Chapter Text
“Just stay there, I’ll come get you!” Tommy shouts out as the metal bars of the unfinished building continue to creak and groan around them. Sweat drips down his face, everything in his body screaming in pain and telling him that he’s exerted his powers too much.
He’s exhausted. Yet still he ignores it and pushes through it with what little strength he has.
From the other side where he stands, he watches as the other continues to struggle with the ropes wrapped around her chest and wrists. The delicate thin wings on her back are useless as they too are bind together by the rope. She looks up at Tommy, desperation in her eyes, “No, don’t worry about me, just go! The building is going to collapse soon.” she pleads.
Much to her dismay however Tommy shakes his head in refusal. “I’m not going to leave you, I’m not losing you too.” he says back and starts to shuffle back a bit, eyes trained at the nearest beam. He could probably make it if he jumps, then he’ll be close enough to reach her and get out of this place.
“Tommy, please.” she cries out, finally managing to unbind her hands just as Tommy prepares himself to jump, “don’t-“
Creak
Suddenly, the whole building begins to shake, more screws raining from above as they come lose. The motion sends Tommy nearly toppling off but thankfully he manages to collapse onto the metal beam he was standing on with a “oof”.
He clutches the edge of the metal with white fists, trying to stand up again as the entire structure begins to shake and rattle. He no longer cares about the fresh sting of betrayal that he had felt just and hour ago, the only thing that matters now is getting her to safety.
Quickly, he manages to get his feet under him and leaps over to the next beam. The groaning becomes louder as the beams start falling to the ground, no longer held together by anything.
“Grab my hand!” Tommy shouts desperately, reaching a hand out to the other. He watches as she raises her own, their fingers just touching-
Bang
The beam under her feet drops with her falling along with it with a shrill scream. Swiftly Tommy tries to swipe at her hand, only to instead be met with air and it escapes his grasp. “Clem-“ he begins to cry out, only to be quickly interrupted by the feeling of his own beam moving.
Suddenly, Tommy is falling. Down, down, down with nothing to stop his dissent.
With what little energy he has left, he uses his powers once more. His hand turning a faint- almost barely visible red rather than the bright glow his power normally makes, a sign that he’s pushed them too far. He then concentrates in forming a red glow around the others body and shakily he pulls her up into his arms.
As the two blonds fall, Tommy thinks he sees a flash of gold surrounding them.
And then the building collapses on top of them.
------
-haha. Well thank you for that.
The news lady on TV says. Distantly Tommy notices from the voice that it’s the same woman who was in that helicopter a week ago that was reporting on the protests, the one he had saw live on his phone.
As he continues to wipe the counter Tommy looks up at the café TV, watching as the lady looks away from her companion and back towards the camera. It’s a swift change with how her once wide smile drops and changes to a serious one as the camera quickly zooming in on her face.
In other news, today now marks a week since the first anniversary of Mellohi’s death and the day the heroes had announced the vigilante’s death.
As she continues to talk, an image of Mellohi appears to the side of the screen. It’s a well-known image that most of the media like to use when talking about the vigilante and is a very popular photo in general.
The image shows Mellohi posing for the camera, raising a two fingered peace sign with a black fingerless gloved hand. Despite how his month is covered by a black mask with an image of a disc printed on the sides, his masked eyes are titled and crinkled in what appears to be a smile.
Zoomed out enough, the image also shows the vigilante wearing his regular clothes that the public is familiar with. Over his form is a red and white hoodie, with the red hood pulled up to the hide the locks peeking out from it. The sleeves of the hoodie are also slightly pulled up, showing the black tight long-sleeved shirt which is the same colour as the leggings showing under a pair of brown pants that go to his knees.
The photo on TV then disappears from the screen as the news lady continues talking.
To this day, the public has still yet to hear from heroes regarding the matter, as well as the possible identity of the suspect who had framed Mellohi for the collapse of an apartment building which had cost the lives of many citizens last year.
For now however, we will now show you the footage taken on the day that the heroes had announced the vigilantes death.
The screen then changes, showing a massive crowd of people all facing a podium full of heroes lined up together. It’s not until he sees a familiar feathered mask walking up towards the microphone does Tommy then switch the TV to another channel.
It’s easy to recall what they will say, having seen the clip broadcasted thousands of times after that day.
“Today it has been confirmed that the vigilante Mellohi is dead.” the hero would say, voice apathetic and hollow. “After investigating an incomplete building in Logstedshire which was reported to have mysteriously collapsed, we discovered a body of a citizen that was crushed by the wreckage. A further investigation revealed that Mellohi was also there during the collapse and while a second body has yet to be found, evidence reveal that it is unlikely that Mellohi had managed to survive the collapse.”
Afterwards the hero would then thank the audience for listening. Then he and the others would walk out of the stage and away from the cameras, every single one of them not responding to the confused and outrage cries from the public or the calls asking them to explain themselves.
It had been interesting to watch the public’s reaction to the vigilante’s death. It was even more so after it had been leaked to the public that the illegal hero had been framed. Tommy vividly remembers the explosive anger and outrage the information caused, news articles going crazy over the shocking news.
“I’m pretty sure that spot is clean by now.” a voice says from somewhere close, causing Tommy to harshly jolt in surprise, tearing his eyes away from the TV. “Fuck-“ he shouts, looking to his side to find Techno slightly leaning against the front counter, also staring up at the TV on the wall.
“What the fuck.” Tommy rasps out as he places a hand over his racing heart, watching as Techno looks back at him with an unfazed look.
“Sorry I just noticed that you’ve been cleaning that one sport for a while now.” He explains, though not sounding apologetic at all. Fucking asshole. Tommy really wishes he would stop visiting, he doesn’t want the bastard to be a new regular in the café.
With a sigh, he removes the rag off the counter and places it on one of the cupboards behind him. “I was just zoned out is all.” Tommy says trying to keep the tiredness out of his voice, raising a hand to rub above his brow with a palm.
Unfortunately for him Techno seems to notice anyway, raising a disbelieving brow at him. “You alright? You seem a bit tired today.” he asks, shifting his body to face the counter as he peers over at the other.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just that my leg is being a bitch right now.” Tommy mumbles with a sigh, looking away.
Truthfully it wasn’t even a lie, after a nightmare he had unfortunately started his morning waking up to phantom pains stabbing through his leg, reminding him of his missing lower half. It ended up being so bad that he had to shout for Tubbo to come help him until the pain receded and while it’s better than before, he can nevertheless still faintly feel them.
At the simple reply, Techno gives him a confused look, leaning over the counter more to glance down at his legs. “What’s the matter with your leg, is it hurt or something?” he asks, catching Tommy slightly off guard from the genuine concern in his voice.
He doesn’t think there’s ever been a time where someone had been worried about something he’s said, no less by an adult. Pity was always the go to emotion when he had expressed something, giving him a sympathetic look but never being the one to actually do anything.
Always asking, but never helping. It’s ironic that it’s changed now after he reached eighteen.
“Ah-! No, no.” Tommy replies with a nervous smile and a laugh, trying to break the serious atmosphere. “It’s just that I lost one of them a while back.”
“….Heh??” Techno loudly exclaims, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.
“Yeah.” Tommy continues, making his way around the counter so that the other can see him in full view. Then with practiced movements, he lifts up his pants leg and takes off his prosthetic, raising it into the air with one hand with the other clutching the counter.
“What-“ Techno whisper as he squints at it, slightly taken aback from the sudden action. He blinks a few times, staring at the prostatic before relaxing again, his mouth forming an ‘o’ shape. “Oh, it’s a prosthetic.” he says as he peers at the leg, “Huh, I didn’t know you had one.”
“Well of course I have one.” Tommy says as he lowers his arm, “I thought you would have seen it.”
“You stand behind a counter, of course I didn’t see it.”
A pause, “….oh.”
Techno lets out a faint snort at the reply, watching as pink lightly dusts the others cheeks. “Fuck off, it’s been a long morning.” Tommy grumbles as he looks away, “the fucking disrespect-“ he mutters under his breath.
“So anyway, dear employee of Clara’s” Techno says loudly cutting of the others mutters with an amused glint in his eyes, “I wish to order for my drink now.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Tommy says with another grumble. “I’ll get to you in a sec-“
Suddenly he cuts himself off as he looks down at his now single leg. Quietly he looks at the hand still holding his prosthetic and then to the other hand still clutching the counter, realization dawning on him. “What?” Techno says, his brows slightly furrowing once again.
“How the fuck am I going to get this leg back on.” Tommy whispers, realizing that the hand holding the counter is the only thing keeping him balanced.
Techno lets out a bellowing laugh.
------
Thankfully after one laughing fit later and a couple of “Sure grandpa” from Techno, Tommy manages to hop over to a nearby chair and place his prosthetic back on. When he’s done, Techno wastes no time making comments for him to hurry up and make his order, a mildly amused expression appearing on his face as the other yells back.
For today, Techno ended up ordering one of his heavily caffeinated coffees which Tommy will be adding to the list of drink that will be banned once he eventually takes over Clara’s. Most of it was full of orders anyway that either had, too much caffeine or included too many combinations that resulted in him asking the other to write down so that he got the order right.
After making the death drink that will definitely cause a heart attack one day, Techno had taken his seat at his favourite spot by the window, furiously tapping on the laptop he had brought along. Tommy had always wondered what the guy was working on considering how he would use it relentlessly.
Unfortunately for Tommy himself, he didn’t have anything to do except mindlessly scrolling through the different channels on the TV.
Similar to before, most news channels were still focusing on the anniversary, recapping all the information that everyone already knew. So pretty much every channel saying the same story over and over again, causing Tommy to groan in frustration as he catches sight of that same feathered mask once more.
With a sign, he settles for the one channel that doesn’t talk about the anniversary, finding one that was instead discussing the protests that happen regularly through the city and recalling the day in which they had first started.
“You know, I don’t really understand all these protests.” Techno mutters softly into the quiet café and Tommy pauses as he moves to place the remote under the counter. “….What do you mean big man?” he asks, looking up at the other who has shifted around to stare at the TV screen.
“I mean it’s quite annoying, wouldn’t you say? They pretty much block the roads and just cause a nuisance for everyone.”
The room is quiet as Tommy curiously glances over at Techno, who was still staring up at the TV with an unreadable expression. Henry unfortunately isn’t here today, meaning there were no ovens humming in the background, leaving only the quiet ramblings coming from the TV.
Tommy always had some suspicions about Techno. It appears he may have been right.
“You know, you should probably be careful saying stuff like that.” Tommy says quietly, “If you said that in some other café, most people would probably have a riot. Especially when it’s said by someone from the upper part of the city.”
At the last sentence he watches as Techno stills. Then he turns around in what would seem like a casual manner, if not for the purposefully blank look now displayed on Techno’s face, along with the way his shoulders stiffen just a bit as he stares over at the other.
“You’re from L’manburg.” Tommy states, a small smile on his face.
“What gave it away?.” Techno responds calmy, expression natural.
“I’d noticed that you weren’t really fond about the protests when they were mentioned on the news, something that most people from the upper parts shared the same view on. Sometimes you also order really fancy drink combinations and I’m pretty it’s impossible to purchase a laptop like that unless you were dirty rich.”
Immediately Techno slaps the laptop close, covering it with his arms as he continues to stare at the other with a calculated look in his eyes.
“Don’t worry big man. Like I mentioned before I’m not like other places, so I won’t snitch on you or anything.” Tommy tells him with a more kinder smile. “Though I’m curious as to why your down here in the middle parts?”
After a good minute of silence and slightly tense staring, Techno eventually relents a bit and glances out the café windows. “I guess just wanted to see what all this drama on the news was about.” and then in a low grumble voice, “and Ph- ah, my dad wanted me out of the house.”
A pause.
“You still fucking live with your dad?!” Tommy shouts with a loud snort, “What where you rebelling against him or something?”
“I don’t think my personal life concerns you.”
“Oh hohoho, Techno’s been naughty-“
“Stop.” Techno exclaims with a disgusted look on his face. “Don’t ever say that again.” he says as Tommy begins to break down in laughter. “And for your information no, I wasn’t fighting with him. We have a business together and he just so happened to decide to kick me out today. Because apparently, I’ve been ‘working too much’ as he puts it.” He explains with an audible huff, clearly disagreeing what the man had said.
“No, no, he’s not wrong. Considering the amount of caffeine you make me put into your fucking drinks I would be worried as well.” Tommy says, smile turning to a wide grin at the groan the other makes.
“Don’t you start too. Just him constantly nagging me is enough, I don’t need more.” Techno grumbles, lifting his arms off his laptop and opening it. He then lets out a disappointed sigh when the screen opens, the lighting reflecting against the lenses of his glasses.
Judging from the blue screen which was now illuminating his face, it appeared Techno just slammed his laptop into a software update.
“So…” Tommy starts, breaking the short silence, “You wanted to understand more about the protests?” he asks. He watches as Techno looks between him and the laptop before pushing the device away a bit, twisting his body to face the other.
“Suppose I should, if I don’t want to get swarmed.” Techno signs out, rubbing his hand against his forehead. “Though I was under the impression that the people of Pogtopia liked the heroes. Afterall, they came by a lot, so I don’t understand why there are all these protests here saying how horrible they are.” he rants out, a hint of annoyance leaking into his voice.
“You may think that, but it isn’t really true.” Tommy replies, “Just because we haven’t become as run down as Logstedshire- the lower part of the city- doesn’t mean that the middle is any better.”
Logstedshire, as many people know is the most dangerous part of the city. An area full of crime and crumbling, unfinished buildings. It’s unfortunately a place where the poor and homeless tend to go to, working for long hours in crappy shops just to earn at least a small amount of money.
It’s an ugly part of the city. One that most heroes have pretty much all abandoned and can no longer control. Only the most skilled vigilantes dare to venture there, having the experience and knowledge to know where crime could be. It’s pretty much the only area where heroes don’t take the risk in capturing them.
It’s the only area where vigilantes can fight crime without being hunted like animals.
“Even if the heroes do come over to the middle, there’s a reason why we have so many vigilantes roaming the streets.” Tommy continues as he slightly leans over the counter, crossing his arms in front of his chest, “While they do try, heroes tend to focus more on other things rather than stuff that’s important, like hunting vigilantes.”
“But why would that be a problem, vigilantes are illegal aren’t they? Heroes are obligated to arrest them.” Techno suddenly pipes, furrowing his brows.
“True, but then there was Mellohi.” Tommy says back with a small huff, a bitter smile on his face.
He doesn’t notice how Techno tenses slightly at the mention of the vigilante.
“The people liked him because he was looking out for them. While he helped save banks and stores, he also focused on what was considered the ‘less important’ stuff such as muggings. He was doing his best and the streets seemed to have gotten better because of his efforts.”
Then Tommy’s smile dropped, looking out the window with unfocused eyes. Like thinking about a distant memory. “There was also the fact that the heroes didn’t seem to mind Mellohi, considering the many witnesses talking about them collaborating together. So, it’s a bit messed up when the heroes started hunting him after the accident despite the trust that the two sides seemed to have.”
“But the heroes didn’t know that Mellohi was framed, so it wouldn’t be fair to put all the blame on them, would it?” Techno points out, causing Tommy to look back at him. “I mean, for all we know they might of just had a mutual agreement, so when it appeared that Mellohi had caused the death of many civilians the heroes didn’t have much choice but view him as a criminal.”
“….you’re probably right about that” Tommy admits with a hum, even he couldn’t dispute that fact- as much as he wanted to. “But I guess people were more upset regarding the lack of response that was given after Mellohi had been proven innocent. They were ok with announcing his death and putting the blame on him, so where are the apologies? Are they going to find the person that actually did it or ignore the fact that it even happened?”
“Since Mellohi’s death, the only thing the heroes have done is make things worse. All they do is hunt vigilantes for sport and occasionally save that one bank. Crime rates have begun to rise and many of us feel as though our voices aren’t being heard.”
“So, I guess, that’s pretty much why we have all these protests.” Tommy finishes with a sigh, glancing at Techno’s expression. He lets out a small, embarrassed chuckle at the barely visible, wide-eyed stare that the other gives him. “Sorry for the rant there.” He says, scratching his head as his cheeks slightly flush.
“It’s fine.” Techno states with a wave of his hand. “it’s interesting I guess; I just didn’t know that’s what people here had felt. Honestly it sort of makes sense now, I’m glad you told me.” He says, giving the other a small nod.
“Well, I mean it’s better to explain our view rather than getting yelled at.” Tommy says with his own laugh.
Techno also lets out a small huff of his own, opening his mouth to say something before a loud ding ring throughout the café. With furrowed brows, Techno fishes out his phone from his pocket and turning it on. He briefly looks at the screen before turning it off with a tired sigh, placing it back into his pocket.
“Looks like I got to head out now, I’m needed at home.” He says, closing his laptop and placing it into his bag. He then begins to stand up, grabbing his coffee as he steps out of the seat.
“But I thought your dad exiled you.” Tommy says with a wide grin.
“I’m not even going to try and argue with you.” Techno responds with a shake of his head, the small smile appearing on his face betraying his expression as Tommy begins to laugh. “See you later, a guess. Make sure not to burn the place down while you’re alone.” He says, raising the hand that holds his coffee and pointing a finger at the other.
“Oh, fuck off.” Tommy says, “Go back to your rich family, tory.”
“Wow.” Techno deadpans, walking out the doors with a shake of his head. “I’m hurt, I don’t think I’ll come back now...”
“Then take your shitty drink requests with you!” Tommy bellows out, watching as Techno walks out of the café, both of them having some sort of smile on their faces.
------
The apartment is relatively silent for the evening, with the only noise coming from the TV, one of those money winning game shows currently airing.
It’s nearly sunset and Tommy is alone on the couch, eating some 2-minute noodles he decided to have for dinner, not finding the energy to stand and cook something. His roommates meanwhile are doing their second job of being vigilantes, something they hadn’t done for a couple of days after Tommy had forced them to take a break.
And it wasn’t because he was worried about Ranboo overworking himself or anything. Literally the last time the bastard overworked himself Tommy had to drag his lanky ass home early because he was collapsing over the place at work.
Despite these sorts of problems, he doesn’t mind that his roommates are vigilantes. His only problem is the fact that these fools wont fucking take care of themselves-
But its fine.
Everything is chill.
Breaking news
Oh, fucking dammit-
At the loud booming voice, Tommy looks back up at the screen, stopping his progress in slurping up his noodles. Shifting his cup to one hand, he drops his fork into it and reaches over to grab the remote and turns the volume up slightly.
As the screen transitions to the news reporter- a different one from this morning- Tommy lets out a loud slurp, stuffing the rest of the noodles into his mouth. Then he puts down the cup to grab his phone, checking his notifications. No messages from Tubbo yet.
It’s just come in that the vigilante’s Nuke and Ender who have been reported nearby protesters are currently in a battle with the hero Angel.
Immediately, Tommy chokes on his noodles, now regretting his choice in stuffing his face. He slams his cup onto the coffee table, letting out loud coughs and hitting his chest to help him fucking breathe.
“Fuckers” he mutters to himself, grabbing his phone again, “I said no fucking drama-“
With a growl he sends a couple of texts to Tubbo, each with a verity of colourful swear words telling the two to home back and not fight. He looks back at the TV which was currently broadcasting the fight and watches as Nuke tilts his arm towards his face, reading the messages on his electronic watch.
Tommy glares at the screen as Nuke looks over to Ender, signalling something. The two then race towards the end of the building, the heroes right up their tail. The vigilantes then jump off the roof, Nuke grabbing his partner as he makes explosions come out of the palms of his hands, giving them a safe fall. From behind, the Angel immediately takes flight, tailing the pair as they drop to the ground.
However, what happens next catches everyone off guard.
The protesters who were witnessing the battle from the ground begin to move. Even the news reporter is thoroughly surprised as large groups of people quickly group together, surrounding Nuke and Ender- shielding Nuke and Ender.
-what’s this?! It seems like the citizens are protecting Nuke and Ender-!
Tommy watches, completely stunned as people begin to crowd around the hero, their faces twisted into rage as they yell at them. The camera then zooms out slightly from the scene, catching the sight of Nuke and Ender running into a nearby alleyway.
The person behind the camera seem to notice this as well as the screen violent shifts towards their direction. The film however, is only able to catch a sight of their legs before the vigilantes vanish from view, followed by a small puff of purple sparks appearing from the corner.
Vwoop
Quickly, Tommy twists around, looking up at the slightly ragged forms of Tubbo and Ranboo. He watches as the two take off their masks, a look of bewilderment plastered on their faces as they glance at the TV, then back to him.
“What the fuck.”