"And what did we see today? Well, there was actually some vigilantism down by the docks at lunchtime, today."

Tommy leaned back on the sofa, watching the TV screen with a Coke in one hand and his phone in the other. Outside, it was dark and the streetlights were just beginning to turn on. The pixelated woman on the screen was smiling toothily into the camera as she listed off the results of his heroism.

"According to L'Manburgs' fourth hero, alias the Crow Father, the vigilantes in question were the infamous Theseus, Bee and Enderling. The three, dangerous criminals engaged hero-force in a head-on fight; while Bee and Enderling fled the scene, Theseus fought the sixth hero, Jubilee Line, and our second, the Blood God. Theseus caused serious damage to a warehouse, L'Manburg's Seaside Banking data base and even jumped off a building!"

Tommy made a face. "I didn't do one thing to the warehouse. That was the Blood God."

The cameras cut to security footage of Tommy stumbling into the elevator. He cringed at himself when he saw the way he swayed to the music and resisted the urge to wave back at himself when he watched the recorded version wave to the camera. He could see just how deeply the Blood God had cut him with the sword and the small lacerations that the glass had made on his skin. It wasn't like that would evoke any sympathy from those watching, of course. Vigilantes were criminals; at least, until they saved you.

"Theseus proceeded to attack the Crow Father and Jubilee Line on the roof of Seaside Banking and, when it looked like the fight was coming to an end, Enderling teleported the both of them to an unknown location. That is all we can reveal at the timebeing, I'm afraid."

"Yes, true," The man she was reporting with finally spoke up and then looked towards the camera, which cut close to his face. "The City's Corporation of Heroic Activity would like us to remind you, during this announcement, that if anyone knows the identities of Theseus, Bee or Enderling, the reward for their exposure currently sits at ten-thousand pounds. Theseus is tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Bee is of average height, with brown eyes. Enderling has no known discernable traits in a human form but, as an Enderman hybrid, he stands out for his two-tone colour palette."

"This announcement does not just stand for these three, either," The lady agreed. "Any information on a vigilante force will be well-rewarded. Thank you for helping to keep our great city safe."

Tommy snorted and leaned back, sipping the Coke. "Safe, my arse. They didn't even say anything about the kids."

Tubbo came walking in from the kitchen. "That's the problem, bossman. They're gonna pass it up as one of the heroes finding them, even though we did all the hard work."

Tommy nodded with a grunt, then frowned. He turned on his seat to give Tubbo an unamused look. "Actually, I did all the hard work. You played videogames and Ranboo went poof a lot."

"Actually, I shut down the groups' contact centre, learnt of other participants and found four more stations they were operating in on the dockside alone," Tubbo defended himself indignantly. "In fact, I even put a virus on their computer system which means that, every time they try to open a file, they will be forced to endure a ten minute video of a bee flying and then be forced to open the file again, causing an ever lasting cycle. I was an evil genius, sabotaging them, and you were a kickass pyromaniac, taking on three of the best heroes at once. We were a force to be reckoned with, king, so don't take me out of the equation."

"Oh, yeah?" Tommy arched an eyebrow. "Then what did Ranboo do?"

Tubbo shrugged. "Go poof a lot and complain. What do you think?"

Tommy cackled and turned back to the TV. The child from before, Dylan, was currently being used as video filler while the reporters described what was being done in the warehouse. He was standing between Jubilee and the Blood God, who seemed to be talking softly and soothingly to the wide-eyed, happy child. Tommy narrowed his eyes upon seeing Jubilee.

The issue with Hero#6 was that he stuck to the rules and never loosened up. When Tommy first faced him, despite how fleeting the fight lasted, he had felt like it could be the spark to some incredible rivalry between the two, fuelled by banter, close calls and mutual admiration. However, it seemed like their rivals-dynamic was completely one-sided, since Tommy did all of the banter and jokes while Jubilee simply tried to arrest him. It annoyed Tommy even more that Jubilee Line was the only hero to actively look out to stop him, too. It only took one look at the Blood God to know he wouldn't be a suitable substitute, either.

The screen changed, showing Jubilee Line in an interview, now. Tommy sat up eagerly, turning up the volume in interest.

"So, Jubilee Line," The interviewer began, "You've been attempting to arrest Theseus and his crew for how long, now?"

"Nearly two years," Jubilee responded. There was a crack on the lens of his glasses and one of the wings looked crooked. "They were my first task as a hero and, although those duties are formally discharged, I still think it's best to put those three behind bars. They're dangerous individuals who should not be allowed to wander freely. This is not me encouraging the general public to get involved, though. We don't want anyone getting hurt." He gave the camera a quick smile. Tommy gagged at him.

The interviewer nodded, like he understood. "Oh, of course. And I'm sure they're tough opponents?"

"No." The honestly and brutality of his answer made Tubbo laugh loudly and Tommy pull a face. "They are just unpredictable, and that pet-hybrid of theirs is a useful asset to quick escapes. He was used to aide Theseus's escape on the rooftop today, too. I'd say that, without Enderling, they'd have been put away months ago."

Tommy's face quickly changed from defensive to appalled. "Ranboo?! He thinks Ranboo is carrying the team?! That's a load of bullshit; I'm the cool one, here!"

Tubbo frowned, rushing over to the sofa so he could lean over and stick his middle finger up at Jubilee. "I don't need Ranboo! I built myself bee wings and can fly with them! He's discrediting my genius."

"Ranboo's always the bloody favourite, huh?" Tommy grunted, slouching back on the sofa. "Juby can't see true talent when it's right in front of him, stealing his glasses, can he?"

Tubbo shook his head, disappointed. "No, apparently not... I need to go and send Ranboo an inexplicable angry-face emoji now. I bet he's paying for this free advertisement."

Tommy called over his shoulder. "Send him an angry-face from me, too, Tubs! And the 'fuck' word!"

Tubbo flashed a thumbs-up at him as he rooted for his mobile phone. Tommy turned back to the television, continuing to watch with his eyes narrowed.

"And, if Theseus was watching this right now, what would you say to him?"

Jubilee blinked his bottomless, blue eyes, spilling more of the navy stains down his white cheeks. "To Theseus? I'd tell him to turn himself in or give up." He looked into the cameras. "Theseus, this has been going on for too long. It's time to put it to a close. Soon."

Tommy scoffed. "Like I'm scared of you."

Wilbur stood on the balcony of his fathers' penthouse in the night-sky. The light from below made the stars shine weakly but there was enough to make out a handful of constellations. It was cold, ruffling his brown hair, and he twirled his broken glasses on one finger. The left lens was cracked and the wing was bent out, making it fit badly on his head and hurt his ear. Never before had someone decided to throw his glasses in the middle of a fight - perhaps it were reasons like that which prevented other bespectacled heroes from joining him in the top ten.

He lay the glasses down on the concrete and stamped on them, feeling them smash under the heel of his boot. Now the damage was irreversable.

"Nice going," A voice called from the door leading to inside. "Was that out of spite or was there a logical reason?"

"If you must know, dipshit, it was a premeditated moment of genius," Wilbur said, turning to glare at his twin brother. "If I took those to the opticians how they were, someone would make the connection. If I take them in like this and say they slid off my nose out a window, that's fair game."

Technoblade shrugged, walking towards him with his hands in his jumper pockets. Without the piglin mutations, his hybrid twin was more lanky and thin than tall and imposing. His long, pink-dyed hair was wrangled in a loose plait that hanged low on his head and his eyes that often were mistaken for red were brown with a pinkish hue. Out of all of the heroes, his natural form was the least-suspicious. Sometimes, it managed to unnerve Wilbur but then he remembered it was a good thing, not bad.

His twin leaned on the railing, his pink plait dangling over the side as he peered down into the streets. Wilbur glanced down, his bad vision only making out the chaotic mess of speeding lights and blackened buildings. "I finished your cake," Wilbur said, breaking the silence.

Techno looked at him, impassively. "That was you?"

"Yeah. I was hungry."

He snorted and gently pushed his brother. "Greedy pig."

Wilbur grinned at him. "I always thought you'd be the pig. Y'know, because..."

Techno arched an eyebrow and transformed. His shoulders grew broader, his skull twisted, tusks grew from a forming snout and small, floppy ears appeared on his head. The slippers on his feet fell loose thanks to the small trotters and his eyes reddened menacingly. "Because this?"

"Yep. Piggy."

"Oh, of course. Ghoul."

"I'm not a ghoul," Wilbur frowned. "I'm a phantom."

His brother snorted and shifted back into his human self. He turned back to staring over the edge, with a small smile. "I shouldn't do that in public."

Wilbur shrugged. "Like anyone can see us."

"Fair enough. But Dad's got cameras up here so I'm going to get lectured so badly."

Wilbur turned on his twin, eyes wide. "He's got cameras here?"

Techno nodded and pointed to what Wilbur knew was a rose bush - it looked like an unwelcoming mess of green mush. "One's in there. I found it the other week."

"Dude, I've smoked up here... Is that how he knows?"

"Well, that and he's our father. I don't think we can hide anything from him."

Wilbur hesitated, looking at the dark green colour-smear. "I doubt we could," He finally said.

Techno glanced at him, suspicion in his eyes but no accusation on his face. "Got something to say?"

"Don't you?"

"Fair enough, I'll shut up." Techno stood back from the rails, tossing his braid back over his shoulder and shuffling his feet into his slippers properly again. "I'm gonna head back inside before it gets too cold. Dad says to tell you that we've got you some chocolate mousse and strawberries in the fridge. Have it for dinner, okay?"

"'F course, I will," Wilbur promised. Technoblade smiled and patted him on the head before walking back inside.

Wilbur watched him go, waiting until the doors slid shut and he was left alone once more. Then he knelt down and picked up the smashed glasses by the nose bridge. A shard of glass fell from the right lens, landing by his feet with the tiniest 'tink'. The experiment sighed and put them back on his nose. He turned to look out at a half-blurred half-visible L'Manburg.

His L'Manburg. He'd protect it until his dying breath. Even when he was trapped underneath, he would've. Every innocent civilian, victim and inhabitant would be under his watchful protection; shielded from the tormentors, the vandals and the illegal. Shielded from those who were dangerous and disruptive.

Shielded from those like Theseus.

Tubbo knew they didn't see him as a big threat. Compared to a hybrid and an attention-grabbing warrior, the quiet technician passed by unseen and unspotted. The want for his exposure was great but it was because he was a tag-along member of the team: that's what they all thought, anyway.

Tubbo built his own wings that carried him high above the city. Tubbo built the goggles that sat over his eyes, helping to mask his identity. Tubbo had built the sniper on his back, the grappling hook on Tommy's, and even the infamous fire-can.

But Bee never really got that recognition he deserved. Not that he particularly minded, of course. Being low priority meant he had safer escapes and less pressure.

The night was when he kept an eye on things but this evening was different. His wristwatch showed him flying closer to his destination and he gritted his teeth, pulling his bandana over his nose. This warehouse was grey and built from large sheets of corrugated metal. The roof was flat and all windows were boarded up.

It was nearly identical to the warehouse he had helped storm that morning. His wings whirred as he slowly lowered himself down onto the roof. Nearby, the crashes of waves on the docks covered his footsteps and the way his breath was shallow.

It wasn't like he was storming the place, of course. All he needed was the layout.

Below came the sounds of shouting. Raised voices, arguing back and forth about interruptions and leaked intelligence. There were far more here than there had been at the other warehouse. It seemed like the attack that morning had left them shaken - Tubbo could make out their aliases being shouted when one or two people strayed too close to boarded windows.

He crouched low on the roof, getting to his hands and knees, and turned a dial on his goggles. The night vision switched to a magnifying lens, letting him briefly analyse the tin roof, before he switched the lenses to heat vision.

There were five directly below him, six scattered around, and four crouching bodies huddled together in the corner. Children. Tubbo made a face under his bandana and stood again, turning the dial from shaded vision, to normal and back to night vision on his goggles.

He wandered slowly to the edge of the building, turning on the mechanical bee-wings and stepping off the edge. The battle between gravity and tech didnt last long and he was soon going up in the air, towards a well-sheltered rooftop.

He landed on the concrete, noting how he must be on a short block of flats. When he checked his wristwatch again, it showed that he was standing on a building that had been abandoned a while ago due to overly-high rent. Good. No one around to spot him.

Tubbo sat down, tapping the screen on his wristwatch until a red recording button popped up.

"Captain's log," he said loudly. "Looks like eleven snails and four slugs. Be aware of butterflies. I'm pretty sure they're gonna have centipedes, too. Nice." He finished recording, stood and dusted down his trousers.

"I don't understand you sometimes," a voice said to the side.

The vigilante jumped and looked up at the nine-foot-five, black-and-white Enderman hybrid on the roof beside him. Ranboo's cloak had been thrown haphazardly over his work uniform and a small smile graced his fanged mouth.

"I knew I'd find you scouting out here," Ranboo said, taking a single step to cover the distance between them. His tail scuffed the back of Tubbo's head in a stern manner. "This doesn't look like basic patrol, y'know."

Tubbo elbowed him back with the same sterness. "And this doesn't look like a night-shift. How are you going to get your hard-earned money now?"

Ranboo shook his head. "I got to end early tonight. There was some new kid trying out. I showed her the ropes then got to go."

"So you came to bother me?"

"No, not bother. To check you weren't doing anything wrong. And you were. So I'm in the right."

Tubbo rolled his eyes behind his goggles and watched Ranboo wander down the rooftop. The hybrid hummed, narrowing his mismatched, glowing eyes at the warehouse.

"That's only one of them," the shorter piped up. "The files suggested there were loads more."

"That's not good, huh?"

"Well, duh. This is a pretty big organisation."

Ranboo crinkled his nose. "I hate big organisations."

"Because of their inherent flaws?"

"No. Because it's so much work."

Tubbo sighed and joined Ranboo at the edge. "Wanna teleport us home, bossman? I'm hungry."

Ranboo marched an eyebrow at him. "Oh? What do you think we're gonna eat?"

"Bowls of cereal?"

"Cereal? Now? It's one in the morning."

Tubbo nodded solemnly. "The perfect time for cereal."

The hybrid sighed and slung his tail over Tubbo. "Alright, then. I call dibs on the cornflakes." The temperature changed, the sea was silenced and Tubbo peeled his goggles off his face, blinking in the dimness of his flat.

Tommy was snoring in his room and, next to him, Ranboo shifted back into six-foot-seven. The clothes fitted his human form better and the clock looked longer as he dragged it from his head.

"Tomorrow," Tubbo began, following Ranboo into the tiny kitchen, "I meant to tell you I'm meeting with a possible client and Tommy's got an interview at two."

The taller hummed. "So I'll have the run  of the place?"

"Yeah. Don't do anything Tommy and I would."

Ranboo scoffed with a smile. "As if I'd stop that low."

Tubbo nodded, sitting back on the counter and pulling out his phone. He froze when he saw a news notification appear on his lock screen.

"Bee and Enderling sighted: is another attack imminent?"

The photo was of him and Ranboo, standing on the roof of the abandoned block of flats. It was grainy but clear enough to make out Ranboo scoffing the back of his head with his tail.

"Hey, Ranboo," Tubbo said slowly. "I've got some great news."