Archive of Our Own ^beta

Tommy was the youngest member of his family, born long after Technoblade and Wilbur. He couldn't even remember their mother, where as Techno and Wilbur still had memories of the woman locked away that could be treasured in small, quiet moments. They were a whole six years older than Tommy, so it made sense. The memories they had of her were still little more than wisps though, so as far as any of them really cared they'd always been a family of four. Just Philza and his three sons against the world. 

That was how things were supposed to be, and how they were always supposed to stay. Regardless of the servers they joined. It was ever and always supposed to be acting. When the curtains closed, so too did the characters they put on drop.

Tommy could still remember when he was eight years old, making a promise with his brothers after his father had taken the time to explain a little more about how their world worked. Or worlds plural as it turned out. 

Phil had called life a spiraling web of worlds called servers. All the servers were linked together through the hub, and together they made up all of existence. Each one had different rules. Some if you died then you had to leave the world permanently. Others had something called a 'respawn system'. True death, actual death, was still possible. Old age seemed to be the most effective method. There were others, but there... darker. More forbid.

Some deaths were powerful enough to forcibly remove a soul from the respawn cycle of a server, even to the point they couldn't enter a new world or leave their current one. They were bound to that server in the form of 'ghost' until the world they were bound to was destroyed by its "Admin" or something more powerful stepped in to assist. Admins were almost all powerful within their own servers, but even they were bound by certain sets of rules and creeds. Unless a "player" willingly became a ghost they were supposed to help free them. There were of course some creatures who were even above the Admins. Dragons were one of them. Webhosts, those who were said to keep the servers running and bestow Admins their power, was another.

Still, Phil said it wasn't something they'd have to worry about for a long time. Until he deemed them all old enough (he was a good father, he wasn't going to leave any of his children behind just because his feet itched with wanderlust) they'd continue to live in the private server Phil had created when he first learned he was going to be having them.

That same day a while after the explanation, Techno had pulled Wilbur and Tommy aside with a look of fierce determination on his face. The twins glanced at each other for a moment while Tommy watched them in confused silence. He'd never been privy to their almost psychic link. An entire unspoken conversation passed between them in a couple blinks between Techno leaned down to Tommy's eye level. "We're gonna all make a promise," Techno said as Wilbur leaned down to be on the same level as the other two boys. There was an amused smile on his face, even if he rolled his eyes dramatically.

"What kinda promise?" Tommy asked, bouncing up and down on his heels with eyes that practically sparkled. Techno had always been fun to make promises with, especially when those promises meant secrets. Like making Tommy promise not to tell dad about treats snuck to him after bed time or when Techno would let Tommy stay up later after a nightmare, the two sneaking up onto the roof to watch the stars. He trusted, idolized even, his older brother and it was a role Techno took extremely serious.

"I want us all to promise to never hate each other. Not unless we do something really, really bad. When we grow up, we're all gonna be actors together. We'll go from server to server adventuring and telling stories. Sometimes, though, one of us might need to play the bad guy. That's the thing though, if nothing's permanent, then we have to be permanent for one another. Permanently there and permanently on one another's side. Even if one of us does bad things in the future playing the bad guy, as long as it's not bad enough that one of us ends up trapped like dad was saying then we shouldn't hate each other. Okay?" Techno asked. 

Their father had said that even scars and lost limbs would be repaired as soon as someone left a server, assuming that old magic wasn't used. The only place someone could permanently get hurt or die was the hub and couple of illegal servers like 2b2t where the rules were altered by Old Scripts.

So, Tommy nodded readily, not entirely understanding what that promise had entailed. Not realizing it was an insurance policy of sorts. Not realizing that the voices in the back of Techno's head, even at thirteen years old, were already crowing for blood. 

They never called for the blood of his family. They were savage and feral but the voices apparently had lines they wouldn't cross. Sometimes when it meant family they were even helpful. They'd coo at Tommy and tease Wilbur just as quickly as they'd warn Techno when Tommy was having nightmares or when Wilbur accidentally got caught in a tree and needed help getting down before he fell. Still, Techno was terrified. He was worried that he'd lose his family over those voices. Worried he'd hurt them!

The way that Tommy's eyes gleamed such a pure sky blue as he agree to the promise, and the soft smile from Wilbur who was already well aware of the voices (they were twins, he had his own. So did Phil, it ran in the family. The only question really came down to if Tommy would inherit him), made Techno pause for a moment and wonder if maybe he was underestimating his family.

It was later that year when Techno got his wings. 

It was only after everything was said and done that Phil sat all three down and explained with a heavy sigh what hybrids were. What kind he was, and what kind of the boys were. What it meant for them.

They'd already known that Wilbur and Techno were piglin hybrids like their mother had been. Techno presented a bit heavier than his twin with larger tusks and a slightly pinker skin tone. Both had the pointed angular ears and tails that lashed about when they were angry. Wilbur still had tusks, but they were easier to tuck away and hide. At first they hadn't been sure if Tommy would present at all or if he'd take after Phil. His ears were slightly pointed but not as significantly as Wilbur or Techno's and it took years later than either for a significantly shorter tail to grow in. Where as Techno couldn't hide his traits, Wilbur's were particular easy to hide, and Tommy had to outright emphasize his for them to be noticed. 

Then Techno's wings had come in just when they thought they were starting to understand what it meant to be hybrids. Their world was thrown on its head.

"It's possible for a hybrid to show traits from multiple different types of common hybrids. I knew one family once upon a time there were both ender man and ghast hybrids, though some showed more heavily than others. I've known dragon hybrids with a hint of blaze. I've seen a number of things. Unfortunately, it seems like at least Wilbur and Techno got my traits as well as their mother's. For that, I honestly apologize." Phil had said nothing but sorry over and over the day Techno's wings came in, the boy's eyes still hollow. Now that he was getting a chance to properly explain it seemed the constant ring of sorry would persist. 

Phil was an avian, just a normal avian. At least, that's what the boys and most other people thought. It wasn't until Phil released something, some kind of spell, that they realized how wrong they all were. It felt as though something in the air had snapped and when Tommy blinked his father suddenly possessed large, elegant antlers. The wings had always been there, a constant for Tommy growing up, but as the magic snapped and faded Tommy realized they were so much larger than he'd originally thought them to be.

"What are we then?" Wilbur asked, the first to recover. HIs arms were still wrapped protectively around Techno who was starting to come to.

"A kind of dragon."

Tommy and Wilbur both immediately tried to point about how their father had feathers wings, not the scaled ones they'd seen in the history books when people drew the ender dragon, but Phil easily shushed and soothed the duo. "Now every dragon looks like the ender dragon, that's just one breed even if it's the most prominently well known. There are tons of sub breeds of dragon, and for every sub breed there's at least one hybrid representing it. We're simply a type of dragon that possesses feathered wings. But... the bad thing about us is how we get those wings," Phil paused as he glanced at Techno who did nothing more than flick his ear as acknowledgement he was still listening. He didn't dislodge himself from Wilbur's grip, nor did he complain about the way Tommy's head was pressed against this stomach. 

He kneeled down and set a hand on Techno's shoulder, smiling ruefully. "Long ago, dragons were much more plentiful. They practically ruled the skies, but the humans of the various servers started killing them off. When dragon hybrids started to appear, it made the dragons angry. Dragon hybrids weren't a natural occurrence, instead, humans had used magic on dragon eggs to create some kind of twisted version that would join humanity. The humans then began using the dragon hybrids as little more than weapons."

Tommy could feel Wilbur shiver slightly as Phil sighed and continued, eyes growing distant. "Some dragon tried to kill off the hybrids of their breed and nearly succeeded. Other kidnapped their hybrid kin and raised them like fully born dragons, mourning the lost dragon eggs but refusing to blame those children for what they'd become. Then there were the ones like our kin. We were cursed. While not every dragon of our species agreed, one very old and powerful dragon thought that we were at fault for having been born. So he laid a curse on our shoulders. Members of our breed can't get our wings normally. They don't grow in naturally over time. We have to experience something painful. Something traumatic. The worst feeling in our life, something that goes against our values and very nature. Something that makes us feel powerless and hurt, pathetic even." 

"Only then does the dragon blood actually wake up. Your wings grow in response to the desperate feeling of wanting to escape whatever pains you were going through at the time. It can take hours or even weeks for them to appear, but you'll know in your heart what triggered it. It was a way for us to earn our other half in the eyes of our full blooded kin. If you ever meet one after getting your wings, they'll treat and address you as though you were a full blooded dragon. I've even heard legends of some of our kin being powerful enough to turn into a full dragon form," Phil shook his head, a small spark glinting in his eyes as though he knew it to be not just a legend. 

"Once the wings come in, then come the antlers. After that, you'll be able to start using magic. For safety, you'll want to make your antlers disappear and your wings grow smaller so you look more like an avian. Are wings are significantly larger than an average avian as you might be able to tell. Techno and Wil look enough piglin they might want to hide their wings completely. Dragon hybrids are often hunted for one reason or another so it's a good safety measure, and just in general your wings and antlers might get in the way," Phil said, gently rubbing his hand against Techno's head. The bumps were already noticeable and hurt, so the feeling was appreciated by Techno who easily leaned into the touch. 

Wilbur and Tommy nodded quietly, wondering what would become of the three of them. Was it only Techno? Wilbur and Techno were twins and all but they weren't identical, so there was no telling if Wil had inherited the trait even if Tommy wanted to take a guess he probably had. Tommy was even more of a wildcard, looking the most like their dad out of the trio but also having the smallest amount of presentation when it came to traits.

"Techno, if you're comfortable answering, could I ask you a question?" Phil very carefully tried to keep his voice level as Techno nodded slowly, eyes still slightly dazed from the pain of the wings coming in and the aftershocks of what caused them to appear in the first place. "What was it?"

Techno seemed to shrink in on himself, looking the weakest that Tommy had ever seen him. He hated it. Techno was supposed to always look big and strong, he was undefeated in a fight and getting stronger by the day. He was supposed to be Tommy's dauntless big brother who the younger could hide behind whenever he got scared. Techno wasn't supposed to look so sad and broken to the point it made Tommy want to protect him, but it also put things into perspective. Made Tommy think maybe he needed to get stronger so he could stand in front of his brothers when they were the ones who were hurting. 

"We..." Techno glanced at his two brothers, pausing to swallow before he continued. "We were exploring the caves the other day. That day you had to come get us because we got overwhelmed. I couldn't handle it, dad, I couldn't take it. I'm supposed to be the strongest, but I couldn't..." Techno stopped and shuddered, his new wings fluffing up as Phil ran a reassuring hand down Techno's back and through his hair. Even with the promise of a respawn the situation had been terrifying for Tommy, let alone Techno who'd stood in front of him as Wilbur with his teeth bared. 

It didn't need to be said why the situation had upset him enough to cause the wings to grow in. Techno was emotionally constipated, no questions asked, but Tommy had lived with that his entire life and could read his older brother decently well even for his younger age. 

Techno had taken up the protector role of their group just as quickly as Tommy and Wilbur had handed it over to him. Wilbur was gentle and artsy, an easy target. So Techno decided not to be. Tommy was loud and excitable with a smile that made the sun look bland, an easy target. So Techno decided not to be. Tommy had stayed up late one night and snuck out of his room only to hear Techno whispering promises to a sleeping Wilbur. Promising to always protect him and Tommy, to take good care of them no matter what. Jokes and playing and acting aside, to always stand at his brother's backs when it mattered. When it meant something.

When they'd gone exploring, it was almost too easy for them to get overwhelmed. Stupid zombie spawner that never got destroyed. In the end, Phil had realized something was wrong and come to get them. He handled the situation with an ease that three children simply couldn't. Techno had stared into space all glassy eyed the whole way home no matter how tightly Tommy had clung to his hand and whispered his own reassurances of everything being okay. Of him and Wilbur being okay. No amount of telling Techno how well he'd done and how little Tommy was hurt had been enough to pull Techno back to reality for the next couple days.

Phil had described the process to get wings as 'something that went against your very nature and values'. Something that went against the nature and values of Techno, who'd promised to always protect his brothers. Techno who'd been forced into a situation where he felt weak and helpless and desperate for any advantage against the continually growing horde. Even Tommy could put the puzzle pieces together.

Phil nodded quietly, remembering the world he'd lost after years to a baby zombie. How the tragedy of that had been enough to bring out his own wings. The loss and the inability to survive against something so seemingly small making him helpless. He wasn't shocked that Techno had reacted the way that he did. "We'll start teaching you how to fly as soon as your wings are big enough, okay bud?" Phil asked and Techno just nodded. 

"Is he going to be okay?" Wilbur whispered quietly to Phil when Techno finally stumbled away to their shared bedroom. Phil had offered to finally build Techno his own bedroom since they'd had the materials, but the twins had continued to share for the time being. Wilbur was kind of grateful for that now, made it easier to keep an eye on his twin.

Phil nodded, giving the pair a reassuring smile. "Techno had a really bad experience, but the beauty is that it's one he can bounce back from. There's going to be trauma for a little while, but the kind he can overcome if you all help. I've seen our kind have worse awakenings and I've seen our kind have better. This is something that's going to shape Techno in future, a lot, but it's also something that I know Techno of all people will have no issues recovering from! I wish it'd happened when he was a bit older, but he'll be fine. We just gotta take good care of him in the mean time."

"Is it going to be that bad for us?" Tommy blurted out, wondering if he or Wilbur would have to deal with zombies nearly killing them to get their wings. While the trend made sense considering Techno and Phil, Phil just shook his head with a small smile.

"it's not about the situation, it's about the emotions behind it. The mental and emotional pain. That's what causes it. For some people it could be as simple as losing a loved one. For others, it could be a bit more extreme. Sometimes it's hard to even tell the difference between humans in the family who never inherited the hybrid gene and hybrids who just never got their wings because it takes a world and a half to emotionally break them," Phil ruffled Tommy's hair affectionate. "They say there's a legend about the harder our kind are to break and make their wings appear, the stronger they have the potential to become. So always keep your chin up and keep smiling, okay bud?"

In a couple hours everything mostly went back to normal. It took a little bit, but it wasn't long before Techno was right as rain and more determined than ever to get stronger, as well as more determined when it came to teaching Tommy and Wilbur how to fight with a sword. 

The youngest in question idly wondered to himself what would hurt more. Becoming the only member of the family without wings and being left wondering for the rest of his life, or getting them at all.

Wilbur was, understandably and almost expectedly, the next to get his wings. After all, he was a person who was deeply tied with his emotions and Tommy just never seemed to stumble, seemingly an unbreakable object.

Though, Wilbur would also be the first to admit that the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of his wings were strange to say the very least. There were a least a million different ways he could have gotten his wings, but Tommy at ten years old and Wilbur at fifteen really hadn't expected that one of all the billions of possibilities that a broken heart and a broken guitar would be the one that actually brought them out. 

In hindsight maybe it made sense, considering the kind of person that Wilbur was. At the actual time of it happening, well, everyone except Phil had been baffled. Wilbur himself included.

It started with Wilbur getting his first girlfriend. That was normal, at least in Tommy's head. Wilbur would be the first to get a girlfriend. Wilbur was charming and charismatic, artsy in the serenade you with love songs kind of way. Not to mention even if he was fifteen, he wasn't the worst looking fifteen year old to other fifteen year olds. Tommy would have been the first to get a girlfriend if it wasn't for the five year age gap putting him at a clear disadvantage, surely. Techno obviously wasn't going to be the first. He had all the abilities of a potato when it came to socializing and wasn't even half as tasty when baked in an oven and smeared with butter! At least, Tommy hoped none of them were tasty when baked in an oven and smeared with butter. 

That particularly distressing line of thought had led to Tommy rather nervously asking his dad if anyone had ever eaten a hybrid, especially the ones that were typical farm animals like cows and pigs. Apparently seeing where that line of thought was going Phil had immediately responded by telling Tommy that piglins were not in any way edible. The few deranged enough to try (most were put off by the fact piglins already looked human enough without taking the time to consider hybrids) reported that apparently piglins not only tasted awful but were toxic. It soothed some of Tommy's worries but not all of them. 

Regardless, all that considered, Wilbur would be the first one to get a girlfriend doubtlessly. Tommy just thought Wilbur would have had better taste. In fact, to this day it was one of the few things every (including Wilbur) member of the family agreed on. Wilbur's first girlfriend had been awful. 

Tommy didn't know what the word e-girl meant but Tommy didn't like he from moment one. She was rude, flirting with other guys right to Wilbur's face, and was constantly convincing him to buy her expensive things she didn't really even need. Fifteen year old Wilbur, unlike ten year old Tommy, knew no better. He wrote her songs and doted on her all the same. 

Because Tommy knew better and didn't want to see his own brother getting hurt, he tried to speak up. It inevitably just led to fighting. 

Techno kept clear of the entire battle, figuring this was just one of those things he couldn't protect his twin from and that Wilbur would eventually get the reality of the situation through his thick skull if it hit him over the head enough times. He realize she was an awful person and he should get, deserved even, someone better for him.

Tommy on the other hand refused to let Wilbur get his heart broken by someone he'd only met once or twice and already hated with every fiber of his tiny ten year old body. There were few things as powerful as the hatred of a preteen, and as much as Tommy didn't look like a piglin he acted like a piglin. Wilbur and Tommy threw insults at each other without hesitation and the household became a battlefield with Techno and Phil trying to remain neutral parties even if they agreed with Tommy.

Phil had apparently figured it was a mistake Wilbur needed to make. There wasn't much damage the girl could do anyways. Sure, Wilbur might lose a couple months worth of allowances but there was nothing well and truly awful she could do. Tommy was just overreacting as he often did. 

Or so the other two members of the family assumed. 

Tommy knew better, but the family had yet to learn there was a universal rule about listening to Tommy when his instincts started yelling.

The girl wasn't physical abusive towards Wil. Techno would have noticed that immediately and put an end to it, violently if he had to. No one messed with his twin. Emotional manipulation, however, wasn't something Techno was readily equipped to as easily recognize. 

Tommy did notice, but he didn't really have the vocabulary to explain what he was seeing at the time. He understood, and he knew why it was wrong, but he didn't know what to call it or how to explain it, simply cataloging it away for later. The gaslighting, the insults, the slow build up to making Wilbur reliant on her. Tommy didn't know what any of it was on a technical level, but he recognized it as wrong and stored it all away in a corner of his mind for later. He also realized that Wilbur was apparently pretty prone to falling for this kind of thing considering how he bit down on the hook and wouldn't let go.

Not until she let go of him. 

They were only together for a total of three months, but it was three months too many in Tommy's expert opinion. Three months where he and Wilbur wouldn't even speak to one another without things devolving into a screaming match. The promise they made to Techno all those years back remembered, but pushed aside. Wilbur was convinced that she was The One and Tommy was convinced that this girl needed to go. 

Wilbur finally believe Tommy and started to take Tommy's opinions with the weight they deserved once those three months had ended. After all, it took Techno and Phil a week to realize and they never comprehended the full scope. Tommy had called it immediate. After those three months though, Wilbur never doubted Tommy as a judge of character a second time. 

Everything went down pretty much how the family had expected it to go down, with a couple of small unexpected bit here and there. The girl dumped Wilbur for someone with more money and better looks who was a good number of years older than them. Someone that would probably do the same thing to her that she'd done to Wilbur. Tommy didn't care about the continuation of that cycle of mutual use and abuse as long as he got his brother as far away from it as possible.

What Techno and Phil hadn't expected, that Tommy had mind you, was the way in which she tried to 'break' Wilbur on the way out. Every nasty word and every little tactic to make him shatter. Which would have been fine on its own. Wilbur was a lot of things but like the whole rest of his family he was exceptionally quick to bounce back. Perhaps not as quick as Tommy, but no one could take blows the way Tommy could and something told him that this encounter wasn't going to be enough to shatter Wilbur's romanticism anytime soon. He'd mope for half a year, sure, but the next time he found someone... 

Then on her way out she did the one thing she really shouldn't have. 

Wilbur's most treasured possession had always been the guitar that Tommy and Techno had made together under Phil's supervision for Wilbur and Techno's tenth birthday. Tommy had come up with a really cool idea, and decided that he'd work with each twin to help them make a gift for the other. Of course, Tommy had been more of a pest than an aid at five years old, but he'd been the one to come up with the idea that Wil should make a sword for Techno and Techno should make a guitar for Wil. Both of them had been asking Phil for a while at that point. Wilbur had a couple of different instruments but the one he wanted the most was a guitar, and Techno had only been allowed wood swords up until that point.

Both twins liked the idea and Phil agreed to help. It was the most fun Tommy had ever had, working with his brothers to help each make their gift special. The guitar that he and Techno made wasn't very good, same for the sword, but each boy had treasured the item with every fraction of their heart. The guitar meant the world to Wilbur, so of course she just had to go and break it as a last laugh of sorts. 

Honestly, that was probably what snapped Wilbur out of it. He would have went on missing her for a while after and would have spoken of her fondly for years if it hadn't been for that final act of malice. It was probably what Wilbur most needed to remind him of the fact that his brothers matter more than some girl he'd had a crush on. He went into shock for a couple days after that, staying in his room and cradling the guitar that was beyond salvageable. Techno had given him as much space as possible by sleeping in Tommy's room. 

The two absolutely had Not planned any elaborate murders while they waited out the days for Wilbur to return to them. 

When the older boy left his self isolation the misery had given way to raw anger as well as apologies he'd directed towards Tommy and the rest of his family. At the very least, the agony had given way to a large pair of wings that matched Techno's own brown in size and shape. 

In the moment it really hadn't made sense, but it retrospect someone as dramatic as Wilbur and someone who felt their emotions as strongly as Wilbur would get their wings from just this type of encounter. Wilbur felt in ways that were different, the same way that Techno and Tommy felt their emotions differently from the rest of their family. For Wilbur who was the physical manifestation of the phrase "Theater Kid", Well, it made some kind of sense. At least to Tommy. 

When Wilbur and Techno turned sixteen, Tommy and Phil had worked together to make them their gifts. 

Techno got a new sword and Wilbur a new guitar, to replace the one that was lost. It was a bitter sweet moment and Techno put away his old sword, laying it to rest almost. Ever and always, the duo were supposed to match. 

Before midnight struck, though, when everything started to turn quiet and sleepy, Tommy had snuck into Wilbur and Techno's room to leave the one gift he'd worked alone on. Wilbur's old guitar, carefully pieced back together with carpenters glue. The sound was scuffed and it was fragile, but it was there and in Tommy's opinion it still matched well with Techno's old and misshapen blade which had been beat up, broken, and reformed countless times throughout the years. 

Wilbur and tommy never said anything about it, but Wilbur pulled him aside the next day and wrapped him in a hug that didn't end until the years finally stopped falling from Wilbur's eyes and their little shared world was pieced back together and made whole just like the guitar. 

As Tommy got older and older, the wings of the twins grew bigger and bigger. Phil did his best to teach the pair how to fly while also still paying attention to Tommy as best he could. Phil was good about that. There were a million moment where Tommy could have felt like the abandoned youngest, forgotten for his lack of wings, where Techno could have been made the unspoken favorite. But that never happened. They were all equally cared for. Equally loved. It didn't matter if Tommy didn't have wings.

Really.

It didn't matter. 

When Techno was old enough and strong enough, eighteen if Tommy remembered things correctly, Techno had pulled Tommy up into his arms and had taken the younger flying with them. He'd clung to Techno for dear life and marveled at the world while something deep in his blood had stirred and cried out. Screamed over how right it felt to be up there, and how intoxicating the feel of the wind rushing past his ears was. The feel of the air nipping at his cheeks and ruffling his messy locks as the sky few past him and welcomed him with open arms. It got to a point where Tommy very nearly broken into tears the moment Techno set him back down on the ground, ruffling his hair affectionately while Tommy got used to the mournful feeling of suddenly being land locked. 

He'd considered this conundrum once when Techno first got his wings. 

Would it be better to always be stuck wondering if he was the only one in the family earth bound for eternity, to be stuck this way, or would it be better to swallow down whatever agony and hurt came with earning the wings that could take him far away. Up into the sky that seemed to cry back when his heart cried out to be up there. In his entire life he wasn't sure if he'd ever felt so well and truly desperate, if he'd ever wanted something so much to the point it hurt to think about. 

If he purposefully exposed himself to that kind of suffering would it even be worth it? Maybe he was just the odd one out. Maybe the only way he took after his father was with his hair and eyes. Maybe, just maybe, he only took after their mother in terms of hybrid traits. There would be no wings to greet him. To relieve him. To tell him yet, it was okay, everything was perfectly well and find now because he'd hurt and called out for freedom and that call was answered. Free. That's what made the wings his brother had so alluring. Freedom and the ability to overcome when faced with adversity. They represented the force of his brother's wills. 

Tommy's thoughts started to slow and blur the longer he considered the fact it just didn't matter. Surely, at this point, he could say with almost certainty as much as his heart yearned for it he had no wings. Nothing would come to greet him when he faced his most painful trails. 

Eh, it wasn't the first time he'd made himself the black sheep of the family. It wasn't even the first time his genetics had done that. He knew his brothers and father still loved him all the same. Knew that his brothers and his father wouldn't love hi many less when he never got his wings. He could still remember slowly falling asleep curled up in Phil's lap as a child with Techno pressed into his side and Wilbur's hands slowly running through his hair. The low he'd felt and the promise he'd made with his brother had been something real and had kept him from ever doubting his place in the family. 

So yeah. He smiled quietly to himself. He didn't need any stupid wings for his family to love him. So really, it didn't matter.

Yet, he still found himself craving for the bite of the wind and the endless skies that had started to greet him in his dreams. The slightest glimpse of something large and crimson over his shoulder. 

Time passed. Joy, sadness, it all kind of blurred together into a big mixture, but the overwhelmingly predominant feeling was joy. Happiness that painted his days. He and his brothers traveled from world to world, their father sometimes joining them. Challenges and SMPs, the names of which slowly faded from his mind with time. Phil and Techno becoming Kings of an Empire. It takes over the world. 

Wilbur was the one to put them on trial. 

There was accusation resting heavy in his tone, and Tommy's jeers ran out from the background while Phil and Techno tried to defend themselves. The rest of the server was unequivocal pissed. The other two admins besides Wilbur himself were furious. They talked among themselves about punishments and for a moment it baffled Tommy how they were acting so genuinely angry. Because when he called Techno a bitch boy he could see the flash of amusement in Techno's eyes when the older responded in turn and he could hear the slight laughter seeping into Wilbur's tone when he read out the charge and talked about their punishments. 

There wasn't really any punishment. Maybe that was part of why Wilbur had decided to play the role of persecutor and judge. They're all good actors the four of them. Sometimes they don't even tell the servers they join that the quartet are related by the blood they sometimes force one another to shed. It's funnier that way when people figure it out. 

Tommy could practically feel the silent laughter and pride that rolled off of Phil waves as he watched the three of them. Pride over how much his boys had grown. Pride over the fact that their promise hadn't once faded, nor had the shimmering lights in their eyes. 

It's just the way that things work. Techno bullies Tommy, and in turn Tommy feigns indignation. It's only behind closed doors that the facades melts away into peals of laughter, the other members of the Antarctic Empire knowing to call him 'your highness' or 'Prince Tommy' whenever he decided to visit his father and the eldest. Wilbur got a similar treatment. 

Sure, sometimes worlds are lost. Phil had lost enough hardcore world, enough friends and memories to attest to that. Yet, they never lost each other and for all the impermanence around them Tommy was able to live in something a bubble. For all the teasing and the prodding Tommy could feel the warmth rise up in his chest when they're all done 'acting' and all the other 'players' get off the stage. When Techno claps a hand over Tommy's shoulder and rolls his eyes.

"Good job, kid," he said. Tommy's old enough to know about the voices, his own had started up a while ago. They're quiet when the four of them keep them entertained. The voices don't seem to expect they put on acts all the time. The voices understood that the four were still people. But they do expect some entertainment or else they start crying for blood or explosions or something else. When the four keep them thoroughly entertained, then the voice are more than happy to help when things stop being an act. It's only happened once, where one of them was at serious risk of genuinely dying and chat had been nothing but helpful if a little blood thirsty over the fact someone had the audacity to try and kidnap Tommy in the hub world of all places. 

So Tommy learned to act. When the voices get quiet, that's when Tommy could see the hints of brother affection poking through all the lays of repression. No one else in this world knew quiet yet that they're family. No one outside the four of them knew about the voices. 

It had led to some interesting situations when it came to people who didn't understand how the group acted behind door and took Techno's actions as an invitation to bully Tommy for playing the role of a nuisance. No one knew how his Techno was so much different than theirs, and how Techno's Tommy wasn't anything close to how he acted most of the time. There would always be those who looked at Tommy trying to trick Techno into a pit trap on to get killed multiple times in a row due to his persistence and take it as an invitation for they themselves to come bully the child. 

The record was always either set straight immediately by Techno himself or in some cases Techno would just discreetly help Tommy enough to either send them problem packing or annoy them enough to leave him alone. 

When they were alone, Tommy still silently admired Techno and Wilbur's wings. He grew up knowing the large grey feathery down of Phil's wins. The twins were a bit different. Their wings started a dark red like wine and it slowly bled into the familiar grey of Phil's. Tommy wondered what his wings would look like. Most of the time the twins didn't allow for their wings to actually show. Only Phil ever did, and even then he didn't show the fully impressive sixteen feet of his wingspan. Phil's magic allowed his wingspan to appeared halved, knocking it down to eight which was closer to what most other avians displayed. Techno and Wilbur's fourteen feet of wing quickly became seven when they used their magic but still allowed for their wings to show. 

There were also the antlers that had both come in, but in ways that favored the uniqueness of each of Tommy's family members.

Wilbur's antlers almost reminded Tommy of coral in the way they were shaped. Fractured multiple times over. They were probably the widest, but also the shortest. 

Techno's were smooth and upright, branching off a couple times but remaining in a close cluster and only ever branching off towards the top. 

Phil was the one who had antlers that actually reminded Tommy of an elk. Two pairs of long, smooth horn that started to branch out once it got an inch or so away from his skull. 

In fact, all three members of the family had at least one full inch of just horn before it started to branch and fracture. None of the three had horns that branched off immediately, right at the base where skull and horn met. Tommy wondered what his antlers would have looked like. 

With Phil being the only one on this server who could actually display his wings, Techno and Wilbur did get a little bit agitated. They hadn't fully realized it would keep them as ground as Tommy, unable to go flying with their father. 

That was pretty much how Technoplane was born. A running gag that would later result in Techno managing to win a competition against over a hundred people with just himself and two other people. Even though Tommy was one of the people to get destroyed by his older brother during that competition he couldn't help laughing whenever Techno cried "For the Orphans!" and destroyed another team in a matter of moments. He probably had one of the strongest and most amazing brothers in the world, huh?

Tommy was okay with never getting his wings as long as things like that never changed.

If Wilbur hadn't already gotten his wings, Tommy was pretty sure he could have had them by now. That's the thought that idly loops through Tommy's head as he watches the world blur past him. Event after horrible event visiting him and making Tommy crumble a little bit on the inside. The war for the disks, the war over pets, the war for L'manberg to be independent and then followed so quickly by the war to claim it back after it was taken from Wilbur and Tommy by a cruel dictator. 

Coming to this world had been a mistake. It was never going to be good for someone like Tommy. 

Tommy who'd always been a creature of controlled chaos. Born and bred under the love of his family and the encouragement of his brothers. Consequences hadn't ever felt real to him. Sure, SMPs ended and homes were destroyed but they could always be fixed and rebuild. Those had always been little things, anyway. It was a philosophy born from Phil's many hardcore worlds that would last for ages before being lost and needing to start over. Nothing was forever, but you could always pick up and start over. 

That was part of why Tommy didn't mind playing the role of a little shit. It was also what allowed him to seemingly bounce back so much easier than the rest of his family when L'manberg was taken from them for a second time. Not to mention the fact he knew he'd always have his brothers was a strong contributor to him never batting an eye at the destruction. His strong and amazing big brothers. 

One of them at least. 

Tommy could see Wilbur becoming more and more invested. Almost to an unhealthy degree and Tommy didn't know if it was still acting or if Wilbur had been slowly losing himself. Tommy didn't really care behind the curtain if Wilbur blew up L'manberg like he'd been threatening, but it stopped feeling like acting. It didn't help that Techno is all his glory lacked enough social awareness to think that they were all still acting. Tommy could have tricked himself into thinking that if Wilbur didn't start to feel noticeable unhinged. 

The show seemed like it finally dropped with Fundy. No, Fundy wasn't Wilbur's real son by any means. Fundy had just joined the world late for shits and giggle, having known quite a few of the people participating at the time. Because he spawned in L'manberg, Wilbur had jokingly declared Fundy to be his son and Fundy more or less went along with it. Wilbur though, he started getting attached, which made Fundy's apparent betrayal hurt him all the more. 

Then he told Phil to kill him. 

Then he didn't respawn. 

Tommy knew that Wilbur wasn't acting anymore, but even he was a bit taken off guard. Techno was realizing it himself for the first time. The server itself was half aware and half unaware of the fact that some of them were just acting. Playing pretend for the hell of it. Though the ones that were aware of it didn't really know who was acting and who wasn't. Tommy couldn't tell anymore what was real and what wasn't, and for the first time he felt a small hint of chill creeping up into his chest where the warmth of his family used to be. 

He curled up in the ravine that used to be Pogtopia after L'manberg was gone and Techno's withers dead. Techno and Phil found him. No one knew what to say so Phil and Techno just wrapped their wings around Tommy and allowed him to cry, tails lashing and eyes wet all around the room. 

"I don't wanna act anymore. I wanna go home, dad. I wanna go home. I want Wilbur to come home," Tommy whimpered pathetically and Techno held him a little tighter. He half registered the fact that Techno was shaking. This was a cruel reminder of exactly why Techno had gotten his wings in the first place, the same way that Fundy had been a cruel reminder to Wil. Protection. Trust. Those broken ideals laid shattered among the coal dust lining the floor and glinted in the weak torch light like shattered diamond. 

"I know, Toms, I know," Phil whispered. Tonight he was just as helpless as the other two. 

Tommy started to feel sleep clawing at him as he sunk back into the warmth of his remaining family. Some of the ache slowly ebbed away enough for the tension to leave his shoulders. "Guess I'm just a piglin hybrid. If I was like you guys you'd think I'd have gotten my wings by now," he muttered before slipping into the dark warmth of plush feathers and the scent of childhood. 

Tommy wasn't sure if Wilbur's ghost made his death hurt more or less. After all he really was a phantom of the Wilbur that used to exist and Tommy for the life of him couldn't tell if it was genuine or acting. Maybe his accidental respawn stall had jolted him enough to return to his sense. Or maybe Wilbur was fractured enough the lines had started to blur. Once again, there wasn't a person on the SMP who knew the relationships that went on behind the scene when it came to Tommy and his family. Maybe Dream, but he wasn't as all powerful as he thought and he certainly wasn't all knowing. Phil and his boys had tricks up their sleeves. Phil most of all. Hybrids tended to age differently depending on what they were. Of course, a dragon hybrid of any type was bound to live for centuries at the shortest. There was no telling how old Phil, who still had such a youthful air, actually was. He sure as hell hadn't told the boys and they'd found that their hybrid dragon type was one of the longer lives subspecies. 

Which meant that Tommy should have died before Wilbur, not the other way around.

The one reassurance Phil gave was the fact this was temporary thanks to circumstances. The fact he persisted as a spirit was enough proof. Wilbur could be brought back. There were ways to revive him while the SMP was still going, or he'd be released and probably wake up in their homeworld after the SMP ended. The hard part was Dream... The members of the server were banned from entering the End. Which regretfully was where they needed to go. They needed dragon breath for the potion to revive Wilbur. Or they at least needed Dream to spawn it in.

He'd refused. 

They weren't sure if he was acting or just being some kind of megalomaniac but the longer his actions persisted the less the members of the Sleep Bois family started to care. Phil was about ready to fight Dream.

Then Tommy got exiled. By his best friend. And suddenly Tommy was alone with only Ghostbur for companionship and he couldn't tell who was acting and who wasn't. This isn't permanent, he kept repeating that to himself. It was the only thing that kept him sane as Dream dropped him off in the middle of nowhere and Ghostbur tried to do everything in his power to perk Tommy up. This isn't permanent. 

But Tommy was alone and that hurt. 

Techno came to check up on him once. The gentle tease and prod was familiar. It was an act, but not an act they were putting on together to play. Any mention of Dream brought an awful grimace to Techno's expression and he'd return to taunting Tommy for being Theseus. Ah. Tommy got it now. He didn't take the teasing to heart. 

What he instead took to heart was the concerned glances continually pinned to Tommy's back. As though Techno expected wings to be there. Like wings would finally appear now of all times. Hadn't Tommy been through enough? Wouldn't they be here by now? Still though. The concern tripped something in the pit of Tommy's heart and he felt warmth rise up from the bottom of his stomach. Techno still cared and Wilbur was going to be staying with him. That was enough. All he needed was his family anyway. Techno loved him and for all the teasing and acting and the visible distrust of Dream, he'd come to check up on Tommy. See if Tommy was under enough to distress that wings would appear. Enough to attempt rescuing him.

Of course they wouldn't. Tommy had given up on that. But the sentiment stirred enough resilience in his chest that he thought he could handle this. Techno had dropped his own act. The anarchy shtick gone the moment Wilbur begged for Phil to kill him. Phil wasn't acting either, that much was obvious by the spread of books on his tables and necromancy tomes when Tommy said his goodbyes. They'd ban together, and actually go all out. Techno who'd been holding back. Phil who was very much still the angel of death. And Tommy who was willing to live and die for his family. They'd get their Wilbur back and then they'd go. Maybe they'd bring Tubbo. That'd be nice. Tommy wanted to find a new SMP and make a new Antarctic Empire. 

After the last couple months he though he could do with all the members of his family standing on the same side of the stage for once. Taking over an SMP the right way and ruling the world.

Dream was the only person who still visited Tommy while he was in exile, which for all his whining and moaning he could kind of get. Most of the server still though they were playing a game because when death doesn't exist except for extreme cases people forget that there are still some thing that could be permanent. Actions and inactions were the perfect example of that. It hurt, but at least Tommy could understand. 

What he didn't understand was Dream.

Dream who visited constantly just to harass him. Dream who would blow up his armor and tools only to then turn around and chat like the two of them were old pals. Dream who would discreetly insult every little thing that made Tommy Tommy while also reminding him what great friends they are. Dream who made the line between acting and being serious too blurred for Tommy's tastes. That's what Tommy always liked about his brothers. They were good about knowing where and when to draw that line and how to never cross over it. 

Dream wasn't.

In fact, Tommy's most recent encounter with Dream included a couple of things that just felt off to Tommy. Strange touches and demeaning looks that were delivered with sweetly cooed lines like "I'm doing this for you!"

A memory tugged at the back of Tommy's mind but he was too distracted by other things to actually pull it out and process the strange sense of deja vu that makes him think of Wilbur whenever Dream was around. The inkling of something familiar and dark that made his stomach churn and made him want his brothers. 

They weren't there though. Ghostbur had all but disappeared. Techno hadn't visited often in the first place and his visits had become increasingly less frequent as apparently L'manberg started to cause him troubles. Something about a butcher gang and an execution. Things that made Tommy disgusted and made him wonder if maybe he should add anarchist to the next character he decides to play.

If there's a next time. 

He ignored that thought. 

Phil hadn't visited even once he dully registered as the sun made it's way into thy sky and promised another visit from dream. Tommy kind of understood why at least. Wilbur really did need to come first. He was the top priority everything considered. Tommy could survive out in a little measly exile. He was Tommy the unbreakable. Wilbur though, Wilbur needed to be revived as quick as possible. He needed his brother back, and badly. Till then, Tommy could wait. 

That thought only forced him to actually acknowledge the dull and lonesome ache in his chest and why he felt so empty for lack of a better word. He desperately wanted, needed, his family back. He wanted to go home. The words played on loop in his mind like a music disk. He'd give up a thousand music disks if he and his brothers could just go home with their dad. He needed it so desperately. Yet, here he was alone. Ghostbur was probably with Phil, the two were probably working towards bringing him back. Techno was probably working on restocking his gear after everything that happened. When everything was fine again, maybe they'd all move in with Techno. That'd be nice. Tommy missed the Antarctic Empire. He wondered when the snow and the cold had started to bring the word home to mind. Maybe when he started associating it with curling up under piles of blankets and pressing his side to Phil's while Wilbur strummed his guitar on the other side of the room and Techno waxed poetic, telling story after story. Sometimes singing if Tommy cajoled him enough. 

He wanted to hear Wilbur and Techno sing a duet again. Something upbeat he and Phil could clap along to as they listened and sipped cocoa. 

Tommy missed it so desperately and even though the sun was just rising he started to doze off into an empty sleep, thoughts wandering to those times. He woke up to someone kicking him in the chest. 

He was vaguely aware when Dream started to lecture him. "Just shut up already, this isn't fun anymore!" He snapped. Dream had woken him up from the only sleep he'd gotten in the last couple days. And with thoughts of his family in his head no less. The icy ache in his chest returned full force. 

Dream went very quiet after that. Then he exploded. Literally and figuratively. Figuratively in the sense he started yelling and screaming at Tommy. Telling him he wasn't playing around. Literally in the sense he started placing TnT all over. Now, Tommy didn't really care all that much about the place he'd built up during his exile, but the principle upset him. It finally clicked why this all felt so familiar. Wilbur's first ex. The pieces slotted together and just left Tommy numb. Dream was trying to manipulate him. Make him into a pet. Or maybe something worse. Either way the isolation, the actions, they all clicked together into something more coherent and Tommy was just left feeling empty and numb.

"Remember, Tommy, I'm the only one that silly cares about you. No one in L'manberg cares about you anymore. Wilbur doesn't and Tubbo sure as hell doesn't. I'm hurt that you'd treat your only friend in the world so harshly, so this is your punishment. Since I care about you though, I'll be back in a couple days. Try to learn your lesson this time, or I might really leave you for good." 

The threat feels empty to Tommy as he mutely considers the remains of Dream's anger. The only thing standing is a singular cobblestone tower overlooking the sea. Dream probably assumed a couple times that Tommy was thinking about throwing himself off it, but was just too much of a coward. That wasn't entirely right, but it wasn't entirely wrong. Not in a suicidal sense, but more in the sense that the sky felt safe. Free fall felt safe. He'd spent hours throwing himself off of pillars and into the sea after or something that would break his fall after Techno and Wilbur both got their wings. He couldn't forget how natural it felt those few times that Techno had taken him flying with them. 

The taste of the free fall, the feeling of being cradled by nothing but open air, being completely severed from the earth, it honestly and truly felt like he belonged there. Belonged in the sky with his brothers. But no wings ever came. At least he still belonged with his brothers if not in the sky. Right?

If Dream would have waited a couple more weeks to have a blow up at Tommy then his tactics might have worked. The connection probably wouldn't have been made and Tommy could have fallen prey as easily as Wilbur once did. But he didn't. Tommy did, however, let his thoughts chafe against one another as he made his way towards the cobblestone tower with the intention of flinging himself into the sky until the blood rushed to his cheeks and the adrenaline blotted out the empty ache. 

Brothers. Family. He belonged with them. Right? 

So why hadn't they visited? He understood they were all busy. Things were awful. The Dream SMP was perhaps their greatest mistake and Tommy wished he'd never set foot here. Yet his brothers and him always stood together even when they kept the details of their relationship a secret. They were always allowed to have their wings out with each other and Tommy could free his tail and stop covering up his ears with his hair in those moments they spent together because acting aside they were a family and his brothers would always be there for him. 

So where were they? 

They hadn't abandoned him surely. But they weren't here to protect him either. Techno, where was Techno? The Techno who swore to go to the ends of the earth and back protecting Tommy and Wilbur. Or the Wilbur who swore that family was the most important thing to him. Or Phil who swore he'd always keep their little trio safe and love him with all his heart.

They hadn't abandoned him, there was no way. But why weren't they here to keep him safe from Dream? Where were his big brothers? 

The pain splintering Tommy's chest became overwhelming. It moved outwards, centralizing in his back but lancing through his entire body with the beating of his heart. He pushed his back against the outside of the cobble tower as a way to steady himself but ended up toppling forward all the same. 

The pain continued to sear through his entire body but was the most intense in his back. It was almost enough to mute the shuddering pain in his chest. But it only took a couple thoughts for the pain in his back to make the ache in his heart even worse. "Wilby! Techie! Da!" Tommy cried out pathetically, pawing at the sand as it felt like his skin was being bust open and bones rearranged. He cried out those three words over and over like they were some kind of pray as the pain slowly, slowly, slowly crawled through him till he felt like his back was splitting open. Some part of him recognize the fact warm liquid was slowly oozing from the spot where it felt like his skin was tearing apart. He could hear it, he could hear the skin in his back ripping and he shuddered physically as another wave of what he loosely identified as muscle spasms coursed through him. 

Ah yes, this was how he died, a small sarcastic voice in the back of his head muttered. The sardonic tone was mildly reminiscent of Technoblade and he clung to it. Trying to retain any scrap of his sanity as the pain, the over whelming and ungodly pain, continued to ravage his entire being. 

He was too out of it to fully recognize what was even happening to him when he felt the skin fully rupture on his left side and something pull out and away from his body. What felt like another limb suddenly spawning into existence, but Tommy lacking even a fraction of the strength necessary to control it. He grit his teeth as another set of rips and shudders finally freed whatever burst from his body on the right. 

Tommy didn't know how much time had passed but by the time the... whatever had just happened was over the sun was slowly bleeding into a twinkling twilight. Hadn't it just been a little after dawn when Dream appeared and blew everything up?

All of his senses were dulled but Tommy did recognize the fact that night meant danger. With the pain fully having passed to some degree, the adrenaline that was finally starting to fade was immediately replaced by a fresh batch. Instinct took her, an animalistic kind as his body reeled and the word danger repeated over and over in his mind a million times. Like a ton of voices screaming at him at once. He wondered if this was how the rest of his family felt and he choked back a sob at the thought of his family. Sure, Tommy had gotten his voices a while ago. But they'd always been little more than a dull whisper where as his father and brothers describes theirs as more of a roar during moments of danger. This was most certainly a roar.

Get up, the voices encouraged, get up they told him. They told him a direction. Told him to walk. He felt something attached to his back as the clawed this way up, wiggling till he was facing the tower and could draw himself up by the nails. The new appendages, he was unnerved by the way he could feel them pressed against the earth. He did his best to move them. Still out of energy and the new... things feeling mildly numb. But he was able to pick them up off the floor and he mindlessly pulled them close to his body. Running on practically nothing he obeyed the voices without question, turning the direction they'd told him and walking. 

It was a couple days later when Dream came to check up on Tommy like he promised.

There was no Tommy.

Just a lone cobblestone tower and what used to be a puddle of blood at the bottom of it, dried into the earth after so much time but still very much present. 

Normally when someone respawned, their body disappeared. Wilbur's hadn't. There was no telling if this was a case of a body disappeared in respawn or devoured.

That was... Dream wasn't entirely sure how to feel. Annoyance? Yeah. He decided to settle on annoyance. This threw his plans out the door. 

It was only a couple hours later that same day that Tubbo had the misfortune of visiting. Coming across the exact same scene. Unlike Dream, however, his first and immediate reaction was a sense of horror that was only dulled by the overwhelming grief that made him flee home.

Techno hadn't gotten the chance to visit Tommy for the same reasons that the boy in question had been able to guess. The whole of L'manberg was a mess but at least they'd somewhat banded together behind the cause of trying to revive Wilbur. Luckily they'd gotten the item needed and were working on getting Wilbur fixed up, but afterward Wilbur and Phil weren't allowed to come with Techno. They had to stay there in L'manberg. And Tommy had to stay in exile. It grated on Techno's nerves in a way that made his teeth grit. Obviously he had no intention of actually following those order. It was time to change the script a bit, and he'd kidnap the rest of his family if he had to.

That's why he was working so damn hard to get better gear. He needed better gear. They didn't have an admin in the family for this world and frankly Techno didn't trust their existing admin so he had to do whatever he could to protect their little family.

Didn't stop his from worrying himself sick over Tommy. Tommy the unbreakable was still a child very much under the age of eighteen and Techno was not okay with leaving him alone for this long but he needed just a couple more things before he could defy Dream. Primarily his old stuff, but the denizens of L'manberg hadn't been too accommodating no matter how much he tried to say he wasn't acting anymore and he was worried about his family. 

This SMP needed a damn safe word. His family had one for this very reason. At least Wilbur was Ghostbur. He was pretty sure actual Wilbur, for all his romanticism and gentle talk, would have absolutely flipped his shit by now considering the state of Tommy's whole existence. Techno didn't even know the worst of it. 

Not until a quiet knock with a familiar pattern tapped against his door. A knock that wouldn't belong to anyone looking for trouble. A knock he couldn't help but hope... "Who is it?" 

"Tommy."

Techno immediately swung the door open.

The first thing he saw was wings. Massive wings. Wings the started off the same wine red as Wilbur and Techno's wings before tapering off into a brilliant crimson that fit Tommy so damn much. They were bigger than his, maybe even bigger than Phil's. Techno couldn't tell. They sat awkwardly, half folded against Tommy's back like he didn't know how to fold them properly or it hurt to do so. Which made sense. Techno and Wilbur had both complained about their backs hurting for at least a week. The wings had come as such a shock each time, no one ever had the chance to explain just how painful the sensation of new limbs tearing their way out of your body could be. Phil had taken care of Techno and Wilbur. Had let them fall asleep in his lap afterwards. Had let them sleep for days afterwards and treated them so tenderly. 

Tommy had dealt with this alone. Given the looks of him, Tommy had immediately waddled off in the direction of Techno the moment his wings were done coming in. Probably took him a while to get to Techno too, considering his feathers were already in. Tommy made Techno so very proud and so very terrified and he wanted nothing more than to tell him that and whisper affirmations but Techno was no good with words and comfort. 

Instead the first this that managed to tumble out of his stupid mouth was "Who the fuck am I going to kill." 

Thankfully for Tommy, for the Tommy who'd just gotten his wings and for the reason why, it was such a Technoblade kind of response that it was exactly what Tommy needed so very desperately to hear like the air he needed to breathed. Tommy barked out a short laugh before stumbling slightly, falling right into Techno's arms with a sigh that sounded so relieved it struck Techno to his very core. 

"Dream's a little bitch baby. Tried to act like Wilbur's ex. Said how no one cared about me anymore. Got lonely. Missed you guys," the words slurred together as Tommy tried to speak. Some didn't even come out as actual words but Techno got the point. 

Techno remembered how he'd gotten his wings. The pain of being unable to protect his family.

He remembered how Wilbur had gotten his wings. The pain of being betrayed.

He remember how Phil had gotten his wings. The pain of losing something important. 

He thought that perhaps it made sense then, and was almost all too fitting, that nothing else had been able to break Tommy who'd always had Wilbur or Techno or Phil beside him. Techno always knew that his brother was strong, so strong emotionally for all Techno was physically. The brother who loved their little family dearly and refused to ever waver as long as one of its members was in arms reach. So yeah. It made sense he couldn't ever get his wings. The pain of being even hypothetically abandoned by his friends and family was the only thing that ever could have pushed him that far. 

In that way he and Tommy were a bit alike. People were their most valued treasure. It just manifested differently. 

He should have realized sooner.

He pushed the thought away. There were better things to worry about. Techno had to take care of his poor brother, and Dream had a countdown for when Techno finally took his head. 

"So we're not going to do that again," Phil said with a sigh as a now alive Wilbur gloomily nodded. Getting what they needed was difficult. Dream, wary of people going against him, had gone so far as to break all the end portals on the server. Leading to Phil having to negotiate with George. He'd also been given admin thanks to how much Dream favored him. At first he'd been hesitant but George had been noticing something off about the server lately. A number of citizens had gotten together to convince him and ultimately he'd given Phil the bottle of dragon breath he needed to complete the spell. Dragon breath to revive a dragon, after all. 

"Can we go get Tommy now," Wilbur asked after having received his lecture. Wilbur had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach like something was Very Wrong and had immediately become worried about his youngest brother who was not only alone but didn't have a secret hide out with traps and such. He was worried about Techno, but at least Techno had equipment and a house and no degradation to his combat skills thanks to fatigue and poor treatment. Tommy had none of those things. 

"Technically we're not supposed to leave town, but at this point I say we grab Tommy, grab Techno, and get the hell out. This is getting to be too much and you boys need a breath," Phil said. He was always the first to break a rule he didn't like and the last to be questioned so Wilbur sighed in relief and nodded, the two leaving the house. 

Only to be met by Tubbo's wails. 

The first warning sign that made old magic start to crackle in Wilbur and Phil's veins. "What's going on?" Phil called out, jogging to a group of people who looked distraught and absolutely beside themselves with agony. Tubbo's wails continued to cascade from him, such a tiny body making such loud and grief stricken noises.

"Tommy," he bayed, repeating the name over and over. 

"What happened to Tommy," Wilbur asked, voice bordering on a warning. People barely even registered the freshly alive Wilbur. They all seemed to internally agree to brush past that 'plot point' and treat Wilbur as normal. The story had gone entirely off the rails anyways. Though, some did notice that even during the whole Pogtopia incident, they'd never seen Wilbur genuinely threatening. Scary, sure, in the way that all deranged people are. But a couple people noted the warning in his voice and the narrow of his eyes and the ferocity of his stance the moment Tommy's name crashed from Tubbo's lips and they unknowingly saw the reflection of Technoblade that'd always been there. It was just that no one had ever cared to look.

Niki was the one who began to explain, thankfully speaking in coherent sentenced. "Tubbo went to go visit Tommy, but everything was completely blown up. Destroyed. The only thing left was a single cobblestone tower." She paused for a moment and neither of the two really registered how that could be a bad thing as long as it was near water, which Wilbur could at least remember it was considering his time as a ghost. They knew Tommy's habits. They knew how desperate he was to fly, how badly he craved it. Knew that he'd do anything to get a taste and that it was probably helping him stay say. "He found a patch of dried blood at the bottom. No body, but it looks like it'd been a couple days and," she paused, her breathing stuttering for a moment. "No one could survive a fall from that high up. I mean, the tower. It's safe to assume that," she trailed off again letting the implication hang in the air. 

Wilbur paused and short circuited. Phil seemed to be in a similar state. Wilbur had to try and rewire the hard drive as his thoughts blue screened. Phil recovered faster, putting together a pair of puzzle pieces that seemed to have no relevance while Wilbur was still trying to catch up with the implication his baby brother, his unfaltering baby brother, could ever in a million years think about doing something like that. 

"Were there any feathers?"

Niki looked at Phil in confusion before shrugging slightly. "I don't know, and Tubbo didn't mention anything?" She said. Phil's expression was unreadable. It was only then that Wilbur's brain actually caught up with the question Phil had asked and what it actually meant. 

If his dad's theory was right, then of course there would have been a pool of blood. And there also wouldn't have been a body. It would have still had a pulse and limped its way to Techno the moment it could stand. It made sense. It made sense and Wilbur clung to that hope with every bit of ferocity he could. "He's not dead." He blurted out loud. Trying mostly to convince himself. But a couple people stiffened and Tubbo's sob stuttered short as he turned on Wilbur. 

"How can you even say that? I saw it. It's all my fault, I should have been better-" Tubbo didn't get the chance to finish.

The voice of one of the men no longer allowed in L'manberg cut through the air coming from the direction of a not distant nether portal. "DREAM!" 

And Wilbur smiled, knowing immediately just from Techno's tone of voice that he was right. In all his years he'd only ever heard Techno take such a tone a handful of times. He knew his twin brother like the back of his hand. He knew that tone was the last thing he'd use if Tommy was gone for good. Wilbur knew the kind of guttural banshee scream of revenge, barely able to complete its words, that would have come from someone taking one of their them away from Techno. After all, Wilbur had heard it once before. The night that Techno had experienced the event which caused his wings, Techno had howled and screamed like an animal in warning as he held Tommy close to his chest and Wilbur behind him.

This wasn't that scream.

Wilbur knew this. This battle cry, this war howl. He knew it because the only times he ever heard it was in rightful revenge. The same cry that avenged his guitar after the awful experience Wilbur had with Sally. The same cry that rended the sky the first time Tommy experienced what it meant to be bullied. He could see in his memories an angered Techno staring down anyone who dared to get in his way, a small and battered but very much alive Tommy clinging to his older brother's leg. 

Techno stomped away from the nether portal, regal and terrifying. Wearing no armor and his only weapon was a netherite pick. He had no right looking as terrifying to the rest of the SMP as he did in those moments, a dark blue royal gown draped around his shoulders and his helmet missing in favor of his typical crown. His tail lashed behind him as the hooves usually obscured by boots clicked against the cobble. Yet another trait that all three brothers had shared, but was usually kept hidden from plain sight. 

"Where is he?" Techno demanded, watching the group shudder and recoil back. Perhaps, Techno with no armor was even more terrifying than Techno with armor, given the reaction. It was only after the immediate shock faded that eyes trailed towards the person trailing behind Techno, his gown gripped tightly in their hands as they stood as close as they possibly could without tripping. "Dream's gone too far this time and I need to talk with him. Seriously. So where is he?" Techno repeated.

Of course, no one paid attention to him. They were too focused on Tommy. The very living and breathing Tommy. Techno had managed to teach Tommy how to hide his wings before they'd left, but he hadn't really thought about hiding other things. No. The rest of the SMP needed to see this and understand exactly what it meant. The tail that was so much shorter than Wilbur's and Techno's curled and intertwined ever so slightly with Techno's own tail. The slight taper of Tommy's ears was visible as they poked outside of the awful rats nest that had become his hair. He shuffled hesitantly as he stood next to Techno, shifting from foot to foot in a way that made the hooves click against the ground. 

"So we're doing this are we?" Techno could pick up on Phil saying idly. In the back of the group he was glad to see a now alive Wilbur. A new alive Wilbur who was in the process of taking off his shoes and pushing his hair behind his ears. His tail couldn't be hid as easily as Tommy's. The trench coat had done the job well enough but now he didn't have it so it would be easy enough to see since Wilbur was going to have his back to the crowd anyway. 

With an unnerving kind of smile, one that promised horrors far beyond what Pogtopia Wilbur had done, Wilbur happily trotted up towards his brothers. "What exactly did Dream do?" Wilbur asked with a tilt of his head while the rest of L'manberg was slowly drinking in the startling fact that all three boys had to be piglin hybrids. 

"Helped him with his wings," Techno snarled in a low tone. No one else understood, but Phil and Wilbur tensed up immediately. 

"We're going to kill the bastard," Phil suddenly blurted and when it left his mouth it sounded like inarguable fact. 

"Wait, wait, wait," Fundy suddenly cut into the conversation. "What's going on?" 

Tommy who looked too small and too quiet suddenly lit up with a small spark of familiarity, eyes flashing dangerous. "Dream tried to isolate me from everyone so that he could manipulate me. He visited every day only to remind me that he was the only one who would visit. Hit me when I didn't behave and blew up my armor every time he came around. Then he'd just act all chummy and buddy buddy until he cut in with some line like when he asked me about my tower. The man asked me if I was planning to jump before cutting himself off and saying I wasn't since I didn't have the guts. He'd tell me how annoying I was and how nobody wanted me around, but he was sticking around because he cared about me and the exile was for my own good!"

It was obvious by the way Tommy's jaw tightened shut those were just a couple examples but they painted a vivid enough picture. 

"So," Techno cut in, put an arm around Tommy. "Since the situation has changed we're adapting to the situation. I will be talking with Dream. Afterwards I will take my brother and my father," he gestured to Tommy, Wilbur, and Phil, "and we'll be leaving this shit show of an SMP. For good. We joined on the premise of it being fun and games. Fought with one another on the premise of it being fun and games. It's no longer fun and games. Not when it starts to turn into emotional manipulation. We will be cutting off most if not all contact with the people from the SMP, Tubbo being a the exception and allowed to come with us per Tommy's own request. Bye." 

No one got in their way but Techno walked on one side of Tommy and Wilbur the other anyways. Phil immediately joined the group and took the front. They didn't know where Dream was but they had a guess. So they're going to tell him they're leaving and walk out. Easy.

It was in fact, not going to be easy. 

That didn't really change the fact they pulled it off without a hitch, but Dream threw what could be considered a temper tantrum the entire time. Hissing and spitting and cursing about how the couldn't leave because he was the ruler of this world. Hissing and spitting about how Tommy was his toy and they couldn't take him. If Dream wanted to break him, it was his prerogative. They shouldn't care. They hadn't given a shit about Tommy until he'd wandered up to Techno's house and pulled a sobby expression, Dream had thought better of Techno than that. 

"I didn't care until you genuinely started to emotionally abuse and manipulate my little brother. So we're leaving and we are never coming back." Techno said in a low growl. "Even if it means Wilby and our old man have to drag each and ever single canon life from your cold dead corpse." The promise of it not being pretty hung into the air heavily and kept any of the onlookers from stepping in.

"Three on one isn't a very fair fight you know. George, Sapnap!" Dream called. Neither moved. "What the hell are you waiting for?"

"Dude... Don't you think this is a little bit too far? Just let them leave," Sapnap said, looking a little unnerved. 

"I don't care! I own all of you! You're my toys and you'll do what I say!" That was perhaps the last straw. Considering it was one admin against three very, very angry dragons (angry enough to drop their illusions just to make sure Dream got the point) the fight didn't last particularly long.

In the end, their family weren't the only ones who left the Dream SMP that day. Everyone except for George and Sapnap left actually, with the other two having contacted a webhost to give them equal admin rights to Dream so they could work together on Dream's... apparent issues. As messed up as he'd become running the server he'd still been their friend at some point. They wanted to help him recover if it was at all possible. Everyone else didn't want to stick around in a world that was essentially his play ground. 

"Can I... Can I come with you guys," Tubbo had asked as the family of four was leaving, talking about what SMP they'd join next or if they'd go back to their home server and relax. When the question was asked three pairs of eyes turned to Tommy who was still clinging perhaps a little too close to Techno. Techno didn't have the heart to tell him off, instead wrapping an arm around him and resituating the other boy so the pair could actually walk. 

"Your call, bud," Phil told their youngest who looked at Tubbo with fatigue, but also a noticeable sense of relief and a small spark of joy. 

"Yeah. Come on Tubbo, let's go home," he said. The last bit of tension draining for his shoulder. The final lose end being tied up in a nice, hopeful loop for the two best friends who'd felt like twins flames since the moment they'd crossed paths with one another. 

Together the family of five went home, and Tommy finally got his first flight with his family on his own set of wings. Carrying Tubbo the whole time as they glided carelessly through the skies. There would be more adventures in the future, more chances at acting and playing roles. Instead of four, they'd just finally be a family of five. Four dragons and a child of Ianite, with the whole of the universe as their playground.