Chapter Text
Interior. Night.
The red-haired hero stands in the shadows, watching over all of the helpless people around.
“Uh, Dot? You do realize you’re talking to yourself right now, right?” Mash Burnedead stood next to the so-called “red-haired hero” who had been monologuing out loud.
“Interrupt my dramatic setup and I’ll never forgive you,” Dot Barrett said to his muscular friend before clearing his throat once more. Mash’s shoulders slumped as he mumbled an apology.
The red-haired hero, ever so humbly if I do say so myself, returned to his duty of monitoring the area. After all, there was no telling what danger could appear that only he, as the main hero, could handle.
Loud chewing started up next to the roleplaying red-head. He turned to see Mash eating a cream puff which wasn’t surprising at all but did get on his nerves.
“Hey, uh, Mash? Do you mind?”
“No, I don’t.” He continued chewing.
With a deep sigh, he turned around again, leaning on the cold stone windowsill. Now, where was he?
Dot had already seen himself as something of a hero, among other things (main character, ladies' man, etc). Yet taking action and actually seeking out heroic actions to perform would fulfill all of those roles. When he agreed to protect that one beautiful girl from Silva, she had held his hands and thanked him . He giggled as he recalled the event.
Of course, Mash had been the main contributor for that event…and the girl was actually on Silva’s side…and…
Dot groaned, pulling on his bangs. This was the other reason he wanted to be a hero—to prove himself. He didn’t want to admit it, but Mash was stronger than him and Dot was grateful for his friend defending him that time, even if Mash ended up using the excuse of “gender equality” to attack the cutie as well.
He smacked the sides of his face emitting a loud clap in the air. Mash let out a small gasp, taking another bite of his cream puff to calm himself. Dot had to stay focused if he wanted to fulfill his destiny as a true hero.
···
Dot hit his head against his desk.
“Ack!” Finn Ames said, whipping his head around to see his friend with his face down on the wooden tabletop. “Dot, are you alright?”
“Oh no! Is he having another seizure?! Did he faint?!” Lemon Irvine’s hands shot up to cover her mouth.
“I think it is because he hasn’t been sleeping,” Mash stood behind the boy, looking down at him. “If you don’t get a proper amount of rest, you will be exhausted and your muscles will have a harder time.”
“But dangerous stuff always happens at night!” Except for the nights where he sought to be a hero, of course. “And there’s too much competition during the day! Like…”
“What are you idiots blabbing about so loudly in the morning?” Lance Crown walked up to the group. It was fairly obvious his use of the word “idiots” was directed at one person specifically.
“And then there’s you!” Dot stood up, forehead forming a lump from where it was slammed down, scowling. “I can’t stand handsome guys. They don't even need to be heroic. They can just stand there and attract any woman they want!”
Lance didn’t deny the statement. “I presume this is related to why you decided curfew was optional and weren’t in our room last night?”
“Listen here, you pretentious pretty boy, crime does not pay attention to curfew, so I too have to be out to be a hero.” He flopped back down into the chair, losing steam. “If only there was enough crime to fight.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? That there’s no crime to fight?” Finn questioned.
“Well, I mean, yeah but…” Dot turned his body to the group. “How else can I do heroic stuff?”
“Ask Finn for help. I guess I became a hero after saving him from that Cabbage guy.” Mash casually pointed at his roommate.
“Hey! That’s embarrassing!” Finn flushed. “But, yeah, you really did save me from Lloyd.”
“Gah!” Dot gripped the sides of his head, threatening to pull the bright red strands from his scalp. “Is everyone in this group a hero already?!”
“You did help save that one girl from that one guy…I think. I don’t really remember. I just stood there for the most part.” Mash said, somewhat encouragingly.
Dot nodded solemnly. “Yes, but I admit you were the hero when it came to that encounter with Silva.” He gasped and lifted a fist to his forehead. Does that make me his sidekick?!
Dot shook the thought from his head, quite violently, and continued. “One good deed is one good deed, but a hero should be doing more heroic stuff. After all, I need to build up a reputation as the Red-Haired Hero.”
Lance chuckled while the others tilted their heads.
“Is that really your hero name? I think Hot Head would work better,” Lance suggested.
“Oh. I thought you were just describing yourself when you were monologuing last night.” Mash seemed to be considering the nickname with an unclear opinion.
Finn tapped his chin. “Yeah, I figured you’d go for something like The Red Ranger,” he said, lifting his finger towards Dot. “You know? Since you used ranged attacks, but you also watch over the school? It still fits in the red part too!”
It was ridiculous.
Lemon clapped her hands together. “Oh, Finn! I like that one! It fits him perfectly!”
It was perfect.
“Yeah, I guess that’s cool. One of the ones I was considering.” He nodded before leaning in towards the group. “Don’t tell anyone my secret identity. Wait, then how would the ladies know it was me? Never mind, tell everyone. Wait, but then criminals would be after me—”
“Before you get ahead of yourself, how many crimes have you actually stopped, Red Ranger?” Lance raised his eyebrow.
“Trying to take over my turf? You already have plenty of girls.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Lance gripped his locket in his hand. “There is only one girl I care about.”
Dot grimaced, a reflexive reaction despite hearing the boy deliver some variation of the sentiment every day. He gripped his pants at the knees. There was school during the day and spending time with his friends the rest of the time. When else could he perform his duties as a hero?
“Don’t overwork yourself, Dot!” Lemon said, eyebrows crinkled together in concern. “Especially if Mash is going to be there to watch your back! Neither of you will get enough sleep!”
Huh? Is that why Mash had been up during the night with him the past few days? Mash had somehow appeared behind Dot every night and began randomly talking or interrupting his heroic narration, scaring the life out of the red head. It was a very sweet sentiment, Dot could admit, yet he couldn’t stand it if it was true. Dot wanted to be a hero, independent and powerful and handsome without needing someone to monitor him in case he became the damsel in distress he would be trying to save.
The chair slid out from under Dot as he stood, making sure to catch it as a true hero wouldn’t damage school property. Or any property at that.
“I’m going to go make my rounds. Make sure there are no supervillains or damsels in distress or anything.”
“What about class?” Finn asked, eyes big and anxious.
Dot chuckled. “Dear Finn, crime doesn’t stop even when class is happening.” In truth, Dot was anxious to prove himself and wanted to go when his strong friends weren’t acting as his lifeguards. And he needed to blow off the steam that often built up around Lance.
“I can’t say I approve, but good luck, Red Ranger.” Lance crossed his arms. The name was even more unnerving coming from the blue brat.
“Yeah, whatever. Just be sure to recount my deeds once I return from fighting evil.” Dot waved his hand behind his head, wondering whether he’d actually find that evil or return to humiliation and pity from his friends.
···
Dot walked down the hallway which was sparse of people. Maybe it would be better to fight crime when there were people around to commit the crimes in the first place. He shook his head. He had already committed to making rounds and he didn’t want to return just a few minutes after making a scene to Lance. He couldn’t decide which expression the blue-hair would make. Satisfaction? A lack of surprise? Pity?
No. Dot would rather spend the whole day wandering than see that. Lance would surely respect his dedication even if nothing happened. And creating a crime himself was unthinkable. He was too polite to inconvenience anyone in his quest for glory.
The stone floors and walls stretched far in front of him, but quickly passed as he continued wandering. His unease was audible through his heavy footsteps causing echoes throughout the hall. Even after checking a few of the trash cans, he still did not find any damsels in distress—nor trash he could’ve taken out for the janitor, for that matter.
Even worse, Lemon was right (though that wasn’t surprising, she was super smart after all). Not that it was bad for her to be right. Dot loved her either way. Regardless, she hit the nail on the head about exhaustion. He had been fine the first day of being up most of the night watching like a hawk for crime. Dot managed to slip into bed for a few hours of sleep that seemed like seconds as Lance woke for his morning routine.
A nap sounded really good. Dot wondered whether he would turn a corner and find a villain that coincidentally had sleep magic. It would still count as a heroic deed even if he lost the fight and fell under the spell, right? He could imagine Lemon by his side as he woke up in the medical wing, sobbing that he was so brave and he was truly her “Red-Haired Hero.” Yeah, that would be perfect.
Instead of a coincidentally fitting sleep-themed villain for Dot to lose a fight to, the corner turned into another corridor that stretched through the back end of the school. Empty. Figures.
Dot stretched, yawning. At this rate, he would’ve fallen asleep in class and Lance would have either woken him up with judgement clear on his face or would’ve let him get in trouble.
“It was your own fault. I am not responsible for you and your napping.” Dot imagined Lance’s hypothetical words and felt his rage spike.
How could that pretty boy talk to him in that way?
Dot imagined the ensuing argument that would happen. Perhaps it would simply be a yelling match, or they would actually break out into combat. It happened on occasion when the two were particularly frustrated with one another. Dot wondered if would need to pull out his suit of armor and completely demolish his roommate.
“Help! That hurts!” No. No, that’s not what Lance would say. He’s insufferable but not really whiny.
“Please!” And would he beg? Dot wished but it was unlikely.
Yet the screams for help continued and only grew louder as Dot continued walking. Pretty realistic sounding. My imagination is incredible. Dot thought to himself. Only it didn’t stop when he tried to stop the reverie.
Still going. Dot blinked in surprise as he heard a crash, like something being slammed. It was familiar, like how it sounded when Lance used Graviole . It was a crime. An actual crime. He wanted to point and laugh in Lance’s face for doubting him.
But not before saving the damsel in distress. He took a deep breath, taking on the persona of the Red-Haired Hero.
Interior. Daytime.
The hero heard the cries of an unfortunate victim. He did not need to hesitate as he ran into action.
Dot turned his head and placed his ear against the closet from which the cries were coming from. It was definitely this room. To his disappointment, the voice in need was not a damsel who cried for his help and would likely fall in love with him. Then again, he had Lemon and didn’t want any women to be in danger, so it was probably better that way.
The Red-Haired Hero took a deep breath and kicked the door open!
Dot slammed his foot against the door, sending pain shooting up his leg. How did Mash constantly do this? And by accident, at that?
A battle injury , he chuckled, to be expected. He reached for the handle, not putting pressure on his pained leg. It was unlocked.
By that point, the voices in the closet had gone silent.
“Is it a teacher?” Whispers came from inside.
It was worse.
Now that the door was unlatched, he gave his kick a second try and the door flew open. Shelves lined the walls with various cleaning supplies scattered and unorganized. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling with a string dangling down. The closet smelled of bleach and lemon. Lemon , Dot chuckled to himself, giddy.
Three boys surrounded the damsel, or whatever the boy version of a damsel was. The boy-damsel in question was a pink-haired, single-lined boy wearing the Adler dorm robes. The boy’s shoulders were slumped inwards, cowering as he clutched papers to his chest with torn sleeves and bruised skin. His light blue eyes widened as he looked at Dot, trying to determine whether the red-haired newcomer was a friend or foe.
“Gah, why’d you hafta go and freak us out like that?” The boy to Dot’s right looked over his shoulder. A double liner.
“Thought it was a teacher…” The one to the left whispered. Another double liner.
The one in the middle turned around entirely. “Aw, we got someone who’s lost? Want help finding your way back to class, first year?”
How did he know? No matter. This third one was also a double liner. Not good. Maybe Dot would take him up on his offer to leave the situation as long as he kept his mouth shut.
The brave, handsome hero scoffed. He would never turn his back on someone in need. And would never side with villainy as long as there was breath in his lungs.
“Aw, we got a little hero.” The middle boy with deep green hair pushed in back, revealing a handsome face and narrowed eyes. Dot was immediately irritated. “Thought he would be smart enough to take me up on my offer. Not one I give frequently. Perhaps I’ll have to teach you a lesson for skipping, huh?”
Dot pulled his wand out, startled at his villain knowing what decision he would make. Then again, Mash seemed to imply he was speaking out loud whenever he monologues. It didn’t matter. He would’ve fought these guys either way.
Both of the two other guys turned around, pulling out their own wands. Dot wasn’t the most strategic man—especially seeing as he decided to close the door behind him. Now he was trapped in the closet, unable to open the door without taking his eyes off his opponents. Especially when he needed to protect the victim.
The hero knew he needed to face down these villains. He would—.
Dot opened his mouth and nothing came out. Of course, he thought he was narrating in his head but the sudden silence made his head raise towards the trio.
“Idiot. He was about to spell out his battle plan.”
“He could have screamed…then we would be caught.” The white haired boy blinked with dark eyes, his wand held upwards. What did he do?
Green-hair looked at Dot and smiled. “Calem used his personal magic just now, superhero. Like Quientus but can also create a bubble so nothing is audible from outside. We usually hold off cause everyone is in class right now and we weren’t expecting our friend to be all mouthy. Feel free to scream, no one would hear, if you can even make any sound.”
Ah, the hero—wow, speaking in my brain feels weird—anyways, he was undeterred. He knew one of the powers of the evil trio now. And this one wouldn’t stop him.
‘You aren’t going to stop me! I’ll protect that young boy because I am the Red-Haired Hero!’ Dot said.
The trio began laughing. Even the quiet white-haired Calem was chuckling softly.
“Wow! You really are adorable! You realize you’re just mouthin’ words and not saying anything?” Green-haired dropped his head, looking down at Dot as if squatting in front of him. Dot grit his teeth at the patronizing stance.
The hero cared not for what the idiots, I mean villains, had to say. After all, his only goal was to protect the boy.
But before Dot could run forward to shield the pink-haired victim, he stumbled. Looking down, he realized the silence bubble around his body silenced the sound of rope growing and holding him in place.
“Pretty good power, eh? Didn’t even notice it!” The boy on the right, the muscular one, grinned. His wand was held in the air. “Too busy monologuin’ to notice my incantation?”
Darn it. That one wasn’t even in his narrating hero voice. Dot’s fingers twitched, wishing he could open the door to find Mash outside to come and rescue him. No. You have to fight for yourself.
“Pay attention, Mr. Hero!” Green-hair snapped his fingers, drawing Dot’s gaze. “You haven’t seen what I can do! Ammonius ”
The smell of lemons grew stronger which would’ve made Dot giggly if his heart wasn’t beating so fast. He could feel it against his ribs even if he couldn’t hear the blood rushing in his ears.
“There’s a reason we choose places like these to speak with our little friends.” A few of the bleach bottles popped open and some cleaning bottles spilled over. Green-hair smiled wide as the smell grew stronger. “Of course there’s the risk of suffocation or gas inhalation, but we leave it up to our little friend behind us to make that call. Give us what we asked for and we all get to survive! Fun, isn’t it, Mr. Hero?”
Calem and the muscular boy both covered their noses with their sleeves, seemingly used to this routine. Green-hair just stood there, unaffected by the chemicals in the air. Dot coughed, silent in the bubble, as the smell began burning his throat. The first year leaned farther down, still holding his papers close and looking pale in the face. He was likely facing this torture before Dot had reached the closet. Dot lifted his hand to cover his mouth with his wand hand but a rope flew up and latched around his hand.
“You can cover your face, but then we’d get ya~”
Okay. This is bad . Dot was already exhausted from his late-night adventures without suffocating.
Green-hair turned his back on Dot, looking back at the first year. “To some extent, he chose to stay, but your knight in shining armor looks close to passing out right now. You don’t look too good yourself, first year. How about you hand over that special stack of papers and then we can all go about our days?”
The hero yelled for the…quite squiggly-looking boy to not give up…whatever it was. Gosh, I feel terrible. Dot blinked, silently coughing again. The other two boys didn’t look well either but they seemed determined to stay with Green-hair.
The first year fell to the ground of the closet, his robe billowing out around him. The papers remained held against his chest as if they were a part of his body.
“Aw, you getting tired? Why don’t you let me take those off of your hands?” Green-hair’s voice became irritated, losing patience as the group slowly suffocated.
Muscles reached over to his friend, hand clamped over his nose and mouth. His face was fairly pale and sweat dripped down his face. Green-hair let himself be pulled to the side by Muscles. As that happened, Dot met the eyes of the first year. His light blue eyes were not weak or scared. They were determined. Heroic?
Dot could already feel the ropes around his legs and arms weakening as Muscles was losing concentration, especially over multiple targets. The sound of blood rushing began fading back into Dot’s ears. Calem was weakening as well.
It only took one second. First year was free and had a path, charging forward with special mystery papers still in hand. Only he didn’t stop in front of Dot. He crashed straight into him.
The upperclassman villains only managed to turn their heads by the time Dot was falling backwards towards the door. But it was enough.
As he crashed into the ground, the first year screamed in his face.
“NOW!”
The hero, once again, did not have to hesitate .
“ EXPLOMB! ”
Perhaps the hero should have hesitated.
As soon as he was out of the radius of the silence spell, he could yell out the command for his personal magic. However, the hero forgot in his gas-induced stupor that part of the reason he hadn’t done it sooner was the fact that he was in a small, enclosed space. One filled with chemicals. And one that was now filled with gas.
The door splintered and shattered as the room exploded in red. Dot managed to shield the first year in his arms, hoping to take the brunt of the blast.
That’s what a hero would do, after all.
···
The smell of chemicals was still pungent, limited due to burnt nose hairs, but had shifted into the smell of medicine and sterile equipment. Dot’s entire body ached. And burned. And hurt. He could barely remember what happened and winced as he remembered lighting a fire in a gas-filled room. Lance would make so much fun of him.
He squeezed his eyes, feeling burns on his eyelids. Here goes.
The hero came out unscathed. Wait, that’s not right. Very much scathed but he was alive. Oh gosh, what happened to that first year? And did I straight up kill those three guys?
He heard a faint mumble as he continued slowly regaining consciousness.
“—again.”
Dot struggled to hear what was happening when he heard the sounds of sobbing next to him. And a soft grip on his wrist which hurt from the burns but was surprisingly gentle. Remembering his daydream from earlier, all the pain seemed to vanish from his body. Lemon was there, sobbing over his injuries and ready to care for him—and maybe confess her undying love for him as well!
Dot rolled his head to the right, hearing the crinkle of thin paper under his body and the soft pillow pressing against his burned face. The sobbing cut off with a gasp and hiccup.
“Do not fear. The Red-hero is alright.” What was his hero name again? Dot’s head hurt. He squeezed his eyes open to see his awaiting and caring yellow…and black…wait, what?
Finn held onto Dot’s arm gently, tears rolling down his face. “Dot! You’re awake!”
It was Finn. His caring bedside damsel. Dot was so disappointed he didn’t bother pulling his arm away from the distressed boy.
“You were unconscious for so long! What were you even doing! You…you…” Finn blubbered, panicked over his friend’s condition.
“Are you in any pain?” A sweet voice came from Dot’s other side. Dot’s imagination did not fail him as to his other side knelt Lemon, her hands clutching the edge of his blanket. She was not outright crying but she looked close to doing so, especially since he woke up.
Dot felt as if he could pass away at that moment. He had fulfilled his mission of winning the love and undying adoration from Lemon (he hadn’t).
“Oh no! He’s bleeding again!” Lemon freaked out at his sudden nosebleed.
Dot’s attention was drawn by someone clearing their throat. Of course it was Lance who stood at the end of the bed with Mash by his side.
“You really busted stuff up in the back wing of the school, you know? Are you sure you weren’t playing a villain?”
“Playing?!” Enraged, Dot sat up to the panic of both Lemon and Finn. “I’ll have you know that I saved someone.”
I think. Not sure about those other three guys…
No one reacted. Dot patted himself on the back for narrating in his mind. Then again, those were just his thoughts not his hero narration.
“Yeah, I heard.” Lance’s voice seemed to be…gentle? Dot shivered despite his burns. “Your damsel is right here.”
“Uh, hello.” The boy, not a damsel he clarified, stood at the end of Dot’s bed. His hair was burnt short but his pink roots were still visible. Bandages were stuck to his face and wrapped around his head, arms, and legs. He seemed to be relatively okay, though his legs seemed to be shaky from where he tore out from the ropes and tackled Dot. “I’m glad you’re awake.”
Dot flopped backwards to the surprise of everyone present. He was so relieved he could almost cry. “Oh, you’re okay. I was pretty stupid lighting that gas room up but as long as you aren’t worse off than I am, it’s okay.”
“Yeah, it startled me. I expected you to use your personal magic once I knocked you out of that silence bubble but I didn’t consider it being fire-related.” The boy rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling awkwardly. “Sorry about that. Thankfully, you burnt all of those stupid papers so those guys couldn’t get them.”
Dot had completely forgotten about what led them to that point. In fact, he never knew the whole story. He had just responded to the calls for help.
“So it was good that they were burnt? You seemed pretty attached to them.”
He looked around and walked over to where Finn was, kneeling close to Dot’s ear. “It’s my personal magic. I can transcribe whatever I see perfectly for a limited amount of time. I’ve been picked on by those guys a few times but once they found out I saw the answers for a written test, they made me copy them down and tried to force me to give them a copy.”
He smiled—an exhausted but happy smile—which pulled on the scrapes and burns across his face. Dot decided that his smile looked much better than his scared expression. This boy would make a good hero—especially remembering the risk he took and the determination in his eyes.
“Heard there were other guys involved,” Lance raised his eyebrows, arms crossed.
“You should not use your power inside, Dot. It’s dangerous. You could break stuff like that door!” Mash said. Dot ignored the contradiction in his words.
Here we go. The magic police is gonna show up and lock me up forever for killing three guys who were only bullying a kid. Not that bullying is cool, but because murder is not.
“Yeah! I’m sure those guys won’t be doing anything like that any time again!” Finn said, eyes wide.
Dot winced. “Because they’re dead?”
“Huh?” The pink-haired first year blinked. “Oh, yeah you were knocked out as soon as you hit the door. Not that I was conscious of any of that…but don’t worry. The gas can suffocate someone but it was pretty dispersed so the explosion wasn’t as bad as you’d think. Everyone survived, although those three look worse than you. Both injuries and…they lost all of their hair. Like, all of it. Head to toe.” It was a funny mental image but Pinky looked concerned.
“Good. That guy was using it like an accessory or a prop. Covering his face and stuff and then flipping it up to glare at me. So obnoxious.” Dot ground his teeth, recalling the memory with disdain. Now that he knew that they were all alive, he was free to dislike them all he wanted without guilt. Too much guilt, at least.
The room fell to silence other than the occasional cough from another patient or the beep of medical equipment. Dot was about to begin monologuing when Pinky spoke up again.
“I really can’t thank you enough. I tried yelling but I wasn’t sure if the silence bubble was up or if everyone was in class, especially since we were in the back of the school. I didn’t want to help them but I thought I would have died before fulfilling that wish.” He bowed deeply towards Dot. “You are my hero.”
Despite the words warming his chest, Dot scoffed. “I’m your hero for skipping class and being in the right place at the right time? Yeah, right. You were the real hero in the end. You managed to outlast those bullies even before I showed up. You fought for good and allowed me to set off a single spell that injured everyone a lot—even you.”
Dot didn’t know where the monologue came from. All he wanted was to be a hero and save people and be appreciated for his power and actions. Yet, as he received the praise, he felt like it was unearned. The true hero had been Pinky. Dot had done nothing except blow them up. It was like Mash vs. Silva all over again. He was just the loser who was off to the side of the true heroes.
“NO!” The word was sharp and angry. In a swift motion, the pink-haired boy took Dot’s injured hand in his own and stared him in the eyes. “My name is Felix Wright. I am someone who cannot fight even when I want to. You inspired me to stand up, to ask for help, to fight those who choose to be cruel. And you were the one to save me in the end. You may be in bed with your injuries but you have a strong, resilient heart. The heart of a hero.”
Dot blinked at Felix, stunned by the words. Felix valued Dot’s intentions more than the fact Dot injured him. He said he was only able to get up in battle because of Dot. That he had the heart of a hero. The words buzzed in his heart like a confession from Lemon. Powerful and pure.
Felix flushed at his bold words, setting Dot’s hand back down. “May I know the name of my hero?”
“Red Ranger.” Dot said impulsively. He had been desperate to not say that name in favor of the ‘Red-Haired Hero’ title he created for himself.
The boy looked puzzled. “Huh? Is that your name?”
“N-no, I’m a superhero. You know? Can’t give my secret identity.”
“Oh.” Felix tilted his head at Dot. Dot ignored whatever emotion was on Felix’s face. “Didn’t they say your name was Dot?”
The hero sighed, feeling the distinct urge to give up. After completing his duty, the hero drifted back to sleep.
···
Interior. Evening.
Another day of saving people and doing heroic things for the Red Ranger—I mean, Red-Haired Hero.
Dot stood at the same stone window he used to scope out the fields for crime over the past few nights. Except, golden light struck his face from the setting sun. Obviously, blowing up a janitorial closet was not an action he could get away with, especially having skipped class to do so. The argument that he was saving Felix from bullies was brought up, which resulted in the trio getting most of the blame.
Lance took it upon himself to suggest Dot’s punishment be a strict curfew and required extra classes. This punishment was approved. In fact, it was almost as if Lance wanted to make sure he got enough rest. Not that Lance would ever confirm that to be true. Now, Dot leaned against the windowsill with bandaged hands, breathing in the evening air. He would have to leave and get back to his room soon as Rayne Ames would be checking to see if he was following his punishment. However, Dot would feel unsatisfied ending the day without wrapping up his monologue.
Though he was injured, the hero’s heart was full and pure, just as the pink-haired victim had declared. His name and deeds would be known throughout Easton. The crowds would all cheer for the Red-Haired Hero—
“You’re doing it again.” Mash poked Dot in the back.
The hero simply sighed (after screaming in fear of his friend’s sudden appearance, though he would never admit it).