12529 - just a year into Felicio - and Brett’s - hero career, and already they’d hit a bump in the road. Though they’d applied and worked in their native District’s station - D17’s, they soon found themselves reassigned to District 12. Human resources management by GHH higher-ups, or so they heard ; ‘Bolt’ - the brothers’ alias - was an A-ranking hero. D17’s station had an excess of those, whereas D12 hadn’t enough. To offset the difference, a few recent recruits were switched between districts, the Shaws included.

Though in their case, it was a bit of a blessing in disguise; working away from their childhood neighbourhood lessened the chances of their switcheroo scheme being found out. Besides, they didn’t mind the change of scenery. The move didn’t affect Felicio much beyond that ; Brett, on the other hand, was incredibly excited - “District 12? Dude, that’s the Trofeos’ home district!”

The Trofeos had been around for about eighty years and 4 generations - all of which had seen anywhere between two and five of the family’s members enrol into and become GHH heroes - excellent GHH heroes. Tall, large, burly men and women, each with outstanding abilities and athleticism, along with the skill to put them to use. Not only that, all of them had survived on the job long enough to make it to retirement, and none of them had ever caused any notable incident or mistake. People like them were extremely rare, and the Government Hired Heroes’ gratefulness for their existence was clear : the family had been awarded many formal honours and advantages.

Even then, the Trofeo household stayed a humble one - loud, ham-fisted and charismatic, but humble. They weren’t the most popular amongst the heroic fandom; too boring and by-the-books, many said. Brett wasn’t of that opinion : he adored every one of them, and knew their names and M.Os by heart. Brimmie did too ; in fact, many of hers and Fabrice’s earliest works focused on the Trofeos’, possibly explaining Brett’s fondness for them. So for him, working in the same District as the Trofeos was, to put it lightly, a complete fever dream. Felicio, however, absolutely found the Trofeo family boring. Of the few super-abiltied figures he felt endeared towards, none worked in District 12. Granted, that was because most of them worked underground - and D17 was tied to those circles much more closely.

Brett had always found Fel’s interest in villains and the Underground to be odd and pretentious - Felicio felt similarly about Brett’s heroic fanboyism, although he still admired Brett’s sheer passion and encyclopedic memory. Still, there was bias, pride and contempt on both sides, so their arguments never went anywhere - even if they occasionally led to childish fistfights, those, too, ended quite quickly.

Beyond their personal feelings, there was one aspect of their transfer that both brothers found bittersweet : it had only happened because they had been ranked A, in place of the S they coveted.

Though it would’ve of course have flattered their ego, and the privileges were undeniable, the Shaws sort of needed to be ranked S : it would’ve allowed ‘Bolt’ to work alone. Their single-person act was hard enough to keep up without some C-ranked twerp watching after them for every single mission ; sadly, it couldn’t be helped - they had been ranked A, and the protocol was the protocol.

Brett wouldn’t have admitted it to his brother’s face, but he was convinced he was to blame. Before switching places had become the twins’ every day, and never again since, Felicio’s school record and grades were nigh flawless. One could decide not to think much of it - Felicio was still young then, it hardly meant much - but the truth was, his excellent streak had never stopped. ‘Felicio’ - the identity they shared - continued to have high grades whenever Felicio was playing his own part ; the less desirable ones had all become ‘Felicio’ at Brett’s hand. There was no doubt in his mind that without him to weigh him down, Felicio would’ve been awarded the S rank.

Regardless, Bolt was an A ranking hero. The C-ranking partner the brothers had dealt with back in their home district was… well, neither really cared to remember him. If there was such a thing as the D-rank, he would’ve been its poster child. Today, they would meet their new C ranking partner for the first time - not only that, they had a mission scheduled with him. Understandably, they were apprehensive. Their superiors had refused to tell them any real details, just his hero name : Fragmental Pattern. The twins had already exchanged a few guesses as to what his ability might be based on the name alone, though they were all far off the mark.

Brett was the twin who took on most social situations, especially first introductions ; people skills were his strong suit. Felicio, on the other side, often failed to act up the part for long before falling back into his nonchalant apathy and tendency to change the subject at the slightest annoyance.

Despite their diverse arrays of skills, it was still important for the both of them to share as much information as possible : the twins ensured two-way communication through a pair of discreet earpieces. Felicio had ‘omitted’ to tell Brett exactly how he was able to afford them. It pissed his brother off, but he had to acknowledge the usefulness of the little earpieces. Though the two of them mostly used them to whisper sass in each other’s ears.

Brett swayed back and forth, sitting on a wheeled office chair, bursting with anticipation. Most D12 heroes - S ranks exempt - reported to this open office space after and before their missions. Each hero had their own desk, separated by white paper screens. Brett had looked for and found Fragmental Pattern’s desk - only to find it barren and unoccupied. Since the twins had only been recently transferred to the district, their own desk was still relatively clean, professional, and empty as well - there wasn’t much of anything on it. Not even a computer ; a few pen, forms and schedules, and a metal plate, wherein ‘BOLT’ was engraved in glorious silver letters. The brothers had agreed to swipe the plate and keep it as vanity decor if they were ever found out and dismissed from the GHH.

8 o'clock - still no sign of the mystery Patterns. The entire office was silent and deserted : most heroes were already on duty by that point. A few were present, but their desks were far from Felicio’s, and the captain’s orders had been clear ; Bolt was to wait at his desk until Fragmental showed up. Thus the twins had resorted to telling each other knock-knock jokes to kill time (Brett made sure to cautiously whisper them to avoid being caught, or flagged as demented).

Brett blinked, hearing someone suddenly knock on the screen beside their desk. It was a tall and muscular blonde man with a slight tan, who was all up and dressed in a spotless hero outfit, much fancier than the one Brett was wearing. He stood up and waved his hand excitedly.

“Hey! You’re Fragmental Pattern, right? ‘Kept hearing about you from the captain, glad we finally get to meet!” The blonde looked down at Brett, who was an entire 20 centimetres shorter.

“Please just call me Duncan, he replied abruptly.

- Oh, well- I’m Felicio! You’re right : if we’re gonna be partners from now on and all, best to skip the formalities,” Brett continued without missing a beat.

“Actually, I doubt that.

- Doubt… what?

- That we’ll stay partners much longer. My rank is temporary.

- Temporary? First I’m hearing of such a thing being- well, a thing. Shouldn’t your rank be based on your school grades? ” The blonde shrugged at Brett’s confusion.

“Never been to those GHH schools.” Those six words sufficed to double the twins’ curiosity. Unfortunately, Duncan cut the chit-chat there.

“I surmise you have the mission details. I’d like to see them.”

Bolt cleared his throat. “Hah… actually, nope. Figured you would.” The blonde, his face locked into a neutral frown up until then, suddenly appeared embarrassed. He muttered something to himself ; Brett couldn’t quite make out the words. ‘Then he must have them’, Felicio whispered, relying Duncan’s words - even through an earpiece, he had sharper hearing than his brother. The taller man sighed and leaned against the desk. “Let’s wait.” Every time he spoke, he did so with a sense of importance and weight that forbid all counterarguments. Brett silently agreed, and slipped back into his chair. He employed as much stealth as he could muster and observed Patterns closely from the corner of his eye.

He wore a relatively formal suit and vest, along with white fingerless gloves and a red mask that took up the entire upper half of his face, letting only his eyes, mouth and chin show through. He had a soul patch that matched his hair, and some light stubble - all in that washed out hazel-blonde mix. On top of his elegant getup, was a bullet-proof vest and a utility belt, both pure black. The GHH’s costumers weren’t known to be the greatest of fashionistas. Duncan’s vest and pants were the same thick red fabric as his mask, however they were imprinted with an intricate pattern : the ‘dragon curve’ fractal repeated ad nauseam. Underneath it all, he wore a simple and light long-sleeved white shirt, open at the neck, and made all the more pompous by a white necktie, tied unevenly. The pragmatic crowd questioned why heroes wore such eccentric outfits at all ; by the GHH’s logic, it was traditional and theatrical - it built a sense of common culture and brought in fans, so they continued dressing their heroes inconveniently. And in Duncan’s case, his clothes also seemed a bit too small for him - letting the shape of his… generous chest show through.

Something about him was… familiar. Brett quietly snuck his phone out of his pocket, and texted an approximative description to Felicio. ‘Sounds kinda familiar’, the latter replied. Real sharp insight there, brother. Brett shrugged, returning his cellular to his pocket.

“Hey there, fellas! Sorry to keep you waiting.” Brett and Duncan both turned to look at the newcomer - though the blonde already expected him. Peeking over the desk with a warm smile was S-ranking hero Parson Chameleon, otherwise known as the civilian Brian Trofeo. Brett’s jaw nearly hit the floor, and he hastened to introduce himself.

“Oh, sir- mister Parson, hello! Name’s Br- Bolt, Felicio - well, doesn’t matter. I’m pleased to meet you! I’m a fan, really, I am!” Felicio began pouting from beyond the earpiece - “You didn't need to use my name to say something like that…” - but Brett barely heard him. Brian’s smile widened.

“You are? Gee, I’m flattered! I’m just happy to do my job, really.” The starry-eyed boy nodded. Duncan scratched his head and looked away.

“So you’re the one delivering us the mission details, are you?” He seemed more reserved and coy than before - his voice was now warry and accusing. Brian gave a nice, hearty laugh.

“Better yet! I’m coming with!”

With that, he slammed a thin file onto the desk, as Felicio sighed sadly from his bed, knowing he had to slip into that gaudy outfit again.

Brett eagerly scanned through the mission details.

TARGET : Frivole (B)

OBJECT : Capture unharmed

COURSE-OF-ACTION : Chase target and back target into a corner.

SITE-OF-ACTION : Start in the Isfet Modern Art Museum. Ensuing chase may span over the entirety of District 12. If target leaves District 12, abandon and retreat.

THIS ASSIGNMENT TO BE CARRIED OUT BY : Bolt (A), Fragmental Pattern (C), Parson Chameleon (S)

Acc.to our sources, B-rank villain Frivole will be attempting a heist in the Isfet Modern Art Museum, on Friday the 11th, February, 12529, between 10 and 12 am.

This is an unprecedented opportunity to arrest the target. The agents in charge of carrying this out should ideally apprehend the target without causing further property damage, or harming the target. Given xer history, target is expected cooperate.

Brett quickly flipped through the rest of the file. Frivole’s profile, details about the museum… standard contents for GHH mission orders, at least according to Bolt’s admittedly short experience. Duncan, in turn, seemed somewhat lost and confused, even behind his mask. Brian helped him decipher some more technical terms and acronyms further in the documents, and briefed him on standard GHH procedures… all things Brett had expected and prepared himself to tell his C-rank partner, and yet things had somehow turned out like this.

Brett, Duncan and Brian sat in an inconspicuous grey car driven by a chauffeur, as provided by the GHH. The C and S had insisted on sitting in the back next to each other, which was convenient for the twin, but being left out outright did hurt his ego a little. He resorted to the company of his phone. The Museum wasn’t far from the station ; he and Fel had limited time to figure out when they could switch places, and share the mission details.

“Frivole? Oh, I’ve heard of her! Sounds pretty cool.” Brett hated to admit it, but he had to agree with Felicio. She was, supposedly, an independent villain, who specialised in robbing the most highly guarded places, seemingly for the challenge of it more than monetary gain (she found her primary source of income was in more modest acts of thievery). She wasn’t all that dangerous either, and easily chased off, but she seemed impossible to corner. She used her gravity manipulating abilities to leap from building to building, running on walls while taunting everyone else’s abilities. Brett figured that was the only reason three heroes had been assigned to the task, since she wasn’t exactly a priority - a B rank, acting alone, who hadn’t caused any casualties. The GHH had bigger fish to fry.

"So, Felicio, that right?” It took Brett a second to realise he’d been spoken to.

“Yep!”, he turned around to find Brian bending forward to speak to him, in a way that definitely compromised his seatbelt.

“What ability ya got? Sorry, I hardly keep up with heroes from 12, let alone other districts - guess I should though, ey?

- It’s all good!, Brett let out. It’s nothing exciting. Electric manipulation.

“Oh, I see how it is. Now that’s it’s MY ability we’re talking about, you’re pulling out the modesty card”, Felicio added, only half-joking, as he slipped on leather gloves. ‘Wouldn’t have happened if you came here yourself, twink’, Brett sneakily typed without even looking, away from Brian’s view.

“Nothing exciting? 'You kidding? That sounds really cool! High-ranking elementals always have crazy tricks up their sleeve - I would know!” Brett bit his lip. Damnit, that was right! Brian’s older sister was an S-ranking water manipulator (how he could he forget!) He swore in his heart to read anew a few Trofeo-based novels in his free time to atone for his misgivings as a GHH fan who prided himself in encyclopedic knowledge. Ironically, becoming a hero himself had reduced the time he spent browsing hero related content, which he lamented, while everyone else saw it as a good, healthy improvement - Felicio most of all, hypocritical as that was from him.

“Well, guess you’ll see for yourself today! Brett answered.

- True that. Mind giving us a little preview?” Brett found the ‘us’ a bit excessive but as it turned out, Duncan was looking his way too. His expression was hard to figure out from beyond his mask, but Brett could’ve sworn he saw interest in those grey eyes. Sadly, he couldn’t indulge in showing off an ability that wasn’t his.

“I don’t think the car would like that.

- A- Fair enough, haha!” Brian’s smile didn’t even waver. The man’s cheery mood was unbreakable. “Well, how about I give ya a taste of mine instead?

- Really?!”, Brett almost screamed his lungs out in excitement, earning a sad little electronic Sigh. from Felicio. They’d long agreed to meet in the middle with their personalities, with Brett toning down his excitable nature while Felicio forced himself not to look so dead inside, but the tall and heroic Trofeo just spawned too much childish glee in the young man - he couldn’t help it. ‘Sorry’, Brett texted - he meant it. Mostly.

Brian cracked his knuckles, and in the blink of an eye, his face had morphed to match Brett’s exactly. Mimetic shapeshifting - just as mesmerizing as he’d always imagined the Chameleon’s ability to be. However, it also spawned a sudden fear within him. The public rarely knew every detail of heroes’ abilities, especially high ranking ones ; as crowd-pleasing as they were, the GHH tried their best to keep the specifics secret for obvious reasons. It helped to nurture online debate, too. Parson Chameleon was no different ; his fans often debated whether his mimetism involved copying only one’s physique, or if he had more under his belt. Usually, the former argument was accepted as more likely, since Brian had never shown any signs that he could copy abilities, voices or the like - but without proof to the contrary, it was still possible. And if true, Brett was in trouble. He clapped, as good audiences do, and asked with a smile : “So... you can copy anyone?” He made sure to emphasize the last word, without sounding too nosy.

Brian Trofeo cocked his head to the side as his long brown hair returned and his features chiselled back into his original face - a handsome and angular piece of work, worthy of the finest baroque sculptors - rougher than Duncan’s round and minimal features, which gave the blonde an almost fictional beauty, with spotless skin and large eyes to boot. He couldn’t pin down each of their features into detailed descriptions, though ; Felicio likely would be able to do so more accurately, once he dragged himself to the museum - he took after Brimmie in the literate aspect, though his reserved and sardonic attitude was more akin to Fabrice’s younger years. Brett was, yet again, the opposite.

“Sure can! Only their appearance, but it ain’t half bad if I do say so myself!

- Makes one wonder why they picked you for a chase mission…”

Brian and Brett turned their attention back to Duncan. The blonde was looking out the window, frowning. The Chameleon leaned back and close to him. “Come on, now - Ya know they didn’t.”

Brett was starting to feel awkward. “They… didn’t?” he asked in an admittedly hesitant attempt to get some context. Brian shook his head.

“Nah. I asked to be included is all.

- You... asked ? And the higher-ups agreed?

- I mean, yeah! Privilege comes with the big name and the S rank, y’know?

- But… why? Some beef to settle with Frivole? Brett argued and frowned. Brian’s smile disappeared for a short moment. He then glared back towards Duncan, then back towards Brett, and shrugged. The younger man was starting to feel exasperated of dealing with this body language subtext - he wasn’t going to let go. For once, Felicio approved - his silence testified to that much.

“If… it’s not too nosy, I’d like to know why you wanted to take part in this mission, of all things.

- We’ve arrived.” The chauffeur interrupted the conversation before it could go anywhere, to both of the twins’ dismay.

The Isfet Modern Art Museum was easily the most iconic building in District 12 - which wasn’t saying much, but it did deserve the title. A tall, elaborate glass structure with silver and reflective accents, meant to look like an ice castle - or rather, an abstract array of ice pyramids mounted into a tower. It had two entrances, an upfront one for visitors, and a backdoor for employees. Brian, Duncan and Bolt had agreed the former two would enter upfront, while the latter would check the back - and Brett had agreed with Felicio to meet back there and switch. Sure enough, there he was waiting ; sleepy-eyed, leaning against a metal fence, with his trusty leather jacket hiding his hero outfit. He waved, raising his hand over his head as he saw his brother approach.

GHH heroes had a relative amount of control over their uniform, and the twins had taken full advantage of it with their Bolt costume : it needed to be easily replicable, since they wouldn’t be getting any duplicates. A light-blue, sleeveless dress shirt (their copy was a normal dress shirt, the sleeves of which they personally cut off), dark blue joggings held up by leather straps for no practical reason, comfy black tennis shoes and leather gloves designed for handiwork. The only piece of the costume they had not been able to make or buy a convincing copy of was their headwear ; an old fashion air pilot's hat with light blue goggles. Luckily, they didn’t need to ; since they always met up to switch, they could easily throw the hat back and forth, unlike the rest of their clothes.

However, though being dressed and combed identically obviously helped, it still wasn’t enough if they hoped to pass off as the same person. Felicio’s scars had healed enough not to be easily visible, but his blinded eye’s iris had greyed out and faded with time. To match, Brett wore a coloured lens whenever he was in public ; in exchange for the trouble, he had the exclusive right to decide on their shared hairstyle. Over time, Felicio had grown to regret this decision more and more ; he would’ve not only worn contacts but sprinkled sand into his own eyes if it meant he could just grow his hair out, but there was no changing their roles now. He just had to accept that Brett would never let him enjoy life, obsessed with that same military flat cut they’d had since they were six. There was one facial detail they’d both agreed on, though ; a single shaved line on their right eyebrow. They just thought it looked cool.

Brett tossed his GHH card and the helmet over to Felicio, who let it fall to the floor - he was still taking off his jacket. He bent over and dejectedly grabbed the cap. “Keep on standby. Knowing Frivole, it’s best we switch a lot,” he simply said before entering the building. Brett hurriedly left.

Felicio soon met up with Brian and Duncan. The former was signing an autograph, sitting on a couch casually - that fashionable kind of ‘casual’. The presence of GHH heroes didn’t seem to bother anyone. But Felicio had his eye focused on Duncan. Now that he met him in person, he definitely looked familiar. He couldn’t be sure of who he was until he found out his ability, though.

With genetic research banned due to ‘ethics’, abilities and fingerprints were the surest ways of identifying someone. Over the 100-plus years abilities had existed for, no two people with identical abilities had ever been found. Similar ones, yes, but always distinct in some way. Granted, this was only useful if you had access to a library of people’s abilities described in excessive detail to compare Duncan against ; in theory, only the GHH had such a list. But fandom websites were scary places. With lots of information.

Felicio stood next to his new coworkers. Their plan was, essentially, wait until Frivole showed up, drive her out of the museum before she could snatch anything, then catch her once and only once she was out. To find her more easily, they would split up between the floors : Felicio would go to the top floor (while Brett scouted out the outside), Duncan to the first and second floor, with Brian left to search the ground floor.

“Sounds good!”, Bolt exclaimed before heading up the stairs. Felicio always felt he overdid it. He tried his best, but he feared his poor acting out of Brett’s cheerful excitement would lead to their trick being found out one day. In all honesty, he kind of felt like a sham anyway. ‘Felicio Shaw’ got all the credit, but in his eyes, Brett was Bolt all by himself. He didn’t feel any attachment to the GHH - on some days, he didn’t feel much attachment to life as a whole. He didn’t have a calling or a passion - if he didn’t have his brother to pick up his slack, he’d barely even take care of himself. He was thankful for it - he loved him, of course - and that was why he’d kept up this charade all these years; for his brother’s sake, and nothing else.

Still, being a hero had its good aspects. Hell, he’d get to meet Frivole today, maybe. He wasn’t counting on it. The GHH’s leads were always fifty-fifty. Instead of searching for her actively, he simply strolled through the museum, lost in thought. Why did Patterns look so familiar? Maybe he’d been an actor once. He did say he’d never been to hero school, so this was career was clearly a reconversion. Or maybe he came for District 17 too? No, that seemed unlikely… Then, had he once been an escort? No, no, Brett recognised him too, couldn’t have been. Unless… heh. Nice going, little bro.

“Get moving, she’s here! Chameleon’s already after her!”, the earpiece screeched. Fel hurried over to the glass wall, just in time to see the swift figure burst out of the ground floor in a flutter of glass shards. He ran to the emergency stairs.