Persephone was woken up by the curtains being pulled open violently and sunlight beaming directly onto her face. She squawked, pulling the blankets over her head and blinking violently to get the crust out of her eyes.

"Agh! Niki! Let me sleep in on my birthday, I beg!"

"Not Niki." The voice said and Persephone could hear the grin in the words.

She threw the blanket off of her head and scrambled out of bed to greet Jack. "You're up! Holy shit!"

She threw her wings around him and hugged him tightly. Jack wheezed slightly. "Careful! My side's still a bit tender, but you just knooow I had to get up and say happy birthday!"

Persephone peeled herself away from her dad and grinned, the grin slowly sliding off of her face as she saw the heavy bandages wrapped around his side and waist.

"Don't worry about me," Jack assured her. "'Tis but a flesh wound!"

Persephone couldn't help but grin, although it was hesitant.

Jack grabbed a few bills from his pocket. "Here, get some breakfast on the way over to Wil's!"

"Wait, what?" Persephone yelped. "Holy fridge, I didn't know I was going over!!" She grabbed the money and made for the door, grabbing a hairbrush off of the dresser as she did so.

"Love you!" She called as she leaped over the stairway banister and glided to the living room, crashing on the couch. She ran the brush through her hair until it was acceptable to be presented to society. Niki was sitting at the table and smiled when they made eye contact, looking better than she had in weeks.

"I'm going to Wilbur's, dad gave me money for breakfast, I love you, bye!" Persephone called frantically as she pulled a pair of shoes on and darted out the door.

She could faintly hear Niki's voice say, "Be safe..." before she was out of earshot and in the air.

"Fuck breakfast," She decided, angling to glide in the direction of Wilbur's house. Breakfast be damned, she was too excited to eat.

The cold wind blew in her face and tossed her hair around, ruffling the feathers in her wings as she tried to fight the air currents. After a few painful windy minutes of flying, she spotted Wilbur's house and angled down towards it.

Persephone landed next to the row of flourishing potatoes before hopping up to the door and knocking. She barely reached the fourth knock before the door swung open and Wilbur appeared, practically vibrating.

"Birthday, birthday, birthday, birthday," He repeated over and over again like it was a chant. He pulled her inside, slamming the door after her.

"You better fucking be ready, because I have a whole day of stuff planned that we can do!" 

As Wilbur practically sang with excitement, a blond head poked out from the hallway. Tommy gave a small wave. "Hey. Wil said it was your birthday."

"Yep," Persephone said with a grin. "I'm an adult! It feels... so incredibly weird."

"Huh..." Tommy mumbled, stepping out of the hallway. Wilbur was practically dancing around.

"Let's play hide and seek!" He yelped, grinning at both of them excitedly. "I call not it!"

"He's more excited about my birthday than I am," Persephone muttered to Tommy who sniggered.

"I'll be it." She volunteered. "But you better hide well, because I know this place like the back of my hand!"

She covered her eyes and started counting, hearing Wilbur bolt off loudly towards the hallway behind her. She didn't even hear Tommy go, though.

He was as quiet as Icarus even when not in uniform.

"...56, 57, 58, 59.... 60! I'M COMING FOR YOU!" That always sounded better than 'ready or not, here I come'.

Persephone uncovered her eyes and immediately turned towards the direction Wil ran in. She walked down the hallway, purposefully keeping her footsteps light. She peeked in every door and just glanced in, checking to see if anything looked... askew.

Eventually, she reached the end of the hall and crossed her arms at the boiler room's door. She opened it, expecting to see Wilbur-

The figure inside screamed at her and she screamed and kicked it in the leg- Oh, whoops, that was Wilbur.

"Owwwwww," The brunet whined, clutching his shin and leaning against the wall. Persephone smoothed her feathers and crossed her arms at him, her heartbeat slowing down a bit. 

"That's what you get," She huffed. "...I have to go find Tommy." She shut the door on Wilbur's face and turned to move back down the hallway.

Tommy fell from the ceiling.

~•~•~•~

They played another round, with Tommy seeking as Wilbur and Persephone fought over a spot under a bed. Persephone eventually gave up and made for the bathroom to hide in the bathtub.

Tommy found them both and complained that they were 'terrible spots'.

After that round, Techno came out of his room with a tired expression on his face.

"Can you three keep it down out here?" He asked monotonously. Persephone grinned at him and hopped over.

"Technoooooo, come play hide and seek with us!"

He didn't seem to be buying it, so Persephone pulled the card. "It's my birthdaaaay... Please??"

Techno sighed. "Fine. But I'm seeking."

"Yes!" Persephone yelped, turning to see that Wilbur and Tommy had already run off. Techno closed his eyes and Persephone slipped past him, down the hallway into Wilbur's room. She opened the closet and closed herself in it, huddling back behind some of his sweaters.

Twenty-five minutes later, Persephone started to suspect something was wrong. She exited the closet and moved to the living room. Techno was nowhere to be found.

She peeked inside his room, and there he was, asleep on his bed.

"Damn, I should have known." She mumbled before stepping out of his room. "Wilbur? Tommy?"

Tommy climbed down from where he was hiding inside the fireplace's chimney, covered in ashes. He sneezed and the dust went everywhere, including all over his wings.

"Here, let me help," Persephone said easily, moving over to him to brush some of the soot off of the feathers. The paint came with it, revealing the cherry red feathers.

"...On second thought, keep those wings nice and ashy." She muttered to him. "If you're looking for better paint, I recommend brands specifically made for wings."

Tommy's face turned gray and he shied away from her, spreading the ash over the red just as Wilbur came into the living room.

"Where's Techno?" He asked in a confused voice.

Persephone pointed to the red door and Wilbur's face went flat. "Oh. Well, that explains it."

He huffed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I have a better idea on what to do anyway."

~•~•~•~

The canyon split through the earth, and was one of Lumenaria's oldest monuments. Even though it was outside the city limits, the city considered it theirs.

An old, rickety church was perched on one of the highrises, dating back decades. It went out of use around the time Persephone was 13 due to an increase in seismic activity around the canyon. 

"CA-CAW!" Wilbur called into the canyon, listening as the sound bounced off of the walls and returned back to him in the form of an echo.

Persephone let out a loud whistle that pierced through the air and reverberated throughout the entire crevasse. The three of them were overlooking the canyon on a large rock formation.

"I can see my house from here," Tommy joked, staring back at the giant city. 

The canyon was so very different from anything in the city. It went from skyscrapers and office buildings to red rocks and dusty roads in a matter of a couple miles.

"ECHO!" Persephone yelled at the canyon, grinning like a child as it bounced around the air.

"'Echo'? Really?" Wilbur teased. "That's so basic!"

Persephone rolled her eyes. "So is 'ca-caw'. Seriously, Wil, couldn't think of anything better?"

Wilbur turned to Tommy eagerly. "C'mon, Toms, say something to the canyon! Say it to the air!"

Tommy looked at him apprehensively. "No, thank you." He said tightly.

"Come on!" Persephone joined in. "It's so fun! You can just... say whatever you want!" She turned towards the canyon again. "I'M AN ADULT!"

Tommy couldn't help a smile as he stood up. He took a breath before yelling, "WILBUR IS A BITCH!"

Persephone laughed and Wilbur groaned. "C'monnnnn, Tommy, really?" But Persephone could tell he was fighting a grin.

"Let's go back to my place, Niki was planning on making cake," She said to them.

"Who's that?" Tommy asked in confusion. Oh, right, he didn't know already.

"Niki's my mom. I'm, uh, I'm adopted." She said. It wasn't weird. it was just different. Tommy shrugged. 

"Pog. My roommates adopted me illegally."

Persephone opened her mouth to say something then decided against it. "...Cool. Uh, let's go, then?"

Wilbur butted in. "As long as we can play cards against humanity again like last year!"

"Cards against humanity?" Tommy asked, sounding more confused. Persephone smiled at him. "You'll find out."

The purple-clad vigilante perched on the rooftop, looking over the city. Quackity was being a dumbass again, getting all whiny over his missing avian. It got annoying after a while, even if Purpled could understand.

He heard a sound on the roof behind him and turned to look in mild annoyance, expecting it to be Sam, or maybe Quackity. 

It was neither of them.

Standing in a crouched position on the rooftop was... another vigilante? He sure looked the part. He had splayed-out purple wings and was wearing a black and blue outfit, consisting of a black hoodie, bright cyan armor, bright blue and black goggles, and... tights?

"Whoah!" The avian said, fluttering over to him slightly and flicking his helmet.

Purpled's own outfit was a slightly baggy purple suit(Fireproof, somehow) and a tinted astronaut-looking helmet, sort of like one-way glass. 

He stumbled back slightly, genuinely confused at the familiarity this... unknown vigilante showed. He was shorter than Purpled, his nose going nearly up to the bottom of the space helmet. 

"Are you a vigilante?" Purpled asked the guy who was genuinely in his personal space. 

"I'm new to the profession. But yeah." The guy said casually.

"What's your vigilante name?"

"I don't have one yet." The other vigilante said with a slightly hyper-looking grin. "And... you're Plasma, right? You're so damn cool it's not even fair."

Purpled, crossed his arms slightly awkwardly. "...I don't know about that. I look like a fucking Among Us character."

"Hey, don't diss Among Us!" The guy yelped, wings flaring out exuberantly. 

He was still up in Purpled's space and reached out to touch his helmet again. Purpled grabbed his wrist before he could.

"Hey!"

"Do you think you could, maybe, not touch my helmet?"

"I want to, though."

...

"Fine."

Purpled gave in so easily that it wasn't fair. Did he have a suggestion ability, like mind control, but less serious?

"What's your vigilante power?" He asked, trying to remain nonchalant even as the other tapped gently on his helmet again.

"Oh! Check this out!" The shorter guy said before flexing his fingers, stepping back, and covering a nearby pole in ice. "Ice powers. Pretty... cool, huh?"

Purpled couldn't help but laugh slightly. "That was a terrible joke."

"Can you teach me some stuff?" The guy asked. "I, uh, I'm not as good at fighting as my partner, and it would be nice to finally get the jump on her."

Purpled hesitated, but didn't see the harm in it. He was just one vigilante, what could he possibly do to him?

"...Fine. But only for a few minutes."

"Whoah, you actually said yes? I, like, was not expecting that, but, hell yeah!"

~•~•~•~

The little 'lesson' of sorts was simple. A few kicks, a few tackles, but not much else. Also, they went for decidedly more than 'a few minutes' because the sun was rising and they were still going strong.

Now, they were lying on the ground and watching the stars slowly fade from the sky.

"-Blizzard would be a great name, I'll have you know, it's perfectly fine-"

"Yeah, maybe if you like shitty milkshakes and snowflakes. Fractal is way cooler! Besides, 'Blizzard' sounds more... snowy. Fractal is icy."

"It's my name, so I get to choose!"

"Fine then. Are you gonna go with Blizzard?"

"...Ugh. No."

"That's what I thought."

Purpled leaned back triumphantly, having won the argument. They sat in silence for a minute before Fractal(As he had been calling them) spoke up again.

"You know, we should totally date."

Purpled spluttered before looking over at him. "I- What-?!"

Fractal shrugged. "I'm just sayin'. It would be cool." 

"You made that joke already," Purpled huffed, face red even though the other vigilante couldn't see it.

Fractal chuckled. "I mean, you don't have to say yes. But, you know, it would be fun. A nice fun time. Or whatever."

"Well. I think that would be n-ice." Purpled said. Fractal slowly sat up, turned to him, and pointed with his mouth wide open.

"THAT WAS A GOOD ONE!" He screeched, wings going haywire. Weird-ass bird person.

Purpled stood up, stretching slightly as he did so. "I think I have to go."

Fractal stood too. "Cool. So we're a thing?"

Purpled shook his head in mild disbelief. "You know what, sure."

Fractal laughed triumphantly and fluttered their wings slightly. "I'll see you around," He said to Purpled, taking a few jumpy steps back.

"See you around." Purpled repeated back to them, still in mild disbelief. He hopped off of the building and levitated before he hit the ground. Purpled heard his wingbeats getting farther and farther away from him as he walked in the direction of the place they were staying.

Thoughts of Fractal swept through his mind. That entire interaction; all four hours, it was so, so confusing the entire time.

He entered the house they were staying in and Quackity swiveled around in an armchair looking half-dead. "And where have you been all night, young man?"

Purpled took his helmet off and closed the door before giving Quackity a deadpan glare. "You know. Doing vigilante stuff. Got a boyfriend. Nothing special." He walked off before Quackity's exhausted brain could render what he'd said.

"...Wait a minute!"

Literally Miko this chapter:

Shows up out of nowhere

Invades the space of a known vigilante

Gets lessons from said vigilante

Seduces this vigilante

Refuses to elaborate

Leaves

Words: 2,291(Longest so far, pog!)

Thanks so much for reading. I have pretty much the whole rest of the book planned out after this so wish me luck :P

Have a great day/night, and be safe!

-ITCFWI