Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“ The vigilante dodges the attack of Blaze! Moving away from Blaze’s fire demon, and moves to attack  back. Trying to knock Blaze down by sweeping his legs out!  The vigilante launches themselves onto a different building! The vigilante steps backwards and… Wait….. ” 

The reporter hesitated as the cameras struggled to find the vigilante. Panning quickly from side to side, looking for the figure that was there moments ago. Blaze is standing alone on the roof. Crouched in an attack position, breathing heavily.

“ It appears that the vigilante has gotten away! This vigilante might have a longer run than expected! Stay tuned to SMPLive to get even more updates on events of the Hero/Villain clashes. This is Connor signing out. Good night! ”

Tommy stood in the doorway, grocery bags covering his arms. He closed the door with his leg, and tried to push up his sunglasses, the bags still weighing down his arms. The T.V. was playing loudly, and he could hear every word as Tubbo started flipping through channels. He could hear his footsteps echo on the floor, the neighbors shouting at each other for the fifth time that day, and the sound of the air conditioning starting to fail on them once more. He turned up the music in his earbuds, trying to drown out the noises. Trying to focus on his task.

Once he sat down the bags, he was able to successfully push his sunglasses back up. Zoning out as he took food out of the bags, looking over the food that he brought home. He sang along to the lyrics of the song in his head, moving on autopilot as he started to put the food away. The spaghetti in the cupboard, milk in the fridge, cereal across from the spaghetti.

“Hello? Earth to Tommy?”

Tommy spun around. Pulling the earbud out of his ear. Frantically trying to  pause the music. 

Tubbo stood behind him, his goat ears flicking constantly as he waited for Tommy to listen. Talking once Tommy had turned to face him after pausing the loud music.

“I’ve been calling your name for like a minute. Didn’t you hear me shouting at you?”

Tommy shook his head. Pulling out a chair and collapsing on it. Tubbo shook his head. 

“Anyways, I was just asking if you managed to get the seeds.” 

Tommy nodded and dug into his pocket. “The lady  was actually way too eager to get rid of them. Said something about buying too many, and something else about firing someone. I don’t really pity them.” He pulled out a bag of seeds. A picture of poppies bright on the front of the packet. Tommy threw it at his roommate.

“Nice!” Tubbo caught it, in one hand.

“Can I ask what they are even for?” Tommy watched as Tubbo only waved him off. Tommy huffed and flipped him the bird. Turning back to putting the food away he glanced out the window, the stars dimmed by the tinted sunglasses. He stopped moving for a second, listening. He realized that the apartment was quiet, the T.V. had been turned off. Looking back, Tubbo shut it off and was walking away, holding the bag in his right hand. 

He thought back to the broadcast about the vigilante. A few of the more common vigilantes have been caught recently. It was sad to see them taken off the streets, considering that they were only there because only 1 hero even bothers to patrol in poorer sectors. It was always something about funds, and their resources used by traveling further away from the main hero tower. He scoffed out loud. It was always some lame excuse that made him want to punch them in the throat.

He finished putting the food away, and stretched. His back popping loudly. He groaned as he felt some tension releasing. It had been a hard day, and he was more than ready to go to bed. Knowing that he had an even longer day ahead of him, and actually wanted to sleep before that. Working in the sun always made the day stretch out longer.

“Good night!” He shouted as he walked towards his room, not caring if Tubbo bothered to respond. He did, however, get one, hearing a muffled response, as he shut his door. He locked it and pulled out his night clothes. They were old and well worn, the shirt sporting several holes.  It didn’t matter to him much, they didn’t really have much money to be spending in the first place.

He walked over to his window and made sure that the blinds were shut, and pulled the curtains over them. He wasn't allowed to entirely get rid of the window, despite his many protests to Tubbo. He was always shut down by “What if there's a fire and you can’t get your door unlocked” or “What if the apartment gets gassed, you need ventilation”. They were good points, but that didn’t make him any less upset. Both situations were entirely probable, especially considering that Tubbo did a bunch of experiments in his room. 

Thinking back to it, he looked at the locked door…. He wasn’t exactly sure what Tubbo did to pay for rent. Or even what his powers were. The part was excusable though, as it was very rude, and even dangerous, to ask what someone’s powers were. It was practically a rule of the lower, asking about someone’s power can get both of you killed.  He was vaguely aware that Tubbo opted to wear gloves around the house, and sometimes came out of his room with a gas mask on. 

Tommy couldn’t exactly judge Tubbo though. He himself wore sunglasses everywhere he went, even inside. He had gotten many customer complaints, and even fired for refusing to take them off. Everyone called him suspicious, and scary. Many parents had grabbed their children and crossed the street in front of him.

He realized that he was still standing in front of the very closed off window. Blinking a couple times, he brought himself out of his thoughts. He took off his sunglasses, and placed them on his nightstand, and changed into his clothes finally. He looked at his nightstand, the sunglasses resting next to a small lamp, a phone charger, several rocks, an alarm clock, and a worn out cow plush. The lamp gave off a lot of light, which was curious, considering its size.

He combed his hand through his hair, breathing out slowly, blinking as he readjusted to the untainted light. The clock drew his attention, the neon green numbers read 10:05. He grabbed his cow plush, Henry, and collapsed on his bed. It squeaked and groaned beneath him. The day’s events started to fill his mind, but he pushed them away. Making sure his phone was plugged in, he turned on calming music to help him fall asleep. 

He focused on the sounds of the music, trying to clear his mind. Slowly nodding off into sleep. 

He opened his eyes to a blank room. He could see the walls and corners, but no door. There were no decorations, sounds, or people. Just him. He walked around, reaching out to the walls, but every time he got close they seemed to move further away from him. He could faintly hear footsteps somewhere near him.

He looked at his hand that had been reaching out. It was his normal hand, but it was perfect? There were no scars, no dirt under his nails, and no dried out skin. He noticed movement in front of him, and slowly looked up. Dreading pooled in his gut. 

It was a mirror. Horror washed over him as he looked at himself. Before he looked at his face, he raised his fist. Punching the mirror, the golden frame emptied. The shards of glass fell to the floor around him. He looked at his hand, it didn’t hurt, but there were drops of blood dripping from his knuckles. He looked towards the shattered glass pieces scattered on the floor. They began to shake, and almost like a plant, mirrors started to form where the shards had fallen. He was surrounded by reflections of him within seconds. 

He screamed and began punching the mirrors, more shards falling. More mirrors surrounding him. His hands were bloodied. Backing away from thousands of mirrors, he covered his eyes. Pushing his palms into his sockets. Trying desperately not to look at the thousands of mirrors. The footsteps walked closer.

“NO! No no no no no no….” He muttered to himself, backing up into nothing. He couldn’t look, he wouldn’t look. 

“Come on… “

Hands grabbed his arms.

“ Look!”

Tommy gasped, bolting upright. Gripping the edges of the ancient mattress. Drawing in ragged breaths. 

In

Out

In

Out

In 

Out

In

Out

In….

Glancing over at the alarm clock, the time read, 3:45. He sighed and covered his eyes with his arms as he fell backwards onto his bed again. 

Staring at the ceiling, he looked at the peeling paint, the poorly covered holes, and the spots where water had soaked through. He counted the spots of peeling paint. 29.

He counted the number of holes. 10.

There were 3 spots of water soaked paint. 

“29, 10, 3…. 29, 10, 3…. 29, 10, 3…” He repeated the numbers to himself. Desperately trying to forget the nightmare. Distract his mind that was racing, desperately thinking of things to change the subject in his mind.

His breathing had evened out. And he looked at the clock once more. 5:10. He groaned. He didn’t need to get up for another 2 hours. He turned his music back on, and set an alarm for 7. 

He tried to clear his mind, the nightmare all but forgotten. He listened to the music, picking out sounds of rain mixed in there. It was music that his therapist had recommended to him, back when he could afford therapy. 

His mind drifted towards the memory of the sessions. Laughing and making jokes constantly. His therapist didn’t laugh at them often, more often than not she told him that he shouldn’t make light of his situation. That he was downplaying emotions and brushed them off too easily. Tommy remembered the clear feeling of shame that had come after that. 

He felt indignation flare up in him at the memory, then, it left just as quickly as it had come. 

He sighed once last time before feeling himself slip once more.

The sound of an alarm filled the air. Tommy slammed his hand on the clock. It didn’t stop. 

He kept slamming his hand on the clock, until he finally looked at it. It was 6:40, and from the lack of an orange glow, the alarms hadn't even been set. He could have sworn… He shook his head. The sound of an alarm was still going off somewhere in the apartment. 

Still bleary eyed, Tommy shoved on his sunglasses and unlocked his door. Running out to the kitchen he saw Tubbo fanning the smoke detector, a pan on fire, and thick smoke clouding the air. 

“Tubbo.”

Tubbo looked back at him, smiling, still fanning the smoke detector. 

“Good morning boss man!”

Tommy rolled his eyes, and walked over to the stove.  Pulling the pan off the heat, and covering it with a lid. Killing the flames. Grabbing a towel, he walked over to a window nearby and opened it, fanning the smoke out of the apartment. 

The two roommates spent the next few minutes clearing the room of smoke. Neither of them speaking. Neither of them actually acknowledging what was taking place.

After the smoke had cleared out, the smell still pungent in the air, did Tommy speak.

“I bought cereal for a reason Tubbo….”

Tubbo nodded. “That you did. But!” He grinned at Tommy, something hidden behind the faux smile. “I wanted something else.”

Tommy lifted the lid of the pan. “Ashes?”

Tubbo scoffed indignantly.

Tommy shook his head. “I'm going to get ready for work. I might not see you until 8 pm. Or sometime around then.” 

A loud groan came from Tubbo. “A full day again?!” Tommy could only nod.

Tommy yawned, and turned his back to Tubbo. Blinking furiously while walking to his room. It was going to be a looooooong day.

Quickly changing he got into his work uniform. Well, uniform was a bit too specific. A gray, long sleeved, shirt with the gardening company logo printed on it, and a pair of jeans, was what he wore to work. 

He brushed some dirt off the pants, and stood up straight. He did some light stretches and walked back over to his bed. He pulled his phone off the charger, grabbing his earbuds as well. 

Emerging from his bedroom, he walked over to the bathroom. Pushing his sunglasses all the way up, covering his eyes. They were reflective glasses, ensuring he wouldn't see his eyes, just a mirrored reflection of his body, over and over again. He pulled out a hairbrush and quickly tried to do something with his hair. It was curly, and at the awkward stage where it was too short to style it, but too long to have it down. The dyed white streaks gleaming from the light in the bathroom. Pulling out his green bandana, he pulled back some of his hair. The bandana had been a gift from Tubbo for his birthday, he wore it as often as he could.  He would need to get his haircut, probably by Tubbo. An image flashed through his head that made him shudder. Tubbo holding scissors anywhere near him made him nervous, but it was probably his only chance to have short hair again.

Looking at himself once more in the mirror the outline of his eyes becomes visible in the light. Flashes from last night reappeared. He quickly left the bathroom shaking his head, trying to rid himself of the memory. 

He entered his room one last time and grabbed a rock. It was a little rough, but had beautiful coloring and had dulled edges from him constantly fidgeting with it. He had found it when he was younger, somewhere in a park. He found it in his closet, buried among other stuff from his childhood. He rubbed it slightly with his thumb then placed it in his pocket. Grabbing his earbuds, he placed them around his neck.

Reaching for his phone, he looked at the time. 7:15.

Tommy rolled his eyes. He ran out of his room, and passed Tubbo. Saying a quick goodbye, he slammed the door shut behind him, and basically fell down the stairs. He pulled out his earbuds and plugged them in, weaving in and out of the people around him. Barely managing to avoid running into a pole. Looking around he spotted the bus station. He crossed the street and made his way over, trying to avoid being hit by a car, horns blaring around him. 

People around him looked at him with disdain, but he shrugged it off. People didn’t like him wherever he went. 

He walked up to the card scanner and pulled out his wallet. He went to pull out his bus card, but it wasn't in its usual spot. He searched, growing more frantic. It was a brand new card! He audibly groaned, and mentally slammed his head against a wall. 

He dragged himself over to the ticket counter. 

“Heeeyyyy Clem.” Tommy tried for a smile, teeth on full display.

Clem did not look impressed with him. “Did you forget your card again?”

Tommy scoffed, and dramatically placed his arm on the counter. “Do I look like the kinda guy who forgot his card? For the 30th time this month?”

Clem remained unimpressed. “Yes. Yes you do.”

Tommy’s smile fell. “Ouch.”

He almost slammed his hands on the counter, but stopped himself after remembering how much Clem hated it. Gently he placed both hands on the counter. “Pleeeease Clemmmm. I-” glancing at his phone “-have like 5 seconds before my bus gets here.”

The squeal of a bus coming to a stop filled the air. 

“Make that 0 seconds.”

Clem rolled her eyes, and glazed around quickly. “Fine.”

Tommy pumped his arm in the air. Quickly grabbing the card that Clem had passed to him. He saluted Clem and took off to the bus. 

He waved to the driver, and walked down to his regular seat, collapsing as soon as he sat down. He sighed, pulling out his wallet to place his new card away. He tried to put it into the regular slot, but it wouldn’t go. He opened it as wide as it would go, and was horrified. There in the pocket that usually held his bus card, was his card . It had been there the whole time, and he still couldn't find it

He sank lower into his seat, grimacing. Leaning his head against the headrest. He could swear that his eye was twitching. 

“That’s not a pretty face.”

Tommy rolled his head to look at the person beside him. 

A guy with curly brown hair and circle glasses, wearing a ridiculous yellow sweater. 

“What?...”

Tommy frowned as the man smirked. “I said tha-”

Tommy shook his head. “No, I heard you. I was just wondering why someone with your ugly mug was talking.”

The man beside him spluttered, at a loss for words.

Before they even had a chance to say a comeback, someone on the bus screamed. 

As if everything was moving in slow motion Tommy saw something vaguely human shaped hurling towards the bus. He barely had a second to think before he felt the bus lurching to the right. He could feel the bus skidding, and swerving in the road. He grabbed onto the headrest in front of him, trying to steady himself

Tommy looked at the guy beside him. They were just staring in shock. To his credit, things like this rarely happened as much. Not since people had started protesting going to work and going on public transits because of how dangerous it was. The Hero association had just recently decided that all heroes who caused damage to any building or transportation would have to pay for it out of their own paychecks. Apparently that was a sore spot, cause there had been a significant drop in collateral damages ever since that was passed. He pulled out his phone, checking the time and watching as it changed from 7:40 to 7:41.

Oh no.

The bus had long since stopped and people were panicking to get off the bus. Tommy started climbing over the seats, joining the scrambling passengers. He hesitated and looked back at the man. 

“Are you going to stay here or what?” 

The man seemed to wake up from whatever thoughts he was stuck in and got up. Or at least tried to. They could move their upper body, but were held back by at least one of their legs. Tommy grit his teeth and went back against the now dying wave of people trying to get to safety.

The man’s leg was stuck, as the bus had folded and the man who happened to be in the place was sitting. His leg was trapped by the wall of the bus and the seat. 

Tommy was grateful for the few months that he worked at the motor shop. He found the small lever that allowed the seat to be unhooked, and lifted the seat out of its holder. All seats on public transit had been made to be removable in a case like this so people could get themselves out of situations like these. 

The man in the yellow sweater now had a gash in his leg, and ripped pants. But he would live…. Probably…. Look he wasn’t a medic, and had no clue about how much blood someone could bleed out before dying. He was at least 95%  a cut on the leg wouldn't do that.

Tommy took the man’s arm and placed it over his shoulder and basically pulled the man out. Yellow sweater guy grunted and inhaled sharply, but Tommy couldn’t do much. He was going to be late! 

As soon as they were outside of the bus, Tommy sat the yellow sweater guy on the curb and took off running. 

“WAIT!” 

Tommy didn’t have time to wait, he just looked over his shoulder and threw a quick astute to the guy. 

This was looking to be a real bad morning.

Tommy reached the shop at the end of the street, and crashed through the doors, panting heavily. 

“Tommy!” A voice came from in front of him but he couldn’t focus.

He held up a hand to show he heard her, but was still slightly bent over trying to remember how to breathe correctly. Finally he stood up, breathing in sharply before launching into a coughing fit. 

He felt himself being dragged over somewhere. He was sat down, and managed to catch his breath again. 

“I saw on the news that a bus was hit in the crossfire of a fight. Please don’t tell me that you were on that bus.” Puffy was crouched down next to him and had the usual “concerned mother” face, that she always seemed to have around him 

Tommy smiled at her. “Okay then. I won’t”

 Puffy put both hands to her head, and massaged her temple. “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy…. What am I going to do with you? Work doesn’t even start for you until 8:15? Why are you here almost 20 minutes early?” 

He could only smile at her, and stand up. “Well… 7:45 is basically 7:50 which is just 8 at that point. And 15 minutes is so close behind that! Anyways, could you help me?” 

Puffy gave him a tired smile, and he followed her to the back of the store. They gathered all the tools that he would need, and placed it in the company golf cart.

It was the only thing that Tommy could legally drive. It was really difficult for lower sectors to have anything approved by the government. Tommy was barely able to get documents so that he could get this job. But knowing Puffy, he’d probably have gotten this job anyways. 

He looked back at her. Her split colored hair was tied back today. It wasn’t particularly windy, but he had learned from experience that having hair in your eyes, and mouth never led to anything that he would get tips for. So it was even worse since she had way more hair than he ever did.

Once the cart was loaded up, he saluted to Puffy and sat down in the driver’s seat. Putting both earbuds in, he made his way to Middle Park. 

Middle Park technically had a name, but no one in the lower or bottom sectors would never be caught dead saying it. Because the only places that could afford to have parks, (even if they were paid for by the government), were the upper and some of the middle sectors closer to the upper sectors. It was a basis that the government refused to acknowledge. They claimed that “there’s no land that could be used for a useless thing like a park!” 

Tommy scoffed inwardly as he avoided hitting a bush. If they are so useless why does the upper have 7 ? 

He stopped the cart as he was in the park, pulling the key out of the ignition and put it in his pocket. Pulling out his phone he started his work playlist, and pulled out his timer. Setting the clock he pulled out his tools and began his work. He started out the lower Witch Hazel trees. He liked the names of the trees, but the natural way that it grew made it hard to keep it neat. It took him a while, but he finally managed to get it the way that it was supposed to. Moving on to the Willow Tree. He died a little just looking at it. Don’t get him wrong, it was a beautiful tree, but the leaves were a massive headache to clean up. More always seemed to appear as soon and he had bagged up the last of the piles. 

He worked through the day, only stopping to take a break for lunch. He paused his timer, leaving it at 4:38:92. Looking around for a  place to eat, he stopped by a bakery that had opened up recently. The prices were pretty low considering that it was in the middle sector. Perfect.

Walking through the doors, it was a pretty standard bakery. He stood to the side of the counter looking at the menu, nodding his head to the music in his ears. Hearing someone talking he looked up. A woman with short pink hair was looking at him. Quickly pulling out his earbuds, he apologized. 

“I’m sorry I was still looking at the menu.” He paused his music, and wanted to bury his head under the menu.

The pinkette only smiled at him, “No worries, take your time! I just came to see if you were ready to order.”

Tommy nodded and glanced back at the menu, trying to decide something quickly so as to not keep her waiting, “I’ll have the chocolate croissant, a poppyseed muffin… and a uh… flavored water.” 

She nodded, and punched his order in. “Y0ur total will be $8.37. Cash or card? “

Tommy pulled out his wallet, “Cash.” Pulling out $10 he handed it to her. “Thank you Miss….”

The woman smiled and pointed to her name tag. “Niki.”

“Thank you Miss Niki.”

Niki laughed, “Just Niki. And can you get a name for your order?”

“Just Tommy.”

“Alright ‘Just Tommy, I’ll get to your order shortly.”

He chuckled and nodded standing up after she had left, to go wash his hands. He didn’t mind the dirt while he was working with it, but afterwards it was horrible texture. He walked into the bathroom and washed his hands. Looking in the mirror only briefly to pull out some leaves that had fallen in his hair. Walking out, he found a seat near the counter. Pulling out his phone and the rock he had brought with him. Rolling the rock over in his hand while scrolling through his messages with Tubbo. Tubbo had brought up the idea of having another roommate to liven things up a little. 

Tommy had shut that down immediately. He knew that Tubbo just wanted him to open up a little more, and come out of his room more often, but Tommy is just fine spending time in his room alone. He just didn’t want to make someone feel hurt that he refused to interact with them. Besides, he had plenty  of friends he didn’t need to make anymore, he was fine .

Realizing that his phone had turned off and he was looking at a black screen, he saw that his glasses had slipped a little, and could see over the brim of his glasses. He hurriedly turned his phone over, and pushed his glasses up. Curling in on himself, trying to change what he was thinking about.

“Order for Tommy!”

Standing up he placed his rock back in his pocket and pulled himself over to the counter. Putting on a fake smile, and grabbing his order. He gripped the bag, fearing that if he dropped it something bad would happen. A sinking feeling in his stomach. Only managing to take a deep breath when he sat down in the golf cart. 

Opening the bag, he reached in and pulled out the muffin. Unwrapping it, again he was amazed at how delicious the muffin was. He looked around the park as he finished the muffin and started on the croissant. He still needed to fix up the cottonwood tree in the back, trim some of the bushes, and turn on the watering system for the flowers. 

The sun wasn’t beating down as hard now, but it was still warm enough that he was sweating. He was grateful that it wasn’t cloudy. Cloudy days meant that more people would be out, and it would be weirder for him to be wearing sunglasses. He would suffer through hot days if it meant that less people asked him questions.

He watched a mother play with her child on the playset, feeling his heart hurt for a relationship like that. A mother that cared, and a father that would come home with a smile at the sight of him. But that was just wishful thinking. 

He took a swig of his water, and unconsciously stuck his hand back into the bag. Surprising himself when he saw that he was holding a cookie. He spun around to look at the bakery. Through the window he could barely make out the pinkette taking someone else’s order. Did she? He shrugged. A free cookie is a free cookie.

After finishing he dusted the crumbs off his hands, and drank the last of his water. Unpausing the timer, Tommy cranked up the music in his earbuds, and began working again. 

Finally Tommy bagged up the last bit of trash, and tossed it in the back of the golf cart. He pulled out his phone and stopped the timer. Ending at 10:37:83. He felt exhausted. He watched as the sun started to set. He drove the golf cart back to the shop, and threw the bags in the special dumpster in the alleyway. Checking the time it was only 7. Tubbo probably expected him to be home at 8, so he could probably stop by the store to get some ice cream. 

He wasn’t heartless. He knew that leaving Tubbo alone for 10 hours was never a good thing. 

He put the tools away, and hung the keys up. Puffy looked up in surprise.

“You're back early! I thought you wouldn't be done for another half hour?”

Tommy grinned, and stood under the AC for a second. “I did too, but I’m finished. So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” He stretched and popped his back. Flinching at the loud sounds. He didn’t miss the way that Puffy looked at him with concern.

“I guess…”

Tommy smiled and waved at her. He looked at his phone to see what buses would be up, but after the attack most bus routes had been shut down. He knew he couldn’t call a taxi, so the train it was. He groaned audibly, gaining a few stares. He didn’t care, he just hated the train.

Not only did security breath down his neck every time he stepped down there. Always asking him why he had glasses on. He always had to come up with some lies. His favorite was that he was sensitive to bright and artificial lights. He usually got through security quicker with that. 

Heading down into the tunnels, he scanned his ID, the machine giving a ding to show that he could move forward. He made it a couple of steps before a short round man stepped in front of him.

“Hold it kid. Step over here with me.”

Tommy rolled his eyes and looked at the train. It was ringing and signaling that it was leaving. His eyes flicked from the short security guard, to the train. Mentally shrugging to himself, he booked it to the train. 

He heard the guard shout out after him, but he didn’t focus on it. Only thinking of making it into the train. The door started to close, and Tommy felt his foot catch on something. Pulling back into his memory trying to find something to copy. Remembering seeing someone doing it,  he managed to tumble into the train car, successfully landing on his feet. Turning around just in time to see the cop with his mouth wide open in shock. 

“Ha!” Tommy clamped a hand over his mouth when he remembered where he was. People were staring at him.

“Sorry…” he mumbled, and sat down in a nearby open seat. People slowly turned back to their phones.

He started to zone out before being brought back to reality. He doesn't remember watching anyone do that, he couldn't have copied the tumble unless…. 

He mentally slammed his head into a wall again. He just copied a move from the vigilante on T.V. In public , running away from a form of authority . He really hoped that no one here watched SMPLive. 

He looked around the train quickly at the wide variety of passengers. People with small puffs of smoke around them, or hair that transitioned to water, his eye catching on a child with scales littering his skin, who was staring at him in awe. 

His shoulders slumped. This was going to be a long train ride. 

When the train came to his stop, he was the first one off. Quickly scanning the area to make sure that the security wasn’t actively looking for someone, before he walked to the exit. 

The night air was refreshing, compared to the subway air. It was stale and smelled constantly of roadkill. Walking away from the station he looked towards the stores nearby. Remembering there was a convenience store just down the street from where he lived, he picked up the pace a little.

Walking into the store, nothing stood out to him. There was a cashier who was reading a magazine, and a few other shoppers just browsing the shelves. Tommy made a beeline to the back freezers and pulled out a tub of Neapolitan ice cream. 

Walking up to the register, he placed the ice cream down, along with a five. The cashier took both, rang him up and handed him his change. He nodded his head in thanks and walked out. The sky was almost completely black now, only a faint light coming from the west. Looking back into the store, his brow furrowed. 

“That was a lot less dangerous than I thought it would be….” He shrugged and kept walking. Coming to the alleyway near his house he stopped. Something felt wrong…. He broke into a dead sprint, clutching his ice cream close to his chest. Barely managing to doge the outstretched hands that were waiting to grab him. Not even bothering to look back as he saw the doors of his apartment building open, from someone else going in. 

He skidded to a stop and changed directions, taking off again. Sprinting up the stairs, running was the only thing repeating in his mind. Only slowing down as he reached his door. Breathing in and out for a second to catch his breath, before unlocking it. 

“Tubbooo! I’m home!”

He flicked on the living room lights, the lights flickering and barely spilling into the kitchen. He set the bag of ice cream on the kitchen counter. “I brought ice cream!”

No response came. His stomach churned a little, unease setting in. 

“Tubbo?” 

A thud came from the outside of the apartment, likely on the fire escape. Tommy grabbed one of the kitchen knives, quietly creeping closer to the window which had started to make noise. 

Tommy watched as the window slowly opened, and a figure in black climbed through. They turned to the window again, and Tommy crept up behind them. “Hands in the air.”

The person froze.

Tommy scowled, his heart racing. Pressing the tip of the knife to their back. “I said hands in the air.”

They slowly raised their hands.

“Care to explain why you’re breaking into my apartment?”

“......”

Tommy was about to push the tip of the knife a little further, when something outside of the window caught his eye. A dark figure flew against the light of the moon. The intruder must have sensed his hesitation and dashed away from Tommy. The person moved towards the light switch. Tommy had no time to react before the room was plunged into black. 

His heart sped up, he could feel it basically coming out of his chest. He listened carefully, trying to catch any noise that would give the intruder away. He kept his back to the window, facing the room. A light filled the room as he heard the door open. Quickly he looked towards the light that vanished as the door shut. 

Breathing heavily, he inched towards the light switch. Feeling all around the wall, until he felt the lights. Turning them on revealed…. Nothing.

Everything was in its place, nothing had been moved. Or even touched. He frowned.

He looked around again, his eyes landing on Tubbo’s door. It was slightly ajar. It was never opened. 

He walked over and placed his hand on the door. Hesitating, before he knocked. 

“Tubbo?”

He heard some things falling over. The door moving towards him, Tubbo leaning out of the door slightly.

“Hey boss man! What are you doing?”

Tommy raised an eyebrow. “What am I doing?” He looked over Tubbo quickly. “What are you doing? Your hairs’ a mess, and you're not wearing a shirt.”

Tubbo didn’t break eye contact. “I mean, what are you doing home so early?”

“I finished cleaning up the park early. And besides,” He tilted his head, trying to peer into Tubbo’s room. 

Tubbo closed his door a little more, squishing himself in the process.

“I just… spilled… something on my shirt…”

“Mhm…” Tommy looked Tubbo over one more time before sighing. Feeling some of the previous tension leaving his body. “Anyways… I bought some ice cream, so we should probably eat it before it melts. 

Tommy smiled to himself as Tubbo’s eyes lit up. 

“I'll come out in a second!”

The door shut and Tommy stood there looking at the door for a second. Still trying to process the break-in that had just happened. He looked at the apartment door. It looked the same as if a stranger had never walked through it. 

As if in a trance, Tommy walked over to the kitchen and got out two bowls. Smiling at his roommate who emerged, with a shirt on this time, from their room.

Chapter Text

Tommy woke up to his alarm. Slamming his hand down on the nightstand, trying to find the cursed machine. Finally finding it, he turned it off. Blinking at the neon numbers in the dark room. He sat up, and stretched, wanting desperately to go back to bed. 

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he heard voices outside his room. 

Voices, plural. 

Someone else was in the apartment. 

That got him out of bed. 

Hurriedly putting on a different shirt than yesterday, but with the same logo on it, and some pants. He grabbed his sunglasses from the nightstand, slamming them on his face. Breathing deeply, and combing through his hair with his fingers, before opening his bedroom door. Looking down the hallway he could hear the voices better.

Stepping out into the kitchen, he was met with two people. Tubbo, and a police officer. A short, round officer. Tommy scowled, as he stepped forward.

“Is something wrong here?”

Tubbo looked at him, panic in his eyes. “Uhm, this officer said he was l-”

The officer stepped forward. “YOU!”

Tommy flinched at the yell. “Yes…. me. Is there a reason that you have come to my house besides interrogating my roommate?”

The officer looked like he was about to blow a fuse. “I should arrest you right now!”

Tommy raised an eyebrow? “Oh and what law did I break? Last I checked, trying not to miss the last train home was not a crime.” He crossed his arms over his chest, it was way too early to be dealing with this.

Tommy saw literal steam coming out of the man’s ears. Maybe something connected to his powers? He glanced at Tubbo, who was trying not to laugh. 

“Look, every time I try to get on any train, I've been pulled aside ‘cause I look suspicious. I wear these glasses because I have a high sensitivity to lights, making me wear these sunglasses everywhere. And honestly it’s quite rude that everyone judges me because of how I look.”

He pointed to the glasses that he was wearing. “Trust me, I know I look suspicious, but if it didn’t cause me to have an aneurysm everytime I look out the window, I wouldn’t wear these everywhere I go.”

He stepped beside the officer, and opened the door. “Now unless you can show me a warrant for looking for me for actually breaking a law, please leave .” 

Humiliated, and embarrassed, the officer just grumbled and slammed the door on his way out. 

Tommy felt the hair raise on the back of his neck. 

“Tommy.”

“Yes Tubbo?”

“What was that.”

Slowly turning around, he saw Tubbo glaring at him. Tubbo just glared at him, before the expression fell away and he started to laugh.

“Light sensitivity? Is that what you're telling people?”

Tommy gave a tired chuckle. Feeling the small burst of adrenaline slipping away.

“Ya, that gets people off my back pretty fast. They feel guilty for judging me based on how I looked.”

Tubbo’s laughter slowly died away.

Tommy glanced at Tubbo, then looked at the window, pointedly ignoring the question that was so obvious on his friend’s face. He could tell that his roommate wanted to know the true reason that he wore his reflective sunglasses everywhere. Why he was always shut off in his room, and why he would see Tommy running out of the bathroom so often.

Tommy pointedly ignored the questions. Opting to walk over to the cabinets, and pull out the cereal.

“It’s a regular day so I should be home about 8 today.” He pulled the milk out of the fridge. “I’ll probably be hired to take care of some garden in the upper…” He placed the milk on the table. Tubbo was still just looking at him, or past him. His eyes were a little glazed over, Tommy waved his hand in front of his face.

“You good Tubbs?”

Tubbo snapped back. “Oh ya. Anyways… Tommy?” 

Tommy looked up from his bowl of cereal, “Yah?”

Tubbo glanced at behind him, Tommy following his gaze. Looking at the blank T.V.

“What are your thoughts on… vigilantes?”

Tommy shifted his gaze to Tubbo, who had turned away from the T.V.

“What brought on this question?”

Tubbo shrugged and got out a bowl for himself. “I was watching the T.V. yesterday and there was a bit on the new vigilante. I wanted to know your opinion yesterday, but I forgot.”

“Oh. Uhhm. I don’t know,” He stirred the bowl of cereal around. “I guess it shows how bad the Heros are at their job. Vigilantes, for the most part, are just people who are trying to make a better life for others.” He smiled, “But sometimes they are pretty bad at that.” Grinning at Tubbo’s mock expression of hurt

He placed a hand on his chest, “I certainly would never be a vigilante. I would probably get stabbed on the first night and give up.” He laughed, and Tubbo did too. Although it sounded like he was laughing off stress.

“What about you Tubbso? What are your thoughts on the “heroes of the night”. He held quotation marks in the air, smiling. 

Tubbo laughed, “I guess the same thing? I think they just want to help the lower.”

The subject changed after that, but Tommy kept looking at Tubbo. He could feel that something was off, but couldn't really put his finger on it. 

He couldn’t ignore it as he left for work. Sighing, he waved to Tubbo as he left, pushing his sunglasses up as he walked down the hallway. Walking down the stairs, his heart dropped as the stairs creaked. Rushing down them, the sounds of the stairs only growing more and more concerning. Finally making it to the bottom, he caught his breath. Catching a glimpse of the stairs behind him, he decided to take the elevator when he came home that day. 

Checking his watch, he panicked. He didn’t have that long until the bus would show up. Putting in his earbuds, cranking the music up all the way, and he ran . He didn’t have any form of super speed, but he was able to block out everything around him to focus on the task at hand with the power of music. 

He mentally sighed, if only that was his actual power.

Checking the time it was 7:12. He could see the bus that was a replacement for the one that was ruined yesterday. Still running, and avoiding people, he pulled out his wallet and his bus card. He made it to the back of the line that was waiting to enter the bus. Flashing his card to the driver, he went back to his usual seat. 

This time there was no one in the seat next to him. Shrugging, he sat down and changed the song. Looking out the window, the world passed by him in blurred figures. The bus drove past the place where it had crashed into the previous day. Tommy could make out several new damages in buildings and dark tire marks on the street. 

“ How much did it cost to buy a new bus? ” He wondered. Probably didn’t make a dent in the heroes’ paycheck.

The rest of the bus ride passed uneventfully, no unexpected stops or crashes. He waved to the driver as he stepped off. He walked to the shop and walked through the doors, the bell announcing his entry. 

“Morning Puffy!”

Puffy’s head popped out from behind the counter. “Hi Tommy! I don’t have any jobs or orders right now, so you’re going to just be on-call.”

Tommy nodded and went back to the office. Connecting his phone to the speakers, he listened to his playlists as he pulled out his Switch stuffed in his drawer. Puffy had given it to him as a birthday gift, for something to keep at the office to keep his mind entertained while he was on-call. It was a life saver, because he was on call way too often. 

A few hours passed, and he had spent the whole time redesigning his island, when the phone finally rang. Rushing to turn off the music, he grabbed the phone. 

“Garden and Parks Department, this is Tom speaking.”

“Uh hello… I heard that you could be hired? For gardening services? ”

The words made them seem like they were unsure of themselves, but they spoke as if they were in charge. Tommy sighed, this could go one of two ways. He was praying that it went the better of the two options.

“That is correct. We can come out to you to clean up a garden or any greenery that needs fixing or planting.”

“Perfect !” The sounds of something moving around could be heard. “ I’ve been too busy to work on my front garden, do you have any openings available? I would like it done soon. ”

“We do have an availability-” He looked at the time schedule that Puffy had set out for him, “-at 1:30PM, 3 Pm,  and 5:30 pm.”

“ Uh… could I schedule for 3? ”

Tommy pulled the pad of paper on the desk closer, grabbing a pen as well. “Of course. What is the name and address for this appointment?

“ Oh! My name is Philza Craft, and the address is ************** Middle Sector ”

Tommy wrote down the information, noticing that the address was in the upper middle section. These were rich people. This should be good. 

“Okay Mr. Craft, just making sure that it’s ************** Middle Sector, correct?”

“ That is correct! I’ll see you at three! Have a good day.”

“You have a good day as well sir.”

The other end hung up, and Tommy breathed out. He walked out of the office, into the back garage. 

“Puffffyyyy! We have an appointment at 3!” He yelled from the doorway. 

Puffy looked up from the computer she was looking at. “Oh! Can you handle it? I've been working on this-” she gestured to the computer, “-since this morning. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be.” She stared at the screen. “Oh it's your lunch break, did you want to order something?” 

Tommy nodded, “Sure I’ll see if we can get some delivery from the bakery near Middle Park.”

Going back to the office, he pulled up the bakery on his phone, and dialed the number.

“ Niki’s Bakery, how may I help you?”

“Hello, I would like to place an order for…”

A few minutes later someone walked through the door. Tommy went out to greet them. It was a guy wearing the bakery’s uniform, carrying his order. 

“I got an order for Tommy?”

Tommy nodded and handed him the money that Puffy had given him. It had been after a long argument of who would pay, but Puffy held a lot more authority than he did. Especially in her own store. 

“Yep, that's me. Thanks man.”

The guy just tipped his hat, handed him the bag, and left. 

Tommy pulled out his food and dropped the rest of the food on Puffy's desk. She waved at him, but kept her eyes on her screen. Tommy went back into his office and ate his food while watching Youtube videos of the new vigilante.

They called themselves Ignite. Their powers were unclear, something to do with sparks and explosions. They would create a spark or something in their left hand, and the air itself seemed to explode. Sometimes catching fire, or just exploding. They could control the area that they explode. It doesn't seem like this vigilante was a murder, setting them a step above the heroes. Ignite had a moral code, they always left their calling card on any criminals that they catch and leave for the police. An explosion cloud. 

Tommy took off his glasses to better watch. The vigilante’s moves were very sporadic, there was almost no way to tell what they were going to do next. He remembered the fight they had with the hero Blaze. They had gotten away, seeming to just disappear from thin air. 

Looking at the next few recommended videos, it seemed like the vigilante had been out for a longer time than people realized. Just gaining more popularity from their flights with the heroes.

He looked at the clock. His lunch break was over. Actually it was over a while ago. It was 2:05. Tommy flicked his sunglasses back on his face, walking out to the garage. 

“Puffy, I'm going to get ready to go to the appointment.”

Puffy just tossed him a key. Catching it, he realized that it wasn’t the golf cart key.

“Uh, Puffy? I can’t drive legally yet. Why did you give me these keys?”

Puffy looked back at him, giving him a wink and she said, “Just don’t get pulled over.”

He laughed, and started to load up the truck.  It was a small truck, with only a front seat, but Tommy knew how to drive it. Puffy had given him a couple of lessons. 

Settling down in the driver’s seat, he pulled up directions to the house. It was a little bit of a drive, but he could do it. He tried to mentally prepare himself to talk to strangers. He patted his pocket, only to remember that he forgot something to fidget with. The next hour and a half will be the longest of his life.

The house was big. Tommy sighed. That was to be expected about the middle sector. There were a lot less apartments, and more family houses with big backyards. Rich people stuff. He rolled his eyes and he turned off the truck, hopefully this guy didn’t have kids. Kids were the worst, constantly asking questions, and trying to steal his sunglasses. It dragged on the time he had to work. 

Walking up to the door, he knocked and stood back and put his hands in his pockets. The door opened to a blond man that was slightly shorter than him. 

“I’m here from the Garden and Parks Department, an appointment with Mr. Craft was made for 3 Pm today.”

“Ah yes,” the man nodded and held out his hand, “You can call me Phil, none of that Mr. Craft. It makes me feel old.

Tommy bit back a retort and nodded, shaking Phil’s hand. 

Phil looked him up and down, and Tommy held back a frown. 

“Well!” Phil clapped his hands together, and Tommy suppressed a flinch at the sudden noise. “The garden that needs to be saved is in the backyard. Go ahead and follow me.” He waved for Tommy to follow him through the house. 

Stepping inside he could immediately tell how well off these people were. There were many art pieces littering the walls, and a giant family portrait. 4 people. Phil sitting next to what could be assumed to be his wife, a beautiful woman with long dark hair, and two sons? It might have been because Phil was sitting down, but they looked tall. The two sons(?) had brown hair, but one was a lot more buff than the other. 

“Just out here.”

Tommy looked to see Phil gesturing to a glass sliding door, which he opened. Stepping outside, he whistled, despite himself. The garden needed a lot of help. Many flowers looked close to death, and there were weeds everywhere. He raised an eyebrow at the man.

“Yah it looks bad. It’s my wife’s and she’s been out of town for a month. I’ve been busy with work, and my sons have as well, soo…” Phil rubbed the back of his neck. “My wife will kill me if she sees her garden like this.”

Tommy nodded, “I’ve heard that before.” He turned towards the blond, “Is there a gate that I can use to get my tools back here? I’d prefer not to go through the house ‘cause of how dirty some of them get.”

Phil nodded, and walked over to the side of the yard, showing a wooden gate that led to the front yard. Tommy thanked him and walked back over to his truck, pulling out some gloves and a garden spade.

The garden was looking better. Tommy had pulled out all of the weeds, and put them in a bag. He had trimmed down some of the dead parts of flower bushes, and mixed up some plant food.

He was just about to start watering the flowers, when he noticed someone standing in the doorway of the house. He had curly brown hair, circle glasses, and a bright yellow sweater on.

“I recognize you! You're the kid who sat next to me on the bus that got hit!”

Tommy sat up from the crouched position he was in. “And you’re the guy with the ugly yellow sweater, who insulted me for no reason.”

“Hey!” Yellow sweater guy stomped his foot indignantly. “My sweater is not ugly!”

Another person appeared behind the yellow sweater. He was a lot more muscular, and he looked vaguely familiar. He was wearing a red hoodie, with the hood pulled up.

“He’s got you there Wilbur. It really is a stupid sweater.”

Wilbur turned on the other guy, and opened his mouth.

Tommy laughed, and both of them turned to look at him. He tried to smother it with a cough, but it didn’t work too well. 

Wilbur stepped outside, and stood above Tommy. “Anyways, what are you doing here kid?”

Tommy stood up as well, noticing that Wilbur was taller than him. “First off, still not a kid. Second, I was hired to work on this garden.” He put his hands on his hips, and heard a snort from behind him.

Tommy looked over his shoulder. “You got something to say?” 

The other just held his hands in the air in mock surrender. He walked off, disappearing into the hose.

“Anyways I never got to thank you yesterday.”

Tommy looked back around at Wilbur. “Thank me?”

Wilbur tilted his head slightly. “Ya, thank you. You helped me get out of the bus.”

Tommy shook his head, and walked over to the hose. “Not really, I just removed the seat in front of you. You could have still gotten out, it would have just been a little harder.” He turned on the hose and started to water the plants. 

“I wanted to ask yesterday… Do you always wear those sunglasses?”

Tommy froze for a second, but recovered quickly. Scoffing, “Do you always wear those fake glasses?”

“Touché.” 

Tommy could tell that he didn’t take that as a real answer. If he hadn’t already been working outside for a while, he would have been sweating. Why are people always so nosy? 

“Ah Tom, I see that you’ve met one of my sons, Wilbur.”

Saved by the bell.

“Hello again Mr. Craft.”

Phil frowned, and Wilbur burst out in laughter. 

“Mr. Craft makes me sound old, I thought I said that you could call me Phil.”

Tommy smiled, and turned back to the garden. It had been watered enough, so he turned off the water. 

“Well, I’ve finished up with the garden. If you keep watering the garden for the next few days, everything should perk back up. It seems that your wife is a really good gardener.”

Phil nodded as Tommy started to gather all of his tools. Wilbur helped him open the gate, and followed Tommy through it. Trying to make small talk with him.

“But how did you know that the seat could be removed?”

Tommy placed the tools in the truck, as well as the trash bags.  “I’ve worked in other places before. I worked at a mechanic shop that had a bus come in. I learned that buses had to have removable seats because of the danger that fights caused to buses. People needed a way to make sure they could escape to live.”

He hopped up into the driver’s seat. “They had to do that after the casualties from car accidents got too high, buses being one of the biggest factors. Have a good day.” He shut the door, and buckled himself in. He looked back to Wilbur, who was just standing there. His brow furrowed. Tommy raised an eyebrow, but didn’t dwell on it.

He pulled out of their driveway, and turned on the radio. 

“ -The battle between the Dream Team- ” Tommy scoffed at the name, “ -and the SBI has brought up new arguments about the villain’s motives. It’s common knowledge of the group’s hatred for Shlatt.”

“That’s for sure. If I’m correct they destroyed half of the downtown when he was reelected!”

“Right you are. The SBI are some of the most avid opposers to the heroes and the government. It’s suspected that it might be because of some of the deaths that have been covered up. “

“What do you- ”

Tommy turned off the radio and continued in silence. He’s listened to this station before, they always start out trying to “uncover” reasons behind some villains actions, but in the end just start dissing the villains for being irrational. It was infuriating, and Tommy knew they didn’t even care about the actual destruction that’s been caused by the fights. Especially the damage caused to the lower.

Soon enough he pulled up to the garage, and parked the truck. He climbs out of the truck and grabs the bag of trash. Walking back to the dumpster there are some rats that scuttle past him. He jumped back against the wall, as one of them stopped and lifted its head to look at him. Its black beady eyes started into his soul, and then it left. He watched it go in a fascinated sense of horror. He wearily looked around at the rest of the alleyway. 

Dusting his hands on his pants, Tommy looked around the garage. 

“Puffy, I’m back!”

The computer she had been so engrossed with was turned off, and there were notes scattered around the desk. Walking over, he picked up a yellow sticky note with poorly written notes. 

“ At Tower       Down       left          second painti- ”

“Tommy? Is that you?”

He replaced the note and walked over to his office. “I’m back, Puffy!”

Puffy came to his office. “Did you just get back from the appointment? How did it go?”

Tommy shrugged as he sat down, basking in the air conditioning. “It went alright I guess. It was just fixing up a neglected garden. Nothing too hard.” 

Puffy leaned against the door frame. “And who was the customer again? I don’t think you mentioned it.”

Tommy picked up a pen and started spinning it in his hand. “Some rich guy named Phil Craft. A weird last name if you ask me.” He looked up, stopping the pencil. “And my name is… Ennit.” Hesitating slightly as he looked up at Puffy. “Puffy?”

“You met Phil? How… how did that go?” She had a funny look on her face. Somewhere between interest, fear, and something else…

“It went fine? I just worked, cleaned up the garden and left.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh ya that’s right.You know when the bus crashed yesterday? ‘Parrently I was sitting next to his son. I helped him get out.”

This seemed to shock Puffy. “You saved his life? He owes you a favor?”

Tommy raised an eyebrow. “I mean not really? He could have easily gotten out of there himself. I didn’t do much.” He looked at the clock. It was almost 5 pm, and it had been a slow day.

“Is it alright if I go home early? I don’t think we are going to get any more calls.”

Puffy nodded, “Sure go ahead. Imma stay here, I still have some things I need to sort out.” Tommy grinned and nodded his head. Standing up and pushing his chair in. 

“Great! I’ll see you tomorrow then!” He waved to Puffy as he walked out of the store. He pulled out his phone and looked at the bus routes. There was one leaving in a half hour, he had some time to kill. 

He looked up at the nearest library, surprised to see how close it was. Why haven’t I been down there before? He mentally shrugged and walked over to the building. He stood there for a moment, just looking at the beautiful architecture. The pillars were pure white, and the building looked as if it was built in the upper. 

He walked up the steps, and through the open doors. He was met with millions of books along the shelves. He took a step forward, and his shoe squeaked on the clean tiles. He froze as a few heads turned to look at him. He shrunk back and held his hands up in apology. Making sure to walk quietly, he wandered around, looking in awe at the amount of books. 

He saw some movement out of the corner of his eye, and stopped. Pretending to check out the books in a particular section, but he was actually looking around him to see if he could catch another glimpse of the movement again. Nothing. Frowning, he kept moving, albeit a little slower, scanning around him constantly, careful only to move his eyes, not his head.. It took a while but he saw something move again, but he saw it clearer this time. 

Concentrating, he tracked the movement. It was something small, around the size of a mouse, but it was much quicker. He stopped walking in order to better track the thing that was following him. It also felt a little weird to use his powers, it made him feel funny. The thing had stopped moving as much, and was hiding behind a stack of books that hadn’t been put away correctly. 

He was thankful for his glasses, making it a little bit harder to tell where he was looking. Giving him a slight advantage. He started to walk again, stopping occasionally to look at some of the books, trying to bait out this guy. It worked. Whatever, or whomever this was started becoming more confident in their actions. 

Tommy could see them more clearly with his tracking. They were a very small person, probably with the power of shrinking. They were wearing a kind of cloak, making it harder to see them, but Tommy couldn’t miss them. 

Whoever it was, was getting cocky. They glided behind him, and Tommy was shocked to see that, but he didn’t stop walking. Only slowing down, slightly, acting as if he was looking for a certain section. They didn’t seem to notice.

Once again Tommy stopped to look at some books. He noticed they were getting ready to jump again, to glide across the shelves. He reached his hand out, almost as if he was going to grab a book. They jumped, and Tommy tensed. Spinning around and catching them by the end of their cloaks. 

They squeaked, and Tommy held them up to eye level. They were just hanging there, and looking at him. 

“Is there a reason that you’ve been following me for the last few minutes?” He whispered loudly. 

The small person held up their hands in surrender. “Hey I was just curious! I’ve never seen you around here.” They shrugged. “Can’t blame a guy for being curious.”

Tommy raised an eyebrow. “Yes I can. Now I’ve enjoyed the company, but I’ll be leaving.” He set them down on a shelf, and started to walk away.

“Hey kid! Wait up!” Their voices wasn’t loud considering their size, but Tommy’s shoulders slumped and he kept walking. They were able to keep up with him. 

“How’d you catch me kid? Scratch that, how did you notice me? It usually takes a while for people to even notice me!”

“SHHHH!” Both of them turned to an old lady who was walking past. A finger to her lips, looking angry. 

“Sorry…” Tommy whispered. Looking back at the small man, he placed him on a shelf and started walking away.

He knew that the small man wouldn’t give up that easily. He used his power again to track the shrunk person. They were about to jump and glide onto Tommy. So he stopped in front of a bookcase. Waiting until they were in motion before abruptly turning to the left, and speed walking away. Taking several turns, trying to lose them.  

After losing himself, he took a moment to look around at the surrounding books. Trying to see what section he had wandered into. The titles of surrounding books gave him a very big hint.

The Origins of Powers and Where they Came From.

How to Control Your Powers.

Flying: For Beginners

Water Control: For Beginners.

Shapeshifting: For Beginners.

His breath hitched as he read the last title. Looking back to reread the title once more.  His hand twitched forward slightly, as he took a shaky breath. Trying desperately to steady himself. He was fine . Quickly turning away from the books, Deciding that now was a good time to leave. Just as he was just about to start walking, he bumped into something. Looking up slightly, he recognized the face of the small man that had been following him.

“Hey kid.”

Tommy took a step back, and the man held his hands up.

“Hey it’s okay, I’m just curious. As I said, people don’t notice me. I just want to know how you found me.”

A notification went off on his phone. Remembering the bus, he side-stepped the man. 

“I noticed you when you moved too fast to be a book. Now if you excuse me,” He started walking again. “I have a bus to catch.”

He was walking away when, “Your ability is not something you should be ashamed of ya’ know.”

Tommy clenched his fists, “I’m not ashamed of it.”

Nothing else was said after that. Tommy left the building with a bad taste in his mouth. He turned his music on, trying desperately to distract himself. His mind hummed with a kind of exhilaration from using his power after a long time. Adrenaline moving through his body, telling him to use it more. 

He folded his arms, clenching at his forearms, trying to steady himself. Trying to steady his mind. He pulled up Youtube again, watching videos of some of the older heroes saving people from wreckages. 

After the bus came to his stop, he stepped off and looked around. No one around him cast him a second glance. Everyone obsessed with their own lives. Everyone moving on. He pulled out his phone, pulling up Tubbo’s contact. 

He walked down the streets, following a memorized path, listening to the ringing on his phone. A soft click, and Tubbo’s voice cut through. “Hey boss man. What’s up?”

He turned a corner. “Nothing much. I got off work early. I was calling to see if you wanted to do something fun for dinner.”

He could hear a series of beeps on the other side. “Uhhhhhh sure big man. Have any ideas?”

He turned another corner, “Not really big man, that’s why I called you.”

A broken, chain link fence came into view. He ducked through the hole, and turned to the left. A hum came through the phone.

“Want to get a pizza?”

Tommy nodded, knowing full well Tubbo couldn't see him. “Sounds good. Could you pick it up?”

“I should be able to do that. What time are you getting back?”

Tommy slowed down as he started walking on grass. “I should be back in 30 minutes. I’m not that far.”

“Wait…. Are you at the park again?”

“.... no….”

“Yes you are.”

“I’m not! You're crazy!”

“Tom, I told you already that-”

Tommy groaned, cutting off his roommate. “I know, I know. It’s a restricted area that no one will visit. But still!” He looked at the grassy field. “I can’t give up on it now. I’m almost done!”

“Sure…. anyways, I’ve got to finish up this project. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Turning off his phone, he placed it in his pocket. 

For the past 9 months, he had been working on an empty lot to make a park for the lower. First pulling up thousands of weeds, and helping fix the dirt. That had taken most of his time. After that, it was just planting grass seeds. After the grass had grown to a good length it started looking more promising. At this point he had told Tubbo about his plans. Tubbo had been against it. Going on and on about how if someone found out he had been on private property, he would have been killed.

That had led to a small spat between them. Leading Tommy to taking on more shifts, and spending even more time at the “park”. It had ended when Tommy had seen Tubbo at the park, working on play structures for the park. Tubbo was still very much against Tommy putting himself in danger, but had become a little more lenient. 

Present day, the park had grass, a small garden area, some flowers, a swing set, and a slide. 

He was proud of how much work had gone into the park. It was beautiful, and was pretty much what he had been wanting in the lower for a while. 

Sitting down on a swing, he started to wonder about how to get the word of the park out to people who would use it the best. He thought back on his day, as he moved back and forth. What could he do to spread the word to the correct people?

An image flashed in his mind, making him dig his heels into the dirt. Groaning, he held his head in his hands. Lifting his glasses, and rubbing the bridge of his nose. It could work? No…. maybe? 

Could he trust that guy? He probably saw everyone in that library, he might know who needs to escape the most. He sighed. He needed to go back to the library. It was mostly his only option, and at this point, probably the most reliable. 

Making sure that his glasses were secure on his face, he exited the hidden park. Reemerging into the street, and walking back to his apartment. Walking fast, and keeping his head down, the last thing he needed was someone annoying him, and making him stop because he looked suspicious. 

Taking the elevator, he tried not to flinch at every sound. When it finally came to a stop, it opened slowly, but Tommy walked out of there as soon as he could. Shuddering as the elevator screetech at him on its way down. He watched as it disappeared, and the gate slowly closed. 

He pulled out his keys and unlocked the door, listening to the sounds of shouting coming from the door behind him. There was a reason that their rent was as cheap as it was. No one else wanted to live near the top, or next to loud people. Walking inside, he closed and locked the door behind him. 

“Tubbo! I’m back!” He turned to the empty looking apartment. “Tubbo?” He spotted a piece of paper on the kitchen table. 

Hey Tom, im getting the piza. Be bak soon -Tubbo

He read the note again, chuckling slightly at the misspellings. 

“I hope he gets cheese.” His voice almost echoed in the apartment. Twisting his back slightly, it let out a symphony of cracks. Sighing as some of the pressure released. He desperately needed to go to a chiropractor. Him and Tubbo both. He’d heard Tubbo stretch after sitting in his room for the whole day. Tommy had thought that it was gunshots going off nearby. 

He checked his watch. It was barely 6. Sighing, he dragged himself over to his room.. Walking over to his closet, and pulling out some clothes. And walking into the bathroom. He shut the door and turned on the shower. Letting the water run for a second, while he undressed. 

He spent a little while in the shower. Going over his plan for tomorrow. He’d ask to get work off early, and go to the library again. Look for the man who could shrink. It should be easy enough to find him. He got a good look at the man when they had unshrunk. Tracking him should be easy. He’d have to come up with some way to ask him about finding out people who’d even want to go to a park. 

Outside of the bathroom, a door opened and shut.

“Tommy? Are you in the shower?”

He shut it off and quickly dried off, pulling on the clean clothes as fast as he could. His stomach growled, as he rubbed the towel over his hair. He opened the door and popped his head out. “I’ll be out in a second!” Tubbo had his back to him.

He closed the door once more before freezing. He hadn’t put his glasses on…. If Tubbo had turned around, or had been looking at him… Shaking his head, he steadied himself. It’s fine , it was fine . Nothing happened. 

He looked himself over in the mirror. He looked like himself. Nothing happened. He was fine . He took a deep breath, and shoved his sunglasses on. The world became a shade darker, and his eyes were covered. 

“What did you get?”

“Peperoni.”

Tommy rolled his eyes, of course he did. 

“Great. Anyways, let’s eat.”

Tubbo nodded and opened the box, and they each grabbed a slice. 

They talked into the night, laughing and finishing off the pizza. Tommy noticed how Tubbo kept looking over at the window every once in a while. He had never told Tubbo about the intruder. Should I? It’s his house as well …  

They kept on talking, and the bags under Tubbo’s eyes became more defined as the night wore on.  I’ll tell him tomorrow, maybe . 

“Dude you look wiped. Go to sleep.”

Tubbo put his glass of water down, blinking a few times. 

“Oh?”

He raised an eyebrow at his roommate’s slow reaction.

“Yah, go to bed. I’m going to head off as well.”

The two roommates turned their backs, and walked off to their rooms. Tommy made sure that everything was locked, and took off his glasses. He rubbed his eyes as he turned on his lamp. Maybe I am developing sensitivity to light. Making sure the window was covered, he just went to bed. Turning on his alarm, and his lamp off, he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Tommy yawned as he sat up. The sun was shining through the window, and he could hear some birds chirping out of his window. Standing up, he went over to his closet and pulled out some clothes. He changed while yawning, and trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. Opening his door, he walked over to the bathroom. Blinking as he closed the door behind him. He grabbed a brush out of his drawer, and attempted to tame his hair. He looked at the mirror and dropped the brush. Staring back at him was not a reflection. He slammed the palms  of his hands against his eyes, trying desperately not to look at the creature.

A horrific creature with a void face, black ooze dripping from it. The sludge substance grew and started to encase everything on that side of the mirror. Everything slowly faded, but the creature lifted its pale hand. Reaching towards him through the mirror. 

“Come on T̸̹̽̈͌͝h̴̺̆̎ȇ̴̢̼̣̰̯̒͐ś̵̳̝̯̆͂ê̴͓̰̎̔͝u̵͓̯͎͘ṡ̴͖͍ ”

He could feel it right behind him, grabbing his arms and pulling them away from his eyes. 

“LOOK”

He screamed. Sitting bolt upright, and breathing heavily. His breathing became more erratic. He touched his face, and grabbed his arms. Feeling, and looking around for any trace of the nightmarish creature. 

He soon became faintly aware of pounding at his door.

“TOMMY! TOMMY! ARE YOU OKAY?!”

He tried to steady his breathing, looking around his dimly lit room for his glasses. The pounding at the door matching the sound of his heart. 

“I’m fine.”

The pounding didn’t stop. The door sounded close to breaking. The crappy wooden door creaking under the brutal force.

“I’M FINE!”

The pounding filling his ears stopped. He finally found his glasses, turning on his lamp as well. He tried to walk over to the door, but he couldn’t move his legs. He didn’t trust himself not to fall over the second he stood up.

“Are you sure Tom? Is everything alright in there?”

He practiced his breathing techniques. 

In- 2,3,4…

Out-6,7,8…

“Just a nightmare.” Loud enough for Tubbo to hear. “Just a nightmare.” Whispering it to himself, as if trying to convince himself of the foolishness of the situation. He woke up Tubbo because of a dream .

The same kind of dumb dream he’d been having for months…

After breathing for a few seconds, his breathing had calmed down some. Grabbing his glasses, he put them on and unlocked the door. Opening it a little and staring down at Tubbo. He kept one hand on the door, the other on the frame.

“I’m fine, Tubso, just… just a bad dream. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Tubbo’s hair was all over the place. Tommy’s eyes drifted over the scene. He noticed one of the kitchen knifes on the floor, glancing at the knob, there the deep shows he’s and cuts into the frame. Looking back at Tubbo, he noted, with some surprise, that Tubbo had forgotten to put on his gloves in the rush. He made sure not to stare, Tubbo’s hands were scarred, and discolored. 

Tubbo sighed. “You sure?” Tubbo leaned to the left, trying to see into Tommy’s room, Tommy didn’t even try to hide it. 

“I’m sure, I’m fine. It was just a bad dream….” He started to close the door, “I should go back to bed, I have work still.”

Tubbo looked doubtful and opened his mouth to say something, before closing it again. His roommate didn’t stop him as he shut the door. After shutting the door, he collapsed in his bed. Just as he was closing his eyes, his phone buzzed. 

Puffy

Work is canceled today. No need to come in

Great. Now work was canceled as well. He groaned remembering that rent was due soon. He needed to get his paycheck soon.

He closed his eyes, only to open them immediately. Flashes of the nightmare coming back. Grabbing his earbuds and putting on some instrumental music. Drowning out all other thoughts, focusing on the symphony of music. Closing his eyes again.

Tommy woke up to silence. He sat up and looked around him. His door was open slightly, his lamp was on, and there was a note next to his bed. He picked it up and read it. It was Tubbo’s handwriting.

I hav to meat up w/ a few clients today. Make sure to get lot of sleep- Tubbo.

Tommy was glad that Tubbo left a note, but felt anger flare. Tubbo had gone into his room. He trusted Tubbo, but he felt indignant that someone had trespassed on his personal area. He had never been in Tubbo’s room. Tubbo didn’t find notes saying that Tommy would be gone. 

He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He was probably thinking too far into this. He looked at the window. It was still completely covered. He opened it slightly. And let some sunlight peak in. 

Tubbo wasn’t going to be home today, so….

Tommy stood up and walked out of his room, shutting the door behind him. The apartment did look a little strange without the usual dark tint of his glasses. He smiled, taking in it. Today might actually be a good day.

He spent the rest of the morning cleaning up the apartment. Putting things away and making it look nice. It still felt a little off to see everything so clearly, with brighter and more vivid colors. Everything seemed to have life inside it.

With more energy, he put on a clean pair of clothes, and left the apartment. Even with his glasses, the world was a little brighter. He took the bus to the middle sector, deciding just to wander around and try some of the shops. 

The bus station was a little less busy, as it was later in the morning, and people had already gone to work. He waved to Clem as he walked to a bus. He could hear the faint shout of “TOMMY?!”, causing him to chuckle. He walked on the bus and gave a small wave to the driver. 

Sitting near the front, he looked out the window. He put his glasses lower on his face, being able to see over the rim. He watched as the world moved in vivid color. He had no clue where this burst of confidence came from. He had the worst start, but now he was going around the middle just because he wanted.

The bus stopped and he got off, immediately he noticed that he had no clue where he was. All around him were buildings, and bright signs and advertisements. He might be in the upper middle. He honestly didn’t know where to go. He could feel his confidence draining quickly, as suddenly he heard every noise around him. 

Tommy looked at people around him. Most people were walking forward, so he started following everyone else. Putting in his earbuds and turning up the music, trying to follow where everyone else was following. While looking at all of the buildings, he noticed the excessive amount of hero ads. 

Constant reminders to stay hydrated, or not to steal. He had to keep himself from laughing. If there were any sort of sign like that in the lower, they would be vandalized immediately beyond recognition, within minutes. He looked at the posters once again. The bright neon green of Dream’s cape blinded him again. Scratch that, it would be destroyed within seconds. 

He scoffed and kept on walking, still not knowing where he was going. The buildings were getting smaller, and there were more trees appearing around him. The people around him started to thin out a little, but it was too late for him to pick a new direction. 

His stomach rumbled, and he looked around him quickly. No one turned to look at him, but he felt the invisible stares of strangers. He looked up the nearest food place to him, surprised to see that he was right next to a sandwich shop. Mentally head slamming himself for not seeing that he was right next to a restaurant. 

Immediately taking a sharp left, and entering the shop, a bell ringing as he did so The inside was nothing too special. There were some plants along the walls, some vintage signs as decorations, and many booths. He checked out the menu for a minute, and practiced his order in his head. Walking up to the counter, the worker just looked at him. 

“Uh hi? Uhm…. Can I get the meatball sub?” 

The worker continued to stare at him, never taking their eyes off him as they punched in his order. 

“That’ll be $6.75.”

“Ah.” Tommy pulled out his wallet and handed him a 10. I really gotta be spending less.   

Watching as the worker took it, and held it up to the light. He scowled, starting to fidget with the wallet in his hands. Rubbing the worn out leather, and picking at the seems that were pulled apart. He knew that the sunglasses made him look weird, but he wasn’t about to scam a random shop out of 10 dollars. He had standards . 

The worker handed him his change and a receipt. “Your order will be called out shortly.”

He nodded and all but ran over to a booth against the wall. He remembered why he didn't like going out by himself again. People didn’t like him, and he didn’t like people. There was no love in this relationship. 

The bell rang again, and he tried to look over discreetly. In walked a very tall person, who somehow looked more out of place than Tommy felt. And that was saying something.

They wore a black mask, and had some very interesting hair. It was rather long and brown, but had white streaks. Much like his own dyed hair, but they had a lot more than he did. They wore a black and purple hoodie. They scanned the shop for a second before noticing Tommy, Tommy quickly looked away. 

He watched out of the corner of his eye, carefully as the guy walked forward to the counter and ordered their sandwich. Trying not to turn his head, and be discreet. He took a deep breath and just scrolled through his phone. He could hear as the other customer finished their order, and sat down somewhere else. 

He only had to wait a few minutes before his sandwich was called. Walking up to the front, the worker still had a blank face on. Looking unimpressed as Tommy grabbed his sandwich. Tommy just turned his back. The worker chose that moment to yell out the other customer’s order, loudly. Tommy flinched, and could practically hear the laughter from the worker. 

He passed by the other customer, who looked at him briefly, but Tommy looked away. They were tall and could probably see over the top of his glasses. 

He sat down at his seat, and started to eat his sandwich. He tried to not pay attention to anything, and focus on what he planned to do next. He was still lost in the Middle, and really didn’t know anyone in the middle. Except for the one house he went to clean up their garden. 

Sighing, he looked around the shop. He realized that the other customer had left. Weird, he didn’t even hear them. He looked over at the table that they had been at. There was still something on their table. He looked down at his half finished sandwich. He wrapped it up in the paper once more, cringing at the loud noise in the empty shop. He held it in his hand as he walked over. 

The book was well worn, obviously well used. There was no title to it, but there was a ribbon bookmark. Opening it up to the first page, there is neat handwriting, “ Property of Ranboo” . He raised an eyebrow at the name, curious he flipped through the pages. It was just a bunch of dates and mundane tasks. It seems that there were a few ripped out pages, but nothing out of the ordinary. Looking around, he remembered that the other customer had actually left. Panicked slightly. Should he use his power again? Would it really be worth it? Maybe they’ll come back?

He hesitated, before bringing the book back to his table. Waiting for a second, before getting up once more. Activating his power and looking for the other customer. They were far, and moving fast. F—--k

He didn't even bother leaving a tip for the worker as he rushed out of the store, basically running to find the other. For the first time, he wished he used his power more. He might have been able to actually know how to get to someone if he used it more. He’d heard of people’s power growing with more use… Anyways, for now he would just have to stick with following the outline of the person that he had met only minutes ago. 

He had to stop himself from running into several busy streets. This person was really going to strange places. He barely had time to look around him to see where he was going. Only realizing too late that he was no longer in the city. This person had led him out to some forest? He shook his head, and refocused his mind, centering back onto this Ranboo person. 

A couple of times, he swore he got close to them, but he couldn’t actually see them. He knew their outline showed they were close. But then they would just disappear for a minute, and then start on a trail again. It was almost like a game of cat and mouse.

“This better be an important book.” He muttered to himself as he slowed down a little. His power had been acting a bit off. Sort of fizzing in about out, the outline being bright, then dim. He stopped as he came into a small clearing, surrounded by trees. The sun was bright, and there were flowers everywhere. He backed up a little, trying not to step on them. 

“Hello?” He called out to the empty clearing. His power indicated that the person was nearby, but he couldn't see them. Which was weird considering how tall they were. Surely it would be easy to stop a tall lanky person in the middle of trees.

“Uh… I think I have your book?  You left it at the sandwich shop… I’ll be honest I don’t think that worker was planning on finding you. They were  quite rude and…” His voice died out a little as he looked across the clearing. There was the tall figure, but they were half hidden by the tree and were completely covered in shadows. Their streaks and patches of white in their hair being the only indication they were over there.

“I uhm… I have your book.” He held it out in front of him. All of his confidence was gone, and the reality of his situation came to him. That suddenly he was in unfamiliar territory, and with someone he knew nothing about. He was screwed. 

He blinked and Ranboo was gone. He whipped his head around trying to find where they went. Using his power, and finding a faint outline of the mysterious person. They were hiding behind a tree. Maybe that’s why it was harder to find him?

He heard a stick snap, and he looked over at the sound. There they were.

“Uhm yeah… I think that's my book. You said I left it at the sandwich place?”

Tommy nodded, and held the book out a little further. Ranboo stepped into the light, and Tommy immediately noticed their eyes. They were heterochromatic, but just slightly. Both eyes were green, but one was slightly darker, and almost had a brownish tint to it. He felt the book leave his hand, and he turned his eyes away. Nervousness creeping in.

“So uhm… I’ll just go I guess? Nice to meet you.” He started to back away. The tension was thick in the air, suffocating. He turned and started to walk but stopped when his arm was grabbed. He looked behind him. Ranboo looked nervous and surprised as Tommy felt. He looked from his arm to the stranger,  and back to his arm.

“You… you don’t have to leave.” His voice was quiet, but Tommy heard it. Ranboo let go and started fiddling with his newly acquired book. 

Tommy scoffed inwardly. At least he knew why the book was so worn out. Speaking of which. Tommy gestured to it. “I uh… didn’t really look at it, but uhm… It seemed important? Can I ask what it is?”

Ranboo nodded. “I don’t have the best memory,” they brandished the book. “So I have this to help me keep track of what I do and who I meet or talk to. Speaking of that.” Their heads tilted slightly. “What’s your name?”

Tommy held out his hand. “I’m Tommy, and you?” He could see something in Ranboo’s eyes. A small glimmer. Recognition? Interest, maybe? He didn’t have time to dwell on it as Ranboo took his hand. Giving it a small shake.

“I’m Ranboo.” Their hands dropped, and a silence started to settle in. Tommy felt his heart hiccup. He hated silence when talking to a new person. That’s why he didn’t meet new people.

Fortunately Ranboo waved his hand, “Follow me. I’ll show you something.” They started walking away from him. Tommy thought about refusing, but shrugged and followed. 

It was easy enough keeping pace with Ranboo. Even if they were barely taller than him, Tommy refused to be left behind. They walked past the field of flowers, and past a lot more trees. They had gone a lot deeper into the forest before Ranboo had stopped. Tommy skidded to a halt behind them.

“What gives man?”

Ranboo turned around. “How exactly did you find me?”

His guard shot up immediately. Ah…. Should have realized this was a trap. “What are you talking about?”

They looked a little nervous, but continued on. “I watched you for a while, when you were following me. You knew I was there, when anyone else wouldn’t know.” He lowered his voice. “Did you use it on me?”

He could feel the temperature drop around him. He looked up at the taller boy, grateful for his sunglasses as he would have gone blind from looking almost directly at the sun. “How did you see me when I couldn't see you? Hm?”

Ranboo took a step back. 

“That’s right b—--h. If I used my power, That means you did too.” 

Ranboo raised an eyebrow. “Touché. Well then, if you’re not afraid to admit using it… I’ll be able to do this!”

They grabbed his hands and pulled him forward. At the same time Ranboo fell backwards. Tommy cried out, and closed his eyes bracing for impact. But it never came. He opened his eyes and was surrounded by black.

“Uhhhhh….. wut?” Tommy looked around and saw Ranboo right next to him. They laughed at him, almost doubling over as they did so. 

They spread their arms wide open. “Welcome to the void! A place only accessible by me!” 

Tommy just looked around. “Whaaa? Why are we here?” 

Ranboo just looked at him, “Sorry about the dramatic entrance, I rarely get to do that, Anyways…if you followed me, that means other people could have followed as well.. And since I’m not exactly a common sight, that causes some dangerous situations for me. And besides…” They disappeared. Tommy blinked. 

“I like to talk to people with a little more privacy.” Tommy spun around. 

Tommy raised an eyebrow. “Do you do this with every new person you meet?  What makes you think I can be trusted? For all you know, I could be a mass murderer, or y’know a member of the mob!.”

Ranboo just looked at him. “I’ve got some connections... They say you’re pretty trustworthy.”

Tommy was about to say something else before he noticed that his glasses were really foggy, and starting to slip. Quickly taking them off and wiping them down with the hem of his shirt. He squinted, trying to make it look like he needed the glasses to see. It didn’t work.

“I did notice your glasses are pretty dark, is there a reason for that?”

Tommy shoved his glasses back on, “Well I’m pretty uhhm, pretty light adverse. So I need them tinted to see better and not just shrivel up in the sun?” He mentally cursed himself. Not only was it a dumb answer, he didn’t even sound confident about it.

Ranboo clapped his hands, “Welp! It was fabulous to meet you Tommy, but unfortunately I have things I need to do.” Doing a flourish with his hands, a tear seemed to appear in the middle of the never ending darkness. It opened and Tommy could see the city. 

“I believe this is a roof somewhere in the lower? I’m not sure. I usually have to teleport to rooftops during the day. Not many people react well to having someone appear right next to them.”

Tommy thought for a second. “Wait…. Can you go anywhere in the city?”

Ranboo looked at him, eyes squinted a little, and eyebrows scrunched. “Uhm, pretty much?”

Tommy nodded. “I got a spot you could go to. It’s a lot easier to leave than a literal rooftop. And besides,” he shrugged. “It’s very likely that no one will see you. Especially considering only one other person knows about it.”

“Okay? You’re going to have to direct me, it's a little harder to open a portal to somewhere I haven’t seen.”

Tommy nodded and started to describe the way that he took to get to the little park. It took a while to accurately describe it, and a portal that opened in a random alley way. Eventually that made it to the grassy, and abandoned park. 

“That's it! That’s the park!” He walked forward, and put his hand out. He hesitated before sticking his hand through the portal. It seemed to ripple, but there was no texture or anything. He inhaled, and walked through. He nearly fell as he touched the grass, only stumbling a little. He looked back to the portal, but it wasn’t there. His heart sank a little, before it dropped. Ranboo’s disembodied head appeared out of thin air. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I forgot to mention that you can only really see the portals if I’m touching you, or you're in the void. But I just wanted to say thank you again.”

His head disappeared, and Tommy was left alone again. He stared for a moment longer, eating to see if Ranboo would appear again. They didn’t.

Checking the time, he still had most of the day open. He went to sit on the swings to think of what to do next. He flexed his hand for a second, before realizing he had left the rest of his sandwich at the shop. Singing he looked around again. Something was missing, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

“The library!” He spoke out loud. I still need to go to the library! He finished his statement in his head. He left the park and made his way through the alleyway. He checked the time. It was 2:05, he had plenty of time. He walked down the street, and walked the way remembering the way back to the grand building. He’d heard of it before, in passing comment. It was the one thing that the government couldn’t take from the lower, and everyone kept it that way. 

Soon enough the building appeared, the white pillars gleaming in the afternoon sun. The paint looked new, which was still surprising. Walking up the stairs, he glanced at the windows. A small movement caught his eye, but he kept on walking. 

The inside looked the same as it did last time, with thousands of books and many shelves to hold them. This time, he decided to actually look for a book to read, that might get more attention from the small guy. 

There were too many books in here. He didn’t care much for how to take care of hamsters, or how to properly bake a pizza. He severely underestimated the time it would take for him to find something interesting. 

He walked towards the bookcases that he had ended up near last time. The section about different abilities. 

I wonder if there is a book just on the basis of abilities? Tommy thought this as he searched the shelves. Eventually he came to a section that had the titles of different abilities all over them. 

He ran his finger along the spines of the books, scanning over titles. “ The different ages of abilities ”, “ How to take care of a child with early powers ”, “ Taking care of animal children ”. He scowled at some of the titles. It was aggravating that people would call hybrids just “animals”, like they are sooo different from other kids. 

He stopped at a single book. “ The Basis of Powers ”, this one would likely be the most helpful. Pulling it out, he looked around for a place to sit. Along the opposite wall were some chairs and a sofa. He sat himself down on one of the chairs, and opened the book. 

Looking through the chapters.

• Brief history of Powers

• Recognizing Powers

• Ability Genetics

• Ability effects, Physical & Mental

• Strengthening Powers

• Retaining Powers

Tommy blinked once, then looked back. Strengthening Powers ? That might be his best bet. He flipped to the page and started reading. 

“ Powers, like muscles, need to be used constantly or at the very least, quite often. Powers are a fundamental part of a person. If a person were to be deprived of their power it would have the same effect of removing several limbs and attempting to walk perfectly fine. The effects of underusing powers can lead to a weakened power and heavy consequences when using them. It is also understood that there are many detrimental powers that are dangerous to use. Exercise caution while doing so.

Several ways to improve power strength include, using them on a constant basis, focusing on -”

“Why are you shaking your leg so fast?”

Tommy looked away from the book, and stopped bouncing his leg. Not realizing that he had started doing that. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn't realize I was doing that.” He looked back to his book, but froze. Who?...

A small figure dropped down from the front of his book.

Tommy held back a scream, but could not suppress his recoil at the sudden fright. A muffled laugh came from beside him. Looking over he saw the shrunken man, sitting on the arm of the chair, dangling his legs.

“Never gets old!” He muffled laughter, as Tommy scowled at him. 

“Anyway kid-”

“-Not a kid.”

“-sure, anyways, what are you doing back here?” He tilted his head. “Last time you left throwing a tantrum.” 

Tommy closed the book, and stood up. “Now I remember why I was hesitant about coming back here.” 

“Wait!” 

Tommy cringed as the same old lady passed by and held a finger to her lips. Shushing him. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, as she walked away. He turned back to the other person.

“Sorry… But still, why are you back.”

Tommy groaned inwardly, trying to convince himself to talk. But I could back out now…. Not say anything and just leave~ .

“I uhm…. uh… need your help…”

The small man’s demeanor changed, growing a little more serious. “Is everything alright kid?”

Tommy raised an eyebrow at the sudden seriousness. “Uhm I’m doing alright, but I just… I kinda,.... Well.” He tried to get his heart to calm down. He took a deep breath. “I kinda have a project- that I’ve been working on for a long time- and I was thinking that you could help me. It seemed like you, because you spend so much time here, could help me with-”

The small man had unshrunk and was holding up his hands. Trying to placate him. 

“Hold on kid, slow down. Let’s backtrack, you said something about a project.”

Tommy nodded, and took a deep breath. 

“So for the past year or so? I’ve been working in a small hidden lot, changing it. I added dirt and stuff for it, and things, so it’s kinda like a park in the lower. It’s kinda hidden, because y’know, the officials don’t like us.” He tries for a smile. 

The man nods, a smirk forming. “So you have a park that you want to share with people, but you don’t know how to get the word out?” 

Tommy nodded. “I don’t want it to be destroyed immediately, but I want it to be used. More specifically by people who need someplace to go. Or like Moms who want to take their child to a park without being hated.” He pushed his glasses up, covering his eyes still. 

“And I figured since you are here, and can go small,” Tommy pinched his fingers together. “That you would be able to spread the word?” He felt his heart hamming his ribcage. He would have to find some other way to reveal the park, and not to the pretentious that would report it. 

The man smiled. “Y’know? I think it’s about time the lower did bring the upper down a notch. Why not start with the luxury of having a park.” He held out his hand. 

“The name’s Sneeg by the way. You?”

Tommy shook it, “Tommy.”

They dropped their hands and Tommy nodded to the door. “Come on, I’ll show you where it is.”

Sneeg nodded, and they walked towards the door. But Tommy felt a hand on his shoulder, steering him towards the desk. 

“You got to check out the book kid, you can't just steal it.”

Tommy looked down and realized that he was still holding the book. “You’re probably right.” 

They walked over to the desk and checked out the book. Behind the desk was a demon hybrid. Fully black skin with piercing white, pupiless eyes. Sneeg waved to them and smiled, starting a small conversation as Tommy checked out his book. 

Finally he figured it out, and tapped Sneeg on the shoulder. He turned around and smiled, gesturing slightly to the hybrid.

“This is Bad! He is the head librarian here, and would probably be the most helpful.”

Bad nodded, and opened his mouth, but shut it when a loud crash came from behind him. He gave a quick wave then ran to the back of the library. 

Sneeg sighed. “Probably Skeppy…. he's a real klutz.”

They continued on their way out the door. Tommy watched as Sneeg shrunk down and scurried up to his shoulder. 

“I don’t want to drag too much attention to you. Seeing as you haven’t shown this park to anyone.”

Tommy just hummed in acknowledgment as he walked. Looking around at all the buildings. Trying to find some that he recognized, looking for the bus stop.  Beside him, Sneeg talked.

“I don’t think I’ve been on this side of town that often. Like I know I live in the lower, but it’s weird that I don’t know it that well. I guess that could be because I don't really leave the library. Well I do-”

Tommy started to tune out the seemingly endless talk. He glanced around at the buildings. Some of them were dilapidated apartments, not unlike his own. Some looked newer, and they obviously had some landlords that could afford to care for them. 

Every now and again they came across an abandoned building. But he knew they were always far from being abandoned. Mostly children who had run away, or no longer had anywhere to sleep. He was well aware of this because for a time he had hidden himself in one of those buildings. 

I wonder if Pu -

“You listening to me kid?”

Tommy shook out of his thoughts, and tried to look at his shoulder. “Sorry Sneeg, I zoned out.” 

Sneeg huffed. “I could tell.”

Tommy rolled his eyes, but noticed the bus that had just started up again. He looked at the buildings once more. He recognized them. 

“So how much longer here kid? We’ve been walking for a while now.”

Tommy scoffed. “I’ve been walking for a while, and besides,” he nodded to the corner on the left. “We’re almost there.”

They turned, and walked. Sneeg fell silent, and Tommy started to hum to himself. Another turn, and a chain fence came into view. He ducked under the hold, and made sure that Sneeg was still there. 

“Just a little further, big man. I found it when I was exploring some of the rooftops in the lower.”

He felt Sneeg’s eyes on him. “Don’t ask why, that part’s not important right now.” They took a left turn. He stopped before the park came into view, he held out his hand up to Sneeg. “You might want to be regular sized for this, it’s a better experience.”

He set Sneeg on the floor, and watched as they grew to regular size. He walked in front and smiled to himself as he led Sneeg to the park. Pride swelling in his chest when he heard the gasp come from behind him. 

The park looked the same as it did the day before, but it was just as beautiful. The small patch of flowers were blooming, and the grass seemed more green than usual. 

“Kid…. You did this?”

He nodded as he walked over to the swings. He sat down and motioned for Sneeg to sit beside him. 

“I’ve been working on this for a while. I originally planned to just keep it for myself. Just like a place to be alone and outside y’know?” He kicked his feet back and started swinging. “But then it just felt lonely.”

He breathed in the air, it felt cleaner than the air of the city. Which was ridiculous, because it was still in the city, but still…

“I always see the other parks with kids laughing and running around, and I think that the lower kids need to do that too.” He stopped swinging, and looked over at Sneeg. 

“And I thought that maybe, someone who works at a library would know who best needs to have a park.” His phone buzzed. Pulling it out, he saw a text from Tubbo.

He stood up, and Sneeg followed. “Kid, I think it’s time I got back to the library, but I’ll be sure to mention this place.” He turned his back but Tommy stopped him. 

“Just a question Sneeg…”

“Hm?”

“I was just wondering…. Why do you trust me?”

Sneeg smirked, “Why do you trust me kid? Let’s just say I’ve been here long enough to know if someone’s genuine or not. And you” Sneeg gestured to him, “are pretty genuine my friend.”

Sneeg shrunk down, and disappeared. Running off in some direction that Tommy’s eyes couldn’t follow. He could, of course, try and track him, but there was no real reason to. He looked back to the message that Tubbo had sent. 

“ I’m back at the apartmen were are you? Its getting late ”

He raised an eyebrow at the misspellings. 

“ I’m heading back rn ”

He pocketed his phone and started walking back. It had been quite a day. Meeting a random person, and opening up the park for the first time.

The sun was setting behind him, the sky darkening as he stepped into the building. He looked around the lobby of the apartment. It was the same old dingy lobby it always had been, but something feels off about it. His guy twisted, as he looked around. It was empty as usual, and the ever present smell of wet cat was there. 

He hurried up the stairs as fast as he could. Making sure to skip the steps that creaked under him, or had flimsy boards that could not handle any weight. Finally making it to his apartment, the uneasy feeling was still present. Something was off and he didn’t like it. 

Pulling out his key, he unlocked the door. Stepping inside and locking it behind him. 

“Tubbo! I’m back!”

Tommy was greeted with silence. The twisting feeling in his gut growing stronger. 

“Tubbo? This isn’t funny man….”

There was a slight echo of his voice. Nothing else. “Tubbo?” He tried once more.

He pulled out his phone. Dread filling his gut. No other texts from him at all…

Tommy searched the entire apartments, even taking off his glasses to better see everything around him. 

Failing to notice the yellow post-it note that had been moved due to the pile of papers scattered over the table. 

Growing more frantic, he turned to his powers. Adrenaline starting to climb, as he searched for the outline that indicated the location of his roommate. He spun around in a circle, eyes scanning for his roommate’s outline to shine through the wall. 

There!

The outline was high above the ground. “ Was he kidnapped?! ” The feeling of dread felt like lead in his stomach. 

“Please no….” He started to track the outline. The faint golden white line leading him straight out the window, and up to the roofs. Grabbing his coat and rushing to the window, he looked back at his glasses. Deciding to bring them with him, he put them on his shirt, just in case. Lifting the window, he scrambled up the fire escape. The trail leading him across the rooftops. 

Taking a deep breath as he steadied himself. He backed up a little, getting ready to clear the jump between the buildings. He ran, and launched himself across the gap.

Landing unsteadily on the next roof. He had no time to celebrate, as Tubbo’s outline slowly moved away from him. Taking another deep breath, he moved across the surrounding rooftops. Slowly following the trail.

 He had jumped across quite a few rooftops to get to this one. Tubbo’s outline had grown brighter and gotten a lot thicker, meaning he was close. The outline revealing him to be on the rooftop across from him. Shutting off his power, he looked out. The darkness had long since settled in, and the lights of the moon and the city below being his only guidance. 

He took a moment to clearly look at the roof across from him. There were people on it… but…. The only people were…

The new vigilante and The Boar !

Using his power once more, his heart dropped. Tubbo was the new vigilante…

And it looked like he was struggling to stand his ground.

Chapter Text

The fight was not going well at all for Tubbo. The Boar had started attacking more and more frequently. The Boar’s practiced attacks against Tubbo’s sporadic movements. It didn’t mix well, with the villain gaining the upper hand. But the up close experience of the clash of powers was interesting.

It was almost fascinating to watch Tubbo’s power. Watching up close, he could see a faint gas outlined in the city lights that exploded as his other hand ignited. Throwing Boar off balance. Tommy looked around, surprised at the lack of attention that this fight was drawing. Usually any kind of villain fight was at least attempted to be caught on camera. The amount of online blogs about

He watched on with baited breath, hesitant on deciding his next move. Should I get help? Tubbo’s a vigilante… sooo a hero wouldn't help? Getting Tubbo in trouble, and essentially caught, would be just as bad

A bright exposition pulled his attention back, the two opponents backed away from each other. The lights hurt his eyes, as they filled the dark sky, and his glasses were clenched in his hand. He breathed out at the break in the fight, finally noticing that he hadn’t been breathing. He could faintly hear their conversation against the wind. Something about a sin casket? And something else about vigilantes. 

Tubbo shouted at Boar, and held out the explosion hand. The glove that usually covered his hand was in shreds. Before Tubbo could do anything, the Boar moved. Crossing the roof in an instant, and raising the blood red sword. Moving it around through the air, taunting the vigilante

He watched as time seemed to slow. Tying his bandana around his mouth, and pulling his hood up, trying to cover his hair. He crouched on the  roof, ready to move. Boar pointed the sword at Tubbo once more, then raised it above their head, ready to deal a killing blow. 

Tommy saw red. 

Slamming his glasses on, he jumped across the rooftops. Giving no second thought to his next action. He released his hold on his abilities, and let them overtake his senses. He had no time to let them settle in as he slammed into Boar. Throwing them off balance and making them stumble. 

The rod that Tubbo had been using was on the floor next to him, and using his foot he kicked it up and caught it. Copying one of Tubbo’s moves from earlier. He tossed it behind him and hoped for the best. A shout of surprise came from Tubbo, but he focused on the task ahead of him.

Boar corrected his balance, and looked over at him. Tommy could see the glowing crimson eyes, even through his glasses. He could feel the adrenaline working its way through his body. 

Today was just starting to be a good day too.

He turned his head around to look at Tubbo.

“You good Big Man?”

Tubbo’s chest heaved. Tommy couldn’t see his face, but he could sense the confusion. A huff came from in front of him, drawing his attention. 

“And who would you be? Another hero wanna-be?”

Tommy scowled, tensing as he fell into a fighting stance. Straining to take in all the information from his powers, and still have dimmed vision. This was definitely not the most ideal situation.

“Either way, I still won’t let you live after this.” They raised the blade once more. 

A blur of motion ran in front of him, and he watched as Tubbo tried to hold up against the Boar. But the strain of fighting earlier had obviously taken its toll on him. Tommy watched as the staff that his roommate had been using was cast aside. Tubbo himself was knocked backwards as well.

With no second thoughts, he grabbed the staff and focused his power. Analyzing Boar’s movements, he copied them. Exactly

Parrying and blocking the sword with the rod. He couldn’t push them back, but he could match their force. They stepped away from each other, Tommy trying to keep his breath steady, while still analyzing the villain's movements. 

They moved forward and so did he, each move was copied perfectly with split second timing. Boar raised his sword, and they clashed.

Boar stepped back. Tommy stepped back.

Boar feinted left, and Tommy followed. 

Both of them change stances and swiping at the same time. 

This carried on for another moment, with Boar using practiced arts, and Tommy replicating them.

The Boar swung at his head, and Tommy swung with the rod. There were a few sparks from the clash.

Tommy could feel the frustration radiating off Boar. The air was thick and the tension was palpable. 

The two of them paused their fight, and stood on opposite sides of the roof. Boar barely shaken, and Tommy breathing heavily. 

He could feel his legs begging to give out, and his arms were becoming more sore by the minute. His breaths were labored and each one seemed to rattle his chest, and still had no clue where Tubbo was. He was praying that his roommate was still behind him.

Boar didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. Their boar skull, mask, thing? Was still perfectly sitting on their face, and their hood had stayed on. The only thing that betrayed the stoic image was the constant little twitches of their hand.

Boar fell to a fighting stance again, and opened their mouth. About to say something, before closing it. Tommy watched, holding his breath. It had been a long time since he used his ability this much. The glasses were still blocking most of his power, and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Then without any warning, Boar launched forward. And instead of copying their movements, Tommy slid under them, and grabbed at their cape. 

Grabbing fistfull of fabric, Tommy leaned all of his weight to the side. Pulling Boar backwards, throwing them off balance. As Boar tried to find his footing he kept stumbling with the weight on his cape. The momentum that Tommy had created offset all their actions, Boar swung his hands around for a second before falling off the side of the building. 

Losing no time to consider how he had pulled it off, or what he had just done, he turned to the rest of the roof. He could barely see anything with his glasses, but he was able to see the outfit of the cast aside vigilante. He ran over and knelt beside him.

“Are you alright man? Can you stand?”

He could make out the nod given to him. Grabbing onto  Tubbo's arm, he leaned in close. “Once we are back at the apartment, you are dead .” He hissed in the vigilante’s ear.

Tubbo blanched, but Tommy used what little strength he had left to pull his friend to his feet, and started moving. He whipped his head around, a sinking feeling in his gut kept him from just trying to cross the rooftops all the way back to his apartment. He could feel his head screaming at him, but he did his best to block it out as he tracked Boar. The outline revealed the villain to be on the ground, but he was sure it wouldn’t stay that way for long. The gut feeling that had warned him was right, as he could see the outline of the villain start climbing the wall? He looked around for a better way to get back to the apartment, but the roofs seemed to be the fastest option. 

“Hope you got some energy left in you Big Man, cause we need to get moving.” A loud rumble shook the building. “Quickly!” Tommy got one of Tubbo’s arms around his shoulder and took a step back. Another rumble, and more noises came from behind them. Tommy looked ahead, trying to adjust his vision to the glasses, but they didn’t have that much time. The two of them ran, and started hopping buildings. Stumbling a little each time they landed. 

“We need to take a detour, can’t lead them straight back Boss Man.” Tubbo turned to him, but Tommy kept looking ahead. His body ached, and his head was pounding from the use of his powers. Gut feelings could really suck, because this one was not leaving and only grew heavier as they continued forward. 

His eyes widened as he struggled to track Boar, trying to find the outline. His heart dropped as the realization set it, Boar stood on the building before them. Only slightly dirtied, and pointed the deadly sword at them. His cape was swaying slightly in the wind above the buildings. Overall a very dramatic pose, and Tommy would definitely have more appreciation for it, if it wasn’t directly pointed at him and the half dead vigilante beside him.

“Uh oh…”  Tommy involuntarily took a step back.

“What is it Boss Man?” Tubbo lifted his head slightly, but only to look at Tommy. Not seeing the dramatic sight that Tommy couldn’t tear his eyes from.

“Give me your staff.”

“What? No!”

“GIVE IT!”

He held his hand out, and the metal staff was placed in it. He slowly let Tubbo down as he got into a fighting stance. He was already breathing hard, and he could tell that Boar was getting ready. A blink later the villain appeared in front of him. Jumping from the ledge and landing, rather dramatically, a few feet away. The skull that masked the villain’s features had a slight red glow emanating from it. Not creepy at all….

Tommy focused on the pull of his power, and mimicked the pose that Boar had pulled on the two of them. His feet were moving before he could really start to question what he was doing. Nothing about his situation inspired confidence in him, not the bandana starting to slip from his face. Not the hood barely staying up. And definitely not the glasses that kept the lights from showing him what was really going on.

The glasses ! He thought as the flat of Boar’s sword slammed into the staff. He could already feel his body shifting slightly, foreign feeling of muscles he definitely did not have.

The Boar was relentless in his attacks and was pushing him back further.

A grunt escaped his mouth as he slammed his own hand to his face and tore off the glasses. And it felt as if his eyes were assaulted with all the colors of the night, every blacked out detail of the villain in front of him was suddenly glaring out. The red glow that was emanating from the skull mask was in fact not faint in the slightest. It almost looked like a bad animatronic, but based on the situation it was far more intimidating. He focused his sight on the villain in front of him.  Who had hesitated slightly at the unexpected movements of the Great and Powerful Ennit! As one does of course.

Tommy didn’t buy much time with the element of surprise, but it was enough.

Every muscle in his body tensed as he could fully lock onto the Boar’s movements. Rushing forward he swung the staff, forcing a reaction. Boar had started his attacks again, but Tommy was ready this time. A swing, a jab, a slash, each dodged and parred. Each new move engraved in his mind, and reflected back at the hulking mass of a man. He was pushing them back, when a flash of green crossed his vision.

Dream

Tommy gave one last shove as Dream fully landed on the roof. He turned and grabbed Tubbo, pulling him from the roof.

He could hear the shouts behind him, but nothing stopped him as he leaped across the roof. New muscles that had formed gave him an advantage. Basically dragging Tubbo behind him, They crossed some of the roofs, before finally sliding down a fire escape. The alley way they had landed in was covered in trash, but they couldn’t hide here. Tommy strengthened his grip on his roommate as he prepared to run from the alley. 

Looking over the bricks, there was no one in sight, no cameras surveying the street. Good.

Pulling Tubbo, with only minimal complaints from the brunette, they raced across the empty sector. Lights that were usually dimmed were bright and shone directly into his eyes. Even with the bright lights Tommy knew where he was. His body screamed at him but now was not the time to collapse. Adrenaline rushing through his body, the world around him seemed to blur as the two of them raced back to their apartment. 

Taking the side entrance, they flew up the stairs and opened their door with shaking hands. Tubbo shut the door, and Tommy heard the lock click as he shut the window he had escaped from.

Breathing heavily he turned to fully take in his roommate. His roommate is the vigilante, bleeding from several places, clothes torn and dirtied from explosions. The vigilante who was new to the scene, had directly crossed paths with a known killer. He watched as Tubbo opened and panted beside him, the harsh breaths that filled the silent apartment.

Tubbo suddenly took a deep breath in, but Tommy couldn’t really focus on that. He could feel himself swaying, and could feel the floor as he slammed his body into it. It wasn’t too comfortable, but at least his legs stopped cried out for respite.

Just a short nap …. He thought before blacking out.