#i can never decide if emmet should have a beard or not. here its been 2-4 years maybe since ingo gone?

[mipmoth]

Yamask Ingo in sinnoh chilling doing pokemon stuff idk eating a berry

[That moment when little]

[captainunderkrupp]

Erroneously Heroic

Prologue | 1 | A Friendly Chat

Emmet wakes up with a LOT of questions. Some of them are from him, some are directed at him.

When the Cops arrived, Good saw the vigilantes leaping off into distance. No one was there except one, lying in the dirt just by one of the buildings going up. Good sighed. There was no reason to go after them; they would just vanish once again, somehow.

Good signaled one of his policemen to pick up the downed criminal. He was in heavy armor, with purple decals all over, but it seemed like he was passed out deeply enough to not do anything. They'd take the armor off at another location.

He heard a murmur from the crowd that was left, a dull roar with repeated words: "new hero," "the Special," "gotta post this"...

He groaned in unison with Bad in the back of his head. This was going to be a lot of debriefing, especially if there was a new "hero."

---

Emmet groaned as he awoke. "No, Mom, I wanna sleep in, tell Cora to turn down the cartoons..." he muttered, hearing the sound of voices and strange sound effects.

Then he remembered he'd moved out to his own apartment years ago, and the only other one there would have been Planty.

He tried to jump up, and fell over, tangled in something. Had he been kidnapped?? Tied up?! He struggled to remember, his headache not helping. And he couldn't even remember any dreams that might have given him some hint.

"He's awake!" an overly cheerful voice called. "Oh, shoot, he got tangled in the blankets. That's not good!"

"Here ye go," a louder, deeper voice grumbled, and Emmet was suddenly lifted by his bonds. He hung for a moment, panicking, and then spun until he dropped. He struggled for a moment, but realized he was free now, and scrambled into sitting position.

He sat up, only to see he was staring at a group of people; he recognized most of them, they were the vigilantes from earlier. He shrieked. He stopped only a moment later when they all winced, and he whispered, "Sorry."

"Ar, ye be loud fer a hero who was so quiet during the fight," the pirate robot complained, dropping the sheets he was holding (had he been the one to pick Emmet up?) to rub at one of his ears. Emmet realized the robot had a shark attached to the back of one his hands. Granted, robot didn't seem like the best descriptor anymore, because those scars on his face looked perfectly real. Maybe a cyborg?

"Ha! You're one to talk, Metalbeard! You yell all the time!" a man in blue retorted with a grin on his face. Emmet realized that this was the one who had been flying earlier, despite his feet firmly on the ground now. He was also missing his helmet, showing off short cropped red hair and a scar on his lip. He was... a lot less terrifying when he wasn't just a shadow behind a broken visor.

"Spaceman, you're just as loud. Now go get Vitruvius, he should know the Special's awake," another voice ordered. The man in blue gave a casual salute, and floated away. Emmet was still trying to figure out what was going on, and he turned to the voice that apparently carried the authority in the room.

She was beautiful. She had dark hair, swept up into a small, high side ponytail, and her bangs were streaked with pink and blue. Her eyes were intense, staring at him like she was trying to determine the best way to pull out his shoulder if he tried to attack her. Even if she hadn't had that look in her eyes, she looked ready for battle, a crossbow strapped to the back of a dark outfit, and industrial, red tinted goggles on top of her head. Emmet realized she was the driver of the four wheeler, seeing those goggles. This was what she looked like under the hood.

Emmet went to rub his eyes, having not blinked for fear of being jumped. But, his knuckles hit a hard, cool surface, and he winced as his attention was brought back to the bruising he'd suffered when he'd accidentally hit that villain in the face.

"Oh no! Sorry, let me take care of that!" a cheerful voice suddenly popped up, pulled Emmet from his thoughts. Suddenly, there was a sharp horn in his face.

He nearly shrieked again, but was distracted by what the horn was attached to. It was the strange cat-horse thing, but much smaller. And pinker. And wearing a sweater. And in fact, looking much more like a human than before. They were smiling at him, and it was almost enough to calm him from the unnerving sense of something being wrong, because as he looked  more and more alarms were going off in his head, like her eyes being too big, her blush being too bright, her fingers being too short. She was adorable and unnerving at the same time.

They took his hands and leaned leaned forward, letting the tip of their very sharp horn rest just above his hands. The horn glowed, sparkling and bright, and Emmet had to gasp. Moments later, the horn drifted up, and hovered a moment directly in front of his eyes, and then dimmed as the person sat back. "There!" they declared, matter of fact. "All better!" Emmet took his hands back and realized that yes, in fact, his knuckles were no longer bruised and scraped. And a headache he hadn't even realized was there had gone, as well.

"H-how'd you do that?" he asked, and then winced. His first real words to one of the vigilates, and none of them were let me go.

The cat-horse-person just gave a bright, sharp toothed grin. "I'm magic!"

"Unikitty's the team healer," Metalbeard explained, as if he was talking about how the weather was a bit nippy.

"That's Princess Unikitty," Unikitty huffed, but suddenly floated up to hug Metalbeard. "But that's ok, silly!"

Metalbeard grumbled. "Well then, it's Captain Metalbeard to you." But he hugged them back anyway, as best as he could with a cannon for an arm.

"But yeah, sorry I didn't heal you earlier. I can only tell when someone's unhappy when they're awake! And that's how I can tell if you're injured!" Unikitty explained, sweeping their arm as if gesturing to an entire medical facility, instead of a room that looked like warehouse storage. "And then I use magic to make you happy again!"

Emmet blinked. "You couldn't tell I had bruised knuckles by looking at them...?" he asked under his breath, but stopped. He didn't want to make the person who just healed him mad. Instead, he just went to rub his eyes again, with uninjured knuckles this time, and tapped the hard surface again. Feeling at it, he realized he was still wearing the helmet from earlier.

"We didn't want to reveal your identity," the woman said when she noticed him fiddling with it. Her arms were folded and her eyes were still boring into him. "We know how much that matters to people like us."

Now Emmet was confused by her. "People like us...? What are you talking about?"

She blinked, and suddenly seemed slightly more defensive. "People like us. Superheroes."

Emmet felt himself go pale under the helmet. "Nnnno. No no no. I was just eating lunch. I'm not a superhero."

"What?!" The woman dropped her arms and fell into a fighting stance, looking confused and angry. "But you defeated that villain!"

Emmet shook his head. "That was an accident." He started tugging on the helmet, hoping to have it off as soon as possible. He still did not like small, tight spaces, especially around his head. "His helmet fell onto my head, and I couldn't see."

"But you're the SPECIAL!" Unikitty protested.

"The Prophecy said--" Metalbeard interjected.

"I can't believe this--" the woman said, and everyone started muttering to themselves, about the prophecy and what could this mean.

Emmet glared at them all from under the helmet, a rare look for him. "You vigilantes are the ones who assumed that. I'm no special anything." He paused, suddenly sad. "I'm not special at all."

Well. That was a bit of a lie, with his dreams. But the vigilantes didn't ask about that, did they? And he was otherwise totally uninteresting.

The woman with the crossbow scrunched up her face. "Welp. I guess I revealed my face for nothing."

Emmet shrugged, trying again to remove the helmet, which seemed to be stuck on well. "I mean, I don't even know your name, so you're--" He froze. Oh. "Lucy."

Suddenly, the crossbow was pointed at his face. "How do you know that name?" the woman hissed, and Emmet froze in fear. The others didn't even step up to help, but they looked confused themselves.

"I-- I didn't! That was just something I remembered!" he protested, waving his hands around in the universal signal for no, stop. "I swear!"

"How can ye remember somethin' ye've never been told?" Metalbeard asked, sounding suspicious. He was even beginning to pull his sword. Which, Emmet groaned, made sense.

"I-- ok, can you not point the weapons at me? I don't even know how to throw a punch," he protested. "Like I said, the villain thing was an accident."

Unikitty pressed Metalbeard's hand until the cutlass clicked back into its scabbard, but the crossbow didn't move from where it was leveled in front of his nose. Emmet decided to take what he could, and started struggling with his helmet again.

This time, it popped off, with an amusing sound that Emmet might have laughed at it if wasn't such a relief to have his head out of the small space. "Aaah, that's better," he sighed.

"Ah, you trust us enough to take off your mask. Thank you, Special. It's an honor."

Emmet turned to protest at the newest voice, to insist that he just said there was no way he was  special, but the words died on his tongue.

Standing before him was a man, ancient looking by the whiteness of his hair and beard, and the wrinkles of his skin. He looked like he'd spent his youth hiking through sunny mountains, what with how his hair was tied back and he held a beautiful staff, maybe made out of sycamore? which was topped with a bright green shard of an enormous gem. He word long white robes that trailed behind him as he walked forward, occasionally redirected by the flying vigilante. The Spaceman, Emmet remembered. However, none of this was what made Emmet falter, not even the presence the man seemed to exude. It was the glowing eyes, unseeing but seemingly still staring into his soul.

"I, uh. I'm. Not the Special," Emmet stammered, but it was a token protest. This person, despite the slightly humorous way he kept bumping into things, seemed to radiate authority.

"Ah, but you must be. You're the hero in blue that appeared, and had to be rescued, but will help lead us into a better world," the man explained. "We already figured out it wasn't Spaceman. Excuse my rudeness. I'm Vitruvius. I'll excuse yours, as well. Our little game involves so many secrets."

Emmet started. "Oh! Sorry. I'm Emmet, Emmet Brickowski. Not the Special."

Everyone in the room looked a little shaken. "Matey, ye gave out yer nam a mite easily. That's a bit concernin'," Metalbeard warned.

"Yeah! I don't even have a secret identity, and I know that!" Unikitty added. "Did I miss some brain damage there?"

"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Benny joked from Vitruvius's side. Or at least, Emmet thought he was joking.

"Benny, stay outta this," Metalbeard grumbled. Then he seemed to realize what he'd just said, but it was too late.

"Oooh no! Look at Mr. "Secret Identities are Important" now!" Spaceman-- Benny, apparently-- scolded. "Jeez, seriously, chill out!"

"But--"

"No butts except in seats! He's new, he had one slip up that even a seasoned old Captain like you can make, as demonstrated, and I'm pretty sure he thought we kidnapped him!" he yelled, and then turned to Emmet. "Sorry. None of us are properly socialized, not even Wyldstyle."

"Hey!" the woman shouted. Emmet make a note of the name, Wyldstyle, so that she wouldn't shoot her crossbow at him because he said Lucy to her.

"What? It's true!" he snarked. Then he started giggling. "Oh man, I'm sorry. Ha ha I-- oops." He floated away, giggling. Everyone seemed to just kind of... accept it.

"I'll take this moment to explain things," Vitruvius said, gently letting himself back into the conversation. "Wyldstyle, please. Put down the crossbow. This is a civilized conversation."

Wyldstyle-- or was it Lucy? No, definitely Wyldstyle, that seemed to make her the least angry-- hesitated, but slowly lowered her crossbow. She finally stepped back, seemingly fiddling with the weapon, but Emmet realized she was just destringing the bolt so it didn't accidentally go off.

"Emmet," Vitruvius said, bringing all attention back to him. "You must be the special. It is in the prophecy."

"What prophecy?" Emmet blurted. "Seriously, why have I never heard of this?"

Vitruvius had been stroking his beard, looking contemplative, and his eyes now snapped open, revealing those glowing eyes again. The seemed to contain secrets, and Emmet had a sudden sense that they had knowledge in them that he previously had only seen in dreams.

"One day a hero in blue

Will appear to lead your crew

With Piece of Resistance power bestowed,

Your villain will reap what he has sowed.

They will need a rescue,

But they will do the same for you.

This Special hero will appear in time.

Don't worry, I know, because I made it rhyme."

There was a long beat of silence. Wyldstyle had her head bowed, and a small smile was on her face, as if remembering something fondly.

"Or, at the very least, that's a variation of it that I told Wyldstyle a few years ago," Vitruvius added, breaking the awed silence.

"You-- did you make that prophecy?" Emmet asked.

"Yes. I occasionally prophesy things. It's my power," Vitruvius answered casually.

"And... have other people who can see the future confirmed it?" Emmet knew he sounded a little desperate, but he was. This couldn't be happening.

"Well, yes, but none I've spoken to directly. Seers are so far and few between, especially one of my caliber. I only know for sure that this is true because it has appeared in my visions more than once." Vitruvius seemed satisfied with that answer.

Emmet wasn't. "Than why haven't I ever heard of it before?" he shouted, making everyone jump back a foot and Unikitty's fur poof out like she'd been shocked. Wyldstyle's crossbow was back up.

Vitruvius looked unperturbed. "Well, if you truly are no hero, then you may have fallen under all the propaganda that the citizens see every day. There's no information put out my Lord Business about the prophesy, too likely for someone to try and make it a reality--"

"I mean, why haven't I seen it in my dreams?!" Emmet panted for a moment, feeling a bit less stressed out after shouting. And then he clapped his hands over his mouth, knowing that what he'd done was bad.

He'd just revealed his ability.

Everyone stared at him. "What do you..." Unikitty began to ask, then gasped. "Oh my gosh! You have the same powers as Vitruvius!"

Suddenly, Emmet was being crowded with people, all asking questions.

"Did ye see that we were gonna rescue you?"

"How could you not know about the prophesy?"

"Do you think you're as powerful as Vitruvius?"

"Can you see us doing anything cool soon??"

"What do you see in your visions?"

"Why didn't you just say you had powers?"

"Man, this is super special! Why did you say you weren't?"

"Hhhhh," Emmet whined, curling in on himself. He nearly backed into the bed frame he was sitting in front of, trying to get away from everyone.

"Enough!" Suddenly, a gust of wind tumbled everyone, even Metalbeard, away from Emmet. Vitruvius walked through where he'd parted the group, his staff still glowing with power as a breeze swept through the room, rustling his robes and hair.

"Emmet." He was being very definitive now. He held out a hand, just close enough for Emmet to take it, even if Vitruvius was looking a bit over his shoulder. After a moment's hesitation, he took it. Vitruvius pulled him up with a strength Emmet hadn't realized he had, and he nearly stumbled into the older man. "Emmet Brickowski, you may consider yourself utterly uninteresting, unimportant, and not great at all. But so far, with your defeat of a villain and apparent abilities, you seem to have the makings of a great hero. You should use this opportunity for good." Still not looking quite at him, but still somehow directly at him, Vitruvius added, quieter, "Or, you may never know what could have been."

Emmet stared, awestruck. "I--" He paused. "I, um. I totally heard all of that, but just in case, could you repeat that from Emmet?"

Everyone groaned. "You didn't hear a word of that?!" Wyldstyle shouted. Emmet was glad she wasn't pointing the crossbow at him anymore, but it still make him nervous.

"I'm sorry!" he shouted, "I'm a little stressed right now!"

"Why don't you use that vision power of yours to see what he just said?" she retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Wha-- that's-- that's not how it works," Emmet protested, feeling very tired and confused. He just wanted to go home, and forget about all of this mess.

"Whatever!" she shouted, and stormed off. Emmet winced as he heard a distant door slamming, and could see that some dust had been shaken from the ceiling.

"Don't mind her," Vitruvius waved her off. "She's just obsessed with the prophecy and you've pretty much ruined it for her."

"Oh..." Emmet was quiet now, and actually felt bad about how he'd been acting earlier. "I just... I really don't think I'm the special."

Suddenly, someone was patting him on the shoulder, making him jump. It was Benny, who had a bit of an awkward grin on his face. "Don't worry about it, man," he said. "Sometimes, you just gotta have a little faith in yourself about it."

"Wise words, Ben," Metalbeard rumbled, and Benny grinned at him.

"So! Who's gonna get to train Emmet?" Unikitty suddenly shouted.

Emmet blinked. "Wait. Training?"

AO3