Chapter Text
The nightmare loomed over Tommy like a storm. Nothing could push it from the back of his mind. There were fleeting moments where he would focus on something else; Tubbo’s antics, his lunch, the colour of the institute’s petunias. As soon as he was distracted, the image of blood came back, vivid as the nightmare itself.
“You seem really out of it,” Tubbo had commented during lunch. “Are you alright?”
“Rough sleep.”
It wasn’t a lie.
“Oh, that sucks. Maybe you should have dinner earlier - you usually eat it quite late, right?”
He had skipped dinner. Accidentally, due to some… unforeseen circumstances, but skipping dinner wasn’t an unusual occurrence.
“I’ll try it. I hope it doesn’t happen again, I feel awful…”
“You look it.”
“Hey!”
And so, the day ticked on. During an art lesson, Tommy dared to take out his communicator, the shiny red casing solidifying the memory of the previous night. The lecturer - they insisted they were a lecturer - hadn’t been paying much attention, meaning half the class were already on their phones.
Vermillion has opened the chat.
Vermillion: Goooooood afternoon, folks!
Descant: Hello again, Vermillion
Descant: You haven’t met Techno yet, right?
Vermillion: No..?
Technoblade: Hallo
Descant: Now you have. Vermillion, meet Technoblade. Technoblade, meet Vermillion
Vermillion: HELLO
Vermillion: MAY I CALL YOU ‘THE BLADE’?
Technoblade: Do what you want, I don’t mind
Vermillion: It is nice to meet you, ‘The Blade’
Descant: How’s your day going, Vermillion?
Vermillion: Bad.
Descant: Sucks to be you then
Vermillion: Wow, not even going to ask why?
Descant: Nope
Technoblade: My day’s going well. Thank you for asking, valued comrades.
Vermillion: That’s so great, Technoblade, that’s so nice, wish my day was going well ahaha :))))
Descant: Ah, Techno, I’ve been working on a new song
Technoblade: Cool, I’ve been fighting Nightmares, would it kill you to do your job once in a while?
Vermillion: HAHAHA, GET DESTROYED, DESCANT
Descant: I’m taking an artistic break.
Technoblade: And what does your avatar think about that?
Descant: What Sally doesn’t know can’t hurt her
Vermillion: What do avatars even do, anyway? Mine just really likes explaining things. It’s annoying.
Descant: They’re basically secretaries, they’ll help you do whatever
Technoblade: Agreed.
Technoblade: Though mine’s hardly useful anymore. I try to ignore it, nowadays
Vermillion: ‘Nowadays’? What are you, an old man?
Technoblade: I’m sorry, do I look like Philza?
Vermillion: I can’t see you
Vermillion: Fool
Vermillion: And I don’t understand your old people references, what’s a ‘Philza’, an old-timey sitcom?
Descant: Philza is an old hero
Descant: Very old
Descant: Ancient
Technoblade: Any second now…
Philza: I’M NOT THAT OLD
Philza: I ALSO HAVE A LIFE
Philza: SO SHUT
Technoblade: Aaaaaaand he’s gone
Technoblade: Now you’ve met Philza
Technoblade: An ancient rite of passage… passed down for generations…
Descant: What happened to your ‘retirement’, Phil?
Philza: I could sense the disrespect in the air
Technoblade: He returns!
Descant: Go back to the nursing home
Vermillion: I can’t believe you would say that…
Philza: Finally, someone sane
Vermillion: You can’t talk to an old man like that
Vermillion: They have hearing problems, you have to do it like this
Vermillion: YOU’RE OLD
Philza: I
Philza: Nevermind
Philza: It was nice to meet you, Vermillion
Philza: I’ll just go and cry now
Technoblade: Phil, you’re my favourite person, did you know that?
Philza: Thanks mate :’)
Descant: I feel bad now
Descant: Why must I chase away all those I care for? As soon as I start to foster meaningful connections I pounce and send them running. I am my own worse enemy. It is my bane. Loneliness is my burden, and addiction my catalyst…
Technoblade: Bruh
Vermillion: Not reading all that
Vermillion: But I am happy for you
Vermillion: Or sorry that happened
Descant: It is I who put the ‘cant’ in Descant. For I cant stand to see myself happy…
Technoblade: The lack of apostrophe renders your point invalid
Descant: MY POINT IS ALWAYS INVALID IN YOUR EYES, TECHNOBLADE
Vermillion: You people are BRUTAL
Descant: I’M NEVER GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU
Technoblade: I will Venmo you money to buy a Snickers
Technoblade: This is just sad
Descant: I DON’T WANT YOUR PITY
Vermillion: You okay, bud ?
Descant: THAT’S RIGHT, I AM A BUD. A FLOWER DOOMED, NEVER TO BLOSSOM, NEVER TO FLOURISH. ALL I CRAVE IS LOVE AND NUTRITION. FEED ME, PLEASE, SOMEONE
Technoblade: That is a ‘no’ . He is not okay.
Vermillion: Oh well, we tried!
Vermillion: So, ‘The Blade’, what’s your title?
Technoblade: Take a wild guess
Vermillion: ‘The Cooking Hero’?
Technoblade: Heh?
Technoblade: Where did you pull that from?
Vermillion: Wishful thinking.
Technoblade: I’m ‘The Blade Hero’.
Technoblade: It’s not that hard to guess
Vermillion: Oh, so you’re good with swords and knives then?
Technoblade: I’m good with everything. Even outwith the parameters of ‘sharp and pointy’.
Descant: That is very true, Technoblade scares me. I’m glad we’re all on the same side.
Vermillion: I bet I could take him down
Technoblade: Have you even gone into a rift yet, noob?
Vermillion: NOT YET, MUFFINHEAD. WHO EVEN SAYS ‘NOOB’ IT’S 2021
Technoblade: I don’t even have to argue against you, then
Vermillion: I’m GOING to go into a rift. Later today, with Snapdragon and King. Then I’ll learn to be super strong, like, stronger than The Blade! Besides, who even says ‘noob’ anymore?
Descant: With Snap and King? Just be careful you don’t get thrown into a void
Vermillion: A what
Vermillion: Nvm, I gotta go
Technoblade: Later
Descant: Bye, don’t die :)
The class was moving around him, everyone peeling themselves out of their chairs to go home. Tommy shoved his communicator into the depths of his bag and followed the crowd out of the institute. Tubbo couldn’t walk home with him; unlike Tommy, he actually participated in afterschool activities.
Well, in a sense, Tommy had an after school matter to attend to.
He rushed back to the dormitories, stopping in the shared kitchen to grab a snack.
There were other people in the dorms, but Tommy rarely saw them. Everyone kept to themselves most of the time. Ever since he was shipped off to the institute, he felt like he didn’t belong. Like an outsider trapped in a birdcage, just waiting for someone to give him a key.
His door slammed shut as he entered his room.
He still couldn’t believe that his parents sent him away.
They had threatened it a few times, but he never thought they would actually do it. But hey, it had worked; Tommy wasn’t as out of control. He was melancholy. The way the world needed him to be.
But now, the world needed him to be Vermillion. He still didn’t understand the details, but he would learn; adaptability was one of his strengths. At least, he liked to think so.
Quickly eating a sandwich, he thrust the plate aside and rifled through his bag for his communicator.
“Sam!” He called into the empty room. With a pop and a flash of light, Sam appeared, whizzing through the room.
“Hello Vermillion, how may I help you?”
Exactly like a secretary, Descant was right.
“I’m supposed to meet with Snapdragon and King right now. Can you tell me how to get there?”
“Sure thing, just open up your ‘Open Rifts’ app and select ‘HQ - Training Grounds’.”
Tommy did as Sam asked. The slot that read ‘HQ - Training Grounds’ had a small number next to it; 1. He assumed it was the number of people currently there. Once he pressed his fingertip against the screen, he felt the world warp.
Flashing colours swarmed past him, and his body felt almost compressed, as though he were a piece of coal curled up in the earth’s depths. At some point, he must have transformed into his hero form.
Magenta, cyan and green swirls surrounded his field of vision. Tommy couldn’t tell if the screaming noises were coming from around him, or if they were being pulled from his open mouth.
With no warning, it stopped. Legs shaky, Tommy stepped out onto a dark purple platform, a starry void stretching out around him.
“Sam?”
“Yes, Vermillion?”
“That was horrible.”
Another voice answered - unfamiliar and slow, ended with half a laugh.
“You get used to it.”
Tommy whipped his head around. The other hero was shorter than him, platform shoes doing nothing to rival Tommy’s height. He was dressed very regally, with shorts that poofed out like clouds and a velvety looking blue shirt. Tinted glasses obscured his eyes, and a large mushroom hat cast his other features in shadows. His hat was dripping in silver jewels, giving it the appearance of an upside-down crown.
He wanted to call the outfit stupid. But he couldn’t. A chill had trickled down his spine.
Because he had seen this man before.
The mushroom king had been in his nightmare, locked in fierce combat.
“Uh…” the king looked awkwardly between Tommy and Sam, who had travelled with him. “Do you need to lie down for a bit? You look ill.”
Sam whizzed out in front of Tommy, ever optimistic. “He’s fine! Right, Vermillion? Nothing could ever get you down!”
Tommy forced his mouth into a crooked smile.
“Y-Yup! I’m doing great! It’s good to meet you, the name’s-”
“Vermillion. I gathered. I go by ‘King’. It’s not my real name obviously , but it seemed like a good enough alias.” King eyed Sam with suspicion. At least, it seemed like suspicion - it was hard to tell under the glasses. “What’s the deal with the raccoon? You a big fan of rubbish?”
Putting one foot in front of the other, Tommy managed to walk closer to King. The air felt heavy and light at the same time - weighing down on his lungs, yet springing up beneath his soles.
Shoving the nightmare away - it was probably a coincidence, after all - Tommy mustered as much confidence as he could.
“That’s Sam. My… associate. He’s a raccoon. It’s kind of my thing . Branding’s a big deal, isn’t that right, boss man?” An eyebrow perked up from beneath a white frame. “Right… Shrooms, come here.”
Instantly, a small mushroom creature popped into existence. It had no feet and seemed to be a face carved into the stalk of a red and white mushroom. It creeped Tommy out.
“Greetings, King, how may I be of service?” Shrooms seemed a lot more mellow than Sam. Tommy decided that he preferred Sam to that.
“Shrooms, this is Vermillion. The new guy.”
Shrooms didn’t seem to care.
A fizzle of light sparked behind him, causing Tommy’s head to turn.
“You two were early,” the new arrival said, walking towards them with ease. Travelling to a ‘rift’ didn’t seem to faze him.
“You’re just late,” King crossed his arms against his chest.
Snapdragon was armour-clad with strings from a long white bandana trailing behind him. Tommy thought he lived up to his namesake; blood-red metal stacked over his torso like scales. But his appearance didn’t come as a shock to him. Because he had seen this man, fighting alongside King, in his nightmare.
The knight.
“You must be Vermillion. The name’s Snapdragon; the Snapdragon hero,” he proclaimed with a toothy grin. The hero’s armour clinked as he walked closer, unphased by the somewhat nervous look Tommy was giving him.
“That’s… a very uncreative name,” Tommy observed.
Snapdragon shrugged, armour ringing out against the movement - clearly, he wasn’t supposed to be a stealth hero. “It does the job. Besides, it must be my title for a reason. Why not just make it my name?”
King shifted his weight and sighed dramatically. “Let’s start already, c’mon, Snap.”
Ah, right, the duel…
Tommy had almost forgotten, due to the nightmare, and it's strange circumstances.
“Yeah, I’m always ready. Vermillion, are you ready to see some real skill?”
“‘Real skill’? I’ll be the judge of that, boys,” Tommy replied, standing back, calling forth his typical bluster. The training grounds had lines drawn over the ground, separating it into boxes. Tommy stood just behind one of the lines, outside the large rectangular arena.
King strode to the left side of the arena, a confident smirk plastered on his face. “As if, you look about twelve .”
Before Tommy could fire back a retort, Snapdragon was speaking into the air.
“Blaze.” A small, red and white panda appeared at his call. It had a matching bandana to its hero, and Tommy decided that it was way cuter than Shrooms. “Set up a forcefield, please. And party the three of us up.”
“On it!” Blaze seemed to have an abnormally large head that bobbled with excitement in every small movement. It made sense, given the Avatars’ cartoonish proportions. A teal forcefield shimmered into existence, setting up barriers along the lines on the floor. Tommy’s communicator buzzed, showing an alert.
The words ‘Party formed’ were displayed.
Current Party
Snapdragon:
Health: 320/320
Magic: 78/78
King:
Health: 231/231
Magic: 160/160
Vermillion:
Health: 100/100
Magic: 50/50
“Wait, why are my stats so much lower?” Tommy demanded, after scanning his eyes over the party list.
“Because, you’ve only just started,” King explained. “We’ve been doing this for a while, so we’re stronger.”
“No fair!”
“Stop complaining. You’ll get better with time; the more Nightmares you defeat, the stronger you get.”
“If you can even get there in time…” Snapdragon grumbled. “Technoblade really hogs all the victories.”
Descant had mentioned how strong Technoblade was… if that was to be believed, then Tommy definitely wanted to keep in his good graces. Then again, if Tommy’s magic was evasion based, then maybe getting hit was no cause for concern.
King’s impatience dragged Tommy away from that thought. “Quit stalling, let’s just do this.”
“Alright!” cheered Blaze. “I’ll count you off! 3… 2… 1!”
As soon as the countdown ended, Snapdragon was off, swift as a shooting star. With a flash of light, two long, deadly claws had materialised onto his knuckles, crafted from black metal. Tommy wondered how anyone could move so quickly under such heavy-looking armour. Before Tommy could even finish the thought, Snapdragon was slashing towards King.
In an elegant and dextrous twist, King summoned a long, silver staff, topped with a mushroom and dripping in jewels. Snapdragon’s claws met the staff, inches away from King’s face. Unphased, King twirled his staff, and diverted Snapdragon’s force, stepping away from the other hero.
As Snapdragon stumbled to the side, balance thrown off. King brought down his staff, arcing it into Snapdragon’s knee. The knight let out a grunt but recovered with relative ease.
Tommy dared to glance down at his communicator.
Current Party
Snapdragon:
Health: 310/320
Magic: 78/78
King:
Health: 231/231
Magic: 160/160
Vermillion:
Health: 100/100
Magic: 50/50
Ten points were gone already…
King’s staff whirled around once more, set to connect with Snapdragon’s forehead. With an inhuman reaction time, Snapdragon crouched down and evaded the strike, leaving King wide open. The knight slashed upwards, claws raking over the mushroom hero’s chest.
Tommy braced himself for blood that never came.
Instead, King’s body flickered, almost like a warped projection.
If heroes didn’t bleed, then maybe Tommy’s dream was just that; a dream.
The mushroom hero’s health dipped by forty points. King was already disadvantaged by his lower health value, and it seemed Snapdragon was physically stronger. It seemed like the mushroom king stood no chance.
King stood tall, though, faltering for a few seconds before regaining his composure. With a clean looking form, King delivered a flurry of blows in Snapdragon’s general direction. Several hit, through sheer persistence alone. His health whittled down lower, but Snapdragon managed to escape the consistent strikes, quickly stepping aside and catching King in a combo of his own making.
The two played it safe for a while, exchanging hits in quick succession. Tommy could barely keep up with the fast-paced duel - was he expected to do that too?
After a few minutes, their health values had lowered quite a bit.
Current Party
Snapdragon:
Health: 235/320
Magic: 78/78
King:
Health: 130/231
Magic: 160/160
Vermillion:
Health: 100/100
Magic: 50/50
As Tommy watched their health dip lower and lower, he was sure that Snapdragon would win.
And once their superpowers got involved… Tommy was positive that Snapdragon would win.
The air turned impossibly hot, as Snapdragon kept his distance, seemingly on the defensive. King didn’t take the bait, though, instead choosing to remain far away.
Snapdragon spoke, for the first time since the fight had started. “I’m bored now, why don’t we end this?”
King simply nodded, twirling his staff once more. However, there was something different; the top of the staff was emanating silver energy. It reminded Tommy of burning incense. As Snapdragon’s rust-colored eyes narrowed, citrine fire began to consume him, covering his body, and stretching over his metal claws in quick wicked whips.
Once more, Snapdragon charged at King, his body now engulfed in flames. Tommy assumed this was the end of the road for King; unless his superpower involved being a breathing fire extinguisher, there was no way he could block such a brutal attack.
But, as fate would have it, he didn’t need to block the attack.
The streaming silver incense wafted around King, dispersing into the air around him. As Snapdragon approached rapidly, his steps slowed, until no more came.
There was silence at the training grounds.
And then a loud snore that sounded like a chainsaw.
With widened eyes, Tommy finally registered what had happened. King’s superpower had put Snapdragon to sleep in a matter of seconds. The silver incense dissipated, and Snapdragon’s flames dwindled.
Current Party
Snapdragon:
Health: 235/320
Magic: 0/78
King:
Health: 130/231
Magic: 80/160
Vermillion:
Health: 100/100
Magic: 50/50
“Idiot,” King bristled, sending his staff away. “Did he seriously burn through his magic in one go?”
Tommy looked at his communicator and nodded, “Seems it.”
“Here’s a tip for you, Vermillion. Conserve your magic for an emergency. Learn how to restrain yourself. Snapdragon’s a big fan of hitting things, but he has no self-control when it comes to his fire.” King walked over to Snapdragon’s sleeping body and prodded at him with his platform shoe.
“Noted… He’s gonna wake up, right?”
“Eventually. I’ll just leave him here, though. I’ve got places to be.” King walked out of the arena after Blaze had lowered the barriers. Once the small panda had done that, it whizzed over to its hero, panic clear on its cartoonish features.
“Oh brother,” the panda muttered, “I’ll take care of him, don’t worry about it. I always do…”
Seeing the busied panda, Tommy wondered if babysitting the heroes ever got boring for the avatars.
King didn’t waste any time with a goodbye, disappearing into the void in a flicker of light. Once he had left, his name disappeared from the party list.
Tommy turned to Sam, waiting expectantly for direction. The racoon seemed lost, though, almost unsettled. “Sam? You okay, buddy?”
Startled, the racoon whipped its head back to its hero. “I’m fine! I just thought I could hear… something. Or, a lot of things…”
Tommy didn’t know what to make of that. So, he elected to ignore it.
“To get home, I just have to hit this button, right?” he asked, returning to the ‘Open Rifts’ app. Sam nodded, prompting Tommy to select ‘Exit Void’.
In another flash of sickening technicolour, Tommy was back in his room, in his very human-looking non-magical clothes. Sam left after saying his cheery goodbyes, leaving Tommy to lay down, forgotten homework set to the side.
His communicator buzzed.
Descant has started a chat with Vermillion.
Descant: How were the training grounds? Techno said he dropped by, but he only saw Snapdragon. Asleep. Did you bore him to death?
Vermillion: Really? I only just left, and I didn’t see him.
Descant: You must have barely missed him.
Vermillion: It was fine, King won, but only because he used his magic on Snap. I just watched, but one day, I shall defeat them both at once, with honour, and explosions, and many women swooning.
Descant: Explosions, you say? Come and hang with me and Techno, and you’ll see lots of explosions. The three of us could go hunting for Nightmares; then you’d get some real experience.
Vermillion: Only if you can keep up with me.
Descant: I think I’ll manage somehow. So, how about tomorrow? Techno’s always fighting Nightmares, so he’ll be there, whether he likes it or not.
Vermillion: What happened to your ‘artistic break’
Descant: Got bored, you in or not?
Vermillion: Alright then, sounds good
Vermillion: Btw, I wanted to ask… Do heroes tend to have prophetic dreams?
Descant: That is a very random question, don’t think so, but some might. Why?
Vermillion: No reason. Goodnight.
Descant: Kk.
And with that, Descant had done the unthinkable…
What kind of hero responds ‘Kk’?