He has been trapped for so long.

So long that he does not remember...

He hates to think about it.

...

How long?

Empty space. Black void. Demons whispering in his ear.

He cannot face them.

All of his fears.

He cannot yell.

He is alone.

The adrenaline was already coursing through Persephone's veins as she bounced on her toes, rocking the elevator slightly. Jack...Um, Inferno... placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"Easy now, it'd be a shame if we all went plummeting to our deaths before even starting your first night of patrol!" He teased with a grin. Nik- Waterfall - laughed and shoved Inferno slightly.

"Don't be scaring her!" She implored. Persephone crossed her arms, not quite sure if the X-eyes mask conveyed her indignance very well. The stretchy binary-looking suit was smooth and cool, yet she didn't feel the cold of the wind as she stepped out of the elevator, Inferno and Waterfall a step behind her.

"So!" She said cheerfully. "What do we do first?" She was more than eager to start doing...Anything, really. She had recieved her mask and title almost a week ago and every conversation they had, she had found a way to make it about vigilante-ism. 

To say she was impatient would be a bit of an understatement, to say the least.

"Alright!" Inferno said briskly. "Usually we climb up this ladder–" They were standing in a dingy alleyway with a rickety-looking yet stable ladder a few feet to the right of them(Persephone had only noticed once Inferno had gestured at it). "-but since you have wings, we'll just meet you up there."

"Don't do anything unsafe," Waterfall warned as Persephone lifted off eagerly. She watched them appreach the ladder and then flew upwards, landing on the rooftop in a crouching position.

Upon lifting her head, she a voice in the distance. It was British...and familiar.

"-checked that area yesterday, Atomic! Can't we catch a break?" The voices were getting closer and Persephone took her hands on the ground, still staying perched on the balls of her feet. 

Seconds later, the faces(albeit masked) to the voices came into view. The speakers' voices came to an abrupt halt as they spotted Persephone, who tilted her head in a way that she hoped made her look unnerved yet curious.

It struck her. That was Icarus. Icarus the barista...And his allies. What was his name again...? It had been written in a hasty scrawl on his nametag in the café...

Tom or something. It didn't sound quite right though...Wait- Oh, right, Tommy. Tommy was Icarus. That vigilante looking right at her was Tommy.

She stood cautiously, wings flexing behind her. She doubted she could take all three of them alone and hoped they would just leave. Inferno and Waterfall were almost at the top of the ladder; she could hear Waterfall grumbling at Inferno to 'climb faster, are you a sloth or something?'

Persephone stepped hesitantly forward and the vigilante trio – who were four rooftops away – stepped back in turn. Jeez. 

As Inferno and Waterfall appeared from the ladder and moved to stand behind Persephone, the vigilantes looked more apprehensive than ever. 

One of them, Atomic, grabbed the other two's arms and muttered something Persephone couldn't catch to them. Tommy scoffed loudly but before he could say anything, Endgame grabbed his wrist and the three of them teleported away, leaving nothing but particles in their wake.

Well, not like Persephone cared.

"That...was something." She mumbled to Jack and Niki.

Jack chuckled. "Yeah, they're an odd group."

Niki- Shit, Waterfall - nudged her. "Inferno and I were thinking we could just show you a few of our normal routes, teach you a few signals, and head home for the night."

Persephone shrugged, nonchalantly. "Yeah, I guess that's fine...So, are we going or are we spending the entire night talking?"

Waterfall laughed. "Alright ya little crowling, let's go."

--

The night was mostly normal, apart from another sighting of the vigilante trio. Persephone tried not to stare but she wanted to know everything about them...She always wanted to know everything about everything. She, Waterfall, and Inferno went the opposite way, however.

About halfway into the 'tour', disaster sent the peaceful evening into a downward spiral.

"...and this is where we beat Revenger in a fight!" Inferno was saying eagerly with a dramatic flourish. The blade hit his shoulder before he could do anything. Gasping, he stumbled forwards and fell to his knees.

Waterfall paled and Persephone whirled around.

This was an 'Oh, shit' moment if she'd ever seen one.

It didn't take more than a second to identify the threats... Porcelain mask, flaming hands... Dream and Sapnap. Two of the most terrifying villains to exist. 

Dream's mask was unnerving while Sapnap looked sad. He always looked sad. Either sad or angry.

Waterfall and Inferno burst into action, water and fire appearing in front of each of them respectively. 

Persephone was panicking so she held her palms out as Dream stepped closer to them, pale green energy alighting her hands. 

Waterfall aimed in Sapnap's direction – It made sense; fire beat water – who sighed and summoned fireballs to spin around his head. It looked less aggressive and more decorative, in Persephone's humble opinion. 

However, that meant that Inferno was fighting Dream, and that was definitely not a good thing. Persephone could tell he was laboring from the pain in his shoulder. She didn't want to aim for Dream, though, in fear of hitting her dad.

It was killing her though. Inferno was moving sluggishly – presumably from the Wither – while Waterfall was...Well, Waterfall was matching Sapnap's halfhearted fighting. Sapnap didn't have a track record of hurting vigilantes, and usually tried to avoid harming the heroes.

That was something Persephone had noticed. And hardly anyone seemed to care! Since he was affiliated with Dream, he was automatically a 'bad guy'. 

While Persephone had been doing all her useless thinking, Inferno had been cut in the side with another Wither knife.

He staggered backwards, giving Persephone a clear shot at Dream. 

She gladly took it.

The wave of energy struck Dream and he stumbled back slightly, rounding on Persephone. Well. That was not good. She summoned a ball of energy and held her ground, even though her pulse was racing and her neck was sweating...Oh gods, she was about to die, wasn't she-?

The knife was hurtling through the air.

Shield yourself, shield yourself, block it, block it, block it, BLOCK IT YOU ABSOLUTE IMBECILE!

By sheer terror, instinct, and luck, Persephone managed to create a wall of energy that the knife bounced harmlessly off of. The smile on the mask never faltered, unnerving her greatly.

As the wall dropped, Inferno sent a blast of flame at Dream. Persephone felt the heat on her feathers and instinctively drew her wings closer to her body.

Dream dodged the fire with ease, but Persephone, feeling slightly more confident, shot a ball of energy at him, hands shaking all the while. It hit him...dead on.

The crack of the porcelain mask shattered through the night and Sapnap and Waterfall paused their mock-spar to look over in surprise.

Dream stumbled backwards as a piece of porcelain fell away, clinking on the rooftop and revealing a single terrifying eye. Persephone recoiled as she saw it... It was human, yes, but milky white, the only trace of a pupil being a black shape that somewhat resembled a crosshair.

Dream's jaw clenched and he stepped back. Persephone suddenly realized that the most unnerving part of the encounter was that there had been no words exchanged. Nothing. Just an instant fight response.

Dream's hand twitched slightly and Sapnap backed up, his expression going from slightly entertained back to sad again. He hadn't spoken either. The two villans retreated across the rooftops, Sapnap looking back at them several times.

Waterfall was still breathing heavily. "C'mon, Hollywood, let's get Inferno back home..." She mumbled, moving over to Inferno's twitching body. "Shit..."

Persephone bit her lip as Waterfall looked over Inferno's gaunt, tired face. "Alright, Inferno, you're not playing this up to be carried, are you?" She laughed, but it was shaky and Persephone went cold as she saw a bolt of genuine fear flash behind Waterfall's humorous expression.

Persephone wasted no time in crouching down next to Jack and grabbing one of his arms gently, attempting to pull him up. "C'mon, don't be fainting on us..." She said in a wobbly voice.

A voice came from behind them, tentative and nervous. "...It's...Wither's a nasty business... Your, uh, friend needs medical attention, ASAP."

Persephone whipped her head around.

Endgame was fidgeting nervously on the edge of the rooftop. "Um...Hi..." He mumbled, stepping barely an inch closer, Persephone stood up.  

"You wouldn't, uh, happen to need help, would you...?" Endgame asked in a small voice, shrinking back. It was odd. He was probably a foot or more taller than her and was cowering. Huh.

"Yes, actually," She responded in a wary voice. Waterfall said nothing. Endgame shuffled closer. 

"Oh, well, yes, you see...I can teleport, and, um, I can teleport you...?"

Waterfall and Persephone exchanged glances. After a few seconds, Waterfall nodded curtly. "...Alright. If you could just get us back to that rooftop we saw you on...?"

Endgame nodded quickly and stepped closer. "I have to be touching you for it to work," He said apologetically. Persephone's expression shifted even though it didn't show. 

Endgame got closer and reached out, touching both Waterfall and Inferno's arms with one slender-fingered hand, and Persephone's shoulder with the other. He took a deep breath.

Maybe this is a bad idea- Persephone thought frantically before a sensation like the world was folding in on itself overtook her and, with a slight popping sound, they appeared on the rooftop above the elevator. 

Persephone immediately stepped away and moved over to Niki who was, helping support Jack. She noticed that she felt slightly queasy and glanced over at Endgame who was looking very awkward indeed.

"...Thank you," She said awkwardly to Endgame who started at being mentioned and quickly nodded. 

"Um, yeah, it was no problem..." He was very nervous. "I'll be going now..." He murmured before popping away into particles again. Persephone tilted her head at the dissipating purple specks before turning to Niki.

"Here, let me carry him down," She offered. "It's just to the ground; I can make it. And besides, it's easier than carrying him down the ladder."

Niki considered this before nodding. "Alright, but be careful..."

Persephone moved towards Jack and grabbed him by the waist and underarms, moving to the side of the building. She flexed her wings in preparation and stepped off the edge, wings widespread and air-filled. The descent to the ground was a bit quicker than she liked, but she managed to make a good landing.

 As she leaned Jack against the wall, her wing hit a pole and she grumbled. Stupid wings; always getting in the way...

Niki descended the ladder rapidly, taking the rungs two or three at a time. Once she hit the ground, she pressed the hidden brick in the wall and entered the passcode as a keypad appeared.

Persephone half-dragged the now unconscious Jack into the elevator after Niki. The doors closed and Niki took him, propping him up gently.

Please, please be alright...

That was a(relatively) long chapter; whoo!

Word count: 1,869

I hope you enjoyed; and we got some lore forming!! i hope it all comes together the way I'm picturing it...

Have a great day/night, see you on the other side!

-ITCFWI