Chapter Text
“We should give ourselves names, when we get out of here.” 4904 offered suddenly, sitting in the center of their shared cell. The wax that coated his wings was stuck as is, courtesy of the band on his wrist.
“What kind of names?” 6470 asked, his voice quiet. Their tail curled around 1460’s leg, their claws tapping against the cold tile floor.
“I dunno, just,, anything man.” The avian responded, stretching and flopping on his belly. “Calling each other numbers is getting boring. And we know others do the same, remember Joel and Lizzie?”
“Joel and Lizzie were adults. They had lives before they were brought here.” 1325 responded, their tone flat. “We’ve been here so long we don’t remember anything from before.”
The moth-like alien muttered something under his breath, his large wings pressed against the wall.
“Then we should make something new.” 4904 retorted, his pointed ears flicking. “Who cares about before? We hardly had that, so we should focus on the now and the future. Like when we escape!”
“I don’t want to wait.” 1460 finally spoke up, his filmy wings buzzing. “To name ourselves, I mean. Why wait anyway? When we escape we need identities to do anything.”
4904 looked thoughtful, and then nodded sharply, his blond hair bouncing. “Yeah! Let's do it now. Come on, 13, get over here.” He beckoned 1325, and they stood up, sitting cross legged next to 1460.
They talked and talked until the buzzer went off for sleep. They talked about names, about who they wanted to be, about what little they knew of the outside world. By the time they all fell asleep on the cold floor, huddled together, they were no longer 4904, 1325, 1460, and 6470.
Instead they were Tommy, Purpled, Tubbo, and Ranboo.
And they promised each other to escape, to use these names to their fullest, in honor of those like Joel and Lizzie, like Skizz and Pungence.
To honor those who had lived and died with their names, the four would do the same.
“What’s your name? Martyn asked, looking over at 49- Tommy. The blond grinned.
“Well, I’m Tommy! Quite nice to meet you, Martyn.” He did a small bow, stretching out his wax-coated wings. When he looked up, Martyn had a smile on his face.
“And the rest of you? This is BigB, Taurtis, and Netty.” Martyn gestured to the three. Tommy hummed, pointing at the members of his team.
“That there’s Tubbo, then we’ve got Ranboo, and big man Purpled.”
All three of them looked up at the call of their names, smiles crossing their faces. In the case of Purpled however, their eyes only lit up.
Martyn was nice, Tommy decided. He spoke of ancient creatures that watched over the land, some malicious, some benevolent, and some never interfering. He referred to himself as something similar, someone who listened instead.
Tommy said that was silly, but within his own mind wondered if Martyn was just as ancient and powerful as those who watched, and he could read Tommy’s mind or something.
He wondered if Martyn heard his silent cries to be free.
But that was just silly.
Taurtis said Tommy reminded him of someone, an avian with the ability to replicate noises perfectly. There was a look in Martyn’s eyes, and Tommy wondered if that avian had been connected to the whole team too.
What if that avian was connected to the watching guys, or the listening ones? But once again, he dismissed the thought, it was just stupid. The tales of ancient creatures who watched and listened were dumb.
He ignored Martyn’s soft frown right after he thought that.
“So, big M, big B, big T, and big N. Let’s get cracking, huh? Teach us some of that cool fighting shit.” Tommy called, slapping his signature grin on his face. Behind him, his wings twitched as the air shifted, his friends moving into place.
Martyn’s soft frown kept going, but the older team nodded.
Tommy was able to get BigB pinned quickly, despite the older being much stronger physically. Purpled had already dispatched Martyn, and Ranboo had Netty in a chokehold. Tubbo was busy wrestling Taurtis to the ground.
They were known for being fast learners, after all. Had to be.
It was getting worse. So much worse. Purpled hated it all. They’d only just gotten a handle on their newest power, and yet they already had something for them to do.
He was half considering using that new power to disappear from the scientist’s minds. Purpled wasn’t daft though, they knew why the scientists gave them this power.
They wanted him to perform missions for them. To train squadrons, and make them forget all about who trained them. He was sure they had measures against him disappearing completely.
They knew what those measures were, too. Those damn scientists knew they wouldn’t dare leave without their friends.
Purpled didn’t know how to explain to his friends why he’d be gone for a week. Why they couldn’t be there. Nor why a collar sat uncomfortably around their neck. They couldn’t say shit, and it was aggravating.
Instead, he had to go take out someone. Purpled crossed one leg over the other, scanning the page. They wanted an assassin? He’d give them a fucking assassin. And once he was done, he’d disappear into the night and take all traces of himself with him.
Ren Dog, a werewolf, and the hero Red Winter. Often guarded by his closest companions, fellow members of the Hermits agency. Mostly those that had participated in the Life series, a popular reality TV production.
While that series was acting, Purpled was tasked with watching Ren’s perspective in the reality show to analyze how he fought. They hated to admit how they had grown just a bit attached to some of the members. Nor how they recognized Martyn.
He’d noticed the mild changes, when they had to have an actor who looked close enough to finish Martyn’s part. Same with BigB, and Skizzle. Lizzie and Joel too.
Back on task, Purpled reminded themself. They had Ren’s attack pattern memorized by now. Now they just had to do the deed.
The collar sat heavily around their neck, a reminder, should they attempt to escape. The camera attached that would alert the scientists should they fail.
It was Purpled’s second glimpse of this planet outside the lab, and he couldn’t help but feel like any wonder he'd previously held was stained in the shade of blood.
In the end, they left Ren with fatal injuries, making sure to let blood cover the collar’s camera. Then, they passed a note.
I apologize for what I’ve done. Get him to urgent care, anything, don’t let him die. But make him disappear off the face of the earth.
From now on, Red Winter is retired, and it must stay that way.
~ Hades
He left without a word, hoping they heeded his warning. And upped their security, it was ridiculously easy to slip past, even with his power.
Tubbo always felt like something was deeply wrong. Like he was something other than just a bee hybrid with the ability to make guns shoot honey. He just couldn’t explain it.
It made his head hurt to think about. Why did he feel so wrong being able to fly, to poison things with his nails, to have his antenna twitch and swivel towards sound? It felt more right whenever they’d do rock climbing exercises. The scientists of course expected Tubbo to just hover up, but he found himself preferring to leap from platform to platform.
Maybe he was just weird. Tubbo shook his head, sitting in the team’s shared cell alone. Purpled was gone again, though the alien would never say where. Tommy was dueling with someone from another team. Ranboo was testing the capabilities of his pocket universe.
And Tubbo was just sitting here, all alone. He let the back of his head bump against the wall, letting out a groan. He picked at his black nails, wondering if his poison could affect him or if he was immune.
He needed something to do.
Tubbo stood up, going over to the small shelf where the nicer scientists would leave them things to tinker with. He grabbed a small unusable camera and a screwdriver, and found his way back to his original spot against the wall.
Eventually, he had every single piece laid out in front of him. Then, he put it back together. If along the way he realized why it was unusable and messed with that part until it worked, that was for himself to know.
At the end of the day, he had a camera to take photos of his friends with. Something to capture his memories in. He wondered if that would help him figure out what was wrong with him.
There had to be more. There just had to be. Ranboo felt the power thrumming under his veins, something deep and powerful, but he just couldn’t unlock it.
They heard the scientists mutter about how it was unprecedented. How the enderian blood was only meant to increase his teleportation ability, not limit it and their other powers.
He stared at his hands blankly, trying to piece together what those other powers were. It clearly meant he could teleport before, a stronger version even. He could transport items to a pocket dimension, and he could move objects to his will without ever touching them.
But what else was there? What were those powers trapped under their skin? They thought about it a lot. Maybe it was connected to that transformation, how they could make themself look more human. What if they were able to completely shapeshift before?
Ranboo thinks he’d like the ability to shapeshift. It could make his jokes funnier too. Maybe if he shapeshifted into a scientist, they wouldn’t notice and he’d be able to let his friends escape.
They really wished they could unlock that shapeshifting, if it was even one of their previous abilities.
He liked listening to the scientist’s mutterings. It gave him information about the outside world. So whenever he was tasked with showing them the extent of his powers, he listened.
Ranboo heard many things. Mentions of a hero known as KJ. Creatures called Magickborns. Incorrect eye colors, Ranboo’s red eye was meant to be gold, but it wasn’t. Manipulation of time and space. Theories. One fearful mutter, ‘did we kidnap the number six hero’s relative?’
That night, Ranboo had a dream of the hero KJ bursting through the cell wall and rescuing them and their friends. Of belonging, of being told what they truly were.
He was disappointed when he woke up to the same boring white walls. With a long sigh, Ranboo got up and stretched. Time for another long day.
“You’re getting rather fiery, aren't cha Sparkler?” Phantom quipped, glancing over at the blaze hybrid. Sparkler shot a look right back, placing the paper he was holding down. KJ hugged Sparkler from behind, the brunet looking up at the ravenet with a frown.
“Sappy, I know how annoying this is. But we can’t destroy the evidence. If they find any traces we were here, not only will the lab be on our butt but the government too. Scott was all for this but he doesn’t have control over what we can and can’t do.”
“I know, I know. Just pisses me off. Scott even made the meeting as private as possible. Told us to make sure our tracks were completely unrecoverable. Something’s going on and I want to figure it out.”
Phantom watched the conversation pass with silence, taking a photo of the page he’d found. He didn’t bother to read it yet, there wasn’t time for that. He glanced at the other hero who’d remained silent throughout the exchange.
Eret glanced back, their bright white eyes acting as a light source.
KJ suddenly froze, their gold eyes narrowing. They snapped a photo of the paper they held and their white tail raised high, twitching from side to side. Eret nodded, pressing a hand against the floor. The earth caved in under them, and the four heroes took the tunnel out.
Just as the entrance to the tunnel closed, the alarms blared. An echoing voice, strangely reminiscent of Dream’s, spoke over the intercom.
“Squadron 4-L has escaped containment.”
Phantom grit his teeth and kept walking. This was a stealth mission, trying to save whoever was trying to escape was a death sentence.
He knew his fellow heroes felt the same.