Chapter Text
Techno was actually starting to like Tommy. He'd been teaching Tommy to fight, and Tommy was learning fast. Tommy also didn't seem to hate him as much as he hated Wilbur and Phil, so he wasn't usually subject to death glares.
But Tommy was being left with Phil, because it was time for them to fight the heroes. The heroes and villains fought all the time, so it was normal. They went to the headquarters to prepare, which was just a random warehouse.
Wilbur grinned as he put on his outfit. "Finally. I've been waiting to fight. I'm sick of watching that goddamn orphan."
"Tommy's not an actually an orphan, right?" Techno inquired.
"He is." Wilbur said. "He was homeless, before we picked him up off the street. I know that you hate orphans."
"Yeah, I do." Techno said. "They killed my parents." Techno wasn't sure what to do with the knowledge that Tommy was an orphan. He liked Tommy, but he didn't want to get close to any orphan, not after The Orphans killed his parents in front of his own eyes.
Wilbur shrugged. "Anyway, let's go. The heroes should be waiting for us."
Techno nodded. He tried not to think about his past experiences involving orphans.
When they arrived at South Street, Blaze and Dream were waiting for them. Dream had the power of mind reading, so Techno decided to mess with him.
Wow , he thought, Dream is so weak. I bet he's homeless.
"Um, excuse me?" Dream exclaimed. "I heard that!"
Techno laughed. Most considered Dream's power to be an advantage, and it was, but it also made it super easy to mess with him.
"Let's fight!" Blaze shouted. "I'm going to destroy you!" He hurled a fireball at Wilbur, which Techno easily diverted.
Wilbur began to play his guitar, but like usual, the heroes had earplugs in, so the music didn't affect them. Techno tried to pull out the earbuds, but Dream and Blaze pushed them in.
If Techno could just catch Blaze and Dream off guard while they were keeping their earbuds in, the SBI would be able to win the battle. However, he wouldn't be able to catch Dream off guard, so he'd have to go for Blaze instead.
Techno made the ground below Blaze shift, knocking him off balance. Blaze gasped, having to take his hands away from his ears to keep himself balanced. However, Techno spotted Dream reaching into his pocket. Dream pulled out a stick of dynamite and threw it onto the ground.
The resulting explosion created a shockwave, knocking everyone back. It also left another hole in the street. But the battle wasn't over. Techno knew that Dream only had so much dynamite.
The fight went on like that, Dream throwing stick after stick of dynamite. Eventually, Dream ran out of dynamite and the heroes retreated.
"We won!" Wilbur grinned. "Oh, this is going to look so bad for them on the news." Above them, a few helicopters were filming the event, along with some lower-flying drones. Both the heroes and SBI were careful not to damage the drones, but a few of them got destroyed anyway. After all, media coverage for their fights was very important.
Close to South Street, there was a crowd of people. Tourists, the ones that were stupid enough to go so close to the fight. Strife was known for the heroes and SBI, and tourists loved to see them fight. The smarter ones watched through hotel TVs.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Wilbur said, pulling Techno into an alleyway. They made their escape, easily getting to the headquarters. Soon after, they made their way home.
Phil was there to greet them, with Tommy on the couch glaring at them. Wilbur removed his masquerade mask while Techno removed his pig mask.
Techno immediately went up to his room, wanting some time to be alone. He put so much effort getting revenge on The Orphans, and now there was one right in his house! He needed some time to process this.
In his room, Techno took off his armor, wondering what he would do about Tommy. Perhaps he could talk with Phil, ask him to get rid of Tommy. If not, he might have to take matters into his own hands. Or he could bribe Wilbur to do something.
But it didn't matter how, Techno knew that no matter what, he would get the orphan out of his house.
---
There was one thing that Tommy wanted most in the world, and it was to get out of the house of the SBI.
Honestly, it was a miracle he was still alive after living with these guys. If it weren’t for those healing potions, he would’ve probably died. Tommy knew that healing potions could be dangerous, but just a few wouldn’t cause problems.
But yeah, the villains were ruthless, and determined to get their way.
Symphony had tried to use the guitar on him, but it didn't have the same effect. Sometimes, Tommy was too tired to resist the pull and he gave in. Other days, he was pissed off and chose to be defiant. Those were the days when Symphony beat up Tommy. He hated Symphony beating him up, but he wasn't just going to let Symphony get his way. Besides, he needed a way to remember that he hated Symphony.
But yeah, Tommy felt like he was going to lose his mind. Anger was a powerful thing, and Tommy had lots of it, but anger did not like it when he was powerless.
And that's when Ender, Tommy's best friend Tubbo, and Artemis teleported straight into the room, right next to all three villains.
"Ender? Artemis?" Crow exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"We've come to stop you." Ender said.
"We're unmasked!" Symphony exclaimed. "You can't look at us!"
"We don't care." Artemis said. "What you did was dishonorable, and we won't stand for it."
"And what is that kid doing here?" Blade gestured to Tubbo.
"Oh, he's our secret weapon." Ender said. "He's deaf."
"Um, excuse me?" Symphony exclaimed. "So my power doesn't work on him?"
Tubbo nodded, grinning.
Then, Tubbo pulled out something Tommy never expected to see in his hands: a stick of dynamite.
Tubbo didn't say or sign anything, but he was grinning like a maniac, and his expression said all they needed to know: I'll blow this place to the ground.
Tubbo then threw the dynamite straight at Symphony's face. Symphony screamed, and Tommy was pretty sure he was dead.
"You know what?" Blade said. "You can take him." Blade seemed like he didn't think it was worth the hassle. "He's an orphan, and I hate orphans."
"Excuse me?" Crow practically screeched like a bird. "You're just going to let him go?"
"I don't wanna die." Blade declared. "Symphony's a goner, and who knows how much dynamite that kid has."
"Guess I'm gonna have to do this myself then." Despite how outmatched he was, Crow sounded so confident.
Crow cawed like a bird, spreading his wings out to their full length. They were at least six feet long combined, and the room they were in did not seem like it was made for avians, his wings knocking paintings off the wall.
Then, he charged straight towards Tubbo, Artemis, and Ender. Ender teleported out of the way, Artemis and Tubbo scrambling away from him. Ender was behind Crow now, raising the coffee table and bashing it down on Crow's head.
It seemed as if Tubbo and the vigilantes had this handled. Blade and Tommy were sitting on the couch, with Blade casually sipping his tea as he watched. Tommy picked up a container of popcorn and started eating it. Symphony was in the corner, and Tommy spotted him getting up. He seemed to be severely burned, and he was crawling towards the guitar.
Yeah, Tommy was not going to let him play that guitar. Tommy set down his popcorn, and walked over to the guitar. Tommy picked it up easily, but this wasn't enough for him. He wanted to ruin that bitch's entire life. Seeing a pair of scissors on the table, he grabbed them, making sure that Symphony was watching. He was.
Then, he cut all six of the guitar's strings.
"No!" Symphony cried. "My guitar! It's supposed to be indestructible!"
Tommy just laughed, turning to look at Crow. He was pinned to the wall by Artemis and Ender, by his wings no less. As someone who had wings, he knew how painful that would be, and it filled him with delight to see it happening to Crow.
"We need to incapacitate him!" Ender shouted.
Tubbo seemed to understand what Ender wanted him to do, despite not being able to hear him or read his lips, and picked up the broken guitar. He saw that the strings were all cut, and he grinned, amazed. Then, he brought the guitar down onto Crow's head. Meanwhile, Blade was filming the scene with an old-fashioned video camera.
Tommy looked back at Symphony, but he was too busy sobbing over his broken guitar to do anything. Blade could probably fight them easily, but he didn't seem to want to bother with it.
Eventually, after Tubbo hitting him on the head several times, Crow fell to the ground.
"Come on!" Ender said. "Let's get out of here!" Ender grabbed Tubbo, Tommy, and Artemis, and teleported them out of there. They ended up in a random alleyway.
"What's going on?" Tommy exclaimed. "Tubbo- why were you with these random vigilantes?"
"They're helping me!" Tubbo signed.
"How did you get them to help you?" Tommy asked.
"Don't worry about it." Tubbo signed.
"I'm glad I was able to help you." Artemis said. Ender translated Artemis's words into sign language. Since when did Ender know sign language?
"Anyway, I'm going to be leaving now." Artemis said, Ender translating again. Artemis scaled a building with grace, waving goodbye as she climbed. Tommy looked up at her, in awe. Parkour was such a cool superpower.
"Me and Tubbo have something we probably should tell you." Ender said, signing it for Tubbo. Tubbo nodded, seeming to agree with what Ender was about to do. Ender took off his mask.
Tommy gasped. "Ranboo?" He exclaimed.
"Yup, it's me." Ranboo said. "Bet you didn't know I was a vigilante."
Tommy didn't know Ranboo well; he was Tubbo's best friend, very tall, and had the backbone of a chocolate eclair (the comparison came from that being Ranboo's favorite food to eat at Niki's Baked Goods). He didn't really know the guy, but he didn't expect him to be a vigilante.
"Ranboob." Tommy said instantly. Tubbo seemed confused, so Tommy fingerspelled it for him. Tubbo burst into laughter.
"Don't call me Ranboob!" Ranboo exclaimed, but he too seemed amused.
"Anyway," Tommy signed, deciding it was time to discuss the matter at hand. "How did you find me?"
"We hired a mercenary." Ranboo signed. "He has the power of invisibility, and we had him follow the villains home."
This news had Tommy feeling more than a little surprised, and all he could think to say was: "Um, thanks?"
"That thing you did where you cut off the strings of Symphony's guitar was really cool!" Tubbo signed. "How'd you do it?"
Tommy shrugged. "I just cut?"
"But it's supposed to be indestructible." Ranboo signed. "There must be some reason why you were able to cut the guitar strings. I've tried it before and it never worked."
Tubbo gasped, his eyes lighting up. "Maybe Tommy has a superpower!" He signed. "That would be so cool!"
"That makes sense, actually." Ranboo signed. "But what would the superpower be?"
"Perhaps I can break anything with my bare hands?" Tommy suggested.
"Maybe." Ranboo signed. "We'd have to test that."
Tubbo pulled something out of his pocket. It was a random piece of metal, where Tubbo got it from, Tommy had no clue.
"Try this!" Tubbo signed after handing Tommy the metal. "Try to break it."
Tommy grabbed the metal, trying his hardest to break it, but it didn't budge. He put it into his pocket.
"Okay, it's not that." Ranboo signed. "Maybe he's resistant to magic. Like, he can overpower other people's powers."
"Ooh, that would be cool." Tommy signed. "Ranboo, try teleporting so I can test it out."
"Okay." Ranboo signed. Tommy concentrated on not letting Ranboo teleport. Ranboo didn't teleport, just standing in the same place.
"Woah." Ranboo signed. "That's... scary. I... really don't like that."
"Yeah, take that Ranboob!" Tommy exclaimed. Ranboo groaned, clearly sick of Tommy's antics.
Tubbo grinned, seeming to get an idea. "We should be a vigilante team!" He signed. "Since you both have powers!"
"You don't have powers." Ranboo pointed out.
"I have dynamite!" Tubbo signed.
"No." Ranboo signed. "We're not going to do that. Why do you even want to become vigilantes anyway?"
"Because it's cool!" Tommy signed. " We'd get to have cool outfits and participate in cool fights!"
Ranboo sighed. " That's a terrible reason to become a vigilante."
"Fine." Tubbo grumbled. "We won't become vigilantes. But, since you won't let us become vigilantes, next time we go to Niki's Baked Goods, you pay for whatever we buy."
"Okay." Ranboo signed. He always paid for what Tommy and Tubbo bought, so it wasn’t a big deal.