Chapter Text
——
tommy sighed, glancing out the dirty window to his left as rain drops graced the glass panel. he was surrounded by about 7 other villains, all having been acquainted with each other in the last 2 hours. dream needed a team to go out and eliminate a certain group of people working with the heroes whose operations were getting a little too big and too close to the crimson corps’ for dream’s liking. tommy’s masked mentor sighed when asked for more details, saying they were no big deal, a minor ant to be squashed. “just get rid of them, details aren’t important.”
because of tommy’s lightning type ability, the storm outside caused small lines of electricity to emit off of him. one of the villains in tommy’s group found the electricity annoying and gave him a glare, “hey kid! control your ability, the sparks are going to give away our fucking position you brat. i need this job, so don’t screw shit up.”
before tommy could reply, another villain in the room shushed the two and pointed down to the 3 enemies below with their 20 some bodyguards. everyone started to move to take them out, tommy staying behind to watch. while most assumed tommy was some sort of low tier villain, a nobody in the lower ranks that could be easily discarded they were very wrong. he was quite a high rank in the crimson corps, having trained and worked in the organization under dream since he was a kid.
tommy watched from the window as the group tried to take out the 20 bodyguards. as this was a minor job, dream didn’t get the highest ranked villains. tommy didn’t even recognize these people, faces or names. they were in a totally closed off area of town, there were way more villains than needed for this job and although these hero guys were a small deal, they were still big enough for more high ranking villains. tommy took this as his cue that dream probably wanted him to kill everyone there, that these extras that were sent with him were to be replaced. why send 7 nobodies and tommy when tommy was sufficient enough? dream often had tommy eliminate heroes and villains alike. many times said villains were spies, too weak, or let information slip. either way, they had to be taken out. he heard a ding from his communicator and looked to see a message from dream. “you know what to do.” confirming tommy’s thoughts.
making a dramatic sigh, tommy pulled himself up and brought his right arm in front of him, the sparks surrounding his hand freaking out as he gathered more electricity. tommy busted through the window of the warehouse and down to the group below in the rain, electrocuting everyone immediately. the yellow lightning bolt from the sky was bright and sudden, yet seemed to illuminate the whole area. tommy took out his communicator to confirm he was done with his assigned mission, waiting eagerly for a message back telling him ‘good job’ or ‘nice work.’ he would never admit it but dream’s approval, as little or small as it was, would always make him giddy.
he never got a message back.
——
when puffy and sam discovered the 30 dead electrocuted people in the spot they were supposed to meet up with a group of people who had intel on the crimson corps, they realized the corps knew about the interaction before hand and sighed in annoyance.
“looks like they got to them before us.” sam stated the obvious, walking over to a oddly dressed person, not in a typical bodyguard suit and instead what resembled a villain’s costume. “weird, this person looks like they’re one of the crimson corps’ goons..” sam examined, puffy nodding as the two picked out the 7 villains in the group.
“the crimson corps wouldn’t send out 7 villains for a job like this. they are also dead, meaning they aren’t very strong and thus not high ranking. why the hell would dream get 7 low ranking villains to kill some bodyguards and why are they dead?” sam questioned, crouched down analyzing the situation. “bigger question— who killed all of them? seems all of their causes of death would be electrocution.” puffy swiped a hand on the concrete, her gloved fingers turning black.
“crimson— he’s one of the corps’ high ranked villains with electricity powers, right?” sam snapped his fingers, getting up from his position when he saw the police sirens appear. “why would they kill their own people? seems.. cruel.” puffy looked down at the bodies and then up to the sky, still pouring with rain. she moved her hand to shield her eyes.
“they’re villains, they’re cruel like that.”
——
wilbur glanced out the large window of the capital force’s headquarters. it was a rainy day, the sky looking grimmer than usual. “phillll, i’m bored. nothing’s happened all day and the sky looks depressed.” he whined to his father. phil perked up, “oh, i heard puffy and sam found something on crimson! they’re still investigating if you want to go down and check it out.”
“mmm sure, whatever. either i stay here, dry and bored or slightly entertained and wet.” wilbur weighed out his choices out loud, getting up and sliding a brown overcoat on. he was still in his hero costume from earlier waiting for a villain attack, so he wasted no time rushing into the elevator, the door opening to techno who just got back from his patrol.
techno slipped inside the penthouse, giving phil a confused look and gesturing towards wilbur. “going to see a crime scene over at the abandoned part of town, the place sam and puffy were supposed to meet up with some people with intel on the crimson corps. you should join him.” phil answered, walking into the kitchen for a cup of coffee.
“…might as well.” techno muttered, grabbing his coat and exiting the apartment to follow after his brother who was already waiting on him at the bottom floor of the condominium.
“YOOOOO let’s go see some electrocuted bodies then!!”
——
tommy had taken off his mask at this point, deciding to take the long way back to headquarters in case a hero decided to follow him. he tells himself that’s the reason, but he actually just likes the rain. the noise was loud, yet peaceful. tommy could clear his mind and think about things as he walked back to hq.
as he got back to the populated area of town, he noticed a small cafe with a very enticing smell. he stopped and looked into the window, the coffee and biscuits being served to the customers looked amazing. unfortunately, tommy didn’t have permission to eat at random cafes on the outskirts of the city, and he had no money. sighing, he walked away from the window in the opposite direction only to slam his nose into a wall.
“fuck!”
“aren’t you like 15? why do you got such a dirty mouth?”
tommy looked up at the wall to see it wasn’t a wall, but the hero, octave. “shit—“ he immediately said afterwards glaring at the ground as if it was responsible for the run in with the hero.
“do you have any other words if your vocabulary, child?” octave teased, seemingly amused with the idea of pissing off the shorter boy.
tommy snapped his head up to stare right at the hero.
“i’m not a fucking child.”
——
the blonde boy’s glare was a bit harsher then wilbur expected and it was then he noticed the lightning sparks surrounding his body. he could feel techno’s stare wanting him to shut up and just leave the kid alone.
he decided he’ll do the exact opposite.
“aw, come on, don’t give me that look. what’s your name, child?”
the kid looked at wilbur with the deadest eyes and blankest stare and walked right fucking past him.
wil turned around to look at the kid with a shocked expression of betrayal as techno grabbed his shoulder trying to push him in the direction of the crime scene the two were originally heading to.
wilbur sighed dramatically, letting techno lead him to where sam and puffy were. “weird kid.” his brother commented, nodding as if just now deciding that.
“honestly, now that i think about it, since this is district 10 that fucker probably pick-pocketed us.” wil commented, lazily dragging his hand over his face at the sudden thought, checking his pockets, techno doing the same.
“oh, my wallet’s gone. you’re right.” techno blankly looked at wilbur. “how the fuc—“ before he could finish, there was a loud crash, almost explosion like sound. an alleyway a little farther back was totally lit up, a bolt of lightning striking it.
techno and wilbur rushed over to check it out, the bolt coming out of no where was weird and they had to go fetch techno’s wallet from the kid anyways.
when they looked into the alleyway they saw the blonde kid, a scowl on his face as he looked at an electrocuted dead guy. his whole body radiating sparks of electricity, especially around his right arm.
now that wilbur was looking at him, he noticed the black cargo pants, black undersuit and red crop top hoodie. the exact outfit that crimson seemed to sport when seen committing crimes. only difference now was that the hood was down and there was no black gas mask covering his mouth.
“oh, you’re crimson.” wilbur realized, snapping his fingers as techno already caught on and cut a bit into his arm to form a sword, getting into a fighting stance.
crimson turned to glare at the two, spitting out some blood and coughing from being out in the cold and rain for so long. kid probably caught a cold.
“didn’t you just kill like 30 people 2 hours ago? techno questioned, deadpanning. “he pissed me off.” crimson stared right back with the same blank look.
crimson jumped back, onto the walls of the alley and then up to the rooftops. the electric current surrounding his body stronger from the storm, wilbur noted before following the kid up.
with wilbur and techno on one roof and crimson on another, wilbur brought his com up to his face to call in sam and puffy. they were the closest heroes and sam’s ability allowed him to box people, and in wilbur’s case, he wanted to box the child.
“wait— you’re a child right? why the hell are you working for the biggest villain organization in the capital?” wil suddenly realized, “wait wait wait, and you’re one of the most well known villains too!”
as wilbur broke the situation down he made no attempt to be wary of crimson’s attacks. the kid jumped across the alleyway and onto techno and wil’s roof, trying to stike the rambling wilbur with lightning. wil didn’t even flinch as techno reflected the bolt, causing crimson to dodge his own attack.
seeing that he wasn’t going to be able to easily take these guys out, crimson stuck his arm up in the sky to summon another large bolt. he brought his hand down, the lightning striking the roof. however, when it cleared, crimson didn’t see octave or the blade anywhere. “the fuc—“ he whipped around barely dodging the sword coming at his neck.
crimson took a couple jumps back, deciding to use this time apart to slip on his gas mask. techno went to charge at the villain again with his blood sword during that time, dodging a bolt of lightning the kid sent out.
wilbur saw this as his cue to probably fight back, letting out a loud scream which gave techno a second to slice crimson as he covered his ears from the sound.
crimson moved out of the way just in time, still getting sliced on the side of his stomach causing his undersuit to rip and show a tattoo.
wilbur stared at the ink, seeing it was a smiley face with a 06 below it. he scrunched up his nose realization of what it represented. he heard that many of the crimson corps top villains had to get a tattoo to prove loyalty. the 06 suggested he was one of the earliest members, which was slightly unsettling considering his age. was it even legal for him to get a tattoo? who is he kidding, the kid’s a villain trying to murder him and his brother. legality isn’t something he’s worried about at the moment.
after that, the three got in a full blown fight with no breaks. crimson throwing out bolts of electricity every second, techno and wilbur dodging as they threw out their own attacks which consisted of stabbing and screaming. eventually the trio drew a crowd, many people from the cafe and surrounding buildings coming out to look at the fight.
“hey, kid, you’re not killing us and we’ve seen your face. just surrender and come in for questioning.” techno states bluntly, his sword scraping crimson’s clothes even more. the more rips and tears he got the more bruises not caused by the fighting could be seen.
“no, fuck that!” crimson yelled, coughing as he summoned another large scale bolt. the blood lose from the constant slicing combined with his cold visibly annoyed the villain, only wanting to go home at this point. they saw his face, but it’s not like he had a life outside of being a villain for the crimson corps.
just in the middle of techno and crimson’s duel, the kid jumped out of the fight and started running away, probably concluding that his best chances of survival were to flee. naturally, techno and wilbur started running after him.
“can you obsessed bitches leave me alone already?” crimson yelled, only to be met with a harsh coughing fit. “no can do, child!” wil teased, attempting to speed up. ‘where the hell were sam and puffy? it’s been at least 15 minutes of fighting this guy.’
as if on cue, when the kid attempted to turn around and send another large bolt their way he was boxed in a dark, purple tinted bared cell. “the fuck?” he yelled, grabbing the sides of the cage, coughing violently.
sam and puffy emerged from their hiding spot in a building across the street, smiling and giving a thumbs up as they jumped over onto the roof. the kid in the cage started trying to break out only for him to dissolve into a coughing fit.
puffy crouched down and lightly head-butted the kid, causing him to calm down then pass out. when she got back up, the captain grabbed her head as if she was in intense pain. “i swear, the crimson corps villains always have such intense emotions.” puffy groaned, taking out her communicator to call in who they’ve captured and request a helicopter. “he’ll be an interesting guy to take in for questioning.” sam commented as he moved his fingers upwards, causing the cage to lift off the ground and float.
“more like a pain, he seems like an ass.”
——
when tommy woke up and tried to sit straight, he discovered he was chained to a chair. when he attempted to activate his ability, he was met with the emptiness of ability restricting cuffs. “well— fuck.” he sighed, staring at the ground in realization.
he sat there for a good 30 minutes or so before 4 heroes walked in. just his luck, octave, the blade and corvus decided to sit in on his interrogation. the fourth hero he recognized immediately as king. they were very well known in the villain community, dream warning tommy that if he’s ever caught he’d be interrogated by them.
luckily, tommy’s also had training for if he’s been caught. the silent treatment would work on normal police officers, but with people with truth telling abilities it was a bit harder. to try and fight back against the ability would cause extreme pain, but dream told tommy that any snippet of information could tear down the corps, so he best be careful what he said if at all.
king sat right in front of him, tommy already tensing for the incoming pain he was going to feel for resisting the ability. king looked back at corvus for approval before switching their gaze back to tommy and slowly sliding off their sunglasses. tommy immediately looked away and closed his eyes. in the background he heard octave sigh in annoyance.
king took his masked fingers and forcibly opened tommy’s left eye. once his orb locked with king’s gaze it was over. tommy was looking straight at them and couldn’t look away. without breaking eye contact tommy let out a mumbled “shit..”
“hello, i am a hero by the name of king. i’m here to interrogate you, as the capital force is 99% sure you are a member of the crimson corps. is that clear?” king asked, though it was more of a statement rather than a question. “yes.” he answered quick and concise, wanting to save the pain for later when the questions got important.
“alright, first question. what is your name?”
it was a simple question, yet tommy knew even such simple information could be detrimental to the corps, to dream. he stayed silent for the first few seconds, a blank look on his face until about 12 seconds in his whole body felt on fire.
why was it so goddamn hot—
tommy sat in the chair, his whole body feeling like lava, for a good minute. it was just his name— he could give up something like that right? no. dream would get pissed. he couldn’t just tell them something so important. but the heat was so strong, his brain felt like it was being fried—
“tommy. my name is tommy.” he breathed out, visibly sweating and letting out a relived sigh when the hot, fiery feeling went away.
“mate, do you really want to go through that much pain over a few simple questions? if you can just give us some information willingly, you wouldn’t have to go through the pain.” corvus spoke softly, a smile evident on his face. tommy glared at the man.
“fuck heroes, fuck you guys..” tommy looked at the ground, his voice barely above a whisper yet the venom lacing his voice clear.
sighing, corvus motioned for king to continue with his questioning.
“okay then, tommy, what is your last name?”
tommy relaxed, giving an immediate response to avoid the pain as the answer didn’t give anything of importance away. “can’t remember it, don’t even know if i had one.”
“oh, why is that?” eret spoke as if the question was out of curiosity, almost as if he forgot he had his ability activated.
tommy bit his tongue, then the side of his cheek, then his lip. fuck this guy and his ability it’s so annoying. the hot fire feeling took over his body, his hands were sweating and all he could see was red. 50 seconds in, tommy rolled his eyes and spat it out, not too enthusiastic on experiencing the heat more.
“i’ve been with the corps for forever. i don’t remember life before the corps, so naturally i wouldn’t remember my last name if it had to do with life before the organization.” he gave his basic answer to the question, not wanting to let anything more slip. he didn’t want to end up like the guys from yesterday, tossed away and murdered by one of their own.
“so you’re like an evil orphan child?” the blade questioned almost genuinely, getting a snort from octave.
“i’m not a fucking child! it’s like you dickheads can’t get that through your thick narcissistic skulls.” tommy frowned at the pink haired hero. if he had access to the internet, he’d write a twitter thread on how stupid and hypocritical they all were.
“whatever you say, kid.” techno nodded, seemingly unimpressed with tommy’s reply. before he could respond with even more malice, king asked another question as if to prevent a verbal fight between the blade and him.
“tommy, how old are you?”
dream warned him about telling people his age, though dream also said that tommy was childish enough it was obvious he was a kid anyways. “no hero or villain will take you seriously if they know you’re 15.” dream’s words echoed in his mind, “tch, even if you were an adult i wouldn’t take you seriously.”
tommy was now 17, but he’s sure the words still apply.
snapping back to reality, tommy was met with the feeling of hell in his feet and heat in his head. biting his lip, tommy squirmed around before struggling out, “first person i’m frying when i’m out of here is you, bitch—“
octave’s giggle and corvus’ chuckle suggested they already didn’t take him very seriously.
“fuck— i’m 17. i’m 17.” tommy sighed, inhaling and exhaling quickly, almost like he was going to have a panic attack from the hotness he felt every time he resisted telling the truth. ‘definitely going to fry this guy first.’
“god, 17? the corps are brainwashing children now?” corvus frowned, looking at tommy with the same look every hero gave him.
pity.
well tommy didn’t need pity. he needed a fucking place to stay and someone to care for him, all of which dream has done. no hero’s ever helped him like dream has. the look corvus gave tommy made his blood boil, it was like steam was flowing out of his ears. he was pissed, and his face reflected that when corvus’ eyes widened slightly from the expression tommy was making.
“i’m not fucking brainwashed. i’m doing what i’m doing of my own free will. like when i get out of here and murder you all, that’ll be of my own accord you old ass man.” tommy spat, his words harsh and his eyes bitter, “when i get out of these cuffs, you’re all fucked. my time in these chains are only letting me figure out who i’m killing first.”
corvus didn’t seem to mind tommy threatening to murder him, only giving him a soft yet sad smile. the blade and octave on the other hand seemed to be slightly taken aback with the words.
“uh—anyways” king coughed, ignoring the tension surrounding the room, “what is your relationship with the villain dream?”
fuck. fuck. fuck.
the heat was back, stronger than ever. it seemed king knew he wasn’t going to answer immediately and got the fire in his body to reach insane levels at the start to get the explanation out of him quicker.
“dream—“ tommy started before pausing, almost… unsure of how he felt of dream. dream was his mentor, officially, but to tommy he was way more. the man raised him, rescued him from the lower districts and trained him to take down the system he despised.
but— dream was also scary.
“come on tommy, how do you expect to take on any hero with such weak strikes?” dream yelled, kicking tommy into the wall of the training room, “it’s like you can’t even use your own powers properly.”
“pathetic.”
dream continued to ‘spar’ with tommy for a couple of hours, though it was more of an one sided beating. however, by the end of it, while tommy was bloodied and bruised, he was able to evade dream’s attacks and send out larger, more effective bolts.
dream got in one last kick to the side, tommy slamming into the wall again. “i acted out the same attack pattern for 4 hours and it took you 4 hours to figure it out.”
dream slowly walked over to the beaten boy, crouching down and using his right hand to lift up tommy’s head, angling it to face him.
“you do know that i’m only being so rough with you so you can defend yourself, right? to take down these heroes you have to be strong, so i’m just making you strong.” dream smiled, though it was a sickening and malicious one that caused a bottomless pit to appear in tommy’s stomach.
“i just don’t want you to get hurt by the heroes when you go out to do missions. i care about you, tommy. but sometimes we have to hurt the people we care about to help them.”
“dream— dream is my mentor. he trained me, taught me everything i know. i owe him my life, i owe him everything.” tommy finally replied, though his response was robotic as if it was the default answer he gave to this question.
however, the response also made the atmosphere feel a lot more strained.
“wait this fucker is like dream’s apprentice?” octave scooted forward in his seat, his hands grabbing his knees.
“holy shit—“ corvus looked baffled, his face coming to a realization as to why tommy was so hostile. it was because the kid was taught directly under to biggest villain the capital has ever seen.
even the blade seemed to recoil at the information, his eyebrows raising ever so slightly.
king wasted no time in between questions now, realizing the kid was more important than expected. most of the top villains had no close relationship with dream, just agreements and deals of sorts.
tommy, however, was dream’s very own pupil, meaning he most likely spoke with him often and possibly knew his whereabouts.
jackpot.
“where is dream, where are dream’s whereabouts?” king sounded desperate almost, their cool from earlier disappearing.
tommy smiled, tilting his head to the side as if playing a cruel game with the heroes. he wasted no time giving them the answer.
“i have no fucking idea.”
——