Eighty combs a hand through his newly bleached blond hair, making a face when several brittle strands fall through his fingers. "I definitely did not do this properly..." he mutters to himself before lifting his makeshift eyepatch off his amber right eye gingerly.
"Did what properly?" His new roommate pipes up from behind him. Eighty shoves the eyepatch back on and turns around, his mind scrambling to find an excuse. With the now fair-haired man staring at the other in the cell, a response leaves his mouth, uncertain undertones in his words.
"I... I tried styling my hair a different way, but it didn't work. Now it looks way too spiky. Not a big deal, though." What a terrible excuse... however, all his roommate did was give him a strange look and go on with his day, causing Eighty to let out a sigh of relief. The man ran his fingers through his hair once again, stopping briefly as his hands curled around the cold, iron bars that encased them inside the room.
"Hey, honey," his roommate said from behind him. Eighty choked and whipped around, eyes blown wide in confusion to see his roommate curled up in a ball pressing a phone to his ear. "How are you today?" the man continued with a gentle smile on his face. Eighty stared silently, jaw slightly agape. He couldn't help but stare- was acquiring prohibited items common in prison?
His roommate noticed him and visibly flinched away at the intense gaze. "What is with you?" he snapped at Eighty after his phone call. Eighty stuttered, turning away.
"Where'd you get that?" he blurted out.
"None of your business," The man responds, tucking away the phone as he glares at Eighty. The other smaller male couldn't help but come at a loss for words, scrambling to try and find a response.
"W-where did you get it? Tell me where!" Eighty begs, desperation in his tone as his roommate shows a clear uncomfortable look.
"I'm not telling you shit!" He pushes Eighty away from him, causing the white-haired male to hit his back against the cell bars. It felt as if the wind was knocked out of him, causing him to let out a gasp as he struggles to breathe. Eighty puts a hand over his chest, air reaching his lungs once again as his breathing slows.
"I'll find out," He spoke slowly, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead as he stared up at his roommate. The nervous look now displayed on the other male's face was something Eighty mentally noted. With a guard now opening their jail cells, notifying them both that it was their yard time, he and his roommate exchanged a brief glare before stepping foot outside their cells, both of them disappearing into a crowd of inmates.
———
The scratch of the pen against the paper cut through the silent room. The top floor of the InvadedLands Agency building was usually quiet, so quiet that the distant chirping of birds and the roar of the cars on the streets could be heard. The box of filled-out papers and documents next to his desk only grew as the hero wrote, leaned over his desk and only paused for a few moments to think.
The pile of unfinished papers only shrunk in size until there were none left. Skeppy kicked his feet up on his desk and let out an exasperated sigh, face twisted in annoyance. "Can't believe he'd ditch like that," the words spilled out of his mouth unconsciously, staring angrily at the door.
The room was immersed in the warm glow of sunset, each glass wall crystal clear with a rich mahogany lining. An over-the-top computer setup sat facing a wall of the room and a large map of the United States hanging from the ceiling behind the four monitors, decorated with blue dots scattered across the country. Two cedar cabinets on either side of the desk presented gleaming golden trophies and silver awards for all to see and lining the cabinets were white and pale blue feathers, ones that matched the long sky blue feather tucked behind Skeppy's ear.
Skeppy yawned lazily, stretching his arms. He spent the entire day doing paperwork Ranboo left him with- just the thought made him grind his teeth. After all, he shouldn't have to do another hero's work. As soon as Ranboo returned from his "business trip", Skeppy will-
A series of loud, harsh bangs sounded on the door and Skeppy broke from his angry internal rant. More irritation filled him- what kind of barbarian would bang on the door like that? Skeppy rose from his seat, seizing a pouch of small stones on his desk. His rigid stance relaxed when he heard a voice sound from outside his door.
"It's me, Wilbur," a familiar voice called out.
Skeppy sucked in a breath before walking towards the door. He couldn't help but notice that Wilbur's voice was tense and devoid of the cheeriness Skeppy was used to hearing in the older man. His hand hovered over the door handle timidly before Wilbur rapped on the door again- tap tap tap.
"Skeppy," said Wilbur. "Open up." A chill ran down the number two hero's spine. That wasn't a question, but a command. Who's Wilbur to boss me around in my own building? a part of him thought. Despite the bitter uncertainty, Skeppy cracked the door open. He was expecting the brunette to start brandishing a paper in his face, spewing on about breakthroughs in the case.
He was not expecting two police officers standing behind Wilbur and both glaring at Skeppy intimidatingly. "We need to take you in for questioning." He said. "We had an informant," Wilbur confessed, "who gave us information that proved useful to the case."
"Who?" Skeppy snarls displeasingly as Wilbur pushes the door open, stepping inside his office, further ticking off the other hero as he glares at him. They sit in a brief moment of silence, the brit being the one to pipe back up.
"We cannot disclose that information." He responds with a stern tone, going a step closer to the shorter male before looking at the two officers behind him, snapping his fingers afterwards. "Go on, take him in." The brunette spoke intently, watching Skeppy get cuffed from the corner of his eye as he turned, leaving his office.
———
"I'll find out."
Eighty finds those words echoing in his head, sitting alone as he stares at everyone else in the courtyard. He seemed to have a blank look on his face, deep in his thoughts as his gaze averts to the side, mind going a thousand miles per hour as he couldn't help but let himself drift back on what happened before he was sent here. Would things have turned out differently if he was awake, standing next to his dragon guarding the entrance of the warehouse they called their home? Would they all still be in one piece, planning their next move on society?
Eighty shakes his head, attention now shifted towards the group of inmates who were starting to gather in a shifty corner, murmuring to themselves. He was about to turn away before he noticed one of the inmates holding a deck of cards in their hands. Hope sparked inside him, now observing them closely. With minutes passing by like seconds, every detail and action the group had done being noted by the white-haired male, he came to a conclusion that seemed way too possible.
With the beams of sunshine resting down on the courtyard, birds flying over them, he couldn't help but tear his gaze away and look up at the sky for once. Something he rarely did. Why did it seem more peaceful than his life before this? At least he wasn't sneaking around like a snake, avoiding capture. That's because he's already been caught.
He stares back down, looking at his orange tracksuit while fidgeting with his sleeves. He furrows his brows. "I don't wanna be here," The man mutters to himself, sighing before turning back to the group, his thoughts dampening the mood. However- he couldn't get sidetracked, could he now?
Something caught his attention. Their mannerisms, the way they kept their voices low to the point where it seemed unintelligible if you weren't right next to them... it was normal behaviour here, but Eighty had his suspicions, along with an idea.
Dominos had an idea.
———
"He mind-controlled us. We couldn't do anything."
Sammy spoke timidly to the group that had approached them moments prior, the teen next to him panicking quietly. Sammy steps in front of Purpled, shielding him as he glares at the men, sweating out of slight pure fear trying to stand his ground.
"We were tricked into killing t-those orphans," The blonde stutters, clearly noticing as he widens his eyes, unclear to the group due to his glasses. He could feel Purpled's confused, judgemental stare burning through his skull, driving him more into discomfort as he straightened up his posture.
The men exchanged each other's looks, and to both the teenagers' surprise, they all looked shocked. Sammy hoped to god they bought it.
"Now can you just leave us alone?" Purpled piped up, discomfort clearly in his tone as he squirms, feeling a little claustrophobic since their backs were up against the wall and such.
The group had backed up from the pair, causing them both to step to the side to get away.
"Purpled," Sammy whispers, now out of their earshot as the other blonde perks his head up with the mention of his name. "Listen. I've been thinking about a plan-"
"Stop. What the hell was that about? Deo mind-controlling us?" Purpled snaps, crossing his arms harshly as he looks to the side angrily. "This doesn't feel right. Putting all the blame on Deo- we were fully accountable, Sammy! This...."
The teen trails off, a solemn look on his face as Sammy's brows take a slightly upturned position, melancholy and guilt dawning over him.
"We needed a scapegoat, Purp. It was the only way-" Sammy was interrupted by a slight shove, Purpled glaring at him.
"A scapegoat? Is that what Deo is to you? Fucking hell, Sammy. They... they were like our family. H-how could you...?" Purpled starts stuttering, bringing a hand up to his mouth as shock bubbled inside of him. He was overreacting- sure, but NOLIFE was a family to him. He felt complete with them, and it hurt seeing Sammy doing something like this. Shifting the blame to someone he viewed as close as a brother.
"Purp, calm down. It'll be fine, I promise. We just needed an excuse- what else was I supposed to do?" Sammy furrows his brows. "You heard the guards, they told us we wouldn't last half an hour here! We needed to- we just couldn't let them know we did all of that, alright?"
The Australian clearly showed that he was distressed through the tone of his voice, his gaze now at the floor as he covers his face with his hands. "What else was I supposed to do?"
Purpled sighs, shaking his head as he puts his hand on his shoulder in an attempt to reassure and comfort him, feeling guilty. He knew Sammy just wanted the best for both of them, but it felt... wrong, so terribly wrong. Sammy did what he needed to do, and the blonde knew he needed to change the subject before this escalated any further.
"... We'll talk more about this later," Purpled sighs. "What's your plan?" He tilts his head, smiling as he wants to listen to what the Australian had in mind. He sees the male peek out from the cover of his hands, shrugging as he tries piecing together his words to explain.
"Listen... I may be wrong about this, but, when we first got sent here I've been hearing rumours about a gambling ring." He starts making vague movements with his hands, shifting his feet around every once in a while. "We should get involved. We could earn something that could help us bust out." As he was explaining, Purpled had an uncertain look on his face, taking a step back as he took it all in.
"Are you with me, or not?"
happy new year everyone!! or eve if ur na
fanarts this chap by jordan in the disc- tysm for all this art!!