Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Run.

Swing.

Narrowly miss getting stabbed by a superhero.

That had been Noxious' routine for as long as he could remember... So like six months. Not having most of your memories had perks! Nox had no responsibilities, no curfew, no rules! Downside? No support system... No money and no home. And because Nox is a dickhead? Regularly getting almost killed by a family of pretentious heroes. Honestly, he'd accepted this was how he was living and decided to make the most of it. If every day was a fight for his life, he might as well make it fun, right?

The wind rushed through his hair as he zipped between buildings, his surroundings a blur of colours. He was a blur of grey and green, followed closely behind by a blur of red, white and blue. A hero was hot on his tail, quickly closing the distance between them. Nox began to speed up, counting that his pursuer was hot of his coattails. Once he reconned that they had enough momentum, he stopped abruptly, ducking out of the way of getting hit, before shooting out fresh vines from his wrists and shooting off in the opposite direction. The trick didn’t throw the hero that much, but it gave Noxious enough time to readjust his green-tinted goggles over his eyes and scan the surrounding buildings for more swinging vantage points.

A rush of air and he narrowly missed getting hit by a throwing knife that nipped past his face, barely brushing off a few hairs. Here we go, Atlas catching up with him again. He swung at the boy with his blades, Nox simply just swerving out of the way of each hit.

“You’re getting slow old man,” Nox grinned, barely dodging out of the way of Atlas’ blades without even a flinch. Altas narrowed his eyes at the villain.

"Shut the fuck up."

“Or what, you’ll kill me ?” Nox chuckled, ducking round another blow. “Not doing very well, are you Atlas.”

Noxious and Atlas danced around each other, barely missing each other's blades. Nox was having fun winding Atlas up. To be fair he enjoyed winding any of their little posse up, but he got the strongest reactions from. Especially when making jabs about trying to kill the villain. Those little microexpressions that the hero couldn’t mask quick enough under his preened exterior Despite being a fucking superhero, that seemed like a soft spot for Atlas… so naturally Noxious was gonna poke and prod till he snapped.

“ When -” Atlas’ swipes were getting closer and closer to hitting- “ will you -” Nox grew some thorns in one of his palms as he barely dodged the flurry of attacks- “ give uP? ”

“I dunno,” Nox shrugged, avoiding getting stabbed in the shoulder by mere centimetres, “When are you fucking off to the retirement home?”

“Several decades after you’re behind bars preferably-”

They finally managed to make contact with their blows, at the same time. Nox slashed at Atlas’ face with the poisoned thorns he’d grown in his hand, managing to rip at his forehead, the blood quickly drizzling down his face. Atlas landed a slice to Noxious’ midsection, immediately stumbling back in pain, red soaking his rags. Didn’t Atlas know getting blood stains out when you don’t have a washing machine was shit? Fuck , he needed to retreat and deal with this as soon as possible. But that’d involve incapacitating Atlas so he couldn’t be followed home.

He was already shaking from the pain, but while Atlas was temporarily stunned by the would he sustained and the poison making its way into his bloodstream, Nox made a grab at Atlas’ mask, ripping it off, only leaving the tinted visor behind. Nox punted as far as he could feasibly throw,  but not before Atlas grabbed him. Ah shit. 

You see, Atlas has gravity manipulation abilities. It wasn’t world-endingly strong, but it was enough that close-quarters combat wasn’t advised against him. Once he’d touched you, for the next handful of seconds he could throw you around like a ragdoll. Lucky for Nox right now, Atlas couldn’t focus entirely on hurting him, the wound impeding his concentration. So the villain was just raised into the air before being slammed down, hard .

Nox gasped for breath after being brutally winded. Everything hurt, but he refused to show anything other than his cocky exterior. Focusing all his energy while on the concrete, he summoned as many plants that would excrete a disorienting gas as he could in this state. He couldn’t risk overexerting himself, but he couldn’t risk being followed either. Atlas was far too far away from his gas mask now, and his hands were a useless filter. 

Noxious dragged himself up, clutching his stomach, as Atlas stumbled forward, choking through his coughs. Good enough . Nox fled out of sight, avoiding leaving a blood trail, beelining straight home. Nox’s home wasn’t exactly conventional. Seeing as he had no memory of any family he could’ve had and his less than favourable standing with the city, he’d found himself making a home in L’Manburg’s sewer system. It was largely in disrepair, the city not having the budget or focus to deal with such an issue, many tunnels being in misuse, dried out. It was home enough for Nox. His legs gave way just as he made it to his “room”, a small offshoot tunnel that he’d stuck a slowly rotting mattress, and some abandoned magazines that he’d stolen out of some garbage bins.

Dragging himself over to his bed, he began to deal with the wound. He wasn’t sure how much blood he’d lost, Nox was sickly pale, almost greening, to begin with. Judging by his lightheadedness, probably a lot. He stripped down to his jeans, so he could actually see how bad it was. He’d deal with his bloodstained clothes later. He grew some moss beside him, pulling up patches and applying it to the gash. Moss was surprisingly good at soaking up blood, and didn’t seem to infect or irritate his injuries; he’d discovered over the plethora of fights he’d had with the heroes. He didn’t know shit about first aid, so he’d just made it up as he went along, learning from any mistakes he’d made. Mostly all he did was soak up blood with moss, and then wrap it in vines until it healed. Sometimes the result looked a little fucked up, but it was better than dying.

Nox had been so focused on applying first aid on himself, that he completely missed the footsteps down the adjacent tunnel. He missed the murmurs of chatter. What he didn’t miss was the sudden flash and click of a camera, blinding him for a moment and freezing him mid-action for several seconds.

“ oH SHIT, Ranboo that’s Noxious- ”

Chapter Text

Nox was at a loss for words.

First of all, who in their right mind would travel into L'manburg's sewer system? It stunk to high hell here, and although Nox was desensitized to the scent, most people couldn't stand the shitty stench. Secondly, why the fuck weren't these citizens immediately running in fear? He was Noxious, the most active and dangerous villain in all L'manburg! But instead of high-tailing it out of there, they stared at Nox intrepidly.

The one with the camera looked a bit shorter than Nox. He hid behind the camera like a shield, not like it could actually protect him or anything. The other boy was tall, his baggy black and white hoodie hanging loosely on his gangly frame, standing protectively slightly in front of the other. They both looked around Nox's age, though clearly more well off than Nox. They didn't seem afraid of Nox. He tried to read their expressions, but it was difficult while his wounds throbbed with pain. Was it worry? Disgust? Nox had no clue.

"You're... A kid?"

What kind of question was that?!? Not wondering what he was doing down here, not a comment about him being barely dressed, but questioning his age?

"Fuck you bitch I'm seventeen!"

The short boy turned to the tall boy, giving him a shirt look. Neither spoke for a moment, communicating wordlessly through expression alone. Was that a thing people did now or something??? Nox wasn't exactly the social type, but he didn't get how a look could be interpreted the same by two people.

"Do... Do the heroes know they're fighting a minor?"

"What is this? Twenty questions?" Nox grumbled. "They know jackshit about me. It's not like I'm exactly chummy with them, y’know?"

"We're just… surprised you know…"

"Well, I should be the surprised one. I'm minding my own business treating my wounds when people just stroll into my home."

Their eyes widen a little as they take in their surroundings more. This wasn't any old corner of the sewers. This was a homeless boy's DIY living arrangements. They'd basically just invaded a stranger's home, a villain at that.

"This is your-? Oh shit bossman we were just exploring and-"

"Tubbo, he's literally Noxious, you don't have to be polite and apologize."

"Fuck you too ya fucking lamppost." Nox growled.

Nox had been trying to ignore his pain this entire time, but with a glance down at his midsection, he was bleeding through his moss and vines. Fuck. He tried to apply pressure to it but it wasn't doing much to help. He'd start unwrapping it at this point to figure out where he'd fucked up, but it felt weird to do so with company.

"Lovely as it's been having y'all barge in… could you fuck off?" He gestured to the growing red stain in the vines. "I'd rather not die today. Be thankful I didn't attack you or whatever."

Boo rolled his eyes, turning to leave, but the other boy didn’t shift, lost in thought for a minute.

"Boo, I'm about to make a dumb decision, please don't stop me."

‘Tubbo’ as the taller boy called him, stepped away from his friend, slipping his backpack off and rummaging in it for a few moments, before pulling out a small first aid kit and taking a step towards Nox.

“I’ve got proper first aid shit here, better than whatever you’re pulling together down here,” Tubs explained. Boo didn’t say anything but did give Tubbo a strained look of what the fuck. “Would you let me dress your wound?”

“ What do you want? ”

“W-what?”

“You can’t be just helping a villain without an ulterior motive.”

“I-” Tubbo hesitated, trying to search for the right words, “You just remind me of a friend I knew as a kid. I don’t know why… just… this is a one-time thing and we’ll fuck off forever. It’s not like we expected you to be down here bigman.”

Was one of the looks they’d given him recognition then? Nox doubted it. Despite not remembering his past, he thought anyone that he’d known would recognise him in a heartbeat. Vague recognition was nowhere near enough for Nox to get his hopes up. Tubbo probably hung out with some blonde brat as a kid and so had a soft spot for anyone who fit the bill. Probably.

“What did you expect down here dumbass?”

“Answer my question first shitstain.”

Nox let out a bit of a chuckle. Honestly, he hadn’t had a conversation where he bounced rude names against someone that wasn’t in the heat of a battle in forever. Actually, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had this. But it was nice. Familiar almost.

“ Fine .” Nox began to unwrap his torso, trying not to flinch too much at the pain. He barely noticed that his hands were trembling. How much blood had he lost? “Hope you’re not too squeamish.”

Boo gave a sharp breath as they saw Noxious’ wound in full glory. It was a clean sharp laceration, with not a lot of ripping, but by god was it a bleeder. Tubbo’s face got a little paler, but the dude had offered to help, and it looked like he was stubborn enough to go through with it.

Nox turned his head away as Tubbo got to work, gritting his teeth. It hurt like fucking shit, but he knew that it would heal far better than just moss and vines. He refused to cry from the pain, especially not in front of some random teenagers. He was one of the most well-known villains in L’Manburg, he couldn’t taint his image like that.

“There were rumours that there was a ghost in the entrance to the sewers near a forest Ranboo and I hang out by sometimes,” Tubbo explained as he cleaned up what he could. Nox focused on his words, using them to anchor him and not dissociate into the pain. “I wanted to see if the rumours were true.”

“And were they?”

“Unless you’re secretly a ghost, no.” Tubbo rolled his eyes. “In retrospect, I think people were just hearing the echoes of your voice from the heart of the sewers.”

“Aw, I wanted a spectral roommate though!” Nox jokingly cried.

“Don’t we all.”

“Hey! Don’t you like your perfectly alive roommate?” Ranboo complained.

“Yeah, but imagine having you and a ghost!”

“You’re asking for too much, Tubs.” Ranboo scoffed.

“I’m sorry I want to spoil myself dude.”

Nox wished he had a friendship like that. There was a twang of loneliness in his chest. He didn’t have any sort of support system, no one to rely on when times were tough. No shoulder to cry on, no one to hug for comfort and grounding. Noxious was utterly alone. But it was for the best. No attachments meant he couldn’t be manipulated. He had no one to protect but himself. It was better this way.

“There we go!” Tubbo stepped away from Nox, leaving something by his foot. “It may sting a lot right now, but it should heal a lot better.”

“...Thank you Tubbo.”

“See you… whenever you’re out fighting people? I guess??”

They made their leave. Nox didn’t move until he could no longer hear their footsteps, and then he noticed what Tubbo had left by his foot. A can of beans. Tubbo had given him food. He was hungry right now, though to be fair he never had enough to eat and was always hungry. He opened up the can immediately, the smell making his stomach rumble uncomfortably.

The beans were gone within seconds, settling in his stomach. He felt something wet slip down his cheek. Nox wiped at it, confused. Noxious was crying . He hadn’t had proper food in who knows how long. The silent tears turned into quiet sobs that echoed into the emptiness of the sewer system, the sound mingling with the ambient flow of water and sewage. He’d forgotten what kindness had felt like.

For once, Noxious wished he wasn’t a villain.

Chapter Text

Click.

The clatter of keys being typed.

A sigh, and the routine continued.

Tubbo groaned quietly. He'd gone searching in his local library for answers. He knew Noxious' face. It was only a sliver of recognition, but it was more than having seen him in passing. It was eating away at his subconscious. Tubbo didn't have a bad memory, but the familiarity was just evading him with Nox’s real name. He didn’t think that Noxious was his real name for a second, but he doubted Nox would freely give his legal name out after meeting Tubbo for like five minutes. It honestly felt a little invasive immediately trying to figure out who one of the biggest names in L’Manburg was, but he knew from experience that this was going to eat away at him if he didn’t. He had school to focus on most days, and he did not need to wonder about this distracting him from his studies.

Still, his search was coming up blank. He wasn’t sure where to begin. He’d ended up trying to start the opposite side of the spectrum. If Noxious was a villain right now, maybe he’d been a hero before, and that could lead to him finding out who he was? “ Shepard retires from heroism .” Nope, she was definitely not Nox. No offence to Shepard, but she was far too old to be him, besides y’know being a woman and all. I mean some of her hair was white but that was a stretch. Come on Google, work with him here. Maybe he was just a rebranded villain? “ Dream finally put behind bars.”  Hair colour was close - Dream had blonde hair with white patches and streaks, but Noxious has fully white hair - but still far too old to be Nox. He felt like people would’ve noticed if he had been a hero or a villain previously, he couldn’t think of anyone as scrawny as Nox.

This was frustrating as minutes turned into an hour. It was like Noxious had just appeared out of thin air six months ago. That was impossible, he had to have popped up from somewhere! Tubbo had scoured the missing person reports from the last year since he was a homeless teen evidently and Noxious didn’t appear there either. Tubbo had seen Nox’s full unobscured face. He knew his face. Then why didn’t he apparently exist?

Fuck it, Tubbo sincerely doubted he’d find him here either, but he was at his wit's end, and this was the last set of searches he was willing to do today, all the dead ends were giving him a headache. He looked up obituaries and newspaper reports on anyone he could find around what he estimated Nox’s age was. Nox had said he was seventeen, but Tubbo wasn’t sure quite how much he believed that. Tubbo was sure he couldn’t be any older than himself, but with how underfed and scrawny Noxious was, he couldn’t tell how much younger he could be. He couldn’t see how Nox could be dead, maybe faked his own death? He could picture the teen digging his way out of his own grave. Tubbo was about to give in for the day when he clicked on the last link, a news article about a building collapse caused by Dream almost exactly a year ago. 

Thomas Simon Soot, age 16, is first announced dead from Prime towers collapse.

An image of a young boy was below the title, a mess of blonde curls and flowers atop his head, his face bunched up into a big toothy grin. Clearly, the image was from a much younger Tommy, from a simpler time, with a hell of a lot more baby fat, but he was clearly recognisable.

Tubbo…hadn't expected to find Noxious actually dead . This was clearly him. In a lot better health, and much much happier, but it was undeniable that they were one in the same. And this was definitely the kid he knew as a child. Tommy's family would visit Tubbo's family's cabin every summer, and the two would hang out as they were similar ages. Eventually, they'd stopped seeing each other as their lives pulled them in different directions.

He slumped in his seat, shocked. He actually managed to find Nox… no, Tommy. This now begged the question of how he was alive again, and why he was stuck living in the sewers? Shouldn't he go home to his family?

God, what had Tubbo gotten himself into?

Noxious was counting the minutes. Whenever he ventured out of the sewers it wasn’t long before one of the big three showed up, either Umbra, Atlas, or Midas. It seemed like they’d claimed him or something, Nox knew for a fact those three weren’t the only heroes, but not even the vigilantes would touch him. It was sweet really, they were the only ones who could bring him in. Even then, they failed at that. Nox wasn’t sure how he’d lucked out each and every time. Sure, he’d received life-threatening injury after injury, but they hadn’t managed to capture or kill him. That being said, Nox hadn’t successfully taken them down either. 

When Nox had first appeared in L’Manburg with no clue where he was or who he was, he’d only retained one thing. It wasn’t a memory, but an urgency. He had to kill all three of them . He wasn’t sure why , but he knew his life was on a ticking clock. He wasn't exactly sure how long he had, but since it was the only thing he knew, he rolled with it. Maybe he was meant to be a villain. He seemed to have the muscle memory of fighting and all, to begin with, so it wouldn't be a stretch. Whenever he was against any of the big three, it felt good. It was a tough fight, sure, but it was almost some sort of manic euphoria that bubbled up through him. It was an addicting feeling, getting swept up in it all. It was exhausting though, and frankly, he’d noticed what memory he had now degraded every time he let himself loose. Balancing not losing himself while chasing that high was a battle in itself.

The reason he’d left his dingy dark sewers this time was to get some new clothes. As attached to the rags he wore he was, that last fight against Atlas had put the nail in the coffin. Now, Nox didn’t have any money. But he could do what was expected of him. A bit of anxiety-inducing gas here and there and Nox could stroll into the supermarket unbothered, anyone sprinting away to safety if they were still in there. The clothing section was… lacking, but the basics would do I guess. Nox picked up a rucksack from one section of the store, before wandering back over to the clothes and grabbing a coat and some hoodies. A couple of jeans later, the bag was stuffed. Really, he should've picked up some food too, but he now had no room left. Eh, maybe next time.

“ Authorities warn to stay away from the North Sector right now; Noxious has been spotted terrorising the public in the northwest, and Atlas is blade to blade with Lucid in the northeast-”

Oh? He wasn’t the only one being a pain right now? Cool. Meant it was less likely he was going to get double-teamed. He’d fought all of the big three once before, and Nox had retreated fairly quickly that time. He knew how to pick his battles, and those three were overpowered when they didn't spread themselves so thin across the city and focused on one target. Noxious watched the news on the store televisions for a little while. Watching TV was a luxury he didn’t have in the sewers, so he was always intrigued by technology when he had the chance to interact with it. The leisure didn't last long though. 

He barely ducked out of the way in time as a trident pierced the flatscreen where his head had been, the screen shattering. Nox leapt away, to see who he was up against this time. He almost groaned. Opposite him now stood an honestly intimidating adversary. Golden armour mimicking the shape of bones adorned his shape. Although being a similar height to Noxious, Midas had far more muscle to him, a force to be reconned with. Although some might think Midas’ get up was a little too theatric, a crown on his head and all, no one could argue with his combat skill. Noxious hated fighting against him, it wasted so much energy because he had to focus more on staying alive than actually fighting. He was the best of the three at close quarters combat.

“Hey! I was watching that dickhead!”

“Sucks to be you,” Midas shrugged, before launching himself forward.

Nox barely had time to shoot a vine from his wrist and swing himself out of Midas’ slicing range. Midas didn’t give him any breathing room, turning on his heels to slice at him once more. Dodge, duck, slide behind shelving just as the trident would’ve impaled his body. Noxious couldn’t spend all his energy on staying on the defensive, but currently, he was trying to not come out with another live threatening wound. His last one was still in the process of healing, and he could already tell all this movement was aggravating it.

“Why do you keep running Noxious?” Midas sneered. “Scared?”

Nox had to keep himself from instinctively recoiling as Midas managed to catch his arm slightly. He grew moss on the fly. He knew he didn't have the time to be doing first aid during a fight, but it might slow the bleeding a little.

“Well considering your kill count, I don’t exactly want to be a shishkebab.” Nox weaved in between the isles, barely ahead of Midas’ reach. “It’s a bit demeaning to be reduced to a number like that, y’know?”

“What, like the number of people you’ve hurt?”

“They didn’t get out of my way in time bigman, that’s on them. Killing people, however-” The vine Noxious was swinging on snapped, launching him down. He caught himself quickly enough to roll out of the way of yet another stab from the trident. “Villains are people too. Well, I’m assuming your kill count is made up of villains-”

Midas narrowed his eyes at the scrawny villain. The fact he was one of the less merciful heroes that weren’t afraid of imparting his own sense of justice on those who he was let loose against was well known, though the actual number of his kill count was up to rumours, Midas didn’t go about bragging it.

“Then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if you killed some of your own family,” Nox shrugged as he launched himself over a deli counter, Midas shattering the glass behind Nox, “Would make for a good angsty backstory.”

Nox was surprised to actually get a reaction out of that comment. He was only joking like he usually did against them, trying to get a rise out of them. This kind of thing mostly worked against Atlas, but this was the first time he’d managed to get that dark a look from Midas.

“ Oh my prime , you killed one of your family members?!?”

“ Noxious. ” He growled.

“You sick fuck!” Nox grinned, poking at the subject further. It was disrespectful as fuck to pry in such a way, but this was Nox , disrespectful was practically his middle name. “Who was it? Your mom? Your broth -”

Midas launched himself at Nox again, this time with even less restraint. There was a fire in his eyes, Nox had just pushed the wrong buttons with this.

“OOooo sore subject , murdering your brother? I thought better of you Midas. You’re almost as much of a disappointment as me.”

During all this mocking, Nox hadn’t been focusing where he was going, having too much fun getting a reaction out of Midas, and now had cornered himself. Fuck . In his second of hesitation in being cornered, Midas had grabbed him by the throat, slamming him against the hard metal shelving. He was immediately winded, gasping for air as he began to crush Nox’s airways.

“You’re gonna wish I killed you.”

With that, Nox noticed how stiff his neck was becoming. Oh no. Oh no no no no-

You see, Midas’ superpower was the reason he called himself Midas in the first place; he had Midas’ touch. He could turn organic matter into gold and revert it back to normal if he so wished. Nox actually had a couple of little patches here and there of gold on him from previous fights, but this was the most serious he’d been petrified. Most times the gold would fade to a manageable level, but he had a feeling Midas wasn’t going to let him go that easily.

“Do me a favour, and don’t put up any more of a fight.”

Chapter Text

Nox wasn’t going to die from being petrified. He knew enough about the people he fought with on a regular basis. Midas usually petrified people as a form of restraining them, usually converting the outer layer of his enemies into gold. With how Noxious terrorised the big three? He would be royally fucked if he was caught, that wasn’t difficult to figure out.

Noxious immediately put up a fight, completely ignoring Midas’ suggestion. Being underfed and scrawny as fuck against Midas’ muscles, Nox wasn’t going to make any sort of dent. He uselessly scratched at his arm, pulling to no avail. His legs scrambled to kick Midas, to push back him, but his stance was steadfast. He could feed as the gold inched its way up his skin, slowly stiffening and tightening his neck movement, and then his chin movement.

“Don’t waste your energy- actually do , that’ll make it easier for us all.”

“ Fuck you .” Nox spat back.

The gold was inching up his jaw, forcing his lower jaw open. Come on Nox, anything to fight back. This couldn’t be how he was gonna go. Genuinely? Noxious was fucking terrified right now, though he wasn’t sure how much Midas could read that through Nox’s goggles. Now he couldn’t move his tongue. His breathing picked up. Fuck. His movements were becoming more frantic and desperate. He knew in the end, the good guys always win, and the bad guys always lose, but Nox didn’t want that trope to be real.

With all the energy Nox could muster, he focussed on growing a thick vine, as his mouth was completely petrified. Midas probably saw this as an improvement to Nox, now he’d finally shut the fuck up. That’s probably why he spread the petrification up first. It looked like Nox had finally given up, realising just how hopeless his situation was.

And then Midas was knocked aside in one fluid motion, dropping Nox. 

Nox had to internally fight himself to stop him from crumpling on hitting the ground. He was trembling. Today was one of the stark reminders of the cruelty of being destined for a life of villainy. He was going to get hurt time and time again, with too many brushes with capture or death to list on one hand. As much as he’d made peace with that, it didn’t stop when this happened from being any less fucking terrifying.

He had his shit still in his backpack. He knew when he was fighting a losing battle. As Midas picked himself up, Nox sprinted towards the exit, having exhausted his powers a little from making such a big vine while not being in prime condition. Midas, being of perfect health, began to chase and caught up to Nox in no time.

It was now a dance of dodging each of Midas’ trident blows and trying to navigate the quickest and least risky routes out of this place. Luck was on Noxious’ side as he got closer and closer to the main doors. They were wide open, almost inviting him to escape. Sprint, duck, dodge- Nox lurched forward as Midas grabbed Nox’s wrist, pulling him back and immediately beginning to petrify his hand. 

So Nox panicked, knowing he was far too weak right now to put a proper fight against Midas.

So he bit him.

Well, with the petrified mouth, it was more like he slammed his teeth into Midas’ arm, but it was to the same effect at that speed. Midas wasn’t expecting a move like that, dropping his wrist in the recoil. Nox wasn’t going to get a better window than this. He immediately broke away, sprinting out into the sunny day outside. That bite wasn’t going to hold him off for more than a moment. With the shreds he could dig up from inside of him, he sprouted some plants to start producing anxiety-inducing spores to mess with the still nearby civilians. At this point, they weren't large enough to spread far, but I'd be enough for Midas to deal with them, cause unlike the big three, most people didn't wear gas masks to prevent the effects of Nox's pollens and gases.

Nox didn't stop running till he hit his rotten mattress, where he immediately shattered, crumpling on the bed in mangled sobs. He was fine getting into this kind of danger, always upkeeping his cocky exterior. But this was one of the handful of times he’d gotten uncomfortably close to getting captured that was his wake up call. He needed to try harder.

Nox had to win against the big three. He didn’t know anything other than fighting those heroes. If he couldn’t do that, what was he? A failure of whatever part of him left, the remaining memory of a disappointment. He didn’t even know who he’d be disappointing. Noxious curled in on himself, holding himself tight against the sobs that shook his frame as if letting his grip slip would mean his body fall apart.

Noxious wished he wasn’t a villain.

But those wishes fell on deaf ears.

“Your homework for next week is to have a solid topic pinned down for your project, and have started at least one shoot,” The teacher gestured to the clock as it clicked past the hour, “Enjoy your weekend everyone.”

The more eager students packed their supplies away quickly, wanting to escape the confines of school for a couple of days as soon as possible. Others took their time packing up their laptops and books. Tubbo was one of the students that dragged behind. He was trying to take his time packing his stuff away, watching his peers leave one by one. He wanted to speak to his photography teacher one on one, he had questions about the limitations of his photography project and what he wasn’t allowed to do.

In his last project he’d gone urban exploring, trespassing in abandoned sites to get some in all fairness really cool shots, and he had made sure to clear it with them first, he didn’t want his school work leading to him arrested or some dumb shit like that.

Thankfully it wasn’t long before he could speak one on one.

“Mx Eret?”

“Hey Tubbo. Want some guidance with your project?”

Tubbo nodded, putting away the last of his things into his backpack.

“Kind of?”

Eret knew exactly where this was leading. Tubbo was one of his riskier students. His shoots and projects paid off well, but man wondering what shit he was going to pull next.

“What potentially illegal behaviour do you want to put past me to see if ill veto it or not?”

Tubbo rolled his eyes, but he knew his track record.

“I’d like to do my project on Noxious.”

“I don’t see any issue with that. Tubbo that’s not as extreme as I was expecting-”

“As long as I get permission from him, I want to have him as like, the actual main focus, maybe get him as a model for a shoot-”

Eret was reeling for a moment. Trespassing was one thing, but interacting with one of L’Manburg’s most notoriously dangerous villains? For a lack of better terms, what the fuck was Tubbo thinking? He took a breath before responding.

“ Are you aware just how dangerous that is ?”

“Yeah, I gave him a tin of beans.”

“I- what?”

“I knew I should ask you first because I don’t want to be arrested for aiding Noxious or shit, it’s not like I agree with or endorse his actions,” Tubbo explained. As reckless as he was, he wanted to make sure he didn't get in trouble for this. Having Nox as his subject was an excuse to investigate what was up with him further, and also get a grade for it. Tubbo couldn’t help but be nosey, and this gave him reason to be.

“ You’re going to give me grey hairs at this rate. ”

“That’s the plan,” Tubbo grinned. “...So?”

Eret pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. They were hoping Tubbo knew what he was doing, willingly suggesting to do a dangerous topic. Eret wasn’t sure how the hell he was going to top this for his next project.

“You’re fine to do your project on him, assuming Nox agrees to it,” Eret sighed. “But be wary that if you catch the attention of any of the Big Three, they’re absolutely going to start investigating you and I can’t protect you from that.”

“I understand the risks, Mx Eret.”

“Then I wish you good luck.”

Chapter Text

Nox didn't leave the sewers for a while. After a day Midas' gold had faded, receding to just a patch of it on his neck. The heroes must've been beginning to get restless from the lack of Noxious sightings, but Nox couldn't bring himself to leave. He was still pretty shaken from almost getting caught, the wind lost from his sails. Sure, he still needed to defeat the big three, but he couldn't do that when he wasn’t in a good headspace.

Nox didn’t understand why it was just him with such a passion for fighting them. The other villains of L'manburg… were more calculated and less rash than Nox. They had goals that surpassed just defeating the heroes, even if the heroes always won out in the end. All Noxious had was his drive to put an end to Midas, Atlas and Umbra. Without that? Nox was just a husk of a person. Maybe if he were to remember anything of his past, maybe he’d have something to strive for.

He occasionally considered letting loose. He usually refrained from this because he wouldn’t remember any of it, and would often lose other memories he’d made too, but he probably wouldn’t be so lethargic that way. From what he’d gathered from newsfeeds after he’d come to, he was far more aggressive against the heroes. Maybe he’d be able to finish them off if he just gave in completely?

No, he couldn’t do that.

What scared him more than the prospect of losing once and for all against the heroes was losing himself. His agency, his control over his powers… they were all he had left other than his need to fight. He couldn’t risk no longer having control of himself, that concept was terrifying. He barely had a grip of his own identity as it was, he couldn’t live with himself if he lost what was remaining of Noxious alongside his missing memories.

Nox was sulking in these gloomy thoughts when footsteps began echoing through the sewer system. Was it Tubbo or Ranboo? Didn’t they say they’d never bother him again? Or was it a hero, those boys having snitched on him, and they were coming to take him away while still vulnerable? Maybe it was just a stranger going exploring. The footsteps got closer, and as they did Nox noticed they were…purposefully loud? It sure sounded that way. 

“N-Nox?”

His voice reverberated down the sewer tunnels. Tubbo seemed to have no self-preservation instincts in him and had returned to see him. Did he have a death wish?

“Fuck off Tubbo.”

Responding to him did the opposite of what Nox wanted. He wanted to be left alone to fester in his swirling thoughts, but telling him to go away just drew the boy closer. He groaned as the footsteps came closer and closer before a mop of brown curly hair stuck his head around the corner of the sewer. Nox was tempted to attack him, anything to get him to leave him to wallow alone, but there was a possibility that Tubbo had brought him some more food. As shameful as Nox felt, being fed like a stray to gain his trust, he couldn’t deny he was starving day to day, especially while he’d been staying down here for so long. It’d been about a day since the last of his rations ran out and it was slowly getting to him.

“Hi Nox…”

“ What do you want? ” Nox was getting straight to the point. Tubbo already knew how blunt Nox was from last time. “ I thought you said you’d fuck off forever .”

Tubbo fully rounded the corner, backpack loosely slung on his shoulders. His yellow and black hoodie brightly contrasted this dingy sewer, practically lighting the tunnel up with how bright and clean it was in comparison to the environment. Nox had to resist instinctively squinting at Tubbo. He understood that the flash of a camera was meant to be bright, but did the photographer need to be too?

“Eh, I didn’t promise to never show up again, sorry for not sticking to my word bigman,” Tubbo shrugged. Why the fuck was he so casual around Nox? Just ‘cause he didn’t attack him last time didn’t mean it was safe to invade his space and vibe with him.

“Answer the question dumbass.”

Tubbo rolled his eyes dramatically. Yep, he didn’t seem to think he was in danger here at all. Eugh, Nox couldn’t understand this guy.

“I would like to make a deal with you.”

Nox… wasn’t expecting that. What would a teenager need from a supervillain? To beat up his bullies?

“I-” He sat up a little straighter. “Elaborate.”

“I’m a photography student, and my thing is making my projects rather extreme. Sometimes it’s doing borderline illegal things, and this time? I’d like to do my next project on you .”

“How the fuck am I extreme?”

“Nox, do you forget that you’re a fucking supervillain?”

“Yeah, but you’re not scared of me though.”

“Oh I am,” Tubbo admitted, chuckling nervously, “I’ve gotten caught in the crossfire of one of your fights before. I’ve experienced that fucking anxiety-inducing pollen that you make, it’s fucking horrible, and I’ve seen what hits you’ve managed on the big three. But I also see a desperate homeless teenager trying to survive.”

“So you want to show my weak side to the world?”

“I want to get a good grade. But also show that you’re not as one dimensional as the news makes you out to be.”

Nox shifted in his spot on his mattress, thinking it over. He wasn’t sure how comfortable he felt opening his vulnerability to the world. But then again, if the heroes realised he had no other choice but to fight them, maybe they’d be sympathetic and go easy on him, which he could take advantage of, and end them for once and for all .

“What’s in it for me?”

“I can’t bring you much as a broke student, but-”

Tubbo opened his backpack, taking out a couple of tins of soup and beans. 

“I can help you with your food situation.”

“I’m in.”

Nox was being driven by his hunger now, Tubbo was surprised how fast Noxious agreed to this.

“A-are you sure? You… I was planning to sneak in and drop you food here anyway.”

Tubbo was a good dude. He was wasting himself on Noxious, but Nox knew there was no way of shaking himself off of the dude. He was far too intrigued by the villain for his own good.

“I'd rather not rob and steal to eat constantly, my only goal is to defeat the big three." Nox shrugged.

“That… was easier than I was expecting, I didn’t even have to-”

“Have to what ?”

“N-nothing-”

Tubbo was hiding something. As thankful as he was for the food, Tubbo couldn't let slip that he'd planned to motivate him to cooperate with something else without elaborating.

“ Tubbo .”

Noxious began to grow a thorny vine below Tubbo, who quickly noticed and scrambled away from it. Nox's threat of using his powers on Tubbo seemed to push him into explaining himself.

“Fine. If food didn’t motivate you, I was going to blackmail you.”

“Pffft-”

Noxious couldn’t help but burst into laughter. What the fuck was meant to be used as blackmail against him? He didn’t have anything to his name to be used against him.

“ What ?”

“What could you possibly have to use against me???”

Tubbo clearly looked bewildered at Nox's laughter, thinking that it was obvious.

“... your real identity?”

Noxious’ face dropped, immediately cutting off his laughter. What? He’d figured out who Nox was in the past?  

“H-how?” Noxious’ voice was very quiet all of a sudden, his surprise projected through his expression.

“I- I recognised you before, turns out you're definitely this kid I hung out with as a child, so I did a little digging, and I found an old news article that had you mentioned from last year,” Tubbo admitted. “I won’t expose your name to the heroes or anything, don’t worry.”

His past. He'd had a family? Friends? All were long gone by now in likelyhood, but this was the first scrap of anything he'd gotten about his past.

“Show me.”

“Huh?”

Noxious got up, coming over to Tubbo for the first time instead of him approaching the villain.

“ I need to see it .”

Why would Noxious need to see the article? It's not like anyone else knew he was Thomas. But he almost seemed desperate for it. Like the information in it was just out of grasp of him, like-

Oh my god, Noxious didn't know he was meant to be dead, did he?

“Why? It’s just- oh. ” Tubbo's eyes widened at the realisation.

“Oh?” He questioned.

“Nox… do you have amnesia?”

"That's none of your business whether I do or don't." Noxious grumbled. He didn't want Tubbo prodding into his vulnerabilities. He didn't want Tubbo's pity.

"Your family probably has no idea that you're running around fighting people…"

Tubbo knew his family. Or at least used to know them  Why was he beating around the bush? Why was he so hesitant?

"Tubbo what are you getting at? Either tell me what was in the article or show me it."

"Are you in a stable mindset ri-"

" Tubbo ."

Tubbo's gulp was almost audible. He fished his phone out of his backpack, bringing up the article and showing Nox the photo attached to it.

"Your name is Thomas. Thomas Simon Soot. A-and… last year you were reported dead."

Chapter Text

" Your name is Thomas. Thomas Simon Soot. A-and… last year you were reported dead ."

Noxious’ head was spinning. Everything felt violently wrong. He'd been okay seconds before he'd looked at the article, but now he felt like he was going to hurl. Nox pressed his eyes shut tightly, pressing his palms against them in hope that the pressure might help him feel better quicker. It didn't.

Panic rose up his throat, followed swiftly by an acrid feeling. Nox stumbled away from his living space blindly, breath hitching. Bumping into a wall, he crumpled, and let loose what had been itching to escape. Nox barely noticed the hand holding his hair out of the splash zone as he shakily vomited.

He hadn't expected to react so violently to the news. Was this what going into shock was meant to be? He didn't think it was, but he didn't have any other explanation on why he was behaving like this.

Dead .

In some ways, it made sense. No loved ones would take him in if they thought he was six feet below. Nox dreaded to think how they'd see him now, a supervillain. He already knew how they'd react, whoever they were. They'd be disgusted with him, they'd disown him, they'd-

Noxious dry heaved a handful more times before edging away from his mess and curling in on himself. Then he noticed Tubbo had sat down next to him to comfort him.

“I’m dead?”

“You’re fine, just fucking winded, maybe a concussion?” Tubbo shrugged, “I’m no doctor. I think you're done with throwing up now though.”

“Concussion?”

“God uh, Umbra threw you into a wall fucking hard, from what I could see from the news. You don’t look like you’ve got anything broken-”

“The fuck? A fight? Tubbo you just showed me an article saying I died.”

“That was a week ago.”

… what?

Usually, Nox could tell when he’d lost control because he’d be in a different location to where he last remembered, but this time it was like he’d just blinked. Taking it in now, Tubbo was wearing a completely different outfit, though still with the same worried look on his face. He’d lost an entire week.

“Fuck,” Nox said weakly, sinking down even more. 

Clearly at some point that week, he’d let himself go. He’d lost control of himself, and in turn a week had been snatched away from him. He must’ve been being far more aggressive with the heroes, especially with the knowledge that he was meant to be six feet below meant he had nothing really to lose. He didn’t have a family looking for him. Grieving their loss? Absolutely. But not expecting him to be alive and kicking.

Tubbo scooched over closer to him.

“After I showed you the article, you had a bit of a breakdown, understandably so.” Was… Tubbo explaining what he’d forgotten? “Once you calmed down, you asked for my help.”

“With what?”

“Finding your family. We’re gonna count it as an element of my photography project somehow, I got my teacher’s blessing to go ahead with it. It’d be harder for you to find them discreetly, being a wholeass supervillain. But me? A nobody? A little easier.”

“We did a photoshoot a couple of days later, so I actually have something to show for this project.”

Tubbo fished his phone out of his pocket, showing Nox some of the files he’d transferred to his phone. He was surprised to find Tubbo was a competent photographer. Despite the dingey atmosphere, he’d managed to somehow get the lighting (or lack of) in here perfect, or at least good enough for the photos. He wasn’t showing his face in the images, though Nox suspected this was just a curated selection, and wasn’t going to share any images revealing his full face to his class.

"When I came back down here after college the next day you were kinda…”

“Unhinged?”

“Yeah.”

“At all times I’m gripping onto control of myself. If I slip…"

"You lose yourself and your memories?"

Noxious nodded.

Honest to god, he wasn’t all that comfortable sharing this with Tubbo, but he was going to find out sooner than later. He just hoped to Prime that Tubbo wasn’t going to take advantage of Noxious’ memory lapses. He was the first person who had managed to get close to him, and he was terrified that he was just going to betray him after all of this.

He didn't know how to act with him. He barely knew him and yet he was helping him so much, seemingly genuinely caring about the villain. This was a foreign experience for Noxious. He… he wasn't going to push Tubbo away. Part of him wanted to, the part of him that wanted to isolate himself from the world and fester in his thoughts. But he refused to act on that.

Tubbo gave Nox a nudge, getting his attention, and offering him half of a ham and cheese sandwich, clearly Tubbo's lunch. He gratefully accepted it, slowly nibbling at it so as to not throw up again.

"So what's your plan?"

Tubbo finished his mouthful.

"Have you heard of Hermes?"

The name rang a bell. Obviously there was the Greek god Hermes, but Nox sincerely doubted Tubbo was communing with ancient deities. Thinking a bit further, he remembered a few slivers about the guy. He refused to participate in the hero villain dynamic, preferring to be a neutral outside party. He supplied information to both villains and heroes, but of course at a price.

"The information broker?"

Tubbo nodded.

"I'm sure he can easily find your parents, and organise a private meeting to at least tell them what's up."

"But what are you going to exchange for that? You're broke."

"...Could I tell Hermes your identity?"

"Tubbo what the fuck."

"This is why I'm asking before I do any dumb shit!" Tubbo backpedaled, explaining himself. "He doesn't want in on the hero/villain shit, there's not much he can do with that information. But it is probably enough to get him to contact civilians for us and give us a safe place to meet."

Part of Noxious wanted to hide his previous life away, protecting it from prying eyes. However if he did that, he'd never know who he had been, he'd never have a chance at reuniting with his family, he'd never have a support system. He would forever be alone. Nox wasn't sure how long he could keep this up.

"Go for it," Nox sighed, "It's worth a shot."

"Boo I'm home!"

Tubbo shut the door to their small apartment, tossing his bag into the floor in front of him while he kicked off his trainers. Tubbo had spent a little longer than usual in the sewers with Noxious, but usually by now Ranboo would've gotten home. He didn't respond to Tubbo's entrance though. Was he studying or something?

Tubbo didn't dwell on it long. Ranboo locked himself in his room pretty regularly, as a game design student and an insomniac he was always catching up on his work. The clack of keys usually seeped out of his room, but the door was open, and his room empty. His shoes were by the door; Boo was definitely home.

"Ranboo?"

Tubbo left his bag still abandoned on the floor, quietly walking through the apartment, his socks muffling his movement. Ranboo was never this quiet. He was gangly and awkward, always knocking himself on something. Silence was impossible… which was why Tubbo was concerned as he navigated through their home.

He let out a sigh of relief when he found Ranboo. He was standing in the kitchen, the lights off. He didn't seem to notice Tubbo, he just continued to stand facing the counter, a sharp knife in hand.

"Boo?"

His focus snapped towards Tubbo, an empty violet glint to his eyes. 

And then his demeanor relaxed, like he'd not been dissociating with a knife in the kitchen this whole time.

"Oh hey Bo! Didn't hear you come in."

Chapter Text

Tubbo didn't negotiate with Hermes overnight. First thing, he wasn't actually sure where Hermes worked. Sure, he knew enough to know he was an information broker and all, but Tubbo wasn’t an expert on this kind of shit, he was only a teenager. However, he was determined. He’d promised to help Noxious, and he was not going to break a promise to one of the most well-known villains. That and Nox was growing on him. He really shouldn’t think of him as a friend, he could very easily kill Tubbo, no questions asked, but he couldn’t help it. Clearly, Tubbo was the first person in a very long time to give a fuck about Noxious, so he wanted to at least give the guy a chance.

It took Tubbo about a week to hunt down where Hermes operated from. There were a few options, he wasn’t the easiest guy to find, but eventually narrowed it down to a bar a little off the main street called Las Nevadas. Tubbo had never been there before. Obviously, he was too young to hang around there anyway, but it wasn’t really his crowd. He was going to have to brave out of his social circles this time though if he was going to have any chance at getting Hermes’ help.

Part of him was worried Noxious’ real identity wasn’t going to be enough to convince Hermes. Tubbo had nothing else to offer, and he honestly was lost as to what to do if that didn’t work. Still, he couldn’t back out now, even with his fears.

The neon glow emanated from the building, a beacon of light beckoning passers by to come in for a drink of two. Tubbo had left it until the evening to investigate, assuming that was when it was going to be open and have Hermes around. Although he had a purpose for being there, he too was a moth to the flame drawn to the building.

Tubbo immediately felt out of place. He wasn't wearing his usual casual wear, but had opted for jeans and a green button-up and hoped it didn't make him look like some school kid. Somehow he didn’t get IDed on his way in, thank Prime, but it was clear stepping into the establishment that he didn’t belong here. Dim lighting lit the seating area, where small groups of well-dressed clients were quietly talking under the boom of the music, muffling their conversations. The bar was the polar opposite. Nobody was sitting at the bar but it was incredibly well lit, the light refracting off of the hundreds of bottles, almost sparkling. Manning the bar was a man Tubbo was sure was barely older than himself by a few years, but obviously knew his way around this bar better than Tubbo would be able to navigate it. At a glance, Tubbo knew this barkeep had powers. Sticking out of his slicked-back ginger and white streaked hair was a pair of fox ears.

"First time in Las Nevadas?"

"Yeah," Tubbo grimaced, taking a seat at the bar so as to not stand around idling and looking as awkward as he felt.

"Alone?"

Tubbo shrugged, as the barkeep passed him a glass of water.

"I came for a friend, they're not the kind of folk who'd be welcome here."

Tubbo wasn't sure how he should go about this, but he knew he couldn't just name drop Noxious. Beating around the bush like this did feel weird though.

"Oh?'' His ears pricked up, giving his interest away, while his expression remained more focused on polishing the glass in his hand than on the conversation. "Do you have business here? Any appointments?"

"I'm uh, not sure how to get an appointment…" Tubbo answered sheepishly, "I just need to speak to Hermes."

"Don't we all," he chuckled. Tubbo got the sense he wasn't the first person to say that, and he wouldn't be the last either. "He's incredibly busy tonight, no walk-ins, very important business he's attending to. If you want I can slip you in next-"

"I don't mind waiting all night if I have to," Tubbo interrupted, shaking his head. "I'll take what I can get, even if it's only five minutes."

The barkeep raised an eyebrow at that, but Tubbo's stubbornness and commitment seemed to be the right answer. He made no promise to slip Tubbo in but he told him that he'd let Hermes know he was here.

Tubbo nursed a mocktail while he waited, the sugar keeping him alert. He wasn't unfamiliar with staying up the entire night, but that was usually when he got caught up playing video games with Ranboo, not in a bustling bar waiting to barter with an information broker. Tubbo was pleasantly surprised that after an hour was gestured over to a doorway nearby, where another staff member, a tall guy with thick-rimmed glasses and a deep emerald waistcoat. Abandoning his drink, Tubbo followed the guy beeper into the back rooms of the bar, He was led into a lavishly decorated office, everything edged with gold. Clearly, Hermes was in good business here. In the centre of the office sat the man he was after.

Hermes was not how Tubbo had envisioned him. The information broker was a little taller than Tubbo, in a crisp white shirt and black suspenders, a poker chip pin on one of them, and a red tie the same colour as the spatters on one side of Hermes' shirt. Clearly, he wasn't one to shy away from getting his hands dirty. A massive scar was carved across his face, the damaged eye being replaced with an intimidating slitted red eye. In contrast to his professional attire, the guy was wearing…a beanie? I guess being the best information broker meant you could get away with wearing what you wanted.

"Oh a fresh face, we don't get you guys very often," Hermes smiled, revealing a golden tooth. "What can I do for you, friend?"

"I'm here on a friend's behalf, we're trying to find someone," Tubbo explained. 

Hermes raised an eyebrow, prodding for elaboration.

"Isn't it easier searching for that online? There's no need to go through the trouble of coming here for that."

"I know," Tubbo agreed, "But I'd like somewhere private and secure to reunite them and my friend, I figured you'd be the best person to turn to."

"Well," Hermes leaned in, "You've come to the right place then. Who are you after?"

"...Are you familiar with the collapse of the Prime tower?"

"Everyone is, get to the point."

"We're looking for anyone related to Thomas Soot, the first one announced dead from that tragedy?"

"I can certainly organise that for you, I know how to get ahold of his father. We're coming up on the anniversary of the event so I'm not sure how soon I can get him in for you, but I'll try. Of course, however, everything comes at a price"

Ah, the moment Tubbo had been waiting for.

"I don't have money, but I do have some information I think you'd be interested in."

"Oh?"

"But it's not exclusive to you… it's why I need to speak to his dad."

Hermes hesitated for a moment before making his decision.

"Alright I'll bite, I wouldn't usually take non-exclusive information, but I'll let you off this once."

"Thank you, Hermes. I came because Thomas is somehow still alive."

Hermes went pale at that, raising an eyebrow. He didn't quite believe that, understandably so.

"That's impossible."

Tubbo brought one of the photos of Nox with his face unobstructed up on his phone.

"I also came on Noxious' behalf."

Tubbo handed Hermes his phone, and he could almost see the gears turning in the dealer's head.

"He understands his family might hate him when they find out, but we at least want them to know he's still alive."

Hermes had to take a moment to compose himself, some of his reactions breaking through his professional aura. It seemed to ruffle his feathers… literally. Tubbo hadn't noticed before as they'd been hidden from view behind him, but Hermes had a pair of small yellow wings that seemed to be bristling in reaction to this news. It was easy enough for Tubbo to gather that Hermes probably knew Thomas and his father before he died, and it was a lot to take in, especially now knowing he was Nox.

"That's absolutely enough for me to organise this for you." He slid Tubbo's phone back… now with an extra contact. "We'll get in contact when everything is sorted out."

Noxious was sick of being recognised. Sure, he terrorised the inhabitants of L'manburg on a weekly basis at least, but that shouldn't mean every time he left the sewers to get some fresh air he should get sniped by a hero wanting to take him in. He'd been peacefully sitting on the harbour's edge when he narrowly missed getting impaled by a knife that flew past him. And then a trident too.

Ah fuck.

Noxious was in no mood to deal with two heroes, never mind his previous injuries that were still healing. But having two of them after him meant ducking out of the action was a lot harder than it was one on one. Nox opted for the easiest option, starting a chase. On being attacked, Nox quickly scrambled out of the way, readjusting his goggles and shooting some vines from his wrists. Annoyingly enough, the duo kept up with him, barely letting him out of their sight. Nox gritted his teeth, jerking himself away from a slash just in time, and began to lead them towards the city centre. There would be more civilians; more distractions. What would they rather do, chase Nox around the block, or protect the innocents? Nox was sure he knew the answer.

Air rushed through his hair, sending loose leaves flying in his wake. He was so sure that the heroes were going to be predictable, that he barely had time to react as he swung through the windshield of a car that was up in the air blocking his escape. Fucking Atlas uUGH. Nox curled up on impact, hoping to get as little glass in him as possible. It was a miracle that when he peeked out after hitting the driver's seat, he was mostly unscathed. He scrambled to get up and out as Atlas dropped the car. Fucking hell, weren't they meant to arrest him or some shit, not outright kill him? Nox barely managed to catch himself on a vine, the vehicle destroyed below.

He gritted his teeth, gripping tight onto his vine. They couldn't off him that easily, he was Noxious, apparently the un-fucking-killable. He'd always been surprised to survive all his hero encounters, but knowing he'd somehow survived a building collapse before? A couple of stab wounds here and there didn't seem as life-endangering. 

The chase felt neverending. In reality, it was only about ten minutes. It was only by the end of that eternity that Noxious realised they were intentionally running him in circles, trying to wear him out. Nox swore under his breath. He should've seen this coming. Glancing about, he spotted a cluster of scaffolding, a half-built structure rife with poles and ledges he could swing across. Perfect. He may not be able to shake those bastards off his tail, but he could pull thier own trick against them. 

“Getting tired yet?” Nox grinned, calling over to them as he diverted his course towards the building site.

“I’m just getting started prick.”

“Suuuuure,” Noxious rolled his eyes, “Keep telling yourself that, old man.”

“Who you calling old, pipsqueak?”

“I mean I dunno how old Midas is, but seeing as Atlas clearly has a receding hairline-”

Noxious cackled as he ducked under another knife throw. Aw, was his hair a soft spot for Atlas? Honestly, seeing how preened and fucking dramatic the pair were, it didn’t surprise Nox in the slightest. 

As soon as he hit the building site he made quick work of spreading his vines about. There were so many nooks and crannies to swing and slip between, every time Midas and Atlas thought that Nox was in reach, he’d slip out beneath their fingers. They were getting more and more frustrated, and as planned, were slowly becoming slower and slower, missing catching Nox more and more. Within minutes the entire building was entangled in his vines. That should slow them down enough for Nox to leave.

Noxious’ first mistake was turning his back on the heroes. As soon as he turned away, both of them threw their weapons at him. He dodged them with ease . However, they sliced through a chunk of the vines… and Midas’ trident ripped straight through one of the metal poles that held the building up. Holy shit he was strong, fucking hell. And then the structure creaked.

And then everything fell.

Chapter Text

People's lives aren't lived equally. Some get to experience it to the fullest, and others have it snatched away from their fingertips far too soon. Sometimes it's expected and accepted. Other times it's abrupt, breaking off and leaving the living to pick up the pieces. It doesn't matter how they lived, bad or good. Death comes for all of us in the end.

Noxious didn't want to die.

As soon as the building creaked in protest, the pair of heroes had a flash of fear on their faces, and immediately sprinted out the gap in the vines they'd made. Nox didn't run. He felt heavy like his feet were glued to the ground. He was mentally screaming to himself to move, to try to protect himself from his impending doom, anything , but he was frozen.

It wasn't déjà vu, but this was so gut-wrenchingly familiar. He could easily guess why. This was how he had died. Crushed to death by a collapsed building. This wasn't nearly as tall, still being constructed, but in the state Noxious was in, he knew he couldn't survive this. He couldn't remember the Prime Towers collapse, not even now reliving his demise, but the feelings bubbling up in his chest gave him a pretty good idea. Terror. Dread. Knowing no one was coming to save him.

He shut his eyes. The moon had tucked itself behind the clouds, it too not wanting to witness this. Open or shut, he couldn't clearly see his doom approaching either way. Might as well make his peace as much as he could in the last few seconds before he was crushed, impaled, or both .

Noxious didn't want to die. Yet he didn't have a choice in the matter. However, that didn't mean there wasn't someone who did have a choice in the matter.

Out of fucking nowhere, since Nox had shut his eyes and wasn't expecting anyone to risk their lives under here, he was tackled, feeling and hearing a piece of scaffolding barely missing him. Snapping out of his frozen panic, he began growing thick vines around him and his attacker…saviour? He wasn't sure yet. 

Nox scrambled away from the contact, pressing himself against the wall of the vines, though in this enclosed space he didn't put much space between them. A different flavour of panic was setting in, burning up his throat with acrid fervour. This was a stark contrast to his being paralyzed in fear. It was more akin to a fire catching light inside of him, chaotically catching alight to everything it could, the panic spreading like wildfire.

Nox gasped for air that refused to fill his lungs, tears now welling up in his eyes. He was going to die here, he was sure of it. Not a quick death by a blow to the head by three stories dropping on him, but slow torture of oxygen deprivation, living breath by breath until he was all used up. It was what he deserved after all. Noxious was a villain, he deserved to have a bad end, right?  

A small plastic object slipped into his hands. His confusion didn't quite break through his panic attack, but it did occupy his hands. With one hand he pushed his fogged-up goggles off of his face, the other fiddling with the toy in his hand. It felt like some sort of fidget cube, and before he knew it, although still crying, it didn't feel like the world was closing in on him anymore.

"My sons struggle with panic attacks too." The voice was deep, an older man.

" Wh-what the f-fuck ," Nox rasped between each stuttered breath.

"You were going to die."

"Yeah, and dipshit? I'm j-just a villain, L'manburg wa-wants me dead a-anyway."

"No one deserves to die like this-"

"-and yet you jump into it? The vines a-above us are the only thing s-stopping us from being cr-crushed right now."

The man sighed.

"I lost my youngest son in the Prime Towers collapse. I saw you frozen in fear, and I was running in before I could think."

Nox chuckled bitterly. 

"S-sorry for your loss dude. I got caught in that too."

Nox didn't need light in here to know the expression of shock the guy had plastered across his face.

"...how long were you… if you don't mind me asking-"

Prime, was this a fucking interview or something? Twenty questions? Nox decided to humour him, they were trapped in here for now anyway.

" No one came for me. I'm legally dead… why else do you think I'm a villain?"

Nox wasn't entirely sure that was why he had the unrelenting call to kill the Big Three, but this civilian didn't need to know Nox's intricacies.

"I'm so sorry Noxious."

"Don't be," Nox rolled his eyes, "You're just some rando. The heroes failed me, not you."

He could hear him fiddling with his phone before Nox ducked his head in time to hide his face as the screen lit up the small space they were in.

"Fucking hell dude!" Nox growled, "Secret identity and shit!"

"Fuck." He put a hand over his eyes and turned away. "I'm looking away, put your goggles back on."

Nox peeked across to make sure he was actually looking away. He seemed to be a blonde middle-aged man, with a large green coat hanging on his shoulders, and a small plait on one side of his hair closed off with a bright emerald. Assured that his face wasn't being revealed, he wiped the tears out of the goggles with his bandana and slipped them back on.

"You can look now…?"

"Phil."

"Pfft, yeah you look like a Phil."

Phil gave Nox an incredulous look.

"What's that meant to mean???"

Nox grinned, responding with a shrug.

"Now bigman, how injured are you willing to get," Nox grimaced, tossing him back the fidget cube, "Cause as soon as these vines move, the entire place is coming down on us, and I can only protect us so far.

"I uh, can help with that."

"Oh?"

"I'm not revealing my wholeass powers to you, I'm not that stupid, but I can… teleport, I guess, us out of here?"

What were the chances that the one person dumb enough to save him from a collapsing building also had teleportation abilities? Nox was almost impressed.

"Okay, so your dumbass running in here did have an escape plan. Cool cool cool."

Phil gestured for him to come over, offering him a hand. Once Nox took Phil's hand, it went dark. Whatever Phil's powers were, they were fucking weird feeling. He felt incredibly light all of a sudden, the breath rapidly leaving his lungs, everything felt incredibly disorientating. And then suddenly there was concrete under his feet and a sliver of moonlight catching his eye in between the walls of the alley they had landed in. Nox stumbled away from Phil, crashing into a brick wall as his stomach upturned. Clearly, he wasn't made for teleportation.

Noxious didn't give Phil a goodbye. If anything, they'd never meet each other again, and Phil could retire or something. Nox was weak, he was stretching his powers thin today, but if he pushed just a little harder, he could get home… right?

Ranboo felt off. He wasn't sure when he started feeling like this, but time kept slipping through his fingers like coarse sand. He was alright during school, having something to knuckle down and focus on, but as soon as he was alone he began to lose himself.

It scared him. 

But what could he really do about it? He couldn't dare tell Tubbo. He thought the world of his housemate, Tubbo lit up every room he walked into with both his presence and his camera. Ranboo could only dream of having that air of confidence one day. He felt like if he exposed how vulnerable he was getting, Tubbo would grow tired of him, and move in with more adventurous types that fit his photography ambitions better. It felt a little irrational to worry so much, Tubbo wasn't that kind of person, but that didn't stop Ranboo from keeping his words to himself for now.

Now was one of the times Ranboo could feel him losing himself, Tubbo not home to ground him. He'd been hanging around Noxious a lot lately, and although he wasn't possessive over Tubbo, he wasn't sure if he was jealous or worried. Nox was a bad influence, he was a villain for Prime's sake, even if he was around their ages, he was bad news.

Ranboo tried his best to ground himself, digging his nails into his palm. The sharp pain of his nails piercing the skin broke him from his dissociation for a short while, but it wasn't long before Ranboo was slipping again. He groaned in frustration, before sulking off to his bedroom. Maybe all this was him having some sort of fatigue crisis. Maybe all he needed was a nap.

He quickly drifted off to sleep, his head sinking into his pillows.

The dream he fell into was awfully vivid, although a violet tinge was cast across everything, a clear indicator that this was a dream. Ranboo felt as if he was floating just above his own body, he wasn't in control of his body. This didn't alarm him though, he just clearly wasn't lucid dreaming.

He was clearly on a mission, grabbing something from under the bed before leaving the house. Ranboo was curious about where this was leading. He could feel this kind of tug inside of him, guiding him out of the house. Areas flashed before him. Just outside where they lived. The park in central L'manburg. And then in a building, one he didn't recognize.

Despite not recognising where his dream had gone, he couldn't deny it felt awfully familiar. The entire room was built of obsidian, the purple hue he'd been seeing almost reflecting off of the highlights of the stone. The pull he had felt had ebbed away. This is where he was meant to be. 

A hand was placed on his shoulder and everything shifted, his vision becoming hazy and unfocused as a wave of euphoria came over him, wiping any thoughts Ranboo had away. He was unconcerned by this. He'd been through this song and dance before.

Then there was a voice, clearly from the same person that still held his hand against Ranboo's shoulder. Ranboo was drawn to it, like a moth to the flame. Somewhere deep deep down, buried and smothered, he knew he'd eventually get hurt, but the voice was so bright and alluring, surely he'd be the exception.

" Just listen to my words. It feels good to listen ."

…The voice was right. Every time it spoke, Ranboo gotta rush of warm fuzzies in his brain. The voice was warm and safe. Ranboo could trust it more and more as he sank deeper into the words, each syllable laced with something so sweet that Ranboo couldn't help but comply.

" Good. Have you brought what I asked last time? "

Ranboo felt himself reach into his inventory and pull something out, handing it away, but the dream wasn't focused enough for him to tell what. He was sure it was something inconsequential, not relevant to the dream enough for him to retain.

Handing it off he got another dopamine rush, and he had to hold himself back from stimming. It felt good to submit to these words, to the haze that came with the voice. There wasn't anything wrong with doing what he was told, right?

" You're going to have to wait for a while now, we can't have anyone getting suspicious ."

There was a pang of worry in his chest. He wasn't going to have another dream like this in a while?

" Patience. You'll be back sooner than you know ."

With that, Ranboo abruptly woke up, rolling off of the drool patch that he'd left on his pillow. He was absolutely shattered as if the nap he'd had didn't rest him at all. He grumbled, shifting himself half up to rummage through his bestie drawers for some sleeping tablets.

The rest of Ranboo's night was void of any dreams.

Not that he remembers any of that initial dream anyway… if it was a dream in the first place.

Chapter Text

Tubbo struggled to focus in class when he got the text from Hermes. It wasn’t anything detailed. Just a date and time. He assumed that meant Hermes was having him meet Nox’s dad in one of the backrooms of the bar. It made sense, that way Hermes could ensure the safety of everyone and the privacy of the meeting. He was glad to see it was the next day, a little after college would be let out for the day, just enough time to grab Noxious from the sewers and find an inconspicuous route from there to the bar without any heroes pouncing on him.

The class felt like it was dragging on forever when in reality the last fifteen minutes were ticking away. Tubbo tried to not look too enthusiastic as he shoved his supplies into his backpack, ready to go inform Nox of the good news. Mx Eret had other plans for Tubbo, calling for him to hang back. He tried his best not to seem impatient as he hung back, watching everyone else leave one by one.

“So,” Tubbo asked, “You wanna chat?”

“Yes, I’m…” He seemed to be looking for the right phrase. “ Concerned about your safety .”

“Pfft Nox is harmless …ish. Okay, he’s just predictable and tired once you’ve got to know him-”

“I’m less so troubled about Noxious’ treatment of you, and more of a hero's reaction to your project.”

Now Tubbo was intrigued.

“ Oh ?”

“I’m not meant to spoil this for any students, but it’s in my best interest to warn you.” Eret sighed pinching the bridge of her nose. “Atlas is going to be visiting a couple of classes, including ours next week, and will be checking out the projects and the potential in our school.”

“ Oh god, I’m going to have to pick a fight with Atlas .” Tubbo grimaced.

“Please don’t. Not in my classroom at least.”

God, this spiced things up a bit. Tubbo was fine with convincing faculty that he was completely fine doing his project on Nox, but he knew the heroes would be tougher to crack. He'd seen enough of Atlas on TV to know that he was the more impulsive and emotional of the big three, and had a particularly potent disdain for Noxious. This was definitely going to be his riskiest project yet, and not because of the subject.

“You’re a smart kid, more than you give yourself credit for. I’m sure you can figure out how to navigate this," they sighed, ''I'll do my best to keep him away from your photography when he visits, but I can’t work miracles."

"Thanks. Hopefully, he just glances over everything and doesn't notice mine."

"As good as your project is so far… I hope so too."

Tubbo wasn’t sure he had entered the same place that he usually did into the sewers. Previously it had been, although in disrepair, a clearly concrete entrance to the sewers. Now it was overgrown as if it had been abandoned for decades. That… that couldn’t be right. It hadn’t been that long since he’d checked in on Nox.

Venturing further in, the vegetation only got thicker the closer to Nox’s home he ventured. Frankly, he'd only seen Nox make vines and flowers on a small scale in comparison to this. Did something happen?

"... Noxious?"

There was no response to him calling out to his friend. It became a whole workout clambering over the thicker and thicker vines, trying to get deeper into the sewage system. Tubbo was becoming increasingly more worried about him. He hoped he was going the right way, at this point he was navigating by the size of the vegetation.

"Nox??"

" Nnnghh -"

Tubbo pushed through the thickest clusters of vines, discovering Nox overgrown with wilting vines and flowers. Tubbo rushed to his side, brushing away as much foliage around Noxious away as he could. The villain looked exhausted, struggling to focus on Tubbo's figure above him.

"Nox what happened?"

He mumbled in response, clearly not with it. He put a hand to Noxious' forehead, having to jerk it away sharply. Nox was burning up . Thankfully not literally burning up, but the villain had managed to give himself a fever in the few days he'd not visited. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Nox on the news since before Tubbo's visit to Hermes' bar. Had… had he been suffering down here the whole time?

Fucking hell. The guy was lucky his condition had not deteriorated further, Tubbo dreaded to think what he would've found him like if he'd been any later. Tubbo dragged him over to his mattress, propping him up against the wall. He wasn't unfamiliar with treating fevers, Ranboo had fallen ill with a rough fever a couple of months back and Tubbo had to nurse him back to health. Nox needed water and rest, and lucky for him, Tubbo hadn't drunk all of his bottle yet.

Thank god by the time that Hermes had organised the meeting, Noxious had recovered. He still felt like shit, but to be fair at this point that was the normal day-to-day with him. Tubbo was still worried about him, especially with how overgrown he got when I'll, but Nox repeatedly brushed him off. They had bigger things to focus on.

His nerves were curling in his stomach like a pit of snakes. He was already coming up with a hundred what-ifs, of what the worst outcomes could be. He'd fully understand that his dad probably despised him, but he could help but chase that tiny sliver of hope that his dad would like to at least know that he was alive.

They moved under the cover of darkness, lucky as all hell that no one noticed L'manburg's most wanted slinking through the city's side alleys, a teenage boy trailing behind. Approaching the back door of the bar, there was one of the employees scrolling through his phone sitting on the back step. In the glint of his phone, the guy's eyes had a shimmer of violet to them. He barely gave the pair any mind, just gestured with his head to the door, not taking his eyes off his phone.

On entering, after a few moments they were greeted by the man who'd led him to Hermes' quarters on Tubbo's last visit, this time in a brighter lime green waistcoat. He was like a beacon in the dimly lit corridors.

"Hello, Toby Underscore and Noxious the villain!"

"Pffft Toby ?"

"Shut the fuck up Mr The Villain ." Tubbo rolled his eyes. "If you ever call me Toby I'll kill you Nox."

"Don't worry… Tobias ."

"This way!" 

The chipper man led them down a couple of winding corridors before sharply turning into a small room. Despite its size, it was furnished to the high heavens like Hermes was the richest bitch on earth. Clearly, he liked to live and work in style. The lounge in the centre of the room looked like it could sit a family. The room made Noxious look even more run down and scraggly than he already was On the far end of the room was another door.

"Noxious you can wait in here until he's ready for you." He turned to Tubbo. "Hermes managed to fulfil his end of the bargain, through that door. You've got these rooms for two hours if you need it."

"Thank you… uh-"

"Charlie," he smiled.

"Thank you, Charlie."

Charlie left them be, and Nox crumpled onto the lounge sofa, his nerves once more getting to him. Tubbo could see this, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay."

"He's going to hate me." Noxious' voice was barely a whisper.

"Maybe he will. Maybe he won't. But we're going to figure this out together, alright?"

Nox nodded, sighing. He really needed to reign in his thoughts. Just for a little while. It'd be alright…. Right?

Tubbo continued into the next room, shutting the door behind him and hoping Nox would be alright. He understood why this was getting to him. Tubbo wasn't sure how Nox's dad would react either.

This next room was more simply furnished, and sat facing away from him was the man he requested. He turned at the noise, before raising an eyebrow.

"...Little Toby?"

"I go by Tubbo nowadays," Tubbo smiled, taking a seat opposite him. "Hi, Phil."

It'd been maybe a decade since they'd last seen each other, but the recognition woke up a memory of him in Tubbo. If memory serves him right, Phil was a very patient and loving man, so perhaps this would go alright.

"Why'd you get Hermes of all people to call me here kid," he chuckled. "You do realise you could just look up my number or something?"

"I wanted something more secure than a phone line."

"Oh?"

Now, that piqued Phil's interest. What the fuck had Tubbo gotten himself into? And why as him and not Umbra? Though Hermes he could easily contact heroes, yet Tubbo called on him as a civilian.

"I know it's a rough time for you at the moment. Am… I right in thinking it's the anniversary of-"

" Yeah ," he sighed, "The boys aren't coping well, especially combined with work stress. I'm… I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Tubbo, where are you leading this?"

Tubbo took a moment to find the right words. Breaking Nox's existence to him wasn't ever going to be easy.

"What if I told you that Thomas wasn't dead."

The whole energy of the room changed. Tubbo could feel the hairs bristle on his neck. Good god, Phil.

"Tubbo. I've accepted that Tommy's gone."

"I know, and I don't want to interrupt your grieving process. But I made a discovery you're gonna want to know."

"I sware if you're into some necromancy shit-"

"Tommy is alive but not how you remember him." Tubbo interrupted. 

Phil pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing.

"Tubbo. What the fuck ."

"I don't know how he's alive, but I found him tending his wounds in the sewers a few months back."

Tubbo could see a thousand thoughts fly through Phil's head, his expression shifting slightly with each one.

" He's hurt and homeless?! " 

There was no way of reassuring Phil without saying something else that'd worry him.

"He's Noxious."

"I- what? "

Phil was not expecting that. Tommy, though annoying at times, was a sweet kid. He wouldn't put lives at risk. He cried when he stood on a ladybug once. Surely he couldn't be the same person as the man who mocked their grief and targeted innocents as a way of distracting the heroes so he could slip away.

"Tommy's a villain now."

"But… why? Is he being puppeteered by someone? And if he's bad, how'd you get close to him??"

"I don't think so," Tubbo shook his head. "He has amnesia and all he knows is fighting the heroes. And a can of beans goes a long way."

Phil went silent, unsurprisingly. It was quite the bombshell to drop, especially on his death anniversary when emotions were high. Tubbo hadn't intended it to line up, but he wanted this conversation to happen as soon as possible.

"We completely understand if you want nothing to do with him."

"We?"

"I brought Nox with me. He won't hurt you, I promise. If you want to see him, I can call him in-”

" Please ."

There was no hesitation in his voice. Tubbo would almost hear… desperation? Phil was strung taut by his hope and he felt like he was going to snap if he couldn't see his son. There were waves upon waves in his mind insisting that Tubbo was wrong, but Phil needed to see for himself. 

Had he not lost his youngest son after all? 

“Nox, you can come in!” Tubbo called out.

Noxious entered, and his expression twisted into one of confusion, while Phil, seeing Nox without his goggles on for the first time, had an expression of recognition and worry, wondering how the hell he hadn't recognised his own son sooner.

" Oh ."

“ What the fuck Phil?! You’re my dad??? ”

Chapter Text

Nox was frankly reeling. What were the chances that the man he’d been stuck in a collapsed building with was his wholeass actual father? He obviously had recognised some aspect of Nox enough to run in and try and help him, but him being his dad? Damn. He was frozen in the doorway, trying to pull any recognition from Phil but to no avail. To Noxious he was a stranger. A sliver of guilt ate away at the edge of Nox’s mind. He wanted to remember, he really did! But all he came up to was a blank slate.

It was frustrating as fuck to not be able to recall anything about him. No memory of his upbringing, their home situation, hell , Nox didn’t even know if he had any other family apart from Phil!

“How did I not figure it out sooner?”

Phil’s voice was soft though there was an audible crack in it, staring at Noxious, who was still awkwardly in the doorway. A lot had changed since Phil had last seen his youngest son in the flesh, and alive for that matter. Phil could picture him so easily. Last time his hair was much shorter, styled out of his face and violets peeking out of his locks. No matter how many times they picked flowers from Tommy’s hair, more would grow back, and in thicker patches. Tommy had a spark of mischievousness in his eyes and a bounce in his step, he was a menace to deal with and Phil loved him so much .

The contrast between Noxious and his memory of Tommy was jarring. Noxious was paper thin, his ribs probably stuck out a lot underneath those clothes, whereas Tommy had always had a healthy chub to him that he’d never shook off. Noxious’ eyes were sunken in, dark permanent bags weighing under his eyes. But those eyes, sure they’d lost the spark in them, the hope and gusto of his youth, but those were Tommy’s eyes. And that was Tommy’s smile. Teeth sharper, but his nervous smile always leant to one side of his face and brought out the kid’s dimples.

“I- I can’t believe you’re alive.”

Tommy came over and sat with Tubbo, opposite Phil, lowkey bewildered. Phil was taking the news awfully well, all things considered.

“Do… you not hate me?”

Phil looked pained at that question, flinching.

“I- no! I could never hate you, Tommy.” It felt weird being called that name. “I’m just… trying to wrap my head around this. It's not every day your dead son gets resurrected, mate. Tubbo said you have amnesia?”

Nox nodded.

“I can’t remember anything beyond six months ago, and even then the early months are pretty fuzzy by now.” Noxious shrugged. “I’m sorry I don’t remember you. Do… do I have any other family?”

“Yeah, two older brothers, Techno and Wilbur. Though I think we should build up to the fact you’re alive with them,” Phil sighed.

“They grieving pretty hard?”

“Yes, but they uh, how should I put it? They’re massive hero fans.”

“They hate me.”

"They don't!" He insisted, but Nox wasn't stupid.

"Okay, they love Tommy. They hate Noxious." Nox sighed, ignoring the ache he felt growing in his chest.

"Toms…"

"It's okay , I'm alright with that. Frankly, I thought you would hate me too. I'm a supervillain, it's kind of expected at this point."

"Why are you a villain anyway?" Phil asked, "To be frank, before you, uh died, you loved the heroes."

Oh, how the tables turn. If this wasn't a sappy reunion and all, Nox would find that pretty funny.

"I've not wanted to pry but I've been curious too. Yeah like villains are chill and all," Tubbo cut in, "But why not fight bad guys?

"Pffft, I loved heroes? Wild." Nox chuckled.

"I had no memories, but I had this… feeling? A connection to the heroes, a feeling bubbling up from an already long lost memory."

Nox shrugged.

" I had the urge to hurt them . I didn't even have a name for myself at that point. Just the call for violence. So I followed that thirst for a fight, and the rest is history."

He wasn't going to elaborate how that desire extended to wanting to kill them. The whole killing bit he honestly could deal with, but the extent of these urges terrified Nox. These were what took over when he lost control and had his blackouts. And the feeling that however the fuck he was back, he was on a ticking time limit so he had to indulge in the violence. Phil was worried as it is, and sure as hell, he wasn't going to trauma dump like this on Tubbo. He may be Noxious' only friend, but he wasn't gonna make him learn how fucked up Nox was. He could cope with all this alone.

Phil sat for a while in silence. Obviously, this was a lot for him to take in.

"Isn't it scary though?"

Phil was concerned about him. He was trying to mask his expressions, but it wasn't hard to tell he was holding himself back from smothering Noxious, being all protective and shit.

"Terrifying. I won't lie to you Phil, They've almost killed me on multiple occasions. I don't like fighting them the majority of the time. But I have to."

"Why?

Noxious' expression darkened.

"I… I can't tell you. I'm trying to figure that out myself. I just. I have to win, I don't have any other choice."

"Win or…?"

Nox shook his head, a dark and exhausted look in his eyes. It's kill or be killed. Win, or die to whatever raised him from the grave. Whenever Noxious even glanced over the thought of how he survived the collapse, any early memories from when he was conscious again, a magnitude of thick potent terror rushed over him. It was a good enough deterrent to not question why he was alive. Who or whatever brought him back, no matter how probably horrifying, was irrelevant now. The here and now was the only thing to focus on.

It felt…wrong for Phil to call him by his old name. Nox wasn't Tommy anymore. He died in that tower collapse. He may have his face and voice, maybe some of Tommy's mannerisms… but without his memories? Without Tommy's memories, Nox was a husk without a soul, an empty vessel presumably following the echoes of his last moments.

"What now?"

"Mm?"

"You know I'm not dead. What now? It's not like I can move back in with you or something."

"Why not?" Phil shrugged, humouring the idea.

"Are you kidding me? The heroes would arrest you and my brothers for harbouring a criminal. I'm pretty sure if I ever move base out of the sewers, I'll get arrested and then I'll be as good as dead."

"Are you sure Tommy? If I can ensure your safety I could get you an apartment… just something?” Phil sighed, “I… I don’t like the idea of you living in the sewers.”

“It’s not like it’s that bad down there, it could be worse.”

“Nox you have a rotten matr-”

“ Shhh Tubbo !” Nox hushed, “I don’t want to give him a heart attack from stress !”

“Too late mate,” Phil sprawled across his seat dramatically, “ Woe is me, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel -”

“Fuckin hell man,” Nox snorted, rolling his eyes, “You gotta step up your acting game.”

Nox hesitated for a bit thinking about the offer. Honestly, it would be nice to have somewhere with clean running water, heating, hell, even just somewhere to wash his clothing. But on the other hand, as run down as it was, he couldn’t abandon his home, even as shit as it was. It was his safe space, his shelter from the bullshit he dealt with above ground.

Besides, he barely knew the man. Even as a villain, it didn’t feel right to take something like that. Apartments cost a fortune in this day and age, surely that’d be pushing his bank a little far just for a teenager that didn’t even remember his own father.

“I appreciate the offer but… it’s my home. At least until my villain era is over, whenever the fuck that is.”

“That’s fair mate, as much as I stress… if you're sure then that's fine, but if you ever change your mind let me know.” Phil smiled softly. “Would you like to stay in contact, despite not remembering shit?”

“I can’t promise you I’ll be like I was as a kid, I’m barely Tommy anymore at this point… but I’d like to bigman.”

At that answer, Phil tossed something into Noxious’ lap. It was hard and plastic, Nox turned the rectangular object in his hands. A cell phone? Both Tubbo and Nox gave Phil surprised looks.

“I always carry a spare on me for emergencies,” Phil explained, “You can only text and make calls on it but it should last a while before we have to figure out a charging situation.”

A…phone. Nox hadn’t been expecting this. He wasn’t even sure he knew how to use this. It wasn’t like Phil had given him a smartphone, the old man had given him a fucking Nokia brick. If anything he could knock out the heroes with this phone. Part of him was a little hopeful with the hunk of plastic in hand. This was his lifeline to his past. Maybe they could team up to figure out what the fuck brought him back. Nox stewed on his thoughts.

“Don’t worry about charge, I can always bring batteries or some shit whenever I swing by,” Tubbo reassured. "Through I'll have to find out how the fuck you charge one of those things or whether it's battery powered."

"Do you guys not know how to use-"

"We'll figure it out, sorry in this day and age people use smartphones, old man."

"I know how to use my smartphone!" Phil protested.

"Sure, sure… keep telling yourself that."

Noxious was glad he was a villain; 

it had led him to his family.

Chapter Text

Despite the discovery of his family, Nox's day to day didn't change much. He still spent the majority of his time cooped up in his sewer, still getting targeted by the heroes whenever he left. They seemed a lot more irritable lately. He was grateful that they never seemed to intercept him when he was leaving the sewers, thank god. There’d been a couple of uncomfortably close calls, but he was confident enough that no one bar Tubbo and Ranboo knew where he called home.

Sometimes he wished that the heroes weren’t out for his head every time he left the sewers, but he knew they couldn’t help it. Noxious was exclusively theirs to fight, and if he was out and about, it was yet another chance to try their hardest to capture him. So when he was swinging through East L’Manburg and heard a chase begin behind him, he wasn’t at all surprised. A quick glance told him it was Midas and Atlas hot on his tail. 

Recently they’d been hunting him together, figuring Noxious would struggle more to fight back. They were definitely right about that, however, despite being part of the same trio of heroes, they weren’t the smoothest at working together. Nox figured they usually took instruction from Umbra, but as of late, Nox had been seeing less and less of the hero. Maybe he was getting too old for all this exercise? Or maybe he was always hidden in the shadows as a backup, in case fighting him went to complete shit.

“Is this meant to be a race or something?” Nox called out, taking a sharp corner to put a little more distance between him and them. “‘Cause if it is, I’m winning!”

“More like you’re running away,” Atlas sneered in response, “Scared, Noxious?”

“Running away? I guess you’re denser than you look, considering I was minding my own business before you goons showed up.” Nox turned in the air between vine swings, dropping just in time to miss getting hit by one of Atlas’ throwing knives. “If anything y’all should be scared. I mean what kind of hero can’t take down one measly villain? Especially when you guys are meant to be L’Manburg’s top protectors. Pathetic really, you should be embarrassed.”

“Well if you weren’t such a slippery bastard-”

Midas barely missed snatching at Nox’s arm before he began swinging again, weaving in and out, swerving around the duo’s attacks with speed. They were becoming increasingly frustrated with how Noxious continued to evade them. He was right in front of him, yet they were getting barely any hits in. Granted, neither was Noxious, but it seemed for this fight his aim seemed to be to rile the heroes up. Make them angry or emotional, and they’d start slipping up more. Honestly, Nox just knew upsetting them made the pair less coordinated so he could escape home safely.

Getting a little bored with the lack of attacks hitting, he quickly changed approach, and direction for that matter, catching Midas off guard as Nox’s heel made contact with his chin, knocking him to the ground briefly. He began to summon vines to hold Midas down but was quickly shoved away from him by Atlas.

“ Stay away from my brot- teammate Noxious.”

Brother? They’re brothers ??? Honestly, yeah he could see it, kinda.

“ Woah woah woah , slow down,” Nox rolled away from the trident as it went to impale his perfectly nice face, Midas back up and fighting, “You guys are brothers ? I guess I can kind of see the resemblance… Though Midas you have far less forehead than Atlas.”

“FUCK YOU!”

Really? Out of anything, that's what ticked Atlas off?”

“Oh insecure about that huh? Going bald? It’s okay, you’re getting on in age it will come for us eventually.”

“SHUT UP BRAT.”

“Bald-las doesn’t have that good a ring but I’m sure it’ll trend somehow.”

You'd think the heroes would be able to stay hush-hush about their identities under the mask, but Nox had always had a knack for driving them to crack. It was his duty as a villain, and hey he found tormenting them fun anyway so it was a win-win situation.

Noxious was considering other material to mess with them when his eyes lit up as he ducked around Atlas' throwing knives. Back in the shopping centre when Midas had petrified Nox's jaw and Nox had bitten him in a panic, he'd found out that Midas had killed his own brother. Did Nox actually believe the hero would murder his own brother? No, but he'd definitely blame himself completely for it. All the big three seemed like that sort of people to feel guilty even if it wasn't their fault.

"Wait if y'all are siblings," Nox redirected a stab from Atlas, shoving him against a storefront with the momentum, "Did Midas actually kill your brother?"

Atlas stumbled, caught off guard by that. He turned to his teammate in disbelief and worry.

"Midas what the fuck? If anything, it was my fault we lost him!"

"For the last time," Midas grumbled, "I'm the one who didn't check where he was, I could've saved him. Therefore, it's my fault."

"So no murder?" Nox interjected. Man, this drama was juicy.

"Fuck off asshole, we lost our little brother in an accident, that's all you need to know." 

“ Snnk sucks to be y’all ,” Noxious sneered, “Let me guess, one of the Prime Towers casualties?”

Their expressions darkened considerably. Huh, right on the money with that guess. Nox hadn't expected that these heroes lost their kid brother during the same event he'd supposedly died in. He wondered how bad the kill count of the collapse was, how many souls other than their family members were lost.

“Oh, I’m the king of guessing y’all’s backstories, pog .”

Midas went for the jugular. Luckily, Nox was anticipating this and shot out a vine, throwing himself into the air to swing about just beyond the pair's reach. Now it was time to torment them with this guilt they held.

“Oh no I can imagine how your brother felt." 

A malicious smile grew on Noxious' face. Unnoticed by all parties, his eyes began to glow a faint toxic green.

"Alone, scared, ultimately betrayed by the fact that he was probably under there for hours and no one was coming to save him."

Being the more emotional of the pair, angry tears were beginning to well up in Altas' eyes. Both their attacks were getting sloppier, as they kept missing Nox more and more.

"Do you think he screamed his throat out raw for you guys? Cried himself to exhaustion? Or maybe he bled out long before he could get help, I’m sure being crushed by a building hurts like a motherfucker."

" Noxious stop ," Midas growled.

"Maybe he held out hope till the end, only to have that extinguished and crushed-"

While the heroes had been distracted by his cruel words, Noxious had been growing some giant buds. They were like big 'ol smoke bombs, circling the area.

"Or what? You'll kill me like your brother? Too late for that, you've already failed to crush me with a building."

They both went to attack him, but he wasted no time in ducking away and initiating his escape. Noxious set off the smoke bomb buds, filling the area with thick disorientating gas. Midas and Atlas already had air-filtering masks, but that didn’t help with the visibility issue. Nox didn't waste any time making his escape. By the time they'd moved through their anger and looked for him, Nox would be long gone.

___

It was a week after reuniting that Phil and Nox met up again. Noxious had a learning curve with figuring out the brick of a phone the old man had given him, but he got the hang of it soon enough. They met up nearby one of the sewer's cleaner exits, Phil greeting him with a change of clothes in hand.

"Dude you didn't need to get me new clothes bigman," Nox smiled, "I recently got some new hoodies, they'll last me a while."

"Firstly, you deserve more than one intact outfit… and two? You're far too recognisable, kid."

Nox couldn't deny Phil had a point there. His ragged hoodie and bandana were easily clocked as his, he'd never had a need to walk around in disguise before. It’s not like he’d had the resources to do so before.

"Fiiiine give them here before I change my mind and decide to reject your gift."

Nox returned to the sewer to change. Phil had gotten him a pair of black jeans, a burgundy t-shirt (looked like some band merch? The white cat band mascot was vaguely familiar), a black denim jacket, some black trainers and a red face mask. Nox couldn't deny, he felt cool as fuck in this outfit. He didn't expect to get much use of the mask, he understood it was to hide his full face when hanging out with Phil, but he didn't need it against the heroes. The denim on the other hand? It would definitely take more hits than his cotton hoodies.

Phil didn't try to mask his smile as Nox re-emerged in his new outfit. With a fresh set of clothes, he looked far less like skin and bones. Before they left for town, Phil did try to wrangle the bush Nox called hair. It didn't seem like it'd been brushed since he was revived, and it was a dead giveaway for his identity. 

Phil was sure it'd revert to its mess within a day, so there was no harm in restyling it to the best of his ability. Nox was patient with his father as he picked the larger leaves out of his hair, before pulling it back and tying it in a plait at the back. He'd never been able to plait his hair when he'd been alive, he'd never had long enough hair, so it was a nice change to Techno's long hair.

As embarrassing as it was, Nox clung to Phil as they made their way through town. Usually, by now someone would have attacked him, and he saw no sign of any heroes. It was seriously putting him on edge. Phil just found it endearing.

“Are you sure I won’t get recognised?”

The boisterous loud villain was… nervous. He couldn’t care less if he was recognised, but he was more worried about the repercussions that would have on Phil. He was the one who wanted to reconnect with him and didn’t want his dad to be wrapped up in his bullshit.

“I’m sure. Besides I’m pretty sure the SBI are the only heroes allowed to fight you.”

Nox raised an eyebrow at that. He was aware that only those top three were the ones to fight him, he’d figured that he was their prey to hunt.

“ Allowed? I thought it was just an honour system that they’d claimed me or some shit.”

“Nah mate,” Phil explained, “I don’t know most of the details because they weren’t released to the public, obviously, but being the top-ranked heroes means they can close off villains from the other heroes. I think six months back they did that with the villain Dream?”

That name made cold shivers run down his back. He had no memory of the fellow villain, but the crawling in his gut told him the guy was bad news. He could vaguely recall seeing a brief news clip about him still being locked away in Pandora. God, they were probably going to throw him in there too when he was inevitably caught.

“They claimed him, but also got another high-rank hero from another city to help bring him in, Grian from Hermitcraft. Honestly, I’m surprised they haven’t gotten help to capture you yet.”

“They’re prideful bastards, they can’t catch me which is embarrassing enough, but asking for help? That’s basically admitting defeat.”

“You think so?” Phil mused.

“Hmm, maybe not Umbra, he seems older and more responsible than the other two, but GOD I cannot imagine Atlas and Midas putting their pride aside for the greater good . But if they did? They’d better ask for someone cool.”

“Like?”

Nox paused. Did he actually know of any other heroes? He could vaguely recall some lower-level ones, though he didn’t remember any of their names. He doubted they could take him down anyway, seeing as the SBI was useless against him.

“I dunno, I barely know of the other cities never mind the heroes in Essempi. I may still have some common sense memory, but I still don’t have my previous knowledge. I’ve only seen a couple of people on the news. Maybe Stratos from Empire City? Or HotGuy from Hermitcraft? Never mind about him actually, I’ve decided he’s too cringe for me.”

“Pfft just like that? Throwing HotGuy away?”

“Yep. Needs a rebranding to be cool like me.”

Phil chuckled at that as they turned a corner. They were approaching a bowling alley, from the distance they were at he could see that it was vaguely pirate themed, it was cute I guess. Nox wasn't actually sure that he could bowl. Maybe he had muscle memory? 

Bowling had to wait a bit as Phil swore under his breath before turning to Noxious.

“My dumbass has left my wallet at home. Would you mind if we swung around mine for a minute? I only live a couple of blocks away.”

“You live in the city centre of L’Manburg? Isn’t it expensive as shit?”

“Yeah but it’s convenient, so we make do.”

Noxious called bullshit as they walked into the apartment lobby. It looked fancy as fuck, clearly his family was made of money. Wonderful, he’d feel even more out of place . He was just glad no one seemed to pay any attention to them as they bee-lined straight to the elevator and went to the floor Phil’s family lived on.

Entering his apartment? Yeah. Phil was dumb if he thought this was simply just a humble abode. In the living room alone they had a beautiful view of the city, walls lined with more books than they could read, and a fucking chandelier . It wasn’t big but man Nox had to try his best to not show his thoughts on his face. He took a seat on one of the sofas arranged around the room as he waited for Phil to grab his money.

God, it felt awkward silently sitting there waiting for him. He didn’t know what to do with himself. He, even more, didn’t know what to do when a tall gruff guy walked in and did a double take seeing what looked like a kid in their home. Nox tried to not show how nervous this stranger made him as he came in. He was tall as fuck, his thick rose-coloured hair plaited, and Nox had to look twice to confirm the fact the guy had some bones shoved into said plait. What the fuck.

The man sat opposite him for a full minute, Nox sweating buckets. He couldn’t tell if this guy had a resting bitchface or whether he hated him already.

"You don't talk much?"

Oh, fuck oh shit what does he say? What if he recognised his raspy voice as Noxious? Nox's hands moved, his muscle memory kicking in. He obviously had no memory of learning sign language, but Tommy apparently did.

"Selectively mute," Noxious signed at the big man, before flipping him off, hoping that if he didn't understand sign language that he'd understand being flipped the bird.

"Oh!" Okay, it seemed this guy knew sign language then, before chucking at being flipped off. Seemed like the scary expression was just his resting bitch face. Coolio, good to know. "Why, uh, are you here?"

“ Phil .”

“Oh, dad’s picked another kid off the streets.” He rolled his eyes. Was this some sort of inside joke he wasn’t in on?

Wait…Dad? 

Oh, Nox should have probably clicked who this was sooner. This was one of his hero-loving siblings! Wonderful. Great. Nox was vague.

“Yeah, he’s chill. Forgot his wallet, he should be back in a minute.”

In signing that, it was like he was summoned, thank god. Nox was glad Phil returned at that point. He was pretty sure he couldn't bullshit for very long, and honestly had no clue how to talk to his brother.

“Ah, Techno! I didn’t realise you were home still mate! Did Wilbur leave early for work?”

Nox could relax a little as the focus was pulled away from him, even for a few seconds.

“Yeah, he was itching to go and get the paperwork done I guess.”

“I see you two have got acquainted, I hope you were nice.”

“Heh? Why wouldn’t I be?”

“ Phil told me you’re a hero fan. ” Nox signed, cutting in. Phil didn’t seem surprised at all to see him signing instead of speaking.

Techno gave Phil a confused look.

“You… don’t?”

“ No? Am I required to like hero fanboy or some shit? ”

“No don’t worry kid, it’s just not common. You do you I guess,” Techno shrugged.

“We gotta get going now, we’re going bowling but I’ll be back to make y’all dinner.”

Nox got up to go follow Phil out.

“See ya dad, and…?”

“ Hemlock .” 

“Bye Hemlock, hope my dad doesn’t kick your ass too badly at bowling!”

The pair was silent until they’d left the apartment block. Nox was still sweating buckets.

“Hemlock?” Phil raised an eyebrow.

“I panicked okay? What am I meant to tell him? I’m Noxious? I’m Tommy? ” Nox fumbled, “Hopefully? He just thinks I’m non-binary or something and that's why I picked a random ass name and doesn’t think too deeply into fact Hemlocks poisonous and shit.”

“ Are you non-binary?”

“I- I don’t think so? I don’t have time to unpack my gender right now dude I’m literally a supervillain-”

Chapter Text

Noxious couldn’t deny he was nervous entering Captain’s Cove Bowling Alley. He’d expected Phil to take him somewhere less… populated. This change of clothes couldn’t fool everyone, he was sure someone was going to recognise him and fuck their bonding time up. Upbeat miscellaneous pop music echoed through the establishment, contrasting with his high-strung worry. He couldn’t understand why Phil wasn’t the littlest bit stressed about getting caught. Maybe it was a thing with adults, pushing away their worry and just accepting what happens. Nox wasn’t sure, but still being a teenager, he decided he was allowed to be at least a little stressed over this.

Phil waved at the woman who stood at the front desk of the bowling alley. She had thick curly white hair, streaks of various colours of the rainbow peeking through, all underneath a leather captain’s hat. Nox figured all of the staff had to stick to the theme, but this lady looked like she probably dressed all flouncy and theatrical like this as a lifestyle choice. He couldn’t deny it suited her. Her eyes sparkled at Phil’s wave. Evidently, Phil was a regular here or something.

“Phil!” She smiled as they approached. “You’ve got the day off work?”

“I do, a rarity I know,” he chuckled, “But I wanted to get Hemlock here out and about for a bit. Figured bowling was as good of an activity as anything.”

“Phil if you miss me or any of my kids you can just come round, we’re happy to have you,” she rolled her eyes, “You don’t need to make excuses.”

“Puffy I’m not-”

“ Day off work? I thought you were in a retirement home ,” Noxious signed, his eyes giving away his devious grin under his mask. Puffy seemed to also know sign language, and she had to stifle a laugh. Phil caught her laugh though, turning to Nox with raised eyebrows.

“Don’t do this to me Hemlock, I’m not that old,” Phil pleaded, mock betrayal in his voice.

Nox shrugged.

“ Could’ve fooled me .”

That was settled. No matter how Phil was trying to get to know the current version of his son, he was going to absolutely wipe the floor with him in bowling. He should learn to be less cheeky, at least not to his father.

“Phil I don’t think we have any of your size bowling shoes up front, but I think there’s some out back if you want to grab you and Hemlock some shoes." Puffy nodded towards a door labelled employees only. Evidently, he was trusted and well-known enough to just wander into staff spaces, huh. "I can take Hemlock to pick out some balls and to set up nicknames on the screen.”

Phil left Nox in the capable hands of Puffy, who helped him pick out some bowling balls. He was completely lost at the difference in why you’d pick different weighted balls, but Puffy was patient with him. Then she led him over to an empty alley to set their game up.

"Give me a signal if he gets too overbearing."

" This isn’t new to you is it ?”

"No, not by a long shot. He sees a teen in need and goes dad-mode on them,” Puffy chuckled, smiling softly, “He’s managed to actually scare a couple away being… well, him.”

“ I don’t think I need to be worried about him scaring me off, ” Nox shrugged, “ It’s the other way around. ”

“Phil isn’t easily scared off, especially when he gets attached.”

“ Yeah, well I’m a handful so I won't blame him if he can’t deal with me .” Noxious turned to the input screen. “ Can I call him Old Man ?”

“Your funeral,” she shrugged, chuckling as she spotted Phil returning with two pairs of bowling shoes in hand.

Wouldn’t be my first funeral Nox thought.

Mx Eret had been right.

Atlas saw his Noxious project and wanted to speak to him after school.

Fuck.

“I’m uh, honoured you want to talk one on one with me?” Tubbo was trying to not make it obvious he was sweating buckets. Sure he respected Altas’ heroism, but he was also Noxious’ friend. “So, you wanted to speak to me?”

“Thank you for coming back here Tubbo, I’m sure you’re a busy guy, even after school,” Atlas paced around the room slowly, weaving through the tables. “I’ll cut to the chase, your photography project piques my interest.”

God, there it was. Both he and Mx Eret had expected it, but that didn’t prevent Tubbo’s heart from beginning to race. God, he was not built for conflict or stress.

“Y-yeah I kind of expected that with my subject and all…”

“These are quite realistic, they look just like Noxious!” Atlas’ expression didn’t change as he said this. “How’d you get your model to look so accurate? Since no one could possibly get this close to the dude unscathed.”

Tubbo was praying his expression didn’t give him away, but he was pretty sure he couldn’t hide the truth from Atlas.

“You know, I t-took a lot of references from the news and pieced together details-”

“Tubbo, your ears turn red when you lie,” Atlas smiled, and god that smile was intimidating.

Shit.

“Fine, you got me,” Tubbo grimaced. He was royally fucked. “My model is Noxious.”

“Why’d you feel the need to lie to me Tubbo? I’m not a threat to you?”

“I don’t know, maybe because I’ve been up close taking pictures of a supervillain? That’s not exactly kosher?”

“True, but I’m not gonna harm you or report you or anything for that, yet . Besides, you’re not a threat, your powerset isn’t exactly strong.”

Tubbo recoiled, backing up.

“ You know my powers??! ”

“For security reasons, I looked up everyone’s powers in each class I visited in L’Manburg’s database.” Atlas shrugged, not bothered by how horrified Tubbo looked from discovering his privacy had been violated. “I’m sure that there are applications to use your power for, don’t get me wrong I’m not trying to put you down or something. But you don’t pose a threat to me with it so-” He shrugged.

“Anyway, you’re going to tell me how and where,” Atlas hopped up casually onto one of the tables to sit while remaining towering over Tubbo.

“Or?”

“We get authorities involved, and I’m sure they’d believe their beloved hero when he says that this kid knows where to find Noxious.”

Lovely. He doesn’t really have a choice in this, did he? As intimidating as Atlas was though, Tubbo held his resolve. He was one stubborn motherfucker.

“I dunno bossman,” Tubbo jumped up to sit on an adjacent table, desperately trying to cling to his cool. “Threatening me isn’t very heroic, ya know?”

“You’re avoiding my question Tobias Underscore.” God, he was full-naming Tubbo now, great. Wonderful. “Why are you protecting Noxious’ whereabouts?”

“He’s trying to figure out shit at the moment, I’m not going to add me betraying him to the list too.”

Atlas rolled his eyes at that.

“So you’re friends with the monster.”

“Oh fuck off Atlas it’s not as black and white as you want it to be.” Shit, he just swore at a superhero. “Just because he’s an asshole to the SBI doesn’t mean he’s an asshole to everyone.”

“He’s a threat to L’Manburg.”

“Threat, my ass. He cried over baked beans a few weeks back. OooOoo so terrifying.”

Tubbo stared back at Atlas for what felt like an eternity, holding his ground. He was doing the right thing, he was sure of it, even though he was doing the wrong thing according to the law and heroes. Noxious needed to figure out his past, and why he was a villain in the first place. Tubbo wasn’t going to mess with this, not as long as he could help it.

Atlas made the first move, reaching for Tubbo’s arm. He jerked it away, jumping off the table. He was likely trying to use his gravity manipulation on him to immobilise Tubbo. If Atlas was willing to go the hard way to get Tubbo’s information, he was going to have to work for it.

“Tubbo. Do the right thing.”

“I am.”

Tubbo was definitely not equipped to go head-to-head against a superhero, and definitely not one of the best in L’Manburg. But he was a stubborn bastard, and he wasn’t going to let Atlas have what he wanted. He’d promised not to start a fight in Mx Eret’s classroom, so his aim honestly was to run as far as he could.

He didn’t have his camera on him, so he couldn’t freeze the hero to get out of this situation. But he did have his phone in his pocket, and at this point, he would take what he could get. He scrambled across the classroom, putting as much distance as he could between Atlas and him. Atlas was blocking the door and his escape.

It did occur to him that if he escaped now, Atlas could easily enough look up where Tubbo lived, and intercept him there instead. He’d have to lay low, and definitely text Ranboo to stay out of their home for a little while. He’d sort that out when he was safe. The focus right now was getting out of his Photography classroom.

Tubbo ran straight at Atlas all of a sudden, flashing his phone’s light in his eyes. He flinched at the sudden brightness, before freezing. Bingo. Tubbo knew he didn’t have long till Atlas would begin to chase him again, being a high-ranked hero he figured he’d resist his powers strongly. Tubbo’s powers may not be any good to attack people with, but it was damn good to get out of situations with.

Tubbo ran. Of course, he tried to make it look like he was running for a late bus, rather than for his life, but nevertheless, he ran. He took every back road he could imagine, texting Ranboo to take a few days away from home.

Man, Phil didn't hold back against Nox. He'd expected the old man to go easy on him, but instead, he absolutely decimated Noxious in bowling. The supervillain could go toe to toe with the city’s most powerful and respected heroes and survive, but against his father in a simple game of bowling? He had no chance.

“Couldn’t you have gone easy on me?” Noxious whined as they left the bowling alley, giving Puffy a wave on the way out.

“Absolutely not,” Phil grinned, “Not my fault you suck at bowling.”

“Phil!”

“I’m just saying how it is,” he shrugged in response.

They had slipped into whatever dynamic this was effortlessly as if it was a puzzle piece that had just slipped into place. Sure, Nox may not have any memory of his life with Phil and his family, but from what he could tell he was sliding into the spot Phil had for Tommy in his heart quickly. It was just muscle memory how they joked about on the way back to Phil’s apartment. 

Phil had invited Tommy over for dinner, and although he was still cautious of his hero-loving siblings, try as he might he couldn’t turn down free food.

Techno greeted them as they returned, sprawled across one of the couches in the living room, invested in the book he was reading. Nox still felt out of place in such a richly furnished apartment, he had to remind himself that he was welcome there.

As much as he wanted to stay by Noxious' side as much as possible to make up for the time he'd lost with him, Phil needed to prepare dinner, Wilbur was due home any minute now. 

Phil passed Nox the family switch as he wandered off to the kitchen to get started. To be honest, Nox was unfamiliar with the console. It's not exactly like he had the money to buy one of these. Honestly, he was kinda scared he'd break it.

He booted up Mario kart. Really, he was eying up Animal Crossing but he didn’t want to mess with their island, so Mario kart it was. He sat across from Techno, getting acquainted with the controls and the characters. Lucky for his affinity for Animal Crossing, there were DLC characters from it on here, so he was now a proud Isabelle main. Techno eventually put his book down a few races in.

“Mind if I join you Hemlock?”

Nox buffered for a moment before remembering oh shit that’s my alias here isn’t it.

“ Sure, could do with some competition ,” He signed, “ The CPU is dogshit .”

Nox docked the switch, the game screen transferring to their TV, and then tossed Techno a pair of joy-cons. With how serious Techno generally seemed, Nox had expected him to try and go for a strong-looking character or something. Techno picked Toadette. I mean, their hair matched I guess?

Man, this family did not go easy on him, not Phil and now not Techno. He’d lowered his guard against the computer-controlled characters, but he was struggling to keep up with his brother. He was an aggressive player, every time Noxious got into first place, Techno was right behind him, pelting green shells and bananas at him. On the final race, Noxious was actually taking a significant lead, drifting across Rainbow Road. That was until the front door slammed open, making him jump and veer off the side of the course, giving Techno ample time to overtake and return to the lead.

“Fucking hell, never get me to talk to teenagers while on the job again, tried talking to an interesting student and the bitchass ran away from me!”

In walked in a tallass stick of a man, a mop of brown curls framing his face and a pair of circle wireframes upon his nose. He paused in the doorway, registering that there was a visitor here, before closing the front door and disappearing elsewhere to put his shit away. Ah, this must be his other brother Phil had mentioned. Wilbur was it?

Nox was curious, and there seemed no risk in asking, so while they were setting up the new round he dug for information.

“ What’s Phil’s job ?”

“We work in the hero tower,” Techno answered nonchalantly.

“ You all do? Damn .”

God, that answered why they were hero fans, they had to be to keep their jobs! Nox dreaded to think how one could survive surrounded by so many heroes, the idea was suffocating. Not that he’d ever get that close to the hero tower. The day he stepped a foot into the building was the day he’d die, or at least wish he was dead.

“ Can’t the heroes do their own paperwork? ” Nox rolled his eyes as he signed. “ Not saying I wish y’all to lose your jobs -”

“Nah you’re right,” Techno chuckled, “The sheer amount of times Atlas’ paperwork has given me papercuts drives me mad. They’re the worst.”

“ Papercuts or Atlas ?”

Techno’s grin grew.

“Yes.”

Okay, Nox mentally noted that down. This may have been a house of hero fanatics due to their line of work, but they did have preferences for their heroes. And clearly, Atlas wasn’t at the top of Techno’s list. Good to know. At this point the newcomer had put his coat and bag away, plopping himself on a beanbag in the corner and making himself comfy.

“Are you guys besmirching the name of the best member of the SBI in front of me?”

“Who’s to say, Wilbur, who’s to say?” Techno shrugged, but he was grinning.

“Tech you’re meant to be a better example to kids!” Wilbur gestured to Nox.

“ Fuck you I’m seventeen !”

“Seventeen? You look barely fifteen tops. He keeps finding them younger and younger.”

Noxious gave him the middle finger before signing again.

“ Puffy mentioned he does this regularly? ” He gestured to himself being here rather than, you know, anywhere else.

Wilbur perked up, but completely ignored Nox’s question.

“Oh! He took you bowling? He hasn’t done that one in a while.”

Ok so he didn’t outright say it, but that was enough confirmation. Although he was Phil’s blood, this wasn’t the first time he’d picked up a rough kid off the streets or something.

“Yeah and absolutely kicked my ass, rude old man,” Nox shook his head. “Phil gave me no mercy.”

A laugh bubbled from both brothers. He could picture himself getting along with these guys. Sure he didn’t remember being brothers with him, but they seemed easy enough to figure out. Techno was gruff but he was pretty chill under his don’t mess with me aura. Wilbur was more openly laid back, but judging by his entrance, was easily irritated, but he was easy to bounce off of. Noxious wondered where Tommy fit in their family dynamic.

Techno tossed Wilbur a pair of joy-cons and he too joined the Mario Kart game, driving about as Luigi. Racing against Techno was difficult enough, but the pair of them were definitely a force to be reconned with. Not gonna lie, it ended up moreso being Wilbur versus Techno, as Noxious was stuck repeatedly in third and fourth place.

The smell of pancakes wafted in from the kitchen, making Nox's stomach rumble. They didn't talk a lot while racing, besides his hands were occupied when they were playing. After being thoroughly curb-stomped by his brothers, they just lounged about chatting, waiting for food to be ready.

One thing led to another and the trio ended up on the subject of heroes. Noxious was trying his damn best not to give away that he had a vendetta against the SBI.

" Y'all are stuck working for the heroes, have a favourite hero ?"

"Hmm, in the hero tower, or in general?” Wilbur mused. “In general I’d probably say Poultry Man, I know he's not an active vigilante anymore in Hermitcraft, and his whole bird get-up is kind of silly, but he's a really respectable hero.”

"The Captain. I know she’s retired and shit, but I reckon she’s my favourite.” Techno shrugged. “Who’s your favourite then Hemlock?”

" Honestly I'm gonna go with The Captain too, I grew up with fans of her so I can't not say The Captain ."

Nox was lying through his teeth, he had no fucking clue who The Captain was, but the pair seemed clueless to his lies so he rolled with it.

"You have good taste, better than Wilbur."

"Hey!"

Wilbur shoved his brother, who couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Controversial question," Techno followed up, "Least favourite hero?"

Noxious didn't hesitate.

“ Midas hands down .”

“Not Umbra?” Wilbur raised an eyebrow, “He can travel through shadows and shit, not traditionally a hero’s power.”

“ Sure that’s spooky, ” Noxious shrugged, ” But Midas can petrify you. Now that’s terrifying. I dread to think what it’s like for all the wrong-uns he’s full-body turned to gold. ”

“Petrification’s…scary?” Techno questioned, like he’d never considered a hero’s power to be frightening before.

“ Uh yeah??? I’m sure he only freezes them at surface level, but not being able to move? Especially for an extended amount of time? Euuugh . ”

“Huh, I’ve never seen it that way.”

They’d started looking at Nox differently during this conversation, but Nox paid it no mind. Why were they looking at him a little apprehensively you may ask? Well, little did Nox know, but his eyes had begun to glow bright green.

“ Yeah well you two and Phil are stuck around heroes 24/7 probably, of course, they wouldn’t be scary to you ." Nox rolled his eyes, not noticing Wilbur frantically messaging Phil to get his ass over here. " You’re desensitised to seeing their powers at this point. I on the other hand am better than you guys and barely get to interact with them. ”

At that point, Phil walked into the room, hesitating midstep as a realisation washed over him seeing Nox's eyes like that. Noxious didn't miss Phil's body language and expression, immediately tensing.

" What's wrong ?"

The three of them looked at each other, communicating silently, before turning back to Nox.

"Hemlock," Wilbur spoke up first, "Have you heard of the villain Dream?"

Nausea and panic rose up his throat at the name. He'd never interacted with the villain as far as he could remember, Dream had been locked up in Pandora before Noxious had begun being active. Yet Nox couldn't explain the pure dread and terror seeping into his being just from hearing the name.

"W-what about him?" He barely whispered, no longer able to focus on signing.

"His power is called Ensnared. It's like a form of mind control, but he makes his victims believe they're behaving voluntarily," Phil continued.

"The giveaway of someone influenced by him… is glowing green eyes." Techno explained. "It looks like talking about Midas triggered it to manifest."

Nox had started backing up, the fear clearly leaking into his expression. He'd trusted Phil so far, but they all worked for the heroes. Having any sort of association with Dream was bound to get him handed in.

"Are- are you gonna h-hand me in?" Nox squeaked as he backed up against the window.

"No no no, of course not," Phil reassured him, "You're not at fault for whatever he's made you do. You're safe here, I promise."

As if by magic, all three of their phones started going off, eyes widening at the realisation of what the alert meant. They scrambled up as Nox watched, still frozen by the window.

"Hemlock, stay here, there's a work emergency and we gotta go." They all made a beeline to the door. "Help yourself to the pancakes, we'll be back soon hopefully."

With that, Nox was left unsupervised in the apartment. What was it that made the trio up and leave so quickly?

Well, Dream had just vanished from Pandora.

Chapter Text

Noxious wasn’t sure what to do with himself. They left him so abruptly, with little instruction other than stay here and eat pancakes. I mean he sure as fuck was going to eat those pancakes before they went cold, but that didn't make him feel any less awkward.

He was curious what had gone wrong so bad at the hero tower that warranted clerical staff to rush over. Maybe a hero had royally fucked up, and they needed all hands on deck to cover it up? He wouldn't put it past them.

Nox grabbed a hefty stack of pancakes, not particularly worried about taking too many. The tringe of worry was buried under his hunger anyway, if they didn’t want him eating most of them, they shouldn’t have left him unattended in the apartment with all this food. He tried a bit of maple syrup on one, but frankly with his lack of regular food, it was far to sweet for Tommy to have much of it. He opted to just shovel as many plain pancakes as he could into his mouth without choking on them.

Eventually he cut himself off of the pancakes, having shredded through half of the pile easily. It was weird being left to his own devices here. He wasn’t sure what was and wasn’t allowed. He found himself drifting back towards the switch, ending up distracting himself for a few hours before his phone vibrated, a message from Phil coming through.

Old Man

<You still at the apartment right?>

Big Man

<Of course. Shit going down at the hero tower?>

Old Man

<You could say that, though obviously what’s going on is classified.>

Big Man

<Booooo ur no fun>

Old Man

<Stay at the apartment for the night? None of us will be able to wrap this up for a while, and I want you safe mate>

Big Man

<I can handle myself>

Old Man

<I know, but please? >

Big Man

<...>

<Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.>

As much as he wanted to rebel against his wishes just for the hell of it, he wasn't in the mood to give the old man a heart attack. Besides, what other opportunities would he get to sleep in a proper bed?

Before even considering sleeping, Nox was going to explore. This apartment was lavish as fuck and Noxious was nosey. He probably wasn't allowed to go into anyone's rooms, but that wasn't going to stop him, he'd just apologize later if needed. Besides, he couldn't just see the kitchen and living space.

Part of him expected the doors to be locked, but all of the rooms gave no resistance to opening. Honestly the first side room he entered was pretty boring. He'd expected that they'd leave work… at work, but here he was in what he assumed was Phil's office space. It was less expensively furnished, just a basic desk and chair, some bookshelves and some indoor plants. There was a single framed photo on the desk. It was clearly taken a long time ago, time taking its toll on the creases and edges of the photo. It was of their family, Phil, Wilbur, Techno, and a toddler Tommy. There was also a woman standing with Phil. He assumed that was their mother, who clearly had been out of the picture for a long time, otherwise Phil would've mentioned something about her.

Putting it back in its spot on the table, he moved onto snooping through the next room. At first, he had assumed it was a library, but on further inspection, this was one of his brother's bedrooms. The majority of the room was filled with bookcases, a bunch of myths and classical literature filling it from floor to ceiling. The idea reading such big books would give Nox a headache.

Hidden in a book beside onde bookshelf was a brewing set up, various ingredients strewn across the small table. Nox was pretty sure they were extremely illegal, but I guess working at the hero tower had its perks. His eye was drawn to the bed, where half slid under it was a crate of… golden apples? One of those could heal up any of his injuries instantly. Maybe not the older ones but… no. Noxious forced himself from the room, the temptation to break into the apple supply too tempting to risk being in there any longer.

The next couple of rooms he didn't really dwell on, just a bathroom and a basic looking bedroom, which he assumed was Phil's room. Adults had such boring rooms.

His other brother's room was far less packed with things. Sure he had his fare share of stuff he kept in his room, but it wasn't hundreds of books, just trinkets here and there, a guitar led in the corner of the room. There was a shred of familiarity to this room, Nox couldn't really place what it was, but evidently Tommy had visited his brother's room a lot when he was alive.

If the previous room gave him a sliver of familiarity, the last room gave him an undeniable kick of it. He still lacked any memories of being Tommy, but his gut told him that this used to be his room, untouched by time due to the family's grief.

The room was bright and cheerful, splashes of red and yellow filling the room. A white red and white t-shirt long abandoned on the back of his chair, a little nerf gun on the bedside table, ready to whip out and shoot his brothers or dad if they intruded, a small plushy cow, well loved…

Nox frowned. He'd gotten his hopes up coming in here, praying that it was trigger something in him, but despite all these items that probably meant something to Tommy, Noxious was still coming up blank. It was frustrating as fuck. Sure, Nox wasn't Tommy anymore, he was his own person now, but that didn't negate the fact that he'd at least like to know who he was before.

Fuck this. He left his old bedroom grumbling, and ended up making a home in Phil's bed, he was sure the old man wouldn't mind. He couldn't remember ever sleeping is such a soft warm bed and quickly passed out.

It was disorientating waking up in an actual bed, but Nox couldn't deny it was nice. He'd miss this when he returned to the sewers, but he couldn't risk the heroes targeting his family to get to him. As much as he wanted to, staying wasn't an option, especially when he could feel his time was running out. Not yet… but if he didn't kill the big three soon, Nox was sure it was going to end badly for him.

The family didn't return in the morning, so Noxious helped himself to some dry cereal and some more time on the switch. He honestly was planning to stay here until either Phil kicked him out or when they returned. However, the world had other ideas. 

He was made jump as an emergency siren went off within the flat complex.

// EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT: CODE AMBER. DEFENSIVE SHUTTERS LOWERING. PLEASE STAY INDOORS AND WAIT FOR FURTHER SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS. //

The fuck? Clearly some serious shit was really going down if the security measures were being activated in this fancy-ass flats.

SHMMMMPT!

The sound of sliding metal echoed through the room. Oh. Defensive shutters meant wholeass metal shutters were going down over every window. He'd be stuck in here. As much as he loved the place, every instinct in him was telling him to run. Being stuck in one place, even in a place as grand as this, was claustrophobic.

He dropped the switch on the couch, scrambling to the window. Before he could even try opening it his view of the outside world was abruptly cut off. Fuck, so out the window was a no go then. 

Nox ran out of the apartment, avoiding the elevator, electing to jump down the stairwell, using his vines to slow his descent enough not to hurt himself, but fast enough to be ahead of the shutters. He burst out of the stairwell into the empty reception, sprinting out of the doors before the metal shuttered lowered over the entrance. Fucking hell. Nox doubled over, wheezing to catch his breath a second, when he suddenly got a text.

Old Man

<You still in the apartment??>

Big Man

<Fuck no the shutters came down so I fucked off>

Old Man

<Fuck.>

Big Man

<???>

Old Man

<Prime almighty, stay out of trouble mate. It's not safe out at the moment.>

<Keep me posted where you're at? >

Big Man

<Fiiine>

It was weird to be out in public and not get immediately recognised and chased down by a hero, but besides his disguise, the heroes were probably preoccupied with whatever bullshit was going down at the moment. Nox didn't bother taking advantage that they were distracted, he just wanted to go back to his sewer and relax for a bit.

When he got to the entrance for the sewers, he changed back into his ratty old clothes. As comfortable as the clothes Phil bought him, he didn't want to dirty them and make it clear to his brothers how little clothing he owned. They didn't need to know he was homeless. He didn't want their pity.

For the first five minutes sat on his rotten mattress, everything was normal, but then his stomach dropped. He couldn't hear anyone moving through the sewers, but all of a sudden everything felt wrong. He got up, looking around for the source of his distress for a moment to no avail. He was safe here, it was fine. There was nothing bad in the sewers, in his home.

"So this is where you've been hiding."

Noxious practically jumped out of his skin, scrambling forward, away from the voice. Suddenly behind him was the worst supervillain in L'Manburg; Dream. He looked worse than the photos he'd seen on the news frankly. His long dirty blonde hair was ratty and matted, obscuring most of his face. What he could see made his stomach churn. Deep in his sunken eye sockets were glowing sickly green eyes, a look of superiority shining in them. A deep crescent scar, cracked and raw what's across his mouth and cheeks, a fucked up version of a smile permanently across his face.

Behind him was… was that Ranboo? His eyes seemed blank and distant, a purple glow coming from them. Fuck. Dream obviously had Ranboo under his thumb, and Nox didn't know whether Ranboo had powers, but could assume he's the reason Dream appeared out of nowhere. Did Tubbo know that Ranboo was involved in this shit?

"Now that I've found you again Thomas, I'm not letting you out of my sight again."

"Fu-fuck that, we're both villains," Nox stuttered. "You do your shit and I will do mine. Separately."

"You're only a villain because I sent you to kill your family, and you can't even do that." Dream sneered, stepping closer to Noxious. The closer he got, the more Nox's head began to spin. "You don't get to slip from my grasp again.”

"Fuck you, I’m not doing anything for you anymore.”

"You're not meant to have free will; you're a corpse Thomas. I'm going to love taking you apart again to figure out why."

Yeah no, fuck this. He'd lost the safety of his home in these sewers, and he wasn't willing to become a science experiment again. As Dream tried to grab him, Nox leaped out of the way, sprinting around the corner and away from danger.

It wasn't that easy, as Ranboo began teleporting around him, trying to grab him. Noxious found himself ducking and weaving, shooting through the sewers at high speed with Ranboo hot on his tail.

Through some miracle, Nox managed to breach the sewers, and Ranboo didn't seemingly follow, thank Prime. He kept running though. During his life or death sprint there, he'd made a decision.

He was going to hand himself in. As much as a death sentence that was, it was better than what Dream was planning for him.

Nox… Nox didn't want to die. Or I guess die again. But he had picked the lesser of the two evils.

He barely noticed that he had started crying, his body having a delayed reaction to the fear of almost getting caught, as he swung through L'Manburg, trying to find the big three. They weren't hard to find, their costumes recognisable. He timed his swing and launched himself over to beside them

"Heroes!" Noxious landed, skidding to a halt. "I k-know that you won't believe me, but I'm turning myself-"

Atlas clearly had expected Nox to dodge, but his fist made impact, knocking Nox to the ground, his goggles clattering across the concrete. He hit the ground hard, winded.

"Fu-fuck," He wheezed, wiping at his tears. "Yeah I guess I sh-should've seen t-that com-coming."

He shakily rose, raising his hands to show he wasn't here to fight, still partially hunched over in pain.

"You c-can arrest me, you can kill me, I don't care anymore… but you- you have to keep me away from D-Dream. He just chased me from my hideout. He wants to fucking dissect me."

"Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"No, you're heroes and I'm handing myself i-"

Atlas activated his power, jerking Nox into the air. Noxious was helpless to fight back, there was nothing he could do top stop him lifting him into the air aggressively, but he writhed nonetheless.

" How dare you use my brother's face to fuck with us you bastard ."

He froze at that outburst. What?? Phil said he only had two brothers. How the fuck did he have the same face as Atlas' brother then?

"Huh? But my brothers aren't heroes they're…"

The blonde, pink, and brown hair of the heroes was eerily similar to his family’s. His voice cracked as his eyes widened in realisation, it hitting him like a brick. The boys that Phil had introduced as his brothers were awfully familiar once you hid their faces.

" Wilbur ?" Nox almost whispered.

Atlas' expression remained one of fury, so Noxious turned to Umbra and Midas. How'd he not put two and two together with Phil's powers and the fact they work at the heroes tower?

"Wait that'd make… Techno ?" He got a silent nod of confirmation from Midas. " Dad ?? You knew I was Tommy, why didn't you tell me you were Umbra?"

"He knew?!?" Atlas growled.

"Not till very recently." Umbra defended himself. "I figured you weren't resurrected out of goodwill, and seeing how we know Dream's fucked with your head, I didn't want you attacking us at home."

"How do we know that??"

"He was Hemlock, he signed so his voice wasn't a dead giveaway."

“ YOU BROUGHT HIM TO OUR APARTMENT?!? ” Atlas screeched.

Atlas dropped Nox, who was winded a second time as he crashed against the concrete. Ouch, that was definitely going to bruise. Umbra stepped forward to help Nox up, much to Atlas’ distdain.

"Why didn't you just tell us kid? We could've saved all this fighting." Midas didn't look angry like Atlas… just confused and upset.

"I have fucking amnesia Techno." Nox groaned, "I'm Tommy in body, not mind. I don't know what Dream has planned for me, but I want nothing of it."

"I don't fucking trust this. How do we know he's not lying? Maybe we should let him get caught by Dream."

" Absolutely fucking not. " Phil and Tommy snapped in unison.

"I just got my youngest back," Phil reeled in his frustration at Wilbur's suggestion. He didn’t need to deal with being angry at Will right now. "I don't care how angry you are, we are NOT losing him again."

"Besides, if you handed me over, Dream would then have the upper hand. Aren't heroes meant to be the ones who win?"

“Why would losing you mean we’d lose overall?”

“Well, quoting you, I'm a 'Slippery bastard' and y'all haven't caught me yet. I’d be pretty formidable on his side.” Nox shrugged.

“ Then why’d don’t you join me Noxious?”

Shit.

Chapter Text

Instinctively, Nox shrunk behind Umbra. Sure, he may be one of the city's most notorious villains, but Dream was on a whole different level to him. Frankly, he needed his family's protection right now, no matter how much Atlas might hate him.

Dream slunk out from the shadows, Ranboo just behind him blank-faced, completely under Dream's command. Despite being in front of some of the heroes who imprisoned him, Dream still had an air of confidence and superiority.

"No silly quip? No response?" Dream sneered.

Midas protectively stepped forward, his grip tightening on his weapon.

"Leave him alone Dream," he growled.

"No.” He smiled, “He's my property-"

"-He's my son," Umbra spat, stepping in front of the terrified Nox as well, forming a protective barrier between the two villains.

"Oh, you figured it out? Congratulations! However, he's dead." Dream grinned, mock clapping. "He's just a body, and whether you like it or not I'm taking him back."

Atlas narrowed his eyes at the villain.

"Back?"

"Resurrection is a fickle business. He was meant to kill you and then decay again; clearly he didn't come back right."

The nausea was overwhelming Nox. 

Fuck.

"Not that he was any good in the first place," Dream laughed, his cruel glee making Nox shiver.

Nox felt oh so small. He couldn't bring himself to be his usual cocky behaviour. Not here. He knew fighting Dream himself wouldn't turn out well. But he knew he couldn't run. Ranboo would teleport over and grab him the second Nox left Umbra's side. Besides, they followed him here, he wasn't sure how far he'd have to run to be free from Dream.

“ Please don't send me back .” It was barely a whisper, panic gripping his throat. “I can't do it just kill me or something, I… I can't, he'll-”

“It's okay, we've got you buddy. You're safe with us, he's not going to get you,” Umbra whispered to Nox, gesturing towards Midas with his head. "Stay close Tom, shits gonna get ugly.”

Midas launched himself at the villain, Dream unsheathing a sword to counter Midas' trident. Dream successfully blocked Midas from impaling him, though the force of the blow pushed him back. He didn't seem phased by this, cackling in manic glee. The unhinged delight for the thrill of the fight was familiar to anyone who's battled Nox, it was clear who he'd gotten the mania from. Although it was clear Midas was the stronger of the two, Dream was keeping up.

While they clashed blades, Ranboo attempted to teleport over and grab Nox but missed as Umbra jerked him back and Atlas jumped in to fight him. For someone who didn't seem to have any combat practice, Ranboo was holding off against Atlas surprisingly well, not letting him have the chance to mess with his gravity by rapidly teleporting about.

It was clear both fights were going to stretch out until one side got tired or made a mistake unless another variable was thrown in. Umbra seemed torn. He wanted to protect his son, but he also could sense the urgency of either winning this fight or successfully disengaging. He glanced down at Nox, weighing up the options. Umbra's train of thought was evident in his face, and although he was afraid of being undefended, he gave Umbra a nod of approval.

Nox backed up as Umbra sprung into action. He phased into his own shadow, travelling closer to Dream and Midas. On his way over her partially solidified himself to catch Ranboo as he teleported and tripped him up. It didn't let Atlas catch him but anything was a help at this point.

Dream was unsurprised at Umbra breaking away from his protective role to join the fight… almost like he was betting on it. Dream was pushed back by each attack, he was going to be overpowered if he didn't have something up his sleeve.

"Three against two? That seems a little unfair," Dream smiled unnervingly.

The pair didn't catch on to the undertone there, the fact Dream was clearly up to something. Nox caught on immediately. Dream wanted to even the playing field and there was only one person here not participating. No no no, Nox wanted nothing to do with this fight, he didn't want to be anywhere near-

Noxious' world tipped to the side, barely being able to steady himself. 

A burning pressure was ripping through his skull, threatening to split it in two. Nox went to cry out, but was cut off by the acrid nausea shooting up his throat again. 

Fuck . 

Everyone was too busy fighting to notice his weakening condition. His vision was fading, was he dying? This soon? 

Darkness.

“I mean he is right, 2 v 3 is unfair.”

Nox began to walk towards the conflict. The tense fear previously gripping him was replaced with an unnerving calm.

“Yeah kid that's the whole point,” Midas grunted, blocking a slash from Dream, “We're trying to win here.”

"Yeah… that's not gonna happen.”

“ Heh ?”

“ I want to go with Dream ."

Everyone froze at that for a second, Dream taking advantage of this to gain ground back against Midas and Umbra. The team shared concerned glances. He'd run from Dream absolutely terrified, why was he changing his tune all of a sudden?

"Tommy?" Umbra had a horrible sinking feeling. What colour were Nox’s eyes right now?

Nox continued to stroll closer, the calm innocent look dropping into a cold sneer.

" Clearly you guys don't love me-"

"The fuck Nox-" Midas growled.

"Or you would've saved me.”

Green. Noxious’ eyes were bright green. They were almost glowing with how strongly Dream had a grasp on him. 

Shit.

“That betrayal hurt, almost as much as the concrete that crushed me," Nox smirked, beginning to summon a variety of plants around him. Umbra tore himself away from combat with Dream to close the gap to Nox.

"That's not Tommy guys-"

" That's what I've been telling you! Tommy died down there-" Nox interrupted, summoning vines littered with sharp thorns. "-Screaming for you, begging anyone to hear him."

Fighting Nox shouldn't have been an issue. They'd all done it so many times that they couldn't count it on one set of hands. However Noxious' words cut far too deep. Phil had nightmares from months after Tommy's death, he had blamed himself for it. Although it had been long enough since, and he'd had more than enough therapy to cope, everything that Nox said cut through him like a knife.

The hesitation in each action was more than enough to bat Umbra around like a cat toy with his vines. Umbra couldn't even attack Nox. It pained him too much to do so, he knew he needed to defend himself, but he… he couldn't hurt his son. This was what Dream was counting on.

"You know you could have saved me. I could hear the recovery workers above me. But I had long ago screamed my throat raw-"

You could see Umbra was fighting to keep professional and calm. Why couldn't Nox just shut up right now and stop affirming all his fears?

"Do you know what a steel rebar straight through your gut feels like?"

Nox managed to throw Umbra against a wall, not looking great at all. Definitely could still hold up a fight, but clearly not against Nox.

A particularly thick vine rocketed towards Umbra, aiming straight for his gut. This wasn't going to be pretty.

"Vines are definitely not the same, but I could recreate a similar sensation!-"

If Atlas hadn't intercepted, his throwing knife slicing the offending vibe in half, then Umbra would've been incapacitated and impaled. Umbra hadn't even made a move to get out of the way, he was incapable of fighting Noxious right now.

"We need to take him out," Atlas weaved through Ranboo’s teleports, trying to get closer to Umbra and Nox’s fight.

" We are NOT hurting Tommy !" 

" He's a villain ! Especially right now! We're going to detain Nox… I promise I won't do anything that he can't easily heal from."

Umbra was torn on this, but they were going to lose if they didn't get Nox out of here ASAP.

"For fucks sake… fine."

Umbra dropped back, rotating places with Atlas. Umbra's shadow-shifting powers could keep up with how often Ranboo was teleporting, and Atlas seemed to have less reservations about hurting his brother.

He jumped into action, slicing at the vines with his knives, and repeatedly narrowly missing Nox. He wasn't aiming anywhere truly lethal, he was just doing anything to slow Nox down. Honestly, he was surprised his dad had been struggling so much. This Nox was clearly not the same one they usually fought. None of Noxious' attacks were landing, his footwork wasn't nearly as balanced, and there was a severe lack of banter. It was almost disappointing how shit Dream’s mimicry of Nox was.

"For a puppet, you're awfully sloppy.” Atlas taunted. “Your form is horrible, the Nox we're used to wouldn't miss this much."

“You sure I'm not going easy on you? You guys seem pretty distressed fighting me.”

“Maybe Umbra, but not me. I'd take pleasure kicking your ass.” Atlas rolled his eyes, blocking some swipes from Nox before dropping down and swiping his legs from under him. 

Nox was so light, there wasn't much he could do to stop himself from hitting the ground. He scrambled to get out of range, but his vines barely grazed Atlas as he felt a hand on him. Fuck .

Atlas activated his ability, levitating Nox into the air, before slamming him down into the concrete. You could almost hear the flinch from Umbra, he didn't like Nox getting this hurt. Before Nox could get up and recover, Atlas knelt on top of him, pulling his arms back to restrain him against the floor.

" AugH - Wilbur you're hurting me!" He shrieked, switching tone to a far softer and frightened one. He writhed against Atlas’ grip but being winded still, he couldn't move one bit.

"...Stop resisting and it won't hurt," Atlas growled back, but he hesitated there. 

Nox was getting to him. He despised Noxious but… him sounding like Tommy, terrified and in pain? It was chipping away at him, it hurt more than any physical wound Nox could give him.

" W-Wilby please ,” Nox's voice hitched, tears welling up. “I'm in control, please you're s-scaring m-"

Nox didn't get a chance to finish, as Midas swooped in.

THWACK!

Midas hit Nox in the back of his head with the hilt of his trident. He crumpled immediately, unconscious.

Midas immediately jumped back into action to hold Dream off, who was still manic but definitely didn't expect them to just knock out the kid. Atlas scooped Nox up, eyes widening at how light he was. He might have done more damage to Noxious than he'd been planning, seeing how frail he now knew he was. He probably barely needed to use his gravity manipulation on him, whoops. Future problem to deal with. Right now they needed to get Nox out of here.

Umbra began to back up from catching Ranboo, still appearing to chase him, but in reality, he was closing the gap between him and the boys. Midas glanced up from the fight, and seeing that they were about to dip, pressed harder against Dream, upping his trident slashes. All Dream's attention would be on Midas until they all vanished. Atlas quietly coughed and he took the cue, blindly leaping back. Umbra grabbed ahold of his boys, and before Ranboo could teleport in to stop them, they were gone.

Safe.

They could breathe now, Phil had shadow-warped them to their level of the hero tower. Phil braced himself against the wall, the adrenaline not being enough anymore. That went both better and worse than they could have expected. They managed to get Nox out, but he got possessed. Frankly, that whole thing was exhausting.

“How are you holding up Dad?”

“I'm fine.” Phil sighed, taking off his mask.

“Okay and without the bullshit answer?”

“I'll live,” he admitted, “But I never want to fight Tommy again fucking hell.”

“How's he holding up anyway?” Techno asked.

“Nothing he won't recover from but man is he light.”

“You sure you aren't using your powers?” Techno joked.

“I'm not shitting you, he's practically weightless.”

“Tom’s been homeless, of course he's going to be light.” Phil interjected.

“ Heh ?”

Honestly, it was impressive they hadn't guessed Nox had been homeless by how worn down and dirty he constantly was.

“He's not anymore, he's staying here with us now no matter what he says when he wakes up.”

The boys weren't going to fight that. As much as they had conflicting opinions on Nox, it was clear that they had to keep him away from Dream, and with them here in the hero tower was arguably one of the best places to keep him.

“Now let's get him cleaned up before he wakes up and kicks off again.”

They moved to a side room that was a simple bedroom, perfect to contain Noxious for now. Wilbur gently led him onto the bed, before carefully taking off Nox’s grimy bandana, jacket and then shirt. Frankly, Wilbur almost dropped the dirty clothes when he saw the state Nox was under them.

Everyone in the room paled. Sure they were expecting scars… but not this. Noxious' skin was tight against his bone, it was a surprise they hadn't noticed how thin he'd been sooner. Massive violent scars painted his chest, some chunks of flesh missing as he'd done a shoddy healing job, some still having patches of gold where Midas’ touch hadn't faded all the way. Vines wrapped around his ribs, almost like they would keep them where they were. A patch of vines wrapped around his arm were beginning to discolour, a wound reopened in the impact of the fight. The trio could only imagine what his leg injuries would look like.

“Did… did we do this to Tommy?”

Techno could name some of the fights the scars were matched with, especially with the gold-littered scars. Why did he look this bad?

“ Dad we didn't know ,” Techno reassured, “Don't you dare blame yourself, I can see you already doing it.”

Without layers to pad his frame, he really did look like a corpse. How had he lasted this long looking like this, and not fainted mid-fight or something?

“I don't think we can heal him like this.”

Sure they could treat the reopened wound, and any bruising or breakage that Wilbur caused, but the kid was missing chunks of himself.

“Would healing even work? Does he count as a zombie, or can we actually use regen and healing potions?”

“We could take him to the infirmary once he wakes up? We could run a few tests to see how to help him.”

“Would that be safe? We don't know if Dream will still have control when he comes to.”

“I know Dad you won't like us to weaken Nox further but…we could cuff him to the bed?” Techno suggested, “The power suppressor ones can subdue him if he gets violent, and he won't be growing anything to hurt anyone.”

“That… that could work.”

They both turn to Phil. Sure the majority was for this plan, but Phil was the most unstable about this all, his say was important. He just looked exhausted frankly.

“As long as he's okay at this point I'll tolerate whatever.”

Noxious' mind felt like soup. Sure, he wasn't in pain anymore, but man it didn't feel good. He was unfocused and lost in the nothingness of his own head. Was this what death was like? An endless void where he'd slowly fade away for eternity.

I guess this was better than the alternative, being ripped apart methodically by Dream. That being said, who's to say that wasn't happening? Nox didn't know what happened after Dream overtook him. As much as he hoped the heroes were winning… he couldn't be sure. He definitely wasn't going to get his hopes up, not that he had the focus or energy to do so.

It felt like years had passed before there was a tug at his mind. Was he… not dead then? Or was this the pull of the afterlife? Frankly Noxious was too tired to care or resist. He would go wherever his consciousness took him, whether that was waking up or dying.

The calm of exhaustion didn't last long. The first thing he noticed as he stirred was that he was handcuffed, and restrained to something nearby. Fuck . Dream had him. Dream had him fuck fuck- Tears welled up in his eyes, breath hitching as Nox immediately began to strain against his restraints with what little strength he had, the room just a bright blur. Maybe if he pulled hard enough, maybe he could crawl out of here, maybe-

Something sharp in the handcuffs nicked his wrist, and he felt exhaustion hit him once more. Ah, so they weren't normal cuffs. Dream was drugging him, lovely . Why drag it out like this? Nox couldn't question much before he passed out once more, though this time into a dreamless sleep.

The next time he came to, he'd learnt his lesson; if he freaked out he'd be forced to sleep again. It was hard to ignore his rising heart rate, his mind screaming for an escape, but there was nothing he could do to help his situation. 

Nox blinked against the bright light, squinting through his blurred vision until his eyes decided to focus. When they did… he was very confused. He'd been under the assumption that Dream had taken him to dissect, and so he should be in a lab right now. Instead, he was restrained to a bed in a simple-looking room, and by the feeling as he shifted slightly, in a change of clothing. Just a dresser, a table, and a… tired looking Techno on a chair beside the bed?

“...T-Techno?” His voice was quiet and scratchy but his brother perked up at the voice. “I'm… not dead?”

Techno’s expression softened a little, though his worry was clear to read.

“No, we got you out of there kid.”

“...why?”

“Because you asked for help. We're heroes.” Techno shrugged.

“...but you hate me.” Nox backed up as much as he could with his aching body. He had very mixed feelings right now… he didn't like the SBI, he still had the ambient need to kill them, but they were also his family. He didn't want to kill his family… but he did? That hurt his brain. At this point, he expected to die before he could fulfil Dream's use for him.

“Am I going to Pandora? Or are y'all going the merciful route and gonna kill me instead of Dream killing me?”

“I- what?? We want to heal you, not hurt you Nox!”

Nox narrowed his eyes at Techno. Why in all hell would they keep him alive? Sure he was Tommy's body, but he was still a villain.

“Bullshit.”

“My guy…” Techno sighed, “Dad and Wilbur are LITERALLY digging up your grave as we speak. We don't want you dead.”

Okay now that threw Noxious.

“Huh?”

“It’s been two days since the fight against Dream. Dad believes you're Tommy. Wilbur still doesn't. So we're gonna see if your body is down there.”

Being called Tommy still definitely felt weird to Nox.

“What do you think?”

Techno hesitated a moment, figuring out his answer. 

“That you're Nox, or Hemlock I guess. You definitely look like our brother, but you're different personality-wise, so you're whoever you say you are.”

“That's very… nice of you?”

“What do you think?”

“Huh?”

“Do you think you're Tommy?”

“... I'm… I don't know what constitutes as being him. I think I'm his body… but don't someone's memories make a person? I'm not him in that regard. I'm just me… whatever the fuck I am…”

Not gonna lie, Nox didn’t like thinking about Tommy, or figuring out who he was a s a person. He’d never had the time or energy to confront that in his mind, and he didn’t exactly want to start now. The pair sat in silence for a little while, stewing on those thoughts before Techno cut through the quiet.

“So uh, do you want to be healed?”

“Why are you giving me a choice?”

“... because we don't want to force anything on you?”

“It's not like I can really say no, I feel like shit. Did someone hit me with a car?”

“No, but Wil did slam you into the concrete.”

“ While I was passed out?? ”

Nox looked incredulous. Why had he needed to hurt him?

“For us you never passed out.” He explained, “Dream took control of you, we had to defend ourselves.”

“Fucking hell.”

“We'd need to take you downstairs to our infirmary, is that alright?”

“As long as you don't have to drag the bed with us.” Nox snarked, relaxing a little.

“I mean I could definitely drag it along,” Techno shrugged, chuckling. “But I'd rather not have everyone in the building's attention,” 

Nox was incredibly wobbly on his feet, if he fell he wouldn't be able to catch himself with these cuffs on. Techno came to his side for support. The urge to fight him rose now that he wasn't restrained to the bed, but he repressed it. He wouldn't have a chance like this, he was going to keel over if he picked any fights.

It was a slow quiet journey across the floor to the elevator, every step making Nox’s body ache. Honestly, if he decided he couldn't go any further he couldn't be surprised if Techno would scoop him up. Luckily they made it to the elevator without incident.

Nox had agreed to this as he didn't want to be in pain anymore, and he figured nothing could make him feel worse. Man was he wrong.

The clinical white as they approached the infirmary piqued his anxiety, his heart began to race. Then the racing turned into panic crawling up his throat. He began to stumble, unable to reel his mind in. He was in danger. He wasn't safe. Dream was going to hurt him. His breath started to hitch. Fuck shit fuck-

Techno had not anticipated Nox to fall into a panic attack. Despite his lack of memory, Dream had clearly left Nox with lasting trauma, and something to do with the infirmary had triggered him. Honestly, Techno wasn't sure how to help Nox as he crumpled, usually when Wilbur got panic attacks, their dad was there to help.

In Noxious' panic, he started to bloom rhododendrons. 

He was wearing power suppressors.

He shouldn't be able to do that.

Not gonna lie, Techno himself started to freak out at that. In all his time as a hero, he'd never seen anyone overpower the cuffs they wore. What the fuck did Dream do to make Nox that powerful? It wasn't the right thing to do frankly, but it was the quickest way to deal with the situation…

Techno thwacked Nox in the back of the head, knocking him out cold.

Chapter Text

WHAT I HAD WRITTEN;

Phil and Wilbur were exhausted, mentally and physically. Sure Wil had used his powers to anti-gravity the coffin out of Tommy’s grave, but they’d still had to manually dig it out, and he wasn’t buried shallowly at all. 

Phil had barely been sleeping over the last couple of days, his old nightmares plaguing him. He'd physically recovered from fighting the puppeted Nox, but mentally that had ripped open old wounds. Frankly he wanted to go back to the tower and collapse, but they needed to investigate this.

Personally, Phil was all so sure that Noxious was Tommy. There were too many similarities for a coincidence, this was beyond wishful thinking. However he knew Wilbur's doubts. Resurrection didn't exist, no one's powers could do that, not even the strongest healers could return someone like this. Yet if there wasn't a body in this casket, Dream had discovered the impossible.

“What… what are we going to do if Tommy's still in here?” Wilbur wasn't wasting energy on hiding his emotions, he was scared about seeing his brother's corpse again.

“Then we rebury him, maybe plant some flowers on the grave…” Phil answered, wiping away his sweat, “And get to figure out what the Tommy back home is .”

The anticipation in the air was thick as they positioned a crowbar against the casket’s lid. They almost couldn't look, but they needed to do this. Three, Two, One-

CRACKK!

They paled a little as they peered inside. There was no corpse left in there, not even a hair left behind. In the place of a body, a crudely carved smile had been chiselled into the wood. Dream had taken Tommy. He'd brought him back wrong and sent him to kill his own family. Fuck .

Wilbur didn't want to accept it. Noxious was an asshole, taking glee in hurting them all. And yet he was meant to be his sweet baby brother, the light of the family. They couldn't be less similar if they tried. And yet, all answers pointed to them being one in the same right now.

They refilled the hole, though they left the coffin out. The hero council would want to see this. Not yet though. If they told them about this, they'd want to get ahold of Tommy, and Phil was not going to let go of his son, not even to his superiors.

Shadow shifting home, Phil and Wilbur could see something was wrong. Techno was pacing up and down the corridor muttering to himself, clearly waiting for the others to return.

“Tech? What's up?”

His head snapped up at the sound, relief flooding his expression that he could share what had happened.

“I couldn't get Noxious to the infirmary.”

“Did he kick off or something?” Wilbur asked.

“No, no… he was perfectly willing to go down there. Something triggered a panic attack as we approached and… he can use his powers .”

The pair’s eyes widened.

“Are you su-”

“I checked those cuffs something like ten times after I knocked him out. They should be working perfectly. Except he was blooming flowers in his hair.”

“You wHAT?”

“I panicked!”

“Let's add concussion to his list of injuries… if he didn't have one already.”

“We're gonna have to bring a healer up here, but fuck…” Techno sighed, “If he's immune to power suppressors he could be immune to Pandora's nullifying effects. That's terrifying .”

“I… I don't understand how Dream has managed this just with Tommy's body.”

“Nothing in the coffin?”

“Just a carved smiley.”

--

Noxious’ head was throbbing like there's no tomorrow as he came to. Fucking hell, he hadn't felt great before, but now he genuinely felt faint when he shifted. The last time he could remember he was heading to the Infirmary with Techno and then… nothing. Had Dream taken him over again?

As far as he could tell, he was back in bed again… with a second pair of cuffs on him? Better safe than sorry I guess. Maybe every time he passed out, he'd gain another set of cuffs. Zoning into the ambient noises, it didn't seem like anyone was in the room this time, a muffled conversation happening down the corridor.

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to sit up and open his eyes, squinting as his eyes adjusted once again. He felt god awful, but he couldn't just lie here being miserable forever. Not that he could get up, he was still cuffed.

and the rest of what I had planned for this chapter:

• Nox wakes
• Healed by someone
• Yes he still wants to murder <3
• They test multiple cuffs on him.
• Free to walk around the floor

• Tubbo goes in tunnels looking for Nox
• Finds dream and Ranboo
• Tries reasoning, fails 
• Panocks, flash freezes them big time, strongest ever
• Sprints to hero tower sobbing
• Phil happens to be in lobby
• Brings Tubbo upstairs to Nox
• VIBES VIBES VIBES THE BEAN BOYS ARE REUNITED

• After a.week he starts to decay. By Dream’s plans he should have killed the heroes already and now Nox can die again.
• Symptoms get worse, he hides it. Loss of feeling, slow reaction time, losing movement in fingers
• Tries to kill himself, save himself from torturing his family by seeing him slowly pass
• Wilbur catches him in the act and stops him. Understandably freaked
• “Why… why did you stop me?” “I DON'T WANT YOU DEAD YOU IDIOT”
• Nox explains his situation to Wil

• Noxious is dying.

and then here's the rest of the chapter plans:

Chapter 16 - The Void

• Decay is rapidly increasing
• Everyone's going through grief again, I mean Tubbo for the first time but shhh
• At least they got to reunite
• Noxious dies lmao

• Nox appears in purgatory
• Meets Kirsten and Tommy
• Feels whole with Tommy
• When Mumza died, she managed to stay in the Inbetween, wanting to wait to pass on after her kids and husband have passed on so she's just there
• When dream tried to bring Tom back Tom resisted and that's whily they split Tommy into Tommy (majority of soul) and Nox (a fraction of his soul plus the souls husk that was left in his corpse). Tom been chilling with mumza till everyone hits Thier time
• Mumza will help send them back using a bit of her soul BC dream broke the rules of the universe, Tommy doesn't want to go back. Nox has started his life there it's only fair
• Mumza gifts him power to send dream directly to her, so she can punish him (?? Idk ??) Kirsten had a decay power when she was alive
• Nox heart starts again, his hands turn black and eyes turn black
• Wakes sobbing for them to send him back, kill him, Tommy should have come back not him
• They calm him and explains

Chapter 17 - The End

• They hunt down dream
• Quackity taking snipe shots, slime protecting him
• Dream tried to control Nox, a lil nervous when is doesn't work
• Nox impales dream, tilts his head and decays him
• Mumzas power look doesn't disappear when he defeats dream, he just looks cool.now
• Collapses, it's finally over

• Time skip

• Nox and Tubbo are heroes 
• Tubbo and Ran are invited for dinner
• Nox goes by Hemlock now, he/they we stan

that's it! all I had planned! sorry I never finished the fic and sorry it took so long to drop this explanation but my executive dysfunction is a BITCH