Chapter Text
A teenager raced the streets, grinning. He wore a red teenager, with a hood hiding his identity. Behind him, a man chased him, screaming something drowned out by the noisy crowd.
Tommy pushed through the groups of people lining the streets of the upper districts, holding the stolen supplies close to his chest.
“Icarus!” A voice screamed, and he glanced up. Tubbo waved his hands around frantically from the top of a nearby building. Tommy threw the supplies up to it at Tubbo.
Tubbo caught the supplies, then used the mechanical bee wings he’d designed to fly off. They worked surprisingly well, almost like he had a bee-inspired power.
Tommy went in the opposite direction, sprinting into a coffee shop. He vaulted the counter and ducked into the back room. As the door slammed shut, he fell to the floor, panting.
The door slammed open, and he froze.
“Tommy?” Puffy’s voice called out.
Tommy relaxed, standing up, “Puffy!”
Puffy’s hair was split brown and white, corralled under a hat. She wore a pirate-inspired costume, a part of the immersion for her pirate-themed cafe.
“Care to explain why you just vaulted the counter of my cafe and then proceeded to hide in the back room?”
“...you know how it is, Puffy.”
“Tommy,” Puffy said, sighing, “You know you don’t need to steal. I told you I can get you and the others food.”
Tommy looked down, ashamed, “I know… I just– I didn’t want to be a burden.”
“You’re never a burden, Tommy,” Puffy said with a smile.
“...so you don't mind if I wait here until the police give up trying to find me?”
Puffy laughed, “No, of course not.”
“Thank you, Puffy!”
Tubbo landed back at home, pulling down his mask. While Tommy preferred a hood, he usually wore goggles and a mask.
Honestly, he wasn’t sure that Tommy even cared that much. He thought no one would suspect him as no one saw his red streak. Honestly, Tubbo wasn’t quite sure why the mark of a magic user was a streak in your hair. It seemed like a weird choice on the part of whoever the fuck decided that trauma gave you magical powers.
Tubbo walked into their small apartment and was tackled by Drista and Lani, fighting to take the supplies from his grip.
Lani and Drista dug through the bag of supplies, taking the things they liked and arguing about who got them.
Purpled sat behind them on his phone. He glanced up and nodded at Tubbo, scanning over the stuff Drista and Lani had pulled out. He stood up, walking over and taking any weapons from either girl’s pile.
“Hey!” Drista shouted in protest, “I found that knife first.”
“If you think I’m trusting either of you with weapons, then you’re insane.” Purpled stuck the knife into his pocket.
Drista groaned, glaring at Purpled.
Tubbo cut through the room, grabbing a protein bar and sitting on the couch to eat it. He turned on the Hero News and watched the news reporter rambling about illegal magic use.
“Rember,” the news reporter stated, “The gaining of magic must be reported to the authorities. Illegal magic use is against the law. Our next topic– a fight between two new villains and Insomnia has broken out. Please stay away from th…”
Tubbo froze as a video of Aimsey and Guqqie fighting Insomnia popped up. The duo was wearing their villain outfits. Guqqie wore a pastel pink and blue suit. Aimsey wore a plain black one with a daisy. Guqqie had covered her face with a bubble– creative since Tubbo hadn’t gotten anything for her yet– while Aimsey wore a pair of goggles and a mask.
They were holding up well against Insomnia. The hero was wearing a porcelain mask with a long green cape flowing in the wind as he lunged toward Aimsey and Guqqie. They hadn’t managed to get a hit in yet, but they’d managed to avoid most of Insomnia’s punches.
He stood up, rushing to his room. Why would Aimsey and Guqqie be fighting the number one hero? They had enough on their plates, with Tommy’s family and Purpled being the only one with a real job. He flipped open his laptop, connecting to Aimey’s headset built into their mask.
“Aimey, what the fuck are you doing?”
“...listen, we didn’t ask to fight him.”
Tubbo stalked back over to the TV in the living room. The announcer reported that backup was on the way.
“Fuck–” Tubbo swore, “Aimsey get out of there. Insomnia’s got backup coming.”
On the screen, Aimsey froze for a second, almost getting hit by Insomnia, and then ran to Guqqie to whisper in her ear. Guqqie’s water in the air wobbled, and she quickly pulled Aimsey away.
Insomnia gave chase for a bit but quickly lost them. Tubbo stood up, waiting by the door for Aimsey and Guqqie to come back.
When the door slammed open, Tubbo glared at the duo. They’d changed back into civilian clothes and had a nervous look. Tubbo groaned and moved to let them in.
“You know how idiotic that was, right?”
“...well, yes, but…”
“No buts,” Tubbo chastised, “You were reckless and could’ve gotten yourself killed.”
Tommy burst through the door, panting.
“And you!” Tubbo continued, “Where have you been?”
Tommy just looked down at his feet.
Ranboo was talking with Niki when Dream stormed back into the building. His cloak billowed behind him as he stalked towards the elevator.
“Those little…” Ranboo heard Dream mutter.
Dream gestured for Ranboo to come with him. Ranboo rushed to match Dream’s pace, striding through the Hero building.
“Ranboo, I need you to figure out who those villains are,” Dream started, “And be quick about it. I can’t have anyone thinking that weak villains like them can escape me.”
Ranboo nodded, gulping, “On it, sir.”
Dream nodded, walking off.
Ranboo squinted his eyes, teleporting back to his office.