Chapter Text
It was 15 minutes to midnight, at least he might make it to September. He always liked autumn best.
Sitting on the edge of the building, Tommy swore he could see the entire city from here. The lights below him flickered on and from the height he was sitting, they almost looked like they were reflecting the stars above. Peaceful. Or it would be if Tommy wasn’t painfully aware of the heroes and villains that ran around below him and the destruction they brought along with it. Still, that was easy enough to ignore as he let his mind wander and instead focused on the light breeze against his dangling feet.
“Mellohi,” a familiar voice spoke in his ear, which snapped Tommy back to attention. “We have reports on the three we were waiting for in your area. Are you ready?”
A dangerous smirk grew across his lips at the call to action. Turning around, he placed his feet firmly back on solid ground before stretching his arms out in preparation. “I was born ready, Big T. Didn’t you know I am the main character in all this?” as he spoke, the blonde pulled the hood over his head and a mask over his nose in attempts to hide his identity to any onlookers. “Show time.”
They had been planning this display for quite some time now. As much as Tommy didn’t want to be involved in the politics of heroes and villains – they were also getting far too close to information they weren’t supposed to know. And that meant not only trouble for Tommy, but more for the people he cared about. So what else could a big man like Tommy do but help mislead them away from the truth.
Walking to the other end of the building, he could see the three villains on the ground below him. Then again you would have to be a fucking idiot not to. Between Orpheus's bright yellow sweater, Prometheus’s blood red cape, and Zypherus’s large wings -- they couldn’t be more obvious. Or dramatic. The Syndicate was annoying like that.
They had grouped around a smaller figure and seemed to just be talking, yet it was apparent that might change at any moment. Even when trying to look casual they were far too tense. Hell, they looked ready to jump the bystander at the slightest hint of trouble.
And that was the issue. That was why Tommy was standing over them now with his finger on the trigger of a flare gun pointed above his head. He was not a distraction, he was *the* distraction. Tommy Innit would be nothing less than the best damn distraction this city had ever seen if he had a say in it. A light press on the trigger was all he needed to send the bright colored flare (what did you think he was going to shoot an actual gun? Those kill people.) above his head and illuminated himself, a far too recognizable hooded figure, to those standing below.
It took about 30 seconds of the villains looking dumbfounded, then looking back to the bystander, and then back to Tommy before they started moving. Fuck they were fast. Thankfully, so was Tommy. Plus the route was planned out before all this so as to take into account each of the villains' specific set of skills. First thing: get the hell off the buildings. They were an easy target for Zypherus considering all he had to do was fly above the vigilante and pick him up like he was prey. Speaking of which… he could hear the quiet flap of his wings coming in close. For anyone else they would be almost undetectable but luckily he had experience in this certain field which made it a lot easier for him to gauge how much faster he was needing to run to his exit point before the emerald themed villain was swooping him up.
Quickly turning right Tommy leaped onto the next building’s edge when he just barely felt a rush of air from the winged bastard right on his tail. Far too close than he would have liked. He needed to put distance between the two of them so he did the most logical thing he could think of: he stopped dead in his tracks at the edge of the building and pointed the barrel of the previously used flare gun right at the one currently chasing him.
“What the hell are you doing Mellohi!” the voice in his ear screamed yet he didn’t pay it any mind but instead held the gaze of the villain now stopped at the other end of the rooftop.
“Listen mate, you don’t want to do that.” He spoke as if in an attempt to end this conflict calmly but the tension and his body language told the vigilante another story. It was all just a waiting game of who would make the first move as their eyes deadlocked on one another. God it was annoying. If he could speak, Tommy would make some snarky comment about how the other should politely fuck off cause there was no way in hell he was going to be making the first move. Luckily, he no longer needed to do that when the door to the roof came swinging open as Orpheus joined the little standoff. The brunette’s eyes looked towards the hooded figure and then where his gun was currently pointed, which seemed to be enough to royally piss him off because he didn’t hesitate before his mouth opened to bark some command. A little too slow though. The second his lips began to part, Mellohi was already pressing down on the trigger but this time aimed at the roof between them all. Sparks and smoke filled the space within seconds. By the time the three of them pushed through the dangerous display, Tommy had already jumped.
Well, ‘jumped’ may seem a bit dramatic. For all the villains needed to know he leaped off the edge of the building but instead what had happened was that they had loosened the lid of one of the vents near where he stood a couple days previously which allowed him to leap into the vents with the smoke covering his trail. When Ranboo first proposed the idea they had laughed at it but in this moment it was the most brilliant escape.
His skinny frame slid down the walls of the duct at a steep angle. (Think of it like a slide but instead of fun it was more life threatening!) His eyes sealed shut as he felt panic and adrenaline flooding through him. It felt like he was falling more than sliding and god did he just want it to be over quicker. The longer he felt the falling the more fear he started thinking about the landing. They had made sure to move a dumpster at his landing site which seemed like a brilliant idea previously. But now he was really starting to question how soft garbage actually could be?
The answer: not soft at all. In fact it was actually really fucking painful. The air in his lungs was forced out of him and there were definitely a couple cracks he heard that would necessitate any normal person being rushed to the hospital. If not being killed on impact to begin with. But Tommy Innit was no normal person, and he sure as hell was too young & too much of a big man to die pitifully in some dumpster. Too much main character energy to be wasted on a lame ending.
It took a minute for his body to get that memo, however. It burned when oxygen finally returned to his lungs as he was able to catch his breath. Next step, was pushing past the screaming pain in his side so that he could pull himself out of the garbage and instead standing on the ground in a dark alleyway.
His moves were quiet. Calculated. There was no way for him to know if they were still above him and too much movement in the darkness would alert them immediately. Leaning against the walls, Tommy walked stealthily to the end of the alleyway before peeking his head out to check the empty street. It couldn’t really be that easy…
“Did you actually think it would be that easy?”
A string of profanities raced through his thoughts as the voice called out to him from the other side of the alleyway. Turning slowly, he could see the massive shadow of Prometheus staring him down. The name in itself was enough to send another shot of panic through the vigilante, but it was a thousand percent more terrifying seeing the sword drawn at this side along with the dim glow of red eyes shining through his mask.
“Give up now and let's end this without making a mess.” The villain called out in a monotone voice. That was until he spoke the second option with a very obvious smirk. “Unless, you really think you can take on a god.”
Okay. Sure. It’s a cool line. His fanboys would have a field day if they ever heard him say that. But seriously could this guy have any bigger complexes? Tommy had a big ego (he was a big enough man to admit that which proved how much better he was) but Prometheus literally just called himself a god and it was taking everything for Tommy not to break out laughing.
Still it wasn’t enough because he couldn’t stop the little chuckle from escaping his lips. And that really pissed off the villain because he began charging at the boy.
This was going to get a bit more complicated than previously planned. Running was not really an option considering the open street would put him at risk of Zypherus swooping down on him again.
So fighting was his only option.
Ignoring how hard his hands were shaking, Mellohi reached for the metal baton at his waist and extended it just in time to block the incoming attack. But the masked villain was fast and already swinging at him again. It was almost like the scene out of a movie as the hooded boy ducked underneath one swing before jumping over another one in succession. From there he was able to use his baton to stop another attack to his side. What he really needed was distance. Making an attack of his own, he swung towards Prometheus’s head. Of course, he dodged it with ease, not that it was ever in question if the villain would be able to, but it was just enough movement that Tommy could step back.
Not that it helped.
Prometheus was next to him within seconds and his free hand gripped the wrist of the vigilante. All it took was a pressured twist and Tommy’s weapon was dropping on the pavement.
“Give it up.” he commanded.
Now, Tommy was lucky for two reasons. Firstly: he wasn’t Orpheus which meant Tommy did not have to listen to a single thing he said. Secondly: if the blonde learned one thing from all heroes and villains -- it was admitting defeat was for pussies.
Plus he had a reputation to uphold so might as well go out swinging. Right?
Lowering his head, Mellohi sighed in attempts to feign defeat to the villain. Which seemed to work because the pressure of his wrist loosened enough that it didn’t feel like it was about to snap anymore. And in Prometheus’s naivety, Tommy took the chance to grab the grappling hook from his belt and shot it towards the roof adjacent to the one he had escaped from previously.
The force of him being pulled away by the tool was enough to pull him from Prometheus’s grasp (not without a pop from his wrist that he would definitely be feeling once the adrenaline wore off).
Turning back around, Tommy attempted to give the villain a cocky look only to be greeted with throwing knives heading in his direction. Where the fuck did he get those??
The first one sunk into the wall with a terrifying amount of strength behind it. The second barely grazed his cheek leaving a scarlet streak of blood to mark the attack. But that was it? Tommy had luck on his side, but to have Prometheus miss a target was a pretty big fucking deal.
Landing on his feet once again, he looked back down to the villain with an incredulous look.
Hands cradling his stomach, he couldn’t help snickering to himself. Tommy Innit just escaped the self proclaimed ‘god’ and left him standing alone in an alleyway just doomed to watch a vigilante escape him.
“Freeze.”
In his defense, they had prepared for Orpheus. Communication was always key when it came to nights like these which was why he was wearing the tiny silver earbuds. The same little piece of tech was also emitting a frequency a little too high for anyone to hear but also had been proven to cancel out the control of the yellow themed villain.
He wasn’t about to let him know that though. So he just stood there, unmoving while he waited to hear the next order. There was enough distance between the two of them that Tommy knew he could press the emergency button on his comm and be teleported out of there safely. Still, he wasn’t about to use his final escape until absolutely necessary.
“I’ve got him. You two can meet me here.” he heard Orpheus sending out the message to his other teammates quietly before turning his attention to the hooded vigilante who’s back was currently turned to him. “Turn around slowly and put your hands up in the air.”
Without expression, Mellohi turned to the familiar villain and slowly began to lift his arms from his stomach when he noticed the change.
Unfortunately, his luck had just run out.
The hands previously pressed to his abdomen in laughter were now in front of him. Covered in blood. He didn’t care about keeping up the illusion anymore, as he ignored Orpheus’s command to look down where the liquid was coming from.
…
Wait a moment. This is the beginning of the story. You can’t start it with the tragic fall of the main character. Let’s try this again.
From the beginning this time?