Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“s-stay away from me.”

“I don't want to do this either Theo,but we both have to make sacrifices.”

Tommy walked across a dark alley at night wearing a black cloak and carrying a black duffel bag,the alley being faintly lit only by the moonlight.

But as it's often the case when walking through dark alleys at night,two armed strangers stopped him from going any further,he didnt turn around but he could hear another step of footsteps behind him,not close enough to attack but close enough to worry about.

Fucking great,he was surrounded.

He had to hope this worked itself out quietly,he didn't want any attention on him,even if it's just an alley brawl.

“We’re going to make it real easy for you,give us all your cash,and you’re free to go”a man stepped forwards and pulled a bat from his bat “or else this bats going to be ruined with your blo-“

“Look mate i don't think you want to do this,”he cut in,his voice morphed by a voice changer,the man with the bat didn't care but the other two stepped back.

“Oh you want to threaten me? what are you going to-“

“don't make this more trouble than it has to be.”

“You just did,”the man laughed before readying a swing.

“Hey wai-“another one of the strangers tried to say but they were cut by the man swinging the bat across his face.

Ow,fucking asshole.

The cloak's hood fell off his face,he glared at the man,once everyone saw him they took a step back.

A black gas mask,light blue eyes and flowers of several colors weaved across his blonde hair.

He’s proud to say that he’s become pretty well known through the years.

He heard the stranger behind him run away,the two infront of him took a step back.

“T-thats-”the man that attacked him said but was cut off as the stranger behind him ran away “h-hey!”he called out as he tried to run away but before he got far he tripped and fell.

How unfortunate.

He walked towards the man on the ground and shook his head ,he was still clutching the bat.

“Hand me that thing,”he ordered, the man hesitantly handed him the bat.

“P-please don't kill me i-didn't kn-“

“Shut up.”

The man stopped talking.

He looked at the bat,it was shitty and made of wood.

“Kill you?” He said while putting one hand on his hair and plucking out a white angelica flower.

He looked at the flower and then at the man before crushing the flower,his hand had a faint white glow once he did.

“I wouldn't kill you”several sharp vines came out from his cloak and shot at the man,barely missing him “i'm not a monster.”

“T-then you can let me go?”the man pleaded.

He hummed “nah,you hit me,my reputation would go to shit if i just let you go without any retribution.”

“What do you want,money?”the man hurriedly asked.

“Nah,i have a better idea,”he raised the man's bat and swung it down twice, much harder than the man did.

That should deal with that.

He dropped the bat on the ground and put his hood back on before walking through the alley,now for what he was actually here for.

he usually didn't rob shit silently,he’d go for it and any hero that took to stopping him was just a bonus,but right now all he wanted was to go in,and get out without anyone stopping him,so he’s going for a lower profile than usual,he’s robbing a museum after all,can't carry mummies or whatever the hell they have there in a chase.

There were a few museums in the city,but the one with probably the most valuables was around the higher districts,which was why he was in the third district.

After a few more seconds of walking he reached the exit of the alley,he began walking to the left and after a few minutes he reached the large museum building.

Alright,he really wasn't one for planning,he never really did something that required planning…well he did,but winging it usually worked.

Is the door locked?

He tried opening the door,but it was locked.

Yeah that made sense.

He tried slamming into the door,but it didn't budge.

yeah that was a big ass door for a museum,that made sense.

fuck this he has flowers for a reason.

He looked around his duffel bag and pulled out a pink cyclamen.

fuck was this fuck off one or some innocence shit?

wait why would he carry an innocence flower,its the fuck off one.

he crushed the flower,a pink glow began emanating from his hand,he walked to the door and slapped it with his hand,the glow exploded slightly and sent him flying back to the street. As annoyed as he was, the flower did its job,the sturdy door swung open.

He stood up and walked inside the museum,immediately he was stopped by a guard.

“Freeze! Who are you?”

he rolled his eyes and looked around his duffel bag.

“YOU HEARD ME,TELL ME WHO YOU ARE OR I WiLL SHOO-”

“Calm down,”he pulled out a red poppy and crushed it,purple smoke began emanating from his hand,he blew on the smoke and sent it to the guard,once it reached them the guard stumbled slightly,before falling to the ground.

He walked past the guard and kept walking forwards,he wanted something big,something flashy,a big ass jewel would be nice,he doesn't know how he’d sell it but honestly he’d be fine with just putting it in his room or some shit.

or a mummy,a mummy would be fun to have.

as he walked forwards he looked at the exhibits,some art pieces,statues,boring shit but anything here is probably valuable.

maybe he should settle for a painting…yeah sure,grab a nice painting,why not…or he could keep looking…fuck he wanted a big jewel and he was getting it.

so he ignored the paintings and walked forwards,until eventually he saw an exhibit for what looked like a big diamond,or ruby or whatever the fuck it was,he couldnt really tell by its color.

Wait, does that thing have lasers like in the movies?

fuck uhh,he could check with smoke he’s pretty sure,he dosent have a smoke flower but another poppy should do the trick.

he looked around his duffel bag and pulled out a red poppy,he crushed it and blew the smoke forwards and yup,some lasers were surrounding the gem.

Alright then he can tip toe around them easily,he wasn't going to be stopped by some lasers.

He started walking past the lasers,he had to crouch and even jump a little but there weren't that many that it would be impossible,there were a few close calls but after a minute or so,he made it to the gem.

now that he got a closer look at it it was a ruby? it was red with some darker red spots so…ruby,yeah it was a big ruby.

and he wanted it.

As he was about to grab the ruby out of the stand he heard a loud scream from behind,he turned around and saw a body fly towards the exhibit.

past the fucking lasers.

The platform the ruby was in covered the ruby with some metallic cover and lowered itself to the ground.

fuck.

“Who the fuck are you?”he sneered as he turned towards the body that was thrown through the lasers,the person stood up letting him take a better look at him.

it was someone wearing some costume,it probably wasn't a hero unless he was a new one, probably a vigilante or villain,the costume was made up of a yellow domino mask,a fur collared brown jacket with some green stripes going across the sleeves and what looked like bug wings,he didn't know from which one in specific,they looked like bee wings but they were iridescent,they weren't fake either,the back of the jacket had holes for them.

“um,hi?”the person waved, “im Chroma.”

“cool,the fuck are you doing here?”

“hey i got thrown here,me and my buddy Ether were fighting someone,wanna help actually?”

“Why would I help you?”he scoffed.

“because you have a voice changer and we’re fighting a hero,can’t do whatever it is you're doing with that guy around.”

well he couldnt either way because this fucker activated the alarm,his plans were kinda fucked now,but if theres a hero around he can atleast fuck their day up aswell.

“alright lets fuck them up,lead the way.”

“Yes boss,”Chroma jumped up and began hovering over the ground. Oh yeah those wings were real,what kind of hybrid had iridescent bee wings?

Chroma began flying towards the entrance,he quickly ran after him,as they both reached the entrance he could hear some noise,fighting presumably,once he and Chroma left the museum he saw two people fighting.

a tall enderman hybrid wearing a dark purple cloak over a white dress shirt with a purple domino mask,but what caught his eye was the sheer amount of what he assumed was gold the guy was wearing,gold crown,gold buttons,even the edges of the cloak was painted in gold,Chroma had said his buddy was Ether so he’d assume that was Ether.

the person he was fighting though he recognized him well enough.

a simple costume formed by a colorful jacket,its main colors being purple green and yellow and a pair of goggles,the hero Rewind.

Rewind was fighting with a blunt flail,while Ether had two daggers,Rewind was rewinding to different places with his power but Ether was keeping up,anywhere Rewind went Ether would be there in the blink of an eye.

Chroma flew towards Rewind and managed to land a punch,the punch sent Rewind back a bit but he quickly recovered.

“Who the hell did you bring now?”Rewind asked as he looked at him.

“oh i was just in the area.”

“yeah? well no innocent citizen would walk around at night wearing that with a voice changer,i'll take all three of you on if i have too.”

“Who 's that?”he overheard Ether ask,Chroma simply shrugged in response.

“You know,you ruined my night”he began walking forwards to Rewind.

“did i?”

“yup,i was gonna get a nice souvenir from the museum,but then you sent him,”he gestured towards Chroma,“flying through the security system.”

“oh,lucky shot I guess,”Rewind mused.

“oh fuck you.”

“Just doing my job,”using his power Rewind instantly appeared in front of him and using his flail sent him flying back,he landed on the ground and quickly picked himself up,a few of his flowers fell from his duffel bag.

“why the hell are you carrying- oh you’re fucking kidding me,”Rewind said with annoyance.

“yeah,you really fucked up didnt you?”he zipped his duffel bag close and threw it to the curb before grabbing his cloak and throwing it with his bag,Rewind probably knew,so why bother keeping it?

a black gas mask,a red hoodie with black sleeves and some black cargo pants,his villain costume,it’d be simple enough if it wasn't for the flowers weaved across the outfit,he grabbed two white chamomile flowers from his sleeves and crushed one on each hand,a faint yellow glow being left behind.

Rewind sighed “you just had to show up didn't you Ophrys,and here i thought today would be easy” without giving him a second to react Rewind appeared behind him and swung his flail,but he expected him to fight dirty,he barely managed to duck before the flail hit him,he sent out and energy blast with his left hand,the blast hit Rewind in the shoulder,but before Rewind was sent back too far he rewound to where he was and swung his flail again,he dodged it and sent the other energy blast but Rewind moved out of the way before it hit him.

he grumbled and pulled an angelica flower from his left sleeve and crushed it,with it he created a vine shooting out from his right hand towards Rewind,the vine almost hit him but Rewind ducked and kept running towards him.

He retracted the vine and swung it at Rewind,Rewind hit it with his flail and kept running towards him,in a final attempt he made the vine grow spikes and retracted it close to Rewinds neck,the first spike hit Rewind drawing blood,but before anymore could hit he warped back away from the vine with his power.

he didn't fight Rewind often but when he did,god was it annoying,but there were two fuckers just watching.

he glared at Chroma and Ether “are you two just going to watch?”

“Oh right,we should help,”Chroma nodded.

“are you sure?”Ether asked hesitantly.

“I mean,enemy of my enemy, you know?”

Ether sighed,“fine.”

Chroma hovered up and flew towards Rewind while Ether used his power to get to Rewind,getting a better look at it it looked like some sort of dash,Chroma reached Rewind and threw a punch at him,Rewind ducked out of the way but Ether quickly dashed to him and tried to slash him with his daggers,Rewind stepped back out of the way,he shot out the vine he created towards Rewind but Rewind swung his flail at Ether and stole one of his daggers,using it he dodged the vine and cut it in half,the vine wilted and fell from his hand.

he ran towards rewind while pulling two chamomiles from his sleeves and crushing one in each hand leaving a yellow glow in their place,he threw a punch at Rewind but he dodged it,Chroma threw another,this one hitting,he took the chance and sent an energy blast at Rewinds chest,it hit him but he used his power to make sure he didn't get blasted back,he elbowed Rewind in the chest and shot another energy blank point blank at his face but Rewind ducked out of the way and swung his flail at him before kicking him back.

Ether dashed behind Rewind and managed to  stab one of his shoulders,Rewind hissed and hit him with his flail.

“Alright,you wanna fight dirty?”Rewind raised his flail and spun it around for a moment before stopping,but instead of the flail losing momentum it kept spinning.

great,time bullshit.

Rewind swung the spinning flail at Ether,the flail hit him about five times before Ether dashed behind Rewind,but Rewind simply moved the flail to his back and kept hitting Ether,Rewind made the flail stop spinning and swung it up at Ether before punching him in the gut,the punch sent Ether flying back,leaving him on the ground.

oh that's uh,yeah he isn't getting up after that.

He pulled a angelica flower from his hair and crushed it. He created a vine and sent it to Chroma and pulled him towards him.

once he pulled Chroma near him he stumbled, “the fuck man?”

“he was going to fuck you up,”he pulled Ethers body towards him with his vine and pulled out a lavender from his hair before crushing it,using it he slapped Ether across the face,Ether shot awake and stood up.

“what the-”

“you got your ass beat,don't do that again.”

“Why the hell did you slap him?”Chroma asked.

“I healed him,now shut up,”he looked at Rewind,he was staring at them, “we have a hero’s ass to kick.”

“Alright,what's the plan?”

“you two rush him and i'll make sure his little flail cant pull any tricks.”

Chroma nodded and flew towards Rewind,Ether quickly followed behind with his power,Rewind spun his flail around the air and kept its momentum with his power,but before he could swing it at anyone he shot out the vine in his hand and split it into five,Rewind swatted two parts away with his flail but the last three wrapped themselves around his flail,stopping it in its tracks.

Rewind tried to pull his flail free but before he could Ether reached him and punched him square in the face,Rewind stumbled back and dropped his flail,Chroma reached Rewind and threw another punch while Ether dashed behind him and pulled his dagger out from Rewinds shoulder,using it he slashed at Rewinds arm and kicked him forwards,giving Chroma the chance to hit his face with his knee,before Rewind was hit again he rewound back away from him,but he was still missing his flail.

using the vine he pulled the flail off the floor towards him and began walking towards Rewind,Rewind looked around,once he saw he was surrounded he decided to run towards him,he swung Rewinds flail at him but Rewind ducked out of the way and grappled it out of his hand,before anyone could do something Rewind used his power to rewind back,far far away from where they were.

Well his night was ruined,but hopefully so was Rewinds.

Ether dashed towards him, “he’s gone right?”

he nodded, “guy bit off more than he could chew,” he walked over to where he dropped his duffel bag and cloak and picked them up.

Chroma flew towards them and hovered next to Ether, “thanks man,that guy was annoying.”

“don't thank me,I just wanted to beat up a hero,what the hell did you two do to get him to attack you anyways?”

“Ether wa-”before Chroma could finish Ether placed his hand over Chroma's mouth.

“Nothing.”

“Right,sure,”he said sarcastically, “well you two have fun,im just gonna leave and hope the fucking museum isnt crawling with heroes tommorow.”

Ether yelped and took his hand off of Chroma’s mouth, “you wanted that big gem right?”

“yup,”he kept walking away.

“but it's not gonna-”

“Chroma shut up,”Ether whisper yelled.

Wait,did they know something?

he stopped on his tracks and turned around, “it's not gonna what?”

“Chro-”

“It's not gonna be there tomorrow.”

that got his attention,he walked towards them, “why?”

“they're gonna auction it at a rich people auction,well i think,i know some new exhibits were just being stored there before the auction”

“They are auctioning the big gem?”

“probably,that's where we found Rewind,he was guarding the place and then he saw us and…” Chroma gestured to the area, “yeah.”

“Okay,when is this auction then?”

“tomorrow night,we wanted to rob it-”

“Chroma!”

“-but we would probably get arrested,unless….we had some help.”

“Wait,you're not suggesting we…”Ether looked at Chroma and then at him.

“Oh don't tell me you’re suggesting we work together.”

“I am,yeah,”Chroma nodded, “I mean think about it,how much cool shit will they have!”

“yeah not interested,i work alone,good luck with your little heist though,”he began walking away while waving behind him.

“hey wai-”Chroma called out but was cut off by Ether.

“Yeah man, thanks for the help.”

alright,now that that was over with it was time to go home…god this was gonna take a while.

He was in the third district,and he needed to leave his costume and shit somewhere discreet,the closest place he could do that was a little hideaway at an old warehouse in the fortieth he owned,ugh.

this was gonna take a while.

After leaving his costume and duffel bag at the warehouse he began walking to his apartment in the twenty third district.

yeah,living close to the hero tower wasnt that good of an idea with the uh…history he had with some,and he’d rather not live in one of the lower ones,so the twentythird was a pretty good middle ground,rent for his place was still fucking expensive though.

he reached the entrance and opened it with a key he had,he lived in a pretty large building,the first floor being a shop he owned,a flower shop that sold coffee,it was hypothetically successful enough to pay for his rent legally so no heroes would be on his case about that,plus,legally his very wealthy and successful parents died and left all their fortune,including this shop,to their lovable eighteen year old son Theseus.

thank fuck no ones looked into that story.

as he stepped inside the aroma of flowers hit him,he took a deep breath and sighed before walking to the counter and jumping over it,he walked past all the coffee shit and reached a door,he entered it and began walking up a staircase until he reached another door to his actual living area,the first floor had a living room a kitchen and a bathroom,while the second one had his bedroom and balcony,he could even jump from the second floor hallway to hils living room if he wanted,assuming he uh,doesn't miss.

he walked past his living room towards another staircase and walked up it,he reached the door to his bedroom and stepped inside.

It was dark save from the faint light coming from the entrance to the balcony. He quickly turned on the lights,his room was a mess,several crumpled red flowers and petals on the floor.

He needed to clean it up soon.

he walked over to his balconies entrance and shut the blinds before jumping on his bed and turning on a lamp on his nightstand,after that he got off his bed and walked to the lightswitch and flicked it off,he walked to his bed and dimmed the lamp a little,but it was still a little too bright honestly…eh,whatever,not like it’ll matter anyways,he crawled into his bed and laid down before closing his eyes.

yup,just…darkness and shit,but not actual darkness it's just his eyes.

he opened his eyes,he was still in his room.

yeah…just his room.

He layed back down and tried to go to sleep,but every few minutes without fail he opened his eyes to check he wasn't in…that he was still in his room.

god why did he even bother trying to sleep like this.

he crawled closer to his bedside lamp and opened the top drawer,it was full of poppy flowers.

he pulled out five,that should be enough.

he shut the drawer and held the flowers close to his face before crushing them,purple smoke immediately surrounded his hands,he took a deep breath,and his head fell down on his pillow,he jolted up and looked around,his room was brighter than before,he looked to the blinds,a little sunlight was peeking through them.

right,time to start the day,he never really did feel rested after sleeping,he never felt exhausted after waking up though so the flowers must be doing their job somewhat well.

He got up from his bed and walked over to his closet. He pulled out a red hoodie and a blue apron and put both on,he didn't really know what time it was,but it was probably around the time the shop should be open.

So he left his bedroom and walked downstairs to his kitchen,made himself a sandwich,ate it,put on some shoes and began walking down to his shop. Once he reached it he walked to the entrance,unlocked it and flipped the sign saying it was closed,he then walked over to the counter and waited.

his shop usually got a lot of customers,whether they were looking for flowers or coffee,customers began flooding in and asking for things,he was the only person working the shop but he’d gotten pretty fast at giving out orders,nothing really out of the ordinary happened for the first few hours,people came in knowing what they wanted,if they wanted flowers they'd know the names or would bring a pot he had with it,and if they didn't know he’d give them suggestions or directions if they needed it.

But eventually,when there was a lull of customers,two teens came in,one was an enderman hybrid wearing a white shirt looking rather annoyed,and a bee hybrid wearing a green sweater,they were talking,quietly presumably,but his hearing was good enough to catch most of what they were saying.

“Look Tubbo, this isn't a good idea,” he heard the enderman hybrid whisper to the other.

“Well the guy probably likes flowers right?” he heard the other,Tubbo presumably,whisper back.

“Well yeah but working with him? Is that a good idea?”

“live a little Ranboo,what's the worst that could happen,”the pair walked towards him,Tubbo in particular looking around at the flowers.

“Welcome,how can I help you?”

“Hi, we're looking for flowers for someone,but we weren't sure what kind to get,”Tubbo answered.

“Well, what's the occasion?”

Tubbo and Ranboo looked at each other, “asking someone to…help us out,”Ranboo answered.

“and what's your relation to this someone?”

“We don't know him.”

“okay…you want something that looks pretty or do you care about its meaning?”

Tubbo looked at Ranboo.

Ranboo shrugged, “you’re the one that wanted to come here.”

Tubbo groaned “yeah meanings matter i guess,something that would fit i guess?”

“alright then…”he jumped over the counter and walked towards some flower vases,he reached one with tulips and pulled a white one, “what about a tulip? white ones symbolize respect.”

Tubbo hummed, “do you have anything a bit more colorful?”

“I mean the guy might like white tulips Tubbo you never know,”Ranboo suggested.

“lets just see what else there is.”

“alright then…”he placed the tulip back on its vase and walked towards a vase of roses, “roses are a classic i guess,but most of them mean some love shit,”he grabbed a yellow rose from the vase, “a yellow one means friendship though,if that's what you’re going for.”

“That's good…oh! Do you have any red and black ones that would fit?”

He placed the yellow rose back in the vase,“I mean maybe but i wouldn't recommend it,most red ones mean love and most black ones mean negative stuff,i mean normal black roses mean death.”

“normal?”Ranboo asked.

“o-oh um,” fuck he hadnt meant to slip up, “yeah theres only the normal one i guess,”he laughed awkwardly and dropped the yellow rose back on the vase, “lets drop roses then,how about…” he walked over to another vase with asorted purple flowers and picked out an iris “this one means hope and faith and stuff?”

“that could work i guess,what else you got?”

he hummed for a moment,he didn't really know what could fit…if he stretched it maybe daffodils?

He walked to a vase with yellow flowers and grabbed a daffodil “these can be used to symbolize hope,how about these?”

“yeah i guess it would fit,”Tubbo mused, “alright we’ll take that one the purple one and the yellow one.”

he nodded,he had the iris and daffodil,so all he had to do was grab the rose and go back to the counter,he grabbed it and walked to the register before wrapping them in paper, “that'll be fifteen bucks.”

“Right,”Tubbo pulled out his wallet and gave him the money,he placed it in the cash register and gave them the flowers and a receipt, “good luck with your thing.”

“Thanks,”Tubbo grabbed the receipt and flowers before waving and walking out the shop,Ranboo following close behind.

no customers came in after that,until after five minutes or so,the break was nice,but it was time to get back to work.

Later that night he was out and about breaking the law again with his weapon of choice,a duffel bag full of flowers.

he’d be lying if he said that auction didn’t interest him but he wasn't sure how tight the security would be,he didn't even know where the damn place was,he knew it was in the higher districts,the third was a good guess,maybe the fourth or fifth?

knowing the district wont matter if he doesn't even know the exact place and time,oh goddammit forget it,he’s gonna…rob a jewelry store,yeah,he’ll settle for some shitty necklace or earrings.

“hey.”

startled he turned around and threw a punch on the person that snuck up on him,only to hit Chroma,causing him to stumble back,Ether was standing behind him.

“ow,what the hell asshole,”Chroma grumbled.

“oh,it's just you two,what the hell do you want?”

“you hit me dickhead!”Chroma complained.

“Well don't sneak up on me,you’re lucky I didn't stab you or some shit.”

Chroma grumbled, “well.we were here because we had a proposition for you,” Ether sighed and shook his head behind Chroma.

“and that is?”

“we rob the auction,”Chroma pulled out a small bouquet and handed it to him.

“oh uh…thanks?”he grabbed the bouquet and looked at the flowers,lets see…a rose an iris and a daffodil-

oh what the actual fuck.

he almost laughed but he contained himself.

he looked at Ether and Chroma,they did look like Tubbo and Ranboo…oh my fucking god they-they are Tubbo and Ranboo.

oh god that is,wow,okay how does he go about this now.

“so?”Chroma asked.

“The flowers are a nice touch but i'm not sure,i mean you aren't bad in a fight but how can i be sure you’ll pull your weight.”

“I mean we already have a plan…sort of,”Ether added.

“god i mean i guess…what are your powers?”

“I doubt you forgot mine,but I can dash somewhere,”for effect Ether- or Ranboo…oh he’ll just call him Ether,Ether dashed behind him and dashed back.

“Okay that's cool,what can you do?”He looked at Chroma.

Chroma held out his hands, “illusions!”Chroma changed the color of his wings from iridescent to orange.

“You control color, don't lie to him.”

“oh fuck you man”in the blink of an eye Chroma turned Ether’s costume from a good,if maybe questionable color palette,to an ugly mesh of neon and pastel colors,his gold accents going from gold to a rusted bronze look.

“turn it back,”Ether complained.

“nope,but yeah that's my power,i can control color,”Chroma turned Ethers costume back to normal.

those powers…they could be useful,Chromas seemed weak sure but depending on how far it goes it could be pretty useful,and Ethers was simple but effective.

plus he knew their identities,if they tried to betray him he’d have the upper hand.

“alright you know what,sure,but if shit goes wrong,i dip,got it?”

“yeah sure”Chroma shrugged, “now,what do we do?”

“you’re the one with a plan,what is it?”

“Right um,let's go somewhere a bit less,you know,”Chroma gestured around the area, “open.”

“Sure,follow me,”he had just left one of his hideouts,it wasn't a big one so them knowing where it is wouldn't do too much harm in the long run.

He led Chroma and Ether over to the warehouse,it was pretty open but barren,he wouldn't have his shit on the first floor if there was a basement.

So he led them to the basement. They walked past a few underground gardens until they reached a door that led to a medium sized room with a table and a few boxes in the corner.

Once the three of them were inside Ether closed the door and pulled out a large blue paper, “this is the best map i could make,”Ether placed the map on the table.

It was a map of a building,the central room was large and had several tables drawn around it,at the back of it was something that looked like a stage,the stage had two exits to its sides,both leading to the same back room.

“Alright,so,everyones gonna be here,”Ether pointed at the tables around the stage, “and all the valuables are gonna be at the back,”Ether pointed to the room behind the stage, “now,originally our plan was that Chroma would distract everyone while i took all that they had,but now that you’re here we can actually do that without getting arrested.”

“alright so i just have to beat up some bitches while you steal shit,seems simple.”

“yeah pretty much,we’ll work out who gets what after we actually have the stuff.”

“I call dibs on the big gem.”

“yeah sure whatever,now,everyone ready?” Ether asked.

Chroma nodded.

“Wait, you two are going like that?”

“like what?”Chroma asked.

“I mean shit man your costumes aren't exactly…ya know.”

“Is it the green? i fucking knew i needed a darker shade”Chroma’s green parts of his costume became slightly darker as he pulled out a mirror and began adjusting its color.

“wh-no,i mean you dont have voice changers wich is pretty stupid.”

“I mean the heroes don't use them.”

“yeah because they aren't breaking the law constantly,you’re lucky they haven't tracked you down,”he walked over to the boxes in the corner of the room and placed one on the table,he began rummaging through it and pulling out random shit.

gun,no.

Knife,nah.

backup costume,no-

oh hold on.

He grabbed one of the backup costumes and pulled the gas mask off before handing it to Ether, “that should fit.”

“How many suits do you have?”

“you don't have more than one?”

“Wait, do villains have multiple costumes?”Chroma asked.

“The hygienic ones do,”he pulled off another gas mask from another costume and handed it to Chroma.

Chroma put it on and changed its color from black to green, “is this thing on?”Chroma's voice came out distorted.

“yup.”

“cool, Ether do you want it purple or gold?”

“purple,it won't look right if it's not metallic,”Ether put the gas mask on,it immediately turned Ethers purple.

“Alright, so we’re good now?”Chroma asked.

“Sure,let's go,it's a long walk,”he began walking out of the room,Chroma and Ether followed him.

“Wait, you want to walk?”Chroma asked.

“how else do we get there?”

“You don't have a car?”Ether asked.

he sighed, “please don't tell me you idiots have been driving around in a car while doing villain shit.”

“And if we have?”Chroma asked.

“then you’re stupid.”

The three of them reached the exit of the warehouse and stepped out.

“Did you forget about my power already?”Chroma chucked as the road around them went from gray to red.

“fair enough,i guess they couldn't track a color changing car,where is it then?”

“Follow me,”Chroma hovered up and began flying somewhere.

After a minute or so of walking they reached a jet black car,he noticed the box meant to have a license plate was also painted black.

“I drive,”Chroma called out before dropping on the ground and entering the driver seat,Ether dashed into the passenger seat while he got into the back seats,he closed the door and Chroma started the car. 

The car began driving forwards towards the auction,even with the car it would still probably take a while.

“You know,this car ride is a bit dull,Ether,pass me the cds.”

“Chroma please don't-“

“Come onnn it'll be fun!”

Ether groaned and grabbed a cd from a compartment in front of him before handing it to Chroma,the case had a yellow background and a crudely drawn horse on it with a volume 4 under it,Chroma opened it and placed it in the cd player and played it.

“-irthday to you!”

“Thank you,now please leave immediately,I must go to the horse races.”

what the fuck?

“What the hell is that?”he asked.

“some show Chroma blasts on the car.”

“Okay if you want to be like that then be like that,pass me the christmas one.”

Ether shook his head before handing Chroma another cd,this one's case had a guitar wrapped in wrapping paper,Chroma replaced the other cd with that one and pressed play.

-no i can't bet anymore,i lost all my money. ”

“jesus christ what is this show-”

Chroma shushed him.

“oh but that's not true you still have those christmas presents.”

“but…these are for my friends,what would they think if i betted them away?”

a disembodied voice started speaking “you should bet my presents!”

another started speaking, “yeah! we are completely on board with this!”

“alright,if that's what they’d want then lets bet dammit,THESE presents on THAT horse.”

some galloping sounds were heard from the radio.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.”

“Okay so this show is about someone's gambling addiction?”

“no no it's like,there's two guys and they're like news reporters right?”

“okay?”

“and one of them does have a gambling addiction but that's not what the show's about, that's just a part of it.”

“Why was I so foolish? when it was all so,so clear,how will i explain to them all that this christmas,will be so so sad.”

“Why did you have to risk it all?”

“Why are people singing?”

“because it's funny.”

“is it?”Eher muttered.

“I couldn't hold myself baack.”

“Why did you have to risk it all?”

“And now,I'm nothing. If I had one miserable gift,I would bet it to win all the others back,it's this vice,this vice that won't leave me no matter what.”

“How will you explain this all?”

“my conscience will eat me aliiive”

“Why did you have to risk it all?”

“i can't even save faace.”

“This is all like,ironic right?”

“You'd think,”Ether mumbled.

“nah man this is serious.”

“I mean…why does this show feel so off?”

“because it's made for three year olds.”

“fuck off”Chroma turned Ethers outfit into ugly greens,Ether sighed.

“Wait,you’re joking right? this isn't actually for three year olds,right?”

“well…I mean it's for like six year olds technically.”

he began laughing “oh my god”

“h-hey man a lot of kids stuff is for all ages,”Chroma protested.

“I must save this christmas.”

“yeah but this?”he said through laughter.

“You two just don't have good tastes.”

“look man if that's actually a kids show then i’ll give it props for being so…”

“I have a severe gambling addiction.”

“...mature,but Jesus man do people other than children actually listen to this.”

“oh yeah,the guys that did this are famous as fuck.”

“they're famous for other things Chroma,it's not like some kids puppet show is their magnum opus.”

“puppets?”he chuckled.

“Yeah they're puppets,but I've seen online people make edits of these,children don't make fancams Ether.”

“they're ironic Chroma.”

“they are not!-”

“Listen as enlightening as this conversations been,how close are we to the auction.”

“oh shit right,Ether?”

“we are…”Ether pulled out a cell phone and looked at a map app, “eight or so minutes away.”

“damm,Ether,put another one on.”

“I'm good,thanks.”

The rest of the car ride was filled with Chroma and Ether arguing over putting a kids show on the speakers,which was not how he expected this team up to go but shit,lifes just like that apparently.

minutes passed,Chroma replaced the cd a few times while Ether complained until eventually,they reached their destination,Chroma parked the car hidden away at an alleyway,the three of them stepped out of the alley and walked out of it.

“Auction is a block or so away,any doubts about the plan?”

“We cause a ruckus and you steal,simple.”

“Good,follow me then.”

Ether led them through a few streets until eventually reaching a large fancy looking building,four security guards were standing around its entrance.

“Let's split up through the alleys,good luck,”Ether dashed over to an alley next to the building while he and Chroma snuck to the other.

“Lets climb this roof,it should let us see what they're doing at the auction,”Chroma began flying upwards,he pulled out an angelica flower and wraped the wal of the building in vines,letting him climb it easily,the two of them reached the roof and snuck over to it.

“Actually before I forget,”Chroma pulled out a small communicator from his pocket, “here.”

He took it and put it on, “how do you have this shit but not voice changers?”

Chroma shrugged, “never got them right,but with these you gave us im sure i could now.”

“That's nice,now watch the auction,we need to know when to step in.”

Chroma nodded, “Ether,did you hear that?”

“ Yeah yeah,I'll tell you when to do something,I'm not at the back yet.”

“Right,can you hear anything from there?”Chroma asked as he pointed at the sunroof.

He shook his head,but he could probably do something about it.

He pulled out another angelica flower from his bag and crushed it. He made two small circular incisions on the glass with the vine,one on his side and one on Chroma’s,he got closer to the roof,he could hear some of what they were saying now.

The person holding the auction was a man in a suit with suspenders,he could see Rewind standing guard a few feet behind him.

“Come on? Do i hear seven hundred thousand?”the man asked,everyone stayed silent.

“Alright,sold to the man with that devilishly good mustache,”the man flattered while the crowd clapped,a group of people wheeled the item out of the stage while another brought the next one in.

“Now,this ones a little…peculiar,but hey,we all have our tastes,”the item in question was some sort of bust with dreams mask.

what the fuck.

“How about our guest of honor? I'm sure it would make a lovely gift.”

The crowd laughed,guest of honor? He couldn't mean…

“No no,I promise I'm good,”a voice from one of the tables rang out. He looked at it and saw a man wearing white goggles and a blue coat with sharp metallic shoulder pads.

He expected Dream,but Equilibrium is still an issue,best hope he doesn't mess shit too badly.

“Now,let's start this off at a cool hundred thousand,any takers?”

He zoned out of the auction,”Ether what's your status?”

“I'm getting close,there's a lot of people outback but I'm sneaking past them.”

“Good,everything here's going fine.”

“Sold!”the man cheered,two people wheeled the statue away while another two wheeled the next item in.

“Now,this one needs a bit of background,”the man stepped to the item and took off the cover revealing the red gem he tried to steal yesterday.

Alright, that's interesting.

“This little big red gem is not ruby,it's not some diamond or emerald,no,this is pure genuine redstone people.”

“W-what?”Chroma muttered.

“What the hells a redstone?”

“You don't know?”

“now,I know what you’re thinking, ‘I don't care what it is, I just want my necklace!’“

The crowd of people laughed.

“Well,redstone is a nifty little mineral that can be used for all sorts of little machines and tinkering,rare as hell too,and in such a purified state? People,we’re gonna start us off on ten million.”

People from the crowd murmured,until Equilibrium stood up.

“Eleven million.”

“W-wait the fucking heroes want it?”

“ What's going on?”

“Nothing,stay focused Ether.”

Another person from the crowd stood up, “twel-“

“Twenty million“ Equilibrium cut them off.

“Oh ho ho,”the auctioneer laughed, “do i hear twenty o-“

“Twenty five million,”someone else from the crowd stood up.

“Thirty-“

“Thirty five,”someone else from the crowd stood up.

“Fifty,million,” Equilibrium cut in.

“Sixty million,”someone who was standing up said,everyone but Equilibrium and him sat down,it was a man wearing a trenchcoat and glasses with black hair,but from the roof he could tell that wasn't his natural hair color,he was wearing a wig.

“What's the highest you'll go?” Equilibrium asked the man.

the man shrugged before taking a drag from a cigarette, “your move.”

“sixty million-”

“sixty f-”

“seventy five million”Equilibrium cut the man off.

“You really want that rock huh,”the man taunted.

“We'll use it to help people.”

the man looked at Equilibrium before shaking his head, “eighty.”

“eighty five.”

“ninety.”

“ninety five.”

The man looked annoyed and looked around the room,though he squinted his eyes once he glanced at the roof.

wait oh shit the guy is staring at him.

his eyes widened,the man barely reacted though,the only way he could tell the man saw him was because of the barely visible smirk he had.

“Fine,I'm not breaking into the hundreds,you win,”the man took a seat.

“Well,does anyone want to break into the hundreds?”the auctioneer asked,everybody stayed silent, “then,sold!”

two people ran in and began wheeling the gem away but Equilibrium stopped them.

“I'd like to take it now if that's alright,something so valuable should be protected correctly.”

“Equilibrium i assure you-”

“Please,I insist,”Equilibrium began walking forwards.

“wait he’s gonna go for the gem!”Chroma said.

“i can fucking tell,the fuck do we do?”

“Ether,is it distraction time?”Chroma panickedly asked.

“i mean it's a little early but-”

As soon as chroma heard that he broke the window and threw a smoke bomb on the stage,shrouding it in colorful smoke.

“hey what the hell?”the auctioneer shouted.

“Someone clear the air!”one of the auctioneer's helpers called out,after a few seconds the smoke parted,instead of the redstone gem being in the display it was replaced by a rock that looked exactly like it.

the crowd gasped,Chroma chuckled.

“where the HELL is it?”the auctioneer shouted,Equilibrium looked at the broken roof and saw them.

“It's time we make an entrance,”he pulled out two angelica flowers from his duffel bag and crushed them before walking to the sunroof,he turned his back from it and let himself fall.

As he fell he shot out two vines from his hands towards the roof,the two vines converged creating a large vine he could stand on.

“Sorry to crash the party,”he taunted.

Chroma flew down and hovered next to him before pulling out two firecrackers, “you might want to duck,”Chroma threw the firecrackers towards the walls,they exploded in a flurry of colors causing the crowd to panic.

“Everyone out,now,”Equilibrium ordered,the crowd began panickedly leaving their tables and shuffling out of the room,leaving only him and Chroma against Equilibrium and Rewind.

“What do you want Ophrys?!”Rewind asked as he drew his flail.

“I think it's pretty obvious,”he pulled out a chamomile and angelica and crushed them in separate hands.

“Fine,if that's how this is going to be…”Equilibrium outstretched his hands,a chandelier behind him and Chroma detached itself and began flying towards them,he jumped off before the chandelier hit the vine,he shot a vine at a nearby wall and used it to land on the floor before rushing towards Equilibrium.

“you take the other one,”Equilibrium called out as he rushed towards him,several small sheets of metal flew out from Equilibriums pocket and shot out towards him,he slid down and kept running but the sheets of metal doubled back towards him,he dodged to the side and ducked before shooting a sphere of energy at Equilibrium,the shot sent him back and caused him to stop controlling the metal.

He quickly picked up the blades and threw them as far from Equilibrium as he could,he turned towards Chroma and Rewind,Chroma was holding his own but it was clear Rewind had the upper hand.

“oi Ether,how long will it take?”

“I'm taking all the stuff I can,just tell me when you can't hold them off anymore and we can leave.”

“got it,”he turned just in time to dodge one of Equilibriums shoulder pads,Equilibrium ran towards him and threw a punch,he stepped back before it hit him but the shoulder pad Equilibrium threw circled back and hit him in the head,Equilibrium punched him and kicked him back before he could recover,he stood up and dodged Equilibriums other shoulder pad that had flown at him,he ran away from Equilibrium,all they needed to do was waste their time,they didn't need to beat them.

but if they did he wouldn't really mind.

He ran and managed to dodge Equilibrium's shoulder pads twice until reaching a table,he jumped up on it,grabbed a few plates and threw them at Equilibrium,Equilibrium easily dodged them.

several pieces of silverware flew up and surrounded him.

the fucking silverwares magnetic? thats fucking bullshit.

he quickly plucked a flower from his hair-fuck wrong one.

he threw the flower away and plucked a blue anemone,all of the silverware rushed towards him,but before any of it hit him he crushed the blue flower in his hand,creating a small forcefield that blocked all,before Equilibrium had a chance to do more shit he jumped off the table and rushed towards him,he swung his fist at him but Equilibrium dodged it,but he left himself open,he swept his foot under his legs and toppled him to the ground,before he could get up he plucked an angelica flower from his arm and crushed it,using it he wrapped Equilibrium in vines,he turned to see how Chroma was doing and turned just in time to see Rewind hit him across the face with his flail twice,Chroma was sent back and before he could stand up Rewind rushed to him and held his flail up in the air.

Rewind turned to him and Equilibrium, “don't get any ideas now,” he threatened as he held the flail up.

“or what? you’ll kill him? you don't have the balls,”he taunted.

“hey i uh,think the metal’s coming for you,”Chroma whispered through the communicator.

fuck.

he turned around and saw a knife speeding at him,he used the vine coming from his hand to stop it,but Rewind used the opportunity to send his flail flying at him,it missed,but Equilibrium made it circle back and hit him across the face,the vines holding Equilibrium down weakened giving him the chance he needed to break free,Equilibrium kicked him forwards before standing up,he stumbled forwards but before he fell he sent the vine in his arm towards Rewind,without a weapon to try and break it with he was forced to rewind away before he was hit.

“Hey, I think we’re getting our asses beat,”Chroma whispered through the communicator.

“Speak for yourself dickhead,we almost had them.”

“I'm going to guess things aren't going well?”

“ehh,”Chroma stood up, “could be better.”

“Well I hope you can still keep going,there's so much stuff here and no ones even protecting it.”

“wait…doesn't that seem a little odd?”Chroma asked.

thinking about it,it does.

“Have you fought anyone? like a single guard or something?”

“um,no?”

but…where the hell did the guards go?

he turned towards where the redstone was,it was gone.

“they took the fucking gem,”he whisper yelled.”

“I'll get it,just stall a bit more.”

“Yeah yeah,”he looked around his duffel bag for chamomiles and pulled out two,crushing one in each hand. He looked around the room and saw Equilibrium and Rewind standing next to each other far off in the room.

“alright,lets double team them and once Ether has the gem we get the fuck out of here.”

“alright,”Chroma flew towards them while he ran,as they got closer Equilibrium used his power to pull pieces of silverware towards them,he sent out a blast of energy at Equilibrium to throw him off,but Rewind pushed him out of the way before rushing at them,Chroma threw a puch at Rewind,Rewind ducked but Chroma kicked him in the face before dropping down on him,before Rewind recovered he sent a blast of energy at him,it hit Rewind causing him to be sent back,before he could run after him though Equilibrium punched him in the back of the head before kicking him in the head,Equilibrium tried to kick him again but he got up in time to send a kick back.

“im- wait i found it they're-”Ether was cut off by gunshots,they didn't stop for a while,but they decreased in volume until there weren't any “i got the rock,i’ll get the car ready. ”

one of Equilibriums shoulder pads flew at him and hit him in the head,the sharp parts managed to get a few cuts on him,Equilibrium ran towards him and hit him in the face,he stumbled back slightly,Equilibrium went in for another punch but he managed to dodge it before kicking Equilibrium back. 

“I think it's time we leave,”he whispered to the communicator.

“Yeah,”Chroma whispered back,he saw Chroma fly away from Rewind and towards the roof, “do some flower shit,we can leave through the roof.”

“fucking flower shi-”he muttered but was cut off as Equilibrium hit him from behind,he turned around and threw a punch at Equilibrium before running towards the skylight they had broken in from,as he ran he grabbed an angelica flower from his bag,crushed it,he used its vine to get himself to the roof,he reached it and jumped to the actual roof before retracting the vine.

“Ether we’re on our way,”Chroma said to the communicator before flying to where they parked the car,he followed behind him while looking behind him,it looked like the heroes would take a bit to catch up,him and Chroma flew and grappled onto buildings respectively until reaching the alley where they had parked the car,Ether was dashing in and out of it while loading up shit he stole.

him and Chroma dropped down to the street, “we made it.”

“good,i'm almost done,” Ether loaded a few more things before dashing into the driver seat, “get in,we need to leave now.”

Chroma nodded and got in the passenger seat,he looked at the back seat only to see it was full of stolen shit.

“the fuck am i supposed to do hide in the trunk?!”

“vine onto the car i don't know man it was a rush job.”

“what kind of rush job-”

“Guys,don't want to alarm you but the heroes get paid to chase us so,you know,pack it up and get in.”

he groaned before jumping to the top of the car and turning the vine coming from his hand into some sort of harness for his legs to hold onto.

“see it worked,now…”Ether started the car and drove out of the alley, “where the hell do we go?”

“Just focus on getting us out of here.”

“right,right.”

Ether drove the car away from the auction and,for a minute,he thought they just got away with it,until he saw a set of three black cars going towards them in the distance,he looked closer at them and saw Equilibrium standing at the top of one.

“Hey guys uh,guess what?”

“What?”Chroma asked.

“The heroes are on our ass.”

“W-why would you make us guess?!”

“Shut up and drive i’ll fucking-slow them down or some shit,” he looked around his duffel bag,he had some angelicas and chamoniles left,some other assorted shit he doubted would really work right now,and that boquet Chroma and Ether gave him.

He decided to pull out one angelica and one chamomile and crush them,after that he waited for the cars to get closer,the cars were faster than the one they were in,so it didn't take long for them to close the distance between them.

the car Equilibrium stood on got closer,Equilibrium used his power to force their car to slow down.

“Ophrys fucking do something,”Chroma panickedly shouted.

He sent a blast of energy straight at Equilibrium,but it was intercepted by a stray gear,the trunks of the cars opened,letting out several pieces of metal,large gears,car parts and weapons,Equilibrium had all of them,ready to strike.

he shot out a vine at the car,but Equilibrium chopped it with a floating sword before it reached,he looked for another angelica and crushed it,but instead of shooting a vine from his arm he created one below Equilibriums car,the vine shot up and almost toppled the car,but a large gear chopped the vine and using his power,Equilibrium managed to stabilize the car before it toppled over.

fucking bullshit.

He pulled out another angelica flower and crushed it,this time he created a vine sprouting from in front of Equilibrium's car in hopes of stopping it.Equilibrium was quick though,he moved the metal he controlled to cut the vine before his car hit it.

Equilibrium was in jumping distance of the car.

“guys we’re fucked,”he whispered.

“Chroma?”Ether asked.

Chroma sighed, “open the trunk.”

“what the fuck is-”

“open the fucking trunk,”Chroma shouted.

“Fine,”he extended the vines making sure he didn't fall off the car to its trunk and used them to open it,several devices fell off,and after a second or so,exploded right below Equilibrium's car.

“why the fuck didnt you tell me about that earlier?”he complained.

“didnt exactly want to waste our trunk full of bombs now did i?”

“is he gone?”Ether asked.

“hard to say,”sure those were a lot of bombs,but he couldnt really tell through the smoke they let off,at the very least all the cars werent driving towards them wich surely ment Equilibrium had at least given up,right?

That train of thought was shattered once he saw Equilibrium fly out of the some standing on a car hood,surrounded by pieces of the torn apart cars and all the metal he had before.

“NOPE,”he pulled out two chamomiles and crushed them before shooting out to blasts of energy at him,Equilibrium easily blocked them with pieces of metal as he flew closer.

“Can you go any faster?!”

“Of course I can't!”

“guys can't we just like,hop off and beat him up?”Chroma suggested.

“oh yeah,i'm sure we can beat him up before his back up arrives.”

“im just spitballing here…fuck Ophrys dont you have some flower bulshit you could do?”

“I don't know what would even work here,anything I do he’ll just block it or something.”

“alright his powers magnetism right? So do you have an anti-magnetic flower?”Ether asked.

“I'm not dignifying that with a serious answer.”

Chroma pulled out his cellphone and typed something before speaking, “guys we can mess him up with…bismuth and or temperature?”

“and where the fuck are we getting bismuth or a fucking heater from?”

“look just…” Ether groaned “figure something out im driving.”

“we have like a minute tops before he reaches us,Chroma do you have an actual plan?”

“do some flower shit-”

“fucking-fine,”he muttered as he looked around his duffel bag,from everything he had he couldnt really think of something to use,he had used most of the ones that might be useful here,he just needed something to stall Equilibrium enough for them to get away,maybe an energy blast would but he’d just block it,anything with vines would be cut off,if he could just land one hit that would be enough,but how the hell will he manage that.

“hey i have an idea,”Chroma piped up, “can you combine flowers?”

“I tried once,didn't work.”

“okay…how did you try though?”

“just crushed them at the same time.”

“Have you tried crushing that yellow rose I gave you?”

“why the hell would i crush a friendship flower,what power would that give me?”

“Well if it means friendship and you crush it,maybe you could combine flower powers?”

that…well it was worth a try,he never bothered with roses really,even if they could be useful he…he just didn't like them.

He pulled out the bouquet and crushed the yellow rose it had,his hand emminated a soft yellow glow.

alright,let's see if this works.

He pulled out a chamomile and crushed it. It felt different somehow. He decided to pluck a blue anemone from one of his sleeves and crush it too. Instead of a force field surrounding him his hand had a faint blue glow next to the chamomiles faint white.

shit,this could work.

Equilibrium was pretty close now,the car slowed down slightly as Equilibrium tried to slow it to a halt.

alright,moment of truth.

he crushed an angelica flower from his duffel bag but instead of shooting a vine at Equilibrium he shot one from his shoe and used it to get closer,Equilibrium sent some stray car parts at him,but before they hit him he tried activating the force field,a blue forcefield surrounded him,but instead of covering his body it covered a large sphere around him,crackling with energy,he kept rising at Equilibrium,Equilibrium tried to hit him with his metal,but all of it couldn't get past the force field,eventually he got close enough for the forcefield to hit Equilibrium,he retracted the vine from his shoe and shot it at Equilibrium,as they both fell Equilibrium fell to the ground with a crack,while his fall was broken by the forcefield,shattering it once he landed.

He turned to see the car speeding away,he crushed an angelica from his duffel bag and shot out a vine to grapple onto it,eventually he managed to get back on the roof of the car.

“did you get him?”Chroma asked.

he sighed, “I think so,but don't get too comfortable,we need to find somewhere to hide,now.”

“How about that warehouse you led us to,does it have a garage or something?”

“not really,but we can make it work,you just step on that pedal.”

Eventually they reached one of his warehouses,he had to break a part of the wall with some vines but eh,he’ll replace it or something,the good thing was that they were finally somewhere safe,and so was their loot.

“alright,what did you get?”

“give me a second”Ether began dashing into the car and out of it,taking out some of the shit he stole and placing it on the wall,until there was nothing left,looking at the loot there was the gem,three paintings,a coat,some shoes,a weapons set,some records and…the bust modeled after Dream.

“Did you have to take…that?”he gestured at the bust.

“It was a rush job,”Ether shrugged.

“Alright yeah there's a dream bust,that sucks,how are we splitting this shit?”Chroma asked.

“Well I did call dibs on the gem.”

“wait but its redstone man,you aren't gonna use it,we’ll get you another bigger gem and i’ll make it any color you want-”

“The deal was that he got the gem Chroma,unless he’s changed his mind?”

“I still want the gem.”

“Okay,but surely we can arrange something?”

“like what?”

“how about…i mean with enough time with that i could build some really powerful things,things i'm sure you’d be interested in.”

gadgets,great,that didn't really sway him,but if it's so powerful then…

“could they kill Dream?”

Even though he couldn't see Chroma's expression,he was clearly apprehensive, “I don't know…maybe? I could try at least.”

Ether cut in “killing Dream is impossible,that redstone might be powerful yeah but to make something that could kill Dream? that's insane-”

“don't underestimate it,you saw how badly the heroes wanted it,they wanted it for a reason.”Chroma retorted.

“if they wanted it so badly then why didn't they send Dream?”

Dream…the unkillable hero,the unstoppable protector,if there was even a chance this redstone could lead to his death then he was going to take it,for years he thought it was impossible,that it was just a fantasy,but now,it might be in reach.

“Shut up,” both Chroma and Ether turned towards him, “if you think there's even a chance,that this can kill dream,then i…i’ll let you use it,on two conditions.”

“go on.”

“One,I keep the gem whenever you aren't using it,it’ll be safer with me.”

Chroma nodded.

“And two,I want to be the one to kill him.”

“That works for me,”Chroma outstretched his hand.

He rolled his eyes and shook his hand.

“Look guys that's great and all but we still have to split the loot.”

“oh shit right,”Chroma turned towards all the treasure, “so how we doing this do we just rush in or?-”

“no,how about we take turns,Ophrys already got his first pick,and since you and I are technically ending up in the same spot we can share turns.”

“Okay,i want the coat,”Chroma flew towards the loot and grabbed an expensive looking coat.

“alright shit i uhh,”he looked at the paintings,one of them was a sunny field full of blooming flowers,a little on the nose but he’ll take it,he walked forwards and grabbed the painting before carrying it back.

“Alright,you picked that coat so i-”Ether dashed forwards and grabbed the weapons set before dashing back, “get these,make these purple later by the way”.

“Yeah yeah sure whatever,”Chroma shrugged.

alright his turn,he walked over to the pile of stuff and grabbed the shoes,they looked expensive,but they weren't his style,green and blue weren't really his colors.

“hey can you make these red and white?”

“Sure,”the shoes went from a combination of green and blue to one of red and white.

“Thanks,”he walked back to where Ether and Chroma were.

“I'm taking that painting,”Chroma flew towards a painting of some sort of explosion before flying back.

He walked forwards and grabbed the records,he didn't even have a record player but hey,he didn't want the dream bust and that last painting was a bit…well.

“Goddammit,”Ether muttered before dashing to the last two items.

“Pick the painting, I'll try and make it look good.”

“you can't make it look good though?”Ether pointed at the painting,it wasnt really bad,it's clear whoever painted it was talented,but it was a very,very detailed clown,and nobody wanted a detailed clown in their home,except a clown maybe.

“trust me.”

“Fine,”Ether grabbed the painting and walked back to Chroma which left him with…

“oh you have got to be fucking kidding me,”he walked forwards to the Dream bust and grabbed it.

“ha,you got the Dream bust,”Chroma taunted.

“fuck you,”he sighed before walking to everything he got, “you two should probably head to wherever you live quickly,i wouldnt want to be carrying all that around for long.”

“Yeah,good idea,”Ether nodded.

“we’ll be in touch,remember we made a deal.”

Ether and Chroma picked up all of their things and walked loaded them into their car before driving away.

great,now he just needs to take all of this without being caught,goddammit.

After sneaking through several alleys,he got to his home with all the valuables. He didn't really feel like setting them up though,so he just left everything in the living room and took the gem with him to his bedroom.

he has to protect it,the hell does he do,hide it under his bed?

Actually,who the hell would expect a valuable gem to be under somebody's bed,he’s a genius.

He placed the gem under his bed.

alright,time for sleep.

He turned on the lamp at his night stand before turning off the lights. He reached over to his drawer and pulled out five poppies before crushing all of them. He took a deep breath of the mist and his head fell down on his pillow,waking up,as always,was almost immediate.

no dreams,no nightmares,no darkness,just a moment of oblivion.

he sighed and got out of bed,it's probably about time he opened the shop.

time to start another day.