Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It started as a normal day in the Minecraft house, for Tommy at least. He managed to get the entire family at the table eating breakfast for school with him, even though no one was talking to each other, the 3 elders focused on their phones. Tommy knew better than to talk when Phil’s brows were furrowed in tension and Wilbur didn’t seem to be staring at his at least a lil bit spaced out. Techno’s cold neutral stare was always the same, at least that never changed.

Ranboo would be there in a couple to pick him up to school. Out of his best friends, Ranboo drove, Tubbo picked the music and Tommy paid for the gas. 

“So, ready for the tournament tomorrow?” Tubbo turned to him as Tommy got in.

“Shit! I forgot to ask Wilbur and dad about it.” Tommy replied “I could also ask Techno but he never pays attention to me anyway so…”

At that Ranboo looked through the mirror to meet Tommy’s eyes in the back, asking “Family business again?” 

“Fucking always. It’s like they don’t even care.” The blond replied.

“Fuck them, Tommy. You’ve got us” Tubbo turned back from the passenger seat to offer his best friend in the back a fist bump. It wasn’t returned.

“Yeah but Wil promised me we’d always be together. He’s known me the longest and we were super close.” He looked out the window “I wonder why he doesn’t try harder to hang out with me”

They all knew the answer. Family Business. What was so important in this Business? Well. Everyone in that household was a part of the Superhero Committee. From the moment Wilbur joined Phil and Techno on their nightly patrols, Tommy knew things had changed forever. 

Wilbur, Tommy's only brother in blood, born as someone with the ability to shape shift and mimic anyone he knows. His heroic alter ego name is Mimic and he's bound to his own memory and imagination on what comes with looks and voices but he seems to have it down at this point. Always playing sad soothing songs on his guitar, singing whenever he has a second to breathe. He was a weird one, sometimes his attitude changing from the sweet caring brother he knew deep down since he was a baby to someone completely different. No matter who his brother became, there would always be that caring protective look whenever his eyes laid on Tommy. 

Phil, his adopted dad, was the one who took Wil and him in. He was also one of the biggest heroes in the city, Malpas, also called The Crowfather. He could talk to crows and befriend them

in a second. Tommy knew he could count on the little fellas more than the actual man, though, the elder was so focused on making sure they could pay everything the four of them could ever need that there's rarely any time for him to check anything in the emotional department besides making sure everyone has a therapist.

Last but not the least, Techno. The man never made big gestures to help Tommy but always had a knack for delicious meals whenever he noticed someone was upset. Known as The Blade, who’s metal manipulation was often used to make swords, Techno’s cold attitude often was similar to one of a war soldier.

And that was the mess that was Tommy’s family. Tommy? 

“Tommy!” Tubbo waved his hand in front of the kid

“Huh?!” he jumped “Sorry, I zoned out”

“It’s ok” Ranboo said “I was saying that I’m pretty sure Wil isn’t ignoring you on purpose.”

“I know that! No one in that house has noticed me doing my thing, the doc said I had some kind of disorder with fainting and ever since they just tally it to that.” The blond grumbled “ I could be dead in my room and I’m not sure they’d notice.”

Tubbo shared a look with Ranboo. Tommy’s been aware of his powers for as long as he remembered but he’s pretty sure their mom never told Wilbur about them. Tubbo and Ranboo were the only ones who knew about Tommy's ghost-like powers. Tommy could do minor levitation of extremely light objects like paper clips, but whenever Tommy was “knocked out of his body” he could lift anything you could think of plus possess any electronics. He never tried possessing people because then he’d start questioning things but… that’s an issue for another night.

Tommy was well aware of his bestie’s past times as somewhat vigilantes, even though he refused to tell his family about it. About how Tubbo’s innate tech genius in hardware equipment was being used in conjunction with Ranboo’s weirdly hidden power bank. Like, he and his system all had different abilities by themselves that could be so useful on their own. Organization is one of the most important things, system organization also meant that they were going nowhere besides the lil book they had to keep note of things they were scared of forgetting.

“Well… Hopefully with at least one of them going to watch your practice tomorrow, it’ll be better, won’t it?” Tubbo asked “And then we get all summer for ourselves!”

“Yeah… it.. It will.” Tommy said, not sure if trying to convince himself or Tubbo.

Arriving at the school, Tommy and his friends found Dream, Sapnap and George by the gate. George seemed tired as always, Dream with his favorite hoodie chit-chatting with Sapnap, who’s cap was struggling against the wind. 

“Hey guys!” Tubbo shouted, waving as the trio approached.

“Heyo!” Dream replied

Waving, Sapnap added “ Dudes, don’t talk to George today. He’s practically a zombie.”

“Rude.” The goggled man grumbled, voice heavy with sleep “You two dragged me out of bed n made me wake up to a cold shower…”

Tommy joined in the conversation a little but slowly drifted away to look at the distance. With his patience running thin, he mentally prepared himself to face the last day of school, wanting to get back home and work on helping Tubbo with his tech.

Chapter Text

“2 Frappuccinos and 2 butter croissants for table 3!” Puffy called to behind the counter, where Jack was quickly working behind on completing the orders and leaving them ready behind the counter. As soon as he was done plating those, he filled a water bottle and went to help Niki.

“After you’re done with the cinnamon rolls, can I put some meat pies in the big oven?” He asked her.

She seemed to shiver under her large thick old black poncho “Jack, I love you but… you know how I feel about meat in my oven.”

The man pouted slightly but stayed comprehensive “I never have enough for the customers. Could we upgrade mine soon then? Or buy another one to go with mine?”

“Maybe once we get the funds to repair Puffy’s old one she’ll let you use it.” The pink haired gal offered. “Besides, less meat pies means that we can raise the cents a lil bit. It always helps since people like it so much.”

Jack nodded and heard Puffy shout for more pocket sandwiches and he started making them real quick, summoning the meat as he needed. His perfect sandwiches were the best in town, nobody knew where the meat came from, just that it was delicious.

“Got your sandwiches, Puffy!” he shouted, putting them on the counter

“Thank you, I wish Foolish was here to help…” The fluffy haired alchemist sighed “He keeps saying his new job is really well paying and he’s really helping the bills and even affording his own place but… I don’t even know what he’s doing.”

“I know, Puffy” The man mumbled in return “He’ll be okay, tho. He said he’ll be visiting soon, right? That’ll put some of your worries to rest!””

The woman nodded with a small smile and proceeded to go deliver some more orders. With the small break of the cafe empty she glared at the other side of the avenue. The 3 story building that made the competition, The Baked Egg, was standing on its all glory patience. Puffy remembers the blogs saying that whilst the food didn’t taste like anything special and the prices were high, people had some kind of.. addiction to the place’s food. No matter how long the line of people waiting at the restaurant was, they would insist on eating there, it creeped her out and the other bakers.

Bad Halo and Skeppy Elmers seemed to have an interesting friendship that had food as its primary connection and it seemed to spread like a plague.

Chapter Text

Tommy wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he got home. To see his family in peace was clearly not an option. But he wasn’t expecting to see Techno patching up Wilbur as Phil took care of his own injuries, bickering amongst themselves on how they barely had any room to breathe.

Then Wilbur looked up and his worry and pain faded into a genuine small smile “Tommy! You’re home.”

“Is everything ok? Do I need to get anything from the Pharmacy?” He youngest asked, setting down his bag by the door.

“No, no we’re ok.” Phil said, setting the bandages aside. “How was school? Anything new?”

“There’s a soccer tournament tomorrow.” Tommy started taking a deep breath. Techno looked at him, knowing exactly what was gonna come out of his mouth “I-I was wondering if it’d be possible for at least one of you to come watch..?”

The silence of the room thickened within the passing seconds.

"Tommy" Techno started "I don't think work will let any of us slack off like that"

Wilbur looked at Techno, Phil and then back at Tommy, eyes watering with guilt. Tommy got the message.

And with that, Tommy grabbed his bag, clutching it tight and running up the stairs. There was a loud sound of the boy’s door slamming closed. He was done with this bullshit. He was done with being ignored and being forced to grow apart from his family, from his only brother of blood.

Feeling the tips of his hair and other light objects around him levitate slightly due to his inner turmoil, Tommy grabbed  his phone and texted Tubbo and Ranboo “Red Glitch” getting a “im so sorry bossman” as a reply.

The paper clips and pencils in his desk started lifting as he texted another number, the one blacklisted on his dad’s phone as “Warden (Gone)”

Tommy: Hey, I know of your story, can we meet up? Me and my friends are in a similar position and we’d like your help.

???: Aren’t you the youngest of the Crafts?

Tommy: I don’t have a family because of Mimic, Malpas and Blade.

???: Understood, call me Sam, kid. Let me know what you need and I’ll support you.

Tommy: … even coming to soccer tournaments to support?

Sam: Yes, it's the one in Logstedshire High tomorrow, right?

Tommy: Yes, thank you.

Sam: See you Tomorrow, Tommy.

If the government wanted to gatekeep his family from him so they could play heroes, Tommy was gonna give them a real fucking villain to fight against.

Chapter Text

404 and FlameThrower hopped from roof to roof. Searching for the security system of the supermarket they’d planned on walking into, later disabling it with some well placed sparks.

“I hate having to do this.” 404 muttered, walking into the closed supermarket.

“He’s the only one of us with an actual job… We need to help somehow.” Flamethrower threw back, also not happy with his life choices.

As they started packing the shopping bags with essentials a frying pan flew at them and hit 404 right in the back of his head.

“OW!” He yelped looking to who was responsible for it.

A male figure in a red jumpsuit spoke to them with his face masked “Oi! Stop right there! Why are you robbing this place?!” His voice not having a specific accent set to it.

“None of your business, brat!”

The man in the jump suit stared at them, replying in his typical british accent “Actually it is, because you guys really suck at hiding your identities.”

404 and FlameThrower looked at each other before looking back at…

“To-”

“Red Glitch.” The ever shifting accent was now closer to a french one. “M not gonna give you away to the heroes, m actually against ‘em.”

“Red Glitch… What happened?” 404 asked, still rubbing his head.

“We’ll talk later. Now, why are you robbing the friggin’ supermarket?”

“... No money.” Flamethrower admitted

Red Glitch sighed “I’ll hack into the register, I’ll pay that shit for you. Get as much as you need for the week. Expensive Tech included, we’re stealing those tho..” And with that he left to the front of the supermarket.

404 and Flamethrower packed a week's worth of food, some painkillers and took all the more phones and laptops from the shop. As they headed to the front of the shop, the other said.

“I’m assuming some of these parts are for me and BeeByte?”

BeeByte? Who was BeeByte?

It took the man a few moments of thinking before the gears of his memory seemed to finally click. Tubbo.

“For you, yeah. Didn’t know BeeByte was with you and…” 404 trailed off, letting Red Glitch fill in the blank for him.

“Matrix.”

“Matrix.” FireThrower repeated afterwards, trying to get his brain to connect the dots. Ranboo was Matrix and Tubbo was BeeByte. Red Glitch, Beebyte and Matrix. Tommy, Tubbo and Ranboo. 

Red Glitch paid, speaking again as he left with the two “You two should probably stay off the streets for the rest of the week, big things are going to happen.”

“Do we want to know what?” FlameThrower questioned, a slight tilt of his head.

“You’ll know when you see it.” The kid replied, zooming off, the other two being left behind completely bewildered.

Chapter Text

Tommy wasn't sure what he was expecting when he told a stranger to be his moral support in the soccer tournament. He didn't know if Sam knew his face, he didn't know his! But his worries cleared away when out of all the parents a masked green haired man, a tad older than Wilbur, made his way to lean on the barrier and shouted to him.

"Go Tommy! Go!!"

He swears the energy of someone other than Tubbo and Ranboo caring and being there was the reason they won and he managed to assist his team as well.

After getting dressed and walking out of the locker room with his bag, the same man came up to him with an extended hand.

"That was really good! Want me to take your bag, Tommy?"

Tommy smiled and handed it over replying "Thanks, Sam." 

Sam smiled and put it on his back, Tubbo and Ranboo joined the two of them, Sam asking for the car keys. He drove the kids to a cafe/bakery, the famous RocketSheep. Ranboo's face seemed to contort in relief once realizing where they were going 

"Sam! Ranboo!" the kind sounding pink haired lady said from behind the counter.

"Hey Niki" both said at the same time, looking at each other in surprise for knowing the girl. Sam proceeded to add "Is Jack also in today?"

Niki nodded "He is. Can I get you your usual Sam?"

He smiled "Yeah, I also want a vegan meat combo. What do you want, kids?"

Tubbo ordered a sandwich with Tommy going for a meat pie. Ranboo was trying to go with a small pastry but the other two kids glared at him and he got a soup. Sam guided them to the table in the back and the boy with the soup said.

“Why are we going to the owner’s booth?”

“Puffy knows about my past and lets me use it to talk business. She thinks Niki and Jack are just people I vent often to but they’re both vigilantes. Once they know your cause I know they’ll be willing to help to a degree.”

Ranboo nodded, voicing what the general census was “It’s all about contacts. The heroes are all united under the same building, we’re doing the same by joining forces. We already have 404 and FlameThrower, the more the merrier.”

“The heroes aren’t as put together as it seems” Sam opened the door, letting the kids in “After all, I left for a reason, didn’t I?”

The three looked back at him with a concerned look, but before anything else could’ve been said, Niki and Jack joined the booth.

“Jack! Niki!” Sam’s smile made its way back to his face “C’mon in, you’re gonna like what we have to tell you.”

-

Some could call Dream an empty headed man but he was not fucking clueless, got it? 

The other night when he heard George and Sapnap come back inside with what seemed to be bags and mumbling to themselves. He’d woken up immediately to the noise but decided to wait till the other two went to bed.

He shouldn’t snoop around but… To be fair, they have been suspicious for months. The food coming in coincided with robberies and shit like that.

Why was their almost empty fridge and pantry now filled with more food than they usually buy? Why are there new laptops but insurance papers are nowhere to be found? New phones despite how everyone’s were in working condition?

Let’s just say the receipt wasn’t under any average name either. Who was “Red Glitch”?



This entire situation stinks worse than Eret's attempts at cooking in the orphanage. That much is beyond clear.

Dream was going to get to the bottom of this, even if it took facing his roommates.

Chapter Text

“Good evening, fellow L’manburgians” The news reporter of the Kinoko channel spoke, interrupting the non-stop wave of cartoons.  “Ever since FlameThrower’s and 404’s interrupted shopping trip with robbed electronics and fully paid groceries by an unknown vigilante, there’d been endless questions.”

He made a small pause to look down at his notes as he proceeded to describe the situation

“We've gotten word that quite a few electronic stores and electronic repair shops have been robbed by an unknown vigilante as well as the villain duo Beebyte and Matrix. President Schlatt has declared that the unidentified person of this trio is now to be also labeled as a villain. We shall wait for further updates on this chaos trio as well as what their true intentions with the electronics may be.”

–

“Hell yeah!” Tubbo and Tommy high fived at the news, with Tubbo adding “It’s working! People are knowing you as a weirdly kind villain”

“And yours and Boo’s rep is also improving.” Tommy smiled, turning to the other people in the room "Thank you so much for all the teachings you're giving us, Sam."

The older man smiled "Of course, when you explained to me what happened I couldn't just leave you parent-less. Besides, you three show the potential to change how things work around here."

"I think it's done!" Tubbo smiled, pulling away from his workstation. "This will make your potential as Red Glitch skyrocket Tommy!" 

He presented to the other 3 something akin to a smart watch on the surface, grabbed Tommy's wrist and slapped it on. It immediately turns on and the watch turns on, assimilating Tommy's DNA as the owner.

"It's up to you to code the non essential stuff. I put on a DNA recognizer, the popout slot for the Chip and the instant suit up."  The hardware man said, with a sly smile

Tommy's eyes lit up as he summoned the command line, starting to type away functions into the holographic keyboard. He planned on setting up health monitors, plasma trackers and, of course, a non-trackable version of Android so he can pass it off as a normal smart watch, of course.

Clementine would love this tiny watch thing.

“Ayup, Clementine?”

“Yes Tommy?” The AI spoke from Tubbo’s PC

“Since when did you get in my PC, Clem?!” the owner of said PC slapped the space key, attempting to lightly smack the program

“Apologies, Tubbo. This is one of Tommy’s main locations and I did not want to be left at home, so I installed an instance of my program on yours and Ranboo’s devices. There’s also one in Sam’s now.”

Sam looked at his phone to see the mothling icon on his phone “...you’re really highly advanced huh?”

“Coded by the best.” The AI replied. Sam thought that it was fair enough, shrugging.  “Anyhow, what did you require, Thomas?”

“I have a new toy for you to get an instance on…” He showed the watch, as if waving candy to a child. A small excited gasp came from the AI in Tubbo’s PC, immediately downloading herself through bluetooth, the bot in the watch squealing in excitement. “Can you get me a clean non-trackable version of android and the apps you know I’ll need for existin’ and pretendin’ to be a normal person. I’m also giving you a codename for villain shit.”

“Of course, what would the codename be?” Clementine asked

Tommy thought for a second before saying “Download the voice base for Alexa’s Brian and get yourself a cute cow icon, you’ll be Henry whenever RedGlitch.exe is operational.”

“Understood! Downloading.” The watch had a loading icon for a couple of seconds “Done! I would love to let you know that C.R.O.W is asking to download their OURNABrian.txt and LBrian.txt files”

“Make sure it’s not Phil’s attempt at tracking us, if not, sure”

Clementine got stuck saying OURNA for 5 minutes before Tommy told her to delete the files. C.R.O.W was a sneaky motherfucker. Everyone was mildly annoyed at the prank, the AI’s had a life of their own most of the time, Clementine being more clingy to Tommy than C.R.O.W to the family overall.

Sam turned to the kids and grabbed the tripod with a good quality old camera. The fact that the tech was so old would make it untraceable and the figures would be glitched every now and then.

“Are we ready for the show?”

Tommy smiled, looked at his colleagues and said “Clem, get Henry for me.”, triggering the suit out, the chip connecting to his neck and leting him possess his own watch, puppeteering his body. Tubbo and Ranboo ran to suit up as well.

They recorded the take, edited to make it look like super professional with super strong lights and disfigured forms as to not be identified. Only thing left to do was to play it out.

Tommy walked into the main square with the discardable phone in his hands. He sat in a bench on the main street, near the park and pretended to fall asleep, possessing his phone and forcing the security levels of the advertisements and Kinoko Network to stop transmitting and to out playing their tape.

Their warning.

________________
________________

All the TVs in the city went dark with intent, only for a new image to show up. All of them had the frame of 3 unidentified figures. The one in the middle gently walks closer, as if attempting to not scare whoever was watching.

"Hello!" The voice was masked, but even then it shared a very calm smooth tone with an indistinguishable accent and added voice changer. "Ignore the other 2, they're just moral support."

The shorter one seemed to turn to him a lil harsher, seemingly offended, only to be ignored.

"I've come to share wonderful news!” 

The main figure proceeded,

“Thanks to all the small robberies I've stopped during these weeks, and not to mention the ones I have my comrades and I have committed, your brotherly figure Red Glitch can now enact his next plans to change how things work around here with the help of Matrix and Beebyte!"

 The figure now had clasped his hands together,

 "Now, little heros, you could have prevented this... But worry not. I don't plan on actively hurting and murdering kind hearted people, like you do, and blackmail the media to not talk about it." 

He spoke, on the screen now were passing images of vigilantes and villains’ injuries along with descriptions of shown injury and who inflicted them. 

"Oh no no no... I will not rest until the system is cleaned out of the money made of blood, sweat and tears of the civilians... And once the corrupt are dead. Ta-ta!"

The screens then returned to normal, nobody was the same afterwards.

Chapter Text

“So, is the network stable enough?”

“Yes, it should be big enough to monitor most of the city, especially the more wealthy parts, Mr. President.”

“Good, I’ll send over more money for the propaganda.”

“Of course, the more clients the easier to find the hidden ones.”

“Especially HER.”

“Especially her, Mr. President.”

“Very well. Tell the Egg I said hello”

—

The chaos in the craft house after the hacked announcement was something to laugh about, not that Tommy could show any of the amusement he was facing. As soon as the announcement ended, Clem telling him he had father demanding everyone home, Wilbur was spam calling him and Techno texted asking where he was so he could be picked up. Tommy shot Techno and Phil a quick text telling both of them that he was going home before finally picking up Wilburs’ calls.

“Tommy, you took so long to pick up!” He heard immediate screaming from the other side. “I’m fine, you worrywart! I saw the announcement on my phone, m walking back home as we speak.” Tommy was not amused anymore, Techno and Phil needed to get someone to fuck sometimes but, Tommy hated to worry Wil. “I’ll be home in… 5.”

“Okok. Can I-” Wilbur asked, intending to ask Tommy to not turn off the call. “Yes, please. I’m scared.”

Tommy and Wilbur chatted on the youngest’s way home. Took him a second to realize but Wilbur’s russian accent was more noticeable this conversation. Not that it bothered him too much but he wishes he could just speak his mother’s language freely without being sent weird looks from the people passersby.

As he got closer to home he said to Wilbur “I’m almost home. Люблю тебя” “Люблю тебя.” he was told back, the call ending and shortly after being met with the elder at the door. A tight hug ensued and both spent the day in Wilbur's room, the eldest singing and playing away. The youngest sang along quietly, as to not disturb.

Chapter Text

Sapnap stared at the TV dumbfounded, immediately turning to George and Dream, as if asking for confirmation. The other two were just a starstruck as he was.

Tommy made a statement.

He warned them.

Oh, gosh, they’re affiliated with a possible resistance, revolution or whatever the trio’s planning was. Oh gosh. Oh gosh! They can help! They can- They can DIE. They can get tortured and-

“Sap, you’re setting the carpet on fire-”

He could set the entire house on fire if he didn’t fucking chill. George came with the fire extinguisher and immediately put it out and Dream went to get another small rag to patch up the utter patchwork that has been their carpet since long ago.

“We’ll be ok, Sap” George told him “We’ll help Tommy on whatever he needs. I know he’ll prioritize us just as much as everyone else.”

And there was the agreement on helping Red Glitch and his goals.

“Yeah.” Sapnap agreed in a raspy breath, forcing himself to calm down. “It’ll work out.”

---

Sam runs down to empty streets, rain and blood pounding through his ears… His mask is threatening to leak smoke as he rushes to the area’s orphanage and knocking frantankly on the door. A man with a red mask and pale hair opened the door.

“Sam?” he let the man inside immediately. “What are you doing here? What if someone saw you?” Sam closed the door behind him “It’s important, I need to see Eret.”

Eret immediately rushed in “I felt you coming but I thought you would run slower.”

That made the creeper hybrid crack up before the blind 8 seer continued. “All paths lead to you coming to my aid for something. Did you see someone? What kind of advice do you need?”

“I figured that Ms. Puffy’s son is Sharkfin.” “...Mother Alchemist’s son is on the opposite side of the battlefield.” Sam nodded intensely, Ponk interrupting “Wait, what?”

Eret faced the direction of his lemony friend “We cannot separate a mother and son, especially not The Alchemist. We need her for our victory.”

“I came to see if you could make Foolish an ally or if there’s any leverage I can use to facilitate that.”

...

Eret scoffed lightly, taking her sunglasses off her face, blind white scalera meeting Sam’s green eyes “You have a business with 2 close contacts of her. Two close contacts who would not hesitate to tell a mother what her child is doing.”

The creeper hybrid nodded and started heading for the door.

“Ah, and Sam?”

The man turned back to face the oracle.

“Take your time walking home, keep your heart open.” Sam nodded and walked out, unsure what Eret meant.

Chapter Text

Sapnap and George felt comfortable enough to try and go out again, due to the heat from Tommy’s announcement cooling down. Robberies wouldn’t be stopped by themselves right? Plus, Tommy was now technically their employer, they had to go work. “Alright, George and I are heading out!”

Sapnap called across their home, getting the attention of the blonde residing but a few rooms away. Mere seconds after speaking, the two heard their roommate’s fast approaching footsteps.

“Where could you possibly be going at this time of night, in the middle of the rain, Sapnap?”

Dream spoke, questioning the man before he could even manage to touch the door handle. The irritation was clear on his face, his brows furrowed while his voice had been raised from that of his usual calm tone.

The man had kept his eyes locked on the two, George and Sapnap sharing an indistinguishable look between each other.

“Dream…” George spoke out to which Dream put a hand up, refusing to let him finish.

“You two always seem to claim it's work this, and work that. Do you even realize how bullshit that's starting to sound? You two can't even seem to tell me your work schedules.” The male spoke with a bitter edge in his tone, it felt as if he was glaring daggers into his roommates.

Where was all of this sudden aggravation coming from?

Sapnap scoffed at Dream’s words, shaking his head.

“And why should that possibly matter? We don't interrogate you on your work duties, what gives you the means to question us on ours?” The words were shot back at the blonde just as bitterly, Sapnap seemingly starting to get irritated himself.

George stood quiet, not knowing the best form of action to take. Though he feared how intense the argument may get, he also worried that any action he took would merely make the situation escalate quicker.

And thus the bickering continued on.

“Why should it matter?”

Dream huffed, letting out a laugh with evident annoyance.

“It matters because I'm starting to believe you two aren't as truthful as you claim time and time again to be.”

George looked between the two, an expression that held a mix of both concern and worry.

“What are you trying to say Dream..?”

Sapnap cut in before the man's response, turning away from their roommate.

“I know what he's saying. He has no trust in us, George. Despite all we've done, he's chosen to stand here and call us liars.”

A heavy silence soon fell over the room, no one daring to make further action in the conversation. Dream and Sapnap stood turned opposite ways from one another, both men were much too stubborn to work the situation out. George was left in the silence of the room, he could feel the uneasy tension. He continued to merely stand there, unsure if he should take matters into his own hands. He shifted uncomfortably, moving to speak a few times but in the end hesitation held him back.

The goggled man was mentally struggling to work out what he intended to say. On one hand, he wanted to be firm and hold both his roommates' attention, yet on the other he didn’t want to come off as demanding and arrogant.

“One wrong word could end in disaster..”

The words were echoing in George’s mind, only putting more pressure on the man to say something.

“We’re deemed vigilantes 404 and FlameThrower.”

The man stuttered, not able to give the words a second thought before he spoke them. He felt the panic rise in his body as he anxiously looked between the two for any sign of reaction to his words. The last thing George wanted to happen was to cause an escalation in the argument, knowing only he would be to blame if things worsened from here.

Although, that's exactly what seemed to happen.

Sapnap and Dream’s heads shot in George’s direction in time with each other. Sapnap held a look of fear and irritation on his face, and although Dream held a look of irritation as well, he didn't hold the same look of fear as Sapnap. The man’s face held shock, confusion, and heartbreak all blended into one.

“You… what?”

—

Dream ran through the thundering rain, unsure where he was going. George and Sapnap hadn’t bothered to follow him. Smoke is leaking out of his mouth as he sees a man with a green gas mask on his face.

“Wait! Let me help!” the stranger said, coming closer. “You shouldn’t be out here so late…”

Dream stopped and turned to the man, unsure why he was trusting him so quickly. “I… I argued with my roomates. And I can’t control my smoke very well so I just ran out-” The eyes of the older man softened, understanding.

He reached for his bag and took out a simple white gas mask with a filter. “I have a better one at my friend’s house nearby. Plus I’m sure he’d let you stay the night.” Dream put it on and immediately felt relief from the lessening of the smoke. “Where does his friend live? I don’t want to go home until I’m cooled down...”

“Understandable, understandable.” The older man said “She’s the owner of the local orphanage.”

“Eret’s orphanage?” Dream questioned, the older man’s eyes widening in surprise. “I was left there as a kid, they were nothing but kind there.”

“Well… Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Ponk monitored the small canteen as he saw all the kids eat up

Ponk hadn’t expected to open the door yet, again. Sam had brought a very familiar face in and the elder immediately hugged the white masked child.

“Oh my gosh! Welcome back.” “Ponk!” The hug between the two was tight, the caretaker having clearly changed the child’s life for the better.

Sam went to find Eret and the backup gas mask. The other caretaker was walking out of the files room with a file in hands. Sam couldn’t notice the name written on it but before he could ask, Eret turned and told him.

“The mask is in the bottom box of the pantry.” They said very neutrally “We need to talk.”

Sam, confused as fuck, knew better than to question the seer. He mumbled to himself as he went back into the room where Eret had laid a file on the table. It had “Dream AweDude” on the label. As soon as Eret saw Sam he gestured the blonde boy in green closer to the desk.

“Dream, this is why we don’t let our children look at their files until they’re adults and established out there.”

And they opened the file. Right on top of all the paperwork, attached to a clip, was a photo of a young man with a baby in its arms. The gas mask on the elder was missing but those eyes… Those were Sam’s eyes.

“That’s… my file?” Dream took the photo into his hands, gently. Staring at it, taking in any second of it.

Sam was still staring at the papers. He stared and looked at his own signature.

His lack of choice.

His son was next to him. He shouldn’t know who he is or he’s safe. That was his agreement with Eret.

“His roomates are working with you indirectly” The blind man placed a hand on Sam’s shoulder “It’s time to close one more loop needed for everyone’s happiness.”

Sam met her with silence until eventually mumbling “I didn’t have a choice. I don’t want him to hate me.”

“I’ll explain.” the overseer of the orphanage turned to Dream “My child, it’s time you know why you were left here.” Dream grasped Sam's sweater. This man was his dad. Could he trust him? He waited so long to find him.

To know why.

“They were going to kill you or worse.” a quiet whisper came from the man, as he clung back to the younger “They wanted to make you a hero and make sure I’d never leave work with threats.”

“Samuel”

“You were gonna soften the truth.” the enraged parent snapped at the Oracle, his mask fuming with smoke.

“I was not. I would never minimize your suffering.” The other managed to stay calm. Ponk, not wanting things to escalate further, stepped in and took Sam, who was on the verge of tears by now, to the kitchen. The promises of tea and cookies in an environment where he could let the accumulated smoke in his mask go without harming anyone. Thankfully the kids were outside.

Chapter Text

“Dream? Dream.”

It was just Dream and Eret now. Sitting on the office of the head of the orphanage, with said head of the orphanage. “Dream, dearest.” Eret said getting up “It’s time you learn your heritage and choose your path. But we mustn't do it in the setting of a professor to a student.”

She walked to a nearby bookshelf and tugged a book, an abnormally big copy “1984” By George Orwell. For a second nothing happened, till a quiet click sounded and Eret calmly pushed the shelf to the side, revealing a small altar to some unknown god.

“Come” they said, offering a lit up incense stick “You’re mature enough to face these choices.”

Dream followed Eret in, taking the scented fuming stick in his hands. Following them to sit on the cozy cushions that covered the floor. Eret set both sticks on the side and handed Dream the folder, as the bookshelf went back to it’s place. Dream looked through. On the small coffee table in front of them was a lot more papers.

Eret proceeded to explain, using the files and showing evidence. The president’s threats to Sam, audio of Phil being threatened to have all his 3 adopted kids murdered if the abled ones did not join the heros.

“Sam left you here as a last act of love, he didn’t expect to see you again” Eret explained “And you will not be the only orphan kid of heroes if things keep going this way.”

“But isn’t Tommy and the others already fighting?” Dream was confused, why was he being called to the fight?

“Your friends, George and Sapnap, have always needed an extra hand.” The elder held the other’s hands in his own “They need someone they can trust fully-”

“That’s ironic.”

“I don’t know their reasons for not telling you sooner.” Eret reinforced “But both need you as much as you need them.”

Dream felt conflicted.

He found out his dad is alive because he discovered that his best friends betrayed him… They wanted to keep him as safe as they could, right? He launched himself at Eret, clinging like the little kid he once was in that very same orphanage. “Sam can help you weaponize your smoke like he does, I believe he’s talking to Sneeg right now so he can help too.”

Dream nodded and stayed in the safe embrace of the caretaker, everything was going back to how it should’ve always been.

Chapter Text

There George and Sapnap sat, their minds flooded with dismal. This home that once held three best friends, all closely intertwined, now held but two distraught men with an overwhelming sense of sadness and guilt. 

The weight of it all was almost overbearing.

Sapnap let out a sigh, burying his head into his hands. There was a twinge of pain in his heart, he caused this. Perhaps if he hadn't been one to snap so quickly, if he just knew how to control his temper, Dream may have still been here.

The memories replayed in his head as if it were just moments ago, as if he could just hear Dream’s voice across from him right in this moment.

–

“You… what?”

The man’s voice held an ever so subtle fear, eyes quickly darting between the two. He must've been dreaming, perhaps merely mishearing George’s words. The words spoken, he didn't want to believe they were the truth.

“George!”

Sapnap hissed at goggled man, elbowing him directly in the arm. At this moment one thing now seemed apparent, they were all frightened. 

Sapnap, Dream, and George. 

All three men were all terrified.

“He's just joking Dream, you know how George is!”

Sapnap tried to laugh off his friend’s words, however not doing the best of jobs in masking the quiver his voice now held.

“It all makes sense now..”

Dream merely mumbled, clearly ignoring his roommate's pathetic attempt. The man’s face fell into his hands, letting out a weak laugh.

“All this time, you two have been Vigilants, behind my back.”

“That explains the work schedules, the going out at midnight, the abundance of food..”

“It explains everything.”

In that moment, George and Sapnap’s eyes met at the same time. It was as if the color was drained from George's face, Sapnap now holding nothing but a look of fear and regret.

The cat was out of the bag.

There was no possible way to put it back in now.

“How could I be so dimwittly blind?!”

“This whole fucking time, you two were running the streets as Vigilantes. Knowing damn well that you're putting yourself in harm's way, and you weren't even going to bother telling me?!”

Silence fell harshly over the room once more, Dream’s roommates being able to do nothing more than stare at the now livid man across from them.

“Nothing to say?”

“...Fine.”

Dream hadn't bothered to waste another word. He shoved past his two roommates and through the front door into the pouring rain. Only then did he finally let his tear of fear and frustration slip down his cheeks, feeling smoke in his lungs.

And from there?

He ran. Dream dare not even look behind him when his roommates screamed out.

“DREAM!”

No. 

The man simply fled into the rainy streets of the night. 

---

It’s been hours. In fact, Dream stayed overnight somewhere neither of them knew. Sapnap was forbidden from leaving the bathtub due to setting the carpet on fire, once again. George had to put him asleep, too. He kept breaking down and crying, at least one of them had to rest.

To his surprise the front door opens. Dream and another man is there. His hair looked familiar. 

George gets up from the couch and hugs Dream, voice dripping with relief.

“You idiot! You could’ve gotten yourself killed at this hour of night.” He said

“I’m fine.” Dream let him stay. It calmed him down a little to know that his friends were worried “Where’s Sap?”

“He almost set the living room on fire… I had him fall asleep on the bathtub with a little of water.”

Dream sighed and pushed George off, going to wake up the asleep Flamethrower. The tips of his hair were burnt, the bandana practically burnt off. His fingers were darkened from the never ending fuel in his body being burnt. 

He turned on the shower on his friend’s unsuspecting sleeping body. Cold.

That jump started the firebender, with a gasp. “What the fuck!”

Laughter ensued from the fireboy’s other 2 roommates.

“Dream” he said while coughing “You’re a bitch”

“C’mon. Sam’s here and we need to talk.”

“And make up?”

Dream smiled “And talk it out, yeah.”

–--

“Puffy?” Niki called, as she, Puffy and Jack were closing the store.  She’d just received a text from Sam.

“Yeah, Niki?” The shorter woman walked to the back, frowning at the out of place call. She’d find Jack guarding the door behind her and Niki, for once in a lifetime, taking her outer cloak off. 

Those were CloakChu’s wings. 

“You’re-”

“We need to talk about your son.”

Chapter Text

“You called, Mr. President?” Phil, in hero costume, walked into the Oval Office.

His hesitant eyes met the President’s unimpressed ones. 

“Who hijacked the TV network, Malpas?” he asked, slowly swirling the wine in the glass he held.

Who was he trying to hide the vodka from? He left it on the table-

“The new vigilantes, apparently-”

“Do. you. have. them. arrested.”

Malpas gulped as quietly as he could, trying to not get his wings tense. He cannot let this man scare him.

“No, sir. They keep slipping away-”

Fists slammed the table, forgetting the glass and bottle on top. 

“GET THEM. I don’t care if you have to practically kill them to get them here.” the man’s words slurred. He gets up from the chair and grabs the bird hybrid by his outfit’s collar. “I don’t care if you kill them in the process.”

“They’re clearly children-”

“I WILL EXECUTE YOU, THE OTHER HEROS AND ALL THE ATTACHED FAMILY MEMBERS IN PUBLIC.”  Phil could feel the man’s horns near his neck like two dull spikes, threatening like knives.

The president let him go.

“Am I clear?” 

Malpas dusted himself and picked up his hat to look presentable again.

“Crystal.”

“Dismissed.”

A terrified father walked out of the Oval Office. 

President Schlatt swapped the somehow intact wine glass with the bottle of vodka.

 -

Tommy laid on his bed when he heard noise downstairs. Instead of walking down to check it himself, he decided to possess the light bulb in the kitchen.

“- you are not getting us out of the country.” Wilbur stated, staring at the man in blonde hair.

“There’s nothing else I can do-” he tries to argue with his eldest son

“You're gonna make us orphans again!”  Techno accused “I trusted you! I trusted you for 10 years, and you’re gonna ABANDON US?!”

“WHAT OPTIONS DO I HAVE TECHNO?!”  the man’s wings shook with his staggered panicked breath “They want me to capture the new vigilantes, kill them in the public plaza.”

The two sons faltered, looking at each other in perfect mirrored notion.

“They’re clearly children.” Phil continued “And if I don’t it’ll be a genocide of the heros.”

Tommy froze in shock. Oh, when they found out the youngest in their family is one of them. That they need to kill one of them with no mercy only to find his eyes behind that mask. All to keep the rest alive.

… not if he murdered the president first.

Wilbur sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose “I’ll try to buy us some time.” 

“What are you planning on doing?” Phil asked, worried

Wilbur gave a hesitant side smile “Don’t worry about it. Just try to find them soon so we can think of whether to deliver them or keep them in a safehouse.”

With that Wilbur left, Techno was embraced by Phil as both breakdown. Tommy went back to his body and called Sam. 

They were running out of time.

Chapter Text

“Phil!”

Wilbur cried out, sprinting into the open space of the living room urgently, jolting the poor man in question. The boy was clearly impatient with whatever the news he held, bouncing off the balls of his feet slightly as he stood just a few feet before him.

Phil rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked up at his son, motioning with his free hand for Wilbur to take a seat near. The man composed himself and with a soft sigh and spoke,
“Come on, tell me what’s so urgent that you're running in here like that for.”

Wilbur nodded, stepping towards his father and sitting down. He could hardly sit still however, fidgeting just about every second that the words did not leave his lips.

“I know what we can do about the vigilante situation.”

Phil simply raised an eyebrow towards him, leaning ever so slightly forward with interest. The stage was his, all eyes and ears were on the boy now.

“I thought long about it.. What if we infiltrate the facility? I could shift and blend in, that way we can gather more information and-”

The elder put a hand up, looking at his child sternly.
“Absolutely not, out of the question.”

To this answer, Wilbur looked slightly upset and yet still attempted to continue on.
“But dad if I can just-”

He was cut off once more, Phil’s tone getting more irritated and loud. He spoke again, “I said no Wilbur! I will not allow it, do you understand?”

The boy, pushing one more time, pleaded to Phil.
“Dad! It's the best way to gather more infor-”

“I SAID NO, END OF CONVERSATION. DO YOU HEAR ME? I LOST MY WIFE TO GOD KNOWS WHERE, I’M NOT LOSING ONE OF MY DAMN SONS TOO!”

Wil flinched at the sudden loud aggravation of his father, just in the slightest curling in on himself. Phil was never one to yell at them, especially not Wilbur, so it certainly had abruptly taken him aback.

The boy sat at a loss for words, only looking up at the elder with a mix of surprise and the slightest fear. Phil didn't say anything either, quickly turning from his son in disappointment. A thick silence fell over the room, it felt tense, no one dared to speak.

“What the fuck did my brother do wrong?”

A voice piped up with an audible attitude, both seated men swiftly looking towards it. It was the youngest son, standing there in one of the entrances with his arms firmly crossed. He glared right into his father, and the elder glared right back.

“And just what do you think you're doing listening in on ou-”

“You can't yell at Wilbur like that.”

The younger quickly cut off his words, disregarding what Phil was going to say. Wilbur looked down to his lap upon the mention of his name, knowing well it was better if he remained silent.

“Go wait for me in my room, Wilbur.”

“What..? But-”

The father shot him a look before he could finish, the boy shrinking in on himself and nodding. Without another protest he reluctantly headed out of the room, looking saddened at his brother while passing.

From there it sounded like a war had erupted in the living room, both men arguing back and forth. Even though the youngest, Tommy didn't take very lightly to his siblings being mistreated for no good reason. In correlation to this, Phil didn't take lightly in being talked back to. The two continued to fight and butt heads, neither seeming to back down easily.

After awhile of this, it finally sounded as someone had resigned from the endless bickering as a door slammed shut. It didn't take long for Wilbur, listening in from his father's bedroom, to figure who'd given up first. The boy quickly backed away from the door as he heard approaching footsteps, sitting and awaiting what Phil had to say next.

Chapter Text

The harsh slamming of the door echoed throughout the home, the young boy who’d caused the disturbance throwing himself into a desk chair. Tommy was far beyond embittered, and there was only Phil to blame for this.

The adult would spout such sour words towards him, as if it was Tommy himself who’d brought up such annoyance in his father. Phil was the only one who could be held accountable for his actions, Tommy hadn’t made him do shit. Neglecting his children and their needs, his only focus being on hero work and missions. He had a right to be irritated with the elder.

He had no right to take these things out on Tommy, who had nothing to do with it all. Besides, he was just defending his brother, he didn't deserve any of that shit..

The teen grumbled to himself, tossing his bag across the room in a fit of irritation. Phil is always in the ‘right’ just because he's their father, even when he's dead fucking wrong! It was seriously getting on Tommy’s last nerves.

It isn’t fair.

Tommy scoffed, his face dropping into his hands. It was like playing an instrument with a single broken or ill tuned string, he was becoming sick and tired of his father's antics. Phil was but a sour note that could not be fixed, though tune and fix the string one would try, the sour note still sounds loudly.

He'd wished he could replace this ill tuned string, but there was not a way for him to do so. If Phil could show tolerance and sympathy at the least, perhaps there would be less resentment towards him. This was unlikely however, anyone who knew their father well enough could tell you such. Phil was not a man easily changed.

He would just be forced to endure it longer.

Suddenly, Tommy found that his frustration was cut short, instead replaced with concern. This shift of emotions had elicited from the newfound noises beyond the boy’s room. Though muffled, he could still make out but a handful of things.

Phil's voice was clearly in the mix of sounds, a raised tone that Tommy was all too familiar with. However the responding voice must've been all too soft for him to hear, if there even was a respondent at this point. Hadn't he already taken out enough anger on Tommy? Why did his brother have to suffer even more of the lash from it?

Then he heard it.
The shaky voice of response had piped up.

“I'm sorry..”

Following but mere seconds after the voice was heard, there was the sound of a door closing. By the noise it made, it was pushed but hard enough to echo the sound through the house.

What more was there possibly to scold Wilbur for?
Whatever would his sibling be lectured for if hadn't done not a single thing wrong?
Wilbur was usually almost never on Phil’s bad side, so why was this stick so far up his ass today?

The concern and worry in Tommy spiked, it was an unusual occurrence for Wilbur to be reprimanded, therefore who knows how well his brother could handle the aftermath.

Tommy needed to look in on him.

–

Wilbur slewed down back against the door, his hands tightly entangled into his curls. The feeling of restrained emotions pooled in his abdomen, as warm tears trickled softly down his cheeks. The boy’s vision was now exceedingly blurred, the stream of droplets leaving watery trails where they’d run.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Wilbur soon fell into nothing but choked out sobs, curling himself tightly into a fetal position. Constantly he would attempt to wipe at the tears, but they would continue to fall even despite his best efforts.

Maybe Phil was right, he was a fool.
He wasn't trying hard enough.
He needed to do better.
He needed to be better.

He was a pitiful excuse for a son and brother.
He was an even more inadequate excuse for a hero.
Wilbur deserved Phil’s criticism.

“The plan was stupid anyways.. idiot.”

The thoughts hit his mind like a wave, drowning out any other thoughts completely. The intrusive thoughts merely built up and worsened with every passing second.

Shit..

He couldn't bare to manage containing the repressed emotions, it felt an impossible task. The depressive state was much like a weight, heavy upon his shoulders. It was dragging him further down into his pained mind, becoming heavier every moment it remained. His mindset was not giving way to shake it easily, he had not the strength to do so.

“It's no use..”

The boy whispered, words slurred and strained. His head dipped down to bury into his hands, the breakdown pursuing its course. There was not a soul near enough to hear Wilbur's pained cries, so alone he would suffer on.

“Томми..”
(“Tommy..”)

The words were softly muttered between hiccups, Wilbur bursting back into tears. The dark haired boy closely curled in on himself once more, pitifully whimpering out.

–

Tommy carefully cracked open the room’s door, peering through the small opening. He needed to be completely sure Phil wasn't around before simply strolling out, he quite frankly wasn't in the mood for another appearance of their father.

Thus far, the coast seemed clear. It didn't seem that even Techno was about the area, let alone Phil. Nonetheless, he slowly took a step outside the room, doing his very best to keep utterly silent. If his father wasn't in this quarter of the house now, he sure as hell didn't want to alert him back his way.

Tommy couldn't shake the overbearing feeling that Wilbur needed someone, he couldn't be left on his lonesome.

Unlike Techno, they were brothers by blood, though of course still loved him like he was regardless. However, he and Wil had made a promise to be by each other's side, most especially in distress. This was a promise Tommy did not intend on ever breaking. He was going to comfort Wilbur.

Tommy sprinted swiftly down the corridor, keeping well alert to his surroundings in case someone appeared present. However, once he was stood outside the other boy’s door, he felt his heart plummet. Quiet sobs could just barely be heard, the cries eliciting from the opposing side of the door.

The blonde stood there, letting some moments pass. It was eating at his heart, he'd never heard his brother cry before. Tommy always thought nothing got to Wilbur, but it seemed he was proven wrong.

His brother was hurting, and he was hurting terribly. Whatever was spoken between him and Phil had seemingly cut a wound in Wilbur's emotional state, a deep gash at that.

The child snapped out of his temporary trace, hesitantly making a motion to knock, stopping just before his knuckles brushed the door. This hesitance was only for a split second however, pushing past his intrusive thoughts and gently knocking on the elder sibling’s door.

“Wilbur?”

“It's Tommy, may I come in..?”

No response. The sobbing softened however, a small sniffle along with what seemed to be Wilbur shuffling further from the door could be heard. The blonde didn't know what to make of this, lightly knocking once more as a result.

“Come in, Tommy..”

A voice called faintly, just barely catching Tommy’s ear with how weakly he’d spoken it. The boy gingerly cracked the door, peering inside to see where Wilbur resided in the space. His eyes fell upon his brother in a fetal position, his head turning up towards Tommy. There was a visible affliction in his expression, tears still running over his cheeks.

In the instant that Tommy had drawn close enough, Wilbur shot out towards his younger sibling, not wasting a moment in holding him in a close embrace.

“Томми... пожалуйста…”
(“Tommy… Please…”)

“Я не хочу быть одна, пожалуйста.”
(“I don't want to be alone, please.)

The blonde child wrapped his arms around the elder who clung to him, tenderly rubbing his back as an attempt to comfort. Wilbur had soon fallen back into sobs after speaking, holding tighter onto the younger who was trying to calm him.

He should've felt ashamed of himself, he should've hidden himself away from his sibling, for he looked pathetic crying like this. However, he didn't have the heart nor the means to. Tommy near had brought a strong sense of security to Wilbur.

Eventually Tommy had managed to serene his brother, the tears stopping until Wilbur merely cuddled into him. Neither dare let go, so there they stayed huddled together.

“Go on without me, I'm a bit tied up tonight..”

The message was quickly sent out, the phone then disregarded. Holding onto his brother tighter, they both began to grow drowsy, not taking long before both fell sound asleep in each other's arms.