That night. . .

When you're a vigilante, you enter the field knowing the dangers and consequences that follow. That's what all three of them had to acknowledge when they decided to become vigilantes. The other thing they had to acknowledge when joining the field, was the fact that you might have to team up with other vigilantes. That's what the bench trio ends up doing quite a lot with the solo vigilante, Alien.

Usually, the three would be able to find the purple-themed vigilante easily, the four teaming up multiple nights a week. In the workforce, the four were best friends, able to work together like they had since the beginning. 

But this night seemed different, all three were having trouble finding the vigilante that usually would be in the same district as them. Tommy himself had been looking for a while, but he hadn't seen Alien anywhere, let alone hear from him since he too had a earpiece linked to the bench trios. It made him worry that maybe he had been caught. "Anyone find him?" Tubbo's voice came from Tommy's earpiece, Ranboo's sigh coming seconds later. 

"No, it's like he vanished or something! Isn't Mondays his guaranteed day to be out too?" Tommy knew the other two were nervous as well, maybe even thinking that Alien had been captured as well. 

"I'm sure he's around. We just need to keep looking." Tommy said, jumping off of the rooftop and onto the next like he had done many times before. His eyes scanned the area as he moved, hoping to see a glimpse of the stupid purple hoodie the vigilante wears. 

"Are you guys looking for me?" Alien jumped off of a nearby roof, landing next to Tommy. He was wearing his normal vigilante costume, a sniper slung over his back, and many other weapons covering his body. He finally slipped his earpiece into his ear when Tommy nodded. "What's going on? A mission gone wrong and you need my help again?" Even with the metal mask in the way, Tommy could tell Alien was smirking. 

"No." Tommy said. "We need you for a mission." The other vigilante seemed to get interested by his words, especially when he noticed how serious he looked. 

"I'm all ears." 

-^-^-

Once Tubbo and Ranboo found them they began to explain how Gambler had sought them out to ask for help on a mission. That alone confused Alien, but if he wanted to say something he didn't, choosing to hear what the three had to say.

They explained everything, what they saw on the drive the villain had given them, what they had agreed to and how they wanted Alien to join them. "Are there other vigilantes joining?" He asked, the purple vigilante looking concerned.

Usually vigilantes didn't talk to villains, and if they did it was just to distract them long enough so they could punch them in the face or have their teammates do it. It was probably odd for Alien to hear that they had willingly met up with Gambler, maybe even weirder that they agreed to join the mission. 

"We're asking more soon, we're hoping to have Fox and Team Rocket join too, but we thought we'd ask you to join first." Tubbo explained, smiling towards Alien with a hopeful look. "What they're doing in that prison isn't right, and we want to stop them." Tommy looked over towards Alien, seeing his eyes darken with thought.
 
"I... Ok. I'll help." He eventually said, purple eyes now full of determination. It was something both Tommy and Alien had in common, their determination to do what they think is right. Even if they did have this in common, that doesn't mean their beliefs never clashed, since they also happened to be very stubborn, something Tubbo and Ranboo grew tired of on missions and often tried to break up. 

"Great! We're meeting in about a week at the old abandoned factory near the border with Kinoko Kingdom." Alien sighed before nodding. 

"Why that border?" Tommy shrugged at the question. 

"What do you expect from a man who likes a Kinoko hero?" Alien laughed at Tommy's words. 

"Yeah, you have a point there." After calming down his laughs, Alien let out a sigh. "Now, wanna patrol?" The Bench trio couldn't help but get excited as the vigilante asked the question. 

"Of course we do." Ranboo said easily, red and green eyes gleaming with adrenaline. With that they split into two teams, Tommy going with Alien and Ranboo and Tubbo teaming up.

It was the normal setup for when they did patrols, a normal routine all four enjoyed. With Alien now joining the mission, Tommy felt a little better about their likelihood of living through it, something he's sure both Tubbo and Ranboo felt as well. 

Morning. . .

Usually on Tommy's days off he'd sleep in to catch up on sleep, much like Tubbo and Ranboo would do. But today he had made plans with a friend, a friend he barely saw anymore. He knew him because he had been fostered in his apartment complex before he decided to leave the orphanage and fake his death (even if that part was by accident).

It was a hassle to prove to him that he was indeed alive, and that he was indeed talking to him. But, once his friend realized it was actually him he was overjoyed to find out his friend was alive. So, rushing down the street of Pogtopia he hummed a happy tune, a huge smile on his face as he rushed to their normal meeting spot. 

The Sweets Cafe was open like every morning, the smell of coffee and pastries taking over the whole block, making Tommy's stomach growl as he grew closer to the building. He looked towards the normal meeting spot to see his friend already there, a coffee at his side with a muffin, his sketchbook out as he focused on whatever masterpiece he was making. Tommy walked over, slapping his back down into his seat before sighing loudly. Purple eyes looked up, an unimpressed look following. "What happened now?" Tommy slid into his side of the boot, another dramatic sigh leaving his lips. 

"Tubbo and Ranboo, they were fighting over what leftovers to eat this morning... then they got angry at me when I grabbed the spaghetti! What they were fighting over I guess." Purpled laughed, pencil being put down as he focused on his friend. 

"Who eats spaghetti in the morning?" Tommy laughed as well, since it was weird to have something usually eaten for dinners in the morning. But, it was normal for them to eat leftovers when they were hungry even if it was right when you woke up. It was a way to save money on expenses at the stores, something the three had picked up when they were living day by day by with little money after paying bills. 

"Well, I guess old habits never change, aye?" That made Purpled chuckle a little more, rolling his eyes as he smiled. 

"Are you getting anything from here if you already ate?" Tommy looked towards the counter, where the owner was stocking up the pastries she had made. He loved Niki's muffins, one of the things Tommy almost always got when he came here to hang out with Purpled. 

"Yeah, probably just a coffee and a muffin like you." Purpled hummed, as if remembering he had a coffee and grabbed the cup to take a drink. 
"Try their strawberry shortcake one, I came here yesterday because my brother told me they had a new drink and I tried it. It's pretty good you might like it." Tommy thought for a moment, he had always been a fan of strawberries, maybe he would actually like the drink. "You can get it both hot and cold, but I bet the hot version is probably better." Tommy stood up. 

"We'll see about that." With this he made his way to the register, Niki looking up from her notebook to see Tommy nearing. 

"So, is Ranboo enjoying his day off?" She asked, smiling as she spoke and walked over to the register, setting the notebook she had down. 

"Well, I think he is. When I was leaving he was sleeping so I'm not sure." Niki giggled, looking at the time.

"Well he must be up by now, it's almost noon!" Tommy knew that was not the case, in fact he wouldn't be surprised if Ranboo and Tubbo both were asleep when he got home. 

"Yeah, maybe." He smiled back.

"Well, what can I get you?" 

"Medium hot strawberry shortcake with a chocolate muffin." Niki punches the order into the register, smiling as she did so. 

"Trying something new?" 

"Well Purpled told me it was good, so I'm trying it myself." Niki nods, her smile only growing. 

"It's pretty good, I must say." Tommy went to grab his wallet, pulling some money out to hand her. "Four fifty-five." After the transaction was over and Niki finished his order, Tommy grabbed his drink and muffin and headed back to Purpled. With this, the annual catch-up talk started, Purpled even showing Tommy his newest drawings. And he must say the new coffee was pretty good. 

-^-^-

After they finished at the Cafe, they made their way to Purpled's house like every time they hung out. Purpled had a new game he wanted to play with Tommy, something called 'Minecraft'. It sounded interesting so Tommy agreed. When they walked through the door, Purpled yelled into the apartment that he was home with Tommy. His brother quickly yelled a 'ok' back. Walking into the living room Tommy slumped into the couch, dropping his bag onto the ground. "Hey Tommy." Punz said as he walked through the living room, a few papers in his hand. "How are you doing?" 

"Good, life's been going good." Punz hummed at his answer, his gray eyes turning back to his papers before he started for the kitchen. Tommy turned to Purpled, who only shrugged at his brother's weird behavior. 

"Don't ask me, he's been like this for two days now." Tommy looked back towards the kitchen. "It happens every once in a while, it'll be fine in a few days." Purpled explained, flopping onto the couch next to his friend before handing him a controller. "You can get this game on your computer too, I have it on both so if you like it and get it we can play on there together too." Tommy took the controller, looking at the screen. 

"Well, let's see why you like this game so much." With this, a game he never dreamed of started up. He and Purpled had a blast on it, both on many occasions trying to kill one another in various ways as they made an effort to kill the ender dragon. Tommy was having a good day, laughing at how Purpled fell off a cliff for the third time as Purprled cussed at the TV. Yeah, today was a good day. 

That Night. . .

Marionette stood on a roof, watching the many people below scuttle along as they tried to get to their homes or work. It was always the same at night, something he had always appreciated. But now he was on a mission, one that he knew was important. Mushroom walked over towards him, his face looking neutral like usual as he stared down towards the ground as well.

"It's best we get this mission done as fast as we can." Mushroom spoke quietly, his eyes hidden behind those white goggles, but Marionette knew he was looking at him. "The sooner we hunt Gambler down, the faster we can get the boss off our backs..." Marionette knew he meant his back. The boss was never fond of him, something he understood since he joined the heroes. 

"I know, the problem is we don't know how to find him... I tried to get Blood God to talk, but he..." 

"Knocked you out!" A loud voice laughed out, a tackle came next. Marionette was on the ground in seconds, glaring towards Blaze as he laughed. He knew Blaze couldn't see his glare, but he knew he felt it as he climbed off of the green-themed hero as he rolled his eyes."It's nothing to be embarrassed about, it happened to us all at least once!" Sometimes Marrionette wished Blaze wasn't so optimistic and hyper. 

"Yeah... I remember when he threw me into a wall and I lost consciousness. Remember that? I woke up in the hospital all like 'huh? Did we win?'" Mushroom spoke, smiling as he did. Marionette couldn't help by laugh at that, even if it was very soft. 

"See? I personally got punched in the face, like you did!" Marionette rolled his eyes, even if he was smiling at his friends. 

"Ok, ok I get it." Blaze smiled, slapping Marionette's shoulder as he too looked down towards the people below. 

"So, any idea why XD wants us to do this job? Assigning the three top heroes, and the best team ever, to retrieve a flash drive from a villain? Sounds like lower-ranked heroes work if you ask me." Oh, Marionette knew why the boss wanted them to do this job. He knew what the drive held, what secrets it held to be precise. He knew what could happen to the heroes if the information got out, and what would happen to him if the information got out. 

"No idea..." He needed to keep them in the dark, he needed to get that drive back from the boss, and then life could go back to normal... or at least as normal as life can get for him. It was easy, something he could definitely handle. Yeah... definitely.