Chapter Text
Three teenagers stare up at a looming building. The words ‘City Council’ are carved into the stone above the columns. A large, shimmering fountain rises into the sky beside them. Tommy nervously pulls on his collar. Tubbo and Ranboo glance between each other.
“We’re gonna be fine, big man,” Tubbo says.
Ranboo nods. “Yeah, we’ve got the entirety of Hero HQ to back us up. Quackity basically has to listen to us.”
“I know,” Tommy sighs. He jabs a thumb at the fountain beside them. “Think we can swim in that?”
“Most definitely not,” someone chuckles from behind them.
The trio turns around. “Phil!” They exclaim together.
They run and give the man a hug, his wings wrapping around them protectively. He laughs as they tease him about the fountain, Technoblade and Wilbur approaching from behind.
“You guys ready?” Wilbur asks.
The boys look between each other and nod, determinedly.
“Good,” Phil says. “Techno has the document with all of the other heroes’ signatures. I will be doing most of the talking-”
“Which means no smartass interrupting, Tommy,” Wilbur cuts in.
Tommy waves dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
“Alright, no more time wastin,” Techno says. “Let’s go.”
They descend up the large, carefully carved stone steps and into the building. An assistant greets them at the door, green slime dripping from his hands and suit.
“Right this way,” he says politely.
He leads the group through the expansive, cool building. Tubbo tries to peek into rooms where people in other fancy suits congregate but the doors would always slam in his face. Finally, the man takes them down an ornate hallway before pushing open the large door at the end of it.
The office is huge. The wall opposite to the door is entirely windows, Quackity’s desk right in the middle of them. A large chair faces away from them as the mayor watches his city from the comfort of his own office. Six chairs sit in front of his desk, presumably set up for the group.
“Sir,” the assistant says, “the heroes are here for their 4 o’clock appointment.”
“Thank you, Charlie,” Quackity waves a hand. “You’re dismissed.”
The mayor finally turns around once the assistant leaves, the door shutting quietly behind him. Quackity grins as he stands up to greet everybody. Phil lists off the boys’ names and they all take a seat, save for Technoblade, who opts to stand.
“Now, tell me why you’re here, fellas,” the mayor says, hands folded neatly in front of him. “It’s rare to see the Sleepy Bois in my building, let alone my office for a meeting.”
Phil takes a breath. “It’s about the Jester case.”
“Oh, please tell me it’s good news! Trust me, I’d be happy to give you boys a raise if you’ve caught him and his accomplices.”
“Well, we have caught them, sir, but-”
Quackity interrupts. “That’s wonderful! Now, how much of a raise are we talkin here because-”
“We’re not finished,” Techno cuts in.
Quackity leans back, disappointed. “Oh… oh, of course. Please, continue Phil.”
“The boys you’ve just met, sitting beside me here, are the Jester.”
Quackity falters as he stares at the three teenagers. “All… of you?”
Tubbo laughs. “Oh, Prime, no!” He points at Tommy, “He’s the Jester, I’m just his hacker.”
“Ayup,” Tommy says as he lifts a hand in a lazy wave.
“And I’m just their extra backup!” Ranboo chimes in.
Quackity looks at Wilbur. “But… they’re kids. How did they elude your capture?”
“They’re good heroes,” Wilbur shrugs.
“But- but, they’re not heroes,” Quackity sputters. “They’re vigilantes. Illegal heroes. They should be sitting in a jail cell, not my office.”
Techno approaches from behind Wilbur’s chair, pulling a rolled up piece of paper out of his suit jacket. He places it in front of the mayor.
“We have a proposition,” he says simply.
Quackity’s eyes scan over the paper as Wilbur speaks.
“We’d like the boys to be consulting heroes. They know the community better than anyone else and have experience in heroism.”
“And how do we know that they’ll behave themselves?” Quackity sets the paper on his desk. “Who’s to say that they won’t go out and start doing illegal things just for the hell of it?”
Tommy’s nails dig into the arms of his chair. Wilbur glances over at him. Phil clears his throat as he throws one leg over the other and leans forward.
“As you can see in that document, the three of us are prepared to face the consequences for any illegal actions that they may commit; even if it means the termination of our jobs,” he says.
The teenagers turn and look at the other three heroes in surprise. This was not discussed with any of them. The men remain stoic and professional. Tommy turns back in his seat as an unfamiliar warmth blooms in his chest.
Quackity sighs. “I also see that you got the entirety of Hero HQ to sign off on this. How did you boys manage that?”
Tommy looks at Wilbur. He nods.
“We proved that we are capable of hero work. We know the community inside and out and have witnessed the flaws of this city first-hand. We can help the hero commission be a better system and help the people of L’manburg in return.”
Quackity stews in silent consideration. The tension in the air is so thick, it would take more than three of Tommy’s knives to cut it. Finally, the mayor sighs.
“Let’s do it.”
Wilbur leans forward, incredulous. “I’m sorry; what?”
“Let’s do it. You boys seem to be good kids and I know these losers aren’t gonna budge. Not to mention that you convinced every other hero in the city to sign this thing.”
Tommy exhales. “Oh, Prime, thank you so much, sir. You have no idea how much this means to us-”
“But,” Quackity interrupts. “I want you boys to work the first two months unpaid. Just as a little lesson about the usage of illegal weapons and hacking in my city.”
Before Tommy can say anything else, Phil jumps in. “Thank you so much, sir. Let's go boys.”
The group gets up and says their goodbyes. Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo run ahead of the heroes on their way out. Techno lingers in Quackity’s office.
“Did you need something?” the mayor asks.
“Thank you… sir.”
The door shuts behind him as Technoblade steps out into the sunlight. He joins Phil and Wilbur on the steps as they watch the teenagers splash in the fountain, pant legs rolled up above their shins.
“They really jumped in that thing?” Techno asks.
Phil chuckles. “Yup. Trying to see who can collect the most money, I think.”
“I FOUND A DOLLAR!” Tubbo shouts.
He yelps as Tommy charges for him. Ranboo laughs as the two fall over, water splashing over the sides of the fountain. The sun shines in the sky and birds call throughout the city.
“Well,” Phil says. “We did it, guys. We caught them.”
“And adopted them,” Techno says. “Nice work, Phil.”
“I’m happy,” Wilbur says.
Techno and Phil look between each other knowingly. Wilbur’s smiling, arms crossed over his chest as he watches the teenagers.
“Oh, yeah?” Phil asks.
Wilbur smiles. “Yeah.”
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No one knows when the Jester disappeared. The blurry photos stopped being printed and news headlines extinguished like open flames. But the press has noticed a tall, lanky blonde teenager that accompanies the hero group, Sleepy Bois Inc, everywhere. And occasionally, they’re joined by two other teenagers, a boy with split dyed hair and a boy with burn scars that cover his face.
Rumors are that one of those kids is the Jester, and everybody’s betting on the blonde.
But rumors are just talk at the end of the day. With no substantial proof to back them up, there’s nothing to talk about anyway… right?