Archive of Our Own ^beta

Purpled had been out every night this week in an attempt to find the new vigilante whom he had cleverly dubbed Crimson due to his red getup. Purpled had a thing for colour themed names, his name was Purpled and his vigilante name Ultraviolet. Anyway it was the fifth night in the row he'd been scouting section 12 in hopes of finding Crimson. Purpled had been a vigilante for two years now, since he was sixteen, before that he was roped into a circle of crime and villainy after his daring escape from the testing facility he’d been brought up in. He’d escaped with his past roommate Tommy, he hadn’t seen the other boy since they were eleven, he presumed him dead.

Throughout his time as a vigilante he had learnt that there was a running rule all vigilantes in the lower sections followed and that was don't fight one another. You can team with any vigilante, most will help you out in a fight, you can also leave another vigilante to save yourself but that might not go down well with the others. The vigilantes in the area kept to that rule, someone needed to tell the newbie the rules and Purpled patrolled the same part of section 12 as Crimson so it became his responsibility.

This Crimson guy had some sort of mind controlled power and Purpled hopes he wouldn't be on the receiving end of it when he finds the kid. As he jumped across a rooftop he saw a red flash out of the corner of his eye and immediately changed his course of route to pursue it. This guy was fast, he'd occasionally turn back to see Purpled's location, rookie mistake. Then to his surprise Crimson tripped on the edge of the building down to the street. Purpled skidded to a halt and watched as Crimson raised himself up with his power to land on the rooftop opposite.

"Hey, I just wanna talk" Purpled called out over the gap.

"You're Ultraviolet," Crimson stated.

"The one and only"

"Why were…why are you chasing me down?" he was jumpy and held himself like he was going to run again.

"To talk, I've been trying to find you for days"

"Ok, spit it out, what do you have to say?"

"There's a vigilante code, between all of us in the lower sections" he started warily "Don't fight other vigilante's, we all help each other out, it's hard enough out here without having feuds with the people who face the same difficulties you do"

"Alright, is that it?"

"One more thing don't look behind you when you're being chased, you might fall off another building" Purpled teased "It makes you look more inexperienced than you are"

"Yeah well I don't have any experience"

"I figured" Purpled went to leave but paused "Why did you start doing this anyway? I patrol this side of the section and Spark patrols the other side"

"My friend got stuck in the crossfire of an explosion, lost half his hearing and vision heroes weren't there, I didn't want that to happen to anyone else" Crimson explained.

It was a fair reason, Crimson had insane powers and a reason to use them for good.

"I'll help you out around here if you want"

"So I don't fall off any buildings?" He joked.

"See you Crimson" Purpled turned to leave.

"Crimson?"

"That's what we're calling you"

"We?" Purpled could tell from under Crimson's mask that he was confused.

"The rest of the vigilantes I'll have to introduce you"

"Yeah, you will" Crimson contemplated speaking again before deciding to "I could do with some help with this whole vigilante thing, people say you have a mind power as well so you'd probably be the best to help me"

"I would" Purpled agreed "Two nights time meet me here at eight"

"Yeah, I'll see you"

~

Purpled didn't know why he agreed to help Crimson. Part of him felt bad as he was obviously doing the vigilante thing for good reasons and needed the guidance or when he came across a hero or a villain he would not come out of that situation either ending up dead or arrested.

It was ten to eight and Purpled was on the rooftop keeping an eye out for the flash of red indicating Crimson's arrival. He felt a presence behind him and wasn't surprised to turn and see Crimson moving towards him.

He froze in his tracks "How do you know I was there?"

"Magic" Purpled replied sarcastically "How do you think?"

"I don't know, your powers?"

"Yes and no" he laughed "Good guess though"

"What are your powers? The media can't figure it out"

"You don't need to know yet"

"Can I at least guess?"

"I'll let you have one guess a session"

"Enhanced accuracy" Crimson guessed

"Wrong" Purpled smiled "Now training time, what is your weapon of choice?"

"Um, I prefer my fists but I can use a baton" Crimson stumbled over the words.

"Fists will work for thugs, low level stuff but if you get into a hero or villain fight you might need a weapon" Purpled continued "Fight me, give it your best shot"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I can take it don't worry"

Crimson lunged, he had unsteady footing and held his weight awkwardly. Purpled could have easily swept his feet out from underneath him. Crimson had quick reflexes; he threw a sharp, fast punch, Purpled caught his arm and twisted the red clad vigilante towards him, taking the opportunity to attempt to knock out his legs. Crimson however twisted out of his grasp ducking under his arm and elbowing Purpled in the gut. Purpled let go of Crimson's arm and remained in his defensive position as Crimson threw another punch.

"Can I use my powers?" Crimson was out of breath.

"Sure"

Purpled was immediately swept off of his feet and held in the air. He couldn't do anything about it so glared down at Crimson.

Crimson in turn was laughing.

"Well done" Purpled commented "You can let me down now"

Purpled felt himself slowly reach the ground.

"You fight like a street kid, you throw quick punches and you're flighty" Purpled commented.

"Takes one to know one" Crimson returned.

"Touché, you have to change those habits, be more confident in your hits and center yourself so it's not as obvious that a swift kick will knock you down" that was the best advice he could offer, Purpled's fighting style was composed of a mash up of the different people he fought and trained with. He was unpredictable and forever changing how he fought, it made him hard to fight at least.

"Is that all I get from you today?" Crimson asked.

"We can patrol together" Purpled added, he couldn't show the guy how the whole vigilante thing was done. "Maybe the media will pick you up, they'll know where you stand"

"Nice"

"Spark's on patrol so we can head over his way, I'll introduce you, keep up" Purpled started off towards the other side of section twelve.

"How many of the vigilantes around here do you know?" Crimson asked.

"Spark obviously, Thorn from section eleven, Slime in thirteen, Whirlwind and Marsh who work all over and I've bumped into Enderpearl from section ten once or twice" Purpled explained "That's about all of us, there is the odd vigilante in the mid sections like Canary and Pesky but they struggle to last, they either get arrested or scouted by heroes, we get left alone out here"

"Completly left alone?"

"No, but we are unbothered most of the time"

A moment of silence overtook them only punctuated by the sound of their feet against concrete.

"Why'd you become a vigilante UV?"

"Don't call me UV" Purpled started "I became a vigilante for petty reasons"

"You gotta give me more than that"

"Fine, someone I knew works closely to villains, so did I for a while but I said no to a mission and they said 'What are you a hero?' and at that point my reputation was too far gone to be a hero so I became a vigilante"

“Are you Nightshade?"

"Was, I was, not anymore" Purpled dismissed. He kept his head down and continued across the building tops.

"So you have night vision and x-ray powers?"

"Yeah, really helpful for villainy but a bit useless for vigilante shit" But that was how he was engineered by the facility.

"Not really, first off you have two powers which is rare, secondly you could use them to help find people stuck in unfortunate situations or see where villains might be hiding in a building"

"Your telekinesis helps in fights as well though" Purpled argued.

"True but your a good enough fighter, you don't need powers"

"It's when someone else uses powers on me then I could do with useful powers"

"Still, any power is use-"

"Hey, Spark is up ahead let me introduce you guys" Purpled was glad to see his friend and divert the conversation away from himself.

He waved down Spark, the vigilante wore a pale blue outfit with bear ears on the hood. Purpled had tried to convince him that they looked ridiculous but he wouldn't hear him out. Purpled knew Spark well, they were roommates after all. Walli was a persistent feature in Purpled's life since he escaped villainy.

"Hey, Ultra, you found the newbie," Walli called out.

"Yeah, Spark, Crimson, Crimson, Spark" he nodded and gestured to each individual.

"Hey, hope Ultra isn't being too hard on you, he was with me" Walli teased.

"He's been great actually"

"You say that like it's a surprise" Purpled huffed.

"You're a scary guy I was thinking you were going to be a proper dickhead"

Purpled frowned whilst Walli laughed.

"Yeah whatever, Crimson you can go home now, we’re done for the evening" he let the new vigilante go.

"When will I see you next?"

"Same time in two days"

Crimson nodded before stepping back off the edge of the building falling back with a two fingered salute. Purpled was used to this, Walli not so much, he jumped in surprise.

“I’m pleasantly surprised that you're taking the newbie under your wing” Walli commented.

The pair moved together resuming a patrol over the section.

“Someone had to, Whirlwind and Marsh did for me, I wouldn’t be here if they didn’t”

“That’s not the only reason is it?”

“No, he’s got a good reason to be doing it all, I’d feel bad if I left him to figure it out on his own”

“I swear you never cared this much about me,” Walli complained.

“I let you live in my apartment rent free, I also dropped half of my bank account for you when you got kidnapped by Punz and he wanted ransom” Purpled sighed.

“You didn’t buy me those pop tarts in that gas station one time”

“We were stopping a robbery! I didn’t have time to buy you pop tarts”

“I bet you’d buy Crimson pop tarts,” Walli argued.

“Would you like me to go and buy you pop tarts?” Purpled raised his eyebrows.

“Yes please”

~

Before his next meetup with Crimson, Purpled was getting ready to leave, he was sitting on his phone reading the article about his appearance in the gas station buying Walli poptarts when he was interrupted by a phone number he didn't ever want to see again.

He clicked accept, he knew it was the best option despite being the one that made him the most anxious.

"Punz" he greeted with a hostile tone.

"Purpled, you don't seem happy to hear from me" he had the awful heavy tone to his voice that Purpled knew meant Punz was teasing him.

"Why would I be?"

"You might have missed me" there was a strange layer of truth weaved into his manner.

"The last time I got a call from you it was because you kidnapped my best friend"

"This is a different situation, I need your help with someth-"

"No" Purpled cut him off "I am not helping you with anything, I've left that life behind"

"You left it behind because of a petty reason"

"That just proves I had no ties to that life"

"What about me?"

"You threw away any relationship you had with me when you worked with Dream and that goddamn facility" Purpled seethed "I've got somewhere to be, never call me again"

He hung up the phone before Punz could get another word in. He sighed to himself checking the time before realising he was running late. He changed as fast as he could, getting incredibly frustrated when he put his hoodie on backwards the first time and then his shoe wouldn't go on. Ultimately he ended up at the meeting spot late.

"What time do you call this?" Crimson teased.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up" Purpled responded, keeping up the joking manner.

"What are we doing today, vigilante mentor?" Crimson said, laying on the sarcasm thick.

"How comfortable are you with your powers?"

"Fairly" Crimson tilted his head as if he were unsure.

"Do you use them in everyday life?"

"Yeah, if I want to get something from across the room and i'm too lazy to get up"

"So you're comfortable using your powers" Purpled stated.

"Yeah I guess"

"Good, you have a ten second headstart, run" Purpled said.

"What now?"

"Nine, eight" Crimson bolted in the opposite direction.

Purpled watched as the red blur darted off before following him once the time was up.

Purpled was fast, he still had tech from his missions that were either replicas or damn near close to the hero equipment. One of these things were speed shoes that he relied on a bit more than he'd like to. But they allowed him to catch up to Crimson enough that he could shout to him anyway.

"How's the run treating you?" Purpled called out.

"Just fine" Crimson panted, resuming his forward gaze "How did you run so fast?"

"A secret I will not tell" He laughed.

"How long are we going?"

"Until I catch you"

"What if you don't?" Crimson for dramatic effect proceeded to jump off the building then stopping seconds before the floor and lowering himself down.
Purpled sighed, it took him twenty minutes to catch Crimson. He was fast, fast enough to hold his own against a hero or villain especially with all the weaving through the sections alleyways and using his powers to easily get up and down onto roofs.

"You're fast" Purpled commented as the pair of vigilantes sat on the edge of a building at the edge of the section.

“Yeah, I’ve gotten good at running”

“How are you feeling about this vigilante stuff?” Purpled asked.

“Better” Crimson nodded.

“Good, last thing for today we’ll patrol, I’ll show you some techniques” Purpled started “Do you have some sort of comm for patrol, something that connects to the internet or radio waves?”

“I have a burner” Crimson pulled a slightly beat up phone out of his pocket.

“We’ll get you a radio that connects to an in ear, so you can hear crime reports and we have managed to get onto the heroes station for bigger reported stuff” Purpled said.

“Nice, will I be able to contact you if I need help?”

“Most people don’t have links with other vigilantes, switching stations can be annoying but I could get that set up for you” Purpled replied.

“Ok, great, shall we get going, patrol the section?”

Purpled responded by climbing up onto his feet. He offered Crimson a hand up. The other vigilante took it. They started off easy until Purpled’s comm rang out, he’d set it on speaker for this patrol. He pulled it up to look at it.

“Robbery on that vintage store near section eleven” Purpled filled Crimson in.

“I swear that store is a front for something” Crimson muttered.

Ignoring Crimson, Purpled rang alongside him until they reached the store, when they reached the store it was surprisingly quiet, empty. It didn’t look like it was being robbed. Crimson glanced over to Purpled. Purpled held a finger to his lips and gestured for him to follow. The purple clad vigilante tried the door it opened, the bell rang punctuating the silence, Purpled frowned but slipped inside anyway. There was a creaking coming from the backroom. Purpled beckoned for Crimson to follow. He pushed the door open, the hinges squeaking loudly.

“Who’s there?” Purpled called the voice changer hiding the shake to his voice, usually robbers weren’t this discreet. He didn’t know what was going on.

“Ultraviolet” a voice from the darkness teased “Or should I say Nightshade, or maybe even-”

“Punz” Purpled flicked on the lights.

Punz stood opposite his gold chain reflecting the ceiling light he leaned casually against a storage rack.

“I was hoping you’d bring your new vigilante friend along,” Punz continued.

“What do you mean?” Purpled shifted to block Crimson.

“We’ve done this before, with Spark,” Punz pushed off the rack and took a step towards Purpled “You’re running out of money, there’s only one other option”

“You aren’t doing this again” Purpled argued “I’m not joining you again, this, this whole situation, you’re working with him, for that place, the one thing I told you not to do, that I wouldn’t help you with”

“This is different”

“It isn’t Punz, it can’t go back to how it was, get that through your thick skull” Purpled yelled “As much as I want it to be like it was I can’t go back”

“Ultra, what is he on about?” Crimson questioned.

Silence.

“Go on Ultra, tell him” Punz pushed.

Purpled turned and started out of the storage room, “Crimson we’re leaving”

“I’ll find you again, you will come back eventually, you’ll have no other option” Punz threatened though the malice in his voice gave way to a twinge of pleading.
The two vigilantes left the shop, the bell on the door ringing on the way out.

Crimson started reeling off questions at Purpled but there was too much running through his head to actually process what the other was saying. Purpled was beelining back up to the building tops so that he could get leverage over the section, it made him feel more safe having a view to look down on everything. He was stressed to put it lightly, he’d already been through the stress of having one friend kidnapped, and he’d grown fond of Crimson, the past couple of days of training the budding vigilante had made an impression, Purpled wouldn’t want anything to happen to him and knew that if he was held for ransom he would pay the price Punz was asking for. This would leave him with an empty bank account and an even bigger target on his back.

“Ultra!” Crimson called out, finally forcing Purpled to freeze. “What the hell was that back there?”

“It was Punz, that’s what it was”

“What about, the fact that it seemed as if there was only one reason keeping you from switching back to being a villain” Crimson ranted “I mean, who is this guy that you don’t want Punz working with, is that really all that’s stoppi-”

“Stop” Purpled yelled “Stop, talking, you have no idea what’s going on in my life Crimson”

“Alright, then tell me”

“I can’t, I am already in deep enough that the less you know the better”

“My roommate’s living with another friend” Crimson confessed “The guy has rich parents, they’ve offered to help him recover until the burns heal, pay the medical bills etcetera, and I think I’m going to get replaced as best friend and he’s going to live up there forever and I can’t afford to visit him and pay rent” he sighed “I don’t know if I am ever going to see him again” he stayed silent for a second “Your turn”

“Punz kidnapped Spark so that I’d rejoin him, I paid ransom, I don’t have enough if he did the same to you, he’s using you as leverage”

“Surely I don’t mean that much to you?” Crimson questioned.

“I don’t know, I’ve grown quite fond of you”

“What about that other stuff?”

“I was raised in a facility, when I got out, Punz kept me under his wing. Punz has started working with them, so I left him and he isn’t happy about it” Purpled explained.

“I was also raised in a facility, if that helps”

“Maybe it does” Purpled snorted “Get home safe Crimson, see you around”

“Are we done with this then?” Crimson gestured between them both.

“It’s not safe for you to stick with me”

“Surely Punz will be after me anyway, strength in numbers”

“What are you trying to get at?”

“I don’t want you to just disappear from my life”

“I’m a shitty person to have in your life”

“You may be shitty but your the last one I have left”

“Really?”

“Truly”

Purpled sighed “You remind me of someone Crimson”

“Who?”

“My neighbour in the facility” he chuckled.

“I bet he was just as awesome as I am”

“He’d say the same if I told him that”

“Is he still around?”

“Maybe, we went our separate ways after we broke out”

“Maybe he never went that far in the first place Purpled”

“What?” Purpled frowned.

“Long time no see, big man” Crimson pushed his mask up to rest on his head.

“Tommy?” Purpled pushed up his mask “I thought you were dead”

“Even after I proved myself in our awesome breakout”

Purpled rolled his eyes.

“Anyway, how are we going to deal with this Punz situation?” Tommy started.

“What are you on about?”

“He’s working with that facility, with Dream, we need to shut it down” Tommy was determined, it was like when they spent hours planning their breakout.

“How?”

“You said you’re friendly with the other vigilantes”

“Yes, but I don’t want to bring them into this”

“Ask them first, trust me” Tommy encouraged.

“I’ll sleep on it”

~

He did sleep on it, well lay in his bed all night and thought about it. Ultimately he was torn, it wasn’t worth putting those he was close to in harm's way to destroy something that had affected him, but the facility also affected Tommy and whoever was still being used and abused in the facility. And Dream the bastard deserved hell for his actions. He had eventually started pacing his small bedroom, back and forth, wall to wall, in the aisle space in between his bed and closet.

“Dude” Walli started shoving open the door “You’re going to wear a hole in the floor and end up in downstairs apartment”

Purpled sighed sitting on his bed “Sorry”

Walli’s demeanour immediately changed “What’s bothering you?” he asked, stepping into the room, shutting the door behind him.

“When I was out with Crimson earlier we ran into Punz”

Walli sucked in a breath.

“Exactly” Purpled sighed “Punz is working with Dream, with the facility I was kept in”

“And Crimson knows?”

“Crimson was in the same facility”

“No shit” Walli’s eyebrows shot up.

“Yeah, he was the kid I broke out with ages ago” Purpled continued “He suggested we dismantle the facility, we think there’s still kids there”

“When?”

“What do you mean when?”

“When are you going to do it? Break into the facility?”

“I haven’t decided if I will”

“Why? So many of us will be willing to help”

“I don’t want to put anyone in a position to fight against Dream of all people”

“Yeah, but Purp, people care about you, they will care that the place that hurt you is still hurting other kids, they would want to help”

“But Dream is dangerous, if it doesn’t work…” he trailed off.

“So are the other people we fight, you know, criminals and villains,” Walli offered.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to some people tomorrow” Purpled nodded, his mind slightly changed.

“Do you want me to sleep in here with you?” Walli offered.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” Purpled agreed.

He eventually fell asleep. Not after Walli telling him not to worry several times.

The next evening Purpled began his quest of hunting down the other vigilantes, he started with Thorn, she was a good friend of his, section eleven was also relatively easy to navigate, it was mostly suburban and the more urban areas were all buildings of similar heights. The pink wearing, flower decorated vigilante was perched on one of the building tops.

“Thorn” Purpled called out.

“Ultra” she responded her tone light “What are you doing up here?” She approached him.

“Well, I planned to ask a favour”

“Shoot”

“Crimson, the new vigilante and I are planning on uncovering and breaking up a facility which tests on children, giving them powers and shaping them up to fit into roles of villainy and mercenary duties” he explained “We, well I am trying to expand our force against them before we start planning”

“I’m down,” Thorn answered immediately.

“But it’s risky I-”

“It’s obviously important to you Ultra, you’re my friend, you’re stubborn and don’t ask for help unless it actually means something to you”

“It’s dangerous”

“I’m a vigilante, I know what danger is,” she continued “Let me know about plans, I’m happy to help”

“Thanks” Purpled nodded before turning on his heels, he had other people to find.

Whilst up in section eleven he paid a visit to section ten to hopefully find Enderpearl, he’d worked alongside the monochromatic vigilante once, they seemed chill enough, Purpled wasn’t expecting their help, he wasn’t expecting anyone’s help actually but he was out and asking now so he might as well stop by. At the end of his recruitment Purpled had managed to get help from Thorn, Enderpearl, Whirlwind and Marsh. The last conversation had been emotional.

Purpled had approached his mentors in the same awkwardness he held in the first few sessions he had with them.

“Ultra!” Whirlwind greeted excitedly, her pale pink hair catching in the wind as she approached him “How’ve you been?”

“We heard you took on the new vigilante” Marsh spoke up following his wife forward.

“Yeah, he’s been doing great” Purpled started “But, I’m nowhere near as good of a mentor as you guys were”

“You’re too kind” Whirlwind smiled “So why have you come to visit us?”

“You doubt that it might be because I miss you guys,” Purpled teased.

“You wouldn't have come to us in vigilante kit if it wasn’t something relating to all of this”

“Fine, the facility I was in, it’s still up and running, I thought that thing had been taken down when I broke out” he started “Also, Punz is working for Dream the guy in charge, so me and couple others plan to take it down”

“We’ll help,” Marsh added quickly.

Purpled exhaled without realising he’s been holding a breath in.

“You still need to get round to seeing us out of vigilante get up” Whirlwind added.

“You guys miss me that much?” It had come out more hopeful than joking.

“Of course, besides, we have friends you need to meet, they are starting to think that we’ve made you up,” Marsh said.

“We keep referencing a kid who is like our son and well people are starting to think we are crazy” Whirlwind added, Marsh nodded along.

“You see me as a son?”

“Of course, we helped you build yourself back up, we got attached” Marsh said “So if you plan on doing anything normal, like going to college or getting a learner’s permit, we’ll help you move in and embarrass you in front of your roommate and one of us will get ourselves in the passenger seat for you”

Purpled laughed. “Maybe after this mess is over I might consider college, take up a normal life”

“That’s a good conversation to have over coffee” Whirlwind added “We will be texting you”

“I don’t doubt it”

“Keep us updated on this situation”

“I will”

~

Now the day was here, the planning for the takedown had been rushed but was still meticulous. Their first obstacle of getting into the facility was solved by a mutual of both Crimson and Enderpearl hacking them a chip for security access to the building. The guy also helped pull up the floorplans to the building. Once they were in, Crimson and Purpled were to find Dream and his immediate assistance, Spark, Thorn and Enderpearl were taking down the rest of the guards all with tranquilizers and Marsh and Whirlwind were breaking out the kids, they knew someone who would help get them to safety.

The group of vigilantes agreed to meet in the section over from the warehouse the facility was based in. Purpled ran over the plan to the fine details with everyone.

“Ultra, we’ve revised the plan like fifty times, we all know what we’re doing” Crimson insisted.

“Alright lets go then, see you on the other side” Purpled announced.

“Good luck” Spark nodded as Crimson and Purpled began to the entrance.

Each group had their own security breacher. Purpled and Crimson were quick to find the back entrance they’d planned to take. The breacher let them in and Purpled saw Crimson visibly react in relief. They were in a stock room that from the blueprints was just down the hall from where Dream would be.

“Could I knock on the door before we bust it down?” Crimson whispered.

“You are one for the theatrics” Purpled half laughed.

“Nothing wrong with that”

“Fine, you can knock on the door, remember your focus is on George first then Sapnap, I’ll deal with Dream and then Punz”

“Yeah I know purple boy”

Purpled rolled his eyes, they approached the door and Crimson nodded at Purpled checking that he was ready, Purpled nodded in reply. Crimson knocked on the door, three sharp knocks, they waited a split second before knocking the door down.

“Sup bitches” Crimson exclaimed.

The heads of all four people in the room turned to the vigilantes, as planned Tommy immediately took down George, the guy’s powers were dangerous a single touch and you were unconscious until he let you up. They had the ammo of dart guns with tranquilizer in to keep them unconscious for plenty long enough for Thorn’s hero contact to get to the scene. George crumpled to the floor and the attention was turned back to the vigilantes who had already sprung into action.
Purpled had vaulted over the desk and swung a punch at Dream, it connected on the right side of his head, Dream was quick to respond. Punz was hesitant but joined the fray. Purpled was in a two versus one against the men, he kept his footwork quick and his punches hard. Dream was tiring quickly, unable to use his power of shapeshifting in the office due to the size, his hits started to get sloppy. Punz however was not, but Purpled knew his fighting style like the back of his hand so it wasn't hard to hit the weak spots. Crimson’s insult battle with Sapnap was punctuating the background noise accompanied by the occasional hiss of fire from Sapnap. It wasn’t long before he saw the red clad vigilante join his battle. Casting a quick glance Sapnap was unconscious next to George and parts of the office were singed. Crimson got a strong kick to Dream’s gut, winding the man for long enough for Purpled to send a tranquilizer in his direction, it hit, Dream collapsed.

“C’mon Purp, you’re really gonna do this to me? Punz questioned.

“I need to, you know that” Purpled started “You know what this place did to me, I trusted you with that information”

At Purpled’s words Crimson lowered the dart gun.

“They made you powerful, gave you powers, you were useful.”

“Were?” a spike of hurt ran through him.

“Face it, your powers? Useless for a vigilante, you should’ve realised that” Punz said spitefully.

“Don’t listen to him,” Crimson warned.

“Your little buddy,” he turned to Crimson “Tommy, isn't it?” Punz said.

Tommy froze.

“He can get the same treatment as Spark” Punz continued “You know I’m not above that”

Then he was down.

The dart didn’t come from Tommy or Purpled, he turned to see Spark in the doorway.

“What’s taking you idiots so long? Come on”

Tommy didn’t hesitate to follow the blue clad vigilante out.

Purpled cast a last glance at Punz, remembering who he used to be, solidifying that was not the person who was unconscious on the floor.

He followed his friends.

They met the others outside, Whirlwind and Marsh who were helping kids into what looked to be a bus with a guy with a cat on his shoulders sitting in the passenger seat and in the drivers seat another wearing a red sweater who looked visibly annoyed with the guy in the passenger seat.

“Let me know when to make the call,” Thorn said once they got in earshot of the other two vigilantes.

“We’ll wait until the kids are on their way” Purpled said “Don’t want the heroes claiming them for the training program”

“Good idea,” she replied.

“Ultra, can I talk with you?” Crimson asked.

Purpled nodded.

Crimson started off out of earshot.

“Um, basically Enderpearl is the friend that my friend is staying with”

“The one receiving the medical care?”

“Yeah, we got to talking and I think I’ll be heading up that way” Tommy said “He’s offered me a place to live and section ten only has one vigilante so I wouldn’t be interrupting as much”

“I’m happy for you” Purpled admitted “Keep in touch, if you need any vigilante help Ultra will help, if you just want to meet up and hang I’ll be here for that alright”

“Yeah, thanks”

“I’ll see you around then?”

Tommy wrapped him in a hug which Purpled hesitated at before returning the gesture. When they separated Tommy started off with Enderpearl, they were gone in a flurry of purple particles. Thorn was next to approach.

“You and Spark better get going, I’ve called Leapfrog, the heroes are on their way, anonymous tip about a villain fight” she smiled “Come patrol section eleven with me at some point, I’m getting lonely”

“Recruit someone, Leapfrog is obviously not too fussed about keeping his position in the hero tower”

“I have someone that’s considering it, you might see her around soon” Thorn said.

“Oh yeah?”

“I’m full of surprises Ultra”

“I believe you,” he laughed.

She waved him off and started away into the buildings up ahead.

“Come on, I need to sleep” Purpled hit Walli’s arm.

“I know, you haven’t slept for nights”

“I tell you the experimenting shit they did on me made it so I need less sleep”

“Insomnia isn’t the same as needing less sleep, I will tell Marsh and Whirlwind that you aren’t sleeping”

“No you won’t, you’re scared of them”

“I’m not”

They laughed together and then silence fell on them as they approached their section.

“Crimson’s moving in with Enderpearl” Purpled commented.

“It’s just me and you again”

“Yeah, I’m sorry”

“Don’t be, you have nothing to be sorry for”

“I’m the last you’ve got though and I do a shit job at it” Purpled chuckled.

“You’re all I need, we make a good duo”

Silence fell again.

“I don’t want to cook dinner tonight,” Walli complained.

“We can go to that diner that like us” Purpled started “They love vigilantes, our pictures are on the wall”

“Really”

“Yeah, I went there the other day”

“Without me? It’s like the poptarts all over again” Walli teased.

The banter was familiar.

Purpled was glad to see a news article about the busting of the facility later that week. Glad to see that they were all in prison, a slight sting hit when he read Punz’s name. They were two sides of the same coin in reality, both raised and taught the way of criminals but somehow Purpled had managed to escape. He didn’t spend too long thinking about it, he had a coffee date booked in with Lizzie and Joel he had to get to.