Chapter Text
The museum was silent, even as the Angel of Death swooped in through the window, obsidian-black wings splayed open behind him. Dropping down to the floor with the grace of a falling feather, he walked toward the display with unfaltering confidence and smashed the lock in a single, practised move, lifting the glass case even as alarms began to blare. He lifted the rubies out, placing them into a bag over his shoulder, inspecting each individual one.
“Hello, Angel,” came a voice from behind him, “Not like you to work alone.”
“Hey, Dream,” he acknowledged, still taking the rubies from the case, “They’re late.”
“Late, eh?” someone else said, “Well, that sure is a shame, but I’m going to have to ask you to return those jewels, now.”
The Angel finished taking the rubies and turned to the three superheroes behind him. His face was hidden behind his black, feathered mask, but his smirk was still undeniable.
“Sorry, mate, can’t help you there.”
Dream shrugged, “Well, then, I guess we’ll have to return them for you.”
The Dream Team, as one, all began to charge forward, but they’d barely even taken a step before the Angel suddenly spun, tossing the bag into Phantom’s waiting hand. Dream turned to follow, only to be intercepted by the Blade’s giant blade. He tried to send 404 and Blaze to follow, but by then the Angel had rushed forward to meet them, ready to take them both at once, twirling his twin blades. Dream shouted in frustration, and the Blade just laughed.
Phantom, meanwhile, had sprinted off through the nearest wall, disappearing through the twists and turns of the museum, until it would be practically impossible for anyone to follow.
He turned on his earpiece.
“I’m away,” he said, turning another corner past another display - old, marble statues with crumbling faces. He heard the Angel’s laugh on the other end, and Dream’s muffled question. His chosen point of exit - a wall leading into a barely used alley - was coming up. Another left, another right, his focus entirely on where he was going and the sounds coming through his ear, he failed to notice the flash of red on his left, until-
“Hey, bitch!”
Phantom turned at the familiar voice, scoffing.
“I don’t have time for your games, child,” he told Theseus, who just laughed at him from behind his obnoxiously bright red and white mask.
“Even for these?” he asked, holding up the very bag Phantom had just been carrying.
He glared at him, “How did you…?”
“A big man never reveals his secrets, bitch.”
“ Phantom? ” the Angel said in his ear, “ What’s going on? ”
“Fucking Theseus,” he hissed, and Theseus laughed.
“ Theseus? ” the Blade groaned
“ Theseus!? ” he heard Dream exclaim in the background, between the clashes of blades.
“The fucking raccoon has the rubies.”
“ Theseus what !?”
Theseus frowned, “Not a raccoon, bitch! I am a big man, the biggest man! Who just stole a bag from the Phantom’s shoulder!”
“Give it back.”
The sounds of fighting had gone silent in the background as everyone realised what was happening.
“ Where are you, Phantom? ”
“I don’t- far away,” he admitted, “I’m still in the building, but I’m over by the statues.”
“ We’re on our way. ”
“Your friends coming, Phantom?” Theseus asked, still grinning at him, “And the Dream Team, they coming, too?”
“Just give me back the fucking bag, Theseus.”
He laughed, “Nah…”
Then he turned and sprinted the other way.
“Hey! Stop!”
“ Phantom, what’s happening now? ”
He ignored the Angel in favour of sprinting after the young thief, who was laughing as he disappeared down the nearest corridor.
Phantom followed shortly behind, cutting off corners by sprinting through them, only to realise that Theseus was doing the exact same thing.
“Fucking stop!”
“It’ll be funny, Phantom! The Syndicate and the Dream Team show up for another intense, super-powered fight over some fucking red gems, only for Theseus to show up and snatch them! My name’ll be all over the news - again!”
“Fucking- Theseus! Just-”
“Can’t hear you, bitch!”
He disappeared through the wall onto the street, his costume turning from bright red to mottled black and grey as he went. Phantom followed after, only to run out onto a busy pavement, Theseus nowhere in sight.
People were already turning in shock, pointing and exclaiming as Phantom stood there, fully costumed. Cameras pointing and recording, and all he could do was swear loudly, turn around, and walk back in through the wall.
“ Phantom? ”
Phantom just sighed, long-suffering, “He got away - again.”
***
Tommy had never really wanted to be a hero or a villain. He was far more content with the label “menace to society”. Where others went around using their power for good or evil, with the law or against it, Tommy prefered to just see how many people he could piss off in as short of a time as possible. He was just as famous as any top hero or villain, as any one of the people’s vigilante’s, but he hadn’t achieved it through great heists or selfless sacrifices. No, the great Tommy Innit had achieved all his fame and glory purely by doing what he did best - being annoying.
From the day that Tommy discovered that he had the ability to copy other people’s powers, he had used and abused it in any way he could. Starting with just his friends, Tubbo and Ranboo, it didn’t take long for him to set his sights higher. No longer just annoying his two roommates by teleporting around and reprogramming their microwave, he had Tubbo design him a costume purely so he could go out and annoy world famous heroes and villains.
It had begun small, sending messages of “ cock and balls ” and “ penis ”, directly into the Dream Team’s head, or moving the Blade’s unliftable blade when no-one was looking. But Tommy was nothing if not impulsive, and within a month he was all over the news, known under the alias “Theseus”, named after a memorable occasion with the Blade where he’d asked Tommy if he wanted to be a hero, and started referencing Greek Mythology at him in an attempt to convince him to join them as a villain. In response, he’d stuck his finger up at him and run off.
That was the biggest problem with Tommy’s life as a menace - everyone wanted to recruit him. He was exceptionally powerful, even for the world he lived in, being able to copy the powers of those he’d recently been near, so everyone wanted him on their side. In his opinion, it made it all the funnier when he continued to just do his own thing.
It wasn’t that Tommy had never considered doing some good with his power. It was just… working on his own wasn’t an option because of the nature of his powers, and working in a team would just give them an opportunity to find out his secret.
( The secret Tommy had kept since before his parents died, the secret that only Tubbo and Ranboo knew, the secret that meant he had to spend months building up trust before he even dared to call someone a friend, the secret that had him avoiding the Angel of Death like the plague, even as he went out of his way to follow and annoy the rest of the syndicate. )
The Angel of Death was the last avian.
This had been the case since long before Tommy was born. A simple, undeniable fact that everyone knew: the Angel of Death, the infamous villain who filled the news every other day, was the only remaining pure-blooded avian.
Which was a problem. Because Tommy had wings. As had both his parents before they died. And their parents before them. He was, as undeniably as the Angel, an avian.
But where the Angel had built a life on other’s fear, counting on his reputation to protect his wings, Tommy had been forced to do as his parents had taught him, hiding his wings and pretending to simply be human.
Because if word got out, the Hunters would come for his wings.
( Not that he was afraid of the Hunters. Tommy wasn’t afraid of anything - he was a big man. It was just… better safe than sorry was all. So he avoided the Angel and suppressed the feelings of jealousy whenever the man had his perfectly preened, gleaming black wings on display. Who needed to fly, anyway? )
He got home quickly, the suit Tubbo had made for him having morphed to look like completely casual clothing so that he could simply walk away from the heroes and villains without them seeing a thing.
He lived with Tubbo and Ranboo in a reasonably large apartment. There was a living room, kitchen, bathroom and three bedrooms, but it had taken them years to get to that point. Years of sleeping on the couch or sharing a single bed between the three of them, but between Tubbo’s inventions and Tommy’s… expeditions, they’d managed to steadily upgrade to this point.
When he got in, they weren’t there, probably out doing vigilante work. Tommy had considered working with them as a vigilante, but he earnt a lot more money by stealing from under heroes’ noses and, beyond that, his power didn’t really pair well with theirs for that sort of thing, so he’d never even bothered asking.
His room was the smallest of the three, but he’d chosen it for it’s view. It was the only room in the house to have a view of something other than grey, monotone skyscrapers. Instead, Tommy’s window pointed out toward the park. Up close it wasn’t the nicest place to be, trampled plants and abandoned litter. But from here, it was beautiful, towering trees, colourful flower beds layed out between bright green grass and a small, shimmering pond. ( Sometimes, he could almost imagine opening up his wings and soaring over there, gliding on the wind like he hadn’t done since before he lost his parents. )
Tommy’s room was the only sign that he was an avian. There was no bed, the blankets and cushions twisted around on the floor to form a nest, decorated with shiny things and things of sentimental value. It looked like a mess, a ring of pure chaos, but Tommy could recall from memory every single thing within it, and exactly where it was hidden.
( He had fought tooth and nail against his instincts to build the nest, and quickly discovered it was impossible to sleep without it. He’d continued to ignore the instincts, fighting the symptoms of sleep deprivation and only making up for it when he passed out from exhaustion. He’d been like that when he first met Tubbo and Ranboo, and had successfully hidden it from them for the first few months they’d known each other, before they’d found out about his wings and practically forced him to make a nest. )
He sat down in the middle of it, and emptied the bag onto the floor. Seven roughly cut rubies tumbled out, glinting deep crimson in the light. Each had a smooth side, with sharp, jagged edges like they had all been one, giant gem before being smashed apart. Part of Tommy was tempted to try putting them back together, to see if they fit together like puzzle pieces, but his avian instincts took over, and instead he began to hide the rubies around his room, burying them and twisting them in blankets until they would be impossible to find for anyone except him. Then he stood, pleased with his work, and headed through to turn on the news in the living room.
It was, of course, talking about him. And showing a video of Phantom angrily swearing in the middle of the street.
Tommy grinned.
Back in his room, something began to awaken.