Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This was the day that Tommy Danger Kraken Innit’s life would change forever. And no, there wasn’t anything that day that could have hinted at how a tiny piece of candy he got from a stranger at a high school party would change the course of his life forever. If there really was a moral to this story, it would have to be “don’t eat candy from strangers.”

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In all fairness, despite how annoying the alarm clock was, it was Tommy’s favorite thing he owned. It was an official Philza™ Alarm clock, shaped like a crow with a red heart clock on its chest. Whenever it went off, the whole thing shook and moved its wings, cawing loudly like one of Philza’s crows. So although when it was time to go to school and he temporarily hated the damn thing, he was always very careful to not smack it too hard to turn off the alarm. Especially today. He couldn’t possibly be upset today.

Junior year had been shit, to say the least, so now as he started his last day of the accursed year, Tommy had a spring in his step. He pulled on his favorite white and red shirt, taking a moment to make sure he didn’t look like complete shit in his door mirror and threw open his door. 

Judging by the silence that greeted him, Ranboo and Toby must’ve already gone downstairs to the cafe. Tommy hummed as he grabbed his backpack, briefly looking out the window. He grinned and opened the window fully, inhaling and listening to the sounds of his city. L’Manburg City was the best city in the world, and if you thought any different, well you were just wrong. He heard the bustle of run-down cars, the small food stops vendors on the corners, and children being ushered into the subway stations. For while yeah they weren’t part of the rich inner districts of the city, nicknamed the Antarctic Empire for their gleaming white sidewalks, the outer districts of Pogtopia had far superior personalities.

Tommy walked down the stairs of the rundown apartment complex he and his roommates lived on the bottom floor which contained the best coffee shop in the entire city, and no that wasn’t just his opinion, it was fact and anyone who disagreed were simply inadequate fools. “Tommy!” Toby called from a booth, Ranboo giving him a wave in Tommy’s direction as he walked over. The taller teen was under the table rummaging around in his backpack, while Toby was typing away on his jailbreak custom-built (dumpster-dived) laptop. “Hello big men, how’s the morning?” “Going good! Got you a coffee. Although I don’t think you need it now, Big Man.” Toby said with a laugh. Tommy grinned and reached over to turn on the booth’s table radio.

“...and following yesterday's bank heist by the nefarious leader of the Hermits, the largest villain organization of L’Manburg city, we have reports of the battle that took place between the villain/leader known as Scar and Captain Puffy. The battle was a victory for the heroes as the attack was fended off, however, it also left the Captain wounded and Scar escaping capture. Authorities were unable to follow…” 

“Are you ready for today?” Ranboo’s voice drew Tommy’s attention. Tommy turned to answer before freezing. His head started to pound as his limbs locked up, staring straight at Ranboo’s face as his blood felt like ice. 

He is so small… 

the sunglasses stare back at him emotionless… 

he hears his own screaming… 

it hurts, everything hurts so much…

mum where are you…?

“-mmy? Tommy!” Toby yelled, shaking him, and just like that Tommy was back in the present. Ranboo’s eyes were wide in fear, guilt in his voice as he spoke. “I-I didn’t realize I swear… I’m so sorry, I just grabbed a pair. I swear I would never wear them on purpose.” What he was referring to was Tommy’s fear of black sunglasses. He never explained why, not that he had an explanation, but Ranboo and Toby never pressed. It caused him to freeze in headlights, his whole head covered in fog. Sometimes he’d shake violently, other times he’d scream, and at the worst times, he’d just go numb. Face blank and eyes unmoving for hours on end. They’d seen how he got when he saw them, and since Ranboo was afraid of revealing his entire face Tommy was sure it was an honest mistake. “I-It’s alright big man, I knew deep down it was you. Besides, I’m not letting anything ruin today.” Tommy could still feel his very soul-shaking, but with each passing moment, it slowly ebbed away.

“Oh! Funnily enough, that reminds me. This is for you Boob-boy!” He grinned, reaching into his backpack to pull out a small rectangular box. He hadn’t gotten to give Ranboo his present at the birthday party a week prior, so he mainly watched as Ranboo unboxed the half white/ half black mask Toby got him.“Happy late birthday!” Ranboo eyed him curiously before opening the box. His eyes went comedically wide as he pulled out a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses with one red and one blue lens. “Dude! Are these the Thunder Edition?!” “Yep.” Tommy said, popping the ‘p’, he watched Ranboo slip them on immediately, the color of the lenses dark enough for his eyes to be hidden. “Oh, man Toby! You’d love these. It’s like a one-way mirror, despite the color everything looks perfectly normal, like looking through normal glasses.” “What?! Tommy, how could you! You just outdid my present! I thought we were friends!” Toby said dramatically, clutching his hand over his heart. Tommy let out a loud laugh. “Well, that’s what you get for replacing me.” Toby rolled his eyes and playfully punched his shoulder across the table.

“You boys causing a ruckus over here?” A cheerful voice drew their attention and Tommy grinned. “Ayup Jo, we’ll be out of your hair in a second to go to school so you can open the cafe.” Joseph Garret is the nicest bloke Tommy has ever met. He owned the building and ran the “Orange Cat Cafe and Cake Shop'', probably one of the nicest places to eat in Pogtopia. He found the boys on the street, took them in, and gave them an apartment. He let them stay for free on the condition that they helped out once in a while in the cafe and go to school. The boys pitched in whenever they could, and Jo was like an Uncle to the boys. “Well, you’d better get going then. Last day of school!” Toby shoved his laptop into his stolen Awesamdude backpack and grinned. “We hear you loud and clear Big J.” Jo waved as they walked out. “Have a good day at school boys!”

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The final bell rings and the class cheers. Tommy is up in an instant, grinning as he sees Toby and Ranboo walk out of the classroom across from him. “Schools out. For. Summer!” Ranboo sang as the three walked down the halls. Tommy grinned, taking in the sights in the hallways for the last time of his junior year. With the Sapnap fire safety posters and the rusted yet somehow charming lockers, he glanced into the detention room to see a couple of freshmen being subjected to the Dream detention video he and his friends had watched at least 10 times in their high school years. “So, you messed up. It’s why you’re here. But now isn’t the time to be thinking about those mistakes, it’s time to think about how you can fix and prevent them.” The number 1 hero’s voice sounded just as stupid as the last time Tommy has heard it, and he chuckled to himself. 

“Yo, what’s going on!” Tommy finished dumping his bag and turned to fist bump another one of his best friends, Grayson. Behind the purple hoodie-cladded boy were Freddie and Eryn, Grayson’s roommates. They lived on the other side of pogtopia, but since there was only one high school they had to drive. They lived with some older guy who let them stay for free as well, the bleeding hearts of the city were something to behold. “Nothing much my guy, just finished dumping out our papers and shit.” Ranboo and Toby walked around the trash can to join the boys as they walked off of campus. 

“So, where are we meeting up later? I figured since we’re all going to the party together we might as well arrive together.” Grayson asked after swallowing a bite of his hotdog. The walk to the subway station was a bit away, and it gave the boys plenty of time for conversation. “Yeah absolutely! We live closer to the party kid’s house though, so you guys should meet up at the cafe whenever you are ready to go.” Tommy asked before suddenly he was shoved forwards and he hit the cement with a thud.

“Ha! Dumbass actually fell.” Tommy groaned less from the pain and more due to the voice he recognized. “That wasn’t very nice of you Ken.” Tommy bit out as Toby and Ranboo helped him to his feet. One of the many reasons Tommy hated school, was the bully squad. It was run by the girl snickering in front of the group, her brother had been the one to push him. 

“Oops. Sorry Tommy~ That wasn’t very nice of us, was it bruv.” Karen, mocking his accent. The rest of her group laughed with her, enjoying tormenting him and his friends. “It’s alright Karen, I know it’s difficult for you when a guy doesn’t pay you any attention.” Grayson said with a smirk. Freddie burst out laughing, accompanied by chuckles from the rest of the boys as Karen’s face went pink. “Oh, whatever! That is so not true! I’m far too important and pretty to need attention from the likes of you!” “Yeah! What she said.” Stacey, the only other one in Karen’s group, said at the same time. “Is that why Chad dumped you and Susan kicked you out of your old friend group?” Toby spoke up with a cheeky grin. “Yeah, you got some nerve bothering us when everyone knows you’re a psychotic manipulative bitch who thinks she’s some mary-sue main character.” Grayson smirked as Eryn gave him a high five. “Ugh, whatever. I cannot wait until my acceptance letter for the Hero Tower arrives.” She said loudly. That really set the boys off, who all looked at each other before doubling over. “You? At the Hero Tower. As what, their janitor?” Tommy managed out in between laughter. Karen suddenly got a look on her face and a slow slimy smile grew on her face. 

“At least all of us have a chance at becoming heroes and getting out of the gutter. You powerless losers will be lucky to pay rent with a dishwashing job.” 

Dead silence. Her friends had looks on their faces, the kind a predator would make because they knew they were in a higher position. Tommy’s fists clenched until his knuckles were white. “Oh I hit a nerve didn’t I? I’ll try to remember you once I become the number one hero.” She said as she and her friends shoved past him. She threw out one last jab, a comment she threw looking over her shoulder. “Maybe mommy and daddy wouldn’t have left if you were special Toms~” Toby let out a sharp gasp and Grayson flipped her the bird as Tommy just stared. Prime, Tommy wished he had powers. He wasn’t fucking useless. A moment passed, with the boys all looking at him worriedly. 

“Fuck her.” Freddie let out a small wheeze. “Yeah?” “Yeah. Fuck her. One day I’m going to get us all out of here and live the highest of lives in the Antarctic Empire. And you know what?” “What?” Tommy gave them a grin. “Tonight, we aren't going to give Karen a thought. Wrongins like her always want that kind of attention. So, we’re going to ignore her, and have fun tonight, alright? We’ve earned it.”

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The train ride home was mostly uneventful. Toby, Ranboo, and Tommy had bid farewell to Grayson, Eryn, and Freddie and boarded their train for home. And by uneventful, there was some dude mugging people on the train. “Alright y’all, no one try to be a hero. Empty out your pockets and no one gets hurt.” Not even looking at the man, the boys turned out their pockets. They were smart enough to hide money or valuables inside secret pockets they sewed into their jackets, so the man passed them without a glance. He did however stop in front of an older woman. “Hey bitch, you deaf? Empty out your pockets.” His fist turned into some sort of metal and he crushed the handlebar next to her. “Now.” 

Tommy watched as the woman pulled out her wallet with trembling hands. After he was handed the wallet, the man chuckled and shoved her a bit and Tommy had to bite his lip before a string of curses left his mouth. There wasn’t anything he could do, that man had an enhancement. And as a powerless teenager who was as skinny as a bean pole, there wasn’t anything he could do. It wasn’t like he could report the man to the authorities, the police station had run out of money years ago. “Next stop, Hamilton Station.” Tommy took a deep breath and forced himself to look away from the poor woman. Toby and Ranboo followed him off in silence.

⋙✧⋘

Despite the shitty walk home and train ride, Tommy was determined to end the day on a high note. He had gone straight to his room to get ready. Tommy took a warm shower, for once, during which he actually used hair products and body scrub. Combed his hair once he got out and gelled it. 

Next, he threw on a nice dark red sweater with his only pair of pants that didn’t have holes in them. He even broke out a pair of red and white Yeezys shoes that took him three years to save up for. He hadn’t worn them since he bought them, preserving them until the right moment. He was about to take a final look in the mirror before a soft knock drew his attention.

“Hey Tommy, are you ready to go?” Jo asked, walking into the room. Tommy gave him a grin and stepped back. “Yep big man! How do I look?” Jo laughed and ruffled Tommy’s hair. “You look good, although I don’t think the gel suits you bud.” “Yeah, I was thinking the same.” Tommy said with a groan, plopping down onto his bed. 

Joseph sat down next to him, holding a small rectangular box wrapped in newspaper. “Well, I got something to cheer you up.” Tommy sat up and looked at the box, brows furrowed. “What’s that?” “A reward.” He turned to face Tommy as he handed it over. “Look, I know this year has been tough, but I am so proud of you for staying out of trouble. I know it isn’t always easy. So, let this be a reminder that good things come to those who do good.” Tommy gently peeled back the paper and his jaw dropped. “Holy shit!” He jumped up out of bed, pacing in front of Jo. “Is this… my own smartphone…?” “It’s a couple of years old, definitely not one of the newer models-” Tommy tackled him into a hug. “It’s perfect! Thank you!” Jo gave him a squeeze back. “You earned it. My phone number is already in it. Have fun at the party tonight.”

Tommy whipped around to check his alarm clock. “Shit! The boys will be here any second! Are Toby and Ranboo ready?” Tommy saw the brief flicker of anger in Jo’s eyes at the sight of the Philza alarm clock, but it was quickly smoothed over by Tommy’s question. “They are! I think both are already downstairs waiting for you.” “Thanks Jo!” Tommy dashed over to his door, new phone in hand when Jo quickly called out. “Tom, wait!” Tommy paused, Jo only called him that if it was important. The older man was looking out the window, a strange yet sad look on his face. “I’m… probably going to be gone when you get back. I’m leaving town for a couple of weeks. Call me if anything happens… just please stay safe.” Tommy gave him a smile. “Like anything interesting happens in Pogtopia, but alright old man.”

⋙✧⋘

Arriving at the party, Tommy quickly realized just how big it really was. The house was large, and it sat just on the border between Pogtopia and the Antarctic Empire. However, the music was blaring and Tommy could hear the sounds of unsupervised teenagers. Grinning, he clapped his hands. “Alright lads! This is what we deserve, let's have some fun!”

The music was skull pounding, and Tommy walked back over to his group with burning red ears. “Alright Toby, a dare is a dare. I talked to the girl, so now you’re doing my homework the first two months back.” The whole group was still cackling, Freddie had fallen over wheezing. Toby, who was still doubled over, managed to get out a sentence. “Tom- Y-You call that talking?!” “You walked up to her and went, ‘You’re my girlfriend now’ dude!” Freddie added from the floor. “And with her clear girlfriend right there!” “Oh fuck off.” Grayson started up another fit of laughter and pointed. “Oh, my Prime the girlfriend finds this as funny as we do. New best friend right there.” Eryn gasped, feigning astonishment. “Grayson! I thought Freddie was your best friend?” Tommy tuned out the conversation as he drank from the water bottle he brought. None of them were big on drinking, so they drank water to not look so out of place. He glanced around, observing the party. He opened his mouth to ask if the boys wanted to dance, but the words died as he watched a shy-looking girl slink away. He watched as Karen and her gang snickered and followed after and into the hallway. “Hey, fellas…”

Karen had the girl on the ground, the group snickering behind her as Tommy and his group walked up. Tommy cleared his throat and stepped forwards for Karen to see him, who suddenly whipped around to glare. “What do you want?” She bit out, not moving from above the girl. “I thought you told Chad you were trying to change, but between you harassing me earlier and now you hurting this girl for no reason, it kinda looks like you lied to him to try and win him back.” She gave him a sneer, getting up and stalking up to him. “What I say to my boyfriend is none of your business. And what, you’re going to tell him? You think he’ll believe you with no proof?” “I mean yeah, you’ve lied to him in the past, but I knew you’d say that, so I brought the proof to him.”

Karen’s face morphed into confusion before panic and Ranboo stepped aside to let the much bigger and pissed-off-looking Chad to the front. “Are you kidding me, Karen?” Karen was trembling, and Tommy relished in the satisfaction of watching her be powerless for once. With a scoff, Chad turned and stormed out of the hall, Karen quickly scrambling after him begging for him to let her explain. Ken and Stacey exchanged glances before quickly running after their leader like dogs.

“Are you ok?” Tommy asked, helping the girl to her feet. “Y-Yes! Thank you guys.” “It’s no biggie, we can’t let Jess think she owns us all out of school,” Grayson said with a shrug. “Yeah besides, that was priceless!” Eryn said giggling. “I know right? Talk about Karma!” Freddie said, leaning up against the wall. The girl stared at them, her emerald eyes seeming to stare inside their very souls. An unknown look crossed her face before she beamed. “Still, that was pretty heroic of you guys. Would you guys like candy? I’m in the baking club, I made them in class. I was planning on selling them here, but I think you guys deserve them more.” 

As she spoke, she reached into her bag to produce a small nice looking tin. She opened it to reveal 6 small 4-point star-shaped candies, each a different color of the rainbow; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Tommy opened his mouth to politely decline, but the girl threw him the most convincing puppy dog eyes he’d ever seen and before he knew it, he had already muttered a “sure” and popped the red one into his mouth. It melted almost instantly, and the sharp taste of sweet strawberry was welcoming to his taste buds. “This is really good! Thank you! You guys need to try one of these.” Eryn took the orange one, Ranboo had gently picked up yellow, Toby had grabbed the green one, Freddie had the blue inside his mouth in a blink, and Grayson had popped the purple one into his mouth with a shrug.

Tommy doesn’t remember how he got on the dance floor. One moment he was escorting the girl back to the party and the next he was out on the dance floor absolutely tearing it up. He doesn’t remember touching any alcohol or drugs, but for some reason, he felt so off. He felt like he was loopy, high off of laughing gas. The world was tilting and spinning as colorful lights danced on the edge of his vision. “Hey, hey Tommy~” Toby whined leaning against him. 

“Wasssssup toob…?” Tommy slurred out head starting to throb. “I donnnn’t feel super pogchamp. Hey! Ranboo, when did you get so tall!” Toby giggled as he clung to the taller boy, who was swaying on his feet. “I’m tall?” Tommy pulled them towards the door, eyes blurry as he tried to keep his thoughts moving. “We should… we should like totally leave. I don’t feel so good fellas…” Tommy managed to get out, looking around one last time. “Where's Grayson and his roomatesssss…?” “I saw em leave already… told me to tell you…” Ranboo said giggling as he followed Tommy down the sidewalk.

⋙✧⋘

Perhaps it was a miracle that all six boys made it home that night. Perhaps Prime really did exist, enough for her to keep them safe as they all stumbled into their bedrooms deliriously out of their minds. Tommy was struck with such a hunger that the moment his feet hit the carpet, he flung open the door to his personal mini-fridge (that he found broken in the junkyard) and ripped open a bag of pizza rolls, not caring for the pain in his teeth as his hunger was finally being satiated. He froze suddenly as his stomach lurched, something forcing itself back up. He barely managed to get to his bathroom before his body’s rejection of his midnight meal was violently vomited into the small toilet. Weakly, Tommy forced himself to his feet to rinse his mouth before stumbling toward his bed. He managed to kick his shoes off before collapsing into bed and passing out.

⋙✧⋘

Red… all the little boy could think of was red. It was a haze covering his mind, similar to one from so many years ago. He was… scared… confused… angry… He just wants his mum… wants his mum who smelled like strawberry jelly beans to hold him like she always does, to kiss his nose and sing him to sleep in their tiny shack in the middle of nowhere. For her to hold him tight and scratch his head until he knows he’s alright and falls asleep. But this time she holds him away from her, he can see she is upset. Her tears give that away, but she still hands him over to… them . They had driven here, to the city. He had been so excited until they pulled into an empty parking lot. Well, empty save for a dark black van. Then they got out, the men in black sunglasses. He remembers the exchange of money, his mom turning away and getting back into her car. He remembers screaming after her until his voice was raw, screaming for her to come back.

Chapter Text

Tommy’s rather fitful slumber was rudely interrupted by the most ear-piercing and shrill screech he’d ever heard. He abruptly smacked the abhorred object, breathing heavily out of the sudden fear that awoke him. It took him a moment to come back to himself. He gasped in horror as he realized he had practically thrown his alarm clock across the room. 

He quickly scrambled out of bed, only to drop in pain as the creakiness of his bed seemed much louder and awful sounding than before. He cupped his ears, allowing the ringing to slow to a stop before he shakily uncupped his ears. His back absolutely ached, and his head was throbbing. 

I don’t remember drinking last night… I should probably take something

His knees cracked as he stood, wincing at how loud they sounded inside his head. He yawned and stretched, pausing to observe himself in the mirror. He froze and slowly blinked. He definitely did not have abs before he went to bed last night. He gaped as he poked his arms, once like twigs now were built out. He glanced down at his sweatpants, which seemed a good couple of inches shorter than they’d previously been. As he stared longer in the mirror, his brain finally processed and connected with the situation as he jumped. 

“W-What the fuck?! Is this me?! How-”

He freezes once more, jaw-dropping further in alarm as red catches his attention. He hadn’t noticed them before, they had been tucked close to his back. But his sudden surprise caused them to puff up. Tommy, along with a new body, had a pair of newly sprouted red wings.

As you can imagine, the great Tommy “Wife-Haver” Innit handled this with the amount of cool collective grace you would expect.

“WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK-”

Tommy banged against the opposite wall, causing his wings to splay and wack things off of his shelves. He cried out as they hit the floor, sounds still far louder than they should be. He staggered over to his bedside table, attempting to drop his weight onto it before he slipped and crashed into the floor.

⋙✧⋘

Tommy all but managed to (finally) burst out of his room, leaving it far messier than it had ever been. He stops as he locks eyes with the two other boys in the living room. And then they all started to freak out.

“TOBY WHAT THE FUCK?! YOU HAVE HORNS!”

“TOMMY THERE ARE WINGS- LITERAL WINGS ATTACHED TO YOUR BACK!”

“G-Guys, what is going-”

Ranboo, who had been standing in one spot previously, abruptly disappeared mid-sentence. To which both Tommy and Toby proceed to stare and then start screaming. 

“WHAT THE FU-”  

There was a sudden crash, and Tommy and Toby rushed to the kitchen to find Ranboo on the ground, their pots and pan shelf collapsed as if he had landed on it in the air. There was a loud bang, almost like an explosion, from Toby’s hands and Tommy dropped covering his ears. His wings snapped out in pain and shoved Toby back into a wall.

⋙✧⋘

The three boys managed to calm down (as best they could) and shakily sat down on their couch. Tommy remained standing, gulping as he turned to look at his friends. Toby and Ranboo had both also grown some new muscles, Ranboo looked to be a good foot taller than before. 

Toby had grown small horns on the sides of his head, the way they curled looked like a baby ram. His face and hands were red, and every so often small sparks would ignite from his palms. His hair looked singed at the tips as if his hands had exploded in his face.

Ranboo’s once dark brown hair was now split, with hair on the right of his part now black and the other half white.  His right side’s skin was now completely black, and his right eye was now purple. Every so often, he’d vanish but quickly reappear on the couch looking terrified and shaken.

Tommy finally cleared his throat, and both boys stared at him. 

“Um… I don’t even know where to begin. How did this even happen?” 

He is met with silence so Tommy retraced his day.

Ok, I woke up and went to school like normal. We got ready for the party, Joe gave me a new phone. We went there and he helped out that girl… and then…

 “Do either of you remember the party last night?” Ranboo asked, fiddling with his fingers. 

“I-I don’t know what happened, but if anything happened to us, that might explain why we now suddenly have powers.”

Toby’s face suddenly went pensive, and he quickly walked to his room, coming back with his laptop. 

“I remember the girl.” 

Tommy’s head snapped up. “You think there was something in the candy.” 

Toby’s hands started to quickly move across the keyboard. 

“T-That makes sense.” Ranboo offered.

Tommy snorted. “No, it fucking doesn’t Boob boy.” 

“You got any other ideas, Tommy?” 

His wings flared out and he gestured to them. “How can suspicious party drugs make me sprout fucking wings Toby.” 

Their home phone started to ring and Tommy, for what felt like the 20th time this morning, covered his ears as the ringing blared into his eardrum. He marched over and quickly yanked the phone up. 

“Who is it?” 

“Tommy, it’s me, Grayson. You are not going to believe this.” Tommy’s eyes went wide. 

“...Did you wake up with superpowers?” Tommy could practically hear Grayson’s astonishment on the other end. 

“How the hell-” 

“All three of us woke up with powers as well. What can you guys do?” There was clattering on the other side of the phone and Grayson spoke up again. 

“Well, I’m uh sticking to things and I’m strong all of a sudden. Eryn can’t touch light? It causes his skin to smoke and shit.” There was a cry from Grayson’s line.

“He’s also falling through the floor.” Tommy snorted in amusement as Grayson continued. 

“Freddie is melting everything he touches, and that about sums up our situation, what about you guys?”

“Well, I guess things are really loud for me right now and I have wings. Ranboo is half black and keeps disappearing. Toby has horns and his hands keep exploding-”

“AH-HA!” Toby yelled which startled Tommy into dropping the phone. 

“Toby!” 

“Sorry Tommy, put them on speaker real quick.” 

He walked back over to the living room table and placed the phone down. 

“Alright, what’s up?” 

“There is no fucking baking club. That girl doesn’t even go to our school! There is no record of her anywhere.” Ranboo stared at Toby in horror. 

“...did you hack into the school system again?” 

“Not important.” 

“So what? What the hell do we do now?” Grayson asked over the phone. 

“I don’t know! Maybe I can try hacking into the street security cameras?” ow that hurts… “Toby! You’ll get arrested!”  don’t yell “No I won’t-” so loud… “Guys whatever it is, we need to figure it out soon before I burn our apartment down-”       what is that ringing? “Shit! Who left a blind open you guys?” please stop “...Toby you’ve been lucky up until now-”

“CAN EVERYONE PLEASE JUST SHUT UP!” 

Tommy yelled, who had painfully been cupping his ears. His voice rang out loud and sharp, causing his roommates to flinch and voices to die immediately. He shook as he slowly lowered his hands. 

“W-We need…” He cleared his throat. 

“We need to figure this out. We should take the weekend to try and learn to keep our new powers under control. We can meet up on Monday and talk about how this happened. Ok?” 

There was silence, and then Grayson spoke up over the phone. “I agree with Tom. I’ll watch our side and keep you guys posted, stay safe.”

⋙✧⋘

Tommy hurriedly made his way through the city, hands clamped tight over his ears and wings tucked too tight to his back under his jacket. The sounds were thunderous, it was almost difficult to move toward the city limit. He pushed past people and ran across crowded streets. As he reached the edge, the noise gradually grew quieter, and he went from running to sprinting. Anything just to get away from the sounds of the city. The buildings fall away, and suddenly the even pavement of the black road is cracked and broken, weeds littering the sides as Tommy blinks, taking in the sudden lack of concrete and the abundance of grass.

He’d only ever been to L’manburg’s city edge once as a child, and even then it was only a small glance. There was only one road, the main street, that led out into the seemingly endless countryside. There were old and abandoned buildings every couple miles or so. Ruins of how large the city had once been until the rich cornered themselves in the harbor and the poor had no choice but to follow them. He walked to a nearby warehouse, taking in the curious sights and sounds. Nearby, a ladybug crawled across a blade of grass. He heard frogs, real frogs, croaking from a large puddle. He had only ever seen these things in school, just how much was outside the city?

The warehouse was largely empty on the inside, and Tommy knew it was private enough to remove his jacket and allow his wings to stretch hesitantly. It was so odd having them there, feeling them as if they were simply another pair of arms. He felt the wing muscles flex and watched in awe as his feathers spread to their full length. Tommy could only guess the wingspan was close to a good 16 feet, nothing like Philza’s 20-foot wingspan. He grinned, remembering a different winged hero. Quackity’s wings were only 12 feet in wingspan, so at least he had larger wings than the 5th ranking hero. 

He took a deep breath and looked around him more carefully. There was a drawing table with cluttered designs for a costume of some kind, the orange catsuit making Tommy think it was a furry. Really old hero posters decorated the walls, hero names with faces and costumes Tommy had never heard of before. There was a red hero with a green mustache, a green hero with a blue mask and an eye symbol, and a dark blue-suited hero who wore red sunglasses. 

“Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and Pewdiepie. What kind of hero names are those?”

At one point, it looked like teenagers had once made it a hangout spot, there were tables and chairs, even a mini kitchen it seemed. But higher up towards the ceilings, small platforms made an odd sort of staircase that climbed higher and higher. Seemingly built for a teenager to test out their newfound flying abilities. Tommy grinned and cracked his knuckles.

His first ever attempt was him climbing atop a large freight container left in the warehouse. It also ended in him landing flat on his face. See, just because he could feel the wings, it didn’t mean he knew how to flap them properly enough to fly. It was also a completely new sensation, feeling the wing muscles strain to fly. 

He didn’t fly that day, but he wasn’t deterred.

⋙✧⋘

“..Birds fly by flapping their wings. Flight involves moving upward, against the force of gravity, and forward too. The power for this comes when the massive chest muscles pull the wings down. These muscles are 10 times bigger than the muscles that pull the wings back up…” Tommy scribbled down notes from the bird documentary as it played.

⋙✧⋘

He took a deep breath and tried once more, this time comfortable as he got a good couple inches before he hit the ground. He grinned, progress. Slow, but certain.

Chapter Text

Tommy huffs and kicks a nearby empty can in frustration. It’s been almost two full days since he discovered his powers, and he felt like he was the only one who couldn’t get a grip on them. Tubbo had all but mastered his explosion hands, and Ranboo could now teleport at will. Hell, even Grayson and his roommates seemed to have a handle on their powers. 

Freddie earlier that day had made a particularly poor joke, “Omg guys he’s like the flightless bird from Rio!” .  

It wasn’t fair, flying was more difficult than it looked. He’d binged nearly every bird documentary he could get his hands on and even made trips to the library of all places. He had managed to get his sensitive hearing under control, but compared to learning to fly? A small victory. 

He crashed once again, and it finally felt like the straw that broke the camel’s back. He storms up to the roof, frustration in his veins. He breaks into a sprint as he opens the door to the roof, instinct gripping him. He nearly jumps before panic sets in and he stops abruptly enough to land himself on his ass. He breathes heavily as he calms down. That happened a lot recently, some part of his brain would grip him and try to launch him off of the roof. 

But… in that split second before he stopped…

Had he… felt a spark?

It couldn’t have been fear, he wasn’t afraid to fall. He had managed to learn to glide, so he trusted himself enough to save himself. And… he glanced back at his wings. They had, in that spark, opened themselves up. He hadn’t done it on purpose, meaning he didn’t even think before they opened on their own. He let out a breath and laid down fully on the roof, hand dialing the number before he could think differently.

“Hello?! Tommy?! Are you ok?!” 

“Jeez, Jo hello to you too.” He hears a sigh over the phone. 

“I did say to call if there was an emergency.” Tommy paused. How much could he tell Jo? 

“I mean… kinda is? I dunno, I just need some advice… it's ok if you’re busy-” 

“No, no, no. I can talk. What’s wrong?” Tommy hesitates, mulling over what to say. 

“...how do you know when to trust your instincts over logic? What if you’re scared to listen?” Jo laughs. 

“Tommy my boy! Did you find a girlfriend?” Tommy’s face goes red and he splutters.

“W-What? N-No that’s not-” 

“Well, if your instincts are to walk up and tell her how you feel-” Tommy sits up again. “Jo!” 

There's laughter on the other end. 

“I’m teasing, I think I get it.” He hears Jo pause and then sighs. 

“I never told you boys this… but I was born and raised in the Antarctic Empire. Tommy nearly drops his phone at that revelation. 

“Really?!” 

“Yes. My parents were traditional and snooty. They tried to raise me to be above what they considered to be the common folk. But… My found family was my friends I had met that lived in Pogtopia. My parents were furious and gave me an ultimatum. I either reject Pogtopia and live in comfort for the rest of my life, or I could be free and live with my friends but my parents would basically disown me.” 

Tommy’s chest tightened. 

“...I’m guessing you chose to leave your parents?” 

“Yes… but Tommy, you mentioned instinct. Mine told me to listen to my gut. If I had never left that day… well my friends would probably be six feet under and you boys would have nowhere to go.” Tommy nodded, slowly understanding. 

“I think I get what you mean.” 

“Good. I have to go, just remember. It’s a leap of faith, that’s all it is.”

It's a leap of faith, that’s all it is.  Tommy repeats those words in his head as he backs up from the edge. Heart pounding, he races for the edge, wings opening on their own. He leaps…

And suddenly he’s in the air. He gapes at the sight of it all, the land below him steadily getting smaller as he rises. His wings give strong and sure flaps, carrying him into the clouds and above L’Manburg. He can’t believe he couldn’t figure it out sooner, flying felt just as familiar to him as running. He giggles, which soon turns into a triumphant cacophony of joyous laughter. He had done it, he was flying!

He could sense the spark inside him as he soared over the city he loved. He didn’t care about being spotted. 

He let the darkness of night shield him from too much attention. He heard street vendors all across town, couples giggling in the night air. His eyesight somehow could lock onto two men outside of a rowdy bar, loudly singing Mariah Carey drunk. Tommy chuckles to himself, he really did love his city. His eyes light up in a gasp as he sees the Antarctic Empire, glittering in its full glory. Tommy sees the Hero Tower and swears he can see the inside of the penthouses there.

Tommy’s blissful flight is cut short by a scream. He stops mid-air, flapping his wings to keep him steady and in one place. His eyes zero in on an alleyway, a clearly intoxicated man was gripping a young woman’s hand. A child was hiding behind her skirt, and the man made a grab to get the child. Before Tommy could even think about what he was doing, Tommy’s wings tuck and barrel into the man before he even realizes what he’s doing. The man grunts as he goes flying, hitting the far wall with a bump. The man goes limp, a groan indicating Tommy has knocked him out. 

Tommy’s heart pounds in his chest, and he hears the mother gasp behind him. 

“A-A hero? Here? Who are you?” 

“I uh I’m no one… I just saw you were in trouble and just kinda…” He keeps his back to them as he gestures to the man. He hears the woman let out a sigh of relief. 

“Well… thank you… are you a vigilante?” Tommy, again without thinking, says only one word. 

“Sure.” 

There hadn’t been any vigilantes in years, and there were so many dangers to becoming one. Sirens sound in the distance and he tenses. 

“Sorry to rescue and fly, but I’d rather not get arrested.” “I understand, hurry and get going.” He hears the warm gratitude in the woman’s voice. He smiles to himself as he takes off into the sky once more.

⋙✧⋘

When he gets home, he thinks about the encounter. Vigilantes at one point nearly dominated this city, until the law had been changed to outlaw them. Many heroes had been vigilantes at one point. The number two Hero Technoblade had been a vigilante, and he led Skeppy, Niachu, and Thunder against the other vigilantes to turn them in. In exchange, they were pardoned and even granted the ability to become heroes. In some aspects, they were considered more illegal and dangerous than normal villains. And he just told some random woman he was a vigilante. He groans and faceplants into his bed. Whatever, that was a problem for tomorrow-Tommy to deal with.

⋙✧⋘

Heroes woke up every morning and ate breakfast together in the main cafeteria. It was a tradition to all eat and watch the morning news. Philza, the twelfth-ranked hero, didn’t expect anything this particular morning. He dragged his two boys down to breakfast, served himself a nice plate of eggs and pancakes, and sat down at his table just as the TV clicked on. The news was usually more or less the same until the story changed. A new young-looking reporter was standing in front of the camera, next to her was a woman who was holding a child. 

“Hello L’Manburg, I’m with channel 14 news, and today shocking news from the outer districts. Police responded to a domestic disturbance report, however when they arrived at the scene the man had already been knocked out. The woman claims to have been saved last night! Police asked her to give this statement to the news so that we can properly thank the hero that saved her!” 

Phil saw the other heroes sitting all glance at each other, and he realized that it seemed like none of them went out on patrol that night.

The woman hesitates and shakes her head. 

“I wasn’t saved by a hero… he said he was a vigilante…” The reporter’s face freezes and the entire cafeteria goes dead silent. 

Philza feels Techno tense beside him, and all of them turn their attention to the screen. Before the reporter could speak, the child in her arms spoke up in excitement. 

“Yeah! He was so cool! He dropped out of the sky and WHAM! Out cold! He was so cool! He had these big red wings, but I couldn’t see his face.” The child vibrates with excitement. “He was so cool! He’s my favorite superhero ever!” 

Alarmed murmurs run through the room. 

“T-That sounds so frightening! Are you sure you’re alright madam?” The reporter asks quickly, trying to curb the energy. The woman glares at the reporter. 

“You know, I can’t remember the last time in years a hero ever bothered to patrol the outer districts, and I certainly can’t remember when a prissy reporter such as yourself bothered to talk to an urchin like me. You came out here to talk about a hero, but let me tell you something… no let me tell L’Manburg something.” 

The woman straightens up and looks into the camera. 

“To the young man, the vigilante, who saved me and my child last night… you have my eternal thanks. You did more in one night than the entire tower of so-called heroes have done in years. I feel much safer now walking around knowing someone is looking out for me and my people.” 

The camera cuts away quickly, and the news station tries to quickly move past that disaster. There’s uproar in the cafeteria and Phil leans back in his seat. Well, this was certainly not normal.

⋙✧⋘

Tommy stares, jaw dropped after that news report. His cheeks are warm with pride, and he thinks back at the wonder in the little kid’s eyes and the genuine thanks the mother had given him. The news station goes on to admit to Pogtopia’s unusually high crime rates, but his blood boils at what they say next. 

“Heroes may not have been patrolling the outer districts as much, but can you blame them? Being a hero is no life of luxury.” 

“That’s right Ron, and sources also claim that said outer districts have rarely ever paid their protection taxes. The audacity to rely on an illegal vigilante.” 

Tommy angrily turns off the tv in a huff. He can hear thousands of others too, his new advanced hearing picking up on the affronted gasps and angry words thrown at their TVs. Pogtopia hadn’t been able to afford protection taxes in years, they didn’t have that kind of money.

Tommy jumps a little when his phone begins to ring, and he barely glances at the name before he answers it. 

“What’s up Jo?”

 “Hey, Tommy… My trip is going to be going a little longer than expected. I’m probably going to be gone all summer, I’ll try to make it back in time for school.” 

Tommy’s gears turn in his head, calculating his next words carefully. 

“Alright Jo! Don’t you worry, we’ll take turns working at the cafe.” He hears a sigh of relief from the other line. 

“Thank you, Tommy, I’ll make it up to you boys. Stay out of trouble!” 

“Will do!” Tommy says cheerfully, but his mind was already planning out trouble.

⋙✧⋘

Tommy is buzzing with excitement as Grayson walks in with Eryn and Freddie, and he hurriedly ushers them into the back. 

“So, since we’re celebrating having powers now…” Grayson reveals steaming boxes with a flourish. 

“I got us a rare treat! Pizza!” There were hoots and hollering, and Tommy clapped Grayson on the back.

 “Ayup! Let’s get this party started!” 

They ate for a bit before Toby got restless.

 “Alright! I’m pretty sure I’m a genius now, and…” He holds out a palm and an explosion ignites from it. Eryn whistles and claps slowly. “Impressive… but can you do this?” 

Eryn suddenly turns pitch black and phases through the floor. “Woah now! It’s Danny Phantom!” Ranboo says after taking a slice. 

Eryn, a black ghost hand, snatches the piece of pizza with a chuckle and manifests into his previous sitting position. Ranboo smirks, and one second he’s sitting and the next he’s behind Eryn in a purple flash. He snatches the slice before once more teleporting into his seat. 

“Don’t take my food.” “Is it cold Ranboo? Let me help.” Freddie says and Ranboo hands him the slice. 

Freddie’s hand hardened into black rock, and Tommy could see the pizza’s cheese melt some more with the heat. 

“Here you go!” As he reached to hand it back to Ranboo, a web shot out from above to snatch the slice. All the boys looked up to see Grayson sitting upside down on the ceiling with a shit-eating grin. He takes a bite and hums. 

“Good stuff. What about you Tommy?” 

Tommy grins and shucks off his jacket, and the boys all stare at the red wings decorating his back. 

“No good indoors, but the night sky is beautiful to fly in.” 

“Oh, that’s so cool! I wanna fly!” Freddie says with a pout. Tommy laughs and goes quiet, his eyes staring out the window and the view of the city. 

“Tommy? What’s up?” Toby asks and Tommy turns to look out at all of them. 

“You know that… vigilante in the news…?” The boy's jaws all drop. 

“Tommy! Was that you?!” 

“What happened to laying low?” 

He sighs and sits down, letting his wings relax. “This morning… the things the woman said got to me. There really hasn’t been any help for our districts in years… hell getting robbed or mugged is considered normal…” 

He straightens up and looks them each in the eye. 

“Look fellas, I don’t know why or how we got these powers. But now that I can do something, how am I supposed to let my city, my home, burn?”

He’s met with silence, and he turns his head. 

“Look, you don’t have to agree with me, but I’m going to do this.” Toby snorts and Tommy looks at him. 

“If you think we’re going to let you do this alone, you’ve turned into a bird-brain.” 

Tommy splutters as the rest of the boys' laugh. 

“I-I was just saying-” 

“Yeah, we know. It’s dangerous and yadda yadda.” Grayson said, walking over to Tommy. 

He smiles at him and extends a hand. “But we’re all in this together, we all got powers so…” Tommy gives Grayson a grin and lets him help him up. 

“So our main base of operations can be the cafe, Jo is going to be away all summer. Plus, he hardly ever goes into our apartment, and we can turn the extra bedroom into an office space.” 

Tommy explains as he leads them to said extra bedroom. Ranboo hums thoughtfully. 

“We’re going to need codenames and masks.” 

“We can probably dumpster dive for materials for a suit,” Grayson adds, inspecting the room. Freddie sighs. 

“I’m just upset we’ll have to hide our powers as civilians, I was really looking forward to rubbing it in Karen’s face…” Toby snorts and nods. 

“We can patrol nights, and then alert the others if we need to patrol during the day. I can be dispatched!” “I’ll help,” Eryn says with a grin.

⋙✧⋘

Tommy was exhausted that night, they had spent the last few hours planning for every little detail, and making a group chat for this. He thinks back to when he was small, begging in this very room for a power. He had desperately wanted to be a hero. He smiles to himself. Close enough innit.

Chapter Text

Tommy bounces on his heels excited for Toby to show them the new suits. Ranboo had nicked a police data box from the new police station that opened up on Sunday Street. It had been a week since Tommy had rescued the mother and her child, and in response, the city built a new and improved station tasked with catching them. However, they had refused to stop any other crimes, only showing up to scenes to catch them. Whatever, Tommy Danger Kraken Innit was far too awesome to let some corrupt cops take him and his new vigilante team down.

“Alright! Take a look!” Toby says with a grin, pulling out six racks all with different suits. 

Tommy grins when he looks at his, happy Toby kept them practical. Red tennis shoes, altered to be able to support take-offs and touchdowns. Black pants, with a special belt for Tommy’s batons. A dark red hoodie reinforced with leather shoulder patches. The elbow guards and knee guards are spray painted to match the leather patches. The gloves were a green-gray pair that were reinforced on the knuckles for grappling and punches. A green mask, made by Toby to match his red binoculars, with holes just big enough for his eyes to see and thin enough for his flight goggles to fit. The last piece was a darker green gator mask to fit over the bottom of his face, and its new upgrade, the voice changer.

⋙✧⋘

Tommy inhales the cool night air as he flies high above the quiet city. Nothing too much was happening, and it seemed as though the night was to be a laid back one. Until the new little earpiece in his ear let out a soft beep and he immediately clicked a button on the side of it. 

“Getting reports… robbery… 37491 Cliff Street… Walmart…”  

The hacked police scanner reception wasn’t great this high up in the air, but Tommy didn’t mind. He grinned as he changed course, quickly picking up speed as adrenaline pumps through his veins. Show time.

Tommy quickly surveys the situation, it looked like it was just five men, no clue if they were enhanced or not. Tucking his wings in a familiar fashion, the biggest dude has little to no time to react before Tommy knocks him to the ground. He’s out like a light and the other four whip around to see him. One points at his wings and shouts. 

“Hey! It’s that guy they were talking about on the news! He’s a vigilante, get him!” 

Two of them charged him and he managed to duck the first punch sent his way. He quickly side sweeps one, trying to keep his form perfect just like he practiced. He wasn’t great, but practice certainly paid off. The two that charged him went down easily enough, and the next one trying to jump on his back got flung by his wings. 

Now that being said, he wasn’t exactly a master. So when the last guy got him unexpectedly in the ribs with a metal baseball bat, he folded instantly. 

“Not so tough now, are you?” The dude yells and Tommy fights the urge to roll his eyes. 

“Seriously dude? Where did you learn that one, the Academy of Shitty Banter for Mediocre Bad Guys?” 

The man sputters and charges him again, this time Tommy manages to grab the bat before it hits him. They tumbled for a bit, and Tommy was fighting the sharp pain in his torso. He winced when he was shoved to the ground, the man above him laughed in victory. 

“Nice try dude, I’ll be seeing your death on the news.”

Now Tommy was not a cry baby by any means, but even broken ribs can make a grown man cry out. So, when the man kicked him in his side out of spite, it fucking hurt. It hurt enough for Tommy’s mouth to shoot open and yell in pain. However, something wasn't normal. For one, his yell was a lot longer than he thought it would be. And two… the sonic boom that emitted from his mouth was certainly not normal. The man above him dropped to the ground in pain, cries unable to rise above Tommy’s deafening one. 

Eventually he collapsed, blood dripping from his ears. Tommy shut his mouth quickly, noticing the very floor taking a moment to stop vibrating. Glass had shattered, and it seems his sonic cry had attracted attention. He could hear the tell tale sound of police cars heading his way quickly. He hastily ties them up, and leaves a note explaining the situation and apologizing for the damage. Then, his wings open and he’s in the air once more.

⋙✧⋘

“Dude, that was you?!” 

“I thought it was a villain attack.” Tommy chuckles as he drinks from a soda can. 

“Yeah, it was me. Pretty badass I know.” Toby rolls his eyes from his spot on the couch, not once stopping his rapid typing as he talks. Ranboo is eating a sandwich, humming as he glances at the laptop screen every now and then. 

“Still nothing?” Toby lets out a sigh and shuts the laptop with a huff. 

“Yeah, nothing. I think I'm going to call it quits with this search. There’s no record of her anywhere in the city at all.” 

Tommy paused his drinking. “...do you think she might be a villain? Like Hermit level?” 

The other two boys quickly turn their attention to him. 

“That… actually might be possible. And if that's… the case.” Toby groans and flops backwards. “I’m going to have to start checking criminal records again!”

⋙✧⋘

Tommy hastily pulls on his suit, jamming his com in his ear and he winces at the beep noise that goes off. 

“Tommy! Can you hear me?” “I read you Toby. Everything working?” Tommy says, pulling up his mask and opening his window. 

“Yep, you’re all clear. You head out the others will meet up with you, be fast.” 

His wings launch him into the sky and he pulls his flight goggles over his eyes. Mere minutes ago, Toby and Eryn both got big alerts. It was the middle of the day, so heading to stop crime was risky. However, the only bank in Pogtopia was being robbed. Times were tight for everyone already, and if they sat back and did nothing hundreds of people would lose everything.

⋙✧⋘

There's a crowd of people gathered around the outside of the bank, all talking in worried tones. There was a small police force, but nothing massive. 

“What’s the situation?” Tommy asks landing on the roof where Grayson, Ranboo, and Freddie were all waiting. 

“Hostages, and they all have guns. We’re actually a little stumped as to what exactly to do.” 

Tommy hesitates, gears turning in his head. The spark is there… and he trusts it enough to speak. 

“Is Eryn heading this way?” 

“Yeah, we figured we should wait for him-” 

“Eryn! I need you to do something.” Tommy says quickly into his com. 

“What’s up? I’ll be there in a sec.” Tommy shakes his head. 

“So will the cops once they catch wind that we’re here. Go past their station, give them a wild goose chase. Buy us as much time as possible.” 

Grayson’s eyes go wide, and he smirks. “Smart.” 

“Ok! I can’t promise too much time but I’ll do my best!”

The four creep into the bank through a high window, perched on a pillar ledge inside. There looked to be about twenty men with guns, and about 35 or so civilians all crouching down in fear. 

“I’ve got an idea, you guys remember that strategy we use to save freshmen from Karen?” Grayson gives him a grin and nods. 

“Who’s doing what?” “Freddie, you’re bulletproof, go down there and piss them off. Ranboo, you focus on teleporting hostages outside. Grayson, you stick with me. I’ll help you pick off the goons one at a time. Once all the hostages are out, we’ll sweep and lock it down before bolting. Dunno how long we’ll have with Eryn distracting the police.” 

Grayson fist bumps him with a nod. Tommy also presses his ear piece. “Toby, while we’re doing that I need you to hack into the security system. I need you to monitor the cameras and watch out for us. When the time is right and hostages are out, kill the lights.” 

“On it boss man!”

Freddie drops down with a thud, and he turns to wink at the men. “Hey boys, mind if I crash this party?” 

The guns quickly fired and Freddie laughed as they melted the moment they touched him. 

“Oh that tickles~ Cute that you tried though.” He blows them a kiss. 

Grayson quickly webs the guys in the back, pulling them up in the air so Tommy could dart up and knock them out. Then, Grayson tied them up with his webbing and gently lowered them to the ground. Ranboo, taking that as his cue, began to blip left and right. He’d grab a hostage in one second, then return for another one the next. 

“You guys are out of shape, should really do some cardio.” Freddie comments as he knocks out another goon attempting to fight him. 

Once the last one was out he gave them a nod and blipped out. Tommy reached for his com. 

“Tubbo.” 

“On it!” 

The nights instantly cut, only Freddie was the last source of light. “Oh! That’s my cue.” He charged the men closest to him, knocking them to the ground. 

Tommy lands in the dark, and the lights flick back on just in time for him to jump one of the last men. The very last man turns his gun on Tommy but Grayson webs it out of his hands and slams into him before he can even say a word.

“Alright boys lets go!” Tommy said, wings propelling him through the air and crashing through the front window. 

Gasps came from the crowd as he flew out, swiftly followed by Grayson swinging through and Freddie zooming through the air. Eryn was standing on the building across from the bank with a grin, Ranboo standing next to him. 

“Dude, that was so clean!” 

“Shouldn’t we leave before the cops arrive?” 

Tommy glances down to see the police men walk inside and then hastily bring out the knocked out men in handcuffs. 

“Nah, better wait a little while longer just to make sure they get a hand.” 

“That was brilliant! We did that flawlessly!” Toby calls out, and Tommy turns around with a laugh. 

Toby had propelled himself there using his exploding hands, and he landed beside them excitedly. 

“We just stopped our first major crime! I had to come over to celebrate with you guys.” Tommy claps him on the back with a smile. 

“Of course dude! No way we could have done this without you.”

They all turn at the sound of sirens, and watch the many police cars meant to catch them begrudgingly apprehend the bank robbers instead. 

“Well lads, lets-” 

“Hey! Hey you guys!” 

They all looked down to see the crowd staring at them. A group of kids stood in front, and the source of the voice came from a little boy who was cupping his mouth with his hands. 

“What’re your names?” The boys all looked at each other and Tommy cleared his throat. 

This was a pivotal moment for them, they now had the chance to name themselves whatever they wished. He spots hundreds of phones recording him, and he knew this would be all over the news. Still, he knew exactly what to name himself. 

“You can call me… Mellohi .” 

Grayson walks up next to Tommy and places a hand on his shoulder. “I’m Purpled !” 

Eryn crouches down on the edge to look down at the kids. “The name’s Onix , nice to meet you!” 

Ranboo gives a shy wave. “My name is Enderman !” 

Toby yells his name out in excitement. “Just call me Tubbo !” 

Freddie flicks his hair with a smirk. “ Linu ! The Burning Star!”

⋙✧⋘

“Guys come look at this! The hostages from yesterday are posting videos addressed to us!” Toby calls from the living room, and instantly everyone crowds around the laptop to look. 

There are multiple videos, with people smiling and extending their thanks. The next video that comes up are actually the kids that called up to them. 

“We wanted to let you guys know that you all were totally awesome yesterday!” 

“Yeah! And that you have super cool names!” 

“You’re totally our heroes!” 

Tommy smiled and clicked on another one. This video had a man wearing an old suit, and he had a warm grin on his face. 

“As director of Pogtopia’s bank, I have to extend my deepest thanks to Mellohi, Purpled, Onix, Enderman, Tubbo, and Linu. We can never thank you enough, but we will try. I am in the process of funding a community piece to express my gratitude, and I hope you young men will enjoy it.” 

⋙✧⋘

Phil sighed as he sat down to breakfast, definitely not as laid-back as he was a month ago. The news was full of the new six vigilantes that emerged from Pogtopia, always some new story about a mugging they stopped or a kidnapper arrested. But yesterday took the cake, stopping an entire bank robbery and even giving out their code names. Social media had been flooded from grateful people recording videos and posting them online for the vigilantes to see. They expressed their thanks, even complementing the six on their names and suits. He glanced around the cafeteria, and winced. No longer did they crowd around the TV in a jovial mood. Now everyone was serious, anxious to see what came next.

“Ron, it truly is a sad time for our city when the people turn their backs on those who have kept them safe for years.” 

“I agree Katy, it’s so sad to see the amount of people actually thanking criminals.” 

The news anchors shake their heads. 

“We feel the need to urge the people of this city to remember. To remember the time before the Tower was established, vigilantes ran wild and unchecked. They had turf wars and were responsible for the huge spike in crime.” 

“That’s right. As citizens, it is our duty to report such villainy and-” 

Katy is cut off by a loud ringing, and Phil recognizes the caller line alert. 

“O-Oh a caller-” 

“Listen here you prissy little bitch.” 

An angry older woman speaks over the line. Katy sputters and turns red but the woman continues. 

“My son works at that bank, and every day I hear him tell me about how many times it’s gotten robbed, hell anyone who actually lives in pogtopia can tell you how dangerous it is to leave your own home.” 

Another caller rings in, this one a young man by his voice. 

“But I bet you Antarctic Assholes don’t have that problem huh? The so-called heroes only ever patrol your districts cause you pay them! Some heroes, all the Tower cares about is keeping their pockets fat while pretending to play heroes!”

That caused an uproar in the cafeteria, heroes leaping to their feet in anger. 

“Oh I’m sorry, I'll just sit on my ass the next time a Hermit attacks the city.” Dream snarled, 404 and Sapnap nodded with him in fury. 

Techno clears his throat and the room goes quiet. “The callers are right. The Hermits only ever attack the inner districts, and when was the last time any of us patrolled Pogtopia?”

 Silence met his words and Phil sighs. “They have every right to be angry, their crime rates and poverty rates have been rising and we’ve done nothing.” 

“It's not like we could! The council forbade us from tackling smaller crimes, and told us to leave that up to the police!” Nikki protests from her seat. 

“But the Pogtopia police only recently got funded, and that was to catch the new vigilantes, not to deal with Pogtopia’s crimes.” Eret says with a sigh. 

The heroes turn their attention towards the TV once more. The broadcast had fallen into chaos, and more and more Pogtopia residents called to berate the heroes, the system, the reporters, and even praised the vigilantes. They all get a ping on their phones, and Phil looks down with a sigh. It was going to be a long day.

⋙✧⋘

So here Phil was, all geared up and waiting for the council brief to begin. The entire tower had been called, and everyone knew what this was about. The lead councilman cleared his throat and everyone turned to look at him. He was Steve Craft, the creator of the Tower and he founded the council of heroes. He was no one to sneeze at, and he was the one who called an emergency meeting. 

“I think we all know why I called this meeting. Chief, start your brief.” 

A man cleared his throat and made his way to the front of the large lecture hall-like meeting room. The lights dimmed and a presentation flickered on. The screen became a video of the vigilante who turned into shadows. 

“This is Onix, abilities range from disappearing into shadows completely to being able to phase through solid objects.” The video switches to a night video, where Onix bobs and weaves in and out of alleyways with ease. 

“Seems to get a speed and strength boost at night. Extremely difficult to catch.” 

The next video is the fire vigilante getting shot at and laughing through the gunfire. “This is Linu, he’s living fire. His skin can harden into an obsidian material,” 

Onscreen his body hardens, and the oncoming baseball bat snaps the moment it touches him. 

“...and otherwise his body temperature can rise enough that bullets have no effect. He also is able to fly, and blast powerful blasts from his fingertips.” Linu on screen uses the blasts to stop a getaway car, before flying over to yank the men out of the flying vehicle.

The next one was the purple hero. “This is Purpled, seems to have some sort of spider ability. He’s fast, extremely agile, and strong.” 

On screen, he catches a tossed car with ease and Phil hears a low whistle. “He shoots web material from his wrists that is extremely durable. He has some sort of strange sense that predicts danger.” 

On screen, a downed mugger raises a gun only for Purpled to whip around quickly and web it out of his hands.

The screen changes with a boom and a shorter vigilante is dodging bullets by propelling himself forwards with small explosions out of his hands. “This is Tubbo, who we believe to be their dispatch/tech guy. He has what is classified as a Caprae ability.” 

Phil looks over at Schlatt and Puffy, both are Caprae due to their goat horns. 

“Is his enhancement strictly fire?” Puffy asks, and he watches as she makes her water shape itself. 

Schlatt touches the water, and it freezes almost instantly. The policeman ignores Puffy’s glare at Schlatt and answers her question. 

“Well, we have reason to believe he’s also a genius. He’s hacked into our scanners and has used his buddies to go get him to raid our tech warehouses. He’s likely their dispatch as we rarely ever see him patrol.”

“Next up is Enderman.” The vigilante teleports in and out of frame, behind and above his attackers.

 He looked tall and lanky, and the only one who didn’t cover his eyes. His right side was pitch black and his eye was a deep purple. He wore a black gator face mask. 

“Can’t you track him with his eye scans?” 

“He doesn’t have any, none of our records match his. His main ability is teleportation.”

The final vigilante video started to play and Phil turned his attention fully to the video. “And finally… Mellohi. We used to call him Theseus before he gave out his name.” 

Phil watches Mellohi swoop gracefully and drop at an extreme speed. Then, Phil marvels at how quickly he changes direction midair like a natural. 

“He was the first reported vigilante, and we believe him to be the leader. His primary power is his wings, and we still have no clue how he hides these things. We estimate a 16 foot wingspan based on witness reports.” 

Wilbur snorts and attention turns to him. “...so you’re telling me he had a bigger wingspan than Quackity?” 

Said hero turns red and starts cursing the Specter Hero in Spanish.

There was a loud slam and Phil watched Steve slowly uncurl his fist with a laugh. “So we’ve been worrying about nothing? Good…” 

Phil furrows his brow in confusion. The policeman, who looks just as confused, speaks again. 

“Sir these are threats that have already turned public opinion sour. I’m asking for hero assistance-” 

“And what happens if a Hermit attack happens while they’re chasing some weakling vigilantes? We’ll lose our funding from the inner districts, that’s what will happen.” 

Phil felt his stomach curl, as it dawned on him that was the reason for keeping the heroes from patrolling Pogtopia. 

“Sir, if I may, it may be better to nip this bud before it blooms-” Awesamdude speaks up and he’s immediately interrupted by Steve.

 “Unnecessary. I’m confident once the media catches them losing or breaking the laws the people will come crawling back.” 

Phil could sense the tension in the air, and he felt helpless. The law stated they couldn’t act without council approval. 

“You all worry too much, what are the small fries going to do? Take down a Hermit?”

Chapter Text

Tommy’s heart thundered as he shot towards Pogtopia’s central park. He can see Grayson swinging out of the corner of his eyesight, and he can hear his beating heart as well. Their urgency was needed, it wasn’t every day that a fucking Hermit showed up in Pogtopia to wreck the place. The other four were stuck at the busy cafe on the other side of town, and unfortunately, they were unable to read the frantic texts.

“Mellohi, duck!” 

Grayson shouts into their com and Tommy immediately tucks his wings to drop. 

He’s known Grayson’s magic tingle or whatever was deadly accurate, and not something to ignore. A flying fridge just barely goes over his head and Tommy steadies himself out besides his spider comrade.  

“Thanks. Do we know which Hermit?”

“Nope, reports only said it was one of them. And to be fair any of them can chuck a fridge.” 

They arrive and Tommy’s heart drops. This wasn't any midtier villain, it was Pearlescent Moon, the Anti-Gravity villain. She was part of the inner elite circle who ran the Hermits. Why was she in Pogtopia? 

“Oh shit… what’s the plan here Tommy? I don’t think either of us are qualified to take this on… maybe we play support until the heroes show up? I think we can handle keeping civilians out of harm's way until then…”

 “No.” Tommy croaks out, mind flicking back to the news that morning. 

“The heroes are all on a business trip to Rivendell, remember?” 

Grayson’s face must’ve paled under his mask, because Tommy hears his heart rate double. Tommy shakes as he speaks. 

“...we’re… we are the only ones who can stop her. Are you with me?” 

Grayson takes a deep breath before he takes Tommy’s outstretched hand.  “I’m with you.”

“Tommy, since I’m staying… my senses are doing the thing again.” 

Tommy looks at him hopefully. “Yeah? What’s the plan then?” 

“I focus on civilians, you go all out on Pearl.” Tommy’s stomach lurched. 

“...w-what? Just me?” Grayson nods and places a hand on his shoulder. 

“Something tells me… this is your fight. Just be careful, ok? I’ve got your back.” 

Tommy let out the shaky breath he was holding, and clenched his fists. 

“...Ok. Keep the civilians safe.” 

“Will do. Knock her out Big Guy.”

⋙✧⋘

“Pearlescent Moon.” 

Tommy uses a small bit of his power to let his voice carry out over the chaos. She pauses, the debris around her hovering mid-air and she laughs. 

“Well, well, well. Someone actually showed up to stop me.” 

“Kinda hard to sit by and watch your home get destroyed out of nowhere. Aren’t you too old for temper tantrums?” 

Tommy taunts from the air, wings keeping him in one place. Pearl grins. “So quick with the snark, are you the only one brave enough to face me?” 

“No not really, I’m just the only one who gets to deal with you.” Pearl’s heartbeat quickens, and Tommy realizes she's actually nervous to fight him.

 To a normal eye, she exudes confidence. But his eagle eyes pick up the tenseness in her posture, the way she shifts slightly as if she’s not confident she could win this fight. 

“Perfect. This will be the perfect message to send. Heroes who take vacations don’t deserve to get paid, and nosey vigilantes need to learn where they belong.” 

Tommy’s eyes narrow. 

“Where I belong? Perhaps you don’t understand. I belong in the skies, and you belong in a prison cell.”

Her arm whips out and pointed broken debris shoot out at him, and he dives to dodge the spikes. He glances back to see them fall and then it clicks. She has a range of control, so that means anything that gets its gravity messed up only has limited reach on me. He zones in on her, and she immediately grabs a car with her power, and chucks it at him. He’s about to dip lower to dodge the car, he’d have to land and roll, when he spots her expression. It's one of… anticipation? Hope? He immediately gives a strong flap to dodge over the car and swoop around to flank her. 

“I thought your power was gravity manipulation? I’m within your range, why won’t you grab me?” Tommy taunts which rewards him with a look of embarrassed rage.

He hears a cry for help and he whips around only to see Grayson swoop in and save a woman from being crushed by a destroyed building. 

“Don’t worry about me or the civilians! I’ve got you covered, keep on kicking ass!” Grayson calls and Tommy smiles. 

He turns his attention back to Pearl once more, swooping in to deliver a good kick to her stomach. Pearl grunts as she’s flung back, but she quickly catches herself. 

“Seems a bit unfair, fighting in the air while I’m on the ground, why not join me down here and be fair?” Tommy laughs. 

“Why, so you can use your power on me? I have to be touching the ground for you to crush me, right?”

 He sees the shock on her face. 

“H-How on earth-”

Tommy ducks another wave of glass to score a punch. He backs up just fast enough for the semi-truck she throws his way to miss. 

“You don’t ever fight Quackity or Philza on your own, you’re always paired up with Grain. Your powers are useless against someone who isn’t on the ground.” 

That earns him a brick to the face and he somehow manages to catch himself before hitting the ground. 

“Useless, huh?” Tommy glares at Pearl’s smug expression. 

“It won’t be enough, you can’t win.”

If she had said that to him months ago, maybe Tommy would have believed her. But now, as an unknown amount of time had passed, he had hoped he could win. They were both bruised and battered, but she was reaching her limit. Her nose had started to bleed, and he saw the sharp panic on her face at the realization. 

“Running out of steam?” 

“Just lose already!” She screeches, her projectiles not as fast as they once were. 

Still, Tommy pants as he dodges, wings burning with exertion. 

“Why?! Why are you fighting against us! You vigilantes are just like the heroes, in it for the glory. Why couldn’t you have left this as someone else’s problem?” She yells at him. 

“Because this isn’t just my problem, it's my city and home. And I’m not going to sit idly by while you destroy these people’s homes and lives.” 

For a split second, he thinks they can see each other properly. He sees Pearl, a failed victim of the whole system. And maybe she truly sees him, as someone who finally decided to do something. But the moment breaks and too late does Tommy see the rock hurtling from the side. He falls and hits the asphalt with a thud, and he coughs up blood.

“Mellohi!” 

He hears Grayson call out to him, and he can’t call out a warning before he and Grayson both get nearly crushed by the weight of super gravity. He hears Pearl laughing above him and she watches her face become relieved. 

“You boys put up a good fight… but this is where we part ways. You’ll be perfect bait for my escape, they arrest you and I leave scott free. Such an unfair world we live in.” 

Tommy’s laugh makes her grin drop. 

“I’ll say. But hey, what’s that saying all you old folk say?” Tommy watches Grayson quickly cover his ears. 

“Never count your chickens till they hatch?” Pearl steps on his chest and opens her mouth to speak but she never got a chance.

It comes easier this time, the scream. It makes her fall back in pain, desperately clawing at her ears. Tommy doesn't let up, not until he sees her body start to shake and he feels her power over him stop. Then, quick enough before she can get her bearings, Tommy punches Pearl one final time. It's finally enough, and she falls onto the concrete knocked out. 

Tommy huffs and struggles to stay standing as Grayson runs over to web Pearl up. 

“Dude… oh my god… you just beat a Hermit!” Grayson says in awe, and Tommy weakly smiles under his mask. He hears the beating of wings and he feels Grayson tense beside him. 

“Wha…?” 

“Heroes. Hang onto me, let’s go before they catch us.” Grayson quickly mutters. 

Tommy nods, and uses the last of his strength to hold onto Grayson as they swing home.

⋙✧⋘

Phil stares at the scene, jaw dropped. People were clapping and cheering as Pearl was lifted away by stunned police officers. She was webbed up, and Phil noticed the red feathers littering the ground. Phil turned his attention to a group of kids eagerly talking to the officers, and kept pointing to something on a phone.

“We recorded the whole thing live! It’s blowing up, Purpled saved like 200 people solo and Mellohi single handedly took down Pearl!” 

“He had this cool sonic scream attack that totally caught Pearl off guard!” 

Phil reaches up to tap his com, connecting him to the Tower control room. 

“You guys are not going to believe what I’m seeing…”

⋙✧⋘

“Guys I’m fine! Please just come watch this!” 

Tommy pleads from the couch. He had spent the rest of the day yesterday knocked out in bed, but now he was strangely healing fast. The boys all file into the living room with him and he flicks on the TV. 

“This is a special Pogtopia broadcast! After yesterday’s victory, Pogtopia is finally eligible for Hermit Relief Aid! Much of the park was destroyed, so it is being converted into a community place! A huge festival in honor of Pogtopia’s real six heroes is happening for a couple days, and later tonight the director of the bank will be unveiling a secret thank you present for our heroes!” 

Toby made the mistake of looking right into Tommy’s puppy dog eyes and he sighed. 

⋙✧⋘

The six boys gasped and beamed at the festival set up in their honor. 

“Sign up for the Linu Fan Club! We meet every other weekend!” Freddie’s head snaps to look in the direction of that booth, and he grins like an idiot. 

“A fan club… I have a fan club!” Freddie whispers to the group, giddy as he walks. 

“New hoodies! One for each Vigilante! Get them while supplies last!” The boys all stopped and jaws dropped at a quickly done merch store. 

“Merch…” “We have our own merch?!” Toby and Ranboo both speak at the same time.

Tommy walks through the fair, careful not to let the ketchup on his hotdog fall onto his new Mellohi Hoodie. 

“Coming through!” The boys step aside and gape at children running around, dressed as them. 

There's an evil giggle and they see a child dressed up as Scar standing on a rock. 

“Mwahaha! It is I, the evil Hermit Scar! I’ve defeated every Tower Hero! The city is mine!” 

“Not so fast!” Tommy smiles wide as a little blonde-haired girl steps up. 

She’s dressed up as him, with swim goggles for his flight ones and fake cardboard wings strapped to her back. Beside her were five other children, all dressed in quick homemade costumes. 

“I’m Mellohi, the greatest vigilante ever! Me and my team are going to stop you!” 

The fake Scar laughs and tips their plastic top hat. 

“By all means, make my day!” They watched the fake battle in amusement and cheered on with the small crowd gathered around when the kids did victory poses.

⋙✧⋘

It's about an hour later when everyone gathers around a makeshift stage. Behind it, is a tall wall where a building once was. There’s a tarp covering the whole thing, and Tommy is curious when the bank’s director steps up on stage. 

“Hello Pogtopia! Ever since the attempted robbery, I said I’ve been working on a project to give back to our heroes. This is the work of many community artists, all who have been impacted by our new defenders. It is with great honor that I bestow this gift as a token of appreciation towards Mellohi, Tubbo, Enderman, Purpled, Onix, and Linu.” 

Tommy gasps when the tarp drops. It’s a mural of all six of them. Grayson is in a swinging pose, Toby is holding out his exploding palms, Ranboo is partially covered by glowing purple particles, Eryn is shrouded in black paint making him look mysterious, Freddie is laughing, fire in his hair as part of him is obsidian.

 But Tommy… They drew Mellohi almost like a Greek hero mixed with a guardian angel. His red wings are out, posed in a way to make him look large and mighty. His long fluffy blonde hair frames him almost like a halo, and there are little sound waves drawn to make it look like they were coming from his mouth. He felt warm, listening to people around them cheer and clap. This… this is what made every broken rib and bruised knuckle worth it. To see his people at such ease and to see real hope in their eyes again. This was his reason to be a hero.

⋙✧⋘

“As of yesterday’s fight between Hermit Pearlescent Moon and Vigilante Mellohi… all six vigilantes have been branded high level threats. We plead with Pogtopia to turn in the vigilantes, for the greater good of this city.”

⋙✧⋘

Phil can tell this briefing won’t end so dismissively as last time. He’s still reeling from the shock of it all. A starting vigilante strong enough to take down a Hermit was nothing to sneeze at. He takes in Wilbur and Techno’s tense shoulders on either side of him and gently extends his wings to encircle them comfortably. Techno lets out a sigh and leans into the dark feathers and Wilbur mutters a relieved thanks. 

“...I will admit I had greatly underestimated this present threat.” 

Steve Craft speaks up from his large chair. He looks livid, and Phil can see the veins in his neck.

“From now on, heroes are going to be patrolling Pogtopia at night. Our sponsors have lost faith in us, with some questioning our ability to protect the inner districts and even a rare few suggesting they employ the vigilantes over us to keep them safe.” 

Murmurs ran through the crowd as Steve stood up. 

“I'm tasking three heroes each to capture their designated vigilante. You are to patrol where and when they typically do, and you are to arrest them on sight.” 

He picks up a piece of paper. “I’m repurposing the empty floor in the tower for vigilante hunting. When I call out your names and team, please go stand with them”

“Skeppy, BadBoyHalo, and Supreme are all tasked with capturing Onix.” Phil watches the three superheroes get up and go to their team. 

“Antfrost, HBomb, and Fundy are to capture Linu.” Hbomb grins and Fundy groans, both follow Antfrost out of their seats. 

“I want Awesamdude, Captain Puffy, and Jschlatt to bring in Tubbo.” The two Goats fist bump before taking their spots. 

“Dream, 404, and Sapnap are all in charge of taking down Enderman.” Dream gives a wicked grin and leads his team down, and Phil can see their excitement. 

“Quackity, Punz, and Foolish are to bring in Purpled.” The Mexican leaps up and cheers, walking down to join. 

Was this exciting? It's true their lives had been pretty mundane for a while. No major crimes had meant less chances to be a hero. 

“And finally Ghostbur, Philza, and Technoblade. Your job is to take down Mellohi.” Techno chuckles as he gets up and Wilbur gives his twin brother a competitive grin.

Phil follows them to stand beside his new team, and he glances at the picture of Mellohi once more.

⋙✧⋘

Grian hated meetings. Too stuffy, too serious, not enough… fun. Someone drags a hand across his back and he turns to see Mumbo give him a wink as he sits himself next to the winged villain. 

“Mumbo darling, have you missed me?” 

“Terribly so, you never come with me to play with the heroes.”  

A cough interrupts them, and Grian gives Scar a playful glare. It returned with an amused look. 

“Sorry. But I'd like to get started.” Scar turns his attention to the rest of the table. 

“I’m sure you all know, but just in case… Pearl was defeated after a battle with the new vigilante Mellohi.” The air became suddenly tense, even Grian frowned.

“We had initially written off the new kids as unimportant and non threatening. But… it is clear none of them are scared to face us if it means we attack Pogtopia.” 

Etho hums thoughtfully. “Do you think they’ll step in if we attack the Antarctic Empire?” 

“No, they seem very loyal to the outer districts.” BDubs offers. 

“So what’s the plan then Scar? Hunt them down?” Doc asks and Scar shakes his head. 

“Too difficult, that’d be like finding a needle in a haystack. I have… something else in mind.” 

“We have two options here. We could simply kill them…” 

“Or?” Xisuma prompts and Scar faces the table with a grin. 

“Well… they don’t seem too fond of the heroes, do they? And how’s the saying go… the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” 

Gemini laughs and smiles. “You want them to join us?” 

“I mean it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have such powerful newbies as teammates.” Mumbo muses next to Grian. 

Scar looks at Grian with a smile. “Grian, I'm putting you in charge of this. Either kill them or get them to join the Hermits… I think this’ll be… fun.” 

Grian laughs and returns the cold smile. 

“Alright then, count me in.”

⋙✧⋘

Tommy just finished his workout when Jo called next. 

“Heya big J! Was wondering when you'd call next!” 

Jo laughs on the other end and sighs. “Yeah sorry… The cafe hasn’t been too much to handle?” 

“Nope. Everything is running smoothly, don’t worry.” Tommy assures him.

He hears Jo sigh on the other end. “I need to come clean…”

Tommy paused, he stared at the phone in his hand as his worries grew.

“Is everything ok Jo? You’ve never been gone for this long…”

“Uh yeah… It’s just…” He hears Jo mutter under his breath before speaking up again. “This… vacation… I don’t know when I’ll be home.”

Tommy freezes, and swallows. “...what do you mean…? Jo, a-are you in trouble?”

Jo hesitates before he lets out a sigh. “To be honest? Yeah. And… I have a massive favor to ask of you and the boys. Take care of the Cafe for me?”

“Until you get back? Sure no problem.” Tommy is quick to assure him, something unsettled in his gut.

“...yeah, sure. Just… until I get back. I can’t talk for much longer, and you probably won’t hear from me as much any more. Tommy, you’re a great kid. Keep on being that great kid, and you’ll go far. I’ll see you later…”

The phone hangs up and Tommy stares at it in sorrow. Why did that feel like a goodbye…?

⋙✧⋘

He thrashes as the needles try to pick into his arms.

It hurts… everything hurts…

He still calls out for his mother, despite everything.

He clung to the naive childish hope that she’d return to rescue him

The men in sunglasses are all around him, they wear white coats.

The murmur to themselves, tapping things on tablets.

He can barely hear over the ringing in his ears, or see their lips move as a bright light is forcefully on his face.

They are trying to figure out something with him…

There is something wrong with him…

There is something they’re looking for in his blood.

He’s broken… and they want to know why.

Chapter Text

Until school started, everything was almost perfect. 

Crime dropped almost immediately in Pogtopia, because with heroes patrolling for vigilantes capable of taking down a villain, there was a high chance of criminals getting caught. 

There was the slight problem, no, annoyances that were the heroes patrolling whenever they did. Their patrol schedules had been memorized, and now the boys had been forced to randomly patrol. Just to avoid being jumped by three professional heroes on a Tuesday night.

Tommy and Purpled, however, still patrolled as much as they could. Random patrols meant less patrolling, which wasn’t good for their people. The less they patrolled, the more likely Pogtopia would go back to how it was.

Still, things were manageable, and as stated before, everything was almost perfect.

And then school started.

Two months into school, and shit was going downhill fast. 

Since all six boys were still highschoolers, the cafe had to be closed during the weekdays in the day and opened at night. Those who didn’t patrol worked the cafe, but the reduced business hours meant that the cafe was losing money fast.

Longtime customers could see the fatigue in the boys, and once they heard Jo had left, their eyes were full of sympathy.

Jo would occasionally call, but it was always brief, and Tommy couldn’t bring himself to tell him about the financial problems. Jo had trusted them, so Tommy was going to do his best to earn money for his home.

Unfortunately, vigilantism didn’t pay.

⋙✧⋘

Tommy woke up to the familiar (albeit quieter) crow alarm clock groggily and he sighed. Another day of school, another day of dealing with education all day, another day of trying to patrol while three pro heroes do everything in their power to catch him.

He groaned sitting up, popping his joints and letting his wings stretch and flex. He went through an oh so familiar routine, brushing his teeth, combing his hair, washing his face.

Then the new item, and he slumped as he reached for the thick heavy duty cotton bandages. Because his identity needed to remain a secret, that meant he needed to hide his wings. 

He took a deep breath, then painfully began to wrap the bandages tightly around his wings. He bit his lip and fought back tears, as 16 feet of beautiful red was folded and bound extremely tight to his back. He shuddered as he finished the process, gripping the sink with fervor as he slightly shook. 

It was just until after school, he’d get arrested if people found out he had wings. Tommy repeated to himself as he hastily downed three pain killer tablets. A couple minutes passed, and he let out a relieved sigh as his back went blissfully numb. 

He finally got dressed for school, throwing on his favorite Mellohi hoodie and heading downstairs.

⋙✧⋘

School was long, as usual. Karen didn’t bother him anymore, classes went on for hours, and Tommy eagerly awaited the end of the day. The final bell rings, and Tommy all but bolts out the door and into the hallway. He needs to get home so he can free up his wings.

“Tommy!” He pauses to see Ranboo waving him over from behind a building. Tommy hesitates, his back throbs, but he quickly jogs over. 

“What’s up Ranboo?” “Me and Toby noticed you’ve been racing home every day for a while…” Toby is standing behind him with a grin. “So, since this place is secluded, we figured Ranboo can just teleport us home.” Tommy glances around and notices the lack of cameras and the dark alleyway they stood in. “Yes please.”

⋙✧⋘

His wings flex and almost sing with joy as he soars through the night sky. Only a few hours in, and already they’ve gotten so much action. A concerning amount of drug busts, but Tommy refused to let that bring down his mood. 

After a week of school, he was ready for the weekend. Maybe he’d patrol tomorrow all day after he got some sleep, and reward his wings for being bound every day.

He hears commotion below and with a grin, he drops.

“You got it?” “Yeah I got it, it cost me a liver just to get it.” Another drug bust? Maybe Pogtopia has gotten bored without crime. Nevertheless, he waits until the two men walk further into the alleyway and then he drops down from the roof. 

His red wings glint in streetlight, large and imposing as he smirks when the men freeze. “You boys are up awfully late; someone might think you’re up to no good.” “Oh shit! Mellohi?!” “We aren’t doing anything!”

“Oh yeah?” Tommy takes another step forwards and the men start to shake. “U-Uh… any chance… you could maybe let us go?” The man with the bag says. “Now, I thought you weren’t doing anything? But… I’m in a good mood. Drop the bag and go home, and I won’t drop you off at the cops.” 

The men hesitated, but ultimately decided jail wasn’t worth it. The bag was chucked over their heads and into the darkness, and the two men all but bolted when Tommy folded his wings to let them pass. 

“Another successful drug bust by the greatest vigilante ever! Good job Mellohi.” Tommy says with a grin.

“Are all vigilantes this self-centered or are you just a special case?” Tommy freezes when Phantom emerges from the shadows, drug bag in hand. 

“I’d like to think it’s less self-centered and more extreme badassery.” Tommy says carefully, backing up from the alleyway. Something thuds behind him, and he doesn’t have to turn around to know it’s Technoblade before he speaks. 

“Hey porkchop, you’re here too? Number two hero doesn’t have anything better to do?” “Considering you’ve cost me months of late nights with no sleep, no I don’t think I do.”

There was a tense air, both heroes waiting for it to snap.

Without saying anything, Tommy quickly whips a baton out and extends it right into Techno’s crouch. The giant hero dropped in pain, choking on a curse just as Tommy uses the crouched hero like a stepping stool to launch himself into the sky.

“Sorry buddy! I’ll send an ice pack to the tower!” Tommy calls over his shoulder as he flies into the air. He pauses as he sees Phantom emerge from behind Techno chuckling, a smirk clear on his face.

Oh no.

“Going somewhere mate?”

The only time Phantom was ever chill about Tommy running away, was when Philza was there to chase after him.

“Why yes actually, I think I left the kettle on. You know how it is, so maybe you just let me get home?” Tommy says turning in the air to face the terrifying 18 feet wings of black feathers that was Philza.

Tommy could outmaneuver Philza, both of them knew that, however the older hero was not slow by any means, and every escape from them had been due to his friends helping him or sheer dumb luck.

“Sorry mate, no can do. I think they offer brew at the station though, how about I escort you there?” Philza said, shooting forwards quickly.

Tommy tucked his wings to instantly (and barely) dive out of the way, and he propelled himself forwards. He heard wing beats close behind and he cursed as he forced himself to fly lower and in between buildings.

He pushed his wings as hard as he could, hyper aware of the wing beats just behind him giving chase. He was making a beeline for Ranboo’s district, praying to Prime above that he patrolled that night. 

His wing beats faltered and he tensed. His wings were tired, a combination of being flown less and patrolling all night. “End of the line bud.” He could hear Philza’s grin, nearly felt a fingertip brush one of his primary feathers…

…and then something dropped from above him, and he went zero gravity in a flash of purple sparks.

He landed with a thud onto the apartment carpet, and he heard Ranboo groan in pain. “That was… so scary… never do that again…” and Tommy couldn’t help but laugh. “Excellent timing! Knew I could count on you.” Ranboo shot him a grin, taking Tommy’s hand when offered.

“Oh, are you two back?” Tommy turned to see Toby slouched over the couch, a tired expression looking at them in confusion. “Toby? Are you alright?” Said goat boy let out a sigh and fell back onto the couch. “No. Just finished the financial statements.” 

The room went dead silent, and Tommy swallowed the lump in his throat. 

“...and…?” 

“We can just pay for this and next month, but after that… we’ll lose this place.”

Toby’s brow furrowed in clear frustration. “This is such BULLSHIT!” His palms sparked, mimicking the anger present in his voice. “The heroes are constantly on our asses during patrol, Jo leaves us to deal with the cafe, schools started again, and now we’re going to lose our home!” 

Tommy saw Toby’s eyes go glossy and he quickly moved to wrap his friend in a hug. His wings encircled them, and when Ranboo walked over to join, they pulled him in. “We can do this, the three of us. Nothing can stop us, ok Toby?” He feels Toby nod and let out a sigh. 

“It doesn’t help that our search for that girl has turned up empty.” Ranboo hums in thought at Toby’s statement. “Maybe she’s in the Tower’s database, if we break in we could get you to it?” Toby snorts and pulls back from the hug to look at Ranboo. “No way in hell. That security system was designed by the best of the best, we’d be arrested before we could even blink.”

Tommy freezes suddenly, mind darting back to something he had seen earlier. He abruptly stood up, causing the other two to fall off the couch, and he quickly went to his room to grab his phone.

“Ow…” “Ouch! What the hell Tommy?” Tommy all but sped walked back into the living room, heart pounding. “You remember I said I was going job hunting?” “Yeah…?” Toby looks at him curiously. Tommy opened something on his phone, and turned to show it to the two other boys. There was a beat of silence, his friends processing what was on the screen, before both pairs of eyes widened in shock. 

“WHAT?!”

“An ad looking for teenagers interested in working at the tower. Secretary work.” “My eyes work just fine Thomas.” Toby deadpans, his eyes staring at Tommy like you would a madman running up to tell you that giant ant people ran the country.

“No, but just hear me out. This job is for a crazy amount of money, even part time. With that amount of money, we could easily keep this place open for a long time. Not to mention, if they trust me enough to fill out documents, that means I’ll probably be given access to the building. I can get the data, get it back to you. You figure out who gave us powers, and I can tell everyone who should patrol every night! Bada Bing, Bada Boom.”

“...of all the stupidest ideas you’ve come up with Tom, this one really takes the cake.” Ranboo says after a minute. Toby takes a deep, long breath in, before letting out a groan of defeat. “Unfortunately Ranboo, he’s right.”

“I am?” “Toby!”

Toby sighs and drags a hand down his face. “I think it’s our best plan as of now, but I think we get Grayson to also apply, just so you two have each other to rely on in there.” Tommy grinned and his wings puffed up in pride. “Ha, see? Your glorious leader has the best plans!” “Don’t push it.”

⋙✧⋘

Tommy’s heart pounded as he waited nervously at the upper-class restaurant he was told to wait at. He had somehow gotten an interview; despite the resume he submitted having some exaggerated claims and was made on Toby’s hijacked laptop. The phone call he had gotten back later instructed him to meet up the next day at the … Blue Sheep? Apparently, it was customary to treat interviewees to dinner while they were being questioned.

His hands nervously drummed against the table, glancing around the reserved room and sipping his free water. He had made sure to eat a small snack before he came, just in case whatever secretary that was interviewing him didn’t want to feed a street urchin like him.

“Sorry about that wait mate, we got hung up in traffic!” Tommy froze, his heart dropping. Tommy slowly looked up to the door and saw three heroes he knew all too well. Fucking Philza, Phantom, and Technoblade. All in casual clothes and talking to him as if they haven’t been chasing him for months.

“You ok dude? You look kinda pale.” Technoblade grunts out, taking a seat at the table. Tommy forced himself to talk, failing to stop himself from stammering. “N-No, I uh j-just wasn’t expecting you three to be interviewing me, I-I thought you’d send like a manager or something. Not everyday fucking three heroes show up to interview you.

Phil’s eyes go wide as he smacks his forehead. “Oh shit! Sorry mate, this is probably super intimidating. One of us can-” 

“N-No it's fine! Just caught me off guard is all. We can continue.” Tommy hurriedly gets out, he really needs this job, no matter what. 

Technoblade was looking at Tommy in amusement, Wilbur was glancing around the room uninterested, but Philza looked at him with a small frown. 

“Ok mate… if you’re sure…” Philza sits down across from Tommy and pulls out a copy of Tommy’s resume from his jacket, straightening out the piece of paper with a clearing of his throat. “So, Thomas… Simons?” Tommy grimaced at his legal last name and nodded. “Uh yeah. That’s my legal name but most people call me Thomas Innit.” Philza nods and writes something on the paper. 

“Ok, I get it, thank you for letting me know. You’re 17 years old currently, and in your senior year of high school, correct?’’ “Yep, I should be turning 18 in April.”

 Philza pauses and looks up from the paper at Tommy. 

“And your parents are ok with you working the hours after school?” Tommy didn’t want to outright lie, but a half-truth would be ok.

 “I live with my guardian Joseph Garret, he’s my godfather. I usually work at the cafe he owns, but he’s ok with me working here instead.” 

Philza puts down the paper and gives Tommy a smile. “Ok Thomas, now I want to ask you, why do you want this position?” Tommy puts on his best smile and forces his voice to be bashful. “Oh, uh, well I was born without powers, but I’ve always wanted to be a part of the Tower. I guess if I can’t be a hero, I might as well help them!” Phantom snorts and gives Tommy a sneer. 

“Oh yeah sure, like we haven't heard that sob story a million times.” 

“Wilbur.” Philza snaps angrily, Technoblade looking up from his phone.

“Oh cut the bullshit Phil, we’ve heard this speech already! From so many different people. I told you, we don’t need an assistant, especially these pathetic wide-eyed fans who have no powers. How is he meant to defend himself if shit goes down at the Tower? We wasted our time coming here.”

Tommy felt something snap inside of him, anger making his ears red. He did not suck it up to actually pour hours over a resume, lose sleep in worry, and wear his nicest clothes just for this stuck-up hero to berate him as if he didn’t matter and wasn’t even here. He didn’t bother trying to stop the words about to leave his mouth, he would find another job.

“You know what you pretentious asshole? Fine! I’ll tell you the real reason why I want this job. I lied, Jo isn’t my legal guardian, because I don’t know who my dad is and my mother dumped me on the streets when I was three years old. However, despite times being tight since he lived in Pogtopia, Jo took not only me, but two other boys under his wing to protect us from the streets. For years he’s sacrificed everything to have us have a normal childhood, but recently the bills have been tight and if he doesn’t make more money soon his life’s work and our home will be gone. So, despite being a literal child, I decided to strike up the courage on my own to walk 5 miles to a library to make a resume nice enough to be presented to you, because not all of us have nice things like a home computer, let alone a personal one.”

The three heroes stared at him in shock, but Tommy barreled forwards anyway.

“And don’t you dare ever call me fucking pathetic. You wanna know why we’re struggling with bills? To pay for a hero protection bill that is five times my entire block’s mortgages combined! But it's not like you lot care. I grew up having to sew hidden pockets inside my jackets because at any second, I could be mugged, I’ve been in more fistfights to the death than I can count, and I’ve had to stand by and watch criminals with powers shove everyone around because what the fuck am I supposed to do without any powers?! You bet your ass I can hold my own in a fight.”

Tommy takes a deep breath, aware of the stinging tears running down his cheeks. He inhales before letting it end.

“So yeah, maybe I’m selfish, maybe I want to actually feel safe for once by being able to earn some money to help out my family, to pay back some of the karma I’ve been blessed with. Maybe I wanted to be able to afford good food and nice clothes instead of having to dumpster dive for scraps. Maybe not having powers puts me at a disadvantage, and maybe it was wrong of me to look up to heroes growing up even if they let me be robbed at bus stations. But despite all of that, I came anyway. I applied anyway, because at least I tried and the worst thing you can tell me is no. So if I’m not what you’re looking for, if you’re looking for some upper crust teenager with a silver spoon in their mouth, then I guess this job wasn’t for me. Thank you for your time.”

Tommy got up quickly, and sped out of the restaurant before the stunned heroes could even say anything, tears streaming down his face. He breaks into a run when he hits the sidewalk and dives into an alleyway so that he can rip off his jacket and propel himself into the sky. 

His wings carried him above the clouds as Tommy’s heart clenched horribly. He failed. There was no way they’d hire him after that, he had completely blown it. Now how were they supposed to get into the database?

⋙✧⋘

“Oh my god dude, fuck heroes. Like actually fuck them and their whole deal.” Toby says as he hands Tommy the glass of water, Ranboo nearby shaking his head.

“Dude don’t beat yourself up over this, I think you dodged a bullet. If that’s how they act towards people who work for them, then that's a red flag.” The taller boy came over to sit next to the winged boy on the couch. “Uh yeah, i just-”

His phone buzzed, cutting him off quickly. “Oh! Is it Jo?” “No I have a ringtone for him.” He doesn’t recognize the caller id, but answers anyway.

“Hello, Tommy Innit speaking.”

“Uh hey mate.” Tommy froze. “P-Philza?” Toby and Ranboo tense next to him.

“Yep! I wanted to call you personally to talk.” “If it’s about what I said then I am so sor-”

“Nope, Thomas you’re fine. I’m the one apologizing to you.” Tommy’s jaw dropped and Philza continued. 

“What Phantom said was completely out of line, and on behalf of the Tower I’d like to apologize for his behavior. But, I also wanted to let you know about the job. If you still want it, it’s yours. You’re getting a pay upgrade as well, about double what was offered.”

“D-D-Double?!” Tommy nearly shouts in disbelief, Toby and Ranboo’s eyes went wide as both leaned close to listen in.

Philza chuckles over the phone. “Yes, double. Me and Technoblade agreed since first of all, Phantom was being a massive prick and you didn’t take what he said lying down. In Technoblade’s book, anyone who can hold their own against Phantom is worth hiring. So yes, double what was offered.”

Tommy’s wings puff out in excitement as he slowly breaks out into a grin.

“Oh my Prime! Really?! That is- That is just… This is absolutely poggers!”

He hears Philza snort on the other end.

“That’s a new one. I take it you’re happy mate?”

“Happy? I’m poggers, I’m thrilled! I’ll take the job, when do I start?” Tommy was vibrating in place, barely holding back his cheering. Toby and Ranboo were giving him relieved smiles, though he could see the joy in their eyes at the promise of more money.

“Woah there bud! Let’s not get too eager for paperwork, you’re a kid, so enjoy the weekend! Just email me your bank information and on Monday you can come in for your first day, how’s that sound?”

“Sounds perfect Philza, the greatest man who ever lived.” Philza roared with laughter on the other end, an infectious one that had Tommy letting out his own gasping breath one.

“That’s high praise, but thanks mate. You’re a funny kid, I’ll see you Monday. Take care!” “Bye! Thank you so much!”

The phone call end and all three boys let out cheers of victory, Tommy’s previous low all but forgotten

⋙✧⋘

Techno finds Wilbur sulking in his room. After being thoroughly (and justifiably in Techno’s opinion) told off by the kid, scolded harshly by Phil, and even reprimanded by the hiring department, Techno felt it was safe to assume his twin felt very guilty and embarrassed by the whole situation. 

Wilbur was strumming random notes on his guitar, a familiar melody that Techno couldn’t quite place. “Sup William, you holding up ok?” Wilbur gave him an unimpressed look before his eyes softened and he sighed. 

“No. I feel awful now.” “Well that's to be expected, you told some broke kid orphan kid he was worthless to his face.” Techno tried to joke dryly, trying to relieve some of the tension in his brother’s shoulders. Instead, Wilbur flinched and ducked his head.

Techno winced and sat on the bed next to him. “Ok that wasn’t funny, sorry about that.” Wilbur nodded, wordlessly staring at something yet nothing at the same time. 

“...You wanna talk about it?” 

“...when did I forget we also came from Pogtopia?” 

That got his attention, and Techno frowned. Him and Wilbur had been raised in an orphanage while their mother worked every day to keep them alive. It was by sheer luck one night their mother Kristan had been saved by Phil patrolling and they fell in love. The twins were 10 when they gained a father, and 18 when they joined the hero field. It had been long since the days of dirty streets and broken windows, so long that Techno realized he had nearly forgotten.

“Dunno. I guess so much happened. Mom and Dad got married, we moved to the outer apartments of the inner city, I formed the Syndicate and you went to college for music, we both joined the hero program, and then boom. We were in the Tower.”

Wilbur chuckled and strummed his guitar again. “...he reminded me so much of myself. So angry, angry at a failed system.” Wilbur went quiet again, before he sat up straight immediately with a new determined look on his face. “I’m going to apologize, but not only that. I want to become friends with him.”

“I’m glad Will, I think you two will get along splendidly. Well once you apologize that is.” Both twins' eyes quickly looked at the door to see Phil leaning on the door frame, a pleased smile on his face.

“Did he take the job?” Wilbur asks quickly and Phil nods. “Oh yeah he did, was super excited, he used a weird word though? What does ‘poggers’ mean?” Holy shit did that take Techno back, to the common slang of Pogtopia. He and Wilbur burst into laughter, and Phil’s wings puffed up in indignance. “Hey! Boys, what does it mean?!”

Chapter Text

Tommy stares up at the Tower building with a gulp. Grayson was being interviewed later today, so Tommy was on his own for now. He took a deep breath, and slowly entered the den of the lions.

The lobby was brightly lit and perfectly clean, and it made Tommy feel extremely out of place. Where was he even supposed to go?

“Thomas?” Tommy froze as he saw Phantom walk up to him, Tommy narrowed his eyes and set his jaw once the hero stopped in front of him.

“Uh hi, I’m here to walk you through the first day. How was the walk over here?” “Pleasant. I passed a couple drug busts and a few thugs threatening people for their money.” Tommy says curtly, and Phantom’s smile falters.

“Ah, yeah, I deserve that. Uh look, I wanted to apologize.” That made Tommy break his guarded look for one of surprise.

“I was a MASSIVE dick to you the other day, and I fully deserved the verbal kick to the balls. You uh don’t have to forgive me right away, but know that I am genuinely sorry, and that I’ll do my best to make it up to you.”

Tommy must’ve been a fucking saint in a past life if Prime was giving him this much of good karma. What sort of strange universe was this? Where Phantom, the 9th ranked hero, was apologizing to him?!

“Uh… well um it's ok man-” “No it isn’t. If you accept my apology that's great, but it wasn’t ok. I just wanted you to know I’m sorry and that I’d like to get along better.”

Phantom was giving him an intense yet genuine stare, determination radiating off of him. If Phantom was this driven to make up with Tommy, then sure. He could give the hero a chance.

“Alright, you want to start over then?” Phantom beamed and nodded. “That’d be great actually!”

The hero cleared his throat before extending a hand out to Tommy. “Hello, my name is Wilbur Watson, I’m the hero Phantom.”

Tommy's eyes went wide when he said his real name, shocked by this level of trust. Trust was major in Pogtopia, and here Wilbur was giving out his real name to a kid he had just met. It was only fair, in Tommy’s opinion, to offer that level of trust back.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Thomas Innit, but please just call me Tommy.” he said, shaking his hand back with a grin.

⋙✧⋘

“So this is the main lobby, you’ll use your keycard to access the upper floors, exclusive access Mr. Innit.” Wilbur says with a smirk and Tommy gives him a playful glare. 

His heart thuds in nerves as he shifts in the elevator, thumbing the new ID card on his lanyard. “Thomas Innit” was printed in large text, his smiling photo on the front. He had been scared stiff when the camera was put in his face, but when he glanced behind the photographer, Wilbur started to make funny faces and give them bunny ears. That cracked Tommy’s nerves enough for a genuine smile. 

Then when the lobby secretary, Tommy recalls his name being Finnster, started to type in his information Wilbur had leaned over and said “His preferred last name is Innit, not Simons. Please change that.” Tommy felt touched, a small detail that Wilbur picked up that meant a lot to him. So far, Tommy could see the effort Wilbur was putting in. It was so odd, for the hero to be bending over backwards to make up with Tommy, but it was appreciated.

⋙✧⋘

“The floor above the lobby is the med-bay area, that way it's easy access for anyone who needs medical attention.” 

Tommy’s eyes widened as he noticed among the doctors 20th ranking hero Supreme and 24th ranking hero Callahan chatting nonchalantly. It suddenly dawned on him that he would be seeing tons of high ranking heroes daily now, and so casually too!

⋙✧⋘

“This is the training hall and open gym. You’re welcome to the resources used here, including our advanced self defense course employees can take. You’ll learn fighting techniques to help you out in a troubling situation, although it is not required.” 

Tommy eagerly listened to that bit of information, dead set on taking some of the classes and using the gym to train.

“Hey Phantom! This the kid?” Tommy’s eyes snapped to see Dream , the number one hero, call over to them. “

Ayup! Yeah, this is Tommy!” Tommy nervously followed Wilbur over, flabbergasted seeing Dream without his mask on. This was another closely guarded secret of the tower, yet Dream was chill enough to let Tommy see his face?

“Nice to meet you Tommy!” Dream extended a hand and Tommy quickly shook it. “Sup Big D- WAIT NO-”

Wilbur and Dream both burst into laughter, Dream letting out a long wheeze that rivaled a kettle. More laughter broke out, and to Tommy’s dismay, both 404 and Sapnap had heard. They seemingly stopped mid spar to double over laughing, and now made their way over to the other two laughing heroes and one thoroughly embarrassed Tommy.

“Oh my god! We are so calling you that from now on!” Sapnap cackles evilly, George fighting to intake air as he laughed. 

Dream shakily grips Tommy’s shoulder and gives him a wide grin. “You’re now my new favorite intern in the entire tower. If you ever want to transfer out of SBI, Dream Team will happily take you.”

“Fuck off you greedy green teletubby, finders keepers. We found him first.” Wilbur said, swinging an arm around Tommy with a grin.

George let's out a scoff. “Oh come off it, we’re the best superhero team, we deserve the best intern.”

“Plus, we’ll pay him double whatever you guys are paying.” Sapnap says with a smirk, and Dream’s eyes light up. “Oh absolutely!”

Wilbur narrows his eyes and leans down to talk into Tommy’s ear. “Thomas, I will pay you triple to stay and buy you a cookie.”

…was Tommy the fucking messiah in his past life?! How was this a universe where SBI and THE Dream Team were fighting over him?!

“U-Um while the offer is tempting, I’m actually a massive Philza fan so I’ll stay with SBI.” Tommy blurted out, Wilbur’s serious face turning into a smug grin.

“Ha! See, my dad is cooler than yours.” “Yeah whatever. Would you be down to hang out some time dude?”

Hang out with the dream team?! Maybe Tommy was actually dead, and this was his rewarding afterlife.

“That sounds like fun, I’d be down!” Tommy spoke excitedly, forgetting for a moment he was an illegal vigilante and let his inner fanboy emerge.

“Alright! We’ll let you guys get back to it, see you around Tommy!” Dream said waving, him and his team turning back to the sparring mats.

“...you’re a Philza fan?” Tommy’s face bloomed scarlet at Wilbur's cheeky smile. 

“Oh fuck off!” 

“He is gonna love this!”

 “DON'T YOU DARE TELL HIM-”

⋙✧⋘

The tour was mostly uneventful after that. The cafeteria, conference floors, the event hall, finances department, and media studies all went past in a blur. It wasn’t until the elevator stopped again that Wilbur gave Tommy a mischievous smile.

“Time for the fun floors! Welcome to our brand new vigilante hunting floor!” Tommy’s heart rate doubled as he stepped onto the carpet. All around him were detectives and smaller heroes, pouring over video footage and reports all about him and his friends.

“Is it really ok for me to be here? This looks pretty confidential…” “You’re fine Tommy. As our intern, you’ll be doing reports on us chasing Mellohi anyways, might as well be allowed in here.”

There is a long white board, with images and stick notes next to scribbled garbage and red thread.

“Hey Phantom!” “Hello SneegSnag, any luck?” Upon closer inspection Tommy realized the white board Wilbur led him too was about him . Theories on his powers, his age, even on where he lived!

“Nothing so far, just a bunch of theories. You want us to brief your new intern?” “Yes please.”

Tommy braced himself. “Ok so we think he’s in his late 20s, not mature enough to be older but his fighting is better than some of our recruits. We think he might belong to some sort of underground gang in Pogtopia, the only way he hasn’t been caught is because we can’t find his wings on any civilian. The DNA we’ve captured doesn’t match anything in the city's database, so we’re thinking of a cartel.”

Tommy snorts and attention turns to him. He blinks before looking away. He had found it hilarious that they were so far off, but he also laughed because… 

“...majority of Pogtopia isn’t registered. Either parents don’t want their kids with strong powers to get drafted into the hero program when they're young or orphans who want to avoid being forced into the system. I’m not registered technically…”

Wilbur has a distraught look on his face. “...is the system that bad?” Tommy lets out a condescending laugh. 

“Yeah, you get dropped off at a house where they treat you like dirt and the money given to support you just fills the pockets of the greedy people who take you in. Or alternatively you get placed in a home who wants to ‘fix’ you but dumps you back once they get sick of you. I was lucky I got taken in.”

SneegSnag clears his throat. “And the hero draft?” “Parents don’t want to lose their children. They go off to the city and forget about their family struggling in the slums, so parents stopped registering in case their kids get powers.” 

Wilbur flinched, for some reason, at the mention of the draft. SneegSnag hummed and quickly scribbled. “That was helpful information kid, thank you. That would explain Enderman’s eye scan not matching any records.” The hero looked up and gave Tommy a smile. 

“I’m sorry about your situation, would you mind if I talk to you later about giving a statement to the council?” Tommy perked up, and gave Sneeg a smile back. 

“Absolutely!”

It was funny, Tommy decided as they left the floor. All those people looking for him, and unbeknownst to them the vigilante they're hunting just walked out the door.

“So next up- Oh hey Monarch!” Tommy turned to greet whoever Wilbur had just talked to but his voice caught in his throat.

The sunglasses hold him down, they threaten to break his small arms 

There is the clinical smell Tommy hates

He’s screaming, this time he hears it

Red… so much red… blood…? Is it his?

Hot tears running down his face… he’s only six…

Some is shaking him and abruptly Tommy is snapped back into reality. Wilbur stares at him with intense concern, and by the way his throat aches Tommy is hit with the realization that he had screamed out loud. Thankfully, his power didn’t activate but…

“Tommy?! You with me?” “Y-Yeah… I-I’m fine…” Someone clears their throat, and when Tommy goes to look he freezes up again.

“Shit no, no Tommy its ok!” Wilbur quickly says, instantly recognizing the signs of another panic. “What's wrong? What is wrong?”

Tommy’s vision gets blocked when Wilbur pulls Tommy into a comforting hug. 

“...t-they're back… they’re gonna hurt me again…” “Who Tommy? You’re safe I promise…”

Tommy swallows and buries himself in Wilbur’s sweater. “...t-the men in sunglasses…” There is an instant snap and when Tommy looks back up glowing white eyes look at him distraught.

“...I saw a bit of that.” Tommy freezes, realizing who it was they had met. Monarch, 13th ranked hero dealt with the mind. Specifically, he had the power to read minds and see memories, some theorized he could control others. 

“Saw a bit of what?” Tommy looks at Monarch pleadingly and the hero sighs. “...he has some trauma with sunglasses, I saw snippets but nothing comprehensible. I’ll try to be more aware from now on.” Tommy nods as Monarch leaves quietly, aware of Wilbur still holding him through it.

“You ok?” Tommy nods and Wilbur releases him. “I won’t ask, not until you’re ready to tell me.” Tommy lets out a sigh of relief and Wilbur gives him a small smile.

“You want to continue the tour?”

“Yes please.”

⋙✧⋘

Tommy thought the next few floors were cool, as Wilbur had promised. The lab where all of the gadgets were made, the marketing department with unrealised merch, the power analysis department was incredibly cool, and Tommy’s mood was high for their last stop before going to the SBI floor.

“Welcome to the costume department!” Wilbur says with a flourish, flinging the doors open. Tommy’s eyes go wide and his wings strained against the bindings in excitement.

Designs were projected on multiple wall screens, 3d concepts projected from holographs on the floor. There were multiple stages with curtains that rose from the floor, meant for heroes to try on their new costumes. 

Tommy was beaming as he gazed at the designs, running his fingers over some stray fabric here and there. While Toby was the tech guy, Tommy was the designer. He hadn’t been part of Toby’s planning for their own suits, mostly because it was a lot of new tech and Tommy didn’t want to restrict him. But the inner fashionista in Tommy made his self trained eyes analyze the designs in careful detail. 

What he wouldn’t give to be given some of these materials to work with!

“Having fun?” Wilbur says amused, and Tommy turns to him excitedly.

“This is incredible! The way these costumes work with the powers… revolutionary!” 

“Thank you, thank you. Finally someone appreciates my work!” Tommy whipped around to see a red haired man by the largest stage, its curtains up and machinery descending from the ceiling to help whoever it was into costume.

“Hard not to! These stitches for energy based powers are genius! And the design for Wilbur’s suit is incredible!” Tommy said, gesturing rapidly to the holograms. 

The man grinned and shot Wilbur a look. “Oh I like him already Wilbur! My name is Velvet, the brilliance of the costume department! Who am I speaking to?”

“Meet Tommy, Velvet. SBI’s new intern! Looks like he might be a design nerd like you.” “The more the merrier! We’re going to get along smoothly Thomas!”

Velvet claps his hands and his eyes light up.

“Oh! Actually, would you mind helping me real quick?” “Sure!” Tommy said eagerly, curious as to what Velvet might need his help with.

The curtains drop and Tommy’s draw drops. Philza was already his biggest hero, but this was incredible. Philza usually had a very loose and old school style of suits, rarely ever adorning it with tech. It was very monotone, the same dark green and black with hardly any details.

The new suit however, was completely new. It was tightly fitted and a turtleneck sleeveless design, the tech suit base being black but the sew on padded armor the classic dark green. He had new compression boots, and matching fingerless bracer gloves. The metal was a new gold color, mainly on the bracers, boots, and main breastplate but also appeared to be woven into the suit as detailing. 

The piece de resistance however, was the iconic large red heart in the middle of the breast plate, matching smaller hearts on the outside of his arm bracers. It made Philza look grand and powerful, a champion warrior on a mighty quest.

But there was just one thing missing.

“Suit looks poggers Velvet, but Dad needs a mask.” Wilbur speaks up and Tommy gets whiplash from how hard he turns to stare at Wilbur. 

“...Did you just say poggers?” Wilbur gives him a secretive grin. “Perhaps.”

“Excellent question! I hadn’t thought of one yet, so I’m wondering if our new friend would like to take a crack at it. I can show you how we make the suits and masks!” Velvet says with a smile and Tommy nearly vibrates in excitement. 

“Me?! Really?” Velvet nods and the group follows him to a long table. On it lay multiple stacks of blank papers and pens. There were colored pencils also available, and Tommy eagerly looked it over.

“You can use these, I’d like you to design a mask to match the suit please.”

Tommy’s face, if even possible, lit up even more as his smile was wide enough to hurt. 

“REALLY?! I can design a mask for the Philza?!” 

“Oh Phil forgot to mention, he’s a massive fan of yours.” Wilbur teased, and normally Tommy would’ve turned red and cursed the taller man out, but all he could think about was how he now has the chance to design a mask for his childhood hero.

He quickly gets to work sitting down and making a rough stretch of Philza’s face. He occasionally kept turning to glance at the winged hero and once Philza caught on he moved around the table so Tommy could just glance up.

“My face?” “Not all mask shapes will fit your face, so I need to pick one that fits just right.” Tommy spoke as he finished the face sketch. 

He gently used the pen to make the shape of the mask, deviating from a standard mask for two triangle shapes under the eyes. He boarded it with gold on the bottom, and colored around the eyes with black to help prevent sun glare. From his own flying experience, it was a massive bitch and he knew Philza would appreciate it. The main mask was the trademark forest green, and for some extra flare, two red hearts on the end of the triangles.

When he leaned back to admire his work, Tommy jumped when someone grabbed his shoulders. 

“Oh my Prime! He’s brilliant I tell you, brilliant! Wilbur, I may need to borrow him from you in the future.” Velvet gushes, eagerly releasing the teenager to pick up the design off of the table. 

Tommy watched Velvet feed the paper into a giant machine nearby, and tap away on a control panel. The machine whirred to life, and Tommy’s jaw dropped. 

It was a printer, a massive 3D printer. Machinery opened and a work table revealed itself, lazers and smaller machines began to spin and mold something on said table. In an instant, Velvet presented him with the very mask he had previously drawn.

“What do you think?” “THIS IS AMAZING!” 

“You fashion nerds.” Wilbur teases and Tommy gives him a playful shove. Velvet turned to Philza, who accepted the mask and slipped it onto his face easily.

“Well? How do I look?” Wilbur gave a thumbs up. “You look good dad!” 

“You’re fangirls are definitely gonna love it!” Velvet quips and Philza uses a wing to block Velvet. 

“You mean so will my WIFE Velvet.” The hero warns, although there was no real malice to his tone. Wilbur bursts into laughter and Tommy finds himself joining in, the thought on why Philza would need a new suit not even passing his mind.

⋙✧⋘

“And finally, the moment we have all been waiting for… Dadza drumroll please.” Philza gave a chuckle but started to rapidly tap on the elevator wall as it approached the personal SBI floor.

“Welcome to Sleep Bois Incorporated!” Wilbur says with a dramatic and grand gesture of his arm, revealing the floor to Tommy.

It…

It was still fancier and more expensive than anything Tommy had ever lived in but…

It felt like home.

“It's brilliant.” “Glad you think so! You’ll be spending a lot of time here helping us with Tower work, so get used to the place!” Wilbur says, wrapping an arm around Tommy as he leads him to the living room.

Technoblade is waiting there, with boxes of something sitting on the coffee table.

“I heard about Tommy’s first day through Dream, that beautiful nickname was deserving of an extra special lunch treat.”

Technoblade opened a box and Tommy couldn’t believe his eyes. 

“...is that… pizza…?” “Yeah! I just figured-” 

Tommy quickly moved to inspect the box. Instead of holding 5 individual slices, it was a whole pizza cut up. And there were more of them! Surely this was too expensive for lunch! And besides, why on earth-

“...then what are the weird circle things on it?” Tommy’s words are met with instant silence.

“Uh mate, that’s pepperoni?” “What the fuck is a pep-air-on-e?” Wilbur’s face instantly pales.

“...they don’t have pizza toppings in Pogtopia… remember Alex?” Technoblade, who’s name was apparently Alex (Although in Tommy’s opinion he looks more like a Dave), paused before his eyes went wide. 

“Wil forget the toppings, remember how expensive pizza is in Pogtopia? It's sold in slices .” 

“They WHAT.” Both Tommy and Philza speak at the same time, for completely different reasons. 

“I’m sorry- sold by the slice and no toppings, like none?!” Philza said, looking between his two sons, absolutely horrified.

“You can BUY a whole pizza?! How expensive is that? And you can put things on top of the pizza?!”

Alex blinked at Tommy and frowned. “For all 4 of these? Only like 40 bucks dude.” “37 BUCKS?! That's like… 8 slices?” Tommy said doing the math quickly in his head. Philza’s head snapped to stare at Tommy.

“Hold on now, it's 40 dollars for little over half a pizza where you live?” Philza says incredulously. Tommy snorts bitterly. 

“Oh sure, if the chef is feeling generous. He’s the only pizza place in Pogtopia and he know we’ll never step into the inner city, so he just charges as he pleases.” Philza’s eye twitched, wings flexing as if he was about to fly out in broad daylight to beat up one particular pizza chef.

It took a second for Tommy to calm himself, but now he sat next to Wilbur on their amazingly soft couch with a warm paper plate and a slice of pizza on it. The weird circles of… meat? He wasn’t sure about them just yet, but the other three eagerly were all watching him for his opinion.

He hesitantly raised the piece to his mouth before taking a generous bite. He nearly dropped the slice in utter shock.

This pizza…

Was better than anything he had ever eaten! The sauce, not sour and not too sweet. The cheese was perfectly melted and yet not overpowering. The dough, thick enough and had a delicious taste. But the seasoning! Was that… garlic? Maybe some basil and oregano? Ranboo was their cook so Tommy was out of his depth here, even still he could tell when he was eating great food. The biggest thing however, was the warm and spicy pepperoni on top, adding a whole new level of flavor to the meal.

“Tommy, are you ok?!” “It's not too hot is it, you’re crying…” Wilbur and Philza said, quick to comfort him while Technoblade went to hand Tommy a glass of water.

The teen quickly shook his head. “N-No it's good… I um-” He sniffs quickly, rubbing at his eyes with the hand not holding the pizza. He hadn’t even realized he had started to cry.

“...This is just good. Really good. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten food this good.”

Philza feels his heart shatter hearing the previously boisterous boy speak in such a small yet astounded voice, over a slice of pizza of all things. He glanced at his boys, both of them seemingly feeling the same. Wilbur was quick to help wipe the tears and lightly tease him into smiling, while Alex quickly prepared more slices with different toppings. 

“This one is pineapple and ham.” Technoblade said holding it out to Tommy. A bite, and Tommy let the new flavors register for him. It reminded him of one summer when Jo made them sliced pineapple for a midday snack. The fruit added a sweetness he enjoyed. 

“Good! Anything else?”

⋙✧⋘

Philza left quietly as he watched his boys play Master Chef with the new intern, finding things in their fridge and putting on what pizza they had to feed it to him. Phil stared at Tommy softly, the teenager now beaming ear to ear happy to eat the new flavors. He frowned a bit. It… wasn’t normal, for the city teenagers at least, to cry after eating pizza.

…How much did Pogtopia’s kids…

How much had Tommy been deprived of growing up…?

Chapter Text

December, four months after Tommy’s first day. Technically it had been four months for Grayson as well, but he was busy being the errand boy for 8th ranked hero Punz.

Tommy, however, was no errand boy. In fact he considered himself to be the backbone of SBI at this point. 

His usual day was waking up, going to school, and then immediately going to the Hero Tower. Going up the elevator, saying hello to anyone who greeted him, and then arriving at the SBI suite. Instead of turning left to the living room and kitchen, Tommy goes right. He passes the bedrooms, sometimes he can glance and see Wilbur strumming away or Techno watering the plants in his room.

He passes the bedrooms to the office spaces, a half circle room with doors to one office for each member. Tommy had a desk in front, because being the SBI secretary meant it was easier for him to work close to their offices. 

He’d log onto his work computer, check his emails for anything that needed to be taken care of, and start his day. Anything from forwarding emails, to setting up meetings, managing their calendar, and even organizing their vigilante files.

It was scary how disorganized they were before, and Tommy couldn’t believe that they were allowed to become heroes. Even if the work was boring, it was still easy!

⋙✧⋘

Today, with the crisp chill of winter in the air, Tommy was following Techno around the tower. 

These days were some of Tommy’s favorites, when he got to assist them throughout the day with tasks. Getting costumes fitted, checking out new merch, or even watching the SBI give interviews! It made him feel important, and it beat working on paperwork any day.

“God, that interview was so boring… please tell me that there's something cool next on the schedule.” Techno groans as he walks beside Tommy. 

Said teenager cracks a grin and playful bumps shoulders with the massive hero.

“What, don’t like being asked questions Mr. Blade ?” Techno snorts and Tommy can’t help the laugh that escapes him.

“Why did she keep calling me that? She does know my name isn’t Technoblade right?” “Of course, Alexander .”

Tommy barely ducks the playful swat to the back of his head.

“Twerp.” Tommy grins but glances down at his clipboard anyway.

“Well Mr. Blade, you're in luck! No interviews, it looks like you have some training time next.”

“Pog!” Tommy laughs but pauses. He’d wondered for a while now… but when did Techno learn Pogtopia slang?

“I grew up in Pogtopia you know.” Techno must’ve seen Tommy’s face, the younger having learnt that Techno was very good at reading people.

“Well yeah… I guess I never thought about it though… What was it like back then?”

Techno hummed, a habit Tommy had learned was the noise he made when he thought carefully.

“It wasn’t sunshine and rainbows, but… it was good. The people were good and surviving.” Tommy smiles softly, nodding with Techno’s words. His people were good, even if times were tighter now.

“Me and Will grew up there with our mom, and every morning I woke up to the sounds of the city.” 

“The vendors on the corners.” Tommy goes and Techno smiles.

“To the sounds of trains moving beneath the earth.”

Techno pauses outside the training room, eyes lost for a moment. 

“...it's why I can’t blame the vigilantes. I became one to protect my friends and family, and I’m willing to bet it’s the same for these new vigilantes. I’ve let Pogtopia down as a hero, and a part of me is glad someone stepped up.” 

Tommy’s eyes went wide, even if Techno wasn’t looking. This was the first time he heard a hero express empathy for him and his team.

Techno shook his head and turned to smile at Tommy. 

“Enough of my sap. Wanna spar with me?” 

“REALLY?!”

Tommy couldn’t stop the excitement in his voice, because it wasn’t every day the number 2 hero offered to train with you.

“Yeah sure, it might help you out instead of ‘secretly’ trying to beat Will’s high score with the dummy.” Tommy’s ears went pink after being called out, but he nodded eagerly anyway.

The training room had multiple smaller boxes in sections for training, the largest being the one Tommy used the most. It had a single dummy in it, very different from the other boxes that used holographs. While those boxes helped simulate fights, the dummy box was to test out pure power. It had rankings, and it all relied on how hard and how fast you could punch, hit, or kick the dummy. To be fair, Tommy wanted to improve so whenever he could he utilized the room. He didn’t realize that his goal to beat Wilbur’s score of 338 points was that obvious.

Tommy felt very nervous as he walked into the locker room to change. He was excited, that much was obvious. He could feel his wings push against his bindings, itching for a good fight. However, he needed to be cautious. He needed to fight well enough to avoid suspicion, but Techno had a scary intelligence and photogenic memory. If Techno recognized Mellohi’s fighting style it would be game over. On the other hand, when would Tommy have a chance like this again to go all out? 

“What’s your high score currently?” 

“Uh, 245, nothing close to yours.” Tommy said following Techno out of the locker rooms and into a box with mats on the floor. He was glad he had some leftover workout clothes, even if it wasn’t the fancy tactical training suit Techno wore.

Techno smirked as they wrapped their hands in tape. “Well, 426 is pretty high.” Tommy gave him a grin. “Are you practicing cause Dream just got into the 500s?” “No, but now I feel extra motivated to kick your ass.” He chuckled and Tommy gave him a challenging look. Tommy cracked his knuckles as he fought to keep his wings from breaking out in anticipation. He could do this, he could push himself just a little bit.

The two squared up to each other, Techno falling into the position easily, one Tommy had seen so many times both on TV and in person. His stance wide and even, towering form slightly lowered as his right hand is moved back in waiting. It was some form of tai chi, something Tommy knew Phil practiced and in turn taught Techno. Tommy’s form was more sloppy, but still effective. On the balls of his feet, ready to quickly dodge if needed. His arms were up at the level of his face, ready to block and quickly retaliate.

A beat passes, and Tommy bites the bullet and goes first. He moves quickly, using his momentum to sidestep Techno’s defensive strike and bring his fist into Techno’s chest. The older hero grunts and backs up to dodge Tommy’s second strike, before a powerful hit lands on Tommy’s stomach. 

Even if it's just sparring, it’s clear both are taking it seriously. Trading blows, parrying hits, and dodging swipes. Tommy can feel sweat building on his forehead, wings straining against the light hoodie he is wearing to cover them. Adrenaline is pumping through him with every punch Tommy land and strike he manages to either take or duck.

It ends very quickly; Techno finds his opening and gets Tommy legs with one good sweep. Tommy lands on his back with an “oof” onto the mat below him, and Techno shoots him a grin. 

“Not bad Tommy! You need to work on guarding your legs though, you rely a ton on your movement.” Tommy grabbed the hand Techno held out to help him to his feet. 

“Noted big man. Wanna grab a bite to eat?”

⋙✧⋘

Today was not a fun day at the office, and it was all Wilbur’s fault. Tommy was currently seated in Wilbur’s office with the hero working away at stacks of paperwork. Wilbur, a full grown man who fights crime for a living, is currently playing catch up and a teenager is having to help him.

“There should be, like, a written portion for the hero license test. To make sure all heroes can handle their own paperwork.”

“Shut up you little shit.” Wilbur grumbled as he signed what seemed like the hundredth paper Tommy handed him.

“Hey don’t be mad at me boss man, this is all your fault. You and your procasteration.” “It's pronounced procrastination Thomas.”

The pair were sitting side by side on the floor, because it was more fun to work on the beanbags and with clipboards than it was at Wilbur’s cluttered desk.

“Honestly Wil, can’t imagine why you’d become a hero. If I had to do this amount of paperwork by myself after a long day's work I think I'd cry.” He laughs when Wilbur grips his clipboard and lightly smacks Tommy's shoulder with it, smile betraying him.

“You little shit! I’ll have you know I had straight A’s when I graduated from the Academy.” The Academy, where the council sent all aspiring heroes to train and prove their worth. If you wanted to make it into the tower, you needed to be in the top 10 of your class at least.

Tommy grins and lets out a chuckle. “Well duh, not anyone gets into the tower during their graduation year Phantom .”

Wilbur lowered the clipboard and sighed, a fond yet distant look in his eyes.

“Well, it's not like I had a choice. Techno was busy hunting down vigilantes in order to avoid jail, and I had already heard talks in my uni about him joining the tower once it was over-”

“YOU WENT TO UNIVERSITY?!” Tommy’s eyes widened in awe. This was something unknown to the public, and up until a few seconds ago Tommy as well.

Wilbur gives him a teasing shove. “You bet, I managed to get enough scholarships for a full ride.”

“...then why did you go to the Academy?” There was a regretful look on Wilbur’s face as he lowered the clipboard.

“...Like I said, Techno was rumored to be joining soon. Back then Tommy, vigilantes were bad. Like I don’t think you can understand how scary it was to be living then. The vigilantes we fight now have morals, that I can admit to.”

Wilbur’s face darkened, and Tommy saw his fists clench.

“But back then, vigilantes were essentially like gangs, and very few actually had civilian’s best interests at heart.” “Like the Syndicate.”

Tommy piped up and Wilbur relaxed to give him a smile.

“Yes, Techno set out to create the Syndicate to counter these groups, but it wasn’t enough. He didn’t believe in the government though, the Pogtopia in us wanting to avoid the Academy altogether. But once I heard Techno might be joining, I knew the other heroes here would see him as just another vigilante. And with his powers it would be easy to fear him.”

Wilbur looked up towards the ceiling as memories seemed to flicker through his mind.

“So I dropped out of Uni, signed up for the Academy, and haven’t looked back since.”

Tommy was speechless. You grew up hearing about the horrors old school vigilantes committed, but… He tried to wrap his mind around Techno being hated to that degree, considering over 15 million people absolutely adored him. And for Wilbur to drop something so important to him to help his brother, it brought an ache to Tommy’s chest.

“What did you want to be, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Wilbur sheepishly scratched his neck.

“Uh, well I wanted to be a famous musician.” Tommy’s head snapped to stare at Wilbur with wide eyes.

“No way?! I thought that was just a hobby!” “It is now, I couldn't bring myself to fully drop music.”

Tommy thought guitar was just something Wilbur had picked up, but now that he knew…

“Can you play me a song?” 

“What? Tom, I’m flattered, but we still have all these-”

Tommy firmly grabbed Wilbur’s arm. “We need a break, and I really want to hear you play. Please?”

Wilbur hesitates for a moment, before sighing and putting his things to the side.

“Alright, but don’t be too disappointed if I’m rusty…”

Wilbur left the room to grab his guitar before returning quickly. He strummed a few chords, tuning it nervously for a moment. Tommy scrambled to sit on a bean bag, leaning forwards in anticipation. Wilbur took a deep breath in, the song coming to mind one he had written a while ago. The song is soft, and Tommy breathes it in. 

“Well, it's 2:45 p.m…”

The song isn’t quite complete, the guitar is missing other instruments to help it tell this composition. However, Wilbur more than carries the piece. It's funny, the tone of his voice and the cords being so gentle yet the lyrics blatantly sinister. However, it's captivating and Tommy finds himself lost in the sound, the bird part of his brain hanging onto every note Wilbur plays.

“...Maybe if I act like them.

You'll respond to my DMs.”

Tommy was slacked jawed in awe, watching Wilbur take deep breaths as he finished the song. Singing a song he wrote himself , one that had gripped him so thoroughly. Tommy can’t remember the last time a song had him like that, “that” being making him devote his entire short attention span to a tune. It was a crime Wilbur was a pro hero. 

“Dude… please start performing live. Like… you have an insane talent. You could easily become a national sensation.” 

Wilbur smiled wide, one Tommy matched sincerely. 

“Aw thanks Toms! Hero work keeps me pretty busy-” 

“No, no. Shut up. I will do your papers from now on if you start performing. You need to be out there singing, not sitting here doing paperwork. You were born to be on a stage Wilbur, it is a hate crime keeping you here as a hero.”

Wilbur felt floored, the conviction Tommy had when he spoke… could he do music again? 

“Well, I’ll keep that filed away for later. In the meantime, would you mind if I bounced new song ideas off of you?” 

“Are you serious?! Yes please!”

When did this kid get into his heart? When did Tommy being so excited to hear Wilbur play fill him with such pride and adoration? He pondered this with a soft smile as he ruffled Tommy’s hair, the teenager protesting.

⋙✧⋘

Days with Phil were very relaxed. Phil would often need help preening his wings, a two person task that took hours to complete correctly. Tommy took this task very seriously, because personal experience told him how shitty un-preened wings felt. 

“Thanks again for helping me do this Tommy, preening is such a hassle.”

Tommy chuckled as he worked on the right primary feathers, making sure to gently clean out any dirt and debris. 

“It’s no problem Phil, beats helping Wilbur with paperwork any day.” Phil let out a snort of laughter, working his own fingers through his left wing.

“Yeah, I heard Wilbur play for you the other day… I’m glad he hasn’t given up music just yet.” Phil said with a smile in his voice. “I always worried I failed him as a father, not encouraging him enough to stick with music.”

“Did you not want him to be a hero?” Tommy asked, curious about Phil's tone. From his perspective, Phil was a fantastic father and one that seemed genuinely supportive of anything his sons would do.

“I… I wanted Wilbur to follow his heart and chose a path he really believed in. My wife was slightly more vocal about her concerns, hero work is dangerous after all… but no matter what I would support him. Was I sad he seemingly abandoned music? Absolutely. But am I disappointed he became a hero? No. Wilbur is a fantastic hero, one who strives to be the best he can be. I am so proud of him for the man he has become.”

Tommy paused his hands as he listened to Phil talk, the soft and caring tone so foreign to him. Tommy hadn’t grown up with a parent, he had grown up with Jo who felt more like a roommate than a guardian.

“You mentioned a man named Jo taking care of you since you were a kid with some other boys, is he your father then?” Phil asked, and Tommy got his brain out of its funk to continue working on preening.

“Oh uh no. Jo kinda let us just live in his building as long as we went to school and helped out with the cafe. He’s kinda like a chill uncle? Or like a roommate.” Tommy explained, missing the way Phil’s face tensed slightly. As a parent, Phil’s mind instantly was worried about Tommy’s situation, but wasn’t sure how to approach that conversation.

“Oh… and you said your mother abandoned you?” “Yeah… I don’t remember much, I think my brain is broken or something… Jo said it’s most likely due to trauma, but I remember my mum vaguely… Then it’s all a blur. All I know is I ended up on the streets.”

There was a heavy silence in the air, and Tommy swallowed hard. He didn’t get why Phil was asking these questions. Not to mention the last thing he wanted was pity. Sure he didn’t have a nice childhood, but it wasn’t horrible either.

“I guess we have some things in common then.” “What?” Tommy said, backing up slightly as Phil turned around to face him. 

“My dad was never around. Always chasing some dream or miracle. And my mum was always too busy with “real” work to pay me much mind, so I ended up being raised by my older neighbor.”

Tommy winced in sympathy, and Phil simply shrugged and smiled.

“It’s alright mate, in the end, it made me want to be a better father for my boys. And besides, the more tragic the origin story the cooler the hero right?” The older man said with a teasing tone, clearly trying to bring the mood back up.

Tommy couldn’t help the bark of laughter that left him, one Phil matched in turn.

“Geez Phil, next you’ll be telling me you trained with ninjas only to be hunted down by a long lost twin brother.”

Phil’s cackling turned into a roar of laughter, one Tommy felt pleased to have caused.

“No, I’m afraid my hero origin is far more boring, but thank you for the inspiration. Next time a reporter asks for a sob story I’m telling them that.”

“What did make you decide to become a hero?” Tommy asked, leaning forwards with near childlike curiosity. Phil by this point knew that he was Tommy’s favorite hero growing up, and every now and then Tommy’s inner fanboy emerged.

“Well… When I first started, the hero program was new. All the old heroes were retiring, and the call went out asking if anyone was interested in joining. I was dealing with a bad breakup, and I wasn’t happy studying computer science at university, so I decided to change my life’s course and signed on. Best decision of my life, I got to fully spread my wings.”

Phil said, extending his wings fully as he spoke to emphasize. Tommy was grinning back at him, understanding fully. It was always a relief to unbind his own wings and go out on patrol. To soar inside the clouds, to feel the wind in his hair and move through his feathers… it was heaven. 

“Wow… thanks for telling me Phil. Not just about becoming a hero, but about the other stuff.” “Of course Tom. You’re part of the Sleepy Bois Inc, I trust you. And… If you ever need a place to stay for the night, you’re welcome to the guest bedroom here.”

Tommy froze as Phil gave him a genuine and soft look. The look Tommy had seen Phil give to Wilbur or Techno when they do something endearing. Tommy swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, uncharacteristically quiet. Phil opened his arms up for a hug, and Tommy hesitantly moved forwards to accept it.

⋙✧⋘

Tommy felt… conflicted. There was an ever-growing guilt inside him, that he managed to keep away. He was there to gain their trust, he and his friends needed the database of the tower to try and figure out what happened with their powers. But at the same time, he found himself attached to Phil, Techno, and Wilbur. It almost felt like they were family.

They weren’t some corrupt and greedy people who abused the system, they were kindhearted individuals who were unfortunately ignorant to problems. It made it worse, because now Tommy genuinely felt bad about potentially stealing from them. It was something that plagued his mind, that he would often shove aside in favor of confronting it later.

Tommy was snapped out of his thoughts by Phil addressing him and he quickly cleared his throat. “Sorry about that, disconnected for a second. What were you saying?”

“I was saying that I thought it would be fun if I formally invited you to the Tower’s social events from now on. You might not want to be our secretary forever, and it would be the perfect place to make connections. The next one coming up is a formal dinner before Christmas.” Phil explained. That caught Tommy’s attention.

“Am I really allowed to attend such an event?” He asked, not wanting to overstep or get Phil into trouble. “Tommy of course you are, you’re a member of Sleepy Bois. We all talked, and it would feel like something's missing without you there.”

Tommy didn’t really know what to say to that, ducking his head as a warm smile grew on his face. He frowned suddenly and looked back up at Phil. “Uh, there is a slight problem. I don’t have anything fancy to wear… not a lot of suit and tie events happening in Pogtopia you know?”

Phil paused for a moment, before sighing and pulling out his phone. He rang someone up, Tommy getting more and more bewildered until someone picked up. “Wilbur, code 32.4 dash C.” “... What ?” Tommy said, utterly baffled until he heard rapid footsteps as Techno and Wilbur all but burst into the living room. Both panting slightly as wide grins looked between Phil and Tommy.

“Where to first? Oliver’s Gentlemen Wear would take us in a heartbeat, no reservation required.” “Yeah, but Wilbur a suit from Bailey & Co. is the style for the season. This will be Tommy’s first day with all the rich snobs, so he should blow them out of the water.” Techno argued with his twin, who both looked super contemplative. Tommy, while looking between the both of the twins, doing his best to understand whatever it is they’re discussing.

Phil cleared his throat a bit, silencing the twins temporarily before speaking. “I’m going to use a favor to get a reservation at Olympus Tailor for tomorrow afternoon.” Wilbur gasps in delight and Techno nods his approval. “Good choice, the style of suits there will suit Tommy better.” “ And it means we fully get to turn our resident street urchin into a sophisticated young lad.”

It finally clicked what was going on and Tommy leapt to his feet off of the couch. “Woah, woah, woah! Listen there’s no need for anything like that. I can manage on my own, I won’t be able to afford anything from those kinds of fancy stores…” All three adults turned to look at Tommy with the same look. 

“Tommy, if you thought we weren’t going to pay for your first suit for your first formal event, you’re insane mate.” Phil stated while the twins both nodded in sync. “Plus, we’ll get to pick you up from your home and see Pogtopia again for the first time in years.”

Tommy froze hearing that, slowly looking between all of them. “...What?” “We aren’t gonna make you walk all the way here, it’s your day to be pampered. Plus, we all are really curious about your home.” Techno explained, and Tommy fought back rising anxiety. It would be so suspicious to try and make up an excuse as to why they couldn’t go see his home. Their vigilante gear might get discovered, and then it would all be over. There was also a small part of Tommy that feared they would judge him for his less-than-ideal home…

Tommy managed to slightly smile, rapidly thinking about how he was supposed to explain this to toby.