make him sad, and empathic for his family members. 

But, Ranboo was sure, that he could keep living his life like normal. It was a sure feeling that he’d forget about it at some point, where it would slip his mind and he’d only occasionally remember… But still. Ranboo wasn’t someone who would be bothered by a fickle thing such as death. 

He wouldn’t be, since it was something he had chanced upon many times before. He had never been bothered by it before, and he wouldn’t be bothered by it now. 

That, he was sure of. 

Chapter Text

Another day of opening the store as if nothing had happened the previous day. Only the lingering thought of someone that wouldn’t be visiting the bakery today. 

But, there was someone who did.

Ranboo made eye contact with red eyes, today a bit more serious looking than usual. They both held it for a few seconds, before Ranboo nodded and started brewing the coffee. The cake had already been put aside on a platter, and the Americano had been in the making. The man sat down on his now unofficially assigned seat, once again putting on his glasses and reading the newspaper. Ranboo would give in- He was a very consistent man. 

A click, two porcelain plates. A nod. Soft jazz. A comforting repetition of what Ranboo would call a routine.

It wasn’t long before Ranboo found himself making a Cortado, stopping in the middle of his action, looking at the finished coffee in his hands. 

He wouldn’t be needing this.

He put the lid on it anyways, bagging up a donut as well. One that was vanilla flavored, exactly as he would prefer it to be. Exactly how he would have specified it to be. 

He set them both to the side, sitting down on the small chair in the corner of the front desk, his body slumping slightly against the wall as he relaxed. His eyes occasionally flickered over to the pink haired man whose name he still had yet to find out. But, his gaze didn’t linger. He averted it again, looking out the window where the wind was making the trees dance in gray, monotone cities. 

Ranboo wondered briefly, looking at the clouds pulling over the dull city.

Would it rain today? 

~~~

“Still no clues? Are you sure?” 

Technoblade looked at Phil, his eyes drifting off to the file in his own hands. It was a file containing all the data on the people that lived in the area of the incident. 

“There are a few people that are about the height you described- and, looking at them like this, none of them have green eyes.” 

When Techno had investigated, he had been surprised to see the file of the barista working at Niki’s bakery he had been frequenting in the mornings before work since recently.

Although the young man did have a singular green eye, it was neither as bright as Phil had described, but also, the other was a striking red, which did eliminate him as a candidate. 

“I think that the green eyes might be a visual side effect of his superpower, in any case. Because none of the people fit the description completely. We will have to widen our search.” 

As much as both of the heroes wished to drop it, they could not drop a case that possessed a significant danger level such as this one. Especially since they were unregistered, which made it incredibly hard for them to find out anything. 

“You know, I recently caught that Mimic guy?” 

“Hm? Oh, yeah. What about it?” 

“It happened in Niki’s bakery, actually. He went there right after he mimicked someone. I think It might’ve scarred that poor barista.” 

“Oh dear…” 

Niki, who worked as a spy and commissary for the hero commission, had opened that bakery as a cover up. Most of her activities were centered around that bakery, so it wouldn’t be rare to find one or the other villain in there sometimes, but there was no correlation to the bakery this time other than the fact that the victim had been a frequent visitor of the place. 

“It was pure coincidence though..” 

“Well, I sure hope it was. I really don’t want any more work than I already have. I’m not exactly dying to investigate some small scale murderer right now.” 

“I wasn’t really hot on having my morning break ruined either, you know…” 

~~~

Ranboo was pleasantly surprised to see the pink haired man once again before he was about to leave his shift. He had come in, looking around and frowning in displeasure to find his favorite seat being occupied, but opted to seat himself on the other side of the small bakery. 

“Good afternoon…How can I help you?” 

“A butter croissant and an Espresso.” 

Looking at the man now, he did indeed look more tired than he usually did. His eyebags rested on his handsome face more deeply than usual, and his brows were furrowed. He also occasionally massaged his nose bridge, seemingly from a headache. 

“Of course.” 

The butter croissants had been freshly made, still warm. He placed one on a plate before preparing the coffee, putting it on the table with a small dish of milk and some sugar. 

The man nodded at him, looking out the window as he took sips from his coffee. Ranboo went back behind the counter, looking at the wood of the counter top in a tired manner. He felt like today would be a calm day. He hoped. 

What else could he hope for in order to heave himself up to his usual self again, and stop grieving someone he barely knew? 

Ranboo wondered briefly, looking out the window. 

Would it rain today? 

~~~

Once his shift was finished and someone else took over, Ranboo had taken the cortado and the donut, walking to the local cemetery. There hadn’t been a burial, due to the lack of a body, so they had simply put a nicely engraved stone to at least have anything there. 

Ranboo had looked for it, scouring every grave stone for the name of Keith Bailey, finding it after about ten minutes. It was an isolated corner. It looked a bit sad, but somehow, it felt exactly like the man’s grave, with little peonies and lilies placed atop the grass where there lied nothing. 

[In memory of Keith Bailey, the best son, brother, coworker and lover…]

The engraving was nice. He really was a good person. 

He placed the two items there, and huffed for a moment. Dead people didn’t drink coffee nor did they eat donuts, but he felt like he deserved to have them one last time. Even though there was nothing physical of him left but a puddle of blood and scratch marks inside his home, showing how he had struggled to live. 

Keith Bailey had deserved to live. But he didn’t.

Because the world didn’t care, and it really was as simple as that. 

Pit, pit, pit.

Ranboo looked at the gravestone, where slow wet droplets formed. They increased, and soon, the entire gravestone was wet. 

“Why are you crying?” 

He wondered. Was it because his death had hurt? Was the poor soul mad for having died the way it did? Did it want to live? 

“...Ow.” 

Ranboo wondered briefly. 

Why was it raining today? 

~~~

Tap, tap tap- 

Ranboo felt the urge to speed up his pace as the rain drizzled down, evaporating off his skin. He was long beyond the stage of being hurt by this amount of water, but it made him uncomfortable, his skin crawling under the wetness. He felt the urge to teleport away. 

“Hah… Man.” 

He wasn’t even remotely close to his home… Maybe, this was some sort of karma. But still, there was no reason for it to be raining like this after he went to a graveyard, really…

His steps sped up little by little, until he had some sort of jogging pace towards the usual way he went home. His hair was dripping by now, his scalp was probably burning, every hair on his body was standing up, and the back of his neck felt itchy. 

His ears twitched suddenly, and before he knew it, his body had turned around- 

“Help! Please, help me!” 

Really now? 

With no regard for the rain or his own discomfort, he took off running into the direction of the desperate sounding voice. With the activation of his superpower, blood started rushing to his ears, growing hot and picking up the sound of every single raindrop hitting the ground like dozens of drums. 

“Help! Please, someone help me!” 

The voice of a young girl was still echoing through his entire body, and he took a sharp turn into some random alley. For some reason, he felt like he might regret this decision, but instead, his body only sped up, propelling forward with strength and landing right at the scene of action. 

Thump

The familiar sound of a body falling to the ground. 

A young girl, maybe about fifteen, wearing a school uniform and her body mangled with organs spilling out of multiple openings. It smelled like murder and slaughter, like death and sorrow of yet another innocent family. 

And another figure, with a tail as sharp as a knife, flicking back and forth like that of an animal’s, velvet colored blood spraying in a handful of directions. Some in Ranboo’s face, which, however, were washed away by the rain immediately again. 

“You know, the smell of blood is sweeter during rain… It’s simply gorgeous.” 

A swish, and the metal blade attached to the man’s tail was after his neck at a speed usually invisible to the human eye. Ranboo evaded it skillfully with a duck, but the villain seemed to have no idea of simply letting him go anywhere, the long appendage chasing after him as it extended to play a deadly round of catch with him. 

With a swift movement, Ranboo grabbed the appendage, giving it a forceful tug, forcing the villain to jump after his tail which had been harshly yanked. 

“You thief, what do you think you are doing, stealing my sweet, sweet time?” 

For any odd reason, the man always stood facing away from Ranboo. All he could see was the back of his body, and the ever so occasional glimpse of his mouth. 

“I’m doing something called, ‘trying to help’, although I do think I was a little late..” 

Ranboo kicked the back of the man, still holding onto his tail and pulling him back before he could make impact with the wall, instead connecting with his foot once more. 

“Agh…”

And finally, the murderer turned around, leaving Ranboo stunned for a brief moment, as he wasn’t met with a face or anything of the similar, but instead a gigantic black void. So, how come he had seen the lower half of his face before? Was it an illusion..? 

“Fuck, you bitch..” 

This was bad. 

There was nothing to make eye contact with- 

Unless, of course, the black fucking void that this guy was, was part of his supernatural power, which would mean, it wouldn’t be the original state of his body. There had to be eyes there, or had to have been. 

“Have you always been this ugly?” 

“Hah! Keep dreaming. My superp-” 

Bingo. 

Tuning the rest of the idiot’s blabbering out, Ranboo focused his ability on where he presumed the eyes of the man to be. After lowering his gaze slightly, there was a ringing in his head, and before he knew it, the man’s face had contorted back to normal. 

Silence enveloped them both. Everything stood still, and the villain could only keep eye contact as his body suddenly started trembling, vomit spilling past his unmoving, slightly parted lips. His eyes which couldn’t blink had tears spilling out, and his vocal chords seemed frozen, unable to even beg him for mercy. 

“Stop what you are doing right there, will you?” 

And Ranboo did, ignoring the body of the villain that was still standing there, completely frozen in fear. 

He made eye contact with a pair of deep red eyes, his ability still active as it simply shifted the focus of its target. And for a minute, the hero didn’t move at all. But immediately, blood started spurting out of Ranboo’s nose and lips as there was a great resistance to his power, and his ears started ringing like alarms were going off inside his brain- 

But, the ability was still active. 

The Blade’s movements were cranky and sluggish, however still better than Ranboo, who simply stood still. Ranboo could feel the hero approaching him, but didn’t move. 

He couldn’t. At all. His entire body stayed stiff and frozen, his ability still trying to invade the mind of the first ranked hero. And he could tell that there was some kind of effect, as the hero grimaced, his mouth curling down in distaste as the force trying to crush his mental barrier increased. 

Shwoop .

And… he was gone. 

The Blade was left alone in the dark, rainy alley with the villain, vomiting a mess onto the floor next to the mangled corpse of a teenager, whose body had run cold and blood had left, washed away from the asphalt due to the cold rain. 

The Blade wondered briefly. 

Why was it raining today? 

Chapter Text

“Alright, so, I also met that guy you were talking about.” 

“The finance chief?” 

“...Phil, no, I mean the green eyed guy.” 

The book that Phil had been holding, which contained important receipts that were supposed to be sent in to the Commission, was dropped, with everything scattering around the office floor of the blond man. But, he didn’t seem to pay it any mind at all, instead walking towards Technoblade.

“Tell me. Everything.”

Techno sighed, handing him the file of the villain that had been captured that night. It was a villain named ‘Rainy Ripper’, and as disgustingly unfashionable he found the name, that villain was of danger level A. 

Techno recounted the events to him from the start, where he had been pinged about another fight in the area he had been close to. And, also him observing the situation for a while and deciding to step in. Then, where compared to Phil, the situation took a turn. 

“Same thing. But, that guy might just be a little more dangerous than we thought he was, Phil.”

“Why do you say that?” 

“He tried to control my mind too Phil, and even though it was split, the voices were silenced . Completely.” 

Phil’s face dropped, and even Technoblade’s expression looked worse than it usually did. As a hero, Techno’s mental strength had been gauged to be around level S, capable of resisting most kinds of mental attacks. Even then, he was not able to shut up the voices inside his head that his superpower brought along. 

“And I think this guy wasn’t trying his best either. He has a danger level of the highest clearance.” 

“You’re saying you might lose?” 

“I’m not sure , Phil. And that’s exactly why.” 

In the book of the hero commission, on that day, a new entry had appeared, making every single person shiver. A new unregistered of an estimated danger level SS. 

[ UNREGISTERED 009: Codename MINDBREAKER

Danger Level: SS 

Name: unknown 

Age: unknown 

Sex: presumably male 

hair color: dark, unknown 

eye color: (mostly) green

height: 160-165 cm 

abilities: Teleportation, mind control / mind break, unknown

Do not attempt to engage in combat, call for backup immediately! DO NOT ENGAGE IN COMBAT! ] 

A danger they didn’t know would be completely harmless, actually. 

Chapter Text

“Ugh…” 

Ranboo winced as he woke up from his sleep, where he had practically collapsed on his couch after facing the number one hero. 

His head was an aching mess, and he could definitely feel copper at the back of his throat. His nose also felt dry, meaning there was definitely some dried blood there that was cracking his skin in an incredibly irritating way. 

“Oh god…”

It felt like a hangover, which had never been the case before- Ranboo could now tell why Blade was the internationally ranked number one hero, even if he had never seen the man in action. 

It was currently about five thirty am, which meant that he would have to open the shop in about half an hour… 

…

Right.

Right.

“Shit.” 

~~~ 

“Ranboo! Glad you’re here!” 

Niki have him a smile, and Ranboo smiled back, although only ever so slightly. Niki didn’t mind though, simply disappearing to the back to finish up whatever business there was. 

‘…I’m tired.’

It was five minutes before opening time, and Ranboo, to say the least, looked like he had crawled out of a coffin just to open the store. His eyelids felt like they were glued shut every time he blinked, and he was pretty sure that the motivation needed to open his eyes would be enough for a scientist to cure cancer. 

He sighed, setting the freshly baked goods into the window and organizing everything. At some point, Ranboo unlocked the door, turning the small sign on the door to signal that the store was open, before returning behind the counter and leaning onto the counter. Being tired was a curse, he was sure. 

Rannoo straightened up when the doorbell jingled at exactly 06:05. A mop of pink hair, a dark red coat, and gold accessories. Red eyes. 

The man doesn’t even bother to walk to the counter anymore, and Ranboo doesn’t ask for his order, whipping up an Americano and the velvet cake immediately. 

It was surprising how fast he could get used to things and make it a part of his routine, but it was a characteristic that Ranboo was particularly proud of. Adaptability was a good trait after all. 

A click, and he set the two plates down in front of the man, who was reading his newspaper with a gaze more tired than usual. 

Ranboo was glad to see that he wasn’t the only one looking messed up right now, and that his newest routine customer was as tired as he was. Although, he had to admit, the pink haired man looked very handsome even though his face was tired and sluggish. 

His gaze lingered for a few seconds, before Ranboo turned back to the counter again. He sat down on the stool, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes briefly before opening them again as he felt a presence approaching the place he was at- the customer with his card in his hand. 

Ranboo stood up and grabbed it, sliding it through the machine and handing it back to the man, giving a faint smile. 

It was a bit weird, that they could have such a comfortable exchange without even uttering a singular word. 

~~~ 

“Investigations are being run right now. We still don’t have a lead.”

“This is exhausting..” 

Phil sighed, rubbing his temple and laying the file in his hand to the side. 

They had been running investigations on the mindbreaker for the past few days, but all their research ended in absolute nothing. Which either meant that the person they were looking for was a genius, or just happened to be incredibly low key.

“This makes me want to die… Techno, anything new?” 

“Nah.” 

Techno had recently come back from his training, evident from the sheen to his skin and the pumped muscles pulsing with every movement. He was dressed in a black tank and sweatpants, giving an effortlessly handsome, lazy look. 

Sometimes, Phil was jealous of how naturally handsome his friend was. 

“…I think this is the first time we’ve been as clueless as we are.”

“I suggest we let Tubbo launch his own search in this.”

“Wasn’t he busy with Tom’s suit? I don’t know…” 

Techno was dialing on his communicator anyways, deciding to ignore the words of his friend. With a few clicks, a message was sent, and a communicator in the basement started vibrating. 

Bzzzt, Bzzzt,- 

“What the fuck…”

Tubbo, who was approximately a hundred meters below the ground floor, messing around in the lab, looked at the communicator that was buzzing with an important message. 

The mechanic knew that it was either Phil, Techno or Tommy guessing by the fact that it was buzzing for so long, indicating that it was an important message, but he walked over with annoyance plaguing him anyway. 

Blade: [ Investigate Mindbreaker. I’ll owe you one. ] 

“Oh?” 

Investigating was a task that he wasn’t too fond of, but trading it for a favor from Techno? 

“Oh my..”

Giggling, he typed his answer in the communicator, replying to the hero as fast as he could. 

Hivemind: [ I’ll keep this in mind : ) I’ll lyk when I find something ^ ^ ] 

“Mindbreaker…”

The danger Rank of SS was something incredibly rare. 

The only people ranked with a danger rank of SS were Blade, Dream, Lady Death, Foolish and Ghost. 

Blade being of danger rank SS was reasonable. His superpower of immortality to induced death, along with him being a piglin hybrid rendered him incredibly strong. His physique was large and muscular, and his mental condition was insanely stable. 

Dream, ranked number two in the international ranks, also had a danger level of SS. His superpower of Instilling fear and lowering the opponents speed and strength was intimidating, and his physique and strength were also excellent. 

Lady Death was considered an omnipotent being. She possessed no physical body, unless she manifested one, and was immune to death. She could use her superpower to bring bad luck upon someone and change their entire fate. 

Foolish, similarly to the Blade, had an immunity to induced death. His physique was also impressive, and he was definitely on par with Dream, however, he didn’t participate in the ranking matches, so he wasn’t ranked at all. 

Ghost was an exception to being an SS ranked danger. He could be invisible with no presence and pass through any object, even deadly traps without triggering them at all. There was no space that was Ghost-proof. So, every and all information could be gathered. 

Tubbo himself was only at a danger level of A+. Since his super power could be interrupted, and had a cool down as well, he wouldn’t be as dangerous. And, on top of that, he was not as active on the field. He was only responsible for making the suits of others to match their superpowers and to be as durable as possible. So, in a way, he was the Hero Commission’s Mechanic. 

“Another workload, I see.” 

Chapter Text

The weekend was a great short moment where Ranboo was freed from work. Although he did work his good share during the business days, now, he was without any workloads and had no shop to open. 

He was left alone with his thoughts to rot away in his room, which, truth be told, wasn’t really that much better, but at least there were no customers to see which might die soon. 

Ranboo sighed, standing up from his bed, where he had been lying for a few hours, awake with nothing to do. 

His phone had been buzzing for quite a while, the mandatory notifications from villain attacks near his location going off. 

It was an annoying feature, but he did understand the principle behind it, so he didn’t even bother complaining. Even if he wouldn’t be put in danger, other people might be. 

A quick look out of his window on the 16th floor gave him a nice view of the poor buildings being damaged in the distance, and if he squinted his eyes a bit and focused, he could even tell which heroes were fighting which villains. In this case, it was the Mantis they were fighting, a villain of Danger Rank B, which wasn’t that dangerous, but could still do some damage. 

The heroes fighting her were Halo and Theseus, both having a ranking of B+. Together, one could tell they were a good matchup against the Mantis, and clearly out-performed her.

Booms and crashes could be heard, but Ranboo paid it no mind. Breakfast was way more of an issue right now. 

~~~ 

BOOM !

The Mantis shrieked as her back hit a wall, her eyes focused on the hero Halo.

She was well aware that Theseus was proving himself to be more of a danger, but Halo’s super power, Manual Control, prohibited her from paying any attention to the blond. 

Instead, he made sure her aggro was focused on himself, sticking himself to the wall next to her. He kicked her off immediately, before she could swipe at him with her clawed arms- or her claw arms? Her claws? 

Either way, she fell down, and Theseus took a swan dive from his position in the sky, his wings flapping once or twice right as they stopped his fall shortly before he hit the ground. 

“You know, I was enjoying my break? And they send me out because everyone else is busy lazing around?” 

It was obvious that Theseus seemed bothered by the situation, but she could still not pay any kind to any of his ramblings, her claws reaching for Halo’s neck. 

“Theseus, mind finishing this sooner?!” 

“Shut up! I’ve not slept a fucking hour!”

“Language!” 

And sooner or later, Mantis was cuffed, being dragged away by some people from the Hero Commission. Along with them, Phil had also come, looking around idly. 

“Y’know, Tommy- you should really work on your efficiency. I’m sure you could’ve finished this faster.” 

“I’m tired, man… I was hoping to eat today.” 

Phil sighed, his gaze once again sweeping the entire area. Everyone had been tired and on edge lately, especially since Techno had come back in a bad mood, and that entry had appeared right afterwards. 

“What has brought you here, Phil? I’m sure you didn’t just feel like patrolling.” 

“No, Darryl, sadly I’m not that motivated. I’m keeping an eye out for our newest unregistered.”

Both Tommy and Darryl tensed up at the mention of the newest unregistered, Mindbreaker. 

“Right. Any new clues yet?” 

Phil simply shook his head, rubbing his eyes which were adorned by an incredible pair of dark circles. He gave the two a short wave, before walking back towards the patrol car, his wings dragging behind him almost sadly. Tommy and Darryl looked at each other, before the blond took off flying back to the quarters, and the latter disappeared speedily on his feet as well. 

~~~

“Nothin’ this time either.”

Techno glanced at Phil as he entered, acknowledging what he said before once again looking at the files in his hand. 

The pink haired man was laying on the sofa in a pair of grey sweatpants, loosely tied and showing his Adonis’ belt. His shirt had been discarded at some time during the night, so his glorious torso was exposed and shining under the light of the sun, which was coming in through the large glass wall. 

“…Who’d think the number one hero in the world was in my office half naked.” 

“Fuck off. It’s like… 97 degrees right now.” 

(36 Degrees celcius.)

To be honest, nobody would mind the view of a broad and sculpted body, illuminated by the sun as if it was chiseled by the masters in the renaissance, but Phil did mind, since his own body had long retired from its prime.

“There’s no reason for you to be as huge and ripped as you are. Don’t show off you prick.”

“Jealous old man.”

“Of course!!” 

They had both been stressed about the recent situation, so it felt nice to have banter like this. Phil felt like he had developed anxiety over this past month now, and it has not been doing him good. 

“When was the last time you even worked out?”

“Like… yesterday?” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, no shit, I wasn’t born like this, geezer.”

“I’m like, 35. Relax.” 

“That’s still fucking old?” 

“Yeah right, at least I have a wife. You’re still a virgin.” 

Techno rolled his eyes, grabbing a pen from the table and circling some things and adding a few words here and there, like a responsible boss would. 

“This is so irrelevant. Like actually.”

“Big muscle boy has never had a girlfriend. Boohoo.” 

Techno lifted an eyebrow, finally looking up from the files he was reading, to judgmentally glance at Phil. 

~~~

Rrring, rrring- 

Ranboo looked at his phone, ringing continuously as he read the contact name over and over again. 

The contact which was calling was saved as “Skeppy”, and well. 

It didn’t sound menacing. Nor did it have a particularly bad meaning. 

It’s just that Ranboo disliked being contacted by Skeppy, is all. Every time the man contacted him, Ranboo always ended up in something he rather wouldn’t have. 

With a sigh, he leaned over the table and grabbed the phone, which was a throwaway for these kinds of situations. 

With a beep, the incoming call was accepted, and he held the flip phone to his ear, immediately wincing at the voice. 

[Rainn! Whatcha doin!] 

“Just tell me.” 

The man’s excited voice was cut off, and Skeppy hummed. Ranboo could faintly hear the sound of some papers being flipped, which he assumed to be documents. 

[See, Rain, I got a call from HBomb recently..] 

“HBomb? It’s been a while since I heard that name… It wasn’t Lannan or Vikram? Why Hbomb of all people?” 

Usually, Lannan, also known as Lazar publicly, was the one to deliver any cases and missions to Skeppy, who was a middle man. If Lazar couldn’t do it, Vik did, which made him the middle man of the middle man. 

But, for Liam to do it, meant that the order came somewhere deep from underground, as neither Lazar nor Vik could deliver it.

[Yeah. And I’d rather be safe than sorry, so I called you. I’m sure you’ll get the job done! So, mind doing me a little, little favo-] 

“Skeppy, you’re aware that I quit this.”

[And I’m sure you’re aware the Hero Commission is on the search for you right now?] 

The hand that was gripping the phone tightened, and Ranboo clenched his jaw before giving the phone such an accusatory stare, as if the man in the other line would be able to see. 

“…Say what?” 

[Bad’s been letting me mingle, and I see a file of some unregistered, 5’2 with green eyes that can teleport and has some sort of Mindbreak power, danger rank SS? I knew it was you by the description. So I’m pretty sure you owing me one goes without saying.]

“…You didn’t tell me sooner?”

[Be happy I told you at all! Now please just get the job done before I actually die by the hands of Michael! HBomb said that if this doesn’t succeed he’ll have my ass.] 

Ranboo, who stayed silent, bit his lip and looked out the window, where the sun was starting to set. 

“…I’m on the way. If this isn’t finished by tonight, I’m doubling the headcount fee.”

[No way you mindfuc-!] 

With another beep, Ranboo hung up, and his stride was headed towards the closet, where a box full of clothes he didn’t think he’d wear again was pulled out. 

Chapter Text

The door opened without a sound, and Ranboo's steps didn't falter as he entered the underground office, where a man in a bright, turqoise suit was sitting.

"You still haven't gotten rid of that tacky suit?"

"I'd like to remind you it costs more than your annual rent, but let's cut to the chase please."

Ranboo sat down on the opposite side of Skeppy, who was going through files with a tired look on his face. The man picked out a few, handing them to Ranboo one by one until a total of seven files landed in his pale hands.

"Seven targets, five grand for each head. The location and their schedule is stated. All I can ask of you now is that you ought not to get caught."

"Are they important people or something? For you to offer me thirty-five grand when you take like, seventy percent of the cut."

Skeppy only handed him another file, clad in a red folder which had multiple eyesores on it, reading all kinds of words like 'Confidential', 'Top Secret', and even more that looked like they were about to jump him- And after reading it, Ranboo was pretty sure he was dealing with some sort of political hostages that the Hero Commission was trying to get rid of, but couldn't legally.

"This was put on you by the Hero Commission?"

"How did you think I got Halo to let me mingle in their little files? He owed me for taking up this horrendous job that nobody was willing to take?"

"Yeah, adds up..."

Skeppy and Ranboo weren't close by any means. The only times they really communicated was when the former gave him any commissions to take on that the other merceneries weren't up for. But, after Ranboo had quit that job a few years ago, they had completely lost contact, other than the burner phone that Skeppy still had saved.

Although they didn't enjoy each other's presence, both still felt some sort of comfort in the fact that the other had ended up in the same shitty style of life, one way or another, and that they had both been stuck in that shithole. Now, both Skeppy and Ranboo had gained control over their lives, and they dug themselves out of those six foot graves that the underworld was.

But, even if it was in the past, the underworld and its boney, old and dusty hands would always have their grasp on you. It would always manage to drag you back exactly where you came from, because it was etched into your life, and those scars certainly wouldn't leave.

While Skeppy didn't mind occasionally mingling in the affairs of the underworld, Ranboo had tried as hard as he could to stray away from it. Lately, it had all been coming back to him though. Death, agony and torture had made their way back into his routine, even if by accident.

"I'm sure Lya or Vurb could have found someone for the job. I don't think it has to be me, you know..."

"I told you, I'd rather be safe than sorry. You're the only one where I can actually guarantee that you'll get it done. Thanks ahead, but I have somewhere to be, so if you will excuse me, dude."

"Whatever you say, man..."

~~~

[A sick leave? Sure, but are you alright? You've never been sick before, Ranboo, I'm kind of worried now...]

"I'm alright, I just don't want to get anybody else sick. I'll be back to open the day after."

[Alright... Get well soon, Ranboo...]

Ranboo sighed as the call ended, his eyes set on the key dangling near his door. 

He didn’t remember the last time he had needed this thing, although it couldn’t have been that long ago. Ranboo grabbed it nevertheless, walking out of his apartment door towards the parking lot, where his trusted friend sat. 

Trusted friend, in this case, being a sleek black motorcycle wrapped in a matte finish. Back when he had still been in this kind of business, Ranboo had used this thing a lot, but now, at daytime, it drew more attention than it averted it, so the parking lot had become its residence for a few months.

His helmet was on, and straddling the bike, he turned it up, revving it a few times before it disappeared into the distance. 

~~~

Having parked the motorcycle, Ranboo removed the helmet from his head, walking towards an unfamiliar apartment building. Ignoring the elevator, he walked up the stairs, all the way up to the roof, where there was no railing to keep anybody from flying off. 

“Alright.” 

The case that was strapped to his back was removed as well, set down onto the floor and clicked open. 

Inside the black case there were a multitude of things.

Firstly, there was his main weapon. The R93 Tactical is a German sniper rifle, designed by Blaser Jagdwaffen. It is based on the Blaser R93 hunting rifle, but has a detachable magazine, muzzle brake and fully adjustable stock.

Safe to say he needed this. 

Then, there was also a set of binoculars, a notebook, a map-out of the area, a radio connected to Skeppy, ammunition, and a sidearm.

The notebook contained most of the information he needed to know in order to complete this mission successfully. The map-out served the purpose of quickly finding hiding spots, and marked out the places he would surely find his targets in. 

The radio was the most important piece. 

Skeppy, who was also stationed near the building containing the targets, was his second pair of eyes. 

Any person, vehicle or object leaving, entering or staying in the premises of his mission would be under Skeppy‘s surveillance. Assistance would be provided by the group under his command, however only if needed. 

“Area clear?”

[Two groups of security personnel. First target A1, clear. Get ready to aim.] 

The difficulty in this mission was the amount of targets that Ranboo had to wipe out. 

They all had to be wiped out in a short time span, which left no frame where backup could be called, or he could potentially be spotted. If it did come to a standoff, Ranboo’s priority would be escaping and taking out the rest of the targets as swiftly as possible. 

“I’m aiming, ten seconds until I wipe.” 

Ranboo’s breathing was calm and regulated as his position on laying the ground shifted slightly, his aim as accurate as can be. 

9.

8.

7.

[No dangers under my radar. Permission granted.] 

3.

2.

“Drawing blood.”

1.

[Fire.] 

0. 

A silenced bang, a bullet straight through the head, and without even checking whether he was dead or not, Ranboo got up and switched sides, once again setting up his weapon.

[Fifteen seconds. Target A2, clear. Get ready to aim.] 

“Huuu….”

It wasn’t that cold, but Ranboo’s breath left smoke in the air. His eyes were sharp, set on his target. So were the optic and muzzle. 

[A2, clear. Permission granted.] 

“…Headshot.” 

Slight recoil, and Ranboo’s finger hesitated, before he got up and switched positions again. 

He could feel discomfort rising in his body at the fact that he was once again doing this. He would much rather be at work right now. A bakery was a much more comfortable environment than whatever this was. 

“…Asking for permission on target A3.” 

[Target A3, clear. Permission granted.] 

Contrary to what Skeppy was thinking, Ranboo wasn’t satisfied with this performance. 

If only he was in his prime, he’d have finished this in thirty seconds…

But, after all, it was his own decision to leave it behind. That prime of his was no longer a high he was chasing.

“Another man down.”

Ranboo could hear some commotion on the other side of the radio, and he clicked his tongue.

[Rain, switching position. Go to building blue.] 

“Roger that…”

Making sure his body was touching his suitcase too, he teleported, landing on the roof of the building next to him. 

“Aiming at target B1. Ready to shoot.” 

[Fire!]

He briefly wondered if Skeppy had gotten into a fight, but not at all caring, he continued to take down the targets. Three more to go.

The fifth one also went down as uneventfully as the previous ones.

[Rain, tight security on B3! Move behind.]

“Yess...”

Bang. 

[The last one! Hurry up, man!] 

“I’d tell you to kill yourself too, but you owe me 35 grand.” 

Ranboo repositioned himself, his optic set on the last target of the day. He was glad to finally have it done.

This would be his last. Surely. 

“All seven, dished out for you. My part of the deal is done. See ya.” 

[Don’t just leav-!] 

Stepping on the radio as hard as he could, Ranboo walked off, leaving it smashed in pieces. Another side gig finished, money acquired, and mood ruined. 

“I’d kill for a brownie right now…”

Chapter Text

“Oh my god…” 

Skeppy remembered why he never used to like working with Rain. All his efforts felt like they definitely weren’t worth it for all the trouble that the other left behind, but still, he had gotten the job done. It didn’t matter. Yeah…

“Retreat. We’re done here.” 

All the people under his command which were stationed in the area slowly retreated, and Skeppy himself was also back in the car, removing himself from the scene. 

Grabbing his phone, he went to quick dial, and soon enough, his phone was ringing, waiting for the person on the other line to pick up. 

Click.

[Hello?] 

“It’s done. Hope that was all you needed from me..” 

[That quickly?] 

Well, even back in the day, any job involving Rain was finished in no time.

[Well, actually , I was going to ask you to investigate something.] 

Skeppy sighed. He really liked Darryl, and he’d shoot himself in the head for his friend, surely.

But, he had an idea about what exactly he was going to be investigating. And he didn’t think he, or his target was going to like it.

“I can’t do that, man. I’m sorry.” 

[…] 

Because, the guy he was supposed to investigate was obviously the guy he was helping not to be investigated. 

[I doubt it would be helpful anyway. We have basically nothing. But let me know if you find anything, yeah?] 

“Sure, man. See you later, I’m kinda busy escaping a crime scene.” 

[Pff- alright. Thanks, again.] 

“Always.”

~~~ 

“I just got the report. It’s all finished up.”

Darryl looked at Phil, who nodded. 

Originally, this mission had been put on the underground agents of the Hero Commission. But, after confirming the risks, they had decided to take care of it in a more… unconventional way.

“You’re sure they can be trusted? This can’t be getting out to the public.” 

“I’m confident .”

Phil sighed, one worry finally off his mind. He had been feeling stress that felt like death lately, and even if it was a smaller matter, it made him feel slightly less like dying. 

“I’ll let Techno know. Has Tubbo reported anything?” 

“No sightings. Still barren lands.” 

“Seriously..”

Phil just nodded, standing up and walked towards the halls. Darryl nodded back, grabbing the door and closing it behind the man. 

While taking the elevator to the highest floor, Phil couldn’t help but want to jump off, then realizing that with wings, that’d be an inconvenient attempt.

With a ding, the elevator opened, and his stride was headed towards the last door at the end of the corridor- Techno’s office. 

Sparing himself the knock, he just opened the door, ignoring the curious glance of his friend, who was sitting at the desk with his glasses on. 

“…What could have possibly made you come here, geezer.” 

“My feet , presumably.”

Seating himself down on the sofa, the blond sighed, massaging his nose bridge. He could already feel the incoming headache. 

“Great joke. The mission was a success, seeing how you’re not dying on the floor?” 

“Yeah. Although our priority case is going nowhere.”

At that, Techno hummed. In his hands, there was a file, and he stood up, walking over to Phil and handing him the bundle of papers. 

“See, I’ve been looking at this . Tell me what you think.”

Phil grabbed the file he was handed, his eyes scanning over the document.

It contained different species that could teleport, and two were circled with a large red pen. Endermen, and Enderlings.

The difference between Endermen and Enderlings isn’t that big- well, physically . 

Enderlings were much more common, for one. Their ability to teleport had a limited range of five meters, and Enderlings were hypersensitive creatures. Enderlings had the incredible handicap of being deathly allergic to water and ice. They were about as strong as an adult man, so there was not much difference to a human other than it’s teleportation ability. Their ranking was pretty ordinary. 

Endermen on the other hand, were a rare species. Difficult to stumble upon, and held important positions due to their natural superiority.

Endermen had a range of ten to twenty meters for their teleport, and they could teleport other people and objects along with them. They also had an incredible fire resistance, meaning they could touch thousands of degrees celcius with no repercussions. Their sensitivity to water was also way less intense compared to Enderlings. 

Their trademark were their eyes, with an unusual purple glow. They did tend to avoid eye contact, but, the color and shine of it was mesmerizing. 

Their bodies were thin, but incredibly strong and sturdy. Their abilities were amazing even without superpowers, so depending on what their powers were, they were walking raw power. 

“Enderman fits the most, but….”

“Our suspect doesn’t have purple eyes.”

The purple eyes were a thing that all endermen had. 

Of course, in actuality, there were also green eyed Endermen. Those with green eyes possessed the ability of mind corrosion, but, after many years, they had gone extinct. Ranboo just so happened to have inherited that recessive gene, and displayed it incredibly strongly.

“This is confusing…”

“Enderlings’ eye color isn't specifically purple. This might be more of what we’re looking for, no?” 

“I’m not sure.” 

Techno had seen the short moment of combat between the Rainy Ripper and the Mindbreaker. In his eyes, the unregistered didn’t seem like someone who simply had the strength of an Enderling. There was a definitely larger, looming threat of that person, and even if there wasn’t… 

An Enderling couldn’t possibly have had the power to suppress the voices. 

“…There has to be something we don’t know about.” 

“Well… We have to wait until he shows some activity. The next time you see him, Techno, try to engage a bit. The more we know… the better.” 

“I’m not so sure about that… But don’t you dare try to fight him, got it? You’ve got a wife waiting at home.”

Phil smiled, patting his friend on the back. 

“Sure, mate. A nice way of telling me you’re still single.”

“I hope that guy corrodes your brain. Like, seriously.”

Chapter Text

“Ranboo! I’m so glad to have you back!” 

At Niki’s gentle smile, Ranboo couldn’t help but give one back, his mood lifted a bit. Finally, his life was getting back into order. None of the bad stuff. 

“Hi, Niki. I’ll be opening, like always.”

“Thank god! I can't stand Trent. Somehow, he scared all customers away when opening. One guy came in, saw Trent, and literally left!”

“Pfffaaha- no way…”  

“No, really!”

They kept chatting a bit as Ranboo tied the apron around his waist and started preparing to open. The baked goods were out on display, and it was almost time to open up, when Ranboo felt his phone ring. 

“Oh, sorry- one moment.”

Who could this be?

The number was unknown. With a hum, Ranboo went to the back, clicking on the accept button, raising the device to his ear. 

“Hello?”

[Good Morning, am I speaking to Ranboo Beloved?] 

“…Yes?”

[I have a cash transfer of 35.000$ pending from the Diamond Axe office. This call is private and is not recorded. How may I help you receive the money?]

Right. That. 

He had, honestly, completely forgotten the money he was supposed to get.

“Just.. hard cash. I’ll pick it up. Later today.”

[Alright, thank you for your time! We will be awaiting your arrival!] 

With a click, he hung up. He would be surprised at the fact that Skeppy had found his phone number so quickly, but knowing just how efficiently the man worked, it did make sense. Especially, knowing he had connections in the Hero Commission. 

He returned back to the front, where Niki had finished up and was getting ready to leave. When she saw him come back, she gave a thumbs up, before putting on her coat and leaving the store.

“…Well.”

05:56. He could open the store now. 

Ranboo stepped to the door, turning around the sign so that the side with ‘open’ written on it faced the outside. Humming, he went back to the counter, leaving against it with closed eyes. 

This.

This was the life he was supposed to be living. Not violence, it was this. Like everybody else, he was supposed to go to work, earn money, and occasionally spend it on himself.

This was how regular people lived. Normal people. 

“…Normal.”

Because Ranboo was normal.

He was normal. 

The little bell above the door jingled, and Ranboo opened his eyes, looking at the pink haired man.

That means it was 06:05. 

The man however, didn’t sit down, instead walking up to the counter. 

“Some people will be joining me soon. I’d like my usual order with some menus.” 

Ranboo nodded, simply preparing the americano and the velvet cake. It was done in no time, and set on the table where the man sat. Along with that, Ranboo placed down three menus, before returning to his original spot. 

‘It’s all gone back to normal…’ 

~~~ 

“Alright. What are we supposed to be here for, big guy?” 

The person who had just sat down opposite of Techno was Luke. His blond hair looked a bit disheveled, and his eyebags were prominent. 

“Is the association still slaving you around?” 

“Obviously.”

Luke worked under the Hero Commission, just like Techno and Phil, and all the other heroes. 

But, Luke did not work as a hero. 

He was deployed in the Heroes Association Secret Intelligence Service, also known as HASIS, which was a side branch of the Hero Commission. Under their command, Luke collected information that flowed into their database, which could be accessed by people with certain clearance. 

“Eret is on his way. He is still busy with Rouge.”

Luke had the superpower of information gathering. Although it sounded simple, it was more complicated than one might think.

His memory was boosted by his power, and he could also pick up on details that most people wouldn’t notice. His brain supplied him with knowledge on almost every topic, so his nickname at some point had been pocket detective. 

And Eret had the superpower ‘Mastermind’. 

Motives of criminals and villains could easily be seen through by Eret, and he could track back to where crimes started, and how they proceeded. 

This made Luke and Eret an awfully good combo, and they were some of the most important members of the HASIS, next to Callahan, Velvet, Ant, Fundy and Ghost.

“I’m here not as your friend today, but as your superior, Punz.”

Luke halted, raising his eyebrow.

“The commission has ordered the HASIS to make Mindbreaker their top priority from now on. And I want you, and Eret, specifically, to report to me. Got it?” 

“…Well, it’s not like I can outright refuse. But, you do have to know, Callahan is currently out of order.” 

Around a month ago, in a fight against a villain, both of the heroes Bluedrop and Dewdrop had been severely injured, and Callahan along with Velvet had gotten some of the shock as well. 

Velvet recovered quickly, but Callahan was still unable to go back to work. 

“It’s alright. I just want you to know what your focus has to be from now on.” 

Inside his pocket, Luke could feel his phone vibrating. He pulled it out, clicking the accept button and raising the phone to his ear. 

“Eret?” 

[This isn’t finishing anytime soon. Tell Techno that I can’t come, will you?] 

“Alright..” 

Luke raised his eyes to meet Techno’s, who surely had heard. The man simply nodded, exhaling sharply. 

“Just fill him in on the topic. It’s alright.” 

The rest, Techno would handle himself. 

Chapter Text

“I’ll be paying.” 

The pink haired man handed his card to the barista, and Ranboo took it, sliding it through the machine and thanking him for his visit like he always did, every morning. 

The blond man accompanying bid him farewell nicely, and Ranboo smiled as they walked away. 

Truth be told, Ranboo hadn’t expected the man to have friends of sorts, considering his temperament every time he came into this bakery, but as it turns out, he did have friends. Or a friend. Maybe just one, but Ranboo wasn’t one to judge . 

“…Hum.” 

The day went on, time passed in a blur to Ranboo, and before he knew it, his shift had come to an end. 

He briefly considered walking to the store and grabbing some things, but if he was honest, Ranboo would rather rot away in his bed and not make the extra effort, so he decided oh-so painfully against it. And having made such an important, life changing decision, he made his way home slowly through the chilly park. 

Chilly, not as in mood, but truly , he meant the temperature. It was incredibly cold today, and he was glad he had grabbed his thicker coat today. 

It was almost November, so the weather was bound to get colder and colder, and Ranboo really didn’t mind- but he had yet to adjust to the change in temperature. 

His keys jingled in his hand as he unlocked the door, took off his shoes and coat, and closed the door behind him. This effectively blocked out the immense cold, only leaving the regular cold.

Great.  

He would have been grumpy about it for a bit longer if he didn’t notice the letter on his table. A letter that definitely hadn’t been there before he left the house for work. 

…

“What the fuck?” 

He walked to his table, grabbing the envelope curiously. 

No sender, address, or even his address on it. 

That either meant he wrote this letter and forgot, the letter delivered itself, or it was delivered by someone who knew where he lived. And, as much as he would have loved to believe the first two options, the most likely one just so happened to be the one he wanted the least. 

He opened it, curious as to what was inside, but to his surprise, the letter wasn’t a threat, a bill, nor a customer complaint. 

It was a letter, written in perfect handwriting, and coded. Coded in a way only a few people would know. This was a letter that could only be addressed to him.

{ Rain,

I am sure you remember who I am. It is not easy to forget your benefactor.

I wish to ask you for a great favor, which I believe you can accomplish. 

I am in the depths of the hero's prison, yet I seek freedom for I have been locked up unjust.

Will you repay the kindness you’ve been given? 

Edward. } 

“…”

Ranboo briefly contemplated sending a letter containing the words ‘no.’, and sending it as it is, but that thought was wiped from his mind quickly. 

Edward. 

A person he was greatly indebted to. 

Edward was the person who had shown him the ropes when he had first been sold into the underworld.

He had helped him get out of the arenas, had lent him money, patched him up and saved him multiple times throughout his younger days in the field. A person Ranboo owed his life to.

But…

What he was being asked to do was nothing short of a death sentence. 

How did he even manage to send a letter when he was stuck inside such a high security prison?? If he had the means to be penpalling, he was sure he also had the means to get out. 

‘But it doesn’t seem that way…’ 

If he did, he wouldn’t have asked for his help, no? And, there was no reason for Edward to be lying. 

Unless, of course, he was lying for no reason. But he doubted that anyway. 

Weighing his choices, Ranboo sighed. Even if he really didn’t want to, it was something he somehow had to, considering his relationship with Edward.

Yes. 

Ranboo is a regular person, and regular people help people in need because that’s a normal and nice thing to do.

And Ranboo was going because it was a nice thing to do. 

Yes. 

Totally. 

Not because he was ridden with guilt and would rather die than owing someone a favor. Obviously not. 

~~~

Now, one might be wondering why exactly Ranboo was once again sitting on his couch, instead of epically fighting somewhere in the city and heroically (ironic) freeing his friend from the grasps of the heroes.

Well, that was because Ranboo was, frankly, not sure of how exactly he was supposed to be doing that. 

With a history of assassination, fighting rings, homicides and a bunch of other felonies, one would think that this was a common occurrence. 

But, not even Ranboo had been nuts enough to crawl into a space with the highest security, bustling with not only the strongest heroes, but also the strongest villains . 

To go in there on your own volition was a different type of ‘have you lost your mind’.

But, since Ranboo did in fact have a few loose screws, he was going to attempt it- attempting being the keyword in this situation.

Teleport in, trigger the alarm, find Edward in a mess of other cells, grab him, and dip. 

That was about as creative as he had gotten in the past thirty minutes of slowly decaying into his couch. 

But, if it was that easy, Edward would have escaped on his own. 

Multiple factors were to be considered in such a mission. Such as, 

1. What heroes would come to face him?
2. How fast would they react? 
3. Can he even fight against them? 
4. Is there a guarantee he can find Edward? 
5. If he doesn’t succeed, can he escape? 
6. And also many more. 

“…Aw man..”

And, of course, in such a situation, there is only one thing that he could possibly do. 

Stop the mission. Well, no, actually, it’s to put the burden on someone else.

Why think when someone else can do it for you? 

Beep…, Beep…, Beep…,Click- 

“Hey, Skeppy?”

Chapter Text

For Ranboo to receive a call from Skeppy? Sure, could happen. But for Skeppy, to receive a call from Ranboo? One in a lifetime thing. 

So, right now, for Skeppy to be looking at his phone ringing with an unsaved number that he knew was Rains… 

A shudder went down his spine, wondering if he was about to get killed… 

Click. 

“…Yelloe?” 

[Hey, Skeppy?] 

Alrighty, that was definitely Rain.

“Hhhiiii….”

A certain type of nervousness took over his body, and cold sweat seemed to gather on his back. What was he about to be put onto? 

[Can you get me into the Heroes Association Prison?] 

…

What the fuck? 

“..What makes you think I of all people could get you into the HAP?”

[…You can’t?] 

See, if there’s one thing that Skeppy wasn’t, it was a liar. Except that was a lie , and he’s definitely a liar, but he wouldn’t lie right now. 

“…I never said that, but still. You can’t just, expect me to do that?” 

[So… Is Saturday good?]

“Friday.” 

[No??? I’m off work that day. You think I’d waste a day off like this…] 

Skeppy resisted the urge to sigh, held it back and collected himself to his best, knowing he’d probably need a sand bag to beat right when this call would be over. 

“…You’ll owe me for this, you know that, right?” 

[Don’t fuck with me, if anyone owes anything, it’s the other way around. I remember like, three favors you owe me.] 

That, he couldn’t deny. The probability that Skeppy owed Rain was way higher than the other. But still, he felt somewhat offended at the fact that he’d be smuggling someone into the HAP for free. 

“Shit, I hate you.” 

[Chop chop, boy. I’ll meet you at yours on Saturday.] 

“I hope you have an aneurysm on my doorstep.” 

[I hope you slowly die of diabetes.]  

And with another click, he was hung up on. He’d have paid more attention to the fact that it was the nth time this had happened recently, but the fact that he was supposed to break into the HAP was bothering him a bit more right now. 

He had known that accepting that call would do him no good.

~~~ 

Ranboo rarely took days off. 

Friday, for instance, was an exception. 

Today was Friday, and he had taken this day off for a good reason. 

On this very exciting day off, Ranboo was preparing. For what exactly could Ranboo be preparing for?

Putting on his suit, Ranboo was stretching idly. 

The suit he had just put on was made of great, stretchy material, so even when it stuck to his skin like this, he could be as flexible as he wanted to be. 

The black material didn’t shine even under the brightest light, and made no noise when his limbs rubbed against each other, or his feet touched the ground when walking, so he saved this suit only for important events.

Right now, he was warming up for the mission he was going on tomorrow.

‘Oh, you should never warm up too early!’

Wrong. Ranboo was going to go through everything he would possibly be doing multiple times. 

There’s never a thing such as over preparing.

Martial arts wasn’t something that he was well versed in, since with his physical ability and instincts, it would be unnecessary. He focused on maximizing his abilities and super power in order to overwhelm his opponents. 

In close combat, Ranboo couldn’t use his usual weapon which he used for his assassinations, for rather obvious reasons. But, instead of switching and getting a close combat weapon, he opted for punches and kicks, which instinctually came to him. 

“Huuuu…” 

He loosened his joints with a few swings here and there, flipping around in the room. His body felt light, as usual, and made it very easy for him to move as he wanted to. 

And, along with the suit, there were no other sensations bothering him on his body, which could potentially distract him or get stuck anywhere. So, right now, he was in an optimal state. 

He had already planned everything for himself. The rest, he would be leaving to Skeppy. And although he hated to be entrusting his safety to someone like this, it had to be done. 

Because Ranboo repaid the favors that he owed. 

Always. 

~~~ 

And somewhere, a guard in front of a large, far away building felt his ear itch annoyingly.

“Somehow, I feel like something bad is about to happen…” 

“Don’t jinx it, dude..” 

Chapter Text

Saturday had come. Ranboo had woken up at four in the morning, before the sun had risen, once again putting on the obsidian colored suit and loosening up. 

It was the day where he was willingly walking into the tigers’ den to rescue an old friend. Bustling with heroes and villains of all kinds he would have to face in the worst case scenario.

Soon, he was at the doorstep of the underground base that Skeppy owned, entering the place. He chuckled every time he came here, thinking about just how much of an edgelord Skeppy was, making a base like this, similar to those in crime movies. 

“You have a visitor, blockhead.” 

Skeppy, clad in a different teal colored tuxedo, was already sitting at a computer, surrounded by all kinds of papers and empty coffee cups.

Skeppy sighed, pointing to the stack of papers to the left of him. 

“ These are what you need.” 

Ranboo already knew what those were- it was a file of the layout of the HAP, what kind of villains were locked up, and exactly where they were locked up. 

This was important information. And, unfortunately for Ranboo, the person he was looking to rescue just happened to be in the very far back, on the second underground floor. 

“...Delightful.” 

~~~ 

[Rain, do you copy?] 

“Yup.” 

The HAP was located in the outskirts, far away from civilization. With a car, it would take around three hours to reach any sort of person while driving a hundred km/h. On foot, from twenty four hours up to thirty six. 

If it was Ranboo, he could make it in less than two hours, and with the use of his teleportation, in an hour. 

But, this was still a fatal issue. After having gotten Edward out of the prison, they were still in an open area, meaning they had to escape for an hour nonstop, from heroes in the top ranks and alike.

In this case, even Ranboo was unsure if he would succeed. 

[You’re almost there. You’re equipped?]

“Yes.” 

Truth is, Skeppy was currently still in his base. It would have been a stupid idea for him to come along as well. While Skeppy was definitely not weak, his strength did not lie in combat.

Skeppy’s superpower had a simple premise: turning his body into diamond and being able to manipulate it. 

But, it served more as a defense mechanism than it did as a weapon. Not only did Skeppy lack the explosive power to hurt anyone with it, he lacked speed, dexterity, stamina and worst of all, once his focus was lost, all the diamonds on his body would shatter. 

In the end, it was better for him to stay behind and use his brains. Ranboo had enough brawn to be taking care of things on his own. 

[No matter how many times I witness it, your speed is truly amazing. 238 Kilometers per hour.] 

“Using a vehicle would be pointless. I gotta do what I’ve got to do, hm?” 

Ranboo had the option of either driving or running there, but considering the fact that he’d have to escape along with Edward, he figured a vehicle would be none but an obstacle. 

“Besides, Edward’s teleportation is good enough to keep up with me.” 

It was his superpower. He could teleport a hundred meters in a single teleport, and consecutively. If Ranboo just pushed him from behind occasionally, the chance of getting caught was low. 

If it does come to confrontation, Ranboo would make sure to be keeping every hero busy enough so that Edward could escape. 

Combat was the one thing he could do well, after all. 

[Estimating five minutes until arrival. Slow down and conceal yourself.] 

“Consider that done.” 

The HAP had a sensor running twenty kilometres around the premises to detect any movements. If Ranboo just waltzed there, he’d be noticed too fast. 

[Four guards at the entrance. Heavily armed, all have tanking superpowers. Two ravager hybrids and two iron golems.] 

Ravagers with incredibly tough skin and horsepower of a walking hurricane, and iron golems with the defense of steel. 

On the other side, Skeppy’s heart was beating. It was the first time he genuinely felt that Rain’s life would be in danger. 

It had been a long time since he last felt this kind of fear. 

Chapter Text

“I can see the building.” 

Frankly, it was hard to miss. A huge building that was made of obsidian, with prison towers, bursting with guards, and exuding a terrifying aura. 

‘Indomitable Fortress’ is what it was known as in the underworld. A place that was hard to enter, and even harder to exit. 

A prison with not a singular known prison break. 

“But that will change today..” 

Once again upping his speed, Ranboo charged . 

BOOM! 

With a loud sound similar to that of a car crash, two guards were knocked into the sturdy walls they were guarding. The other two couldn’t even see what had attacked them, standing still and looking around. 

“Alarm-!” 

But, before he could finish what he was saying, the iron golem’s mouth was fed a fist, knocking out at least a dozen of his teeth.

With a spinning kick, the last of the guards was also delivered to death’s door, barely alive. 

“Entering.” 

[Wow, haha… fuck.]

Skeppy somehow felt bad for the guards that had done nothing wrong, but sadly, life didn’t care whether you were innocent or not. 

Or rather, Rain didn’t care whether you were innocent or not. 

Ranboo had already climbed over the ten meter tall walls, jumping inside. He could see the large prison grounds, where the villains were currently lining up to be counted and checked. His time of arrival was calculated to be done right when this would happen. 

And there, he could see his target. 

“…Edward.”

The man was standing there while a hero checked him, and his gaze slowly went up, locking eyes with Ranboo. A faint smile grazed his lips.

“What are you laughing at, 204?” 

Edward closed his eyes, the faint smile fading from his lips just as fast as it had appeared. He shook his head. 

“…just ticklish . ”

But right at that moment, all lights in the prison changed color, and the entire surrounding area turned crimson red. 

An ear piercing alarm sounded.

{ D A N G E R!   I N T R U S I O N!  D A N G E R! } 

“Haa… Fuck.”

The entire premises were chaotic, and a sheer, blue glowing barrier made its presence known. It surrounded the entire prison, and Ranboo was sure it wouldn’t be easy to get rid of. 

[That’s Velvet. You need to knock him out if you want to get out of here.]

“… Sure.”  

Ranboo watched as all the prisoners vanished, disappearing into thin air. Large scale abduction, hero Purpled. An emergency evacuation method deployed by the Hero Association. 

{ D A N G E R!  I N T R U S I O N!  D A N G E R! } 

“Shut this thing up, will you?”  

[Easier said than done…]

Ranboo moved, his feet idly taking him inside the building. Even before he could blink, there were multiple bodies jumping onto him. 

POW! 

The body splattered into green substance, before recollecting itself and shaping into a body. 

Some of it was sticking to his fist and arms, limiting his movements. 

Not minding, Ranboo struck another body coming towards him, stepping on the green core that was rolling on the floor, which had come from inside the slime clone. 

“Augh..!” 

The one in the very far back let out a groan. Ranboo recognised the main body immediately, rushing to take care of the other clones. 

[Slimecicle. Weakness is fire. Rank A.] 

Ranboo simply kept punching, letting the adrenaline of his superpower course through his body. The rush was making itself obvious as his limbs felt lighter, his punches felt loose and his senses heightened. 

The slime bodies weren’t stupid, blocking his punches with limbs that they could regenerate.

But, Ranboo didn’t really care, simply increasing the output of his strength, now effectively splattering the entire body into pieces with a single hit. 

The hero, noticing the difference in power, quickly raised the amount of slime clones. 

“Don’t think I’m letting you in so easily.” 

Ranboo would have loved to reply, but was unfortunately busy with the twenty bodies jumping at him. 

Well, it’s alright if he didn’t let him in easily. Ranboo had planned to do it the hard way anyway. 

BOOM! BOOM- 

The explosions occurring behind him, slowly inching closer were definitely not caused by the slime hero though, and now, his focus had to be divided into two. 

A burning hand would have almost grazed his face if he hadn’t been fast enough, and Ranboo teleported five meters back, avoiding the explosion that could have almost melted his complexion off.

“ Speedy , huh…” 

[Explosive. A+ Rank. He's the warden here, might wanna get rid of him?] 

The man was fast, too much so. Not as fast as himself though. 

Ranboo hummed, charging forward and exchanging a few blows to estimate his strength. 

His hands were definitely hot. His body could explode on impact, which would be a danger to Ranboo, if being part ghast didn’t give him fire resistance. If.  

Ranboo bathed in lava regularly . The impact of the explosion would be the only issue. 

He wasn’t afraid of a little heat.  

Evading another slime clone, Ranboo spun to kick it, shattering its core. 

He could tell that every time one of these clones shattered, the hero Slimecicle would wince and clutch his chest. 

It seems that his little clones were made from his own core, and any damage done to them would be felt by him, even if just a margin. 

The slime clones melted, and the hero retreated, leaving Explosive to fight the intruder. He was either getting backup, or this was all he could do against him. 

Whichever it was, it was bound to happen anyways, so Ranboo hardly cared.

Ranboo smiled, and although his face was concealed, it seemed that the green haired hero could tell, his face morphing into one of anger. The man lunged at him at terrifying speeds, explosions always nearly hitting him, missing by just a hair’s breadth. 

After all, the difference between an A+ rank and an estimated SS rank wasn’t small.

Tired of the exchange, Ranboo gave a kick to the warden’s stomach, burying him to the walls of the prison. This would give him a little bit of time. Hopefully. 

“Agh..!” 

‘Yeah yeah..’ 

Rushing off, Ranboo entered deeper into the maze-like prison. Every guard that was standing in his way was knocked out, and annoyingly, there seemed to be a lot of them. He had to be fast. Explosive was sure to recover. 

{ D A N G E R!  I N T R U S I O N!   D A N G E R!   I N T R U S I O N! }

Ranboo was sure that by now, the Heroes Association had been notified of the intrusion. But, it would take a while for them to get here. 

[The Heroes Association was just paged. Hurry up. You have half an hour until they arrive.] 

“I know..” 

He took a left turn, a right turn, and many more, running towards the flight of stairs that would lead him underground, to where all the prisoners would be gathered right now. Of course, the flight of stairs wasn’t free entry either. 

[That’s Quackity. Water.] 

And right as he received the info, a large droplet of water came flying towards him, barely avoided. Ranboo squinted his eyes, and the hero sneered, rushing at him with an amicable amount of water in his hands. 

“You’re actually the last thing I needed today.” 

Ranboo didn’t answer, sidestepping the wave crashing at him. 

The hallway was a bit too narrow for his liking, making it hard to stay untouched by the water. Even through his suit, he’d earn surface level burns. And anything that could make his escape harder should be avoided. 

But, it was also difficult to hit the hero, as he was pretty much water everywhere. This would only result in injuries he didn’t need. All in all, Quackity was simply a bad matchup for him. 

“Who are you, exactly?” 

Quackity’s tone was calm, but one could hear the anger and annoyance behind it. It was like playing cat and mouse, since Ranboo currently couldn’t counterattack. 

[It’s almost loaded. Just two more minutes.]

With a hum, Ranboo flipped back, and the more Quackity’s attacks didn’t seem to land, the more annoyed he was getting. He could see it in his movements, his expression, and especially his foul mouth. 

It was as if they were dancing with each other, but truly, Ranboo was looking for an opportunity to get past him, rather than win the fight.

What Skeppy was referring to was his weapon, which formed using liquid energy, extracted from his own pearl. It offered him maximum efficiency while fighting, and it was the most compatible sword he could use. 

But, as he had mentioned, it took a few minutes to be able to form. And those minutes were currently something he could not lose.

“Fuck, you’re so annoying! Slimy bitch! What are you, a worm?!” 

[Puhaha-]

Ranboo would remember that. 

Skeppy also knew that Ranboo would remember that. 

[S-Sorry.] 

Fed up, Ranboo took in a sharp breath, reaching out with his hands towards the hero.

What he had grabbed were Quackity’s wrists, both wet and burning in his palms.

His brain was yelling at him to let go, and that the water was scorching and peeling at his skin, but he kept his firm grip, spinning before launching the hero at least five meters into the wall. 

“Fuck-!“

There was at least one broken bone there, but Ranboo didn’t waste any time to care about his opponent nor his hands, running down the flight of stairs as quickly as he could. 

Chapter Text

Faster. He had to be faster. 

The stairs were endless. The guards were endless, and his patience wasn’t. 

“…Hah..” 

He could hear screaming and shouting behind him. Explosive was up again. They definitely had backup. He was in danger. 

The more these thoughts consumed his brain, the faster Ranboo’s legs worked. But, behind him, someone was matching up. 

For creeper hybrids, one leg was as strong as two, meaning, that for Explosive, who was naturally already fast, and had a superpower related to speed… 

‘…He’s catching up.’ 

Ranboo didn’t look back, simply keeping up his pace. 

Even in this case, Explosive was still the slightest bit slower than him. He still had the upper hand in terms of speed. 

BOOM! 

An explosion blew behind him, the wind pushing him forward. 

‘Shit!’ 

Suspended in the air, Ranboo tried to catch footing, the hero behind him inching closer as he had to regain his speed. 

“Leave it to me, Sam!” 

“Take over!”

All of a sudden, Ranboo could feel a heavy weight on all of his limbs, slowing him down significantly. An itching feeling in his chest. 

That was the effect an elder guardian could produce, not only debuffing speed, but also his strength. 

“You’re a crafty one, I’ll give it to you!” 

Ranboo risked a glance back, his gaze catching a green uniform and a white mask. 

He could feel his blood running cold, the smile etched into the porcelain digging into his brain. 

That was also a part of the package that the second ranked hero, Dream, came with. 

‘Fear instillment’. 

Before he knew it, Dream was lunging at him, grabbing him by the shoulder and pushing him down the rest of the stairs.

“Agh!” 

For a few seconds, Ranboo tumbled, and once he felt solid flooring underneath his feet again, he immediately took distance. He shivered at the dark claw that barely missed him. 

This was inconvenient- Actually, this was horrible. 

Sweat pearled down Ranboo’s forehead. 

Not like they could see, since his suit had fogged up his entire face up, like a shadow, but he was still nervous. 

“Who are you? Not only did that unregistered psychic appear, but now you too…” 

Dream was spinning an axe on his finger idly, suddenly throwing it at him like a dart to a target. 

Ranboo evaded it, pushing himself off the wall towards his opponent, going for a strike. 

Now, compared to before, there was a weapon on his hands. 

‘Nebula.’ 

His own little dagger, which Skeppy finally had managed to set into motion. 

But, compared to before, not only was he weaker and slower, he was also under the effect of fear, and his hands were burned. 

Dream ducked, trying to grab the enderman by his ankles but failing as Ranboo teleported away. 

Now, Ranboo had shown that he could teleport. 

“Oh?” 

Dream looked curious, eyeing him from top to bottom. 

“Now that I’m looking at you, you do fit the agenda quite well.” 

Ranboo didn’t listen to whatever he was saying, instead throwing his dagger at the man, following the weapon to attack with his hands also. Dream, who obviously wouldn’t be hit by such an attack, let the dagger fly past him, choosing to face Ranboo head on instead. 

But, using his pearl, Ranboo called his dagger back, and Nebula came towards him as if it was pulled by a string. But, of course, with Dream in the way, it would be unable to reach him, stabbing the hero instead. 

Of course, that didn’t happen either, and Ranboo had to click his tongue as he watched Dream duck down, swiping at his feet. 

Ranboo jumped, trying to avoid losing his balance once more. Dream kicked upwards, trying to reach Ranboo’s chin with his long legs, but he managed to throw himself back before the foot connected with his jaw. It was a dangerous movement, and Ranboo almost struggled trying to get back into a solid position. 

“Shifty. But this is dragging uncomfortably long, considering the place we are in.” 

This time, Dream slashed at him with the axe he had retrieved, his irritation more obvious than before. Ranboo teleported behind the man, giving a kick. The first attack which had connected, but he was also suddenly pulled, thrown into the walls of the prison. 

More painful than he had imagined it to be, but he managed to stand up again, teleporting some distance away again. 

It seemed that Dream minded that, as seen by the fist that crashed into his abdomen. 

With a cough, Ranboo chose distance once more. 

He needed to get rid of that mask, as soon as possible. It was shielding the hero’s eyes, which was making his task much more harder than it should have been. 

Chapter Text

Pushing himself off the wall, Ranboo threw another kick in the way of the hero's head, which was effectively avoided once more, much to Ranboo's dismay.

From an outsider perspective, the fight looked ridiculously fast, limbs moving like cars racing on tracks. But, for both of them, frustration was building up.

Ranboo inhaled sharply as the axe grazed his arms, teleporting into the air and attacking from above. Dream countered it with his weapon, spinning and distancing himself.

He was about to give attacking another try when the intruder vanished, and Dream realized what they were doing.

'He is teleporting down..!'

It was taking a toll on Ranboo's pearl to teleport continuously like this, especially with Dream's superpower still active, and it was getting difficult to breathe, but he held out, keeping going as his chest screamed at him to stop.

"Don't think I am finished with you just yet!"

He could hear Dream running down, and he tried to increase the distance, but the pearl inside his chest was vibrating in pain.

"Fuck..!"

He could see the end of the stairs, and the noise that was being made by the distraught prisoners who had been evacuated there.

"Escapee incoming!"

Ranboo would recognize that voice anywhere.

Edward teleported right in front of him with a smile, and Ranboo sighed in relief, before the man grabbed his hand and teleported onto the higher floors.

"You need to get rid of Velvet for me. We can't get out otherwise."

Dream, who had finally arrived downstairs in the basement, let out a curse when he couldn't see the intruder.

"That son of a bitch! Fuck!!"

Meantime, Ranboo grasped Edward's arm as his body trembled. The effect of the debuff was slowly dwindling, but his body was exhausted from facing Dream, and he had injuries.

Edward kept teleporting around the building, and soon, they were in front of a room.

"They're going to start releasing poisonous gas in five minutes. Come on."

Edward busted down the door to what apparently was a control room of sorts, and inside, there were three people.

Ranboo assumed that at least one of them was this Velvet he was supposed to knock out, and he rushed forward.

"Keep V safe!"

A thoughtful gesture, but with a singular hit, the man's face was twisted and bleeding, leaving red stains on Ranboo's black suit.

"Fuck off."

And, soon enough, all three men were down, and the translucent barrier was slowly crumbling apart.

"Let's get out of here."

Edward grabbed him by the waist, teleporting downstairs and towards the entrance, where they kept distancing themselves.

Ranboo's nose picked up on a weird, stuffy scent, before the device in his ears went off.

[Hero 404 is releasing poisonous spores.]

Hero 404, George, who was a mooshroom hybrid, had the superpower of releasing poisonous spores that spread everywhere and into every organ, unless one was immune.

But, Edward simply kept teleporting, carrying the weight of his friend.

Since Endermen and Enderlings originated from the end a long time ago, many didn't know this, but they could go a long time without breathing.

Up to two hours, meaning, this poison mist was nothing but a bit of fog in his way.

"Hate to say this, but some speedster is catching up, Rain. This is on you."

Ranboo rattled himself alert, looking back and seeing whooshing blue hair with odd particles around the body.

"That's... Clown."

Another bad matchup.

“…You gotta go, Ed. This guy can and will behead you. I can handle him on my own, but protecting you..."

"I get it."

Edward teleported off, and Ranboo watched as his figure grew smaller and smaller, and he stood still.

He could feel Clown approaching, from the murderous aura the man was letting out.

He was an S+ Rank hero, but had many controversies due to his personality. A hyena-like person, a true bastard who was rarely put on the job.

Ranboo exhaled the last bit of oxygen in his lungs before stopping his lungs, now completely having shut off his breathing.

He now had two hours until the spores dissipated, or this guy was knocked out.

And he had the feeling neither were going to happen.

He ignored his scorched palms where irritated and dead skin was burning, his bruised body, injured arms and ringing chest.

He had another hero to defeat, after all.

With a hand reaching towards his face through a portal, Ranboo teleported away, and Clown smiled, reaching his hand out of the warp gate.

That was Clown's superpower.

Interdimensional gates. He could open a portal to anywhere he's physically seen before. Although images or other dimensions had huge penalties, and would injure anybody that tried to cross the gate severely, he was still an annoying bastard to deal with.

Ranboo's instincts would tell him immediately when a portal would open, but right now, not only was his mind muddled, he was physically in shambles.

The delayed reaction to the portal opening above his head ready to decapitate him resulted in him teleporting away in surprise, without concentration.

A groan was ripped from him as his pearl shuddered, banging against his ribcage like a wild animal.

"Huuh... Ah.."

His gaze lifted to the hero, who was just staring at him through the thin masquerade mask on his face, before he smiled and raised his hand to open yet another portal.

"You came to save your friend, but I don't think anybody is coming to save you."

It was true.

Edward wouldn't turn around, and Skeppy wouldn't come here, knowing he would fail.

He was on his own, had always been and would still be.

"...I know that."

Ranboo straightened his back, straining his pearl to its maximum, and he waited in anticipation.

"That's kinda sad, but don't worry, dying at my hands isn't shameful. It's happened to every villain I've crossed."

A little more. Ranboo just needed a little more.

"What makes you think I will die? Maybe I have something up my sleeve? What if I do have backup?"

"Wow, haha, that's a joke if I've ever heard one."

Another portal opened as the bluenette grinned, right next to Ranboo's head.

It felt like his skull was being crushed from the hand that grabbed it, and Ranboo teleported five meters back.

"...That's annoying."

"So are you, Ronald McDonald."

A few more seconds is all he needed. He ignored the blood that slowly dripped down his forehead, warm and painful.

"Well, who cares. I'll be promoted for beheading you."

SNAP

As the band holding the mask was cut, Ranboo smiled, and they locked eyes.

Chapter Text

"A-Ah..?"

Ranboo sighed as his body finally stilled, and his own eyes locked with those of a certain hero.

The bluenette was trembling, his pupils blown wide as any portal that had been left open closed. It seemed like he was lost in thought, or daydreaming, but in reality, it was much worse than that. 

Compared to others, Ranboo had to admit, the hero was faring quite well, not crying or throwing up, but still, the effect was clear.

Without blinking, Ranboo strengthened his grip on Nebula, which he had effectively called back and used to snap the clown's mask. He was glad it had worked, or otherwise, he would have probably died. 

He was sure that it would take the other heroes at least ten more minutes to catch up. And, he hoped that Edward had gotten away for now.

[Rain! Rain, are you okay?]

"..."

Ranboo didn't answer, shaky breaths leaving him. He didn't even realize he had started breathing again at some point, now that he thought about it. His lungs ached. They were pressing against his fragile pearl, and he was sure it would hurt for a while. 

"...I want to go home.."

Skeppy was silent, and Ranboo's lip pursed slightly, before he blinked, and Clown collapsed to his knees.

"...I'm going home."

Ignoring everything in his surroundings, Ranboo pulled out the earpiece, crushing it in his hand. 

His pearl was still humming, in pain and exhausted. He could only hope that it hadn't cracked from overuse or the blows he had taken earlier.

His forehead was still bleeding, and his hands were still burning like he had set them on fire. 

Ranboo started running, his mind dazed. It felt like he was running away, but not from the heroes.

Ranboo wanted to go home. He missed his home.

~~~

"What the fuck are you talking about!? What do you mean, he got away!"

Dream, inside the Hero Commission Headquarters, was yelling at the C-Ranked hero who had come to report.

"I-I'm sorry, but..."

"I almost had him, and you still let him get away?!"

The C-Rank didn't even have the guts to report what state the S+ Rank hero Clown was in, simply shutting up and taking the rage of his superior.

"You can go. I'll take care of this."

The voice was low, and the C-Rank turned around, eyeing the Blade as he approached Dream.

"Yes, Sir..."

Dream met Techno's eyes, still furious.

Techno shook his head, sitting down on one of the sofas in the blond man's office. In his hands, there were a few papers.

Dream also sat down, trying to cool off his head.

"I just can't believe this...-"

"Wait until you find out he made Clown a living puppet."

"-What?!"

Techno sighed, handing the blond hero a stack of papers tacked together, filled with a report on the blue haired clown's case.

[ REPORT: CLOWN

After encounter with MINDBREAKER, does not speak or communicate, only mumbling about the dark and asking where everybody has gone. Does not respond to visual, oral or physical communication.

…

... ]

Clay's eyes trembled.

"...We suffered huge losses this time."

It was true.

Most of the prison had damage, Velvet wasn't able to put barriers up right now, Sam was injured, Charlie was missing half of his core and wouldn’t be able to work for a good time, Quackity's wings were broken, the guards were all hospitalized, a prisoner had escaped, even Dream had been injured, Clown was useless and damaged beyond repair, and the intruder had still, despite everything, managed to get away.

"It's bad. The healers are doing their best but... Josiah is a hopeless case."

Josiah Birne, also known as Clown.

"...If we catch that guy, do you think... He could be cured?"

"Doubt that."

It seemed that even Techno, who was usually uncaring of things, was more than bothered by the situation.

Clay set down the file, putting his head in his hands.

"Not even poisonous gas works. He can teleport. He's fast, he's strong, he can fuck your head up- just what can he not do?"

It was obvious that he was frustrated. Dream had not suffered many blows from the fight against Mindbreaker, but had still lost him. Lost to him.

"If it makes you feel any better, neither me nor Phil could really catch him?"

"It does not ."

"...Well, I tried."

Techno shrugged, easing Clay's mind.

He was worried, and tense, but still. It would be fine. Yeah.

~~~

Skeppy looked at Rain, sitting on the chair, wrapped up in bandages.

"...I've hardly seen you this bad, man."

"Fuck off. I lived , bitch."

Skeppy huffed.

Ranboo had collapsed at his door with a fractured rib, a bleeding forehead, burned hands, and bleeding wounds everywhere, clutching his chest like an asthmatic. 

He hadn't mentioned the scorched tear tracks on his face, and he didn't really plan on doing so, but every now and then, his gaze lingered on them.

How weird it was, for your body to be burned by your own sadness and fear.

With a sigh, he sat down next to the young man, his gaze a bit worried.

"Does it still hurt?"

Skeppy knew Rain as a person who didn't feel pain. Never had he complained about wounds, or broken bones, never.

But, when he had glossy eyes and clutched his chest, Skeppy had realized that Rain was hurting.

"...No. It doesn't hurt."

It was an obvious lie- he could tell from the shaky exhales and the fingernail marks left behind on the chair. 

The wobbling lips and the trembling eyebrows all gave it away.

"You're a bad liar, did you know?"

"You're a horrible comforter."

"Touché?"

Rain looked at him, his eyelashes clumped together, probably from crying earlier. It was a look that he wasn’t used to. 

"I mean it when I say that you should never... come to help me. Even if something like this happens again."

Although it sounded like he was calling him weak, it was Rain's own way of telling him to stay alive and not die trying to save him. Because shrimps died during whale fights.

And Skeppy was not a whale. 

Chapter Text

Tic, toc, tic, toc, tic…

Ranboo gazed outside the window in his apartment, his eyes unfocused and distant.

The feeling of discomfort was like a heavy weight in his chest, making his lungs heavy and his ribcage too tight.

A cloud of rain was storming inside his stomach, and he felt like throwing up the food he hadn't eaten today. Every time he even glanced into the kitchen he was overcome by nausea and saliva pooling in his mouth.

He wanted to relieve himself, shove a finger down his throat and get it all out for good, but the burns and bandages on his hands hindered him from doing so. Even when he tried to stop breathing, which he was usually able to do, only tears welled in his eyes, and he felt suffocated.

"Haa..."

A shaky breath left him as he felt the urge to stand up, but couldn't even muster up the strength to do so. He just sat there, as if melting underneath the sun.

He could hear his phone ringing on the table somewhere, and he was sure Niki had texted him, worried about his sudden sick leave. Skeppy must have texted him as well, telling him to be careful, and asking if he could do anything for him. He was sure Edward hadn't texted.

In the back of his mind, stuffed and ignored like a distasteful memory, was the thought of regret, thinking that he shouldn't have helped him escape, and this is the thanks that he was getting for barely coming out alive.

But, in another part of his brain, he could feel the relief of finally being rid of that favor he owed. He had been saved, he had saved. It was normal to cut contact like this, right?

Ranboo hesitated, but still heaved himself up shakily. He didn't even feel like himself.

He picked up the phone, looking at the messages.

[ Niki: Are you okay? When are you coming back? ]

[ Skeppy: I told Lya to bring over some food. Your suit is almost like new. ]

[ Niki: Why did you take a sick leave? Are you alright? ]

[ Niki: Text me when you see this, please. I'm worried for you. ]

[...]

He tapped the message, and when the chat popped up, he clicked on the phone icon.

He contemplated his decision for a bit, before just humming and raising the phone to his ear, waiting for the click sound to signal that she had picked up. When he heard it, it didn't even last a second before he could hear her voice.

A smile made its way to his lips, and Ranboo laughed, for the first time in the last few days.

"A good afternoon to you too, Niki."

She sounded exasperated as she asked him what had happened, and why he wasn't at work, if he was alright and whether or not she should stop by.

"It's alright... I'll be back soon."

She hesitated to agree with him, and told him to be careful, and Ranboo liked that she took care not to pry. He hated himself for lying to her about his current condition.

"I mean it. I'll be there on Saturday."

Today was wednesday. He was sure he'd be fine by then.

When he hung up, he knew that he didn't need to answer Skeppy. It was just courtesy of the man to let him know. Skeppy didn't care whether he answered or not, he was going to do what he wanted to anyway.

With a huff, he walked to the window, opening it and letting fresh air in.

He felt like retching.

Chapter Text

“Hmm…” 

Looking at the selection of fruits, Ranboo was a bit conflicted. 

Ranboo, as an Enderman Hybrid, had to follow a rather strict diet. 

That was due to the fact that the stomach acid that his body produced could only break down fruit, liquids and raw meat, meaning his diet could not include any cooked food, or processed foods with more vitamins, chemicals and the like. 

But, alas, it seemed that while he had been rotting away inside his room, the prices for fruit had shot through the roof. 

He needed them to eat, and also to make them into drinks. So, it seemed that most of his money would be going to fruit. 

“Haah… What a waste.” 

He grabbed another bag full of apricots and peaches, putting them into the basket and walking towards the checkout line. 

It’s not like he was lacking money, but it felt incredibly wasteful to be spending the hard earned cash on something as trivial as this. Especially, since now, after his suit had been torn up and his weapon had almost broken, he had expenses to handle. It was also about time that spring would come, so he would need to adjust his wardrobe once more. 

As he waited in the line, he heard a small clinker, noticing that the person behind him in line had dropped a coin. He bent down, picking it up and reaching it out to hand it back to them, his eyes widening slightly when the person he was looking at seemed oddly more than familiar. He glanced a look at what the man was buying, before looking away, a bit of embarrassment creeping up on him. 

The pink haired man seemed just as surprised to see him in the grocery store, and Ranboo only regained control of himself when he realized his fruit were being checked out. 

“…Thanks.” 

He heard the man thank him in a quiet voice before he went to pay, clicking his card onto the small device and getting his bagged groceries.

He hesitated a bit, leaving the store in slow, small steps. What kind of coincidence was it to see his regular customer while grocery shopping? Especially, while the man was buying those kinds of things? 

“Oh well..” 

It was none of his business. 

He rubbed his eyes, freezing when he felt a presence behind him once more. He turned around, only to be met with red eyes once more. 

“Hello there.” 

Yeah. His regular from five minutes ago. 

“H-Hi… It’s, quite a coincidence to meet here..”

The man nodded, extending his hand towards Ranboo. Ranboo grabbed it a bit hesitantly, but nonetheless shook it. 

“I’m Techno. Sorry for the late introduction.” 

“Oh, uhm, yeah… I’m Ranboo, it’s nice to meet you..”

He let go of the big hand, which, to Ranboo’s surprise, ran incredibly hot. The man felt like a walking furnace. 

“You haven’t quit your job, right? I haven’t seen you for a bit.” 

Surprised at the fact that the man had noticed his absence, Ranboo shook his head, explaining the situation. 

“No, no, I’m just on sick leave right now.. I actually start working again tomorrow.”

“Ah, I’m glad to hear… You’re here by foot?” 

“Hm? Oh, yes…” 

They both looked at the intimidating grey clouds above their heads, and Ranboo almost sighed, clenching the bags in his hands a bit. 

“Should I give you a ride? If that’s fine with you. I’m here with my car.” 

Ranboo looked at the man, thinking for a short second. Did he really have the time to be dropping someone off, judging by the purchase he had just made? 

“Well, if you have the time..” 

“Of course. I’m just here on an errand anyway.” 

Ah. That explains it. 

Otherwise, Ranboo would not have known why he would be buying that in the middle of the day. So much of it too. Seems someone was too embarrassed and had sent him instead. 

“Then, I won’t decline.” 

~~~ 

“Thanks for dropping me off.” 

“Not a bother. We’ll see each other tomorrow, then. Please have a nice day.” 

The barista, whom Techno now knew as Ranboo, nodded with a smile before entering the apartment complex while carrying the bags of fruit. 

Somehow, he was glad that Dream had sent him on that errand. He did get to know the name of the nice barista. 

He had, at first, been surprised when some lousy man stood at the desk instead of the regular. He glanced around a bit, looking for black and white hair, and a nice apron tied around the barista’s waist which he got to see every morning, but it seemed that he was absent.

It made him more upset than it should have, but he didn’t bother to think why. 

But, he was glad to know that he’d be returning tomorrow. 

As he exited the car to a luxury penthouse, entering while ignoring the greetings of the servants, he threw something into the face of the blond man sitting on the expensive velvet couch. 

“Take your shit, Clay, and piss off from my home.” 

“Ah, thanks, man.” 

Clay picked up the small packages, a smile blooming on his face as he read what was on them.

“Strawberry flavor? What???” 

“I thought that whoever had the displeasure to be with you might as well have that displeasure in strawberry flavor.” 

Laughing, Clay stuffed the condoms into his pocket before standing up, patting Techno on the shoulder with a smile. 

“Well, whatever. Did you get yourself something too?” 

“…Yeah, I did.”

Curious at the unexpected answer, Clay couldn’t help but ask.

“Oh, really? What did you get?” 

At the lack of an answer, Clay frowned, nudging him, but Techno smiled, walking upstairs into the master bedroom.

“Dude!” 

Fiddling with the small container in his pocket, Techno almost huffed a laugh. He didn’t even know that bubblegum flavored condoms were a thing, but he was so curious that he had bought them, despite knowing he’d have no use for it.

Chapter Text

Saturday morning had arrived, and as early as five am was, Ranboo had decided yesterday that he would wake up early today. 

He needed to open the bakery for his shift at six, so he had almost an hour to get ready. 

While Ranboo really wasn’t the type to put that much thought into his own appearance, he liked to look clean and tidy. But today, he felt the urge to freshen up a bit. 

He walked to the bathroom, dipping his cold hands into the bubbling lava and swiping it over his face. He ruffled his hair a bit, combing it nicely with one side neatly brushed back and the other more loosely, separating the two colored halves. 

He even picked out clothing that he rarely wore, like some loose slacks and a luxurious turtleneck that he had bought a while back as a treat for himself. 

He felt a bit funny, not knowing what urged him to suddenly dress up like this, but it felt nice, seeing himself in the mirror and not looking like he had crawled out of the last world war. A neat change to say the least. 

He grabbed his coat and keys from the counter, walking outside and closing the door behind him. The air was cool, not exactly as cold as one would have in winter, but spring was starting to roll around. He appreciated the thought of snow and rain disappearing. Finally. 

His steps were even as he walked, going across the street and past many other shops preparing to open. It was early, barely close to six, but that’s what big grand cities were like. People lived here all hours of the day, from morning to night, and from night to morning. 

Grabbing the key from his pocket, Ranboo unlocked the door to the small bakery, entering and locking it once more behind him. 

Having heard the jingle of the small bell, Niki had rushed to the front of the store, greeting him like a puppy that had missed its owner. 

“Ranboo! I’m so happy you’re back! I was so worried about you!” 

He smiled, grabbing his apron and slinging it around his neck to tie it behind his waist. 

“Sorry for having been gone so long, but I am back now.” 

He was sure that for the next while, he wouldn’t budge to do anything other than his regular, even if he was threatened at gunpoint. He missed his peace. 

“You’re my only capable coworker, Ranboo, so finally, the bakery can run as it used to. I am so glad!” 

Walking to the back and grabbing the trays full of pastries, he began organizing them into the pantry, marveling at the new recipes that Niki had seemed to cook up once more. Before he had known it, Niki had already turned up soft jazz in the background, letting the music play while both of them did their work. He enjoyed the atmosphere, it was comfortable, and he liked it. 

The clock hit six am, and he unlocked the door to the bakery, turning the sign from closed to open, officially beginning his shift. Inside his head, he was already waiting for the clock to pass five more minutes, ticking evenly as time passed slowly. 

The coffee cups were stacked up again, the dishes were sorted out, tissues were restocked, straws were set out, and as the clock handle finally moved, the small bell above the door jingled once more, and a person that Ranboo had unknowingly been waiting for had entered the store.

The pink haired man gave him a smile and a nod, and Ranboo knew what he had to prepare, but to his surprise, the man had not come alone this time, a tall blond man with striking green eyes behind him. 

If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that two models walked into the bakery, their appearance as striking as it was. He didn’t have any more time to think about that as the pink haired man, Techno, sat down, and the blond approached the counter to order. 

“Hi, good morning. What can I get you today?” 

The smile on Ranboo’s face was relaxed, and he waited for the man’s answer as he looked inside the pantry. 

“I’ll take a cappuccino, and one of those blueberry muffins. To the table over there.”

“Of course. I’ll be right there for you.” 

For some reason, Ranboo felt an odd familiarity at the presence of the man, but it was probably just a misconception, so he didn’t think much about it, instead starting to prepare the orders of the two men in silence. 

And, soon enough, the Americano with a velvet cake and the Cappuccino with a blueberry muffin were each set on a tray, ready to be served to the customers. 

He grabbed the silver trays, his steps steady as he approached the table and slowly set down the orders of the two men.

“Here is your Americano with your velvet cake, and here is your Cappuccino with your blueberry muffin. If there is anything else I can get you, please do let me know.” 

He smiled, and they thanked him before he went to once again sit behind the counter, relaxing into the wooden chair.

Occasionally feeling gazes on him, Ranboo felt like it had been worth it to dress up today. He felt red eyes following him when he went to the back for a short moment, or when he decided to wipe the counter and organize the shelf a bit. 

A while passed like that, and the two men approached the counter, ready to pay for the small meal they had had. Techno had simply handed him the card with a nod while the blond waited, scrolling through his phone. It looked like he was expecting his friend to pay under any circumstance. 

For some reason, in his head, he was reminded of the incident yesterday, and that the purchase of the man had been an errand for this friend. But, just speculations, as always. 

“You’re expecting me to pay again? Don’t you earn more money than me?” 

The blond didn’t even budge, and the pink haired man huffed, making Ranboo grin even just the slightest bit. 

“You’re making a bad first impression in this place. Aren’t you sad, Clay ?” 

Now, the man seemed a bit bothered, removing his gaze from the screen in his hand to his friend, then to the barista. 

“Me if I cared. I don’t though, you owe me this. It’s called being my emotional-service-friend.” 

Snorting, Techno slid the card through.

Chapter Text

“A construction site?” 

When walking home, a construction site was usually the last thing anybody wanted to see. Because, in any circumstance, that meant there was the need to take a detour. And in the worst case, that detour was through a place one would rather not pass through.  

“Ah…” 

With a dejected sigh, Ranboo turned around to walk the detour. After all, he had to get home one way or another, even if it meant taking longer. He was glad that the gray clouds usually swirling around the sky weren’t present today, so there probably wouldn’t be a chance of rain. The thought of investing in an umbrella crossed his mind briefly, but it was crossed out just as fast. He was sure that he’d manage to lose or break it as quickly as he purchased it. 

When walking this way, Ranboo had to go through the Main Street, which not only took longer but also passed by many busy buildings, making it a pretty crowded place. That is why he usually preferred to walk through the darker alleys, which were devoid of people and had less obstacles to bump into. 

Navigating through the bustling crowd of people, Ranboo tried not to bump into anybody. Everyone was rushing, students trying to catch their trains home and adults trying to enter stores. It was a common occurrence in a big city at all times.  

His coat rustled in the wind, and he wished he had tied it earlier, but now, stuck in between people and unable to stop, tying it could only be considered a distant dream. Trying to drown out the sound of the noisy crowd, he squinted, fastening his pace. If only there hadn’t been that damn construction site, he’d have been home by now. He could have used his powers and jumped up, sure, but risk anybody seeing him? No thank you. It wasn’t nearly deep enough into the alleys as he’d have liked it to be. He had promised himself not to do that kind of stuff. Living like a normal person was the goal. And besides, he didn’t remember normal people jumping over construction sites. Or did they? Could be debated… 

“Ugh, Fuck!” 

Before he knew it, he had already bumped into someone while he was lost in thought, and his graceful stride was interrupted by their collision. Whoever he had crashed with seemed to have a foul mouth, openly cursing at someone they had never met before. He doubted that their little bump had hurt that much? 

Ranboo extended his hand towards the blond teenager, not wanting to stand still in the crowd any longer like this. 

“Sorry. Are you… alright?” 

But, to his surprise, his hand had been slapped away without any care, and the blond stood up on his own all while glaring at him. 

“I don’t need your help, it’s already annoying that you walked into me!” 

Not minding the tennager’s colorful vocabulary, Ranboo sighed, bowing his head curtly before walking off. He certainly did have better things to do than argue with some guy in the middle of the streets. 

“Fuckin’ weirdo, walking around spacing out as if he’s the only one on the street…” 

~~~ 

Finally in the sanctuary of his own home, Ranboo hung up his coat and walked to his room. The light filtering through the drawn curtains barely illuminated the room, creating a dark but cozy atmosphere, just as he liked it. Moments flashed by like running water in a river, before the clothes he was wearing pooled at his feet and were replaced by a thin, white robe. The robe draped over his body like a sheer layer of snow, falling elegantly from where it is tied around his waist and placed on his shoulders. The material swayed with every movement of his body as if it had a mind of its own. 

His feet moved towards the bathroom, turning on the dim lights. His hands moved gracefully as he turned on the shower, red droplets of heat beginning to dribble down and onto the floor, right through the drain again. 

He adjusted it to his liking, slightly hotter than normal. Once it was finally at the temperature he wished it to be, his hands moved without hurry to tug at the knot at his waist, unraveling the robe that kept his bare, scathed body from exposure. 

It slid off his shoulders like water, disappearing in less than a second and landing on the tiled floor. Now unclothed, he entered the shower cabin hand first, slowly letting himself be consumed by the serene heat. 

Closing his eyes, he allowed the calmness of the lava seep into his bones, hopefully to wash away the discomfort from the encounter he had had earlier. 

The droplets felt comforting on his disfigured skin, dripping down his face like tears and onto his collarbone, gathering in the ridges and then traveling down the rest of his body to the drain. It was slow, as it was thicker than water, tracing lines down his body like honey dripping from a hive, so he took his time, letting the heat of the shower invade every crevice of his body in order to feel clean. His hands massaged at his scarred limbs, trying to lead out the fatigue that had gathered due to the stress of the recent events. Although it didn’t work, the action of doing it comforted him in some kind of way. 

Slowly gathering himself and turning off the lava, Ranboo placed his foot outside of the shower cabin. Body already dry, he simply picked up the robe to drape it upon his body once more, tying it at the waist. The bathroom wasn’t foggy, but the heat in the room was intense, like a wave of air when you open an oven. 

Exiting the bathroom and letting the warm air travel through his entire home, Ranboo walked to his bed and lied down, not caring to put on clothes or do anything else, simply resting in his robes.

“Ah…” 

He was tired. 

~~~ 

RRING, RRING, RRI- 

“What is it?” 

Picking up the phone, Ranboo answered in a voice portraying no emotion, although the recipient of it seemed quite used to the tone. 

[I heard you’re back to work?] 

Ranboo huffed. What kind of unnecessary conversation was this idiot bringing up? 

“What about it?” 

[Well, can’t I start a call in a normal way for once?] 

“Not with me.” 

Hearing a sigh from the other end of the call, Ranboo’s eyebrow twitched, slightly revealing his annoyance at the attitude of his acquaintance. 

[Well, just warning you. Word is, the heroes are on your tail?] 

“I don’t leave traces, Skeppy. Go tell your jokes in a comedy club, but don’t fuck with me .” 

[No, I mean it. Dear hero Sherlock has been involved. And best believe that his neat ability is not on your side.] 

“Well, they can come at me if they like. It’s not like I will lose.” 

[You know it’s not like that.] 

Ranboo’s grip on his phone tightened, and his lips parted slightly to heave out a breath. 

[The heroes kill, man. You won’t lose, but dying isn’t out of the question here. You getting captured is the least of my worries.] 

“They might have cards up their sleeves, sure, but I don’t fight fair either.”

[Tsk. Alright, that’s not wrong. But do remember, try not to kill any of ‘em. Because then you’re always a target on sight.] 

“I’m not interested in butchering animals I can’t eat, Skeppy. Pointless things have never really been my cup of tea.” 

CLICK- 

The refreshment from that shower was already washed away. 

Chapter Text

“You know, it has been a while since I was last put on duty like this.” 

Ribbon gently wrapped the satin pink fabric around her arm, blowing a piece of hair away from her eyes in annoyance. Leo, considerably taller, was wearing in her boots for comfort. 

“Well, let’s consider this training for our newest addition, no?” 

Leo’s hand was placed on Hound’s head affectionately, although the teen didn’t seem to appreciate the gesture of the woman. He fixed his hair, looking out of the large window from the preparation room. 

“You’ve never really seen him either, right?” 

At the question of the younger, both Ribbon and Leo shook their heads. A direct encounter with Mindbreaker had yet to happen, although they had seen him in passing during the prison incident. Hound, who had just recently passed his internship and become a hero, was one of the few who had yet to even be in the presence of their newest enemy. 

“Well, this might sound weird… But I actually hope you don’t encounter him, puppy.” 

Knowing what had happened to their colleague, Clown, it was like impending doom. Crossing that person’s path was like a death wish coming true. 

“I feel like we disturbed something that wasn’t looking to fight… Get what I mean?” 

“Sure do…” 

Zipping up her white jacket which reflected the light coming in through the window, blinding and annoyingly bright, Ribbon twirled her staff in her hand, ready for her patrol. The other two nodded, and they exited the room in an oppressive atmosphere. 

Respectively, the two S-Ranks had been doing their duty for five and seven years, so this was not the first time they had felt threatened when they went on patrol. But the addition of the A-Rank hero, which they would have to protect in the case that they actually did encounter a villain, it felt like a burden. But, in order to train the teen, it was something that needed to be done. 

“Hound… in the case we do encounter him- Make sure that you escape. Don’t look back, do you understand me? Call for support and make sure you get as far away as possible.” 

“Yes, miss Leo..” 

A lot of young heroes had been lost to villains who didn’t spare the lives of teens, some of them interns of the two heroes themselves. Although they didn’t know the character of their enemy, losing more would not be tolerated, by any means. 

…

[Nothing on my side.]

The communicator in their ears buzzed, and Ribbon heaved a sigh of relief when she heard that both her companions were safe. Sometimes, she really disliked being a hero. 

“I’m clear too.” 

[Clear.] 

The hand clenching her staff tightened, and her gaze swept the alley she was currently in. The smell of chemicals was pungent, some of the asphalt on the ground corroded. It felt ominous, and she clicked her tongue before signaling to her colleagues. 

“Suspicion of a villain here. I’ll keep you updated.” 

Her eyes tracked the spots, her nose twitching as the smell only intensified. Despite the dissatisfaction, she knew what she was smelling. The further she ventured into the alleys, the more the stench of dissolving bodies violated her nose. A building that looked like it was abandoned ages ago, hidden between walls of trash and abandoned furniture. Suspiciously, it smelled like someone was cooking chernobyl soup in there. 

“Be on standby.” 

Without fear, Ribbon entered the building calmly, walking in as if she was a guest. There seemed to be hardly any signs of life as she looked around, scanning her surroundings seriously. 

Blood stains, ripped fabrics and a shoe. The ground was similarly corroded and cracked, as if something had tried to escape from underneath. She was sure that at least one person had died here. With heightened senses, she tried to look for any kind of life, hopefully the perpetrator behind the entire thing, although the only thing she sensed was a body, barely even alive. Maybe a survivor? 

With no haste, she approached the room where there was the sign of the faint heartbeat, and to her surprise, the person she had guessed to be half dead was simply standing there, clad in a white lab coat and gazing directly into her eyes. 

“Took you a while.” 

The man looked like he was in his mid-thirties, ambiguous white strands in his short kept auburn hair. Thin, but not quite without muscle. Some parts of his body were simply made of bones, and some looked like they were stitched on haphazardly. As he smiled, one could tell that his lower jaw was not quite his own, slightly crooked whenever he talked or grimaced.

“Who’s this?” 

“Are you asking for my name? How ladylike."

He grinned, spinning a wooden staff in his hands as the ground rumbled a bit, making her shift in her stance. 

“Well, screw that, I’m into handsome men. I don’t think I need to know your name.” 

Although she meant to provoke the man, the smile on his face only seemed to deepen at her lousy insults, slowly positioning himself for combat. The rumbling ground split as spikes of earth protruded, trying to skewer her without mercy. With side steps, Ribbon paid them no mind, keeping her gaze fixed on the man in front of her. 

“It’s great that we are not interested in each other, although that does make for quite the unromantic date, don’t you think?” 

Along with a swift motion, his hands aimed potions at her with incredible accuracy, almost hitting her if it weren’t for her lowering her body in time. But, leaving her no time to spare, the Alchemist simply kept on with his onslaught of sharp spikes, enjoying the sight of the hero evading them with increasingly less elegance. 

“Very dextrous, I like it.” 

Ribbon clicked her tongue, the ribbon in her hand twitching to life like a snake ready to devour its prey, lunging for the Alchemist and spinning around him as he whacked it away with his wooden staff. Not minding the harmless pink thing, the Alchemist whistled slowly, this time shaking the ground much more ferociously, multiple spikes of terror now attacking at speeds almost invisible to the naked eye. 

“You’re slimy.”

Not intending to drag the fight out, Ribbon called the rope back, breaking multiple spikes as it retracted, like a whip hitting its target. Loud booms overtook the worn building as she started to break down her spiked surroundings. 

“Aaah..” 

With a satisfied sigh, he aimed his staff at her, the broken pieces on the ground levitating to form daggers, sharply glaring at her before flying like arrows, intending to pierce their target. 

“That would be too easy.” 

She whipped the ribbon, and in less than a second, all the sharp rocks were pulverized, spreading dust into her surroundings. Jumping up, the pink satin reached towards the alchemist like a bullet, swiftly tying around his wrist- bone? 

Unbothered, the man simply snapped the bone off, twitching a bit as he raised his staff and blew on it, spreading purple mist around. 

“Ugh! Ew!” 

The miasma spread way too fast for her liking, but without sparing any moments, Ribbon spun her weapon and helicoptered it, whipping up strong winds which blew away the miasma in seconds. 

But, to her surprise, the man had already vanished.

“Ah… Shit.” 

With a sigh, she clicked her communicator. 

“Be on the lookout, middle aged man with brown and white hair, staff and white lab coat, likely a witch and skeleton hybrid, very fucking annoying… He’s really slimy and slips away easily.” 

[Gotcha.] 

[Alright.] 

~~~

“I like her. I want her as a pet.” 

[Fuck off. You should’ve killed her.] 

Listening to the voice of Omen nagging in his ear, Alchemist sighed. 

“That would’ve taken long enough for her to call backup. Besides… I want some parts of her. They’d make for great chimeras. Especially that right arm of hers.” 

The person on the other line quieted down, and walking leisurely, Alchemist hummed a tune. Listening to the rustling in his ear, it was clear that Omen was once again preparing for something. 

[I’m sending you Melaenis. You’re not getting anything done.] 

“Boring, I don’t like that guy.” 

Just as he said the words, in the space next to him, a small portal opened, and a man with a smiling face walked out, a blindfold securely tied around his eyes. Melaenis exhaled smoke, slightly flicking the blue cigarette in his hands and walking towards Alchemist. 

“Just here for backup. Don’t worry, not trying to foil your plans.” 

Alchemist simply sighed, swishing his hands to dissipate the smoke puffed out by Melaenis. 

“These things reek man. Get your drugs away.” 

“And the innards you keep as pets don’t? What do you want me to do, drink the northwest wind?” 

“I don’t know, breathe air!” 

“Ah, shut up- You’ve clearly never had troubles in life.” 

“Whatever you say, Schiller. Maybe Lessing? Or do you like Goethe more? Or maybe you’re Shakespeare… No, that’s too far-fetched.” 

Clicking his tongue, Melaenis put out the blue cigarette, angrily pushing it into the arm of the alchemist, leaving a small burn mark. 

“Ow, you bastard!” 

“At least I have a dad. You’re just a pile of bones. Also that didn’t even hurt.” 

“Just wait, they’ll be your bones soon.” 

Bickering, they walked on at a comfortable pace. 

Chapter Text

With a sigh, Ranboo slowly combed his hand through his dual colored hair while trying to calm his thoughts. His head was jumbled, thoughts interrupting each other like a rip current making him unsure what to do next. 

Although he was not actively interested in the news, the important stuff got to him one way or another. The rising numbers of villain attacks and injured heroes was concerning, especially since Ranboo lived in a district that wasn’t exactly known for its safety. He really wanted to avoid getting tangled up in more issues since the heroes were already trying to investigate him. 

There were also investigations going on to find out the reason for the increase in villain attacks, since there was no specific event that could have entailed such a situation. Although this city was definitely densely populated with villains due to the hero headquarters being here, the rise of these villains’ activities was questionable. 

Ranboo himself didn’t really need to know, he simply wanted to avoid it. The reasons didn’t really matter as long as he didn’t get involved in anything without reason. Especially since lately, he had been dipping his fingers into too many dangerous matters that he’d rather keep out of. 

Well, it was time to go to work anyways. 

~~~

Ranboo placed Techno’s usual on the table, flashing the man a smile. Techno nodded back, and Ranboo looked at the laptop which was opened on the table, its screen being reflected by the glasses of the pink haired man. It was unusual, since Techno would usually be reading the newspaper, so seeing the laptop was a first. 

He didn’t really want to be nosey, but once he walked back to the counter, he couldn’t help but sneak a glance at what the screen was displaying. Looking at the interface, Ranboo could tell that it was something that the HAQ had put out, and he was surprised at the fact that his regular customer seemed to hold more of an important position than he had originally anticipated. Working at the Heroes Association was a big deal, even if you weren’t a hero. Ranboo could only imagine the kind of salary that the people working in that imposing building would be getting, likely to be incomparable to what he received. 

But, working there came with its own danger, so Ranboo could understand that it wasn’t an easy feat. The building was kind of like the main target for villains, so most of the non-heroes working there were at a disadvantage if a major villain attack were to occur. 

At some point, Techno got up to pay and left for work, and Ranboo bid him goodbye. Silently, he wished for the safety of the man, hoping that he’d stay safe from villain attacks. 

~~~

“It’s concerning, really. The activity of the villains is sky high. More and more unknown villains keep popping up while we have yet to solve our most major issue.” 

What Phil said was true. While on patrol, most of the heroes below B-Rank had been injured. The amount of villains surfacing was way more than usual, and their strength wasn’t to be underestimated. Even some of the highest ranking heroes had faced formidable foes. 

“It seems that we will need to patrol more.” 

“Maybe they caught wind of our most recent issue and took the opportunity? If that really is the case, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the more threatening villain organizations started moving.” 

If the fact that an unregistered vigilante had shown up and caused even the highest ranking heroes trouble got out, the villains obviously would start to move, just like they were now. But if this statement was true, it would imply that there were rats in the association who were letting intel slip. It was, all in all, a dangerous assumption to make. 

“These new villains aren’t just any hooligans either. They have powers that need to be taken care of.” 

The more these villains rampaged, the more victims there would be, so the association had to start getting the situation under control as soon as possible. It wasn’t an option to keep going like this, since at some point, the people would start to get uneasy, and the trust in the heroes would begin to dwindle. 

“I think we can put Mindbreaker away for now. He hasn’t shown up in a while, and I think this situation is much more pressing.” 

Techno hummed. It would be a bit dangerous to ignore the matter of the unregistered danger that had recently been stirring up the heroes, but it was true that this villain situation was calling for an immediate response. 

“Alright. I will personally be patrolling more often. You too, apprehend as many as you can. Don’t let them escape.” 

“Let’s do it that way.” 

In the end, the patrol heroes were swapped out, making space for the dominant S ranks and above. Some heroes did raise complaints, since they wanted to be a part of the new movement, but in the end, they couldn’t go against the order from above. 

“The list is as follows. Major Patrols will be done by me, Phil, Scorpion, Oneshot, Lancer, Chariot, Lilia, Ribbon, Dream, Leo, and Foolish. Exceptions to the patrol ban are Grim Reaper, Supernova, Ignis and Explosive.” 

When Techno announced the official patrollers, there was hardly any room to object. There were some exceptions, since some of the A+ ranks were allowed to participate, but that was solely due to the safety their abilities provided. 

“Why am I being put to patrol?” 

The person who had raised their hand, Nicholas, also known as the hero Ignis or the common nickname Panda. The bandana tied to his forehead started heating up, a telltale sign that he was thinking very hardly. 

“Since you can use body doubles, it was deemed that it wouldn’t be too dangerous for you to patrol and you wouldn’t get hurt.”

“Ah, I see…” 

Nick and Dream had great teamwork as well, so Techno didn’t mind sending them both on patrol at the same time. 

Techno put aside the stack of papers in his hand, accepting the other one that Phil handed him while flipping the first page away. The new regulations for patrol, and a drastic change.

“It has now also been implemented that any villain who is deemed too difficult to capture may be killed on the spot.” 

Silence enveloped the room shortly after. 

Chapter Text

“This is annoying… I feel bothered by this.” 

Leo didn’t reply to Ribbon’s complaint, simply ushering her forward. She too was not quite fond of the new passing patrol law, but she was in no position to object to anything that was introduced by the upper ranks. It was obvious that the issue had been discussed deeply with the association president and the top three, and so, the patrol law had been passed. Considering the current circumstances, it was an understandable measure, however in the eyes of the heroes who wanted to uphold justice, and in the eyes of the citizens who trusted the heroes, it simply wasn’t a good look. 

“In the end, if you are strong enough, you won't have to come to such a situation. So do your best.” 

They could only hope that they wouldn’t have to kill anybody during a fight. 

Through the communicators in their ears, they could hear the constant buzzing of reports that the other heroes were leaving as they patrolled. In a single day, two A ranked villains had been arrested already, and their patrol wasn’t even done yet. So far, it hadn’t come to a situation where a confrontation with a villain had been too difficult. 

With a sigh, Ribbon remembered the villain she had encountered last time. The man had been nothing short of a genuine pain, and it was a bad matchup for her. Since both of them were fighters of the longer range, there was nothing she could do to inconvenience the villain. It was just an endless exchange of blows, so it was more like a battle of endurance than a battle of strength. Now that Leo was by her side, it would hopefully go better than last time. 

It was also the reason why Ribbon had been assigned Leo as a partner for the patrol, since she was an excellent close combatant, filling the gaps in her own fighting style perfectly. 

“...dang.” 

Leo quirked her eyebrow in a questioning way, and Ribbon gripped the staff in her hands tightly. 

“I smell the guy from last time… this stench, it surely is him.” 

That alchemist bastard was somewhere around here. She could smell it, that disgusting waft in the air that reminded her of sour milk and acid. 

~~~

“Is she here? Is she?” 

“...I’m working on it.” 

Melaenis was writing in the air, the golden glowing pen in his hand writing words like magic. It was his power, to subtly rewrite the fate of people. It couldn’t make every change he wanted, since the power didn’t always comply, but it changed small factors that left behind way larger consequences. Right now, Melaenis was working on trying to lure Ribbon and Leo to them by rewriting their fate. 

“It’s difficult. It’s not even listening properly.” 

Melaenis’ superpower was similar to ancient witchcraft, but it had thinned over time, so it became less effective and less cooperative the longer it was around. 

“Wow, you’re really useless…”

“I’m not trying to risk going berserk. If it takes control over me, I’m not going to differentiate between you and the heroes. Hell, I’ll end up dead too.” 

“Not like you can harm me…”

Alchemist whispered, bumping his shoulder and urging him to write faster. The hand holding the glowing fountain pen was trembling harshly, and the letters it left behind in the air turned into ashen sparkles the more he kept going. 

“Ugh… damn..” 

“Oh, she’s almost here!”

Melaenis huffed, his arm dropping sluggishly. He wiped the sweat from his forehead away, looking towards the brunette who was clapping his hands gleefully. With a hum, the alchemist popped open different reagents, placing them in his bag loops to throw around. 

“Don’t you dare let any of that stuff come near me… I’ll kill you.” 

He lit a cigarette and inhaled gently, blue smoke escaping from his lips and leaving an ambiguous scent of lemons and chalk. 

“Stinky.”

Despite having stopped using his superpower, the golden fountain pen was still gripped tightly in his hand, shaking and glowing in pulses. He was keeping it on standby to use during the fight, of course. 

The alchemist was running around and making sure the soil was to his liking, not caring about the amount of noise he was making and who it could attract. After all, Melaenis had made sure to rewrite their fate enough to isolate this place. 

“...”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a blond mane of hair. 

SHING-! 

Alchemist, wrapped in a steel-like ribbon flew across the bleak concrete room, crashing into the wall and leaving behind cracks as he crumbled off. The man quickly gathered himself again, smiling at the heroes which had just appeared. 

“Ohh, delightful!” 

Melaenis raised his hand, his gaze having hardened. His pen moved swiftly, scritching into the air like a twig in sand. 

“Misfortune!” 

The woman that had lunged at him, ferocious gaze similar to a lion, significantly slowed down, her muscles spasming. Melaenis didn’t waste time, ignoring the pain that crept up in his hands. Spikes of concrete and dirt were shooting up like bullets, and both Leo and Ribbon danced around nimbly to avoid getting hit. 

The air crackled with tension, and Alchemist wasted no time and raised more spikes of terror, jagged and crackling as they aimed straight for the two heroes. Ribbon whipped her weapon in a large arc, quickly turning the dangerous spikes into nothing but a handful of pebbles as they returned into the earth. Sweat dripped from her brow as they exchanged blows, excessive movement tiring her out in order to evade the mysterious and colorful liquids being splashed around. Seemingly unlucky, they always ended up grazing her. 

“Tsk!” 

Leo, still trying not to get hit by the jagged earthy spikes, was slowly drawing closer to Melaenis, whose pen was still moving without pause. Putting pressure on her back legs, she slightly crouched, and snapping herself forward, she shot towards the villain with malicious intent visible in her eyes. It didn’t take long before another ginormous wall of earth was erected right in front of her, but with a simple hit, it crumbled, and her sharp teeth glistened as she set her eyes on her opponent. 

“Hup-!” 

The air was knocked out of the villain’s lungs as Leo’s punch landed right in his abdomen, knocking him into the wall with a rebound. 

“Ack-!”

“Not yet, fucker.” 

Her barrage didn’t stop, raining punches on him like an arsenal. But alas, misfortune strikes again, and the ground beneath them slowly begins to crumble. Cracks extended like spiderwebs, slowly shaking and collapsing right beneath their feet. 

“Fuck!” 

A ribbon wrapped around Leo’s waist, and another one around a pipe that stuck out from the wall, and they both watched as the villains plummeted. The pipe began to creak, slowly bending. Leo shook her head at Ribbon slowly, and the pink satin around her waist softened, the hold weakening. 

“Nose dive!!-” 

“A little more graceful, will you?” 

The blonde woman kicked herself off the walls, Ribbon gently following behind as she slung herself from left to right and descended elegantly. 

FWOO- 

A giant earthen spike interrupted their drop, ready to impale them both at once. 

“Not on my watch!” 

With a single fist, the giant earthen weapon turned into dust, and their fall to the bottom continued. Leo could already see the two villains once more, but her nose twitched, and her gaze turned towards her teammate. 

“Poisonous mist.” 

She held her breath, now diving foot first in hopes of landing it straight in that bastard’s face, but luck was not on their side, and both heroes missed their attacks. 

“Requesting backup!” 

Even now, Ribbon refused their newest order, her weapon still not sharply cutting through her opponents like it could. 

“Fuck the backup… We’ll die if we stay here any longer, I’m taking his head.” 

Despite her refusal at first, Leo tucked away her bothersome feelings and lunged at the alchemist with killing intent being released in waves. Now, it was time to switch opponents. A fierce shout ripped itself out of Leo’s throat, blasting through like an explosion. It was one of Leo’s abilities, ‘stun’. 

The movements of their opponents halted, and Ribbon, albeit somewhat hesitantly, whipped her weapon with greater force than before, the building being overtaken by tremors as the walls of earth and the steeled ribbon collided. Her weapon spun in intricate patterns, slowly expelling the poisonous gas as she procured wind to wash it away. Leo lunged at the villains, but from behind the alchemist, round vials were being thrown, exploding loudly upon contact with any form of object. The flying debris blocked their vision, and Ribbon was still procuring wind to try and clear the field. The villains didn’t miss the moment, and Melaenis swiftly raised his pen to the air. 

“More, more!”

Every vial being thrown was exploding louder, the earth erecting from the ground was fiercer, and the heroes were tiring out. 

“Yes, that’s your fate..” 

Grinning, Alchemist raised his hands and started procuring earthen spikes from the ground and the walls, cornering the heroes. Leo was putting up a good fight, smashing multiple of them per second, but as fast as they disappeared, they appeared even faster.

“The poison isn’t going away!” 

No matter how fast she spun her weapons to air out the poison and destroy the damn spikes coming her way, the musty air still held a pungent smell to it. Leo halted her movements, looking at Ribbon whose stamina was waning. 

“...Alright, damn..” 

Backup wasn’t arriving. It seemed like something was wrong here. 

“I’m done playing nice now.”

Her blonde hair rose slightly, and her eyes glowed with an intimidating aura. This fight was taking way too long, and she wasn’t an S-Ranked hero for nothing. 

Chapter Text

“You know, patience has never been my sort of thing anyway.”

Her limbs twitched, almost like in anticipation of the ongoing fight. With a snarl, she ran towards the guy in the back, completely ignoring the alchemist who clearly posed a more serious threat. Ribbon could hold her own, so she didn’t need to be worrying about her now. 

“I’ll put an end to your stupid diary entries!” 

Her speed now was incomparable to before, barely visible to the naked eye. It didn’t take long for her to reach the villain, maybe a few seconds. Her clawed hand gripped, and squeezed. 

“Kh- aah!!” 

“You stupid wench, ruining my day…” 

She turned towards the alchemist, who was still smiling at her even though the throat of his companion was being wrung in her grasp. It irritated her, to no end. Unknowingly, her grip tightened on the throat in her hands.

“Well, whatever…” 

He raised his hand, and all the liquid that had gathered on the ground from the thrown reagents slowly gathered in his palm like a sphere of mud. It spun wildly, and anyone looking at it could tell it was incredibly unstable. 

The ribbon, sharp like a knife, couldn’t even approach the fierce gathering of power in the alchemist’s hands, much less disrupt it. 

“You’re pulling out more shit the longer we fight, like those damn clowns with their tissues.” 

As annoying as this was, she had to admit that they were formidable foes. But, she’d put an end to this now. Combat was her expertise, and she wasn’t feeling like toying around anymore. Killing or not, she wanted to go home. 

“Haap-!”

The alchemist’s attack was cleaved in half by her claws, and the woman looked at the alchemist with a wild gaze. Her pearly teeth glowed hungrily.

“I’ll eat you up.” 

“Leo, no!” 

Leo paid no mind to her partner, her features growing more wild the more she approached the alchemist. Her superpower, lycanthropy. 

~~~

“...One is dead, the other escaped.” 

Ribbon’s head hung low as Techno’s gaze swept over her. Leo was in the med bay, getting her injuries looked at, so she was the only one to go and report the incident. Techno didn’t seem to mind, instead asking her a question. 

“...The one who escaped, what danger level do you think he is?” 

Ribbon really didn’t know. Looking at it objectively, his attacks weren’t that difficult to counter, but the man was difficult to injure. And especially, the amount of things he can do… 

“I’d judge it to be S.” 

An S-Ranked threat and an S Rank couldn’t really be compared. An S-Ranked threat would require multiple S Ranks to be taken care of. So, she was judging that villain very highly. 

“And the one who died?” 

“He had some sort of luck manipulation, but no combat power, and it didn’t seem that dangerous. Probably around B or so.” 

Techno nodded, paging the Intelligence department before he handed her a few papers. It was a formal report handout for her to fill in, since a villain had died during patrol. It seemed pretty unnecessary, but it was something that needed to be done. 

“Alright, well done. The next time you see him, page Dream. We don’t want to drag anything out, it’s annoying.”

In a way, this was the first ranked hero’s way of telling her that they were too weak, and were getting in the way. But, in the end she could do nothing but accept it, since this was the second time she had let the same villain get away.  

“...Yes, sir.” 

~~~

“Hm…” 

Alchemist glanced at his arm, his face still showing a smile. 

“Well, how do I stitch this back on…?”

That damned dog, she had severed it in such an ugly way, he could hardly even tell how she had done it. Maybe bitten, but ripped was more likely. If it hadn’t been for Omen opening a small portal and yanking him away, he was sure he would have died. Or, passed out from the blood loss, and then died. 

“I guess I have to practice a bit more…” 

The door behind him opened, and Alchemist watched as Omen entered, his hair tied up in a lazy bun. He looked like a shabby highschooler, but the aura surrounding him was menacing enough to even make the alchemist hesitate. 

“I’m a bit upset... Melaenis was a great asset.” 

A bit upset…? Who was he trying to fool? 

“I know, but we didn’t expect that puppy to show up~” 

Omen hummed, looking at the severed arm on the table. He picked it up, tearing off the bandages on the villain’s arm without care and shoving the two severed parts together crudely. Like black venom, they connected again, and the arm twitched back to life in grotesque motions. The obsidian-like substance seeped into the wound and became invisible, leaving no trace of the arm ever being severed. 

“I’m taking you off the roster. Get your shit together, Andrew. Or you’ll become dog food .” 

“Okay, okay… I guess I’ll take a break, kihihihi...” 

Chapter Text

“Ma’am, it declined again. I’m going to need another form of payment..” 

“No, I’m telling you to try again! There’s no way it declined, I just used my card!” 

With a sigh, Ranboo ran the card through the machine again, looking at the big red ‘x’ that showed up on his screen for the nth time. Two other people were standing behind the woman waiting to pay. 

“...It declined. Do I need to call the police, or will you be paying in cash or a different card?” 

He wasn’t even mad, he was just wondering why he had to do that kind of stuff… 

With a sigh and being on the receiving end of a glare once more, he ran the card through the little slit, turning the screen towards the woman. 

“Declined.” 

She ended up throwing a twenty dollar bill in his face and storming off, but Ranboo didn’t mind, simply ringing it in and wishing her a nice day as she disappeared. How bothersome… 

“Yes, did you like the food? Would you like to pay cash or card?...” 

Recently, Ranboo had noticed that more of the customers in the bakery were from the Heroes Association. Many people in suits with the familiar logos and cards, laptop screens showing data related to recent villains and heroes. Ever since Techno had become a regular, they seemed to grow in number… But no matter the reason, if they made money, that was all that mattered. He hardly cared about the backgrounds of his customers, since the only thing he needed to do was serve and check them out. 

Shortly after 12, the phones of everyone in the bakery started buzzing. It was the telltale sign of a villain attack, and since the bakery was located in the heart of the city, rather close to the hero headquarters, it was natural for all the customers to evacuate immediately. 

“Right, me too…” 

He had forgotten that he should probably leave as well. He walked to the back, gathering his stuff and noting that the employees in the back had left as well. He should be getting out of here quickly if he didn’t want to get swept up in the chaos. 

…

Ranboo walked slowly, deciding not to hurry home. A leisurely walk would surely do him good in a situation like this. Besides, the weather forecast had said nothing about rain. He shuffled his playlist, different songs blasting through his earbuds as buildings and people blurred past. There was a slight breeze, and he occasionally brushed his bangs away from his face when it started tickling. 

The longer he walked, the fewer people he encountered, and the buildings were losing their color and moving onto monotone and dull tones. Streetlights were flickering on, some of them broken enough and having given up their purpose. Ranboo knew exactly which lamps worked and which didn’t, and sometimes, he made a game of guessing which one would go out next. 

It left an ominous street behind, flickering lamps with moths drawn to them like beggars in search of salvation. The dry and cracked asphalt didn’t look inviting, and neither did anything else in the Silverstein alleys, really… 

Crackle-  

At first, it did sound like a streetlamp, but Ranboo’s brow twitched soon, the second he heard the noise once more. 

Crackle, crack-

Turning around, Ranboo gazed at the straight road behind him. It was barely lit up, but his eyes were accustomed to the dark. He could see that there was something off. 

When he had scrolled on his phone during his shift, he had stumbled across an article of recent kidnappings and murders, and it came to mind as he watched the darkness closely. Ranboo’s sense hardly ever betrayed him. 

‘Someone is there?’ 

It felt like a presence for sure, but not exactly a person. It felt like something was there, or rather, would be.  

True to his instinct, there was a ripple in the air. It reminded him of the clown hero’s portals that had bothered him, but he was sure that recovery couldn’t have been easy for the man, so he doubted that it was the bluenette. Besides, there was no reason for Clown to show up here and now. 

Ranboo gazed intensely, watching the small space that opened up expand. A person stepped out of it, but Ranboo didn’t recognize them. 

‘So not a past endeavor.’ 

This was a new conflict?

The person stepped out fully, now clearly visible. Ranboo didn’t waste time to analyze his opponent- long red hair and slanted eyes, covered in a combat outfit but catered to her fashion sense. Probably a physical person. 

“Hm? I thought this place was empty? Omen said there would be nobody around…”

Ranboo knew that she was speaking a foreign language, but he still couldn’t understand what she was saying. She looked equally as confused by his presence, but she quickly adapted a smile, beginning to walk towards him. 

“Omen is rarely wrong, so I wonder who you might be?” 

Ranboo walked backwards, trying to avoid her approach. She hummed, stopping her steps and looking him up and down. 

“Now that I think about it, I can’t feel your presence at all…” 

Ranboo jumped away, barely avoiding the thorny vine that had sprouted to hold his feet in place. A few more raised, swaying in the air like menacing tentacles, some adorned with roses similar in color to her hair. Ranboo raised his brow, not knowing her intention. They both didn’t know each other, so what was her goal? 

He evaded her attacks neatly, and with a sigh, trampled on some of the wiggling plants to stomp them out. They withered away pathetically, and the woman seemed a bit offended at how easily her vines had been eliminated. The wind was starting to pick up, and Ranboo guessed that it was probably not a natural phenomenon. 

“I was told to investigate and spy around a bit, but this is annoying…”

It was irritating him that she was speaking a language that he couldn’t understand.

“...Shut up.” 

Ranboo jumped up, pushing away the thorny vine stabbing his was as if it was a nuisance. The woman didn’t mind, slowly drawing closer and pushing two large thorns through her palms like daggers, intending to fight close range. 

‘She has already seen my face…’ 

Ranboo shouldn’t use anything that could give his identity away. Besides, with what she had shown up until now, it was quite difficult to estimate her strength. Ranboo’s silhouette blended into the darkness in his surroundings, making him harder to spot as he speedily escaped her turret-like attacks.Every punch and kick Ranboo threw was dodged effortlessly by the woman, and his irritation grew with every movement. She shifted her weight, intending to attack low and throw him off his balance, but Ranboo was quick on the uptake, flipping backwards and landing on his hands before he jumped up and once again pushed himself forward, aiming at the back of her nape. 

The street had become a battleground, both of them interlocked in a dance of evasion. The roles kept reversing, both of them forcing each other into the defensive and taking turns. If Ranboo didn’t have all of these restrictions, it would have already been over, but in order to keep his identity a secret, he had to use unidentifiable movements. 

“This is getting annoying!” 

The large thorn in her palm was slashing around and grazed his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. 

“Ah, fuck…” 

Irritated, Ranboo stomped his foot onto the ground, giving it a momentary shake. The woman was caught off guard, and Ranboo didn’t waste a single moment and grabbed her neck, his grip ferociously tight. 

“Just let me go home for fuck’s sake.” 

Whipping his arm backwards, he launched the woman away, hoping that was far enough away to knock her out. 

“Geez…” 

~~~

“Good morning to you too.” 

Andrew smiled, looking down at the woman whose red hair slowly faded into a brown color. She glared at him as she rubbed the fingerprint-shaped bruises on her neck. 

“Well, Hannah, looks like you’ll also get a bit of a whooping from Omen, don’t you think?” 

“Shut up.” 

Hannah slowly got up from the cold asphalt, thankful for the translation device in Andrew’s ear. Otherwise, he wouldn’t understand the curses she was throwing at him. 

“Don’t worry, we can both have some fun while we’re off the roster!” 

“Die!!!”

Chapter Text

“Well, I can’t say for sure… But judging by these traces, I’m pretty confident.” 

Techno hummed, nodding at the man dressed in a trenchcoat. It was Sherlock, an A Rank Member of the Heroes Association that worked with the HASIS, just like Luke, Eret, Callahan, Velvet, Ant, Fundy and Ghost. Sherlock was one of the HASIS members that worked closest and hand in hand with the Hero Commission, since he was on-site most of the time. 

His ability, Cognisight. An ability that transcended normal human perception and insight, allowing him to gaze even further than the surface of most crime scenes. Also excellent for interrogations, and his awareness was needed when deciphering the motives behind crimes. 

“So the most likely trace is Mindbreaker?” 

“Well, from here on out, imagine if you threw a person into that direction at about 200 kilometers per hour… The traces of destruction line up pretty nicely. I don’t think there are any other people with the strength to do that?”

“But there are no heroes with injuries, or any sort of clashes with registered members. Are you suggesting this was an internal clash between villains?”

“Rather, judging by the scene… I’d say this was an unforeseen encounter. A hostile accident, so to say?” 

Techno once again glanced around the scene, looking at the crumbling asphalt and the cracked concrete walls. It was clearly a fight between two giants of the underworld. 

“...It wasn’t expected of Mindbreaker to show hostility towards villains. This is an unforeseen development.” 

Sherlock lingered around the scene a bit more, his expression complicated. Techno didn’t stay much longer, taking the car back to the Association building to finish up what was left of his work.

As the car pulled into the parking lot, the communicator strapped to his belt buzzed, the screen emitting a red glow. 

“...Damn.” 

Techno was out of the car before it even got to park. 

~~~

“...The target is not in sight.” 

[Just keep up the work.] 

Hannah, right now going by the name of Thorne, sighed. Omen had allowed her to redeem herself. This was her last chance, or he would truly get rid of her. 

She needed to get rid of the bastard from last time. Otherwise, she would be put into the same category as that alchemist! There was no way her ego would allow such a thing. 

With a sigh, her thorns tightened around the neck of the B-Rank hero. She didn’t bother looking at him as he flailed around on the ground, since he was one of many she had just faced. That’s right, she’s strong… She isn’t someone that can just be defeated. 

She would show Omen that she was a valuable asset. 

“I will be on the lookout.” 

Her thorns whipped away any incoming threat like a hurricane, and she glanced at the idiots drawing closer to face her. 

“Hm…” 

She had to keep this up until she found the guy she was looking for. Hannah doesn’t forget grudges that easily. 

With a flick of her wrist, a vine appeared underneath her feet, taking her up and higher to surf through the city in search of her victim. Her eyesight wasn’t bad, but it wouldn’t be hard to find a mop of hair in those split colors anyway. 

She could see multiple screens broadcasting her as she wiped away the heroes like dirt, and a smile grazed her face. If he saw, he would surely react to her provocation. 

~~~

“...What the hell is she doing?” 

Ranboo looked at his phone screen, the red haired woman from last time being seen while defeating heroes. She was mouthing words, and Ranboo could clearly tell it was directed at him. 

‘Come here.’

All he had wanted to do was go home, so how come it had evolved into such a big issue? Usually, he wouldn’t bother, but… 

In the end, he had to admit. Those heroes were going through all of this trouble because of him. Because he had made the mistake of not killing her the first time they had met. 

“...” 

Ranboo wasn’t exactly an empath, but that didn’t really make him an asshole either. He was someone who repaid people that went through troubles due to him.

~~~

“...Hm? Who are you?” 

Thorne looked at the person in front of her. His entire silhouette was like an embodiment of darkness, swallowed in the color black like a shadow. But most importantly, those green eyes that glowed like a neon traffic light, directed right at her. 

“You’re not my target, get out of here before you get hurt.” 

Instead of answering, he simply extended his pointer- and middle finger, beckoning her towards him. The provocation was effective, since he could clearly see the vein popping on her forehead.

“You…” 

She lunged, intending to attack her prey with claw-like thorns between her fingers. Her vines moved with her in perfect synchronization, providing a solid defense that also left behind damage to any attacker. 

Ranboo didn’t bother to approach her. Now, he was officially in his get-up, so he could do whatever he wanted. 

He teleported behind her, giving a solid kick to her lower spine. She stumbled briefly, but her vines did a splendid job in keeping her balance. They tried to wrap around him, but Ranboo deflected them without much trouble. The ear piece buzzed. 

[...Didn’t know you were out today.] 

Not thinking the statement to be worthy of a reply, Ranboo simply tapped the hilt of his dagger. A sigh could be heard over the ear piece, and the hilt started trembling. 

[Your pearl is in good condition. It loaded up instantly.] 

Ranboo drew his dagger, cutting through the approaching vines like paper. They fell limply to the ground and disintegrated, but the red haired woman didn’t seem to mind as she generated more of them endlessly. 

[Destroy the ear piece when you get the chance.] 

With that, the device stopped buzzing, and Ranboo tore it out of his ear, clenching his hand around it. It turned to dust instantly. He clutched Nebula in his hand, intending to remove the threat immediately and move on. 

He was aware that there were multiple broadcasting stations with their cameras around, but he’d rely on Skeppy to sabotage most of that. Besides, he was disguised right now. He was donning the appearance that most heroes already knew of, so there was no real fear of being found out. 

‘…How annoying.’ 

Ranboo slowly drew closer to her. The vines and thorns were dying faster than they were coming back. In the end, his approach was inevitable. He flung his dagger towards her face directly, inclined to click his tongue as she narrowly avoided. It came back to him just as fast as it flew, back in his vice-like grip. 

Ranboo teleported behind her, swiping at her neck, but he missed, and she jumped up and back in a hurry. 

His head buzzed, and he could feel another pair of eyes on him. A feeling he disliked, but he could tell that this was not just anything. He recognised this kind of observing gaze, a hero contemplating whether or not to intervene or just let the fight take its course. 

‘…Hum.’ 

The situation was getting more complicated than anticipated. 

Ranboo didn’t try to look for the person observing them, instead looking at the villain in front of him. Truly, she wanted to kill him. Every single one of her movements oozed killing intent thick enough to be gripped and cut by his dagger. 

Annoyed, Ranboo sped up a bit, letting a hint of his superpower flow into his movements. To him, it was a hardly noticeable increase, but to his opponent, it was an explosive difference. Her struggle was obvious as she depleted her stamina more and more. 

“…” 

This is the end. Ranboo knew it instinctively, that his next hit would end her life. No matter how much she struggled, he intended to snap the string then and there. 

With the force of a bated breath, Ranboo pushed the dagger forward with his finger, watching in satisfaction as it shot forward like a bullet. But, his satisfaction was cut short, since the dagger failed to hit his target, another person now having joined the fight. 

Right, a presence that was familiar, but not quite comfortable.

The first ranked hero, Blade, had caught his dagger bare handed. 

“..I appreciate the fight. But I’m going to have to stop you right there.” 

Heroes generally didn’t kill villains they could capture. If it was deemed too difficult or the villain posed a high threat, they didn’t hesitate, but Ranboo did recognise that this wasn’t one of those cases. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you out.” 

Ranboo had been quiet ever since the HAP incident. It had been his objective to live a more quiet life after all. 

Ranboo looked at the hero silently, alternating his gaze between the man and the villain behind him, too roughed up to attempt an escape. 

“I will be arresting her. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t kill her, or you’ll have trouble with me, unfortunately.” 

Avoidable. The hero was giving him a chance to avoid conflict. Ranboo took a step back at the unexpected offer, showing his intention to retreat quietly. The Blade walked backwards towards the villain, keeping his eyes on him as he cuffed her and handed her over to another hero. She was taken away pretty swiftly, and now they both simply looked at each other, tension hanging in the air like thick fog. 

“…It was you who caused that destruction, while fighting presumably her, right?” 

Ranboo didn’t deny it, which was basically a confirmation. The hero hummed, averting his gaze. Ranboo didn’t take his eyes off the Blade, instead focusing on his movements to detect any form of danger.

“…I’m not going to try and fight you. Cooperation would be great, but I’m assuming you don’t want to do that, so you’ll just leave like this.” 

Ranboo took another step back, and it was obvious that cooperation was not his goal, just like Blade had mentioned just now. 

“…I can’t say that other heroes won’t attack you, but at least I won’t right now. Unless… you make me.”

With that sentence, Ranboo teleported off, leaving the hero by himself as he disappeared quietly, as if he had never been there. 

~~~

“It’s an issue. We don’t know whether or not he is a threat.” 

“Until he proves himself to be harmless, he is a threat. By regulations, that’s the case, unfortunately.” 

“Is fighting a villain not pretty much acting in our favor?” 

“In the process, more than a dozen heroes got hurt. In the end, if they hadn’t fought in the first place, this would have never happened.”  

“Huff..” 

Phil reckoned that it was useless to argue with Techno. Of course, Mindbreaker had never proven to be harmless. But, it would be incredibly relaxing if he wasn’t an opponent. However, Techno didn’t let his guard down. Seeing the benefits, Techno had let him go this time, but only because he saw no point in fighting someone that clearly didn’t intend to, and too many other heroes had been injured. 

Maybe, if the situation had been different, Techno would have attempted to apprehend him. 

“Apprehending him would have its benefits. Maybe he could undo the mental damage he has done to people. Besides, the others would feel a lot safer without the threat of someone that strong lingering in this city.” 

Phil didn’t argue back, sipping his coffee idly. It’s not wrong that the loss of the hero Clown had decreased their total power. A valuable asset had been lost, and realizing how futile fighting Mindbreaker was, many mid- to lower ranked heroes had fallen into despair. 

“Honestly… just don’t die.” 

“I wish I could. Kind of can’t though.” 

“Pig-“ 

Knock knock- 

The door opened without the entry permission being granted, and a blond teenager entered, a permanent frown etched into his face. He was accompanied by a brunette, wings buzzing behind him as he carried the sound of spring with himself. 

“…What brings you here.” 

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean…” 

Tommy almost raised his fist, but Tubbo poked his side, diverting his attention skilfully.

“So, I’ve found a few things out, about this guy I mean.”

Tubbo raised a few pieces of paper, a bright red seal reading confidential stamped onto it. He tossed it over to the pink haired man who caught it skilfully, opening the first page. 

“This might sound a bit sad, but… I’m pretty sure that whatever he’s been doing isn’t his superpower at all.” 

“So you’re saying…” 

“Yeah. Just his abilities. It took me quite a bit, but I’ve found a tiny bit of information about endermen. You know that enderman gramps that died a few years ago in prison?” 

“…What about him?” 

“He used to ramble a lot. He once mentioned something about his ancestors, wishing he was like them and praising them left and right… but he did mention majestic green eyes and powers.” 

Techno sighed, flipping through the document. Whatever Tubbo was saying was written in it, and there were few, very stretched assumptions. 

“Ancient endermen. Practically nothing about them is recorded. Only their eye color and their superiority to their kind. No fear of dragons like other endermen.” 

The assumptions were pretty far fetched, but looking at the case on their hands, it didn’t seem that ridiculous.

“What makes you think it isn’t his superpower?” 

“Well, take a look at this.” 

Tubbo clicked around on his smartwatch, projecting a hologram of the Clown hero. Or, more accurately, scans of his body. 

“Usually, the effects of superpowers like these wear off. Whether it’s inducement, status effects, or even physical objects like vines or flames. At some point, they die out.” 

In cases like Techno’s, where the ability was more situation related, it activates under certain conditions such as death.

“It's different with abilities though. Abilities are something that’s there from the start and stay until the end. If it’s your ability to resist heat, you will always resist heat.” 

“So you’re saying…” 

“The effects of this brainwashing, after it’s fully activated, don’t go away. It’s like a permanent status condition. It didn’t really work on you due to your mental stat, but it did have some effect.” 

“A simple ability of this caliber. What you’re getting at, is that his superpower might be far more dangerous?” 

“Could be. Or maybe it’s so weak that he relies on his ability instead. Both are fair assumptions.” 

“Even when you fought him, wasn’t his physical ability very unlike an enderman? Maybe it’s got something to do with that?” 

“Endermen are a naturally strong species, even if they don’t look like it. In the case of ancient endermen, this might be the case in a more prominent manner.” 

Tubbo sighed. 

“Well, looks like we’ll have to assess him from scratch.” 

Chapter Text

[What the hell was that about anyway?] 

“I don’t know. A chance encounter turned into rivalry? Although, I have to say, it was pretty one sided. I neither understood her, nor wanted to.”

[She seemed pretty vexed at you. Did you do something to her?]

“I wouldn’t say did something… Just defended myself.” 

Skeppy sighed, and Ranboo hung up the phone without further engagement. Setting the phone aside, he looked at the news from the previous day, where the two silhouettes of the fight could be seen. 

A vigilante is what they called him. Ranboo could hardly consider himself a vigilante, since his opponents were heroes more often than villains, but calling him anything else seemed to be wrong terms as well. 

Calling him a vigilante made it seem like he was fighting for good. He simply kept getting caught up in things… 

“Ah, damn.” 

~~~ 

“An Americano this time.” 

“Of course. The velvet cake like usual?” 

The interaction was still kept low. Ranboo didn’t really prompt his regulars to talk, especially not Techno, since he didn’t seem like the talkative type. But, he did try to engage in the conversation whenever the man did say something instead of his usual nods and hums. 

“…You can pick out something this time.” 

“Hm? Oh, sure. I’ll bring it to your table.” 

Ranboo was surprised that the man was letting him pick out his treat this time. He seemed like a man who adhered to his routine, so getting a completely different order felt unusual, even to Ranboo. 

“Here you go. Citrus Madeleines. May I ask what made you stray from your usual order?” 

Techno hummed, looking at the madeleines through his thin glasses. 

“Work has been stressful lately. Unnecessary issues have been coming up, and everything is becoming complicated.” 

“Ah, I see… Must be tiring, to work a job like that I mean. But I’m sure you can solve your issue!” 

“I sure hope so…” 

With a sigh, Techno massaged his nose bridge, looking stressed as he glanced at his laptop screen. He then looked back at the barista, thanking him with a silent nod before focusing on his screen fully. 

Ranboo took it as his sign to leave, heading towards the counter again and beginning to wipe the space down in memorized motions. His gaze occasionally drifted to his handsome regular before he caught himself and tried to focus on his work. 

‘I have been getting distracted lately…’ 

Maybe his weakness towards handsome people should be eliminated. Was there a way to train that away or something? 

“Sigh…” 

Maybe he should hit the gym again. Get his mind off things. He hasn’t had a good run in a while, too… 

Before he realized it, a black card had been extended towards him, and Ranboo took it with slightly wide eyes. He didn’t think his perception was lacking, so the fact that the pink haired man was catching him off guard was weird to him. How did he never manage to notice him walking up? Blinking his surprise away, he offered Techno a smile. 

“Have a nice day..! It was nice today. Please come back tomorrow as well.” 

“…Of course. It’s become a part of my morning routine to spend my hard earned money here, unfortunately. Or maybe fortunately?” 

“I’d say fortunately. Our baked goods are top notch!” 

“Well, see you tomorrow then, Ranboo.” 

“Y-Yes! Until tomorrow!”

Wow, the way his name rolled off his tongue really sent shivers down his spine. Even voices could be pleasing like this, it seems. He can’t wait until tomorrow. 

~~~

Tubbo hummed, looking over the body on the autopsy table. The vibrant blue hair had lost its color, now dull and lifeless. 

“So he died? Just like that?” 

“It was a suicide, yes.” 

Sherlock was still jotting down a few notes as he examined the body, the other people from the forensics team standing by as the atmosphere grew more and more tense the longer the silence prevailed. 

“Well, it was somewhat predicted that something like this would happen.” 

The reason that Tubbo had been called down was actually pretty simple. In the end, it was wasteful to just leave an S-Ranked hero’s body to just be buried like this. 

It was always a bit tricky when the heroes had a family that wanted an open casket or simply wished for the preservation of their loved one’s body, but in a case like this, where Clown had no living family members, it was pretty easy. 

“So the body of Josiah Birne is to be turned into an artifact?” 

“Orders from above. Nothing I can do.” 

Tubbo stretched a pair of surgical gloves over his hands. In the end, this was less of a superpower, but more of his ability. 

‘Extraction’. 

With this neat ability of his, he would turn most of the hero’s superpower into form, extract it from his body and put it into an object. Of course, this process wasn’t always successful. There were also others with abilities similar to his, and there had been disastrous endings, like the extracted powers going haywire and killing all people present, or the artifact being deemed unusable. 

“I recommend you all distance yourself a bit. Since he has a space-related ability, I might just summon a vacuum.”

“…Don’t jinx shit.” 

With a sigh, Tubbo held the thin brooch in his hand. It was colored gold and blue, and it was the object he was supposed to transfer the ability into. If he succeeded, they would still be able to use the hero’s ability to an extent. If he failed, he might risk everyone’s life and his own as well. 

“Let’s start then.”

~~~

“He did a good job. Besides, by his recent behaviour, it kind of was obvious that it would end in a suicide.”

Clay hummed, agreeing with Techno. Phil had been worried, since every time Tubbo had to make an artifact, he was putting himself in a very serious situation. 

“We’re lucky he only passed out. But judging by the measurement, that artifact is hard to use.” 

The measurement device had judged the brooch to require a mentality of A and above. So essentially, it was only possible for the few, top ranked heroes to use it. 

“But, I somewhat guessed it. Josiah’s ability was one that was pretty difficult to control anyway. So as an artifact, it would stay the same.”

“It is a device capable of opening spatial rifts and taking you to locations in no time. And now, it is more versatile than it was as a superpower in a person.” 

“Just say that you didn’t like Josiah, Techno. We all know he was a dick.” 

“Understatement. Well, either way…” 

Chapter Text

“What’s up with you? You’re upset that you can’t go on patrol?” 

“Shut up, you penis.” 

Tubbo scoffed, folding the coloured paper in his hands into intricate patterns, smiling as it slowly began resembling a crane. He was still in the hospital bed ever since he had turned the power of the deceased hero into an artifact. He felt fine now, but by protocol, he could only go the next day. 

“Well, think of it like this. I am always stuck in the same basement, making your stupid clothes and devices. At least you get to go out sometimes.”

“You applied to be in the tactical department. I am a hero, though.” 

“Hey, who says I am not one, you asshole? I’ve probably saved your life with these suits more than you can count.” 

“I take everything back. You should have died making that artifact.” 

Ever since the number of villain attacks had increased, the new rules for patrol had been passed, so it had been a while since Tommy patrolled. Frustration kept bubbling up inside of him. 

“Well, why don’t you ask Blade if he wants to spar?”

“I think I’d rather die.” 

Besides, Tommy didn’t think any of the higher ranking heroes had the time to be sparring with him… other than, maybe… 

“”Foolish.”” 

The two teens gave each other high fives, smiling at their genius idea. 

~~~

“...What have I done to deserve your presence, Birdie?” 

“I want to spar, you ingot.” 

“Ingot? What, because I am made of gold? You know, you’re not helping your case here, bird boy…” 

“Oh come on. When was the last time you did any work anyway.” 

Foolish didn’t reply to that, knowing that his reputation wasn’t based on lies. He was known for being lazy and rarely doing work. Especially patrols and assigned calls- Foolish refused them more than he accepted them. But, people weren’t really bothered by this. Because the other heroes were there, his activity wasn’t exactly necessary. 

“I’m not going to waste my energy sparring with you…” 

“You’re gonna go out of shape. I’m waiting for the day the mighty Foolish, capable of fighting the almighty Blade and Dream turns into a fatass-“ 

“Fuck you. Let’s go.” 

Tommy grinned. If there was one thing Foolish was conscious about, it was his muscles. 

~~~ 

“You know, I’m not an easy opponent.” 

Foolish wasn’t an SS-Ranked threat for no reason. The man had incredible abilities and superpowers, and certainly lived up to them. 

His superpower was similar to that of Techno’s. A certain type of immunity towards unnatural death, but Foolish’s was more fleshed out than Techno’s ambiguous superpower. 

Foolish, instead of simply not dying, did die, but simply revived instantly. So, if his head were to be cut off, after a few seconds, it would simply reattach itself. In Techno’s case, if the superpower deemed it as an attack that would result in death, the knife simply wouldn’t be able to cut his head off. 

So, in practice, they were wildly different. Because Foolish actually would have to go through the pain of dying. 

If that wasn’t for his abilities, of course. 

Foolish was blessed with an incredible pain tolerance due to the fact that he was an iron golem chimaera. His body wasn’t only sturdy and had a steel-like feel, but it also numbed his pain receptors. 

So, what would feel like getting your head chopped off felt like maybe a slightly deep wound at best. 

Other than his superpower, Foolish also had incredible stats that boosted his performance. Speed, strength, durability, endurance, he basically had it all. 

“I know that much, big guy.” 

“Big? I’m lean, if anything.”

Foolish was quite big, actually. 6’9, and quite muscular. So, lean was not correct at all.

“Lean?! Have you ever looked in a mirror!!” 

“You’re just skinny.” 

“No, I’m the lean one, you’re big!!!” 

“Oh shut up.” 

Tommy did end up getting roughed up more than he had anticipated. 

Chapter Text

“That’s odd, to say the least… But, I can’t explain it either. You might want to take a look in person, Rain.” 

Ranboo shook his head, not liking the idea that the man offered. 

“I’m not sure. I feel like there is something I really don’t want to get involved with behind this. Besides, I have enough on my hands with all of these heroes trying to catch me.” 

Skeppy sighed, switching tabs. He was looking at data and reports collected by the Hero Association regarding the increase in villain attacks throughout the past few weeks. And, judging by all of those reports, it seemed like most of the villains were simply observing the heroes and vanishing the moment it came to a confrontation. Bad thoughts came to mind the moment he saw the data, knowing that it was very unusual. 

“Perhaps they are planning something big… Dangerous villains have been showing up. Remember that woman? They are suspecting that she is part of some villain organization that is pretty dangerous.” 

“I don’t know why they are targeting me, though. But, due to these villains, the heroes have been paying less attention to me, so that is a bonus.” 

Ranboo, watching the news on his phone, fell into thought. What exactly were they planning to do? Villains, for the past decades, had been severely outmatched by the heroes. Especially with the rise of the current elite heroes like Blade, Dream, Angel and many others, there was no way to beat the Heroes Association. 

But if the current reign of the heroes ended, and the villains began to take power, Not only would the country be in trouble, but the entire world. Because if the villains found a way to move past immortality, there was hardly nothing they couldn’t do. Outmatching the powers of the current generation of heroes was close to impossible, so peace had fallen over earth for a long time. 

“If anything goes haywire, you should intervene. This office cost me a lot.” 

“Is that really all you can think about? Instead, think of a way to defeat the villains, you rich bastard.” 

Skeppy didn’t counter, simply continuing his analysis. 

“If strong villains, capable of matching the heroes of today, arise… Then I will kill them anyway. For my own comfort.” 

“How comforting. I wish you’d be like this all the time.” 

“I’d let them kill you first and then get rid of them, though.”

If Skeppy could, he’d kill him. He really would. 

~~~

“You’re leaving? Ranboo, you just returned to work!” 

With am apologetic expression on his face, Ranboo could do nothing but succumb to her words. She was right, but looking at the situation right now, he really needed the time he was taking off. 

“I’m sorry about this, Niki… But I will be gone for a few months. I’m not asking for a paid leave, but I really have to go.”

Niki looked concerned, asking him if everything really was alright multiple times before she finally agreed, telling him to come back once he was done with his business. 

“I’ll try to come back as soon as possible.” 

“Alright, do hurry.”

Ranboo gave her a smile and politely excused himself, making his way home. 

Spring was approaching now, winter slowly leaving the city, and the ever so occasional warm wind crossing his path. It was a welcome change for everyone, but for Ranboo, it was a time where he couldn’t lay around idly. 

After all, spring was a very important time for endermen. Not too much rain, nice temperatures that weren’t too warm, and the season brought one very important thing with it. 

Chorus fruit . 

The one thing all void creatures long for, almost instinctively. An expensive fruit imported from environments that are impossible for other creatures to live in. And a fruit that made them stronger. It was something he’d eaten before, although they weren’t of the best quality. But, knowing their effect, not getting any was out of the question. 

This spring, Ranboo had already decided on acquiring as many chorus fruit as possible. It would cost him a hefty sum, but he needed it. Besides, head not done those dirty jobs from Skeppy for no reason. 

If he managed to get some, he could train for a few months to maximize their output and let the excessive power out, and also get ready for all other seasons, which were nightmares on their own. 

The current market price for chorus fruit through the Association market, grown in a lab, is about 499$ per fruit. But, Ranboo didn’t even think of getting the lab-grown chorus fruit. In the underworld, he could get it for cheaper, and right from its original source.

Endermen hybrids that had neat abilities and teleported to the void, and harvested the fruit by risking their lives. Those endermen hybrids were also known as void merchants, since they brought various goods from the void, such as fruit, minerals, and the wood of the trees. 

There were very few void merchants, since not only their customers were scarce. but because the association was a serious contestant in terms of product. However, Ranoo knew that chorus fruit that grew in the void had a vast difference to those grown with abilities and technology. 

Because chorus fruit that grew in the void grew on ground on which endermen used to live, thousands upon thousands of years ago. And that ground was full of the extinct energy and particles they left behind, vigorous and filled to the brim with their blood. It was exactly what he was looking for. 

It was cruel, to simply eat it because of that, but it was like a drug. Strengthening the pearl, the skin and replenishing energy- That was something those lab-grown chorus fruit could never do. They had side effects as well, but Ranboo had taken time off from work exactly for that reason. 

Ranboo was set on getting those chorus fruit. He didn’t have too much time, so he had gotten his leave immediately the moment spring had begun. Right now, most void merchants would be on their way to the void to gather their products and return in a few days, so it was the perfect moment to look for them in a place he knew all too well. 

Maybe if he hadn’t been tangled up in all of this mess, he would have chosen not to get any, and live his life as a simple barista just like he had been. But because fate didn’t allow it, he had to make sure that every advantage served him, and him only. And if that advantage had to be acquired through unethical means, so be it. 

Chapter Text

The streets felt empty, no shop-owners yelling out for customers and none of the people walking talking to each other. An eerie quietness that felt out of place if one were to think of a market street. However, this was common for this place, since illegal activity was never loud. 

In the Midnight Bazaar, illegal things were sold like groceries on a weekend. Whether it was drugs, prohibited items, people, mercenary services, books, artifacts or even corpses, the place had it all. The wide variety of products made this place attractive for many people. Ranboo had also been bought and used here. Until Edward had found him, and helped him become an independent mercenary. 

Now, he wasn’t here as Rain, but as a customer.

A black masquerade mask concealed his face, since it was a strictly enforced dress code at the Midnight Bazaar. Ranboo walked to the large tablet in the middle, which showed the different shops that had been set up for the week. Scanning it, Ranboo spotted a small purple symbol, smiling to himself. He had been lucky to find a void merchant in his first week of visit. After all, any of them rarely came by. Now, if he was lucky, he’d have what he wanted as well. 

With even steps, Ranboo made his way over to the area where the void merchant was, entering through the creaky wooden door and towards the counter. 

Most shop owners didn’t hide their faces, so Ranboo took a good look at the enderman hybrid in front of him. Behind the counter stood a man, maybe in his late twenties, skin a black charcoal color, hair dark with a slightly purple hue. He was dressed in a suit, and his eyes were glowing in a rich, magenta color. 

He looked rather young for a void merchant, but Ranboo could tell that he was experienced. He assumed that he was some kind of enderman warrior, since the man was not only rather large, but also very muscular. 

“You’re here for?” 

“Chorus Fruit.”

The man hummed, looking Ranboo up and down. He could feel his pearl vibrating, and Ranboo knew that the man was checking whether or not he was an enderman. 

“...I don’t have that many this time around. One for 200.” 

It was less than half the price of the lab-grown versions of the chorus fruits, and it had way better effects. Ranboo didn’t regret coming here, simply nodding and hinting at the man to take out the goods. 

“I have a total of four.”

The man laid out four chorus fruits, odd in shape and very vibrant. It was different compared to the dull color of those artificially made. They were a bit smaller than Ranboo would have liked them to be, but he didn’t mind. After all, there was hardly any better than this. 

“I’ll take them all.”

“Alright. 800. I only take cash.” 

Most of the shop owners only took cash, so that had been an anticipated response. Leaving with a bag full of chorus fruits, Ranboo smiled, slowly heading back towards his home. It had been a successful transaction, so he felt satisfied.

He had a lot of things left to do once he reached his home. 

~~~

“Hup-” 

It wasn’t sweat dripping from his face- Ranboo knew that. He wiped the blood from his nose, trying to concentrate on absorbing all the energy from the chorus fruit he had just consumed. It wasn’t that easy to control it all and channel it towards his pearl, and he was bound to lose and scatter some of it. It was a shame, but he wanted to absorb as much of it he could.

DRIP, DRIP- 

He was close, only some of it left thrumming through his veins. His pearl vibrated in discomfort at absorbing so much energy all at once. 

“Kkh… Ugh..”

There really were only a few things in this world that made him feel this shitty… 

Finally having absorbed all of it, Ranboo slumped down, his crossed legs going slack. He had only consumed two so far, which meant there were two more to go. 

Since his pearl was close to bursting, it was smart to let it rest a bit and eat them tomorrow, so he tucked them away in the fridge, walking towards his couch. His legs trembled slightly, as if he had just exited a roller coaster. 

“God, I feel horrible…” 

Tomorrow, he’d absorb the energy in the other two as well, and then, after another day’s rest, he’d start training. It would be beneficial to do it as fast as possible, but the rest inbetween was just as important as the training itself. He had made the mistake in the past, and trained directly after consuming too much energy. It had only resulted in vomiting the entirety of the fruit back out and losing half of the energy he had gained. 

That had been a waste of money and effort, so he tried to avoid such things happening again, which is why he prioritized the break for now. The price of chorus fruit wasn’t something that he wanted to waste for no reason, so it made sense to instead take a break and save the almost thousand dollars. 

And maybe he should get some sleep as well, since it was already late. The clock had turned twelve before he knew it, and if he wanted to get some work done tomorrow, he should go to bed now. His sleep schedule was pretty messed up, but it would be even more messed up if he went to bed any later than this. 

“I’m tired..” 

Yeah. Sleep sounded good. 

~~~ 

At some point, Ranboo had lost track of time. His body had been overexerted many times beyond count, and days and night passed without him noticing. A cycle of strengthening his pearl, and pushing his body to its limit, repeatedly without a break. Hours felt like minutes, weeks like days. 

The only way to get stronger after the taming of the foreign energy from the chorus fruit was to force it, since he was now at the peak of his physical performance. Strength bursted from every single movement, and if he didn’t let it all out, it would simply accumulate and eat him up from the inside. So, he would have to make it his own, through force. 

“Haa… Ha-” 

The obsidian room had cracks all over, trembling every time he threw another attack at the walls. With even a single move, the recoil from the strength he used sent him staggering backwards, stumbling over his own feet like a newborn deer. 

“How much longer are you going to be in here for?” 

“A while, get lost.” 

It would take another month, at least. There was no other way to bind down this overflowing strength, lest he wanted his muscles to tear. 

And with this feeling, Ranboo really doubted that he should be around other people. Not only because of this raw power boiling underneath his skin, but also because of the creeping hunger his body was squirming in. All of this training left him craving, like an animal waiting for prey to walk by. The way his jaw went slack and his pointy teeth were coated in saliva would let anyone know that he was starved. But in this state, no fruit and no vegetables would quell his hunger. 

It was primitive, as if the desire in him was speaking in a language he didn’t understand, the only thing he knew being that whatever he craved needed to be bloody, fresh and red, and he needed to tear it off with his teeth, swallow it whole and relish in it- 

Scared by his own hunger, Ranboo knew he’d have to stay here longer. If he left this room, he couldn't guarantee what he’d do. Maybe he did it to spare others, maybe he was doing it to spare himself, he didn’t know. 

But anybody he’d set his sight on would fall victim to his famine. 

~~~

“Completely quiet. It’s almost been two months.” 

“Not even potential sightings?” 

Techno shook his head. Mindbreaker had been off the radar for almost two months, which was surprising. Of course it offered them the time to subdue the rapidly rising villains that were rampaging everywhere, but it felt like the calm before the storm. 

Nobody knew what to think of the situation, but right now, the focus was not on finding him. 

“I’m on patrol duty today. Maybe he’ll show up?” 

“Highly doubt it. He would have shown up when Dream was patrolling, if anything, since he’d hold way more of a grudge towards him.”

Phil was right. Dream had been on the verge of capturing Mindbreaker during the incident at the HAP, and had injured him severely. The vigilante was way more likely to hold animosity towards him rather than Techno. 

“On the topic of Clay, hasn’t he been totally off the rails?” 

“Well, it’s his first time really losing against a villain or vigilante. He must be vexed.” 

“Heheheh… Serves him right.” 

“And even if he had managed to capture Mindbreaker, the fact that it was such a close draw would have bugged him anyway. It’s his first time having an equal opponent.” 

Clay’s first time facing Techno had also been a punch to the gut for him, being thrown off his high horse as a teenager. Now, he had come to realize they were equal, but that Techno’s power was suited for a hero, and that he was simply more suited for combat. 

But to lose in a fight, against some vigilante, was a loss he had to face differently. 

“Maybe if he trained instead of sleeping around, he’d be a bit more successful in apprehending him.” 

“Come on, you know he’s a womanizer.” 

Chapter Text

Hunger. 

A craving that couldn’t be satiated, like a black hole formed in his stomach that would absorb anything without giving him the feeling of fulfillment. He knew he couldn’t quell this hunger in a way that normal starvation was treated- 

He knew it would end at some point. 

Whether it took weeks or months, the time would pass anyway, Ranboo knew that much. 

But the pit in his abdomen made his mouth salivate at the sight of his own flesh, and the thought made him gag. 

The urge to hunt and obtain prey was harsh. But he knew better than to give in to the desire to tear any living being in front of him apart and devour it like a carnivorous monster. How long had it been? He hardly knew. But the moment where he’d feel sane again would come, and this disgusting feeling would dissipate. 

“…” 

Ignore it. That’s what he kept telling himself. Even when Skeppy came into the room, telling him something about the situation outside, something about him needing to go out now, and how he should fight the villains. As if his brain was muddled by hunger, it was the only persistent thought that lived in his mind, constantly overwriting any other thoughts. 

Ranboo obeyed, simply sliding the suit over his skin without a thought. Because he knew that if he hesitated, he might not like the outcome. 

Ignore it Ranboo. Ignore the scent, the sight, the sensation- ignore it, this invitation. Don’t eat, starve. Starve, because you might regret it. 

Starve…

~~~ 

“Ptooh- fuck… they’re everywhere.” 

Tommy wiped the bloody saliva from his lips, watching the villains in front of him. 

It had truly been like the ten plagues of Egypt, villains swarming the city like the locusts. The number had been in the triple digits, and all high ranking heroes had been dispatched. 

Some villains had died. Some heroes had been gravely injured, but none of them had been killed yet so far. But the villains still had the upper hand in this situation, simply due to their number. 

“I need backup! I’m cornered!” 

There was no answer through the communicator. Probably because no hero could come as backup, since they were also struggling. 

“Huuu… fuck.” 

One enemy, two enemies, three four five- 

They piled up like paper stacks, the moment he defeated one the next one came. He was getting tired, his movements turning sluggish and injuries beginning to wear him down. 

“Don’t fall asleep now, birdie.”

The villain in front of him was pummeled into the ground, asphalt splitting into the air in shards. The solid fist, wrapped in bandages like martial artists would have them, was drenched in blood. 

“…Foolish.” 

One of the rare times Foolish actually was on duty. 

“Dream is in H7. Blade and Phil are near C1. I’ll be taking over this area, you head to D8.” 

“Alright.” 

This place was quite packed, so leaving it to Foolish was the wiser option. Tommy slowly retreated, approaching D8 in the grid. 

“Heading to D8. Who else is there?” 

[Explosive and Jack?] 

As Tommy passed through alleys and streets where chaos was brewing and combat was the only thing visible, he neared his destination. There were large marks, probably from a sharp weapon, all over the place. There was a fight going on, much too fast for Tommy’s eyes to see. Explosive was rushing at the enemy, hands glowing hot in overuse of his superpower. 

The air trembled every time Jack’s voice shrieked at volumes that barely spared their ear drums, and Explosive seemed to struggle against the villain, seemingly dancing with a king sword in hand and avoiding the incoming onslaught of attacks. 

“Ghostblade?”

[His disciple, to be exact. However, not even the slightest bit weaker.]

“Ghostblade’s disciple, what is he, Phantomknife?”

[Not the time for jokes, Theseus.] 

“Sorry…” 

With a kick, he rushed in, claws swiping at the villain. The man saw him, holding eye contact before evading and lunging at Jack instead, his sword clearly aimed at his throat. Clear intent to sever the vocal cords causing him headaches. 

“Not on my watch!” 

Before the sword, invisible to the naked eye due to its immense speed, could reach Jack, Explosive quickly threw his palm in its trajectory, his hand exploding on impact. The blade was unharmed, still intact and not a slight but fuller than before. 

An artifact, probably.

With a sigh, Tommy knew what he had to do next. Grab that sword and get it away from him at all costs. 

“Quite the annoying oppon- kugh-!!” 

Before Explosive could finish his sentence, the hilt of the sword slammed into his abdomen, sending the man flying at incredible speeds. Tommy quickly caught on, raising himself back into the air to avoid being hit by that attack. Sam might be able to stand back up after that hit, but Tommy was sure he wouldn’t be. 

“…Call anybody from the ten here… I don’t think we can apprehend him.” 

“You’re sure?” 

Ghostblade had been a villain of S-Rank, however the man had a weakness that was very advantageous for them. A man who couldn’t see. He was blind. And so, heroes who moved soundlessly were the perfect opponent for Ghostblade. However, his disciple clearly didn’t have this weakness. 

“Archie!!!”

The villain turned around, clearly alert to his name being called. There stood a girl, probably in her teenage years, green hair cut into a short pixie bob. 

“Omen needs you to hurry up!!! Finish things quickly!” 

“…Well, whatever.” 

The girl quickly vanished through a portal, leaving the villain ‘Archie’ on his own with the heroes again. 

Explosive, Jack, and Theseus against Archie, disciple of Ghostblade. An S-Rank and two B-Ranks against a speculated S-Rank. 

“Doable-“ 

SLASH- 

Blood spurted, and Archie wiped his sword with his hand, his dark brown eyes suddenly heavier than before. 

“One down?” 

“Jack!!!” 

~~~

[D8 needs backup. Jack is…] 

“Dead?” 

[Close to.] 

Clicking his tongue, Dream picked up his axe again, slowly spinning it in his hand. Frustration was bubbling in his chest, and these villains really weren’t helping at all. Maybe he was annoyed at the situation, maybe he was annoyed at the fact that the villains had the upper hand, or maybe even because his colleagues were doing a shitty fucking job-  

“I’ll go.”

The area was pretty much clear anyway. He could leave it to others. 

“Who else is there right now?” 

[Theseus, Explosive… and Ghostblade’s disciple.] 

“Ghostblade? When did he have the time to take in a disciple?”

[It must have been a few years before he died. But this guy could be way more dangerous. I think it would be the safer option to kill him.] 

“I will be the judge of that.” 

Right now, most citizens had been evacuated, but the city was a mess. Villains were everywhere, and buildings were collapsing, the ground was being turned over along with the sound of conflict. Dream wanted to do nothing more than leave, but the current predicaments hardly allowed that. Knowing that he was reaching his target area, Dream looked around, first trying to spot anybody that needed to be saved or rescued immediately. Finding no one, he rushed towards the sound of the fight. 

“You’re much worse than the other green guy. Maybe you should choose a different color.” 

Turns out he even was the topic of conversation, how nice.

Explosive didn’t take the provocation very well, once again lunging at the swordsman in an attempt to connect the explosion to his body and finally inflict some damage, but his stamina was begging to deplete, and it was clear that in terms of dexterity, this guy was superior. 

“Besides, you two don’t cooperate well. This couldn’t have been easi-”

His words were cut short when a foot clad in sturdy leather met his side, crashing him into the ground with significant force. it caught him off guard, but before he knew it, Dream’s superpower had already washed over his opponent. Fear instillment along with strength and speed debuff. 

“Dream!” 

“Let’s see if it’s easy now.” 

Like a taunt, Dream twirled his ominously gleaming weapon in his hand, the smile etched into his mask emitting a menacing glow. He didn’t give the swordsman any time to breathe, instead aiming for his neck immediately. It was narrowly avoided, but the sword in his hand stabbed at him at a surprisingly high speed. Squinting slightly, Dream chose distance, finally removing himself from the other. 

“So you’re the man my master died to.” 

“And? That’s yesterday’s snow.”

Dream didn’t even seem bothered by the fact that this was the disciple of the man he had killed almost a year ago. Ghostblade, the blind swordmaster that had finally succumbed to old age. 

“You don’t resemble your master’s prime in the slightest. How sad.” 

Archie ignored the mockery, still opting to slash his sword at his opponent in calculated moves. 

“You might be almost as strong as your master when I severed both arms. Almost.” 

“Alright now, you bastard…” 

It seems that the last sentence Dream had spouted had finally flipped a switch inside Archie, and the man began attacking him in a more vigorous manner. It was hard to imagine how this would look if he wasn’t under the influence of fear-instillment and speed and strength debuffs. 

Dream dodged the incoming stabs with little effort, giving a few hits and jabs of his own towards the opponent. It was an exchange of blows that was hard to even see due to the speed they were moving at, and their surroundings suffered under their hands and feet. 

“Stop moving already. It’s wasted effort. Just turn yourself in, unless you want to end up in the same state as your master.” 

It might have been intended as provocation, but what Dream had said earlier was true. When Dream had first fought Ghostblade as a teen, the man had been way stronger than his disciple now. Dream couldn’t even compare the two in his head, knowing the former glory of the dead swordsman. 

“You think I’ll-“ 

Not bothering to listen to the man’s words any longer, Dream’s hand slowly blackened to an ashen color, swiping at the swordsman and causing him to buckle. 

‘Withering Touch’, and also what most people called ‘The Plague’.

If you touched it once, you wouldn’t be able to get rid of it. Like a curse, can only be beat by insane regenerative ability, healing skills or cutting the limb off before it spread. 

“Let’s see whether you or your master hold out better, yeah?” 

Tommy and Explosive watched from the back, slowly retreating. It was better to leave Dream alone in moments like these. In a way, this was his way of showing mercy. Cutting off the limbs gave them a chance to live, and if they agreed to turn themselves in, he’d let them live. 

However, if they showed any form of resistance, Dream didn’t hesitate to let Withering Touch corrode the entirety of their body slowly and painfully, until it reached their heart and lungs and caused a torturous death. 

“…D8 is under control now, thanks for backup.” 

[Please go to this area next, there are…] 

~~~ 

Chapter Text

“This place is a mess…”

The portal closed up again, and Omen didn’t bother looking at the fight scenes anymore. Currently, the city was in shambles. It wasn’t something that restoration superpowers couldn’t fix though, so maybe it wasn’t that bad. 

The situation wasn’t looking that good, but it wasn’t looking bad by any means either. Currently, all top heroes were on duty, but they weren’t losing, so that was a positive sign that they were closer to overthrowing them. 

“We did lose a few important people though…” 

“You mean Archie?” 

Chiara nodded. She was the green haired girl who had gone out to warn him earlier so he’d hurry up, but she hadn’t expected Dream to show up. If she had known a bit earlier, she would have gone out to help him. 

“We also lost a few others. Glendin, Hercules, Poirot…”

“We were bound to lose some strong people. I’d much rather win while facing losses, than lose and keep them. That just proves how useless they are.” 

Sighing, Chiara sat down in a chair, watching the scenery through multitudes of cameras. 

“The next step is close. Tell Bishop to be ready.” 

“Of course…” 

She soon stepped out, and Omen kept his eyes glued to the screen, observing closely. 

~~~

“How many have you knocked unconscious now?” 

“It’s 43, and with this one..” 

Blade slammed his fist down, crashing the villain’s body almost head-deep into the asphalt. The villain was knocked out, probably suffering from a concussion at the least. 

“44.” 

Phil sighed, slowly flying over the area, checking for any other enemies. A bad feeling had been pooling in his gut for a while now, and he was getting restless. Like the calm before the storm. Most of the villains had been apprehended or were currently unconscious, so why was he feeling so nervous? 

“It’s clear, but…” 

“Yeah. Something is wrong. I don’t know what exactly it is, but I have the feeling that something is about to happen.” 

“You too?” 

They both looked at each other and nodded. Blade reached for the communicator in his ear, tapping it to reach a hold of anybody else, only for it to buzz a few times in a pathetic attempt to connect. 

“...We’re isolated.” 

“I knew it…” 

Their gut feeling hadn’t betrayed them. Something was interrupting the signal of the Heroes Association communicators, and it was definitely on purpose. 

“Something’s coming here. And I don’t think it’s on our side. You go higher for now.” 

Phil nodded, flapping the large wings on his back a few times and taking a higher position. He knew that if they judged their opponent wrong and he got injured, he would only be a hindrance to Techno, so he listened to him. 

“Fast, and strong. Watch out, Bl-” 

The ground shook as if an earthquake had hit, and debris flew through the air as whatever had just approached finally landed. Like a missile, the concrete that had splintered flew in all kinds of directions, and Phil avoided them just barely. 

“...The Lord be with you.” 

It was a man clearly dressed like a bishop, a glowing cross around his neck. He didn’t look particularly strong, but they could tell from the energy this man emitted that he was dangerous. 

“I’m Bishop Cain. And I am here to sentence you under the name of the lord.” 

With a light scoff, Blade pondered over the bishop’s words. However, his patience was very short lived. 

“...Unfortunately, I am not a believer, so your lord doesn’t need to bring forth any judgment.” 

Bishop Cain seemed a bit intrigued, the calm smile on his face thinning. He tilted his head, looking at the hero. 

“The lord judges believers and nonbelievers all the same. I only do what I’m told, and I was told to punish a sinner.” 

“A sinner? Quite unspecific. Are you sure it’s me you’re looking for? If it’s sinners, there’s quite the abundance of them in this world.” 

“I was told that the sinner was a maniac brute with a crown on his head and has killed more than one could count, so it must be you, right?” 

“...Well, it might be, although you’re quite quick to shove people into your desired categories. There must be other people who fit this description as well, no?” 

“This is dragging uncomfortably long.” 

The bishop gave a harsh kick to the floor, and stone shattered, flying into the air and causing dust to surface and cloud the entire area in smoke. 

“I do not enjoy being around sinners, much less nonbelievers after all.” 

Long, sharp object flew towards him, and Blade quickly evaded, glancing at them as they passed him. They were about the length of his palm, and they embedded themselves deeply into the surrounding objects. Taking a closer look, he could identify what they were. 

“Nails?” 

They were regular nails, like one would use during construction. But looking closely, not regular nails, no…

The bishop smiled, the sharp nails glowing in between his fingers. Blade could tell that those were not ordinary nails he was throwing. Besides, who would carry this many nails around? 

“An artifact?” 

“Not just any artifact. These are the nails that once bound our lord and savior, and will now bind you…” 

Grimacing, Blade looked at the bishop, slowly advancing as he evaded the onslaught of nails shooting towards him. He didn’t know what the hell this bastard was talking about, but he sure knew that he was nuts. It seemed like a binding-type artifact to restrict the opponent. 

But, as nails flew towards the hero, there were glinting and sharp feathers starting to rain down on him as well. 

“You’re doing something too, huh?” 

But, the feathers didn’t seem to hit their target, and the bishop smiled at the flying hero instead. 

“God would never allow his precious child to be hurt.” 

“Another artifact? How many fucking…” 

The cross around his neck, probably. It had been glowing from the start, so it must be some sort of device that disabled attacks in a certain radius…

“It’s useless. You will be judged by me, and then by my lord, so don’t try to resist it. But, you don’t have to worry. Hell is warm, much fitting for a swine like you.” 

“Oh he’s not just a heretic, he’s racist as well?” 

“Heretic? Me? Hahahah…. Very fun, it’ll be delightful to bring your head.” 

Back and forth, the attacks continued. But the shield around the bishop didn’t waver, refusing to let any of the attacks thrown at him hit. If it went on like this, he would run out of stamina at some point. 

“Guess this finally has a use.” 

Recently, Blade’s costume had gotten a tiny upgrade. A blue brooch, attached to his clothing, a spacey aura surrounding it.

The air around the bishop rippled, and Blade gave a smile, thrusting his hand and watching as it disappeared. 

“Peekaboo.”

His hand appeared again through a space rift that ripped open next to Bishop Cain, grasping at his soutane, causing him to frown at the sensation. 

“You wench… You dare?” 

But, the grip didn’t get any weaker, and slowly pulling back, Blade grabbed and gave a harsh twist, bending the bishop’s arm in an unnatural way. The man barely let out a sound, but it was obvious that it hurt.

“Let’s see if your Lord is going to save you now.” 

~~~ 

“I don’t know. I still don’t think it was smart to send him out. He probably barely registered it.” 

Lya shook her head at her boss, slowly sipping from the tea that had gone cold. 

“It’s for the best. Because the situation is looking unfortunate right now. Any accidents on the way were already predicted.” 

“He’s done this kind of thing before. And believe me, the last time I met him in that state, he almost ate me.” 

Skeppy hadn’t wanted to let Rain go. But it was necessary, he admitted it. They were also in a safe, isolated place right now, knowing that the inner city was wrecked. 

“I hope nothing bad happens.” 

“Of course. Would you like some coffee?” 

“…Sure.” 

Chapter Text

“Communication is out.” 

It was the obvious predicament they were now in after trying to report the outcome of their previous fight. 

“Yeah, I know. Either a superpower, or a wide ranged artifact. I’m guessing it’s the former.” 

Jack had already been transported away, now Dream and Theseus had been doing some leftover cleanup and observing the area. In the meantime, communication had gone out, and they were now stuck with each other until they either found another hero or the communicators went back online. Alternatively, they could split up…

“I’m a bit surprised though, that guy held up against you quite well.” 

With a scoff, the teenaer received a reply. 

“Well, he was nothing but a poor imitation of what his master once was. It was disappointing, really.” 

Of course you would think that way. Who the hell wins against you anyway.  

But he didn’t say it out loud, fearing he’d upset the hero. The man had been a formidable opponent, at least to him. Although today, the stronger villains that had been hiding like cockroaches had suddenly all surfaced out of nowhere. For heroes like Dream there was no difference between the weak, but Theseus could clearly notice just how much stronger these villains were in comparison to the ones he fought on the regular. 

Shaking his head, Dream tucked his axe away and patted the dust off from his clothes. It seemed that the intended to split up, not wanting to be stuck with a burden like himself. 

“You stay here. I’m going to look around more. Don’t, and I repeat, don’t leave your position. Got it?” 

“Yes, of course…” 

It was obvious for Theseus. He had gone through these rules and actions so many times he could probably count them all out in his sleep. It felt a bit patronizing for Dream to think he needed to be reminded after all the years he’d been active alongside the man. 

“You know the protocols. If I don’t come back in an hour or so, light a flare.” 

With those words, Dream left the winged hero behind, listening to the signs of combat. He could already tell where Blade was fighting, but it wouldn’t be smart to intervene now. Phil was still in the sky, so it couldn’t be that serious yet. Besides, he doubted that the man would want his help anyway, unless the world was ending. 

Some villains approached here and there, but with a flick of his wrist, those were gonna just as quickly as they came. If anything, he admired the small fry for even trying to approach him, much less harm him. 

SKRRTT…  

“..?” 

Slowing down, the blond hero looked around, his eyes scanning the area for the noise he had just heard. It seemed like a body dragging itself around walls and concrete. An eerie sound that circled around the alleys like a race track. 

SCCRRRAAATCHH - 

“What the fuck?” 

The sound was coming from all around him, as if whatever was making that noise was surrounding him. Very quickly at that. The enemy was everywhere, but the presence was only that of a single person. It sent a chill down his spine, whether it was fear or thrill he didn’t know. 

“Haaah…. Hah…” 

The presence felt familiar, but not quite recognisable on its own like this. There was something that made him feel uneasy, or maybe even excited. Feeling the entity slow down, his senses sharpened and he tried to pinpoint their location. 

‘There!’ 

Having pinpointed the enemy, he turned around, locking eyes with some he knew very well. A flash of green, before the figure once again vanished into the shadow of an alley. The eye contact didn’t seem threatening, as if the vigilante didn’t need to control him at all, instead taking him down with sheer power alone. 

“You…” 

Dream chuckled, following the energy of the vigilante with his eyes. He now knew the reason as to why this presence felt familiar. After all, this wasn’t his first encounter with Mindbreaker. 

“What’s wrong with you?” 

The vigilante didn’t reply, much in his usual fashion, seemingly just lurking around and observing the hero. But something about him was different. As if he was completely out of it. Hot breaths and and sharp inhales as if he hadn’t breathed oxygen in weeks, hungry for air. Hungry…?  

“H…ry-… -gry…” 

“What? What the fuck are you-“ 

His words were cut short when the vigilante lunged, face first and claws extended in animosity. If he had reacted even a second later, his arms would have been wasted in the trajectory of those talons. It seemed like Mindbreaker was out for blood this time around, seeing as there was no hint of rationality in his movements. 

Now convinced that there was something seriously awry with the vigilante, Dream took a more serious stance, his axe now clutched tightly. 

‘A drug? Or maybe some sort of manipulation? Hypnosis?’ 

It didn’t seem like any of those from what he could tell, but it was too early to judge. But there seemed to be some sort of stat boost involved, because he was even faster now. Back when he had encountered him in the prison, he had been fast, but his speed then was incomparable to now. It was an unbelievable feat for someone whose superpower wasn’t speed. 

“Ughhkkh- Hah..!” 

The vigilante squirmed in pain, clutching his stomach tightly as if he was famished, before his head snapped in a different direction, now having forgotten that he was involved in a fight just seconds before.  

As creeped out as he was, Dream followed the gaze of his opponent. It was the fight scene where Blade was, fighting someone. And the vigilante seemed quite focused on it, too. 

‘Blade? Or maybe the villain?’ 

But the vigilante didn’t give him time to think before he bolted away, trying to find his new source of food. Like a predator looking for its prey, the purpose in those movements was clear. 

“…I have a bad feeling about this.” 

Trying to catch up with the other, Dream followed right behind him. He wasn’t quite sure whether he should worry more about his colleagues or the villain they were fighting, but what he was sure about was the fact that the situation had become unpredictable.