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L’manberg was gone. He had failed them. Tommy wanted to sink to his knees, bury himself in the remnants of their home and never come out. Not even being struck by lightning managed to do the job. The universe was really going out of its way to taunt him today.
When does it not. He thought bitterly.
A cacophony of screams raged inside him, demanding to be released, to show the world how much pain he was in. And oh, how much he wanted to. Alas, his voice had decided to betray him. Time and time again he had been let down. So why should this be any different? Why should he be surprised? He had given so much only to receive nothing but scorn. The weight on his back increased until he was barely hanging on by a thread. Was this how Atlas felt?
Tommy could vaguely hear the voices of Tubbo and Quackity through the haze that had overtaken his senses as they tried to reassure him. Their words fell on empty ears.
At last it was silent. The rain had slowed down to a simple drizzle and as if a dam had just been broken with empty air, the full reality of what had just happened struck him harder than Dream’s blade when Tommy wouldn’t comply. God. He was a terrible leader and an even more terrible friend. He tried, he really did! Deep down, he knew that it was hopeless. Their broken nation didn’t stand a single chance against the team-up between the Blood God and the god of Chaos and Destruction.
Yet he dared to hope and had given that useless hope to others. They must hate him more than they already did before. He can’t even fault them for it. He was sick and tired of himself too. The continuous quiet left Tommy alone with nothing but his thoughts. Without meaning to, they started to repeat the words Dream had told him time and time again in exile.
They don’t care about you. I’m your only friend Tommy. True friends don’t betray each other. I haven’t ever betrayed you have I? I’m the only one who keeps your spark alive. You should be thanking me but it’s ok. I’m here to be by your side.
If Tommy’s heart hadn’t been shattered enough already, the sight of Phil, the person who had taken him under his wings, in a literal sense as well as a metaphorical one, the man who promised to be his father and never hurt him, standing with his hands clasped on Ranboo’s shoulder and offering the young enderman hybrid a home with the avian and Techno as if Tommy never even mattered in the first place, was the final blow.
He turned his back to the duo, furiously pushing down the wave of jealousy and sorrow that rose through him. Ranboo deserved it. His friend was a kind soul. Phil would be a good father figure to him. It was about time he was replaced anyways. Everywhere he went, disaster followed.
That’s why they were all so insistent on teaching him those “lessons” wasn’t it? If they tried hard enough, they could quench his fire, bring it down and make it into something they can control. Instead of tending to the flame responsibly, they just fueled it, made its rage burn even brighter. They tried inflicting lessons they thought would do him good but it only served to push him further to the edge.
There was one thing they forgot in their haste to stamp out the part of him they considered a threat.
He was just a kid.
Kids weren’t supposed to be soldiers. They weren’t supposed to be forced into difficult crossroads that only ended in more pain and bloodshed.
The scars ran too deep to cover up now.
He found himself back in the Nether. It didn’t take long to find that ledge from all those months ago. This time, the story would be different. Tommy was done being a pawn. In his hands, Tubbo’s compass glowed dimly, the needle flickering weakly, pointing back the way he came as if it was telling him to turn around and not give in to the miserable voices in his head. He ignored it. He had to hurry. They’ll go to his house and find the letters soon. The final letters he would ever write.
The time had come for him to take matters into his own hands. He was going to be the last one holding the reigns of his fate, consequences be damned. Tommy would not die in disgrace. No. The furthest thing from it, actually. Every other choice he could’ve taken would just end in a victory for Dream and more cracks forming in his soul. He would not let Dream win. He refused to continue playing this twisted game. Let someone else be the puppet. The strings were going to be severed now.
Standing there, staring into the bubbling pit below, listening to its alluring siren song, Tommy remembered the words his older brother Techno told him that fateful day.
You want to be a hero Tommy? Then die like one.
He was no hero nor was he a villain either. He thinks. He’s not sure of much anymore. What he does know, though, is that heroes rarely get happy endings, and if this was the role he was supposed to play? Then so be it.
If he had just stopped to think for just one more minute, he would’ve heard Ghostbur screaming his name, Tubbo desperately moving as fast as his tired legs allowed him to, charred hands reaching for someone too far gone.
Without a second thought, Tommy jumped.
The lava gladly wrapped its soothing arms around his frail body, whispering soft nothings into his ears. Tommy closed his eyes, letting one last tear slip past. In the back of his mind, the voices of those he used to hold dear to his heart echoed a familiar tune. The son born and bred of fire had returned to where he belonged at last.
They say, "You're a little much for me
You're a liability
You're a little much for me"
So they pull back, make other plans I understand, I'm a liability
Get you wild, make you leave
I'm a little much for
Everyone
No one on the server slept that night.
The giant message that was broadcasted in the air felt like a punch in the gut.
[TommyInnit went up in flames.]
Another loss too great had been piled onto the survivors of the freshly fought war. As quickly as it had retreated, the rain returned with a vengeance. The skies mourned with the mortals and some swear that they could hear the deceased boy’s laughter ring out with the wind.
The sound of bells echoed throughout the night.
Somewhere, a father sat staring blankly at a wall, regretting his decisions to neglect his sons, regretting the fact that he never stopped to think about how he never bothered to hear the other side of the story. Somewhere, someone many had dubbed the Blood God had fallen to his knees, the shattered pieces of his boar skull headpiece around him long forgotten as everything his bloody hands had dealt out caught up with him. Somewhere, two other children clung to each other as their bodies were wracked with sobs, their only other company a ghost who remembered too little. Somewhere, a masked man frowned, his annoyance rising when he realized that he had just lost yet another card from his playing deck.
Gone was the person they considered a brother, a friend, a son, an enemy. Gone was their sun on earth, the one with so much spirit, who loved and hated and felt so much only to have it backfire in the worst way. Gone was TommyInnit.
The world will never be the same.