#hero bigb

It starts with Tango agonizing over a file full of nonsense pages when Pearl walks up behind him and asks why he’s looking through training hall equipment request forms.

They all remember that Pearl had been a hero at one point, had training and knowledge on The Commissions systems and structure, but the ensuing conversation reminds all of them, Pearl included, how useful that is to their plans.

It becomes common to ask Pearl for help cracking some of the Commission’s codes and translating their data. The former hero having experience with how they phrase things and the patterns they use, speeding up the process that normally takes them much longer and at least one computer program to do. The others sending over information for an initial pass or things they can’t quite make sense of.

Not all of her knowledge is applicable, around five years out of date, but sometimes even just a clearer direction makes things easier to figure out.

And Pearl is more than willing to give the group all the information they want from her experience as a hero.

 ☽  〇  ☾

“Hey, Pearl, could you help figure out what this data’s about?” Etho asks as the young woman appears in the hallway, moving towards the kitchen most likely.

“Yeah, sure. What’s up?” She asks, walking over to look over the file he has pulled up and is currently tearing his hair out about. She scans the mess of almost words he’s finally managed to decrypt before cocking her head to one side briefly. Hopefully she can make more sense of it than he or the programs he’s been running on it can. Or at least faster.

“Huh, I think it’s about hero gravesites.” Pearl says, eyes flickering over the screen. She shifts forwards to point at the different “columns” of the data. “See? Person, location, visitors, gifts, ectetera.” She tilts her head briefly. “Here.” Etho moves to the side as she leans over the keyboard and searches for a couple words, one after another until there’s a match. Pearl leans back grinning.

“Yup! There I am.” She points at the highlighted line, X P3.l.Nv_L*. “They even made a note how it’s fake.” Pearl moves to point out at the farthest column before going still as her finger passes over the visitor and gift sections.

There’s two entries, exactly identical except for what he’s pretty sure is the date.

“Pearl?” It has to be Huntress that visited. Pearl only reacts like this with her.

“She left me wolfsbane.” Pearl says, voice utterly flat as she stares at the screen. “She visited my grave and left wolfsbane!” She spits out, anger over pain.

“We’re adding it to the list.” Etho says, making a note on the pad next to him.

Target “hero” graves @ some point.

It’s a decent enough idea on its own.

Pearl doesn’t quite argue with him, fists clenched at her sides, shaking slightly before whirling and striding off towards the training rooms.

Etho makes a couple more quick notes so he can pause and follow her.

Huntress is really not living up to her reputation the more he learns about her.

 ☽  〇  ☾

“You should see about getting your left eye fixed up by the way.” Pearl tells Tango one day after emerging from yet another successful Decked Out run. They’re still in The Citadel, real bodies still cross legged on the floor of the training room. “That or adjust your moves to hide it’s worse than your right.” She continues and he blinks, confused and surprised because—

“What?”

“Your reaction times to stuff on that side are lower by a little. And you move your head more to focus on stuff to your left than your right. Especially when making an illusion.” She explains, picking up a small rock and tossing it hand to hand, behind her back and other almost tricks, keeping her gaze straight ahead. “I’ve only noticed because I’ve been around you for a bit now, but eventually the heroes and such are going to pick up on it.” She chucks it past him, his left side, somehow perfectly bouncing it off the wall and darting forward to grab it again when it comes back a couple inches from his face.

“See if you adjust your normal stance like this,” Pearl says, moving back, left eye closed, stance just a bit different, as she continues basically juggling the rock. “It’s harder to tell your vision’s worse on one side.” Her movements are a bit less fluid, a bit more effort being put into them, but he can only tell because he’s looking for it.

“How’d you figure that out?” Tango asks. It reminds him a bit of Etho’s tricks, but he didn’t know Pearl could do similar things.

“Hero training.” She says with a shrug. “Started at sixteen so we had to catch up to the older trainees real fast if we wanted to keep up. Did a lot of bonus training because of it. To prove we were better, the best.” She tosses the rock higher up into the shadows of the lofted ceiling and closes her right eye before shifting to bend backwards and catch the rock a foot off the ground.

Pearl straightens, eyes back open and grins brightly. Tango grins back impressed even though his brain is still holding onto how young she was when she joined The Commission.

“Etho probably helped you with a lot of other tells, but with the plan and all I thought I should mention it before anyone else starts picking up on it.” Pearl says, putting the rock back in the place she’d grabbed it from. He’d forgotten, not actually put the whole timeline together.

“Definitely a good catch.” Tango says. “Thanks Pearl. I’ll try it out.” And she smiles, happy.

Did she even graduate high-school?

He needed to talk to Etho and figure out a job he could do tonight.

 ☽  〇  ☾

“Well this is everything they had on Enigma and Quandry.” Pearl announces, dumping the entire stack of folders she’d copied that night onto Aesthesia’s table before hopping to sit on the more clear section. “Filing cabinet and secret drawer.” 

“There wasn’t a secret drawer mentioned anywhere.” The spymaster says, brows furrowed, though she’s pretty sure if anything it’s only him upset at his lack of previous knowledge. Not her.

“That type of cabinet always has a secret drawer.” Pearl waves a hand as he flips through the papers. “You can tell by the size of the bottom edge. Anything between four and six centimeters means a secret drawer. Same with star head screws, but those are usually harder to get at.” Have to remove three whole drawers and then pick the lock on the false back wall, which is a different lock than the ones on the drawers.

“How do you know all this?” Aesthesia asks, looking up at her with an unnerved expression.

“I got killed for snooping, remember.” She says dryly. The blonde’s face clears.

“Yeah, fair enough.” He admits, switching back to the task at hand. “Anything important stand out to you?” Aesthesia asks gesturing to the pages of information.

“Not much. They don’t have any power nailed down with Quandry, but they also aren’t marked as important so it’s probably long-term, back-burner, intern work.” Pearl replies, summarizing what she’d noticed copying out the files. “The drawer had a bit more, mainly about Enigma, but mostly work on possible civilian identities. Her shadow power has a mark on it that means it’s added to the Register Scan,” She says, pointing to the purple stamped symbol. “But it happened a few years ago so they clearly weren’t able to find her through it.” Everyone else with a similar power though… Pearl hopes the worst that happened was just a mark on their records and id that said their power was “noteworthy”.

“The rest is just basic info and records of sightings, incidents, crimes, etcetera.” She continues. “She’s pretty good about keeping herself and Quandry in the shadows.” Aesthesia snorts at the pun.

“True that. Well thanks for the papers, that’s all I needed tonight.” The spymaster says pulling another file towards him to flick through and continue making his encoded notes. Dismissal clear but casual.

“Uhuh, send the payment through Ren.” Pearl says, hopping off the table to head back to the base. “Bye, Swirly!” She calls over her shoulder.

“Not my name!” Aesthesia yells after her.

 ☽  〇  ☾

You figure out how I’m supposed to give my speech with all your jumpy friends? BigB writes out, shifting the whiteboard to face Blood Moon.

“I’ve got a couple ideas.” She tells him, half-lounging against the invisibility powered wolf. The teleporter’s as his back. The common arrangement for their meetings and by now he’s almost completely used to it.

Care to tell the class? He asks, raising an eyebrow. The villain isn’t as bad as she presents herself. And BigB’s learned a lot about the plan her and the group have for taking down The Commission. A lot about what The Commission does. He knew some of it, he’s in three costumes, but he keeps his plans and ambitions with those small. Simple. Not pushing too much at any of the sides.

“All in good time Speaker.” Blood Moon says, grinning, a normal one, not her villain one. It’s a bit fake, but he’s not too surprised by that.

So time for my return? He starts writing out, and her gaze flicks to the side like her attention’s been called away. By a wolf or teammate he’d guess considering her posture doesn’t tense, but BigB pauses anyway.

“Yeah, I hear you.” She breathes out softly, turning back to him. “I’d have to do this anyway and better to do it sooner.” Blood Moon says and BigB keeps himself very still. He knows she’s faster than anything he could say.

“How was Grandmaster the Frog after I moved, Neighbor?” She asks, and BigB blinks.

“Pearl?” He slips up, but she only grimaces, makes a shushing motion with her hand, and the not slitting of his throat just confirms it really.

PEARL????? He hastily scrawls on the whiteboard between incredulous glances at the villain.

“Hiya mate.” She says with a pained grin. “Suprise?”

Wait, hero you Lupus— Oh.

BigB erases the words.

They faked your death. Tried killing you. He writes before spinning the board back to face Pearl.

“Yeah.” She says, and he can see the similarities now, the bits of Pearl his neighbor in the villain Blood Moon. “Started poking at secrets and got caught.” He winces. Some of the stuff he’d learned since starting this job were definitely things The Commission would kill over.

Sorry. He writes, unable to do much more. Although thinking about it, the other part of what he’s doing now is probably helpful. … He’s not asking about the Huntress thing.

“Don’t worry too much about it mate.” She says with a shrug, before flicking her gaze aside and swatting at the air. “Yes, yes, calm down!”

“Brace yourself.” Pearl warns BigB dryly before there’s another wolf launching themself at him, smaller than the others and—

“Til—” He manages to cut himself off this time, but that’s partially from the wolf tongue on his face and the fact he’s been laid out flat against the concrete floor.

Tilly, because it has to be, just keeps licking him excitedly and giving happy yips like she did the few times they got to play together when they were younger.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series, Hermitcraft SMP Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Pearl | PearlescentMoon & Anthony Viviano | Bigbst4tz2, Pearl | PearlescentMoon & Xisumavoid, GeminiTay & Pearl | PearlescentMoon Characters: Pearl | PearlescentMoon, Anthony Viviano | Bigbst4tz2, Xisumavoid (Video Blogging RPF), GeminiTay (Video Blogging RPF) Additional Tags: Nosy Neighbors (Limited Life SMP), Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Hero Pearl | PearlescentMoon, hero bigb, Hero Xisumavoid (Video Blogging RPF), Origin Story, Friends to Enemies, Betrayal, Watchers, they're really just mentioned but still present, xisuma wasn't even supposed to be in this au lmao, Emotional Manipulation, (kind of - you'll see), Boogeyman Curse (Last Life SMP and Limited Life SMP), Minor Character Death, Mentioned Minor Original Character Series: Part 12 of specter's hero/villain/vigilante au Summary:

I had to google that to know who it was, but yeah i can help you visualize!

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Thank you so much! Just !!!!! I'm really really happy that people seem to enjoy it and have picked up on the bits of More-Behind-The-Scenes stuff. Like I seriously can't thank all of the people who like or reblog or comment on the part enough. They always make my day. It's been more difficult than I expect to not just blurt out all of the secrets and Things that I know and have written parts of for future peices, but it makes it so so worth it getting all of the feedback from people. I've written... a lot of fanfic and aus and all sorts of stuff, but this is my first real long term shared work and it's just amazing and wild to see that there are other people who also really like my brain words.

As a bonus, have a scene that I've been unable to put litterally anywhere or actually write out fully.