Wilbur stood on the edge of a rooftop, the sea winds blowing cold in his greyscale hair. His eyes were closed and he knew he'd have to open them again soon but he could stand here for a moment. Just a moment longer. With the wind and the sky and the freedom.

The sound of trotters on the concrete made his eyes open, spilling the build-up of blue ink out across his ghostly face.

"I didn't think you'd hear me," His twin said.

"I hoped I wouldn't, if I'm honest." He turned to look at Technoblade, who was taller and broader in his shifted form. It was a good thing their hybrid appearances were so different - it was far harder to tell the family resemblance. "Is Dad joining us?"

Techno shook his head. "No. He's sleeping in tonight."

Wilbur snorted. "The old man needs his nap."

"That's what I said," Techno grinned, snout wrinkling. "He pulled out a belt and I ran for it."

"Well, good luck surviving when we get home."

"Oh, don't worry," He said. "I'm the favourite."

"Yeah. But I'm the Wi-Fi child."

Techno frowned. "I'm the Wi-Fi child."

Wilbur frowned back at him. "No. I am."

They stared at each other in silence for a long, long moment. "I... will talk to Dad when we get home," The elder twin said, crinkling his snout thoughtfully.

"Good," Said the younger twin, brushing welling blue tears from his eyes. "I think he's been lying to the both of us."

Techno hummed in response, looking out at the sea. "Shall we get going?"

Wilbur looked at his watch. "The shift starts in five... four... three... two..." He didn't reach one, instead turning on the small camera hidden under the folding collar of his turtleneck. A faint, yellow light, blending in with his jumper, showed it was on and Wilbur turned to his twin. "Let's go."

Techno, or now The Blood God, started walking and jumped off the roof onto another, only a three metre drop below. His legs barely buckled under the impact and he kept walking like nothing was wrong. Wilbur wasn't too good at those things. With the sound like a train pounding across the air around him and with the shaking of atoms in his flesh, his feet didn't bear the weight of his body, nor did his shoulders bare the weight of his clothes.

Wind moved through him and he slowly floated downwards from the roof. A pigeon, spooked by his brother, flew through his chest, warm and loud, but it didn't distract him. The other roof below him came closer and closer but, before he went through it, his body came back. The wheels of the train shrieked as brakes were applied hard and the wind hit him hard, suddenly finding a solid wall of flesh compared to hazy air blocking its' way.

Techno arched an eyebrow at him. "Straight out the gate?"

"What?" Wilbur asked, defensively. "That's a three metre drop."

"I could do it."

"Well, not everyone's number two, are they?"

Techno shrugged. "Not everyone can be."

With his body beginning to grow progressively warmer again, Wilbur and Technoblade kept walking, going along the mismatched, high-rise rooftops of the tall, tall buildings that lined the docks. Every now and then, they'd talk a bit. A brief bit of conversation to interrupt what was otherwise total silence.

The conversing had definitely dwindled now. Jubilee Line was coming out and he was never one for chatting.

Theseus. That's what he was here for.

His footsteps became a little bit faster and his ghostly heart beat a little more. He was out tonight. Jubilee knew it. It was almost like the wind carried his laughs, his cheers and his taunting mockery. He could see the blue eyes reflected in the dark, dark water by the docks and every sudden flash of light was like Theseus's golden hair, rushing past him. Jubilee knew he was out tonight. He was going to find him.

But he could feel the Blood God staring at him cautiously. When he looked over, #2 had a concerned expression, his stride stiff despite his pace being the same as usual.

"What?" Jubilee asked.

"Your tears."

The phantom raised a hand to his face and muttered a quiet curse. They were beginning to actually fall onto his clothes, staining his yellow jumper blue, even if just for a moment.

Without hesitance, the Blood God pressed a hand lightly against his twins' back. "You're good, right?"

"If you're asking if I'm overloading again, I'm not," Wilbur assured. "I'm just... thinking."

Techno raised an eyebrow. "Thinking? Of what?"

Wilbur hesitated. Every time, he'd get the same reaction. "He's out tonight." Instantly, Techno dropped his hand, with a loud and irritated sigh. The younger twin glared. "Oi, I mean it! It's different, okay? He's out tonight, on the docks, I swear."

"Now that's too specific to be real," Techno said. "Even if your hunch is correct, L'Manburg is huge and you know it. He could be anywhere in the city."

The phantom looked down at his boots, hurrying his pace. "I'm serious..."

"No, you're obsessed."

He turned on his twin, with a hiss. "I'm not obsessed."

"Oh, really?" The sneer was so cruel that Wilbur wasn't sure who he was speaking to anymore - his brother or the Blood God. "Then explain why every time you're on night patrol with someone, after a run-in with Theseus, all you can talk about is how he's 'out' and he's 'close'? Listen, as your-" He cut himself off quickly but followed through quickly, "-as your colleague, I'm telling you to give it up. The only way we're catching Theseus is in an ambush with an incapacitated Enderling and an arrested Bee."

Wilbur glared but he knew it was weak compared to Technoblade's, who kept walking impassively. "We can catch him by surprise. All we need to do is scare him into panicking and then-"

"Then Enderling comes in and escorts them all out of there," The Blood God interrupted. "You always say there's more than just Theseus on television. Why can't you mean it?"

"I mean it!" He protested thinly, hurrying to catch up. "It's just- Theseus is the biggest threat and you know it. But he's emotional and, if we could just get a proper hold of him, those cuffs would be on before you can blink. He's the groups' leader - their own version of the Inbetweener - and taking him in would be the best move-"

"I'm stopping you there because you're just rambling now." The netherite on the Blood Gods' forearm jumped from its' brace shape to wrap like a gag around Wilburs' mouth, shutting him up. "Theseus is not the biggest threat, nor is he their little boss. You are just driving yourself round in circles because he causes you the most problems. Official duties state that Enderling is top priority for arrest: you cannot go tunnel-visioned on one when there's a bigger picture."

"If 'top priority' is a fancy way to say, 'ignore him till we can handle him', then sure," Jubilee Line leered under the netherite, pulling it off his mouth and throwing it at the the ground. It scattered across the floor before jumping around the Blood Gods' arm again, at a flick of his wrist. "Besides, you say that," He said, lowly, and making the Blood God stop in his tracks, "but we both know that you would arrest Bee over Enderling any day."

"His technical knowledge is something he could abuse," The Blood God admitted, "But at least I don't insist he's everywhere all the time."

"I don't do that," Jubilee scoffed, turning on his heel to look down from the building they stood on at the docks. His next retort caught in his throat.

"You do too. Don't try to lie to me, all you think half the time is, 'Oh, Theseus this', 'Oh, Theseus that', 'Oh, Theseus is dangerous', 'Oh, Theseus is-'!"

"Shut up," Jubilee Line said, gently kneeling.

The Blood God didn't argue back, falling silent and crouching too. His eyes were on Jubilee Line, as trying to follow the gaze of matte blue eyes of no pupil or iris was impossible, and he waited for his brother to point at whatever he had spotted.

"The warehouse," Jubilee explained. "Enderling."

The piglin whipped his head around to look, only just catching movement vanish and an armful of guns fall onto the roof of a grey warehouse. There was no sign of movement on the outside but the crashing waves couldn't muffle the sound of live ammunition from inside. 

A bubble of excitement, anticipation and adrenaline started to spread through Jubilee Line's body. He was here.

"I'm right," He said, quietly.

"Oh, shut up and let's get in there," His brother grumbled, getting to his trotters and backing up for a running start. The netherite went from his wrist into his hand, stretched out thinly like a metallic parachute, wavering with a sound similar to a thunder sheet. He sprinted, trotters clicking on the roof below them and jumped, his descent towards the warehouse near silent.

Jubilee breathed in deeply and felt his skin soften at an abnormal rate. Wind began to sink through his bones and the quiet rumblings of an approaching train began somewhere in the back of his mind. Still slowly sucking in air, he moved towards the warehouse. The train grew louder and louder, whistling past now with the whirr of its' wheels making sparks on the track.

The camera on his neck made a small whining noise and the walky-talky that sat hidden under his trench coat crackled, picking up on random radio notifications or phone calls. The empty air he floated through was cold and senseless and he slipped through the walls with chilling ease. Breathing out, he solidified in silence and stealthily snuck into a shadowy hiding spot, tucking himself snuggly between the wall and a half-open door.

Theseus was standing there, waiting and poised. His blue eyes were attentive, scanning windows and doors for any sign of movement. Unconscious people with guns strapped around their chests lay around the vigilante and the acrid smell of smoke filled the air. In his hand was his fire-can, a finger waiting hesitantly on the button to release the gas. He was so... alert.

Wilbur was looking forward to this.

He let a few seconds pass, watching Theseus get more and more agitated, more and more nervous.

"Alright, Choo-Choo bitch," Theseus called out, slowly beginning to move from where he had been frozen. "You can make your entrance already."

Jubilee Line waited a little and then, with the screech of trains, he ghosted through the door to another hiding spot under a desk, invisbly flying through Theseus to get there. The vigilante jumped and instinctively sprayed a small volume of gas. He stumbled back before it ignited and the annoyed look on his face seemed to crack slightly to one of nerves.

"Haha, very funny. What, are you trying to give me hypothermia, here, Juby?"

Deciding against hiding more, Jubilee gently slid out from under the desk, quietly making his way across the floor to angle himself behind Theseus, who was using a reflective surface to keep an eye behind him. He stood up, nearly smiling at the way he ominously rose behind the blond.

"Theseus," He said evenly, watching the vigilante turn quickly. "You're under arrest."

"And you're never getting that call-back for Danny Phantom," Theseus quipped without hesitation. "You need actual personality to be a main character."

Jubilee Line took a step towards Theseus, eyes locked on the spray can. It was in moments like these that he was glad his shifted form didn't show any pupils or irises - it was just blank, blue sclera, no trace of his chestnut-brown eyes anywhere. "Are you going to keep resisting or will you come in quietly?"

"And are you going to keep being a prick or will you actually prove you're not a robot?" Theseus's finger moved on the button of his spray can and Jubilee Line reacted instantly. The train whistled past as he became incorporeal, fire igniting around where his legs would be.

Already running, Theseus made his way to a flight of stairs, taking them two at a time. Jubilee flew after him, solidifying just next to Theseus and swinging a punch. His reaction time flawless, as always, Theseus ducked under it, instantly backtracking. He through himself at the bottom of the stairs, barrel-rolling on impact and spinning around, aiming a spraying fire-can at Jubilee.

The #6 yelled out shortly in shock, too stunned to become impervious. He fled up a few stairs, ducking and covering his head to protect himself from the igniting fire. As he waited for the heat to dissipate, he knew that move had been tactical genius. Feigning panic in order to hide the spray can until the last second: so soon into the fight and Theseus was already able to turn the tables? Jubilee would be worried if they hadn't done this dance a hundred times over.

As the fire died, the phantom launched himself back into the fight, shifting into a ghost-like state to cross the ground more quickly. Theseus was waiting, having inched closer to the door out, but Jubilee wasn't going to let him get away that easily. He turned corporeal between the vigilante and the exist, sending a fist colliding with the others' shoulder.

Theseus hissed, clutching at it in more pain then usual. A thought dawned in Jubilee's' mind: he's got a pre-existing injury.

The next attack was Jubilee shooting out his elbow quickly and sharply, catching Theseus's' injured shoulder in the precise jab. The vigilante reangled himself, trying to keep the shoulder out of range, and punched the hero's stomach. #6 didn't flinch, turning ghostly and slipping through Theseus. He solidified and punched, hitting the shoulder squarely at least twice before Theseus managed to respond.

He was sweating violently, obviously in pain, and Wilbur hesitated when blue eyes met blue eyes. He was hurt. He was hurt, and this moment of pause made the hero blind to the fist that blindsided the side of his face. Wilbur went flying, turning incoporeal only milliseconds before crashing into the ground, soldifying soon after.

There was no time for hesitation while on the job, Wilbur reminded himself sternly, and Jubilee Line rolled over to meet Theseus when the vigilante leapt at him, fists swinging and feet kicking. Their wrestle was undignified - more akin to a petulant scramble - but with hands ripping at his hair and feet stomping wildly against his chest, Jubilee knew he wouldn't be able to win like this. Sooner or later, if he kept himself on the ground, he'd be knocked unconscious and be at the mercy of three criminals.

Technoblade would never let Wilbur live it down.

But he couldn't win. He was tiring too quickly. Theseus was prolonging this, it seemed, catching attacks and sending in a flurry of his own. Jubilee Line was getting hungry, an ache appearing in his stomach and a headache starting on his temples. His lunges, kicks and swings slowed, weakened and, all in all, began missing. His mind was fever-pressed until-

Off.

Off, now.

Get off.

Let go.

Get off, get off, get off!

Let go, let go, let go!

Let me out, let me free, let me go!

-Until Theseus's hands managed to wrap around his wrists, like straps that would keep him pinned to a table. His heart pounded, his tears fell faster and thicker, his hunger was gone and his head screamed. He screamed. He screamed with fury and horror, voice rattling like a train speeding in a subway. Theseus was taken aback, eyes widening in shock, and Jubilee Line snatched his wrists away from Theseus's grip, holding his head and tangling his fingers in his brown hair.

His shrieks echoed along the walls and seeped out of the warehouse. They were loud and ear-splitting. On his belt, the walky-talky hissed, fizzed and even sparked a little, and, on his neck, the camera's light flickered on and off haphazardly. There had been the sounds of tumbling and fighting upstairs. Now all he could make out was the sound of running footsteps and children weeping loudly.

Wilbur was shaking a little, turning corporeal and incorporeal at random breaths. In a blind panic, his eyes fell on Theseus. The one who had grabbed him. The one who had held him down. The one who had forced him there, forced him to stay still.

The one with the needle.

He saw red and, judging by the stains on his yellow jumper, his tears were red too. Theseus was backing up in terror but it wasn't fast enough to avoid the phantom that suddenly rushed at him.

Wilbur grabbed at him, scrabbling the firecan away from the vigilante and throwing a punch with no previous planning or even aim. It hit his opponent in the chest and he stumbled back under the sudden weight. The footsteps were close enough now that they were sprinting down the stairs but Wilbur didn't care. He sent punch after punch after punch, on the verge of flailing with his attacks.

Red stains began to mark Theseus's clothes before vanishing and it was red that smeared his cheeks instead of blue. A kick collided with the vigilantes' knee, sending him onto the ground, and Wilbur raised a hand up high to strike him.

He would've, too, if someone hadn't grabbed him and wrestled him back. Hands grasped his wrists again but, when Wilbur looked at the one who forced him to stay still, he didn't panic. Technoblade, staring at him with worry. The burning red tears turned back into cooler, blue ones, their flow softening to a bare trickle.

He was panting. He hadn't noticed it before. Panting breathlessly and nervously, shoulders shaking. And still, Technoblade held his arms still, keeping him steady. Movement caught Jubilee's eye and he looked to see Theseus, his shock barely hidden behind his mask rise to his feet.

Part of him wanted to rush back into the fight. Part of him wanted to end the fight on a high note. But, when he moved, the Blood God didn't let go. His own twin, betraying him for his own good. Jubilee Line didn't resist. He watched Theseus sprint over to Enderling and Bee, who wasted no time in teleporting away.

With the coast clear, Technoblade's' hands released Wilbur's' wrists only to envelope his twin in a hug.

"You're safe," He promised gently. "You're never going back."

"He had me," Wilbur whispered back softly. "He didn't let go."

Techno hushed him quietly. "They don't know. They don't mean it. You're safe."

Wilbur wilted in his twins' arms, hugging him back. "Can we...?"

"Can we end shift?" Techno finished, pulling back. "Of course. We're not going out again tonight."

Wilbur nodded mutely and rose a hand to his neck. The camera was recording still and, with no hesitation, he turned it off.

Tommy appeared in the living room of the flat and instantly ripped off the gasmask. "What the fuck?!" He exclaimed.

"What the fuck, yourself!" Tubbo said back at him. "What happened?! We- we were fighting Blood God and, the next thing we know, there's someone screaming like you just killed their cat and the Blood God is running downstairs!"

"I- I don't know what happened!" Tommy answered, still stunned. "I was fighting Jubilee, same as usual, but, out of nowhere, he started screaming! And- and his tears turned red!"

Ranboo frowned. "Red?"

"Red!" Tommy repeated. "Like, scarlet red! And they burned. His tears are always so cold but these ones were just absolutely scorching."

"And this has never happened before?" Ranboo pressed.

"Wha- of course not!" The blond snapped. "I'd have said something if it had and you know it. I've never seen this before. He - Jubilee - just went wild! He was swinging punches left, right and centre, with no aim and no precision. He was acting like a madman!"

Tubbo shuddered a little. "Bloody hell, that scream. It was... you could feel it in your bones."

"Oh, yeah? Try being touching him when he starts shrieking," Tommy retorted. "I thought I was going to erupt, or something. Explode on the spot!"

"The children started crying," Said Ranboo, softly.

Tommy turned, briefly setting aside his distress. "Did you get them out?"

"Yeah. We saved them."

"Good," Tommy breathed. "These bruises aren't for nothing, then."

Tubbo tilted his head. "Did the Blood God get him off you?"

"Yeah... Good thing, too: Juby looked like he was going to kill me." The blond watched as both his friends paled, Ranboo involuntarily shifting into a human form in shock. "The most expressive I've ever seen him be was when he was after my blood. That's something, huh?"

"Jesus Christ..." Ranboo said, sounding spaced. "I always thought he was the least likely to... y'know, do that."

Tommy shrugged. "Maybe he didn't mean to, but..." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fuck, dude... That was, hands-down, the scariest fucking thing I've ever seen."

"No joke," Tubbo replied. "That was the scariest thing I've ever heard and I've been arrested."

Ranboo shivered a little. "Let's just... move on from this for tonight. I don't wanna think about it."

"Honestly, Ranboo," Tommy said, "Neither do I."