Chapter Text
The city of Unstable was home to heroes, villains, vigilantes... and Parrot
Well, technically he was just an ordinary macaw avian working the evening shift at Unstable Café
"Boss really could've picked a better name..." Parrot grumbled under his breath as he wiped down the counter
Working beside him was Flame, a dark-skinned tiger-blaze hybrid with a black blindfold covering his eyes. Most people assumed Flame was blind
He wasn't
Parrot knew that because he'd seen Flame's eyes once, years ago in middle school. One gold and the other one red
He'd never mentioned it since because flame trusted him enough to show it
Right now, however, Flame was too busy arguing with Wemmbu, a purple-haired dragon hybrid, a species so rare that most people only saw one in history books
"Speed master has always been the strongest!" Flame scoffed
"Oh please," Wemmbu shot back. "Without starlight, speed master is nothing "
Parrot sighed so deep he wondered if his throat would hurt afterward
"Could you two stop?" he called. "You're going to burn the café down"
The two glared at each other for several painfully long seconds before Wemmbu clicked his tongue and disappeared into the break room
Silence
Spoke, the voidling covered in enough rainbow accessories to permanently damage someone's eyesight, happily watched the entire exchange like it was live entertainment
The bell above the café door chimed.
Parrot looked up
A customer stepped inside
He looked about Parrot's age. Raven-black hair peeked out beneath his hood. A wolf tail swayed lazily behind him. Purple eyes. Purple bandana and a hoodie with a yin-yang symbol printed across the front
"Welcome to Unstable Café." Parrot smiled professionally. "What can I get you?"
The stranger froze.
Only for a second,
Then his expression returned to normal
Parrot as always, notice things people thought he wouldn't "Have we met before?" Parrot wondered
"Black coffee."
Parrot nodded and put the order into the register
"Name?" Parrot asked
"Wifies" the guy answer
Parrot wrote it down before passing the order to Flame while flashing flame a smile "Black coffee"
Flame grumbled something unintelligible before reluctantly making the drink
The café fell into an awkward silence
Even Spoke noticed
"You're new around here?" Spoke asked cheerfully. "I've never seen you before"
Wifies nodded
"Yeah. I just moved here a few days ago"
"Oh!" Spoke smiled. "That explains it"
Parrot narrowed his eyes.
Really?
Spoke had told everyone countless times that outside work he barely left his apartment unless absolutely necessary
"So..." Spoke continued. "Where do you study? UU University?"
Wifies blinked before nodding again.
"Yeah?"
"What course?"
"Law and Psychology."
Parrot looked up from cleaning a cup
"Psychology?"
Both Spoke and Wifies looked at him
"I take Psychology too." Parrot smiled. "Medicine as well"
Wifies' eyes lit up immediately.
"Seriously?"
His tail wagged so hard Parrot thought it might fall off
Parrot chuckled
"If you'd like, we could study together"
Parrot ask jokingly
To his surprise, Wifies nodded so enthusiastically his hood nearly slipped off.
"I'd love that"
Before either of them could continue,
"Order for Wifies."
Flame's voice cut through the conversation.
The change was instant
Wifies' wagging tail froze
For just a split second,
Parrot could've sworn those warm purple eyes turned ice cold
Then...
It vanished.
Like nothing had happened
Wifies smiled once more.
"Well... I hope we meet again."
His eyes drifted to Parrot's nametag.
"Parrot."
He took the coffee, gave extra cash ,waved goodbye, and disappeared into the night
Parrot watched the door close behind him.
"...What was that?"
----------------------------------------------------------------
The rest of the shift blurred together
Customers came
Customers left
Before he knew it
8:00 PM
Time for everyone else's second job
Spoke wrapped both arms around Parrot dramatically
"I wish I could stay and play with you, Parrotttt..."
Parrot stiffened a bit before he laughed and gently pat his head
Then Wemmbu grabbed Spoke by the back of his hoodie collar.
"We need to go."
Spoke whined as he was dragged toward the exit
Wemmbu looked back at Parrot apologetically.
"Sorry we can't stay longer"
"It's fine, I can handle it.Besides no one came for a coffee past midnight " Parrot waved them off. "Go before you all actually get fired"
Flame simply smiled before opening the café door
As the three disappeared outside, Spoke muttered under his breath,
"Not like we'd get fired anyway..."
Most people wouldn't have heard him.
Parrot did.
Being an avian had its perks
Once the café was quiet again, Parrot pulled a small notebook from beneath the counter.
He opened it and began writing.
===============================
•Today they slipped money into my wallet again
•like always, I returned it without them noticing
•They left another notebook open. The title was "Master Plan"
•Thought It was... A unique plan...I take it back, it was a complete disaster.
•I rewrote it
•Tonight they're planning something big since they are inactive for a while
•Hopefully my version goes better.
...
=================================
Oh.
Did Parrot forget to mention something?
His three best friends since middle school weren't ordinary café workers
Flame.
Hero.
Codename: Inferno.
(Definitely didn't take inspiration from a villain (≧▽≦))
Top 6 in the Hero Association
Wemmbu.
Villain.
Codename: Mystic.
Flame's self-proclaimed rival,who also "coincidentally" top 6 in villain ranking
And Spoke...
The vigilante known as Exploit.
Wanted by both heroes and villains alike
Parrot?
Still just a civilian.
At least...
Officially
He'd discovered the truth completely by accident
One ordinary Tuesday
The trio had gone on break, leaving a notebook open on the table
Parrot hadn't intended to snoop.
Really.
But the notebook was already open and his curiosity won .
Inside wasn't a diary.
It was page after page of messy battle plans written in three completely different handwritings
Everything suddenly clicked.
Why they always looked exhausted.
Why they kept coming to work covered in bruises.
Why every excuses about their "night jobs" sounded suspicious
So...
Parrot did what Parrot always did.
He sighed.
Then fixed the plan with his version
Years of forging signatures for harmless paperwork had left him surprisingly good at copying handwriting
He rewrote the strategy in Spoke's handwriting, corrected every flaw, added escape routes, backup plans, timing, and contingencies
When he finished...
He smiled proudly.
Closed the notebook.
And left it exactly where he'd found it
When spoke came back he look like he's panicking but when he sees the notebook still in the place he left, he let out a huge sigh of relief
Spoke walked toward it and picked it up.
"...Huh?"
He frowned while reading
"This definitely wasn't here before..."
Still confused, he carried it over to Flame and Wemmbu
Parrot quietly continued wiping glasses behind the counter, pretending nothing had happened
Back in the present...
The clock crept closer to midnight.
Their boss who wemmbu and spoke called, Minute, allowed them to close any time after twelve
The group had settled on 2:00 AM.
Only two more hours
Parrot was absentmindedly cleaning mugs when—
Ding
The bell above the café door rang again.
Another customer
Parrot forced on his usual customer-service smile
"Welcome to Unstable Ca—"
His words died in his throat
Standing in the doorway...
Was Director.
The third-ranked villain in all of Unstable City
And judging by the way Director was looking directly at him...
He wasn't there for coffee