Chapter Text
"My first decree as president of L'manburg, emperor of this great country, is to revoke the citizenship of Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit!"
The world moved in slow motion as Tubbo watched Tommy fall to his knees, tears collecting in his eyes.
Wilbur was yelling. At Tommy? No, for Tommy to move. Tubbo made brief eye contact with Wilbur and before his brain even registered it, he was moving, helping Tommy up and shoving him towards Wilbur.
"You two need to get out of here, now."
Wilbur nodded, scooping an unresponsive Tommy up and running as fast as he could.
-----
Tubbo approached the sound of sobbing and music, Mellohi to be exact, coming from Tommy's base.
"Tommy?" Tubbo called. No response.
He entered the room with the jukebox, the room where all noise was coming from, only to find Tommy, hugging his knees in the corner with one of Wilbur's old beanies pulled nearly all the way down past his eyes.
"Tommy, are you alright?" Tubbo asked, crossing the room quickly and sliding down against the wall to sit beside his friend on the floor.
Tommy looked to Tubbo, wiping his face with his arm and sniffling.
"H-he's gone, Tubbo." Tommy hiccuped.
"Who's gone?" Tubbo raised an eyebrow.
"S-Schlatt. He was here and now h-he's gone."
Tubbo offered Tommy a sad smile.
"Yeah, I guess that's kind of our fault in a way."
Tommy's shoulders shook more with sobs, the blond letting his head fall back and hit the iron wall with a dull thud!
Tubbo frowned.
"What's wrong, man? Are you really this torn up about Schlatt getting banned?" Tubbo asked, scooting a bit closer to his friend as if to comfort him with a hug, but deciding against it and shuffling back.
Tommy let out an unintelligible cry, ripping the beanie from atop his head to reveal two backwards pointing horns growing just past his hairline.
Tubbo paused for a moment, staring at the horns atop Tommy's head. He opened his mouth to say something, anything to reassure his friend, but nothing came.
"He's my brother, Tubbo!" Tommy shouted. "He's my brother and I thought this was my chance to fix things with him, to make him proud of me, but now he's gone."
Tubbo moved closer, wrapping his friend in a loose hug. There was ample opportunity for Tommy to push Tubbo away or get out of the hug, but he stayed put, tears streaming down his face.
"He's gone." Tommy repeated, his whisper raspy as if his voice was gone from having cried for hours.
They stayed that way until Tommy calmed down, Tommy staring brokenly at the ceiling and Tubbo hugging him while he hummed soothingly to the familiar tune of Mellohi.
"P-please don't tell anyone, Tubbo. Please, I don't want them t-to know. Schlatt'll g-get mad at m-me if anyone finds out. Please don't t-tell them." Tommy's words came frantic and his hands shook slightly.
"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down, I won't tell anyone, I promise." Tubbo shushed Tommy, hugging him a bit tighter.
Tommy leaned closer to Tubbo, sniffling occasionally until he fell quiet, asleep and leaning into Tubbo's comforting embrace.
-----
It had been a while since that night, but the memory stayed fresh in Tubbo's mind. He felt guilty; angry, either at himself or Schlatt, he wasn't sure, maybe both.
He watched as Ponk ran after Tommy and Wilbur, willing his body to move. To do something.
He needed to get to Tommy, quickly.
But then there was Schlatt, calling his name, bringing his attention back to the real world. He turned his head to look up at where Schlatt stood proudly on the podium.
This wouldn't be good.
-----
It had been a while since the day they had been exiled from their own land. Tommy remained mainly unresponsive, only really coming to whenever Bad stopped by with fresh food. He didn't talk back, didn't shout, didn't object or fight. Whenever Wilbur asked for something, Tommy would complete the task almost mindlessly. He became very quiet, very not Tommy.
Wilbur had had a few run-ins with Tubbo since their exile, the latter always asking how Tommy was faring, Wilbur always replying with a noncommittal I don't know.
Tommy had been the one to retrieve Technoblade from spawn when he joined, but he was only really Tommy while he was out on the horse, shouting for Techno to follow him or ordering for the battle-worn king to avoid certain areas where he knew they'd find trouble.
After that Tommy went back to being quiet, mindlessly completing tasks, and crying whenever he was alone. He had almost become too trapped in his own head to even notice that Wilbur had started bringing Tubbo to him. Almost.
Every time Tubbo visited he spent the majority of his time by Tommy's side, speaking quiet reassurances about how everything would be okay and that it wasn't his fault that Schlatt was so awful.
Wilbur knew that there was something, some kind of secret that the boys shared, but he didn't press it. If he was meant to find out, he'd find out in due time. If it was the reason Tommy had become a husk of himself, maybe he'd never know. He just knew that Tommy needed someone who understood and that someone was definitely Tubbo. Tommy started acting a bit more like himself whenever Tubbo came around.
It was reassuring to see that their Tommy was still in there, but concerning to see that he only came out around certain people.
It was a particularly Tubbo-less day when Techno came across Tommy, Tommy, crying while he sat just outside the dirt covered entrance to their home.
Tommy's trifold hat was missing and Techno couldn't help but notice the curling horns that stuck up from out of the blond's head.
"Tommy, kid, you good?" Techno asked, staring down at Tommy.
Tommy glanced up, his brain taking a moment to process that Techno was definitely not Tubbo before his breathing picked up slightly and he shrunk away, grabbing at the horns atop his head as if he could cover and hide them.
"Tommy.." Techno murmured, slowly sitting down beside the teen. "What's up, Tommy? You haven't been yourself at all lately. Wilbur and Tubbo are really worried."
Underneath Techno's battle-worn exterior and sharp retorts, he was actually really starting to enjoy being around Tommy, Tubbo, and Wilbur. He hid it well, but seeing Tommy like this, so broken, he felt bad to just pass the kid and leave him alone.
"Y-you're not meant to know, y-you'll tell Wilbur and then Schlatt'll get angry again." Tommy rambled on until there was an unsure hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, focus on me, yeah? Deep breaths." Techno murmured gently. "I won't tell Wilbur anything you don't want him to know."
Tommy gasped in an attempt at a deep breath.
"Not quite, but at least you tried. C'mon, deep breaths, kid. I believe in you." Techno murmured, crossing his legs and staying beside Tommy.
After a few failed attempts, Tommy had gotten ahold of his breathing, staring blankly at the ground as he continued to hold tightly onto the horns atop his head.
"Th-they won't go away." Tommy whispered. "They'll never go away."
"What's so bad about that, kid? Why is having horns so bad?" Techno asked.
"Th-they're like Schlatt's." Tommy replied, his voice even quieter than before.
Techno tensed up at the mention of Manburg's new president before he looked back up to where Tommy was trying to cover his head. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes before saying anything.
"Nah," Techno started, "they look like the horns of a baby goat. Schlatt's horns? They're all curly and old just like he is."
Tommy let out a quiet chuckle, Techno had barely caught it before he spoke again.
"Where's your hat, kid? I'll go get it for you." Techno offered.
"S-somewhere in the ravine, I don't remember exactly where."
"Alright." Techno stood up, dusting himself off before unbuttoning his cape-like coat and draping it gently over Tommy's head. "I'll be right back."
It was okay. Techno didn't think he was a freak. Schlatt would never find out. His secret was safe.