Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Phil was stressed out. For the past week, he had been carefully planning how he was going to propose the idea of a new minimum wage ordinance for hybrids to the city council in a few days. If everything went well, it would be a huge step for Hybrids like himself to be equally treated in L’manburg.

Stifling a yawn, Phil turned off his computer and stretched his arms high above his head, his large wings shifting against the office chair as he did so. Being an ambassador for his kind had its ups and downs, but there was never a day where Phil regretted his career choice. He was able to help hybrids live in a better future, and bring a stable income for him and his family.

Suddenly the door to his office swung open and a lanky man with brown curly hair strutted in with a paper in his hands.

Speaking of his family…

“Dad, I finished editing your speech for the city council meeting. Do you want it now?” The man fixed his round-framed glasses and handed the paper to Phil to get his approval.

“Yeah mate, thanks” Phil replied, grabbing the paper carefully and skimming through it quickly, before placing it on a moderately messy desk.

The man turned around to leave but was cut off by Phil. “Oh wait, Wilbur!” Wilbur stopped, and craned his neck around, his tail flicking expectantly.

“Hm, do you still need something?” Wilbur asked. He was always so helpful when it came to Phil’s job. Sometimes Phil wondered how on earth he had gotten so lucky when it came to Wilbur.

“No, no. I was just wondering what you and Techno wanted for dinner. I was thinking of just getting take-out or something tonight. Bit too lazy to cook, I'm afraid.” Phil chuckled at the last statement, letting Wil know he was still in good spirits, despite his sluggish appearance from a full day of work.

“Oh,” Wilbur fully turned around at the mention of food, his pale eyes lighting up ever so slightly, signaling how hungry he must have been. “Well,” Wilbur furrowed his brow in thought, “I wouldn't mind some of those tacos from that one place, uh, what was it, El Rapids?”

Phil quickly mulled it over in his head before deciding he didn't mind having tacos as well. Plus, El Rapids did have some damn good tacos.

“All right mate, just make sure Techno is ok with that too, and then I'll go pick them up.”

Wilbur nodded and mumbled out a “mk” as he headed out of the room to ask Techno about dinner. He was probably lounging downstairs somewhere.

Phil let out a grateful sigh. Adopting Wilbur had been one of the best decisions of his life. Heck, adopting both his sons was something he wouldn’t ever want to go back on. However, his first encounter with Wil especially, was something he would never forget.

Back in the day, Phil was a sort of… Vigilante, per se. He wanted to make a change somehow, so he decided putting on a mask and flying around the city, protecting his own kind was the best way to do it.

Phil had heard on one of his stolen police scanners (dont ask how he had stolen them) that some kind of hybrid child had been terrorizing a neighborhood on the west end of town. People had been reporting seeing a child float through their walls, and steal copious amounts of food from their kitchens.

Pretty funny now that Phil looked back on it.

But the way people reported him made Phil’s blood boil every time. They always sounded like they had some pest in their house that they wanted to exterminate for good (assholes). Not that there was like, a hungry child in need of a good meal and a roof over his head. God forbid people in L’manburg would be understanding towards hybrid children.

Anyway, when Phil had finally tracked down the scrappy kid, he found him sleeping in a nearby forest in the dead of night. Phil remembered how in awe he was of Wilbur. His bat-like wings tucked neatly around his scrawny body, and a bony tail curled around him as well. It was almost breathtaking to Phil. It had been his first time ever seeing a phantom hybrid. It was certainly not that last though.

Phantom Hybrids were extremely rare and most people didn't even know they existed unless they knew a bit about hybrid history.

Luckily, Phil was an expert in that field.

It had taken a bit of coaxing- ok, a lot of coaxing, to get Wilbur to go to Phil’s house and let him treat him like a proper child for once in his life, but it had all been worth it in the end.

“Oi, Phil! Tech said he’s ok with tacos!” Wilbur yelled from downstairs, ultimately breaking Phil out of his trip down memory lane.

“Alright Wil, thanks!” Phil shouted back as he got up and headed downstairs to the front door.

Before he left though, Phil turned back to see his two sons now playing each other in some video game he couldn't see from his angle; it sounded like Smash Bros, though. It seemed like Wilbur was sorely losing too. He kept yelling insults and swearing while Techno just sat calmly with a smug grin on his face.

Phil shook his head and reached for the door, opening it swiftly and yelling out, “Text me your orders, boys, ok?”

They both mumbled something along the lines of “Ok dad” and Phil promptly walked out the door.

Phil flew most of the distance to the restaurant, soaking up the late evening sky like a flower in the sun. Instead of landing right outside though, he landed around the block, so he wouldn’t draw too much attention to himself when entering the place. 

L’manburg may have been a long way from the hybrid genocides of the past, but the largest wounds took the longest to heal. People were still shaky about their opinions on hybrids and often got a little spooked by actions they found completely normal. Humans often fear what they do not understand. That's what Phil was out to change though, eventually…

Upon landing, Phil tucked his wings in close, making them seem as small and harmless as possible, before walking the rest of the way to El Rapids. There weren't a lot of people out and about today, but there were certainly a lot of cars whizzing by. Mostly people coming home from  a long day at work. It made Phil appreciate that his occupation had a lot of at home work instead. 

Phil walked into the small Mexican restaurant, a bell chime signaling his entrance. At the sound, a worker came jogging out from the back to take Phil’s order. They looked a bit dazed and had some serious bed-head. Phil had a hunch they might have been taking an evening nap before he walked in.

The restaurant seemed even tinier on the inside than it looked on the outside. The walls were made up of sleek tiles that ranged in a variety of vibrant colors, with posters of different meal options lining them on both sides of the room. 

It seemed like a slow day– or that's what Phil was guessing based on the fact that he was the only person in the place, and that the only worker he could see had probably been snoozing right before he walked in.

Shuffling up to the register, Phil put in his order and pulled out his phone to check what Techno and Wilbur had wanted as well before paying and going to sit down to wait. Out of boredom, Phil started checking the latest news and gossip from around the city on Twitter. Apparently, there had been a sighting of a raccoon with a bandana, riding around on a goat, in the local park the day before, which almost gave Phil a headache as he read the article in full.

Finally the worker called out his order and gave Phil a sleepy wave as he grabbed the bag and headed out the door, the door chime ringing again on his way out.

On the sidewalk, Phil was planning on just taking off in the air right in front of the shop, not really caring who saw him. (He mentally admitted this was because he was feeling a bit too lazy to walk all the way around the corner). Phil spread his wings and was seconds away from slamming them down to take off, when a crash from the nearby alley halted him completely.

Phil slowly turned his head in the direction of the alley, which was located on the left side of the restaurant, and the opposite side he had walked to the restaurant in.

Phil carefully shifted his wings back safely behind him and, gripping the bag a little tighter, walked hesitantly over to the alley in question.

As he got closer, Phil could still hear some clattering coming from the same direction as the crash. He also could start to hear something that sounded vaguely like…animal chattering?

Now Phil was even more confused, and finally seeing the cause of these sounds only raised more questions in his mind. 

Next to the Mexican restaurant with some damn good tacos, in a small, narrow alleyway that reeked of garbage, was a single green dumpster. In said dumpster, was a skinny raccoon with a red bandana chattering angrily at itself, while it picked up various bottles and boxes and threw them around into the alley way, littering it with more garbage than it previously contained. 

Phil just stood there absolutely flabbergasted as he watched the scene unfold, his still hot Mexican food steaming in the plastic bag he held with a now iron grip.

All of a sudden the animal froze and looked up from it’s trashy palace of grimy goodness, and locked eyes with Phil. Then it’s gaze shifted downwards towards the plastic bag with a logo of a waterfall on it. It’s nose twitching ever so slightly to signal that it could smell Phil and his family’s dinner.

Phil then humorously remembered that every meal item in El Rapids came with a big paper bag of tortilla chips, free of charge. 

Pursing his lips, he reached into the bag and opened up one of the folded paper chip bags. He grabbed a handful of chips inside and pulled his hand out slowly, never breaking eye contact with the furry creature.

The raccoon seemed to know what he was doing and it’s eyes lit up instantly upon seeing Phil’s hand full of still-warm tortilla chips, rise out of the bag. 

“Hey mate,” Phil cooed skeptically, “You want some, uh, chips?”

And the little bastard had the audacity to actually nod at Phil. Like it actually understood the words coming out of his mouth! So Phil just threw the chips into the alley and watched in pure confusion as the scrawny little thing excitedly scampered down from the dumpster, and picked up each chip with it’s grimy little paws, before shoving them all into its mouth and bolting off farther, into the alleyway.

Phil just stood there for a few seconds afterward, before proceeding to burst out laughing, earning him some side eyes from the few people walking past him.

‘Oh well’ Phil thought while walking back out into the sidewalk, 'let them stare.'

All that mattered was that Phil had a magnificent story to tell his kids at the dinner table tonight.

Chapter Text

Tommy was hungry. His stomach had been absolutely going ham–

‘Ooh ham…’

Tommy shook his head and sighed, he couldn't even have a proper internal dialogue without thinking about food now. Great.

Groaning, Tommy got up from the couch and headed to the kitchen. Some show was playing on the tv in the living room, but Tommy hadn't really been paying attention to it for a while. He had been too busy getting lost in his own food fantasies to care all that much about it.

All Tommy had eaten for breakfast that morning was a piece of toast with some unevenly spread butter on it, and now he was feeling the consequences of eating light. 

Not that there had been much of a choice anyway.

Tommy shuffled up to the fridge and pulled it open, the cold air tingling against his skin. Finding the fridge only full of drinks, sauces and a singular tomato, Tommy gave a dramatic whine and promptly closed the fridge, keeping his hand on the metal handle a bit longer than he really needed to. For a moment he just stood there studying the magnets on the fridge, one of them was a cartoon photo of a little spaceship picking up a cow. Tommy found it a bit too cheesy for his personal taste.

He silently prayed Tubbo and Purpled would return with the groceries soon, or else he might just go dumpster diving out of sheer desperation; again.

Yeah, Tommy went dumpster diving once in a while. Sue him.

It was only when Purpled’s house ran out of food though. When Tommy’s raccoon stomach started calling the shots instead of his stupid raccoon brain. 

Hey, he had gotten a couple of good chips out of it last time though.

Before Tommy got lost in thought about his run in with the avian hybrid the day before, his ears perked up to the sound of a key being shoved into the lock of the front door. 

Tommy bolted to the door in an instant, almost losing his footing in the process. His tail was practically wagging when Tubbo entered the house holding two full plastic grocery bags, Purpled following right behind him with another singular full bag and the keys to the house as well.

“You guys sure took your time” Tommy teased before Purpled had even closed the front door.

“We could have just left you to starve you know” Tubbo shot back, Purpled nodding his head in agreement as they made their way to the kitchen to put the bags down.

Tommy only grumbled insults under his breath as he followed behind the two boys curiously to see what they had bought. 

A moment later, Ranboo shuffled into the living room, rubbing his eyes, sleepily.

“I didn't even know you guys left,” he said with a yawn.

“Yeah. You were too busy taking a fat nap to notice, boss man.”

Ranboo huffed dramatically, earning an assortment of snorts and laughs from the others in the kitchen who were all rustling around in plastic grocery bags.

In all honesty, it wasn't Ranboo’s fault he had such a messed up sleeping schedule. Apparently, whatever species of hybrid Ranboo was made him almost nocturnal (It also gave him weird pointy ears and half split monochrome colored hair too, but Tommy wasn't one to judge...most of the time).

 Ranboo would usually lounge around on the couch watching tv till the early morning hours, and then whenever someone woke up and walked into the living room half awake, he would take that as his cue to head to bed.

He had tried to work against it– well actually someone had forced him to try and fix it, but he had learned that even when he was exhausted or hadn't slept in days he would still gain a sudden burst of energy in the night time before absolutely crashing during the day. 

Tommy often found himself sympathizing with big ol’ Ranboob; he too yearned to sleep during the bright afternoon hours, when the world was noisy and littered with people, and instead, only wake during the witching hours when the sky itself said goodnight and everything was quiet except for the distant sounds of the city. Every part of Tommy’s raccoon instincts pleaded to adopt this almost natural nocturnal schedule, but the world simply didn’t work like that. Plus, it had been the only way to live more comfortably during his time with… Schlatt . 

Tommy inwardly grimaced. He got annoyed with himself every time his mind wandered back to that time.

‘You're past that; stop thinking about it’

-+-+-

Later on in the day, when the sun was setting and orange painted the sky in full,Tommy, again, found himself on the living room couch, scrolling through twitter on his phone. However, this time he had a nice, full belly and was accompanied by the sound of Purpled beating the absolute shit out of Tubbo on Smash Bros, with Ranboo watching them fight from the sidelines, clearly amused. 

‘Oh, but poor, poor Ranboo, always the first to die in Smash bros.’ Tommy almost wept in pity for the tall hybrid every time it happened.

Finding nothing of substantial interest besides politics about hybrid ordinances on Twitter, Tommy decided to just put his phone down and watch the shit show that was unfolding in front of him instead.

Gazing up at Purpled, Tommy could plainly see the smug smirk that made itself right at home on Purpled’s face as he repeatedly taunted Tubbo in game. 

Purpled was…interesting, in Tommy’s opinion. He was clearly a hybrid, first of all, but he wouldn't tell any of them what kind . He had small purple-ish antennae atop his dirty blonde hair, and sported a pair of slightly pointy ears to accompany them. And that was it as far as Tommy knew. None of them had really tried to pry the information out of him, not yet at least. It was mostly because they didn’t want to come off as rude to the teen who had willingly given them a place to stay after they had escaped their previous... situation.

Next, Tommy shifted his gaze onto Tubbo. The goat hybrid held a firm expression of determination on his face, even if he was destined for a horrible loss in the next minute or two–

“God damn it!!!” A controller went flying in the air, almost hitting Tommy’s face straight on.

“Haha! Let’s go baby!” Purpled shot his hands in the air as the victory animation played on screen. Next to him, Tubbo had slumped over on the couch with his head in cushions, crying in defeat and pleading something about nice flowers at his grave to Ranboo. Ranboo just patted his back awkwardly and did his best to console the grieving boy. 

“Oi, watch it Tubbo, you almost hit me with this thing!” Tommy picked up the discarded controller next to him and dangled it in front of himself to prove his point.

Tubbo started mumbling something into the cushions that Tommy couldn’t understand and he simply rolled his eyes; his fluffy ears pressed down with annoyance.

Deep down though, Tommy was truly content. Life was good. His family was safe. They were all easily able to laugh and play with a roof over their heads and no one to control their lives. A month ago Tommy wouldn't have ever dreamed that he would be able to live like this. And yet, there he was. 

Tommy let an absolutely microscopic smile (because cool dudes don’t just smile out in the open for no reason) tug his lips upward as he leaned into the soft cushions of Purpled’s couch, threatening to take a nap right there and then. 

Suddenly, Purpled’s phone started ringing on the glass coffee table in front of them, it’s bright screen displaying the name “ Parents :/ “ in white letters. Tommy arched an eyebrow, ‘ this can't be anything good.’

Purpled, swallowed and reached for the phone with a slight frown. He hesitated for a second before sliding the white bar across the screen to answer the call.

Now, Tommy’s hybrid abilities gave him slightly better hearing than other people, which was something he enjoyed boasting about every so often when he was able to overhear “top secret” Tubbo and Ranboo conversations in different rooms. Which, in reality, were usually just them planning what gifts to give Tommy for different occasions.

So naturally, Tommy was able to easily listen to every word that was exchanged in Purpled’s phone call. Something he regretted doing about a minute later.

When the phone call was over, Tommy stood up abruptly, his lips pursed into a tight lipped frown. On his hip, rested Tommy’s own phone which he was practically death gripping at the moment. He wasn’t really too worried about breaking it then, because more importantly…

They had to leave.

Not immediately, but Purpled’s parents were coming home from their business trip. Early .

 Like, in two weeks. They were supposed to be out for almost another month!

Oh yeah. Did Tommy ever mention that?

Yeah, Purpled lived with his parents (duh he was a minor), and his parents didn’t exactly know Tommy, Tubbo and Ranboo existed. Like, at all.

The story was: they had been hiding in an alley next to Purpled’s apartment two weeks ago when he ran into them and offered them a place to stay while his parents were out of town. They had taken the offer knowing full well it was temporary, so they shouldn't have been all that surprised, but now that the time had come, the world seemed to come crashing down all at once. Tommy wasn’t ready to leave. They had nowhere to go. What if Schlatt was still looking for them? So many thoughts buzzed relentlessly around Tommy’s head before Purpled had even explained the situation to the others.

Then, after Purpled had explained what Tommy already knew aloud, the room went awkwardly silent for a moment. And then, All of a sudden, Tubbo lifted his messy, brown mop of a head off the couch and simply stated,

“Well, shit.”

‘Amen Tubbo’  Tommy thought.

Chapter Text

Silence filled the room. The awkward atmosphere was almost tearing Tommy up from the inside; he didn’t know what to do. No one really did. Tommy had pushed the idea of having to leave Purpled’s house to the back of his mind, and here it was being forcibly dragged out by the sudden change in schedule. 

The room was still quiet when Tubbo decided to get up from the couch cushions his face was buried in and walk out of the room without a word.

Tommy could see Ranboo raise an eyebrow in confusion. He made eye contact with Tommy and Tommy just shrugged. Tubbo does what Tubbo wants. No questions asked.

Moments later, Tubbo returned with Purpled’s laptop (which had honestly become his laptop) and sat back down on the couch, still not saying a word.

Tommy couldn’t take it anymore. What was even happening anymore?

Setting a confused look on his face, Tommy cleared his throat and finally popped the balloon of silence. 

“Tubbo, what the hell are you doing?”

Tubbo looked up, his face was oddly serious for a boy who was always seen with a smile, at least it usually was recently.

“I’m finding us a new home. I don't quite enjoy the idea of living out on the streets, thank you very much.”

Tubbo typed something on the computer and started scrolling as if nobody had said anything, his face once more, buried in the glow of the screen.

“Do you guys even have money for that?” Purpled chimed in.

Ranboo deadpanned, and replied quickly with a “No. No we do not.”

Tubbo stopped scrolling and a glint of something positive flashed in his expression, or at least what was visible of it. Man he really needed a haircut.

“Guys, I actually found a pretty cheap apartment not far from here. It looks pretty shabby, but we wouldn't be freezing out on the streets of L’manburg at least.”

Tubbo looked around the room to gather the opinions of the others while fiddling with his own fingers. 

Ranboo closed his eyes and rubbed his face. The clear feeling of exasperation was written all over the odd-haired hybrid.

“Tubbo, when I said we didn’t have money, I really meant that we have no money. Like not a penny to our names.”

Tubbo frowned again. “We could just get jobs. There’s still like, two weeks until Purpled’s parents get back anyway. It’s… doable.” 

Tommy could see that even Tubbo himself didn’t  believe his own words. That's how desperate they were already getting. Yikes.

“Tubbo, no place is going to hire a scrappy little hybrid on such short notice. Even if it did miraculously happen, you know we get paid like, way less than everyone else. It would take us more than just two weeks to save up for that apartment.” Ranboo looked genuinely concerned this time, like it almost pained him to tell Tubbo what the boy already was fully aware of in the first place. 

It sure pained Tommy to watch though.

Tubbo closed the laptop with a snap, his expression visibly a bit peeved at the whole debacle. He stood up, grumbled a ‘I’m going to bed’ and left the room entirely.

Silence once more. Tommy was getting real sick and tired of it by now.

Purpled scratched his head thoughtfully “Maybe Tubbo has the right idea. Not about the job thing, but the sleeping part. We need to tackle this issue with a clear head, and you all seem a bit too tired for that right now.” He glanced at the clock stationed next to the TV on the dark gray stand that held up all the consoles and the monitor itself. The time read only seven pm, but the events of the past 20 minutes had thoroughly exhausted Tommy to the core. Ranboo himself wasn't looking any better either, despite the fat mid day nap he had taken hours earlier. 

Tommy knew Purpled would stay up though. He tended to not sleep well when something important was on his mind. Honestly the guy didn’t sleep much in general, but who was Tommy to judge?

Ranboo was the first to actually get up and walk to the guest bedroom where the three of them slept. Tommy followed suit not long after, waving a g’night to Purpled who was still on the couch scrolling through his phone. 

By the time Tommy was finished getting ready for bed, both Ranboo and Tubbo were curled up in a king sized bed that lay against the back wall of the room. Purpled had been too kind in giving them the fancy guest bedroom to sleep in, and had even bought them all pajamas and toiletries since they had run away with almost nothing on them. Purpled had offered to give them all separate beds, but having grown up sleeping together for protection, they couldn't quite break the habit. 

Making his way to the bed, Tommy lifted the covers and scooted in next to the two sleeping boys. Ranboo probably wouldn't sleep with them for two long, he could only sleep about an hour or two at night before he was up and about and would watch TV until the others fully woke up in the morning. 

Tommy however, was utterly exhausted and would probably sleep the whole night. Before falling asleep, Tommy made sure his tail was tucked close so none of the others would complain about it tickling them in the night, like they teased about so often. Like they were any better though. Tubbo had his little twitchy ram tail, and Ranboo had his long cat-like tail with a little tuft of fur at the end. They had no right to make fun of Tommy for his absolutely epic raccoon tail.

Finally, Tommy could feel himself drifting off to dreamland, the last coherent thoughts in his head were plagued with worry for the coming future of his family.

-+-

The next morning Tommy awoke to the sun gleaming right in his eyes through the window blinds. Quite annoying. This is why Tommy wholeheartedly despised the mornings. Too much sunshine if you ask him.

Ranboo’s spot in the bed was empty per usual, but to his surprise, Tubbo’s was too. Usually Tubbo was the one that slept in later than all of them, but today his spot was also empty. 

Weird

Shuffling out of bed, Tommy made his way to the living room, his tail swaying lazily behind him, full of spikey, ungroomed tufts that had been messed up by the bed sheets. Ugh, he would have to brush that later.

His vision turned to the couch where Purpled, Tubbo and Ranboo were staring intently at the TV, as if their lives depended on–

He turned to look at the TV.

The news??

“Why are you all being so weird about the news?” Tommy’s vision flicked back onto the others who were now vaguely aware of his presence.

“Tommy…” Tubbo grinned widely; now making eye contact with him too, “We may have just found the solution to our money issue.” 

“You what?”

Tommy looked back to the TV, now actually paying attention to what they were playing on the screen.

The footage on screen showed a dark alleyway (probably sometime last night) where a man with pink hair and a boar mask was kicking some serious ass against a group of hooded assailants who were failing miserably at trying to take him down. The camera was a bit shaky and was taken from what seemed to be a window near the alley where the fight was taking place.

What piqued Tommy’s interest the most though was the pig guy’s weapon of choice, which happened to be a thin, yet glistening rapier that the man was mainly using to whap the attackers in various areas on their bodies, rather than actually piercing through their skin. The man was clearly holding back, and by his swift movements Tommy could tell this guy could easily take down every attacker if he really tried. 

The text on screen, which moved slowly from the right side to the left side said in big bold letters:  Boar vigilante caught on camera last night in skirmish with local thugs after attempted jewelry store robbery

Tommy had heard about this guy. He had seen a few clips online about the Boar Vigilante and his various activities as one of the only Vigilantes in L’manburg. A lot of people online idolized him because of his unique fighting style and cool outfit that looked like it belonged to a high class monarch. But others also were skeptical of a man with a literal rapier patrolling around L’manburg at night and beating up whoever he deemed as “evil” without the proper authorization. 

Tommy just thought he was just a proper wrongin'

Scratching his head, Tommy looked back to the others on the couch. “Ok but what does The Boar Vigilante have to do with our money crisis?”

Tubbo lowered the volume on the TV a bit and looked back at Tommy,

“Well, not him specifically, but rather the vigilante part.” 

“You…want to become a vigilante?” Tommy was quite confused.

“Oh no no, not me of course.”

Tommy’s confusion was even more prominent on his expression now. He now looked over to Ranboo expectantly.

“Oh uh, not me either man. Sorry.” 

Tommy’s mouth was now slightly agape. He looked over to Purpled this time.

“Yeah, no.” Purpled said without even peeling his eyes away from the TV.

“Well then who the hell are you talking about!?” 

At this, everyone on the couch looked at Tommy with varying expressions. Tubbo was looking at Tommy with a devilish grin peeking out from underneath his curly brown hair that covered half his face. Ranboo simply looked at Tommy with what seemed like a look of pure pity. Purpled just raised his eyebrows and gave a slight nod of the head, confirming Tommy’s growing suspicion.

“ME!?” Tommy blurted, his ears now pinned to his head in disbelief.

“Think about it boss man.” Tubbo raised his hands in front of him like he was trying to tame a wild beast. “Rather than just trying to help people in a silly little costume, you could also… like… rob them?”

“I- what?” Tommy looked to Ranboo for help.

“Tubbo thinks you should dress up like The Boar Vigilante or something and go out taking other people's money– which is more like a villain now that I think about it.” Ranboo placed his hand on his chin, now seeming less confident about the plan entirely. 

“I’m not doing that!-”

“THEN WHAT CAN WE DO TOMMY!?” Tubbo interrupted with newfound anger.

Tommy was purely taken aback by the sudden outburst and now stood wide eyed and dead quiet in the room.

Tubbo took a deep breath, “I’ve been thinking all morning about what was said last night. I couldn’t think of anything to help us get money fast enough. I was scared we would have to go back to sleeping in wet alleys and eating every meal out of dumpsters or garbage cans.” Tubbo pursed his lips and held his arms around himself awkwardly. Tommy could see now that Tubbo wasn't particularly fond of this idea as well. 

“None of us wanted it to come to this, but what choice do we really have? If this idea actually works out somehow, you wont have to do it for very long, and we could have enough money for the apartment before Purpled’s stupid parents come home–”

“Hey!” 

“Sorry, Purpled.”

Tommy smiled at the interaction while mulling Tubbo’s words over in his head. What he had said was true. Tommy also thought straight up robbery was better than another night out on the streets, and would gladly do it to avoid that. Those nights after escaping Schlatt were something Tommy fully wished he could erase from his memory… Plus, Tommy wholeheartedly trusted Tubbo. The ram hybrid often seemed irrational and dramatic, but when he was serious, Tubbo was easily the smartest out of the three of them.

Tommy let out a sigh of defeat.

“Alright then, how the hell are we going to do this?” 

Tubbo beamed excitedly and stood up off the couch. He looked around before gesturing to the others,

“Leave it to us.”

Chapter Text

What the hell was Tommy doing right now?

The cold wind hit his face and Tommy’s body let out an involuntary shiver.

The stupid get-up Tommy had on wasn’t super effective against L’manburg’s freezing cold nights. It also probably didn’t help that Tommy was crouched on top of a pretty tall building that overlooked the city's glowing landscape. 

Tommy might have thought that climbing the building (with his super cool and agile raccoon abilities) would have been worth it If he wasn’t freezing his ass off. The view, however, made up for some of the struggle.

It had taken a few days to sketch out all the plans for Tubbo’s ingenious idea with Tommy as the centerpiece of the whole operation. Tommy had regretted every step of the process. From coming up with his supposedly “Super badass” costume to putting together knockoff vigilante equipment from appliances in the nearby junkyard just a few blocks away.

Suddenly, a static voice pierced the silent night, giving Tommy a bit of a fright. (Dropping sick rhymes, aight)  Angrily, he slipped his hand in the pocket of his maroon-colored trench coat and fished out his walkie-talkie. 

Wait, pause. Maroon-colored trench coat? What kind of dorky-ass vigilante wears a maroon-colored trench coat?

Yeah. Tommy had the same reaction. There was a good reason for it though, just like many of the clothing items he had on did. The long coat covered his tail reasonably, but the two slits on the back allowed for him to take it out for climbing and balance when needed. There were also multiple pockets sanctioned around the front of the coat which made for good utility storage. There wasn't much to do with the color though, it was just a nice dark maroon when they found it at the thrift store. It helped blend in with the dark at least.

Tommy grumbled and held the walkie-talkie to his beanie-covered ear. Oh yeah, had Tommy forgotten to mention his two different pairs of ears? 

Yes, yes he did. 

Right now he was using his human pair, his raccoon ears were only required when he needed a superior sense of listening abilities, so not when he was using a walkie-talkie.

“What’s up, Tubs?”

“Just wanted to check in. How’s the first action-packed night going?”

Tommy frowned “Tubbo, it’s going shit. There’s nobody out because it’s the middle of the goddamn night and it’s cold as hell. I’m on top of this building freezing my tail off with nothing to show for it! Not a single dollar yet!”

“Patience big man, all good things come to those who wait.”

“Tubbo, shut the hell up.”

“Roger.”

The device went silent and Tommy stuffed it back in his pocket with a bit of rage-induced force.

 After readjusting his beanie (which was also maroon; there’s a theme going on here) and placing his white face mask over his mouth, Tommy decided to get off the god-forsaken building. He made his way to the drain pipe on the side of the ledge which ran the full length of the building. Slowly but surely, he started to shimmy down the pipe, using his tail to balance himself. When he made it a few feet from the ground, he leapt off the pipe and stuck a perfect landing on the hard concrete floor. A healthy bit of adrenaline never hurt nobody. 

Tommy made sure to fix his gloves after all that climbing, making sure it was still fitting snug and that the metal attached onto the back near his knuckles was in the appropriate spot for punching, because he was going to inevitably be doing some serious punching in the future.

The gloves had actually been pretty easy to acquire on account of the fact that Tommy already owned them beforehand. All Tubbo needed to do to them is plate them in some metal and BAM, cool armored gloves perfect for beating up random pedestrians.

After Tommy made sure his gloves were in place, he scampered down the empty sidewalk looking for his first victim, or a person to save, any one worked really.

The city was pretty boring at night, nothing but flickering street lamps and the occasional honk of a car far off in the distance to keep Tommy company. 

Tommy took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the cold oxygen of a dreary night. L’manburg always had sort of a damp smell to Tommy. Or maybe it was just this part of town that did. Who knows. He had never really traveled much anyway, Schlatt had made sure of that…

Tommy was trying his best to stay alert, but found himself sort of daydreaming while he walked. Little tidbits of his past, random things Tubbo or Ranboo had said earlier. 

A noise snapped Tommy’s mind away from these things and he stopped instantly to assess it. Focusing, he switched his main point of hearing to his Raccoon ears which sat atop his blonde curls. His hearing improved substantially when he did this, but it was hard to use it as his main point of hearing when his human ears were much more comfortable to use; at least, in this form. 

Turning to where the noise had come from, Tommy was met with the sight of a small street cat digging in a trash bag next to some sort of cafe. Tommy sighed and let his hearing fade naturally back to normal. 

He had to admit, he wasn't much of a cat guy. 

Tommy returned to strolling down the bleak sidewalk and just as he was beginning to call it quits, the perfect person came stumbling down the street with a bottle in hand and a drunk look in his eye.

Tommy couldn't have asked for a better situation. 

Strutting with a confident gait to hide his nervousness, Tommy made his way over to the bumbling fool who had just seemed to notice Tommy approaching him.

“Hhhey man, whas' you doing out’ere at night?” This man was clearly plastered. Tommy briefly wondered what this guy’s story was, but tried not to dwell on the guy he was literally exploiting for cash.

“I could ask you the same thing mate. Actually I was wondering if you could do me a favor?” Tommy said in a sly manner. Honestly though, he was having some serious doubts about this whole thing. I mean, robbing a drunk guy? We’re they that desperate? If the guy had responded any later Tommy probably would have had a full blown panic attack right there on the street.

“Yea ssure dude, whatcha need?”

Tommy held his hand out,

“I’m gonna need you to hand me all your money, pal”  

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. Holy shit I’m an awful person.

The man stood there dumbfounded and Tommy could have sworn he saw drool come out of his agape mouth, which frankly, grossed him out a bit.

“You’re uh, robbin’ me?” The man finally sputtered.

“Absolutely correct my fine gentleman, and if you fail to cooperate I will have to kindly beat the shit out of you. One way or another, I’m getting my cash.” Tommy made sure to smile after saying this in order to show off his slightly sharper canine teeth which were attributes of his Raccoon side. All of this of course to mask the sheer guilt that was steadily flooding his conscience.

It seemed to have done the job pretty well though because the man looked thoroughly shaken up and was now fumbling for his wallet with the hand that was not sanctioned around a half drunk beer bottle.

The small black wallet was shakily handed to Tommy who at this point, was still smiling creepily and was pretty confident that his eyes were glowing in the dark as well. At least he had that going for him.

“Thank you sir, pleasure doing business ey?” And with that, Tommy bolted the other direction, straight back to Purpled's apartment, trying his best not to turn around and go back on the sinful deed that he just committed. He also wasn't sure if the guy was sober enough to call the cops, and frankly, did not want to stick around to find out.

Prime, forgive me.

While running, Tommy decided to take a gander at the contents of the wallet, to make sure it had at least been worth all the trouble. Inside was a single credit card, a few gift cards to various restaurants and a hefty one-hundred dollars in cash. It had definitely been worth it. Tommy felt a little better too at the lack of license present in the wallet, which most likely meant the guy still had that at least. Good for him honestly.

When Tommy finally got back to the others, he was a bit out of breath on account of running all the way home, but he made sure to appear as triumphant as he possibly could when walking through the door. His mental woes could be cast aside for this moment at least.

“Oh honey, I’m home!” 

Tubbo was the first to greet him at the door and was also the most eager to hear about how Tommy’s night had gone after they talked on the walkie-talkies.

“Did you get anything? How did it go? Did you beat anybody up?” Tubbo paused in order to grab Tommy by the front of his trench coat and shake him like a rag doll. “You gotta tell me man!!!”

“WoAh TubS cAlm dOWn fiRst plEEEAse!” It was hard for Tommy to speak properly in these harsh conditions. Real struggles here.

“Oops, sorry.” Tubbo gingerly let go and shuffled over to the couch where Purpled was sitting and watching the whole interaction with hidden amusement, and Ranboo was just frightfully eating a bowl of pasta.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Tommy took off his coat, hat and mask and hung them on the coat rack which was attached to the wall near the front door. Now in his usual red and white shirt and cargo pants combo, he rolled his shoulder a bit releasing a satisfying pop before he made his way to the couch as well.

“Gentlemen,” He said as he plopped down into the cushions, “I think you'll be happy to know that I, Tommy Kraken Danger Innit, have accumulated one-hundred dollars on my very first kick-ass vigilante night spree, all by myself.” He pulled out the wallet and showed the cash around like it was some first place medal he had won at a local competition for who knows god what.

“Holy shit!!!” Tubbo yanked the cash out of Tommy’s hands before he had the chance to complain and jumped up off the couch with it in his hands.

“Dude, this is a lot! And just after one night? We’re gonna be rich in no time!”

“Tubbo, we're not trying to become rich,” Ranboo sighed, “We just need some money for the down payment of that apartment, remember?”

“Yeah man, calm yourself,” Tommy chuckled, resting his arm on the back of the couch nonchalantly. 

Purpled gave a nod of approval to the previous comments, as if to solidify their meanings to Tubbo.

Happily, Tubbo sat back down, clearly finished with his little burst of energy. He stared at the money in amazement, as if it would disappear if he took his eyes off of it, and the illusion would fade away. But it never did. The money was there, and so was the hope that had etched it’s way into all four of their hearts.