Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy Innit hated heroes. He was a vigilante for a reason ok. Well, several reasons maybe, but that’s not the point. The point was he hated heroes but somehow was still standing in the waiting room for his interview with Siren for the position of Sleepy Bois Inc Assistant. Curse Tubbo, curse Ranboob and curse the hero Sapnap that managed to burn down his old job’s building in a villain fight. He supposes he shouldn’t really curse Tubbo and Ranboo it’s not their fault no one likes to hire hybrids to work casual jobs. But definitely curse Sapnap.

“Thomas Innit,” Tommy was startled out of his pity party and walked into the interview room. He smiled at the lady who had called his name before walking in.

“Hello,” Siren smiled not even trying to hide how fake it was, and Tommy had to bite the inside of his cheek, so he didn’t laugh.

“Hello, lovely weather outside isn’t it, eh?” Tommy tries to joke. Siren pauses.

“Sorry I haven’t been outside in 6 hours got no clue what the weathers like Thomas.”

“Tommy, and yeah I couldn’t tell ya either big man, long waiting room times ya got.” Siren cringed

“Sorry, take a seat and let’s get started, shall we?” Oh, shit that’s right the interview. “So, why would you like this job Thomas?”

“Tommy please Thomas makes me sound old, and uh I’ve also wanted to be a hero, but I don’t have any powers, so I’d be pretty shit at it,” two sentences in and he's already telling lies, he’d make a great hero, “So I guess working alongside them is the next best thing, also uh Sapnap burnt down the coffee shop I used to work at, and I don’t really have enough money to wait for them to rebuild so I’m applying around. Out of all the places I put my resume in I would definitely say that this would be a dream job.” Mostly true, except he’d rather work at a coffee shop than a hero agency but hey no surprises hero agency pays more so Tubbo rather annoyingly said he had to work there once he saw the position was open.

“How old are you Tommy?”

“Uh I mean I assumed you had it on the files but I’m 19.” That’s a lie, all of Tommy, Tubbo and Ranboo’s information said they were 19 but really Tubbo and Ranboo were only 17 and Tommy himself was 16.

“Just uh checking ya know you look a little young, almost like a child.”

“Fuck you bitch I am not a child!” Tommy protests. How dare Siren call him a child. Wait, Tommy had totally just sworn at someone he was supposed to make like him. Just as Tommy was about to apologize Siren laughed.

“Right sorry guess that was kind of rude of me to say to a possible future employee, even if it is the truth.” Tommy groaned.

“Any more questions or are you done?” He made sure to keep his tone as non-angry as possible.

“Just one, take a look at this and tell me what you make of it.”

Siren then handed Tommy a price of paper, on it was a picture of a mugger Tommy had beaten up last night in his vigilante form Theseus. The name originating from when Siren the very man sitting across from him right now, had kicked him off a building, he was saved by Ranboo teleporting him at the last second before he hit the ground. The paper also included some facts about what happened.

Tommy swallowed down his nerves that Siren had figured him out before replying.

“Seems like a mugger ran into some vigilante trouble.” Tommy replied huffing lightly.

“Yeah, which vigilante do you think it was?” Siren pressed and Tommy was growing very nervous.

There was no way the hero knew who he was. The clues had to be on the paper.

A quick re-read and Tommy had his answer.

“Well, it says he was found on Salmon Street which is inside the area that Theseus, Purpled and Slime usually patrol so it seems most likely to be one of them. Slime relays on his power a lot while fighting so there would be evidence of slime on and around the mugger, based on when it seems the photo was taken so I’m going to say it wasn’t him. Likewise Purpled has a more violent style and the mugger only seems to have received a black eye and maybe a broken rib due to the way he’s holding his side so again it probably wasn’t him. Which means my answer is Theseus.”

Tommy looked up nervously, had he said too much had Siren figured him out?

“That was… impressive Tommy. We’ll be in contact about your results soon.”

“Thank you, Siren.” Tommy stood to leave.

“Wilbur.” Siren - or Wilbur smiled, genuine this time.

“Right uh thank you… Wilbur.” Tommy left the office.

Shit. Siren had literally kicked him off a building he should have loathed every second of that interview yet somehow, he hadn’t. Maybe Siren was a bitch-face hero he hates, but Wilbur wasn’t so bad? Which was stupid because 1. They were the same person and 2. Wilbur had been Siren the entire interaction except for the very end.

Tommy groaned he might have to go on patrol tonight to clear his head. Sighing he began his walk home.

Chapter Text

Tommy loved going on patrol. The idea of being able to help someone that the stupid heroes failed to, made him giddy with excitement. Not to mention he had the greatest ‘guy in the chair’ possible; his best friend Tubbo.

Tommy made the grand mistake of yawning at that moment.

“You know Slime is doing patrol tonight you could just come back home if you’re tired.”

“I’m not tired Tubbo,” Tommy whispered, “Besides you know what I said, I need to clear my head.” He heard Tubbo sigh on the line and kept moving. He was hoping for a peaceful night tonight just small petty crime while he jumped across the rooftops clearing his head.

Of course, he had no such luck.

“Theseus.”

Great it was the fucking Blade.

Tommy didn’t actually mind the Blade; he was a vigilante before becoming a hero and some part of Tommy was pretty convinced that he maybe hadn’t of had a choice in that. The Blade was also much nicer to vigilantes than his other SBI team members, like seriously Siren kicked them off of buildings and if you run into Philza it’s an almost 100% guarantee of arrest that man does not give up easily. The Blade however, sometimes he just wanted to chat, even if it had to look like they were fighting. However today Tommy was not in the mood.

“Fuck off.” He signed. That was another thing, whilst Tommy was someone who could talk for hours, Theseus only used sign language. He’d thought of the idea when he first started out as a vigilante. It would make it harder to identify him, so he spent hours up late learning it with Ranboo. He’s pretty thankful for it now considering Siren 100% would have recognized Tommy Innit sounded a bit too much like a certain vigilante he kicked off a building not too long ago.

The Blade looked unbothered however and pulled his sword out from where it rested on his hip. Tommy reached for his staff and faltered. Normally he’d fight Blade with his staff, but he just really wasn’t feeling like it today honestly. He saw the other man send a curious glance his way before reaching for his magic.

A ball of red energy pooled in his fist ready to launch an attack at the hero.

“Huh can’t hang around eh Theseus? Got somewhere to be?”

Tommy didn’t grace him with a reply other than throwing his magic towards him. The Blade side stepped it easily.

Tommy knew that this would be a pointless fight considering Blade wasn’t going to raise his sword to Tommy, and if he did, Tommy would need his staff to defend. Tommy thought of his options. He could get staff and fight Blade like usual, or he could use his magic to create a distraction and run.

“You good boss man?” Tubbo’s voice spoke in his ear.

Tommy bit back a sigh. He was tired. Distraction it was going to be.

He reached for his magic and saw Blade position ready to dodge wherever the blast would go.

Then Tommy did something stupid.

He used his magic to grab the sword that Blade definitely didn’t have a good enough grip on and yanked the weapon into the air.

Tommy wished he got the heroes face on film honestly.

He then dropped the sword on the roof of the next building over.

As soon as he let his magic go, he felt a wave of fatigue crash over him.

“Go get your sword bitch.” Tommy signed as he ran off in the opposite direction using his magic to propel him.

Tommy risked turning around to see if the hero was actually getting his sword, when he did he saw the hero smile lightly, shaking his head.

Tommy gulped and picked up the pace.

He fucking hated heroes.

Chapter Text

Tommy once again found himself at Hero Headquarters. God darn it Wilbur for giving him the job.

The call had come whilst he was on patrol. Tubbo had to pick up and say he was at the grocery store. Tommy hadn’t appreciated finding out from Ranboo that Tubbo had called him an idiot to his employer for, 'leaving his phone behind'.

Pushing past his slight anxiety one of the heroes would be able to tell who he is Tommy opened the front door.

“Hello!” He turned to the reception where the lady behind the desk smiled at him. “Oh, you must be Tommy SBI’s new assistant.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Tommy walked over to her, ‘Kristin’ her badge said.

“Here,” Kristin passed him a lanyard with what Tommy assumed was a key card on the end, “Floor 69,” ha nice, “Elevator is to your left or if you fancy a long walk, stairs are on the right.” She pointed towards them.

Tommy thanked her before heading to the elevator.

There were so many buttons, nobody would be able to press all these at once Tommy noted.

One fairly long elevator ride later, Tommy found himself at floor 69.

Just as he stepped out of the elevator the door a bit further down opened and our stepped Wilbur.

This was Wilbur, not Siren, Tommy decided, because he was wearing civilian clothes not Hero costume.

“Tommy!” Wilbur grinned. Tommy found himself grinning right back.

“Hello Wilbur.”

“Terribly sorry I’ve got to leave just when you arrive, but Phil and Techno are inside they’ll show you around. Or well Phil will, Techno might not he’s a little bit grumpy.”

“Oh, why’s that?” Tommy hoped it wasn’t because Theseus damaged his sword or something else ‘silent vigilante related’.

“A video of Theseus absolutely tricking him last night has gone viral on YouTube. Management’s been up his ass all morning.”

Shit. That wasn’t really ideal.

“Oh right.”

“Idiot won’t even be mad at the vigilante keeps saying it was clever of him. He’s just mad about the paperwork.”

Tommy snorted. That was better he supposes.

“I really got to go though, see you later Tommy.”

“See ya Wilbur.”

Tommy waited for the elevator doors to ding close before he made his way to the door Wilbur had just exited and knocked.

The door was opened by none other than Philza. His giant black wings blocking the view of the rest of the room.

“Hey mate, you must be Tommy, I’m Phil, come in.” He stepped to one side to make room for Tommy.

Tommy stepped inside and looked around. There was a small kitchen and dining table to his right with a door beside one of the kitchen counters, which Tommy was 90% sure led to a pantry. On his left was a lounge room complete with two small couches, an armchair and a TV. The wall opened up to reveal a corridor that Tommy couldn’t see all the way down. At the back to the left of the kitchen was a window and on the left of that was a door coming out of the wall that connected to the hallway. Tommy realized that this was definitely the nicest house he'd ever been in. He wasn't sure if it was a house, but it looked like a house to him.

“Right, so this is where you’ll working. Your office is the first door on the right-hand side of the hallway, Wilbur’s is the one next to it, Techno’s office, and the bathroom are on the left. My office is over there next to the window if you need me that’s most likely where I’ll be. You’re welcome to any food you want from the kitchen, whenever.”

Tommy nodded in understanding. Somehow, he doubted he had complete free range of the kitchen but best not to dwell on that right now.

“Now, in terms of what you’ll actually be doing, it isn’t much. Just helping with filing reports and managing our social medias mostly. You might have to arrange a few interviews here and there but not a great deal. That sound alright with you mate?”

Tommy nodded again.

“Well than Tommy I suppose I only have one question for you before you get started.”

Tommy tried not to look nervous. Are you Theseus?

“What on earth did you say to Wilbur to make him cancel all interviews after yours only to come in screaming to Techno and I he’d found the perfect assistant?”

Tommy blinked. He’d done what?

“I mean- well I mean-” Tommy stuttered embarrassed. He didn’t think he’d done anything impressive. It had seemed like a standard interview.

“I, uh, called him a bitch.” Shit, that probably wasn’t the smartest thing to say.

However, to his surprise Phil laughed.

“You insulted him, so he hired you?”

Tommy turned to face the hallway where the voice had come from. The Blade or what had Wilbur said his name was Techno? That was a weird name. Was standing there.

“Well, he called me a child, so it was completely reasonable.”

“To be fair that’s an accurate description, you sure not 15 or something?”

15?! That hurt.

“I’m 19 bit-” Tommy cut himself off. Probably shouldn’t get into the habit of calling his employers bitch, just yet.

Phil was cackling at this point and Tommy felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. When the hero calmed down a bit, he turned and asked,

“Any luck with management mate?”

Oh, yeah, the video.

“Oh, right, Wilbur mentioned you were having some trouble.” Tommy bit the inside of his cheek, probably shouldn’t have spoken.

“They’ve calmed down. Still mad at me for not arresting him but there’s not much they can do about that since if I had arrested him, my sword probably would have been stolen. It was a smart play from Theseus.”

Oh. Oh shit. The Blade thought what he’d done was smart. Tommy couldn’t help but smile.

“You like vigilantes Tommy?” Phil questioned and Tommy internally swore.

“I live in area heroes don’t patrol as much so I see a bit of them. Theseus saved me from getting mugged once so they’re alright, I guess. However, they are illegal so. What’d Theseus do to you?”

He shrugged smooth cover and subject change if you ask him.

“Threw my sword onto the next building over to make a getaway. Someone got a video and its trending on YouTube.”

“Damn sucks to be you man.”

Phil starts laughing again. Tommy smiles.

“So, am I actually doing any work today, or?”

“Oh, right there’s some paperwork on your desk, come get us if you need any help.” Tommy nods at the hero and makes his way to his office closing the door behind him. It’s a nice room with a desk, a few extra chairs, and a window overlooking the streets of L’Manburg.

Tommy sighs and sits down at the desk, immediately noticing the paperwork Phil mentioned.

He ignores it and instead uses the laptop to go on YouTube and search up the video. He finds it easily and to his delight Blade’s face when he uses his magic to grab his sword is in full view. He makes a mental reminder to take a screenshot on his phone when he gets home.

He closes the laptop and begins on the paperwork, thinking that maybe this job wouldn’t be that bad.

Chapter Text

Tommy loved the feeling of wind in his hair. Whether it was on patrol as he jumped over the city, or just on his walk home from his latest place of work when the wind is roaring, he loves it.

“Ok Theseus, there’s been a robbery on Prime Street, Slime is already there but it seems like he might need backup.”

“On my way Bee Boy.”

Tommy launched himself in the right direction using his magic. Just a minute later he saw the scene in front of him. Slime was battling a couple of guys and seemed to have already beaten up a few but they were beginning to find their footing again. There were also another two robbers holding guns towards a couple of civilians. The bag of stolen goods kicked behind Slime out of their reach.

Sorry Slime, fighting would have to wait, hostages first.

Tommy jumped down from the roof using his magic to soften his fall. A large thump ringing across the street from the impact of his feet hitting the ground.

“Theseus! Good to see you man! Want to go for a coffee once we beat these dudes up?” Slime called out as excited as ever.

“Maybe some other time, bit busy tonight.” Tommy signed back.

Slime smiled before punching the guy he was fighting in the gut.

“Yeah, some other time though, promise?”

Tommy smiled under his mask. Communication between himself and the other vigilantes in L’Manburg had been hard in the beginning but some of them, like Slime, had put in the effort to learn sign language so he could communicate with them. The Blade had done that too.

Tommy appreciated it, as it made keeping Theseus anonymous so much easier if he didn’t have to talk to get his plans across.

Tommy pooled his magic in his fist before charging towards the people with the hostages.

He shot the pool of red energy at the first dudes back causing him to surge forward and hit the front wall of a small takeaway shop. His gun clattered to the ground as he struggled to stand.

The second guy turned and pointed his gun towards Tommy.

Tommy used his magic to rip the gun from the robbers grip. He threw it up on top of the building he’d dropped down from.

He launched himself, fist raised, towards the man landing a hit on his gut.

The robber was prepared though, and the punch didn’t even seem to do anything as the man countered swinging his own fist towards the vigilantes face.

Tommy reached his hand up to catch the fist before it hit him.

He looked towards the scared civilians and nodded his head backwards. They got the message and ran out of the street past where Slime was still fighting the others.

Once he knew the civilians were safe, Tommy jumped backwards and reached for his staff pointing it towards his opponent.

At this moment the first guy decided to stand possibly to join in the fight.

Tommy simply shot a blast of his magic at the bastard knocking him down again before bringing his attention to the other.

The man charged at Tommy full force; fists raised. Tommy braced himself aiming to hit the man with his staff but as he moved his foot backwards, he stumbled on a bit of Slime’s goo on the ground.

He hurriedly aimed to regain his balance, but he was too late.

The robber punched him in the stomach, Tommy flying backwards on impact.

His whole body screamed in pain. The man must have had a strength power because damn it felt like Tommy’s ribs had snapped in half.

Wincing Tommy pushed himself up onto his arms and reached for his magic and launched at the quickly approaching man.

The blast hit the man in the shoulder, and he stumbled backwards a little. It wasn’t enough to stop him though, he continued to approached Tommy and the vigilante did his best to brace himself, but nothing came.

Slowly Tommy opened his eyes, Slime had locked the robber into combat having finished with his own opponents.

“Get out of here Theseus, I got this now!”

Tommy reached for his staff and used it to stand himself upright.

His body screamed with pain, but Tommy ignored it and reached for his magic.

Police sirens came into earshot and Tommy bit back a curse.

He used his magic to launch him on top of a building, resisting the urge to scream out in pain.

He kept moving for as long as he could before collapsing on a roof a couple of blocks away.

“Everything okay boss man?”

Tubbo’s voice felt like static in his ears.

“Think I broke my ribs big man, dude I was fighting had a strength power or some shit, be home soon just give me a minute to rest.” Tommy mumbled.

“Shit, I’m sending Ranboo to pick you up ok, stay put, don’t fall asleep Tommy.”

Tommy mumbled incoherently as a response. Tubbo was a bitch, Tommy was tired why shouldn’t he go to sleep.

Not even a second after, he heard the familiar vwhoop of his enderman-hybrid friend teleporting and promptly passed out.

Chapter Text

Tommy walked very slowly towards Hero Headquarters. Going to his second day of work with two broken ribs probably wasn’t the smartest idea but Tommy didn’t really have much of a choice.

If the heroes knew of Theseus involvement in the fight that took place on Prime Street after a robbery it wouldn’t be hard for them to connect the dots.

Especially Techno, the Blade probably knew too much about Theseus already.

Tubbo and Ranboo had done a decent job of patching him up at home with what they had available, but it still hurt like a bitch when he breathed sometimes.

In fact, the duo had suggested he take the day off to heal, however Tommy talked some sense into them pretty quickly.

Best to stop suspicion before it even starts.

Besides if anyone asked, he’d say he fell down the stairs or something. If he had to play clumsy, he’d do it.

He grinned at Kristin on his way to the elevator, stepped inside and pressed the button for floor 69.

Tommy took a deep breath before tensing at the pain. It seems like Tubbo and Ranboo were right, Tommy should have taken the day off.

Just as he was thinking that his day couldn’t possibly get any worse the elevator stopped, Tommy frowned, surely he wasn’t at SBI’s floor yet.

The doors opened and Sapnap stepped into the elevator.

Tommy scowled at the floor. Just the person he did not want to see.

“Oh, hey, your Tommy, SBI’s new assistant, right?”

Tommy bit back the string of curse words he was about to shout at the hero that destroyed his wonderful café job that had got him into this situation in the first place, and instead smiled up at him.

“Yeah, that’s me, the one and only.”

The hero smiled back, and Tommy resisted the urge to gauge his eyes out. “It’s about time they got one, Phil and Techno are shit at paperwork and Wilbur’s even worse.”

That was true. Tommy had only been working for a day, but he could already tell you those exact facts.

“Yeah, got to agree with you on that one big man.”

The elevator doors dinged open, floor 69 thank primes.

Sapnap gave him a small wave as the doors closed behind him, but Tommy paid him no attention.

Trying not to sigh Tommy opened the door to SBI’s floor eager to just sit as his desk and do paperwork until it was time to leave.

He had no such luck.

“Tommy!”

Seems Wilbur wasn’t mysteriously leaving today.

“Hello Wilbur.”

Tommy grinned at the hero; it was easy to forget the pain in his chest for a few moments when he saw the other.

Only a very few moments though before it was once again noticeable.

“Hey man, sorry I wasn’t here for your first day, had some important things to take care of.”

“It’s fine big man.”

“Heard you did almost all the paperwork on your desk as well.”

“It really wasn’t that much big man, it’s my job innit?”

“Still, I think that calls for a Tommy and Wilbur hang out day!”

“I don’t think that’s how it works Wil.”

Tommy turned to see where Techno had entered the main room from the hallway.

“It is now Techno, nothing you can do to stop us, unless Tommy doesn’t want to.”

“Of course, I want to, who would want to do paperwork instead of hanging out with the top 10 hero Siren!”

Tommy would, but he reminded himself this was Wilbur not Siren.

“Yes, I knew you’d be down, come on.”

Wilbur ran at Tommy and grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door. Tommy bit back a scream of pain at the action, thankfully Wilbur dropped his hand and stopped dragging him when they made it to the elevator.

“You like the floor number?”

Wilbur raised an eyebrow and Tommy snorted.

“Yeah, real mature.”

“Hey, I drove a hard bargain against Dream for this floor, only won because I got Phil involved and management love Phil. Dream Team took floor 42 and drew zeros next all the signs they could as a compromise.”

Tommy really laughed that time, but it was cut short by a coughing fit when his entire body protested the action.

“You alright?”

Wilbur looked to him worriedly.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Tommy grinned at him, hoping he drop the subject, Wilbur nodded hesitantly before the elevator came to a stop.

Tommy followed him out into a lower floor of the building. He took a quick look at his surroundings and figured they were in some kind of workshop.

“Welcome to Sam’s workshop. Sam makes all our gear and tech stuff. No one else really understands half of what he’s doing but we appreciate it all the same.”

Tubbo would know.

Tommy smiles at the thought of his best friend. Tubbo had been the one that made all of Theseus' gear. Tommy also owed his life to the bee-hybrid so to say he appreciated him well maybe it was a bit of an understatement.

“Who’s Tubbo?”

Oh, had Tommy said that out loud.

“My roommate, he’s pretty good with that kind of stuff, secret genius or some shit.” “You’ll have to introduce me at some point.”

Tommy hid his worry with a smile. Introduce Tubbo personally to any hero, yeah that would go real well. It was bad enough that Tommy had said his name.

“Sam!”

Tommy startled as Wilbur called out to the other. Tommy smiled at the engineer noting that his green hair was kind of cool.

“This is Tommy. Phil, Tech and I’s new assistant.”

“Nice to meet you, Tommy.”

“You too.”

Tommy shook Sam’s hand, rather professionally if you ask him.

“Mind if I show him a few things?”

“Not at all, go for it.”

Wilbur motioned for Tommy to follow him as he took off towards one of the many workstations throughout the room, or was it considered an entire floor of Hero Headquarters, Tommy wasn’t sure.

Wilbur started talking about the thing on the table, it looks sort of like his Siren suit, but Tommy isn’t really picking any of it up.

His ribs are hurting even more now, and he has to focus on each individual breath he takes, not to mention he thinks he’s starting to get a headache.

“-e adjusted it to, Tommy are you ok?”

Tommy opened his mouth to reply to him, but no words left his lips as he collapsed onto the hero.

Chapter Text

Tommy woke to sound of voices; he couldn’t work out what they were saying but he knew they were talking about him.

“Be quiet he’s waking up,”

Tommy groaned as he entered reality. Was that Techno’s voice he had heard, he couldn’t tell.

“Tommy, can you hear me?”

That was Wilbur, Tommy blinked. Oh, shit that needed a reply.

Slowly Tommy nodded his head.

“Ok good, can you tell me why you have three broken ribs and a concussion then?”

Ah, so Tubbo had been right he did have a concussion, but boob boy had been wrong, he had three broken ribs not two.

“Fell down the stairs last night, didn’t think it was that bad.”

Tommy tried not to cringe at how raspy his voice sounded.

“You fell down the stairs and it did all that?”

Tommy hid the worry from his face, was Phil onto him?

“Yeah, they are some pretty tall stairs big man, I’m not surprised.”

That bit was true, the stairs in his house were fucking tall as shit.

“Right, well the doctor has done as much as he can with his healing power, he said that your right to go home and your body will heal the rest on its own, do you want me to drive you?”

Tommy gulped; he hated the thought of Wilbur seeing the run down house where he lived, but he especially hated the fact that the hero’s doctor had poked around at him, even if it had saved his life, well, probably saved his life, Tommy didn’t know. Too many things could have gone wrong.

Tommy suppressed a shiver at the thought of the doctor learning about his powers, and instead agreed to let Wilbur give him a ride. He had no better way of getting back home.

Wilbur and Techno helped him stand and all four of them walked from the Hero Headquarters med bay to Wilbur’s car.

“You are to take the next week off and rest Tommy.”

Phil’s tone left no room for argument but still, Tommy resisted the urge to scream at his request. He needed the money, otherwise Tubbo, Ranboo and him wouldn’t be able to pay their bills.

Instead of voicing his complaints, he grinned at the hero.

“Whatever big man, don’t leave too much shit for me to do.”

Phil smiled as Wilbur started the car and began to drive.

After Tommy told Wilbur his address the rest of the car ride was spent in awkward silence.

Tommy could tell Wilbur didn’t believe the story about him falling down the stairs, which Tommy supposed was fair enough. Who would get as bashed up as he did just from falling down the stairs?

The hero pulled up outside his driveway and helped Tommy walk to the door.

Tommy rang the bell.

Please be Ranboob that opens the door, please not Tubbo. The vigilante silently prayed.

The door opened and there stood the familiar enderman-hybrid that was Ranboo.

“Ranboob!”

Tommy cheered.

“Uh, Tommy, what are you doing back so early?”

Ranboo glanced nervously between Tommy and Wilbur.

“Tommy had three broken ribs and a concussion; we’re making him stay back for a week to heal.”

“Yep!”

“Oh, uh, yeah, he did have a really bad fall down the stairs last night.”

Tommy grinned at Ranboo; great minds think alike.

“Right, make sure he doesn’t do that again then.”

“Yeah, I’m not planning to big man, thanks for dropping me off.”

Tommy smiled at Wilbur before joining Ranboo in the doorway.

“Alright see you in a week Tommy.”

“See ya big man.”

The pair watched Wilbur drive off, both letting out an identical sigh as the hero left the area.

“Tubbo is not going to be impressed, you know that right?”

“Which reason, the injury or having a hero in our driveway?”

Ranboo’s ‘not funny’ was covered by Tubbo’s scream from the top of the fucking tall as shit stairs.

“There was a what in our driveway?!”

Tommy cringed, yeah, he did feel quite bad about that honestly.

“Wil- Siren was dropping me off. He didn’t see you, and I don’t think he recognized your name when I accidently said it earlier, so you’re fine, we’re fine.”

Tommy held his breath. He knew how much Tubbo feared what the hero’s would do to him of they found him and figured out who he was.

Tommy and Ranboo knew that Tubbo wasn’t at all like his 'dad' Jschlatt, the former Nevadas villain group leader.

But well, some of the world certainly felt different towards the ram-hybrid’s adopted, or kidnapped as Tommy called it, bee-hybrid son.

Tommy heard Tubbo let out a frustrated sigh.

“Tommy man, I love you, but you’ve got to be more careful.”

Tommy grinned.

“Love you too, bee boy.”

This time it was Tubbo’s turn to smile.

“Why are you back so early anyway?”

“They found out about my injury, so they sent me home to heal for a week which is totally bullshit because I’m completely fine- ouch!”

Tommy glared at Ranboo who had just poked him in the ribs.

“Yeah, totally fine, bet you could go beat some criminals up as Theseus right now.”

“Wait, really?”

“No.”

Ranboo rolled his eyes at him.

“Come on, lets go play Animal Crossing or something.”

“Oh yes I can show you my super awesome museum boob boy, it has lots of cool fish in it.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

Tommy grinned as he jumped up the stairs, sure that may not have been the best thing to do with three healing broken ribs, but Tommy didn’t care.

He was going to have the best week with his best friends ever.

Chapter Text

Tommy despite all odds felt a little excited to be back at Hero Headquarters, sue him.

As much as he enjoyed hanging out and spending time with Tubbo and Ranboo there was only so much boredom video games could cure.

Tubbo hadn’t even let him go on patrol, even when he pointed out the risk that the heroes might connect the dots, he said that it wasn’t worth the risk to Tommy’s health.

Some part of Tommy also missed Wilbur a little, but only a little.

“Welcome back Tommy!”

Tommy grinned at Kristin.

“It’s good to be back.”

“Wilbur missed you.”

Tommy snorted.

“Of course he did, clingy bitch.”

Kristin laughed as Tommy made his way to the elevator and up to floor 69.

He was about to burst open the door and scream something cheesy like ‘I’m back bitches’ but he stops when he heard yelling from the other side of the door.

“It’s not bullshit Techno,” Wilbur’s voice travels through the door, “Vigilantes are illegal, they need to be stopped this new law would be a good way to get them.”

Shit, new vigilante laws. Isn’t being illegal enough?

“Doesn’t mean that it’s good idea to arrest all their family and friends once we know their identities, what if they didn’t even know!”

Tommy held his breath.

“It might make them give themselves up, and it's not just family and friends, its anyone who worked with them or knew, back me up here Phil!”

Tommy heard Phil sigh.

“Wil’s right Techno, I know you were a vigilante before you got the opportunity to become a hero but that doesn’t mean that vigilantes aren’t still illegal, and they need to be stopped. Heroes exit, people don’t need vigilantes.”

Tommy balled his fists. People don’t need vigilantes, really? Where were the heroes in 90% L’Manburg then? Where were the heroes patrolling when Tommy or Slime weren’t? Tommy had only seen heroes in his area when they were chasing vigilantes, and it wasn’t like there was a shortage of crime in the area.

He heard Techno scoff.

“Keep telling yourself that if you want but it's certainly not true.”

Damn, get ‘em Techno.

Tommy swallowed down the lump in his throat and decide that now was a good of time to enter as any.

“I’m back!”

“Tommy!”

Tommy smiled at Wilbur; he could forget that Wilbur really wanted the other version of him arrested right?

“Wilbur!”

“Hey mate welcome back, feeling alright?”

Tommy smiled at the winged hero.

“Yeah, I’m fine now. How much paperwork did you leave me to do?”

“Honestly not that much!”

Wilbur looks proud of that statement; Tommy doesn’t trust him in the slightest.

“Right, well that’s where I’ll be if you need me.”

Tommy enters his office before they can bring him into their previous conversation which he wants no part of. Tommy however, must have the worst luck in the world though, because no sooner than when he has sat down to assess the paperwork Techno enters the room.

“You don’t hate vigilantes, do you?”

Tommy took a deep breath.

“Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?”

Stall the conversation.

“Yes I have, I just deemed it unnecessary, now answer the question.”

Wow, heroes are so entitled.

“No, I don’t hate them, why?”

“You live in an area Theseus patrols often, don’t you?”

Tommy did not like where this was going.

“Yeah, I do, where is this going?”

“Then you might be able to help me.”

Tommy blinks, help him?

Before he can reply Techno continues.

“I’m trying to get the other heroes to back me up in making Theseus a hero, if he wants to be of course. Management is getting the government to pass a new law, it means heroes can arrest anyone who knows a vigilante’s identity, as well as the vigilantes friends and family, even they don’t know, in order to arrest the vigilante.”

Tommy gulped. He’d thought as much but having it confirmed was terrifying. He didn’t have any family to worry about being arrested but he did have Tubbo and Ranboo, and he’d consider them the closest thing to family he has.

“That’s, morally wrong?”

Tommy bites his lip, did Techno think it was morally wrong or was that just him.

“Tell me about it. When Phil arrested me, he said that I could become a hero or I could go to Pandora’s Vault for the rest of my life, it was a pretty easy decision, but it doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. But it does prove heroes aren’t above doing messed up shit to get their way though.”

Tommy shivered; Pandora’s Vault was the prison used for L’Manburg’s worst villains. It’s where Schlatt was spending his days, rotting.

“I don’t want that option to be placed on anyone else, but I don’t think I have much of a choice. Most vigilantes aren’t big enough “threats” to the heroes to be put in Pandora’s but there are some exceptions like Purpled, Slime,”

“And Theseus.”

Techno nodded. Tommy felt bile rise in his throat, but he pushed it down.

“I haven’t had many interactions with Purpled and Slime so I don’t know them very well, but I would say I know Theseus. Although in trying to convince the other heroes, starting with Phil and Wilbur of course, I realized I don’t actually know that much that would be useful for the campaign.”

“So, you think I could help you with some of it?”

Techno nodded again. Admittedly Tommy was the best person to come to for information on Theseus. He literally was the vigilante, although knowing he could control what information he could give the hero didn’t help his growing anxiety.

“Alright, although he’s pretty secretive, don’t know if I could give you much more than you’d already know. Tell me what you’ve got so far.”

“Well, I know he can hold his own in a fight, his fighting style is similar to that of many heroes, like he learnt from watching them fight. He’s reasonably young about 16 I think, which is the same age I was when they recruited me. He uses sign language to communicate, but he isn't deaf because he responds to others talking and the sounds around him. Other than that, I really don’t know anything, nothing about his identity, obviously, or what his powers are.”

Tommy nodded. He was relieved other than his age Techno hadn’t figured out anything important, and even that was just a guess.

“Oh, and he has a friend who can teleport.”

Tommy’s stomach dropped.

“I mean when he was teleported after Siren kicked him off a building, it could have just been someone who had been in the area who took pity on him, but I’ve seen him get Theseus out of a few tricky situations since then. I don’t think he’s another vigilante, so I’d have to say he’s one of Theseus friends.”

That wasn’t very reassuring for Tommy. If Techno had figured out that Ranboo was one of Theseus friends, then it wouldn’t be long before all the heroes started looking for a tall enderman-hybrid who could teleport.

“Yeah, I don’t think I can help you much big man, his powers take on a bright red colour, but he uses them for a range of different purposes. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

That was really all Tommy could say without revealing too much.

Tommy’s powers were, well, unique. Tubbo, Ranboo and him had spent many hours on McDonalds free Wi-Fi trying to find an explanation for them. The best they’d been able to come up with was that he summoned energy to his body that took on a red aura. Tubbo had named it energy magic, but the trio mostly referred to it as magic when they talked about it.

“Yeah, me either. Let me know if you’re able to figure something out, I’ve been trying to talk to him while he’s on patrol, but I haven’t seen him in a week.”

“Yeah, he was fighting a few people trying to rob a store with Slime about a week ago, he might have got injured and is taking a break.”

“Hmmm, maybe, but Theseus doesn’t strike me as the type to take a break because of injury, unless his teleporting friend got him to rest, I guess. Well, I’ll see you around Tommy.”

“See you around Techno.”

Techno closed the door and Tommy gasped for air.

Had Techno figured him out? Did Techno know that Tommy was Theseus? Did he know about Ranboo? Tubbo?

No, Tommy was being ridiculous. There was no way Techno could have connected Tommy to Theseus, he made sure of it, let alone figure out who Tubbo was, they’d all covered their tracks well.

Tommy sat at his desk breathing in and out. He was overreacting, nobody knew.

Tommy startled when there was a knock on his door.

“Hey Toms, Phil’s not looking want to go for ice-cream?”

Wilbur’s voice whispered though the door. Tommy was about to reply with ‘of course I do’ when he hesitated.

Did he want to go for ice cream with Wilbur? Wilbur who wanted him and all his friends arrested?

Tommy sighed. As much as the idea of Wilbur arresting him, Tubbo, or Ranboo was terrifying he could really use ice cream after his conversation with Techno.

He opened the door to his office and gave Wilbur a giant grin.

“What are you waiting for big man, let's go.”

Wilbur grinned back at him.

Half an hour later, Wilbur was parked outside what he claimed was the best ice-cream in all L’Manburg.

“Now I know you’re a child, but I do not condone anyone buying superhero ice-cream regardless of age, so please refrain from doing so.”

“Fuck you I’m not a child bitch, and I was not going to get superhero that’s for literal twelve-year-old’s.”

Wilbur laughed.

“Whatever gremlin. Order up.”

Tommy surveyed the various ice-cream flavours, they all looked delicious to him except superhero. Anything with hero in the name was not going to be good, except for the Philza themed McDonald’s happy meals they did occasionally, those were good.

“I’ll have double vanilla scoop.”

Wilbur was paying might as well spend as much of the others money as possible.

“And I’ll have a single scoop mixed berry.”

The lady behind the counter made their ice-creams and Wilbur paid, before Tommy knew it Wilbur was dragging him outside.

He watched the hero jump on the roof of his car with ease even whilst holding his ice-cream cone.

“Well, are you coming up?”

Tommy scowled at the hero as he climbed up onto the car next to him (with much less success, Wilbur had to hold his ice-cream).

The two sat in silence enjoying their ice-cream which Tommy did have to agree was the best in L’Manburg.

“So, you sit on the roof of your car eating ice-cream often?”

Tommy raised an eyebrow at the hero.

Wilbur smiled.

“More often than you’d think.”

Tommy scoffed, it was surprisingly easy to imagine Wilbur eating ice-cream on the roof of his car, a different flavor each time.

“Question for you, are you always boring enough to have vanilla, or do you have some excitement in your life?”

Oh, if only Wilbur knew how much excitement Tommy had in his life.

“Oh, fuck you, there is enough excitement in my life, vanilla is just a good flavor.”

“Whatever you say, Toms, whatever you say.”

Tommy rolled his eyes whilst he finished the last of his ice-cream jumping down from the roof alongside Wilbur.

They drove back to Hero Headquarters bickering the entire way.

Chapter Text

Tommy loved going on patrol. The feeling of wind in his hair, being able to let his magic flow freely through his body, and the freedom that came with being Theseus. Being able to be a hero without all the strings attached, some of which he knew all too well since starting work at hero headquarters.

Today was different. The usual rush of adrenaline he felt with the excitement of patrol was gone.

He felt nervous. Scared.

Knowing that because of what he was doing at that very moment could land Tubbo and Ranboo behind bars, was more terrifying than any threat of a Pandora’s Vault cell with his name on it could ever be.

He wouldn’t stop though. Phil had been wrong. People did need vigilantes, people of L’Manburg needed Theseus.

Not a hero that couldn’t properly protect them, due to an endless number of rules and regulations they had to follow. Not a hero, that was only a hero to keep Headquarters image high.

They needed vigilantes, heroes that protected people, despite knowing it was illegal, knowing it most likely wasn’t going to end well, kids mostly, who knew they needed to do something to help.

Like what Tubbo had been for Tommy all those years ago. Setting him and Ranboo free because it was right thing to do, even though it meant he maybe wouldn’t have made it out in time.

So yes, Tommy Innit was nervous and scared for his friends, but he was Theseus the vigilante and as long as the people of L’Manburg needed him, he’d be there.

“Careful Theseus, Bade is headed your way.”

Tommy bit his lip. He didn’t think Techno was going to try and arrest him based on their conversation the previous day, but it might be best to avoid him all the same.

Tommy summoned his magic and launched himself into the air landing on the roof of the next building before repeating the action.

Tommy turned his head to see that the hero was following him and had almost caught up.

“Need Ranboo to get you out of there?”

Tommy hesitated. Techno’s ‘save Theseus’ deal hadn’t included protection for his teleporting friend. Best to keep Ranboo as much out of his vigilante stuff as possible.

“It’s fine, he probably just wants to talk.”

Tommy whispered into his earpiece he had to hope Tubbo understood what he’d said.

“Hello Blade.” Tommy signed his greeting to hero, he would have to pretend to not know about the new vigilante laws, if he let it slip who knows how bad that could end.

“Hello Theseus, we need to talk.”

Tommy gulped. The new vigilante laws, it seems Techno did want to make sure Theseus kept clear of the consequences.

“You want to chat with the Blade or stop some crime, because a large group of villains hanging out at Blaze Street Square.”

“Can it wait, otherwise some villains will be chilling at the Blaze Street Square with no consequence.”

Tommy didn’t wait for a reply, instead launching himself using his magic towards Blaze Street, Blade following him close behind.

Tommy landed on the roof of an office building to survey the scene below him. Tubbo had maybe overestimated the definition of some, there was about fifty villains, as well as a few hostages that Tommy assumed had been having a normal day beforehand.

“Foolish.”

Tommy turned to look at the hero next to him. He looked pretty terrifying with his teeth clenched like they were.

It was probably justified to be honest. Foolish was a well-known villain, he was dangerous and high-ranking member of Nevadas Villains under Quackity’s lead.

“What do we do?”

Tommy looked up at the hero expectantly, best to let him take the lead on this one.

“I’ll keep them distracted you do your best to free the hostages till management send in other heroes for backup. That’s what’ll get me and you in the least amount of trouble anyway.”

Tommy nodded as he unclipped his staff and silently creeped down the side of the building using his magic. The Blade stayed on the rooftop until Tommy had crept round the corner before jumping down turning all the villains attention to him. Tommy saw Foolish nod to several of the villains who all rushed at the hero.

Tommy stepped quietly behind the villains towards the civilian hostages. He had his magic and staff ready to defend himself if any of the villains noticed him. Thankfully for Tommy though, they seemed to be pretty new to the whole villain thing because even when he accidently kicked a rock into a garbage can creating a metallic thunk they didn’t even turn around.

Tommy reached the first hostage and made quick work of ropes binding their hands. He did the same for the other six easily. He turned to face the civilians motioning with his hands for them to leave. But only a few of them got the messaged and began to leave the square. The other four pulled out their phones stubbornly and stood still.

The nerve of some people. Neither Blade nor Tommy could use their full power whilst there were still civilians in the area, there was too much of a risk they could get hurt in the crossfire. With Foolish leading the villains who were most likely other members of the Nevadas crew they would need to use full power to win this fight.

Tommy scowled, which earned him no more than a raised eyebrow from one man. Just as he was debating if it would be alright to drop them in the next street using his magic one of the villains turned around.

“Hey, that kid freed the hostages!”

Tommy internally swore as he raised his staff to protect himself and the stubborn shits behind him. A few villains were charging towards him with their fists raised.

Tommy twirled his staff as he lunged forward hitting the first villain in the jaw then slamming the second in the chest pushing them both backwards. He pushed back as many villains as he could, but he wasn’t doing much damage and they were rising to have a second shot at the vigilante in no time.

Tommy reached for his magic to strengthen the blow of his staff as he continued to hit and push the villains to the ground.

Tommy raised his head to see how the hero was doing, slightly disappointed to find him in an almost identical predicament with villains rushing him, being knocked down and rushing again.

He couldn’t use his full power, whilst the bitch-face civilians were still standing mere metres behind Tommy.

Tommy used his staff to knock a few more villains back before reaching for his magic. Once he felt the familiar buzz of energy, he used it to latch onto the feet of the people and pushed.

He watched as the people stumbled on their own feet Tommy’s magic pushing them out of range.

He saw the same man who had raised an eyebrow at his scowl before, scowl himself, and because Tommy was petty, he simply raised an eyebrow in the mans direction.

Tommy turned his attention back to the villains, but he was a little too late. One villain grabbed his shoulder and pushed Tommy onto the ground, towering over the vigilante. Tommy used his staff to hit the man in the face pushing him to side so he could stand.

His back protested at the action, but Tommy was fairly sure nothing was broken, just bruised.

Tommy pooled his magic in his hand and sent blasts flying at the villains. Now that he didn’t have to worry about hitting innocent people this fight was going to be over a lot quicker.

He easily knocked the villains onto the ground, this time they didn’t stand up again.

Tommy was down to his last few villains when police sirens could be heard approaching fast.

“Theseus get out of here!”

Tommy jumped into action whacking the next villain on the head with his staff he readied his power to launch him into the city rooftops.

He jumped, power boosting him into the air higher than that a normal jump, but he stopped mid-air. Tommy turned to see that Foolish had grabbed his ankle.

Tommy struggled against the villain trying to free himself, Blade approached the two probably to get Foolish off the vigilante as well.

“I have a feeling we’ll meet again, Tommy Innit.”

Tommy froze at the villains words. How did Foolish know he was Theseus? What did he mean by we’ll meet again? Had the Blade heard him?

Somehow the last question was the worst. Tommy turned to look at the hero.

Please don’t have heard him. Please don’t have heard him.

Techno’s eyes were wide, and that was the only confirmation Tommy needed to know that the hero had heard him too.

Tommy launched himself out of the villains grip. Crash landing on top of that same office building he’d started on.

Tommy ran.

Chapter Text

Tommy Innit was not having a good day. He had woken up late that morning with a giant bruise on his back from the piece of shit villain that had pushed him over last night, and he had to go to work. Because he’d woken up late Tommy had to take the subway to Hero Headquarters instead of walking with the wind his hair like he normally did, which was annoying because the subway was loud and full of people drinking coffee. He hated it.

But then there was perhaps the worst part about Tommy’s day, Techno knew he was Theseus.

It’s not like there weren’t people that knew, like Tubbo and Ranboo knew obviously and somehow the infamous villain Foolish knew as well, but this was Techno. Not only a top hero but his employer. Someone he’d have to see every time he went to work, well for however long that lasted now that he knew. Tommy was expecting to open the door and Phil would be standing there with handcuffs waiting to arrest him.

Tommy had also lied to his face multiple times, and whilst they were all justified with Tommy’s situation, he didn’t think the hero would appreciate it.

Still despite how bad of a day Tommy was having, he stilled grinned at Kristin (he wasn’t asshole he couldn’t not smile at the woman) on his way to the elevator.

The ride to floor 69 felt too short yet too long at the same time.

He stood in front of the door to SBI’s floor, stilled his shaking hand, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.

Phil was at the dining table and Wilbur was sitting on the couch watching TV and eating – was that pizza, it’s 9am?! No sign of Techno anyway, Tommy let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, hey Tommy! Techno said he needed to talk to you, said its urgent. He’s in the training room, only other door on floor 69, can’t miss it.”

Fuck. Techno’s talk was probably using Tommy as a punching bag after last night. Tommy really wished he was on the couch with Wilbur eating pizza at 9am right now.

“Alright, thanks Phil be back soon then I guess.”

Tommy closed the door and sighed. He took one glance at the elevator and debated bolting for it, surely Kristin would cover for him.

“Tommy?”

Oh shit. Tommy turned to look at the pink haired hero. Techno had sweat dripping down his forehead, he was clearly wearing workout clothes and his hair was a little messy in Tommy’s opinion, but who was he to judge.

“Techno.”

“Let’s talk.”

Techno turned and entered the training room again. Tommy swallowed down his anxiety, it would be easier to just get it over and done with, right?

The training room was, well a training room. Mats, punching bags and training dummies were scattered throughout the room, there didn’t seem to be any particular order to them.

Techno sat down on the center mat and gestured opposite him. When Tommy didn’t sit Techno sighed looking up at him.

“I don’t bite Tommy; you can sit down.”

“Well, I do bite, and I much prefer standing thank you very much.”

Techno scoffed. A few seconds of silence passed between the two.

“Right, I’ll start, I’m not good at the whole talking thing but I’ll do my best. Tommy I’m not going to say anything to anyone, especially not Wilbur and Phil, and I’m not mad at you or anything like that, that’d be hypocritical of me to be mad at someone for being a vigilante.”

Tommy stayed silent.

“My offer for Theseus to become a hero still stands, although something tells me that you won’t be taking it.”

Silence continued to hang between the two.

“Are you alright?”

Tommy blinked.

“Uh, yeah, why?”

“Just asking, you took a pretty nasty fall yesterday getting those civilians out of the way. Which good job by the way, they were being little shits. Should have reported them for disruption of hero work.”

“Uh, thanks and I’m fine, just a bruise.”

Techno nodded.

“What about mentally?”

“What are you, my therapist now?”

“Just asking.”

Tommy gulped, silence overtook the two, it surprisingly wasn’t that awkward.

“Want to spar?”

Tommy blinked like a deer in headlights at Techno’s question.

On one hand he did really want to spar with the hero it could be fun. It would also be a good way to release all his frustration with the morning out now that his anxiety had mostly disappeared.

“No pressure of course, you can leave if you’d like.”

Tommy looked towards the door. Wilbur and Phil wouldn’t question his absence, they knew he was with Techno, but they might question him about why the other hero had needed to talk with him, plus Techno already knew what his fighting style was like because of all the times they’d fought as Theseus and Blade. Tommy readied himself into a fighting stance.

“Stand up then, or stay sitting, it’ll just give me an advantage.”

Techno smiled as he stood.

“I could have grabbed your ankles and toppled you over, would have won easy.”

“Yet you are now standing.”

Tommy raised an eyebrow at the hero.

“Got give you a chance at winning.”

Ok, rude. Tommy’s going to crush this guy.

“You’re on.”

Tommy stays on the offensive side first, analyzing the way the other blocks and weaves around his attacks until Techno gets tired of slithering out of ever corner Tommy backs him into and places himself on the offensive.

Tommy’s defense isn’t nearly as good as Techno’s, but he does his best to dodge and block the hero.

Surprisingly Tommy can’t even bring himself to frown when the hero pushes him over, ‘winning’ their fight.

“Not bad.”

Tommy scoffs.

“Of course, I’m not bad, I fight heroes on a more regular basis than your average citizen.”

Techno’s face morphs into something akin to a frown at that but it’s gone quicker than it appeared.

“Go do your paperwork, gremlin.”

Tommy gasps.

“It’s your paperwork and I thought we were bonding!”

Tommy can hear Techno laughing as he stomps out of the training room, no real heat behind his words or movement.

Tommy closes the door and smiles genuinely, for the first time all day.

Chapter Text

Tommy stared in horror at the hero headquarters lobby. It was all romantic-y, decked out in hearts of all sizes in varying shades of red and pink. Was Valentines Day was really this big of a deal for heroes?
 
“What the fuck is this?”
 
Kristin laughed
 
“They do it every year, it’s just kind of a tradition now.”
 
“It’s excessive.”
 
“Maybe, but its cute, hero work can be stressful, who wouldn’t want to return to headquarters looking like this!”
 
“Me?”
 
Kristin chuckles at him.
 
“Don’t you have to do your job, Tommy?”
 
“Lovely speaking to you too Kristin.”
 
Tommy replies sarcastically. He steps into the elevator, and to his disappointment it hasn’t seemed to have escaped the valentine’s day makeover. Even the corridor of floor 69 was covered in paper hearts.
 
“Tommy!”
 
“Wilbur!”
 
“I have a very special task for you to help me with today.”
 
“Oh?”

Tommy raises an eyebrow at the hero.
 
“No, absolutely not.”
 
“Come on, why not Techno?”
 
This was about as well as Tommy had expected this conversation to go. When Wilbur told him that the very special task was setting Phil and Kristin up on a date, Tommy had been skeptical at first. Somehow – Tommy wasn’t even sure how himself – the hero had managed to convince him to help. Techno however seemed to have more resolve than Tommy, which good for him honestly.
 
“It’s just three brothers helping their dad get with the woman he’s literally in love with!”
 
Wait, did Wilbur just call them brothers? Did he think of Tommy like a brother?
 
“That’s all good for Phil, but what about Kristin? We have no idea if she thinks of him as anything but a friend.”
 
“Actually, she has him as her desktop background.”
 
Tommy clamped his mouth shut. Even though it was true that Kristin had Phil as her desktop background, he probably should be siding with Techno right now.
 
It had been a week since Techno had found out he was Theseus. Tommy no longer felt like he was dancing on eggshells around the hero, but he was certainly still balancing on his tippy-toes. Sure, Techno had said he wouldn’t tell anyone but what if Tommy pissed him off enough that he did?
 
Tommy bit his lip. He needed to stop thinking like that, Techno had said that he wasn’t going to tell anyone and he had no reason to believe otherwise at the moment.
 
“Huh, so that’s why she always seems to need a blank word document whenever I’m there.”
 
“Well that’s settled then! Tommy will distract Phil and Techno will distract Kristin.”
 
“I never agreed to anything.”
 
“I don’t care, you’re helping.”
 
“Why aren’t I distracting Kristin?”
 
“Because she would be suspicious as to why you’re not working, Tommy.”
 
Wilbur explains it like it should have been obvious. Maybe it had been? Tommy doesn’t really care who he’s distracting. He just would rather have Kristin.
 
“What are you doing then?”
 
Tommy tilts his head at Wilbur, Techno raised a good question.
 
“I’m going to be setting up the whole ‘date’ thing.”
 
“Right, because its such a good idea to let you set anything up.”
 
“You want to do it?”
 
“Nah, I’m good with distraction duty I guess.”
 
“Good. Now scatter.”
 
Wilbur gestured wildly at the air with his hands.
 
Tommy sighed.
 
“You know Wilbur with the amount of effort you’re putting into this, I’m almost convinced its your fault everywhere I go today I’m seeing little hearts.”

Wilbur smirks.
 
“Unfortunately I can only take half the credit for it, its Dream’s as much as it is mine.”
 
Tommy feels betrayed. His own brother dare backstab him like this?
 
No, not brother. Wilbur, just Wilbur.
 
A few moments pass where Tommy stares horrified at Wilbur and Techno looks on the verge of laughter or tears, maybe both.
 
“I said scatter.”
 
Tommy flips him off playfully as he leaves the room.
 
Phil was unpacking stuff for Sam down in the others lab and honestly seemed quite relived when Tommy offered to help him.
 
“Thanks mate, I was beginning to think I’d be here all week on my own without anyone knowing.”
 
“I’m sure someone would have noticed your absence, maybe not Wilbur, and Techno’s debatable, maybe Dream or someone would have pulled through though.”
 
Phil laughs and reaches for a new box, Tommy follows his lead.
 
Wilbur’s instructions were simple enough, keep Phil distracted for a bit while Wilbur did whatever the fuck Wilbur was doing.
 
“What kind of legacy do you want to leave on this world Tommy?”
 
Tommy blinked at the hero. He knew what legacy he wanted to leave, or well he knew what legacy he wanted to leave as Theseus. But this wasn’t a Theseus question it was a Tommy question.
 
Tommy didn’t know what legacy he wanted to leave, he’d never thought about it.
 
“Sorry, if that made you uncomfortable, or its too deep-“
 
“No its fine,” Tommy cuts him off, “I just haven’t really thought about it. A good one I guess. You?”
 
Tommy tries not to cringe, that was a pretty shitty response.
 
“Yeah, I guess I want to leave a good one too.”
 
“You’re a hero, I’d say that’s a pretty good legacy.”
 
Tommy hopes Phil can’t hear the lie in his voice.
 
“Maybe, but villains aren’t uncommon and vigilantes still feel the need to step up and help, I highly doubt their all there just to be an annoyance to heroes. That means they have to have reasons. Good ones too if they're willing to break the law. It means even as heroes we have to be doing something wrong.”
 
Tommy stared at him. He wasn’t wrong.
 
Tommy stopped to think about the reason he first became Theseus. The area where he lived was one of L’Manburg’s poorer sections, nobody in the area was very well off. Crime was incredibly normal. Too normal. Purpled did a good job at keeping people safe however and he was enough, until he wasn’t. A week before Theseus went on his first patrol the crime rates for the area skyrocketed to more than double the usual. It was clear the heroes weren’t going to help and Tommy wasn’t just going to sit and watch it happen, he had to do something. Thus, Tommy became a vigilante, he wasn’t Theseus at that point, just some kid in a costume. A few days later Slime turned up.
 
Tommy had never looked back. He would never regret becoming Theseus, never.
 
He said none of this to Phil.
 
“Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re wrong and they do just exist to be a menace to heroes. I don’t think the existence of villains and vigilantes makes your legacy any less good as a hero. You’ve saved people, put your life on the line for the people of L’Manburg. I think that will always mean something to people, something good.”
 
Tommy looked up at the hero, unsure. He believed his own words, despite how much he hated heroes, nobody could deny they risked their lives for people, not matter how few in the grand scheme it was.
 
“Thanks, Tommy.”
 
The hero smiled softly at him.
 
“No problem dad.”
 
Shit. He hadn’t meant to say that. Wilbur carrying on about them being brothers this morning had messed him up.
 
He was about to open his mouth to apologize but was interrupted before he could speak.
 
“Tommy!”
 
Saved by the bell, except the bell was Wilbur.
 
“Hey Wil, you need anything?”
 
“The printer broke again, I need you to fix it.”
 
“Do you really need me to fix it though?”
 
“Yes! I do!”
 
Tommy sighed at the immature way Wilbur crossed his arms and morphed his face into a pout.
 
“Well, I guess I’ll see you later Phil.”
 
“See you later Tommy.”
 
The rest of the day was surprisingly normal. That was until he was standing across the street from a restaurant with Techno and Wilbur at 6:30pm in the middle of February. The restaurant that Wilbur had sent Phil and Kristin to for their date.
 
Wilbur kept saying that they weren’t spying on them, however the device they were using to listen in on the conversation said otherwise. Beats Tommy how he got the voice recorder on Phil without the older noticing.
 
“I really loved the note you left for me by the way.”
 
Tommy smirks when Kristin’s voice speaks through the device.
 
Wilbur’s masterplan had been to leave notes from ‘each other’ in places they'd be able to find. It was cheesy and straight out of some sort of rom-com movie but it had worked.  
As much as the idea had worked though, Wilbur had overlooked one small detail.
 
“I never left you a note, you left me one.”
 
Wilbur’s face pales dramatically at Phil’s words.
 
“Did you think they just wouldn’t bring the notes up?”
 
Techno looks questionaly at the brunette.
 
“Shut up Techno.”
 
“You’re a dumbass.”
 
“Thanks Tommy.”
 
Tommy would laugh at the man but he wasn’t entirely sure he wouldn’t be fired if Phil found out he had a part in this, so he didn’t need to give Wilbur a reason to snitch on him.
 
“Wilbur.”
 
Tommy did in fact laugh that time.
 
“Wow, he was quick to figure that one out.”
 
Techno deadpans and Tommy has to agree.
 
“Shut it you two I’m going to be in so much trouble.”
 
“What did you say before, its just three brothers helping their dad out?”
 
Techno raises an eyebrow.
 
Wilbur only scowls in response.
 
“Come on lets take you home Tommy.”
 
“What? I need to know how this ends though!”
 
“I’ll make sure to tell you everything tomorrow alright?”
 
Tommy beams at Techno. Best one of the three.
 
“Ok, fine.”
 
Wilbur drops Tommy off at his house and leaves immediately. Tommy doesn’t mind, he can’t wait to tell Tubbo and Ranboo about what just happened and he doesn’t need Wilbur here to do that.
 
Tommy opens the front door and the first thing he realizes is that it’s quiet. Too quiet.

“Guys?”

He softly calls out as he walks up the stairs. Adrenaline is pumping in his veins and his magic is ready to be called upon.

He steps into the living room and flicks on the lights.

The entire room is illuminated immediately.

“Happy Valentines Day Tommy!”

Tommy jumps at the voices. Holy shit.

He stares at Tubbo and Ranboo who jumped out from behind the couch.

“We decorated the house while you were gone because we know how much you love Valentines Day.”

Tubbo smirks as sarcasm drips through his voice.

Tommy takes a proper look at the room and promptly realizes that their are fucking paper love hearts and pictures of chocolate. Not actual chocolate, just pictures.

Tommy screams.

Chapter Text

Tommy had a spring in his step as he left the elevator at floor 69. Smiling at the note written in Phil’s messy handwriting letting him know that all three of them were out doing something and will be back at 10.

The note also says that there is some paperwork on his desk he can start if he wants to. If this had been any other employer Tommy would have taken that part of the message not as a ‘if you feel like it’ but an order. However, Tommy knew SBI would never force him to do anything, even the thing he literally gets paid to do.

Tommy looks towards the training room. Techno had mentioned once that he could use it whenever he wanted, he just hadn’t had the chance to yet. Wilbur or Phil seemed to always be around.

It’d still be another hour before they arrived today though.

The door creaked lightly as he pushed it open. The training room looked the same as it always did, organized chaos Techno had called it.

Tommy took a few of the dummies from against the wall and lined them up so he could blast them with his magic from a distance.

Careful not to summon too much, he called his magic to his palm. An electric buzz hummed in his fingertips as he took aim at the first dummy’s head.

He released his magic and the ball of red energy hit its target perfectly with enough force to knock it down, but probably not enough to majorly concuss a real person.

Tommy smiled to himself and aimed at the next one.

It was nice to let his magic loose during the day. It was exhausting bottling it up whilst he was a work. He felt like he was always just seconds away from exploding.

The next dummy fell over with a satisfying thunk and Tommy grinned.

If only he wasn’t so paranoid about Wilbur or Phil walking in, he’d be doing this every day.

Tommy finished messing around in the SBI training room at five to ten and went to do his paperwork and work off the adrenaline. Wilbur, Phil, and Techno arrived at 10 exactly. Immediately Wilbur began teasing him about doing paperwork instead of having fun while they were gone.

Tommy smiled; he was happy. He hoped that things wouldn’t ever change.

But Tommy had never been one for hope. He knew things wouldn’t stay like this.

Wilbur still hated vigilantes and he was still the vigilante Theseus. Foolish and probably the whole Nevadas Villains Group knew his name and were possibly out to get him.

But even if just for a moment Tommy could hope things wouldn’t change, he would hope, just this once.

Later that day Tommy was maybe starting to regret agreeing to go to lunch at McDonalds with Wilbur. Even with him being calmer than usual after releasing some of hi magic in the training room this morning, Tommy did not have the patience for whatever the hero was doing right now.

“Extra pickles in your burger? Really Wilbur?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“They’re good.”

Tommy made a gagging motion at the elder.

“You’re weird.”

“I am not, its perfectly normal to have extra pickles in your burger.”

“Maybe, but it’s not normal to pull them out of your back pocket and then put them in the burger.”

Wilbur looked at him puzzled.

“It costs less.”

“You’re a millionaire Wil!”

Tommy slumped back into his seat from where he had temporarily stood to get his point across to the other. How Wilbur and Siren were the same person still baffled him honestly.

“You’re the one whose 19 and still eating a happy meal.”

Tommy scowled at him.

“It’s a Philza themed happy meal, it’s cool.”

Wilbur shrugged and pulled another pickle out of his pocket.

Tommy carefully reminded himself they were in a McDonalds, and he wasn’t able to scream. Instead, he leaned over the table in an attempt to strangle him.

His efforts were useless however as Wilbur was a pro hero and easily defended himself before continuing eating.

Tommy gave him a pointed glare for the rest of the meal.

That evening the breeze ruffled Tommy’s hair as he stood on the rooftops of L’Manburg. He smiled softly under his mask at the feeling.

Tommy wasn’t really doing much this patrol, Tubbo hadn’t notified him of any major crimes, so he was mostly just chilling on the rooves of buildings.

He could probably go home and get some sleep, but he wanted to stay just in case.

“Slime approaching on your left, don’t attack him.”

Tommy resisted the urge to scoff at his best friend as he turned to see the other vigilante approaching him.

“Hey Theseus, my man!”

Tommy waved back at him.

“Pretty quiet tonight, isn’t it?”

Tommy nodded.

“Yeah, not much going on, I’m just enjoying the wind in my hair.”

He signed and Slime smiled.

“It does feel nice, doesn’t it.”

A moment passed between them before by some silent agreement they began to move forward, hopping across the rooftops.

Slime rambled on about small things like the TV show he finished yesterday as they moved throughout the area.

“Did you see something?”

Tommy stopped to look in the direction Slime had been looking. The moment that his eyes left Slime’s figure he felt the weight of a foot crashing into his side knocking him down.

Tommy whipped his head around to see Slime towering over him. His foot firmly on Tommy’s chest.

Tommy called for his magic and tried to push himself upwards, but he wasn’t using as much force as he normally could be due to use it all up this morning in the training room.

“Theseus, everything alright?”

Tubbo’s voice seemed more staticky than usual as the weight on his chest pushed down more making it harder to breathe.

Slime leaned over a plucked his earpiece from his ear. Tommy struggled to get in back, but his efforts only succeeded in tiring him.

“Tommy isn’t able to talk right now.”

He spoke calmly into the device, exaggerating when he said Tommy’s name.

There’s an electric buzz and Tommy assumed that Tubbo was speaking.

“Careful what you say Tubbo, oh and you might want to check in on your little enderman friend.”

Tommy can hear Tubbo’s frantic ‘Ranboo?!’ that echoes slightly as though he’s yelling it throughout the house before Slime smashes the device with his other foot.

In the moments where blackspots danced around his eyes Tommy knows it was wrong of him to hope things would never change.

The darkness swallows him as he passes out.

Chapter Text

"Mama, dad look! “Tommy energetically shouted at his parents. His mother leaned down to look at her sons drawing.

It was a simple drawing the kind you'd have expected from the six-year-old Tommy was. Three stick figures stood on a hill with a house in the background holding hands. The left one was drawn with long flowing hair, the right one with a cap, and the middle one was drawn shortest and had an assortment on swirls on its head that may have supposed to be curly hair.

Each figure was labelled in messy handwriting, Mama, Tommy, Dad.

"It's wonderful sweetie. Go put it on the fridge."

Tommy eagerly jumped up running to the kitchen and clamping the picture on the fridge with a magnet, like so many others before it.

Tommy ran back to his place on the living room floor, and he began his next drawing.

His pencil roughly scratching at the paper as he tried not to poke holes through it due to the carpet.

He drew in stick figures again because he hadn't learnt to do anything else.

His parents watched on fondly as he worked.

Then it happened.

In an instant a chunk of the living room wall came flying through the room.

I didn’t go far before it hit Tommy's father pushing him a long with it before barreling into his mother.

Tommy heard his mother scream as they crashed against the other wall. He watched in horror as the blood pooled from their squashed bodies.

Tears swelled in his eyes.

"Mama? Dad?"

He whispered. He had hoped they'd reply but they didn't.

Tommy didn’t know much about death. Only that his grandpa wasn't around anymore because of it.

Tommy, at six years old, thinks he understands now.

Before Tommy could start truly sobbing though, a figure stepped through the whole in in the wall.

It was a hero. Tommy couldn’t remember what his name was, but he thinks that his power was superstrength.

The hero is looking at Tommy's parents.

"Oh crap, management is going to be so pissed at me."

Tommy sees red.

He didn’t care what management thought his parents were dead, the hero had killed them.

Tommy felt a rush of adrenaline overtake his body. It felt like his hand was buzzing.

Tommy lunged at the hero before the other even had a chance to notice him.

From his fist a giant red ball launched at the hero knocking him down.

Tommy leaned over the fallen hero and punched him in the face.

He'd seen one of the kids at school do it to another kid last week. His teacher had told the class that it was wrong to use violence against other kids and that there would be punishments for doing so.

Tommy didn’t care about his teacher punishing him right now, and besides the hero wasn’t another kid so that meant he could punch him, right?

As Tommy punched the hero his fist released another red ball. The strength of the magic and the close proximity of the blast knocked the hero out before he could so much as speak.

Tommy's hands were shaking as he stepped off the hero. Tears streamed down his face.

He wanted his parents, his parents who would never know about his powers because they were dead.

He stared at the hero on the ground.

Had he killed him?

Tommy cried harder; he hadn’t meant to kill the hero. Heroes were supposed to be the good guys.

Tommy didn’t hear the stomping footsteps of the villain that entered through his wall, but he did hear that bubbled from their chest.

Tommy looked up.

The man towered above him. He had horns curling down from the side of his head. Tommy recognized him as JSchlatt the villain. He’d heard his parents whispering about him when they thought he wasn’t listening, they had been scared of him.

Tommy was frozen with fear, tears continued to slip down his face.

“Oh, this is perfect! Come on kid I’m going to take you home.”

Tommy shivered. The villain wasn’t taking Tommy home, Tommy was already home.

JSchlatt picked up the glass on the coffee table that Tommy’s dad had been drinking from and leaned over the boy.

Frantically Tommy reached out for whatever power he had acquired fighting the hero, but nothing happened as the world went black.

When Tommy was nine when he met Ranboo. After being alone in his cell for three years he was excited at the chance to finally talk to someone else.

Ranboo didn’t talk much that night though, only gave Tommy his name despite the others attempts.

Tommy thought that was alright, they were probably going to be here a while.

Along with Ranboo’s arrival came the start of the experiments.

Members of the Las Nevadas Villains or sometimes even JSchlatt himself would come and take him to a white room called the lab.

They poked and prodded at him and made him use his powers that he still had barely any control over.

The first couple of sessions they gathered a lot of data on him, so Tommy learnt to control his powers.

Every night in his cell Tommy practiced. He wasn’t able to call on much power, Ranboo said they had some sort of power cancelling device in the walls.

Still Tommy was stubborn, so he learnt and, in a few months, whenever he went to the lab the ‘scientists’ stopped getting results.

Tommy thought they would have given up on whatever human experiments they’d been doing on him but instead they got worse.

Tommy didn’t cave though, not one bit. Even though it meant he returned bruised and bloodied more often than not, even though he was tired all the time from keeping his power contained.

Tommy often hoped Ranboo wasn’t as stupid as him and just gave in to whatever they wanted from him; he didn’t want anyone else to go through what he was.

When Tommy is 13, he meets his best friend.

The boy shoved the key into the lock of Tommy’s cell.

“Come on, we have to go! Quackity’s going to overthrow Schlatt and leave him for the heroes, this place is going to go to shit in a few minutes!”

The lock clinked open, and the boy yanked the door forward before moving onto Ranboo’s cell.

Tommy couldn’t believe it. Was he really free? After all this time?

“Let’s go!”

The boy dragged him and Ranboo along the quickest path to the exit. Before Tommy knew they were outside. The fresh air was a welcome change, he’d forgotten what it felt like.

“We need to get away from here.”

The boy continued to lead him and Ranboo away from the villains base hurriedly.

“Who are you?”

Ranboo’s voice caught Tommy’s attention.

“I’m Tubbo, Schlatt used to call me his son, but I don’t believe him.”

Strangely despite Tubbo being the son of L’Manburg’s worst villain, Tommy trusted him.

“I’m Tommy.”

“Ranboo.”

Tubbo grinned at them.

“We’re going to be best friends!”

Tommy woke up gasping for air. His eyes pricked with tears from the bright lights above him. Slowly they began to focus again so he could take in his surroundings.

He felt like he was going to be sick when he realized where he was. The lab.

His head snapped around when he heard the door creak open ominously. Tommy held back a gulp as he saw the villains face, a face he thought he’d never see again.

Quackity.

“Hello again, Tommy.”

Chapter Text

Tubbo was shaking. He had called and looked for Ranboo all over the house, but he was gone and so was Tommy. Slime had taken Tommy, kidnapped him, and Ranboo was gone too now they were on their way back to Las Nevadas Base and Tubbo hadn’t been able to stop it. He’d failed them.

Tubbo did his best to keeps tabs on just about everyone in L’Manburg. Slime had slipped under his radar more times than not though. Tubbo knew the civilian identities of every vigilante – he’d never use them against them of course - except for Slime. Tubbo knew a fair bit about his vigilante identity, his powers, his gear, his fighting style but absolutely nothing about who he really was.

At first Tubbo had been suspicious but after countless Slime and Theseus team ups, he’d brushed it off as the vigilante just being cautious, and as good at hide his identity as Tommy. Now, Tubbo wishes he’d done more to figure the man out.

Tubbo knew that Quackity was a villain. But the difference between him and Schlatt was that Schlatt was a villain for the sake of being a villain and Quackity was a villain that did things for a reason, that means he must have found something in Schlatt’s old research papers that made him want to bring Tommy and Ranboo back. Tubbo just didn’t know what. Neither of his friends talked about what happened at that place, he’d never pushed them to.

When Quackity had told Tubbo to run away all those years ago, Tubbo hadn’t thought twice about rescuing the people his ‘father’ had locked up, now Tommy and Ranboo were his best friends and he needed to get them back.

He pushed himself out of his chair and morphed his face into an expression of determination. He knew that he couldn’t get Ranboo and Tommy back himself, but he also couldn’t go to the heroes, not face to face. It was too risky. He had other means of contact though, that wasn’t a problem. The problem was how little information he had on the actual disappearances of his friends.

Tubbo had a plan though, Tubbo always had a plan.

He grabbed a dark green hoodie and pulled the hood over his head. He pulled a black fabric mask over his face to better hide his identity and grabbed a knife from the kitchen. He gripped the handle tightly, he hoped he wouldn’t have to use it. He wasn’t a fool though so instead he hoped he wouldn’t have to use it to kill.

Tubbo slid himself out the back window like Tommy did when he went on patrols and breathed out shakily when he hit the ground. He was really going to do this.

The night air was cold, but Tubbo barely felt it under the hoodie. He moved through the streets quickly, all he had to do was hope that the person he was looking for wasn’t hanging out on the rooves tonight.

It seemed luck was on his side because he didn’t have to aimlessly wander L’Manburg for long before he caught sight of the purple hoodie.

Purpled. There was a reason Theseus rarely teamed up with Purpled on patrol, and that reason was Purpled was working for Las Nevadas. Well, he was doing a few odd jobs for Quackity here and there for some extra cash anyway. Tubbo had been able to find that information by hacking into the security cameras of a warehouse Purpled had been spotted at. His involvement with the villains made him untrustworthy, but he was the only hope Tubbo had at getting a clue to where Tommy and Ranboo were.

“Purpled!”

Tubbo called out to the vigilante hoping the other would respond.

“What do you want?”

“Where did Quackity take them?”

“Take who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Theseus and the enderman hybrid where are they?”

“Oh, them. I don’t give out that level of information for free, what’s in it for me?”

Tubbo extended his hand with the knife towards the others throat in a threatening manner.

“Your life.”

“I’m not scared of you.”

“Maybe you should be then.”

Purpled sighed.

“Their in Quackity’s main base. It’s a warehouse on Summer Street that’s owned by the government, so no one really messes with it.”

“Quackity must have kept Schlatt’s insider government connections then.”

“Yeah, he did. Can I go now?”

Tubbo retracted the knife back to his side before pulling a wad of $100 out of his hoodie pocket and tossed it to the vigilante.

“Thanks.”

Purpled rolled his eyes.

“If they kill me its on your conscious.”

Tubbo nodded as he began to walk back to the house. He still had one more thing to do after all.

Techno was worried. It was 9.15am and Tommy was yet to arrive at work. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been late before, but he always sent one of them a message if he was going to be late but none of them had received anything. Tommy’s absence was particularly worrying for Techno who was the only one to know the kid’s secret identity as Theseus, and he knew that Las Nevadas or at least Foolish were after him. When villains could be involve anything could happen.

Wilbur was flicking through TV channels anxiously checking his phone every couple of seconds as if he didn’t have notifications on, perhaps he didn’t, it was Wilbur after all.

Techno was beginning to think he should just call the kid when he was interrupted by the TV shutting off abruptly.

“What the fuck?”

Wilbur whispered and he started pressing different buttons on the remote to get to turn on again, it had been providing a nice distraction.

“Good morning heroes.”

Techno almost dropped his apple at the voice that had came from the TV. It was still showing just a black screen, and this didn’t seem like a regular scheduled program.

“My name is Tubbo, and I need your help.”

“Phil!”

Techno called out for the winged hero as he moved to sit next to Wilbur on the couch. Phil exited his office but before he could ask what was wrong, Tubbo was speaking again.

“Last night two of friends were kidnapped by Las Nevadas, one of them is the vigilante Theseus. I understand that the majority of heroes aren’t the biggest fans of vigilantes however you have a duty to help every citizen of L’Manburg, do you not? At this point in time, I have done all I can, this obviously includes hacking into all broadcasting platforms in hero headquarters to send you this message. I know the location of Quackity’s main base where they are currently being held and it will be sent to your individual phones shortly alongside a map with how to locate it. I’m trusting that you will actually do something about this instead of ignoring it and following whatever your management tells you as it seems that said management doesn’t always have the people of L’Manburg as a priority. Thank you for your time and hopefully your cooperation.”

The TV resumed playing shows as normal the moment the message ended, but Techno paid that no mind. Tommy had been kidnapped; Las Nevadas had kidnapped Tommy. Techno’s phone made a little ding sound as he received a text from an unknown number that seemed to be the location Tubbo was talking about.

“We’ll see what management says to do.”

Techno scowls at Phil.

“What do you mean wait for management, we have to help!”

“Techno, Theseus is involved we can’t just rush in blindly.”

“Why does it matter if Theseus is involved? Two people have been kidnapped by the worst villains in L’Manburg!”

“Look I get that you don’t hate vigilantes like everyone else Techno, but they are still illegal. Probably deserve to be kidnapped by villains. I don’t see why you’re making a big deal about this.”

Techno was fuming, how could Wilbur say something like that?

“Don’t see why I’m making a big deal out of this! Are you joking Wilbur? I don’t think I’m making a big enough deal out of it! Not when Theseus is Tommy!”

Techno’s next words caught in his throat. Fuck. He’d yelled those words blindly due to his anger at Wilbur, he hadn’t meant to give away Tommy’s identity. Wilbur and Phil stared at him horrified. Now he’d said what he’d said, he might as well continue with confidence.

“Tommy, who is like family to us, is rotting away in Las Nevadas’ base as we speak, and if you’re not going to save him I will.”

Techno stormed out of hero headquarters, not caring if his other team members followed him or not.

Chapter Text

Quackity looks the same as he always has, or at least that’s what Tommy thinks. He didn’t really see the other as much as he saw other Las Nevadas members when he was a kid.

Tommy never really hated Quackity back then, he was nicer than a lot of the other villains. He more seemed annoyed that he got put on the job of watching the kidnapped children instead of something more important.

Tubbo said Quackity always had a goal. That he did things necessary to achieve that goal. He didn’t waste time or resources in useless things.

That’s why Tommy was terrified.

Sure, being back in the lab that he had been tortured in for around seven years was already fucking scary, but it was Quackity’s presence and why he had chosen to track him down after three years that was the worst.

Quackity had a reason to kidnap Tommy and Ranboo. Schlatt could have just done it for shits and giggles for all Tommy knew.

“Oh, stop glaring at me like that Tommy, how are we supposed to be friends if you’re being hostile.”

Tommy continued to glare at him.

“We are not friends. We never will be.”

“Oh, don’t be like that Tommy. We don’t think so negatively here at Las Nevadas Villains. We have a lot to catch up on. I want to hear all about what you, Tubbo and Ranboo have been up to these three years. I saw that you became a vigilante, a good one too. I must admit even I quite like dear Theseus.”

“Cut the bullshit Quackity, why am I here?”

“Straight to the point then. I finally got a chance to look at Schlatt’s old research, running a villain group is hard work you know. Anyway, you and Ranboo’s profiles were quite detailed. He was close to something big.”

Tommy shivered. Something big? What the fuck did that mean?

“I’m going to finish what he started then let you go. All you have to do is cooperate and you can be on your way before you know it.”

Tommy believed him. Quackity didn’t have a reason to lie to him about this.

“And Ranboo?”

“The same applies to him. You’ll be working together after all.”

“If we don’t cooperate?”

“You can still leave, still go free. It’ll just be longer until you can.”

“Right.”

“I’m telling the truth Tommy! I have no reason to keep you around once I’ve got what I need.”

“And what is it that you need?”

“Data. I want to know everything about your powers. How they work, what they are, how I can use them, replicate them,” Tommy shivered, “Not much really.”

“That seems like a lot.”

“It won’t take long if you cooperate. Unlike Schlatt I’m not a fan of pointless human torture either, so you’ll be fine.”

Tommy didn’t miss the way Quackity hadn’t said Ranboo would be fine.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Quackity cut him off before he has the chance.

“Tubbo. He’s your best friend isn’t he? Schlatt gathered a lot of data on him Tommy. I have weapons made from that data; I call them nukes.”

Tommy bit his lip.

“They’re deadly. Every time you refuse to cooperate Tommy, I’ll blow up a bit of L’Manburg. Think of how guilty Tubbo will feel when he realises why what’s happening to the city is happening. How mad he will be that you had the option to stop it and didn’t.”

“But that’s not Tubbo’s fault.”

“But it’d his fault the nukes exist.”

Tommy scowls. He didn’t want to cooperate with Quackity, but he was right. Tubbo would feel so guilty. Weather he’d be mad at him was a different story, Tommy didn’t think Tubbo would be mad at him.

“What do I have to do?”

“Torture Ranboo.”

“No.”

“Think about it Tommy. Ranboo is tortured for about a week, two maximum or people die because of Tubbo.”

“I won’t hurt Ranboo.”

“That’s your choice then, kill innocent people of L’Manburg? Think about what Tubbo and Ranboo himself would say to that.”

Tommy glared at Quackity. He couldn’t hurt Ranboo, he just couldn’t.

“Is that your final choice, not to cooperate?”

Tommy doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t get a chance.

The door to their room is forced open. The Blade, in all his glory, rushes in, grabs Tommy and retreats before Quackity even has time to react.

Blade runs down the corridors with a tight hold on Tommy, only putting him down once they are outside.

“What the fuck?!”

“Tommy.”

“What the fuck was that! What the hell are you doing here even?”

“I’m rescuing you kid. Philza, Siren and Nemesis are inside taking Las Nevadas down.”

“How did you even find this place? There’s no way Quackity left you a fucking trail.”

“Someone called Tubbo hacked our TV’s with a missing report for Theseus and another friend with a complete location and subsequently what was essentially a free pass to take Las Nevadas down.”

“And you just believed him?”

“Can we talk about this later? Nemesis, Philza and Siren could really use the help.”

”Call in other heroes.”

“Dream team are on their way; they probably won’t make it in time though.”

“I can’t. I don’t have any way of disguising myself. Quackity did something with it.”

“Wilbur and Phil already know.”

To Tommy it feels like the world has stopped spinning.

“Fuck. I’m sorry Tommy, I didn’t mean to tell them, I-”

“Ranboo. Get Ranboo, Blade.”

“Yeah I will, promise.”

“And you better explain yourself later, if they even let visitors into Pandora’s Vault.”

“You’re not going to Pandora’s, Tommy.”

Tommy scowled at the hero before launching himself off with his magic.

It was obvious to see where the heroes had gotten in from, the doors on the side of the warehouse, not unlike the emergency exit he and Techno had just exited, were wide open.

He slipped inside as quietly as he could. Hi plan was to join the heroes without drawing attention to himself, hopefully he could catch the villains off-guard.

Although Tommy should have known that plan was doomed with his luck.

“Theseus, fancy seeing you here!”

Slime.

“Still playing the silent game huh? Surely you can drop the act around me now.”

“You bitch.”

Tommy lunged, his power propelling him forward. Slime jumped back out of the way activating his own power.

Tommy was furious. He had thought he could trust Slime, Slime who was a villain, Slime who had kidnapped him.

Tommy’s moves were filled with anger, but years of practice meant he managed to keep some sort of technique.

The fight with Slime in the hallway lasted longer than Tommy would have liked. Without access to his staff, his moves were limited.

In fact, the ending blow was the definition of a lucky shot.

Tommy pooled his magic into his palm ready to strike, but he slipped on a bit of Slime’s goo. Startled, Tommy releases his magic, and it bounces off a metal beam directly hitting Slime’s chest. Slime is sent flying backwards and he hits a wall with a crack. Tommy winces but he’s fairly sure Slime isn’t dead.

He doesn’t dwell on it for long though, running past to get to the heroes. As Tommy runs the pit of anxiety within him grows.

He’s scared.

Not of the villains he’s about to fight, but of the heroes he’s about to help. What happen when they win, if they even win? Phil and especially Wilbur’s opinions on vigilantes are more than clear. Even if he evades capture from them originally, they know who e is. They could track him down easy.

He doesn’t want to force Tubbo and Ranboo into being on the run again. With the new vigilante laws soon to pass though he feels like he already has.

Finally, he makes it to the heroes. Siren and Nemesis are fighting some random villains Tommy doesn’t recognize. Philza was one on one with Foolish. Quackity was no where to be seen.

They were struggling Tommy realized. He’s not really surprised; these were the villains that overthrew Schlatt successfully.

Tommy knows he has to join the fight, help them, but just for a second he’s frozen.

“Boo!”

Tommy turns around and is jolted into action. Quackity stands there, axe in hand.

Tommy asses his options which are admittedly not many. His chances of beating Quackity straight on in a fight are slim.

He starts to back up.

“Cowering are we Theseus? I thought you were better than that.”

Quackity swings his axe, Tommy narrowly side steps it. Primes he misses his staff.

His foot backs into something on the ground. A quick glance and he realises someone dropped their sword.

It’s not his staff, but it will do.

He pulls it up and blocks the next swing of the axe. Quackity scowls. Tommy uses his magic to strengthen the sword, making it harder to be knocked from his hands.

He continues to back up.

Philza sees them.

For a terrifying moment Tommy thinks he’s going to step in and help, abandoning his fight with Foolish for a bigger prize. He doesn’t though. Instead, he seems to read Tommy’s mind. He starts moving back.

Tommy lied when he said he didn’t recognize any of the villains, he recognized one. When he’d been fighting Foolish’s gang with Techno he’d seen their attack.

They cracked the ground, broke it apart.

They weren’t currently in a fight and if Tommy could scare them enough perhaps the ground beneath the warehouse would open.

Maybe Quackity could fall like Theseus too.

Quackity swings the axe again, but instead of blocking it with the sword, Tommy side steps and lunges at the ground-breaker.

They yelp in surprise and the ground cracks beneath them just as Tommy had hoped. Philza crashes into ground-breaker startling them further the crack deepens.

Quackity growls and lunges at Tommy with more strength this time.

He steps on the crack.

Quackity falls through the ground.

Ground-breaker looks horrified. Foolish seems to radiate with rage, he forgets Philza and instead lunges for Tommy.

Tommy doesn’t notice him though. The gravity of the situation dawning on him and causing him to be too preoccupied with the fact that he had just killed Quackity? Did he even kill Quackity?

“Tommy!”

Was that Wilbur?

Foolish crashes into him, his head smacks against the ground and the world goes a familiar black.

Chapter Text

Tommy awoke to sunlight sprinkling onto his face, blinding him even through his closed eyes. He opened his eyes with a groan, catching the attention of the person sitting on the end of the bed.

“Tommy?”

Tommy blinked forcing his eyes to focus on the person so he could tell who it was.

“Techno?“

“Yeah.”

“So they do let visitors into Pandora’s then?”

Techno chuckled softly.

“We’re not in Pandora’s Tommy.”

Tommy sighed.

“Did you get Ranboo?”

“Yeah, yeah I got Ranboo.”

“Good.”

The silence between them seemed to stretch for hours. Tommy wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and go back to sleep, but something he couldn’t name was keeping him awake.

“Wilbur wants to talk to you.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, nobody has to know you’re awake yet if you don’t want them to.”

“Wilbur and Phil are both here then?”

“Tubbo and Ranboo are as well.”

“Right.” Tommy took a deep breath, “What happened?”

“After you blacked out?” Tommy nods, “The Dream Team turned up and cleared out Foolish and the others pretty quick. Nemesis. Phil and I helped them, Wilbur took you and Ranboo to safety.”

“Is Quackity…”

“No. He survived somehow, he’s in Pandora’s now, where he belongs.”

“Oh.”

“Do you- do you want to talk to anyone?”

“Not really.”

“Ok.”

“Why did you tell them?”

“Huh?”

“Why did you tell Phil and Wilbur o was Theseus? You said you’d explain yourself, so explain.”

“I don’t know really. I was angry at Las Nevadas for kidnapping you, at Phil because he wanted to management to give him the ok before he went to save you. But I suppose it was mostly because Wilbur said I was making too big of a deal out of it, I’m a fucking hero whether I like it or not, I’m suppose to save people. And he, he said that you deserved it, deserved to be kidnapped by them because you were a vigilante and I lost it.”

Tommy felt like crying.

“It’s no excuse for saying it though, not at all. I blurted out your biggest secret when I told you, promised you I wouldn’t. I-“

“Techno.”

“Yeah?”

“Leave.”

Tommy saw Techno swallow anxiously.

“Right. Get some rest ok?”

Tommy watched the door close slowly behind him and he curled in on himself. Now that he was alone he found that he couldn’t stop the tears that slid down his face.

Despite everything, the idea of seeing Wilbur as a brother had begun to grow on him. There had been points when he’s believe that they were just like brothers. But they hadn’t been, couldn’t be, because Wilbur still hated his very existence. Thought he deserved to be kidnapped and quite likely tortured by the worst villains in L’Manburg because he was a vigilante.

Tommy didn’t hate him though. He hated that he had gotten close to heroes despite how he hated them. All it had done was hurt him and now he was reaping the consequences of his own actions. He let out another choked sob.

With his face squished into the pillow he didn’t hear the door softly creak open. Only the sinking of the bed under the weight of another person sitting on it.

Tommy lifted his head and found himself looking straight at the one person he really didn’t want to see.

Wilbur.

“Hey Tommy.”

“What do you want?”

“I came to see if you were alright.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re clearly not, you’re crying.”

“Fuck off.”

“I just want to talk Toms.”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Toms-”

“No! Stop it! Stop pretending to want to hear me out Wilbur. You hate vigilantes and I am a vigilante, that should be the end of it.”

Tommy forced himself to sit up in the bed, his muscles protesting but only a little.

“You said I deserved to be kidnapped by them. You kicked me off a fucking building Wilbur!”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t think sorry is going to cut it Wilbur.”

“No. No, it’s not.”

“Then why say it?”

“Because I am sorry. I meant it all those times I said you were like a brother to me, you still are like a brother to me Tommy. I don’t want that to change.”

Tommy doesn’t say anything.

“But I’m not an idiot and I know I’ve said stupid things, done stupid things when it comes to vigilantes. But I don’t hate you Tommy. I hated Theseus, but no more than I hated the other vigilantes.”

“Tommy is Theseus you can’t hate one and not the other.”

“I know. I don’t hate Theseus anymore. I can’t.”

“Oh.”

“It was stupid really. Why I hated vigilantes.”

“You never told me. I always just assumed it was because they’re illegal or the public like them
more than you.”

“Hey! I’m not that egotistical.”

Tommy raised an eyebrow at him. Wilbur huffed.

“My ex was a vigilante. Sally was her name. I loved her still do honestly but then she just left.”

“Sorry.”

“It doesn’t justify what I did though does it?”

“No, not really. But I understand a bit more now.”

“Right. Get some rest Tommy.”

Wilbur stood from the bed and walked to the door.

“You’re like a brother to me too, Wil.”

Wilbur smiled and closed the door. Tommy closed his eyes and went back to sleep.