Chapter Text
Braces, for starters, are the worst fucking things in existence. That, along with his strange obsession with the rapidly growing in popularity villain, Dream, when he was a little kid is probably what got Tommy to abandon ship and kill the crew members- er, figuratively speaking anyway.
He means, braces are probably good for him in the long run, what with the “happier smile” bullshit his parents and orthodontist told him about, but lets look at braces for what they truly are: a pain in the ass that don't let him eat anything. His mouth has gotten used to the brackets since he first got them at thirteen, sure, but they're still super annoying. He-
What? Oh, you want him to start talking about Dream? The coolest person in existence? Okay, sure.
Dream is currently sitting on a golden throne above every single villain- or every single person in the world, to be frank- and he's the most dangerous out of them all! The best of the best! What makes him so cool is that it seems like he doesn't have a power, or even an origin, and yet he still somehow escapes the HO's grasp every single day! How cool is that? The villain has even earned the titles, “The Parkor King” and “Manhunt Master”! Pretty sick, innit?
But braces though.
Okay, okay! He's just joking, jeeze. What? Oh, now you want to hear about himself? What a great idea!
Tommy is hands down the second coolest person in existence. He has many wives, and does many drugs. Mhm, yup, he's such an honest guy wow. He's amazing really, and he's pretty sure his origin carries that. Or it's just his charming personality that swoons all the women. Did he mention his many wives? His beautiful wings bring all the girls to the yard, if you catch his drift. Oh, did he not mention? Yeah, Tommy is has an avian origin, and thus he has big, strong wings that resemble a mocking bird. Man, Tommy's killing it with this honesty thing, his eighth grade counselor would be proud.
“Speed Demon! Stop spacing the fuck out and focus for once! We have a problem!” His best friend in the entire world and the person he wants to strangle the most lands beside him, his bee wings buzzing in apprehension behind him, and Tommy blinks. Oh yeah, they're currently stuck in a pickle jar, so to speak.
“Shit, sorry Tyrant, was thinkin’.” Tommy shrugs in a half hearted apology. He's not sorry, but he knows better than to test Tubbo's patience.
Ah, Tubbo. Tommy's partner in crime since the beginning, the only OG who stuck around through it all. He's not going to lie, he would be lost if Tubbo hadn't stayed by his side. Tubbo has a bee origin, and he's super tech savvy, though he prefers to be on the front lines than stuck behind a computer all day. And with his bee origin along with his villain outfit, which consists of goggles, a gass mask, a bomber jacket with a little radioactive symbol and a patch of the flag of the great country they live in, L'manburg, courtesy of their other friend Ranboo, along with whatever clean clothes he found, Tubbo looks pretty terrifying. Especially when he's angry, which, in fact, is right now.
“Okay guys, I've checked the damage and the HO sent its full police team-” Speaking of Ranboo, the tallest boy in the group (he knows, it's so sad) teleports in front of them in a flash of purple particles. Tommy cuts him off before he can continue.
“Really? Is that really the best they've got? C'mon, boys, we're men! We can take them!” He raises a fist in the air and his wings stretch out to their full wingspan.
Ranboo snaps his fingers at him, his different colored eyes betraying an unamused expression. “No,” he deadpans “in fact, they've sent Poltergeist and Blade along as well to assist the literal swat team outside!”
As if waiting on cue, an angry and stern voice calls out from the entrance to the bank the trio were in the middle of robbing. “Benchtrio! Come out with your hands up! Why not just make it easier for everybody and surrender already?”
Tommy lowers his fist and sends Ranboo a thumbs up. “Alright, maybe we can't take them!” He says with the same amount of enthusiasm as before.
…Okay, so you're probably wondering how he got into this situation.
He Taps his right temple and glances down at the marble flooring in thought, then looks back up and points at Ranboo. “Uh… what's the escape situation like? Any exits available?” Tommy's heart dropped as his taller friend shook his head with an upset hum.
“Swat team has the bank completely surrounded, can't get out unless we teleport back to the house-” he was cut off when Tommy’s expression turned hopeful and Tubbo protested for the taller.
“Oh no Tommy, you know Oreo Boy can't teleport long distances and our house is halfway ‘cross town!” Two of the shorter's arms cross over his abdomen and his eyebrows furrow in a frown. Ranboo let out a huff of indignation.
“For the last time, Tyrant, my villain name is not Oreo Boy it's literally just Endrian! Like my origin?”
Both Tommy and Tubbo ignored him in favor of getting an escape route plan up and running. Tommy taps his thigh with a pained expression on his face. Police he can deal with, heroes are an eh, but specifically Poltergeist and Blade? Hah, he’d be lucky if he made it out of a fight alive. And that's excluding the SBI's third member and leader, Crow Father. Don't let the shitty name fool you, the hero is really really powerful and could squash them all like ants interrupting a picnic. His wings ruffle behind with upset; the only other avian in the country and he's working against him. How sad.
Tommy shakes his head to collect his thoughts, blinking back to reality. He looks back up at Ranboo and Tubbo, adjusting his mask a little as he went. “Maybe Endrian can just teleport us all out? Y'know like onto a nearby building but still far enough away? I mean it's right, since Tyrant has the stuff?”
Again, Tubbo shook his head. “Catboo can't teleport us both at once, remember? Besides, we'd need at least five minutes for the world to stop spinning and I’m sure he wouldn't want to leave us alone like that.” At his words Ranboo nodded solemnly despite the use of a joke name for his villain persona, his tail swishing back and forth behind him.
Tommy bit his bottom lip although his friends and teammates couldn't see his face past the bridge of his nose. Running a hand through his hair, an idea started forming in his head. “Uhmm… what if Endrian teleported Tyrant out and I… gave the heroes a distraction?” Ranboo's eyes widened and he could see Tubbo's eyebrows shoot up into his bangs. Quickly, Tommy continued before they could protest, “I-I mean, Tyrant has the more important, the more valuable shit which is why we broke into here in the first place, so- so it makes more sense to get him out of here first, right?” An angry voice cut through Tommy’s hurried explanation of his thought, making them all wince.
“Come on, Benchtrio! Stop hiding and come get arrested for once!”
Tommy spoke faster, lowering his voice so only the two closest to him could hear. “I could distract the heroes and give them the fight they want; hiding wouldn't really be an option since they might just find me anyway.” His hand gripped the handle of the dagger Ranboo had given him as sort of a peace offering back when they were settling on the idea of villainy and they'd snuck into a blacksmiths shop to grab gear.
Predictably, Tubbo shook his head with morbid surprise. “No way! We wouldn't do that to you!” His bee wings buzzed behind him nervously, revealing that he was worried he couldn't shake the idea. “Speed Demon, remember, I can fly you can't. Endrian could just teleport you out and I could fly out of here.” Huh? What? Is Tubbo lying? The audacity! What complete bullshittery, Tommy absolutely can fly…
Tommy shook his own head. “No, all the exits are blocked and if managed to find a window and break it, surely the police would spot you and start shooting.” he said with an edge to his voice. An impatient sigh rolls around from the corner. Tommy grabbed his friends shoulders and looked between them with his eyebrows furrowed.
“Guys, this is the safest option we have, hopefully without losing anyone.” He fixated them both with a pleading stare, believing each of his words. “Please.” Ranboo and Tubbo exchanged a glance and Tommy held his breath as they heard people shuffling about in the foyer. Finally, the duo looked back at their third friend with determined expressions and they nodded. Tommy nodded with them, grim determination spreading across his own face.
“Great. Just come back for me, okay?” Ranboo scoffed.
“Of course I’d come to get you! Might sleep for a day but that won't stop me from getting you back!”
Tommy nodded again and let them go, stepping back towards the corner as Ranboo took one of Tubbo's hands and backed away.
“Good luck,” Tubbo mumbled as purple particles began gathering towards them. Tommy turned with closed eyes before the teleported away with a familiar vwoop. He took a deep breath in and slowly let it out, opening his eyes.
“Thanks,” he murmured before readjusting his wings and stepping out into the foyer with a newfound confidence he reserved only when he was in public and not with family- or friends, in his case. Spreading his arms out in greeting, he let himself smile at the two heroes despite knowing they couldn't see it. Poltergeist and Blade tensed as they saw him.
“Hello boys!” He exclaimed in as much enthusiasm as he can muster. “How’s it going lads? Capture any villains recently? Oooh, Poltergeist! Did you get a haircut recently? It looks great-”
“Can you please just shut up a moment?” Poltergeist hissed, cutting Tommy off. “Stop talking like you know us and come to jail willingly already.”
Tommy pouted, crossing his arms. “Alright mate, that was just plain rude now innit? Thought you would've been taught better manners considering you're a hero ‘n all.”
Blade points at him like he agrees, looking at his colleague beside him. “He has a point.”
Poltergeist stiffened and Tommy suppressed the urge to snort. “What the fuck- who's side are you on?” Blade shrugged and the Phantom hero turned back to Tommy.
Oh right, introductions.
Poltergeist and Blade: two thirds of the heroes that make up the SBI, the biggest hero group in the country that are constantly fighting against the Dream Team. Though, the Dream Team haven't been very active as of late since their third member, Arson, got arrested. Tommy's willing to bet they're planning a break out. Anyway, Blade is definitely the stronger and more agile of the two, his agility being traits of his harein origin and his strength coming supposedly from a piglin origin. The piglin origin is just a theory though, since the hero doesn't have any of the physical traits of a piglin. Though he definitely looks like a harein, with long, pink ears and everything. Poltergeist, though, is the more stealthy hero, since he has a phantom origin and can go invisible. He's used more often for stealth missions because of that, which is pretty much a no brainer. Yeah, there's not much to say about him besides he's fucking terrifying if he sneaks up on you. Blade is definitely the cooler of the two, and that's coming from someone who hates heroes. Why? He’ll get to that later.
Anyway, back to the matter at hand.
Tommy blinks back to reality, finding Blade and Poltergeist staring at him with strange expression on their faces. He furrows his eyebrows, glancing between the two of them. “What? Is something on my head?”
Blade shook his head and Poltergeist shrugged. “Dunno man, you kinda just spaced out for a moment.”
Tommy nodded slowly. “Right,” he mumbles, dragging out the “i” “sorry, was just narrating. They can get pretty long.”
The heroes exchange a quizzical glance with each other. He can hear Poltergeist mumble, “should've just arrested him while he was “narrating””. He added air quotes to add emphasis. Tommy took the lack of attention to slide his dagger off his belt and behind his back, his grip tightening like a coiling snake with each second that passes.
“Well that's just hurtful,” he hums, dragging the attention of the heroes back to him. “Really Poltergeist, you should work on those manners. Hey! I have a great idea on how to reteach ya!” The heroes tense and widen their stances, Poltergeist bring his fists closer to his chest and Blade grabbing the hilt of his sword. Tommy's heart beats in his throat but he ignores the worry churning in his stomach. “You like fights, don't cha?” The phantom hero's eyes narrow. Tommy pauses, letting the suspense drag on for a moment, before saying a single word that starts it all:
“Catch,”
Then as quick as a bullet, Tommy is throwing his dagger at the phantom hero, who yelps in pain as the obsidion gift digs into his left shoulder and he rears back. Blade starts moving, drawing his sword, but his wings flare out to their full wing span and he's suddenly on the other side of the room behind Poltergeist, shoving him to he ground and grabbing his dagger in one swift movement.
“Fucker…” the hero mutters, just barely audible from where Tommy stands with his foot on his back to pin him down for the time being; at least until the man gets his head in the game and phases through the floor away from Tommy. He shrugs glancing up at Blade as he looks around, confused for a moment, before spotting him again.
“There's a reason my name is Speed Demon.” He watches as Blade runs towards him and leaps to hand out a powerful kick to Tommy’s abdomen. But before he can his wings flare once more and he moves back to his original spot. He huffs a laugh as Blade accidentally lands on top of his colleague and squishes him with a pained groan.
“Wow,” Tommy laughs, tilting his head at the duo like a bird “you guys are really uncoordinated today!”
“It's not our fault!” Blade protests, sitting up and scooching off of Poltergeist. “You just have a really dodgy secondary!”
Oh yeah, he should probably explain how powers work. Mmm, maybe later, he needs to concentrate right now.
Tommy throws his dagger into the air and catches it by the handle with practiced ease, just to show off his hand-eye coordination. If he tensed with a silent fear mid-throw then that was his problem. Blade snorted and narrowed his eyes with pursed lips, standing back up.
“Show off…” He mutters, just loud enough so Tommy could hear.
“Hmm? What was that? I couldn't quite hear you.” He says just to be a bitch.
Blade rolls his eyes and ignores Tommy, bringing his fists up to start throwing them. Tommy's feathers subtly twitch behind him with unease and he widens his own stance, prepared for a fist fight. What happened to Blade's sword? He doesn't know, that's probably not an important detail.
As expected, Blade moves first with surprising speed, kicking and punching with well aimed and timed blows. But Tommy was prepared, dodging and blocking and getting his own blows in whenever a short opportunity presented itself. Yeah, sure, he's hit once or twice but we're just not going to acknowledge that, okay? At some point Blade's eyes must have flicked to a spot over Tommy's shoulder because the next thing that had happened was such a bitch move.
Blade had aimed a blow to the side of Tommy’s head, and it was such a predictable move for him to make he didn't think twice in trying to block it. So Tommy reached out to grab the hero’s arm. But he had bluffed the attack. Fuck. Tommy's eyes widened as Blade rested back just before he could grab him and Tommy went suddenly flying forward with a surprised yell.
He's stunned for a second but he recovers enough to twist onto his back just as something sharp flies past him and he flinches with a hiss of pain as sharp pain stabs into his right bicep. Looking at it with pinched eyebrows, he sees that a piece of a vase had dug itself into his arm. I- it's not in too deep, he’ll probably be fine if he took it out. Though it fucking burns as he does and he hisses in pain again.
After a moment of steelling his nerves, he stands with a groan and tugs on the hood of his cape to keep it from falling off his head. He finds Poltergeist standing where he had once stood with Blade's sword in his hand, an unimpressed expression staring him down. “Damn, thought you would've been on the ground for at least four minutes.”
Tommy shrugs with his good shoulder, forcing his feathers to smooth as he grips his bleeding wound. “Spite's one hell of a drug,” he says with a strained voice. Poltergeist hums and Blade snorts, glancing at each other.
“Maybe.” Blade says as Poltergeist goes invisible once again. He stands watching Tommy as he looks around with wide, fearful eyes and he takes a small step back. His feathers ruffle again and he spins on his heal, straining his ears for any sound of the phantom. There. Footsteps. He begins to turn, eyebrows raised, in a feeble attempt to block an incoming attack.
But he's way, way too slow.
Tommy yelps as he’s knocked backward again, this time towards the left wall, with a stinging sensation on his chest. He slides to the floor, his wings trapped behind his back; his feathers twitch with uncomfort. He looks down weakly at himself, seeing a long, but shallow cut spanning across his chest. He tries to stand, but stops as black spots dance across his vision and everything looks like it's swimming. His head hurts and his wounds sting.
“Fuck…” he mutters under his breath, squeezing his eyes shut with finding the white room and lights all too loud. On second thought, that also hurts his head, but it's better than the overwhelming brightness of the bank foyer. His eyebrows furrow as loud voices contribute to his stars damned headache.
“Well that was easier than I thought.” One voice hums with an air of satisfaction to the end.
“Well I mean,” another one says, and Tommy can imagine the speaker shrugging “he is pretty new to the whole villain thing, remember? Benchtrio only started appearing on the news like, a month ago.”
The first speaker doesn't say anything more, instead footsteps filled the silence for a heart wrenching moment getting awfully louder to Tommy’s ears. Then: “Can't wait to unmask this bitch and put ‘im in jail for once.” Tommy’s heart leaps into his throat and he tries to open his eyes, tries to stand an escape, but to no avail. Fuck, he's screwed.
Detecting Timeline Split. Redirecting…
As if on cue, a blur of purple particles spawn out of thin air and someone is holding him in a tight embrace. Tommy relaxes and moves his arms to grip onto the back of his friend's cape. He can hear the voices intake a sharp breath and the footsteps quickening their paces, but he can't bring himself to care and he smiles into his friends shoulder. As one last hurrah, he shoots them a crude hand gesture from behind Ranboo's back just before they disappear into a blur of purple particles.
And Tommy lets the darkness consume him whole and lull him to a peaceful sleep.