Theseus Never Falls -{Vigilante DSMP AU}

On The Hero's Side

TW: Panic attacks and falling off a building

It was hard, to say the least, when it came to trying to peer at whatever the Inbetweener's expression could be. His swirling green eyes were locked onto Jubilee Line, narrowed behind the masquerade eye mask, and the facemask keeping the rest of his face hidden was as white and as blank as it had always been.

Jubilee Line stared back at him - you could tell, even if there was no iris or pupil to follow, just by the way the room crackled with tense, tense energy. The phantom had his hands balled into fists tightly on his lap, squeezing at the edges of his coat, while the Inbetweener simply had his hands clasped above the desk. The blinds were half-open, letting the yellow lights of the city flood the otherwise dark room.

"I've given you nearly a whole day to compose yourself, Jubilee Line," The Inbetweener spoke first, restrained anger in his voice. "Care to explain the footage?"

"With all due respect," Answered Jubilee quickly, "I'd much rather hope this entire incident can be forgotten."

Apparently, and rather obviously, that was the wrong thing to say. "You call this an 'incident'?" The superior hero hissed angrily. "You humiliated yourself, Jubilee; you made an utter fool of yourself in front of The Blood God and three unpredictable criminals!"

The phantom looked down at the table, a small scowl crossing his face. "It was unavoidable. I was tired and... I guess things got primitive."

"Primitive?" Echoed the Inbetweener. "That was not just primitive, Line. That was abnormal." He stood up from his chair to look down on Jubilee. "I think you ought to be somewhat thankful that I'm not submitting a request to have you fired on the spot, number six. Your actions reflect not only on yourself but the entire police force. Don't you understand what danger the 'cha' could be in if Theseus was able to release some of that footage? If he had been recording audio or visuals? Your 'primitive' excuse wouldn't change anything, and it doesn't now."

Jubilee flinched slightly, biting the inside of his mouth. "Theseus doesn't carry any recording devices on him aside from a burner phone," He said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Even then, the camera is broken and the mic is broken. We have nothing to worry about."

"That was information we only had double-checked a month ago," The Inbetweener shook his head. "Anything can happen within a month and I thought you'd know that, too. Why, in a month alone you went from being ranked somewhere in the four-hundreds to where you are today. You think Theseus won't grow too?"

His nails were beginning to scratch the insides of his palms as he shook his head too. "That's not how he works. Theseus doesn't think like that; he'll not have time within a month with how often we've been seeing him and his team to change up his plan. Besides, he's nowhere to hide a microphone on his costume."

"That still doesn't defeat the point!" The Inbetweener cried out in exasperation. "Line, your behaviour was- barbaric! You were beating Theseus, who was already knocked to the floor, and the Blood God had to restrain you. If it weren't for the Crow Father putting in a word for keeping you around, I don't- gods!" He sat down in his chair heavily, rubbing his temples. "I should fire you. Heroes are not supposed to be excessively violent." He glanced at him, almost pleadingly. "Surely they taught you that in the academy?"

"I'm sure they do," Jubilee replied, although it wasn't much of an answer to anyone, nor did it make much sense.

The Inbetweener stared at him once more, as if waiting for something. An apology; clarification; the truth. He didn't get any of those, so he waved his hand and the door appeared open in a colourful flash. "You can leave."