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Chapter Text

Tommyinnit loved many things, he loved to watch as the rain pattered against the windows, he loved to watch hero fights over and over, studying every detail. He loved to come home to his small apartment to annoy Tubbo while Ranboo tried to keep the peace. He was an orphan, eventually escaping the system with his two best friends.
While he would never admit it to them, he would do anything in the world for them, but that was Tommy before the incident. He would never forget the day his universe had been ripped away from him.

It was a normal day for the bench trio, heading to work on a cool autumn morning. Their boss was a nice woman named Tina. It was obvious she doubted their story that they were all 18, but she let them work in her shop anyway, knowing they likely needed the money. Thanks to her they had managed a small apartment in district 9, it was the poorest of the 10 but they had a roof over their heads, which was more than they could ask for before.

Tina’s small candy shop was located in district 2, more often than not called the shop or shopping district, for obvious reasons. It was nice, sweet smells emanated through through the air at any given timme. Strings stretched above the streets, small festive L’manburg flags lined across them, the beginnings if the seasonal decorations being put up. The three arrived in the district and were beginning to make their way to the shop to clock in for work when an interesting development came to their attention. The Dream Team was patrolling the area nearby.

It wasn’t uncommon to see heroes for the trio, the large bank situated across the street made sure of that. The Dream Team being there was uncommon however.

Tubbo rolled his eyes as they arrived, a crowd hanging nearby. “Heroes and their bloody fan bases will be the death of me I swear.” Tommy grimaced sympathetically, but said nothing as he pushed his way into the shop.

Every kid wanted to be a hero when they were younger, unless they lived in any of the poorer ends of the city. The people in the slums knew the heroes weren’t what they claimed, being only there for the rich folk they deemed worth their time.

The day began as usual, aside from the large crowd outside, being slow until a little after lunch. Tina came in around 11, smiling and handing them a few biscuits from the bakery nearby. Ranboo thanked the woman profusely as his two friends fought over the last biscuit. He snorted at their antics before turning back to Tina.

“Sorry about them Tina, you know how they are.” He apologized sheepishly.

The woman chuckled in response, “Yes I do, it’s quite alri-“ A loud explosion nearby suddenly cut her off, the ground trembling slightly. Screams soon followed, and heroes arrived not long after. The sounds of battle quickly starting. They looked out the window, the bank across the street unsurprisingly being attacked by two villains. They rushed to get into the small bunker under the shop, which had been built exactly for this reason.

That was before a large blast of fire, originating from the flame hero, aptly named fire-fist, for his signature move. The building caught fire, they rushed for the door, knowing it was probably their best chance. Tommy heard a loud crack from above him, something large hurling itself into him, knocking him off his feet and the last two feet outside the door, he watched as if in slow motion, reaching desperately towards his friends, as the roof collapsed. Ranboo had hurled himself into Tommy to save him. The last thing he saw in his friends gaze was pure, unadulterated fear. Before the entire building collapsed on the only three people to have ever been kind to him.

With nothing else for him to do, Tommy ran. Gathering as much space between him and the battle as possible before his legs failed him and he sunk to the ground in a random alley. Sobs racked his body. He buried his face in his knees, unable to do anything else. Helicopters sounded from the direction of the battle. He didn’t bother himself with illusions, they were gone.

He didn’t know long he sat there crying, only knowing it was dark when he looked up, it had to have been hours considering that it had been early afternoon when the fight had started. The walk back to his apartment was dark and lonely, leaving him with one thought in the end. The problems in that city were the heroes fault, and he would tear them down.

This was the day that the fifteen year-old teenager Tommyinnit died, buried underneath the rubble of another mistake the heroes covered up. It was also the day that the villain who would soon be the most feared person in the city was born, Vengeance.

Chapter Text

1 years and 10 months later

Tommy grinned wildly as the hero he was fighting staggered back, clutching at where their nose would be. Bright red blood already seeped through the light red and white mask the man was wearing, staining it a deep crimson.

News helicopters circled far over head, the sound of reporters trying to explain what was happening to engaged audiences just barely reached Tommy’s ears. The hero in front of him looked heavily worse for ware, limbs trembling from barley suppressed anger or exhaustion, Tommy didn’t know and couldn’t really bring himself to care.

When he was a kid, he would have watched the news of another hero vs. villain fight excitedly, but now he knew nothing could beat the rush that came from beating those that deserved it into the ground (sometimes almost literally).

George got back into a fighting position, once again pressing the button on his gauntlet to signal for his team. No doubt they already knew and were trying to get there as fast as they could, but he couldn’t help trying to get them to go faster.

He let out a shaky breath, he could feel his entire body trembling. Any hero who had to fight the villain Vengeance for any period of time and lived (too many didn’t) often called the experience their ‘few minutes of hell.’ He had to agree. His team was often the ones to come try to deal with the villain, the team being the top heroes.

Key word, ‘try.’ The villain had been active for almost two years, the 2-year mark of his debut only a couple weeks away.

Being lost in his head for a moment turned out to be a mistake as Vengeance lurched into motion. He lost a critical moment as the villain almost took his feet out from under him. Barely avoiding the attack, he let all his thoughts melt away as he put all his attention on the fight, he couldn’t afford to be distracted right now.

After a heated exchange of blows, the two backed away from each other. George gasped for breath, that last hit to the chest was not doing him any favors.

Then, the villain started laughing, fucking laughing. The sound was a cruel mockery, George was struggling to stand at that point and the man was staring at him casually, the villain’s stance was completely relaxed.

Once the laughter subsided the villain spoke, George tried desperately not to flinch. “Well, little hero, ” he spat out the last word, letting it hang in the air for a moment before continuing, “not so high and mighty without your little team, are you?” His voice was tinged with metal, the obvious sign of a voice changer.

“We’re right here.” He heard Sapnap snarl through a voice changer of his own. George sagged visibly in relief; he couldn’t care about the cameras right now, only that his team was finally there.

The villain clicked his tongue as he spun around and tilted his head slightly at the new arrivals, it was oddly cat like and almost adorable. He honestly would have laughed if the man wasn’t in the middle of trying to beat him into a bloody pulp, and, if given a few more minutes, probably would have succeeded.

“Now I would love to stay and talk but I made some previous arrangements I should probably tend to.” Before anyone else could react, the villain took a step back, flung a small item at Sapnap, all before letting himself fall backwards off the roof of the 6-story building they were standing on.

               His teammates rushed to the edge, already knowing it was too late. Dream slumped to the ground in defeat. The calls of reporters already getting closer. George limped over and Dream got back up quickly to help support him.

George looped his arm over Dream, shooting him an appreciative look before turning back to the small item still held in Sap’s hands. They had all seen it before. After every single fight he always left the exact same thing.

It was a small square cloth brooch, the background was a deep red, the same color as blood. In the middle was a small bee icon surrounded by purple particles. Ever since the very first one there had been a large debate about the icons on the brooch meant.

It had yet to be figured out, but it was more concerning what was on the back of each and every brooch. At first the hero tower had stopped the brooch and what it had written on it from reaching the public, which was until Vengeance had dropped one into the crowd nearby during his escape. Pictures were spread everywhere.

Despite how many times he had seen it, the sight of the back of the brooch still made bile rise in his throat. Sapnap’s hands shook slightly as he read what was on it. It always had the same message written in slightly different ways.

               “It’s your fault” The plain black script was written in the middle of a large fire icon in the center, Sapnap’s signature icon.

Chapter Text

Tommy huffed out a laugh, sitting down on a rooftop in the middle of the city. Today had been the 2nd anniversary of his debut. The city was still in a bit of chaos after his…. celebration. The smell of smoke still hung in the brisk night air.

He glanced at the note still held loosely in his hand, the address written on it leading to district 10, the warehouse district. With a sigh, he let himself fall off the roof, he downed a slow fall potion moments before reaching the ground.

Wilbur walked along the road, sipping slowly on his water. Some of the streetlights flickered slightly as he passed, but he paid them no mind as he stared at his phone intently. Some random news anchor filled the screen.

‘Villain Vengeance celebrates the anniversary of his debut’ The news lady seemed just as interested in the story she was telling as all the people watching, “Number one villain Vengeance has made another large spectacle on the anniversary of his debut.” She paused, obviously having to gather her thoughts.

“Reports from both police we have on scene are telling us that it seems Vengeance robbed the biggest fire work factory in the city before setting his spoils off in the town square, right in front of the hero tower.” Her eyebrows scrunched together; confusion evident on her face before she turned her attention back to the camara.

 “A quick update on the weather then we’ll be back to this interesting story! Onto you Dave.” Wilbur tuned it out, as she said, the story on Vengeance was the actually interesting thing.

After stopping to catch his breath on a bench for a moment. Wilbur stood back up, he would finish his walk before heading back home. He knew Phil would know about Vengeance being out, so he couldn’t be out for long or the man would go berserk.

Vengeance arrived at the address. The note had been left at where he usually met with Purpled, the small hero who had been feeding him information from the inside. The teen was a useful business partner.

When he arrived at the abandoned warehouse, he had the feeling that something was off. It looked normal, the boarded-up windows giving no clues. He palmed his small knife, if something was wrong, anyone who came to do him harm would likely not leave alive.

As he walked into the building, he realized that he should have listened to his instincts. the sound of glass shattering right behind him caught his attention. He couldn’t focus on that for long however as he saw Spore standing in the middle of the empty floor. He rolled his eyes, but as he was about to go invisible the hero turned around.

The hero looked just as surprised as he did. “Vengeance.” He saw the man shift into a defensive position and he scoffed, also preparing for a fight. He tucked his knife into his sleeve to use at a critical moment.

He shot forward toward the hero, trying to gain the upper hand. He threw a punch at the hero who immediately jerked out of the way. The villain danced back, holding his breath as Spore released a cloud of spores.

George had received a note telling him to come to this random warehouse and now he was trying to fight the number one villain alone. Again. Releasing a cloud of toxic spores, he made the villain back away to escape it. He noticed something off, however, the villain’s movements were more sluggish than usual. He tried to ignore it and pressed the button on his gauntlet, but this time, he knew his teammates were close by. 

Tommy paused for a moment, waiting for the cloud to disperse. Something struck him as off however, he was almost… slow. Just being tired from his escapade earlier couldn’t have been all there was to it.

That was when he noticed a slight gray mist hovering right above his skin. A weakness potion! He realized this with a jolt. The heroes always spoke against the creation of harmful potions, look where they were now.

He then realized exactly how dire his situation was. As Spore bolted back into battle with him, he knew that he wouldn’t have his freedom because of this situation unless he escaped. He tried to disengage to run but Spore tackled him at him last moment.

“You can’t escape now villain.” Spore grabbed a pair of hand cuffs and Vengeance saw no other choice. He grabbed his dagger and slashed out at the hero on top of him.

The next few moments were a blur, hot blood poured from the wound and the hero fell back, the door slammed open, Dream and Fire-fist burst in, then Vengeance was running. Dream right on his tail.

He shifted his direction, aiming for the secret entrance to the villain hideaway, Pogtopia. After a desperate run through several alley ways, he almost ran face first into a wall. Wrong alley. He whirled around, only to find Dream standing in front of him.

He shot forward, fighting to keep moving against the weakness potion still weighing down on him. He had intended to shoot past Dream, but that idea was thwarted as white-hot agony spread from his right side and stomach and he tumbled to his knees.

Dream stumbled back, before taking off running out of the alley. He tried to take off as the hero retreated but he found he could barely move. He reached down and touched his stomach; his hand came away slick with blood. Shit, shit shit- he tried to back away as someone else came into the alley.

Wilbur walked silently down the street, on his way back home from a pleasant walk. The warehouse district was quiet as usual, leaving him alone with his thoughts. That was until the sound of quick footsteps caught his attention.

He saw the number one hero, Dream, dart out of the alley right in front of him. Before he could say anything, the hero had disappeared down the opposite direction, right past him. Going to where an important hero was leaving in a rush can’t be a good idea, but he didn’t have anywhere to go but home.

Something he would never understand, not until later, drew him into that alley. Whether it was a god’s cruel game, fate, or just a simple chance, no one would ever know. Some memories made can never be forgotten.

Despite Wilbur’s better judgment, after a moment of debate with himself, he walked into the alley. He didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t, this…

The number one villain Vengeance shifted backwards on the ground, the hateful eyes that glared at him distrustfully squeezed shut in what he assumed to be pain for a moment. It was then that he noticed the villain’s hand on his side.

He also realized that said hand was covered in blood, the same blood pouring from the villain’s wound. “Shit- are you ok?” His words were panicked, and the answer was rather obvious, but he couldn’t think straight.

“Fuck off.” The villain ground out through gritted teeth. The villain tried to get up but he stumbled and Wilbur ran to catch him.

“Shit shit shit- should I call a hospital?” He began to reach for his phone when he heard the villain scoff.

“Don’t-“ He cut himself off with a hiss of pain before continuing, “bother, they’ll just stick me in an electric chair to make it faster.”  

Wilbur looked helplessly at the villain’s wound, he took of his sweater, leaving only his undershirt. He pressed it against the villain’s side. Not that it helped, the sweater just soaked the blood in, with no end in sight to the flow.

His head snapped up as the villain let out a wheezing laugh devoid of humor, “I guess I was wrong for once.”

“What are you talking about?” Wilbur asked. He was begging any god he could think of to just let him save this villain, no this person. But the gods seemed to not hear his pleads, and a part of him knew it was already too late.

“I won’t be dying alone.” There were some details you couldn’t see when watching the news that were readily apparent now that he was right in front of the villain. The villain had soft blonde curls, messed up from constant running. While the news portrayed him as a villain without mercy, blaming a hero for something no one could figure out.

But now, the villain looked at him with a defeated kindness, his voice held no evidence of the smirk that was evident in any recording. Looking at the bright blue eyes of the villain in front of him, he didn’t see a cruel man that killed anyone that got in his path. He saw a broken person who had expected to die alone.

“I- I am so sorry.” He paused to let out a breath, “Wh- what’s your name.”

“Tommy.” A normal name, another reminder that under that mask, was a person. “What about you, if you’re going to,” his breathing was getting quickly more labored, “watch me die, I think I at least deserve your name.”

“Wilbur.” The villain let out a small huff, devoid of any actual humor.

“That’s a stupid name.” Normally, Wilbur would’ve defended his name but these weren’t the right circumstances to be worried about it.

“Why’d you become a villain?” Wilbur didn’t know why he asked, (the small part of his mind whispered again, he knew, it was because he wanted to understand the person who was about to die in front of him.)

“I… can’t breath… t- take it off and I’ll tell you.” It took Wilbur a precious moment for him to realize what the villain was talking about but once he did he reached up and grabbed the man’s mask.

The villain squeezed his eyes shut as he carefully pulled it down. He had expected a random guy in his mid 20’s or 30’s not.. “You’re just a kid!”

Instead of responding to him, the villain looked up, as if reviewing an unpleasant memory, “The heroes don’t care, if you’re not actively giving them money, you don’t matter.”

He grimaced and for the first time since they met, (which admittedly wasn’t very long ago) a single tear ran down his face, “they killed my two best friends, it was scrubbed from the internet. But maybe you could find it. October 10, two years ago. I bet they’ll never tell you there were people in that building.”

Wilbur put a mouth over his mouth in horror once he realized what Tommy meant. “Mhm. Here, you can.. have it.” Before Wilbur could question, the villain reach behind him. He took out a small bag. It had a key and what looked like a piece of folded paper. The villain handed it to him and he took it with trembling hands.

That was all it took, Tommy’s breathing grew louder and louder, more and more labored. Until, finally, the light in the kid’s eyes went out, and his breathing finally stopped. He shoved himself to his feet, his mind couldn’t catch up to his body until he was a ways away.

Wilbur’s stomach rebelled and he threw up, luckily into a trash can. He could see the scene like he was still there, the smell of blood, the sight of a child that died ready to go, because of the heroes. The way that he smiled in acceptance.

 The small bag was still clutched tightly in his fist. Even in his haste he had the mind not to let go of the one thing the villain, no Tommy, gave him. He didn’t open it yet, he couldn’t. He had to get home before he could do anything else. Phil was probably worried sick.

Philza Craft paced the kitchen, dinner was long since done, but Wilbur wasn’t home yet. He was a grown man who could take care of himself, but logical thinking went out the window once it hit past 11. His son had promised he would be back before dinner was done.

The number one villain Vengeance was out and active tonight.  His mind ran through scenario after scenario, each worst than the last. Finally, he gave up in waiting, and reached for his phone.

Just as he was about to hit the call button of the police, he heard the door open.

Chapter Text

“Wilbur!” He shouted, his voice tinged with a mix of worry and annoyance.

He paused however, as his son came into view. His hair was messed up, and his hands had a tremble. But the thing that truly caught his attention were Wilbur’s eyes. He looked shell-shocked.

They both paused for a second before Wilbur ran and practically melted into his arms. He didn’t understand what was happening for a moment, then he felt it. The way his son’s shoulders shook. Then he heard a loud sob.

He lowered them onto the floor carefully, which only seemed to make Wilbur cry harder. “It’s alright mate, let it out.” He didn’t know what had happened, only that it made his son come home crying. He wrapped his black wings around them, shielding them from the outside world.

As he rubbed soothing circles into Wilbur’s back, he noticed the item clenched in his son’s fist. His knuckle had turned white with how hard he had clutched onto it. Phil decided not to say anything yet.

Eventually, Wilbur stopped crying and Phil lowered his wings. “Do you want to talk about it Wil?” Wilbur shook his head. “Alright let’s get you some dinner then get some sleep.”

Not too much later, Wilbur was laying cuddled up next to him, his son’s eyes were still a puffy red from crying. He knew Wilbur, the man was expressive and sometimes very dramatic. But he would never do that kind of thing just for attention.

The look of pure, unadulterated pain painted on his son’s face likely wouldn’t leave his nightmares for weeks. As he looked down at Wilbur’s sleeping face, he couldn’t help but wonder what had sent him into such a state.

Not to mention, Wilbur still had that thing clutched tightly to his chest. He hadn’t once let go of it. For the moment though, those conversations could wait. He placed his wings over both of them and fell asleep.

Tommy woke up on something soft, his bed seemed unusually comfy this morning. It wasn’t like he had anything to do since he’d still be taking a break after-

Then his memories came back to him in a rush, the note, the warehouse, the fight, his death. He also remembered not dying alone, Wilbur. He shot up and surveyed his surroundings with a jolt. He then realized he was in a large field. Purple flowers swayed in a non-existent breeze; bees raced from flower to flower.

Tubbo would’ve loved it here. He thought sadly. A soft chuckle emanated from behind him and he whirled, ready for a fight. Only to stop in his tracks. A tall woman stood there. He couldn’t see her eyes, only a large black sun hat with a black veil hanging from the edge. She was wearing a long black sundress.

“I am glad to see you are pleased with this place, it is one of their favorites as well.” Her voice was like warm honey, and he didn’t feel any hostility coming from her. But he had been wrong before.

“Who are you and what are you talking about?” He questioned her, instead of responding, she laughed again, and then stepped to the side.

His eyes widened, and his heart stopped. Standing in front of him, were Ranboo and Tubbo. No, no no, that wasn’t right, they were dead. Then again, wasn’t he? “Is- it really you guys?” He choked out. He could barely speak but he had to know.

“Wow big man, the first thing you do after not seeing me for over two years is accuse me of being a hallucination. That’s kind of rude.” Tubbo, was there. Standing in front of him. He didn’t stop himself; he ran and tackled his friend in a hug.

Ranboo would’ve been fine, except for the fact Tubbo grabbed him at the last moment and pulled him down along with them. With a yelp, Ranboo fell to the ground with them.

Then they were laughing, for the first time in too long, they were all laughing together. “I’m glad to see you too Toms.”    

“We are.” Ranboo corrected from beside him. It had to have been at least a minute, but Tommy still hadn’t let go, as if when he did, he would find out it had all just been a dream.

Kristen stood to the side watching the trio patiently, she lifted a single clawed hand to wipe the tear running down her cheek. They were kids who didn’t deserve what had happened to them. Now at least, she got to watch another sweet reunion.

As the goddess of Death, she was no stranger to watching mortals grieve. The unfortunate side of her domain, but that also made her the one to make sure broken souls meet their lost loved ones.  

“Thank you, lady death.” The sweet boy who she had grown to know as Ranboo addressed her finally.

“As I have said dear, Kristen is fine.” She replied before continuing, “Besides, it is always a pleasure to reunite souls.”

The blonde finally stood back up. He straitened once more as he turned to talk to her, “thank you for letting me see my friends again.” He was obviously used to dealing with dangerous situations. She had watched the child at his friends’ request and therefore already knew but she still couldn’t help the flash of sadness that crossed her mind.

“Of course, besides,” she couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. “you’ll need their help.”

He didn’t seem to notice the matching grins on his friend’s faces, and he went from thankful to weary in less than a second. “What do you mean?” he asked her hesitantly. A laugh bubbled out of her chest which only seemed to unnerve him more.

Instead of saying anything she simply gestured behind him. His eyes flickered to where she gestured before he finally realized and his entire head snapped to look over his shoulder, “Are those WINGS!?”

Large black feathered wings that faded into a deep red protruded from his back. Tubbo was full on rolling on the ground wheezing looking at his friends’ wide eyes. Even Ranboo was letting out a small chuckle from behind his hand.

Once Tommy had finally looked back at his friends, Tubbo and Ranboo had already revealed their wings. Ranboo’s were a light gray and purple that were scaled and almost looked like a dragon’s wings. Tubbo’s wings looked just like a pair of giant bee wings, but he couldn’t be happier with them.

Tubbo vibrated his wings quickly, bringing him around two feet off the ground, “We’re going to teach you how to fly!” He exclaimed with a grin.

Chapter Text

“I think you might have killed him, Bee.” Ranboo spoke from above him, nudging his friend with his foot. Tommy half-heartedly swiped at it. “Or not.” He added. Tommy would’ve laughed at the irony if not for him trying and failing for the last few hours to figure out how wings worked.

Tommy groaned into the soft grass. It was not as easy as they liked to make it look. The most he had managed to do was send himself haphazardly into the air and glide. Aside from that, he couldn’t tell which made him feel worse, Tubbo cackling at his plight or Ranboo’s pitiful reassurances that he would ‘get it eventually’. Eventually was too far off damnit!

With a huff, Tommy pushed himself from the ground. He looked to Tubbo, “I’ll do it so perfectly this time you’ll have to apologize for every word you’ve said for the last four hours.” He looked up with a determined expression.

Tubbo laughed under his breath before speaking, “Sure big man, I won’t catch you when you fall while you’re trying to prove a point.”

Tommy huffed and glared at his friend. It was the same kind of glare that made most professional heroes crawl under their skin. Well, it would’ve been the same if Tommy obviously wasn’t trying to suppress a smile of his own, and he was failing miserably.

If he ignored the last two years of his life and the fact that they were all dead, it felt almost how it used to be. Ranboo trying to stop them from doing stuff that was likely a bad idea while Tommy and Tubbo made plans for hypothetical world domination. He hadn’t ever really agreed with the people that said that best friends could not see each other for years and just pick right back up where they left off, but now he was one of those cases, and he couldn’t help but smile to himself.

Arguing good naturedly with his friends also took his mind off his problems, mostly, how to break to them that he became a villain after they died. While that was the most pressing, another concern lingered at the back of his mind, Wilbur.

The man who stayed with him until his last breath despite knowing exactly who he was. The number one villain Vengeance. He knew there was no way the man didn’t understand who exactly he was talking to, Tommy had been in full costume, which only served to make him wonder, why? A random civilian trying to help a super villain just didn’t really make sense.

Philza woke up warmer than usual, which wasn’t surprising considering his son was still curled up next to him. Wilbur had come home crying, and they still needed to talk about what had happened. Before all that though, they had to get up and get breakfast.

Phil nudged his son gently. “I need to get up mate, I have to make breakfast.”

Wilbur huffed and pressed his face into his father’s shoulder, “five more minutes.” He grumbled, not unlike a sleepy five year-old.

Phil laughed before unfolding his wings and shifting backwards, allowing the sun to hit Wilbur in the face. Earning another unhappy groan as he covered his eyes. “We need to eat and then…” Phil trailed off; he didn’t know exactly how to approach the topic of what happened. “We still need to talk about what happened last night.”

That ended being the thing to wake Wilbur up. He nodded and let Phil get up. Wilbur didn’t seem on the verge of tears again, but the upset expression on his son’s face made him concerned enough.

Dream paced back and forth rapidly along the length of the hospital hallway, Sapnap staring at him with concern. Dream was one of the few heroes to have his real name as his hero name, not that it was important at the moment. Both of them were more concerned about George. Sapnap finally spoke up from his spot on the bench “He’ll be alright Dream. I got him a potion as soon as we got there.”

Dream stopped pacing and whirled to face him, but before he could say anything, a woman walked through the door and out of the room next to them. Sapnap swiftly got to his feet and Dream focused on her instead.

The nurse smiled kindly at them, “Are you Dream and Sapnap?” she asked, glancing at the clipboard in her hand. When Dream nodded, she smiled again. “Alright,” She looked down and seemed to read whatever was there as she spoke, “He’s awake and stable, but be gentle, we don’t want to hurt him while he’s still in recovery. He was also asking for you, so if it’s just you two you can go ahead and head on in.”

They didn’t waste any time as they walked in, and Sapnap’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of his friend. George was unusually pale, but he was awake and smiling weakly at them. Bandages wrapped around his torso as well as a few small wrappings along his arms. “It takes more than one measly villain to kill me.” He quipped with a grin as they stepped into the room.

Sapnap snorted, if it were any other villain that would be completely correct, but that was Vengeance. The number one villain was infamous for a reason. Dream ran forward and hugged their friend. It was unusually gentle, Dream being wary of George’s wounds.

“I think he was worried about you Gogy.” Sapnap remarked dryly, earring a half-hearted glare from his friend. His shoulders slumped, and Sapnap let his sincerity slip into his tone, “I’m glad you’re alright George.”

Chapter Text

Eventually, Wilbur was ready to talk. Breakfast had long since been finished. They were sitting in the living room, Wilbur kept opening his mouth to speak only to close it a moment later.  “It’s alright mate, take your time.” Phil said after a moment.

Finally, Wilbur seemed to collect his thoughts and he took a deep breath. “Last night…” He trailed off for another moment, taking in a shaky breath. “I met the villain Vengeance.”

Phil’s feathers puffed up in alarm. Vengeance, as in the number one villain? He didn’t care that the man was dangerous, if vengeance hurt his son he would be a dead man. “What did he do?” Phil asked, his voice a bit too sharp for even his own ears.

“That’s just it Phil!” He shouted, looking on the verge of tears again, “He- he didn’t do anything!” Phil forcefully made himself relax, grabbing Wilbur’s hands.

“What do you mean mate?” Phil was heavily confused. Why did Wil come home crying when the villain didn’t do anything.

Wilbur took another breath, “He-” Wilbur paused, squeezing his eyes shut, “He’s dead Phil, he was a kid, and he’s dead. Because of the heroes.”

Phil’s eyes widened, there was so much to unpack in that statement, but all he could say was, “How do you know?” How did he know the villain was dead, how did he know the villain was a kid? There were just too many questions.

“Vengeance’s name was Tommy, and he-” Wilbur started crying again, and Phil wrapped his son in a hug. After a moment, Wilbur was calm enough to speak again, so he continued his explanation. “I met Tommy, because I saw Dream run out of an alley. Tommy was- bleeding. Badly.” With every word, Wilbur was sounding more and more like he was spitting venom. Phil’s eyes widened in horror he saw exactly where this was going. He lifted his hands over his mouth like he was going to be sick, and he probably was.

“He told me why he became a villain. After that, he... gave me this.” Wilbur held up the small bag he had refused to let go of since the night before.

“What’s in it?” Phil asked as he peered at the small bag.

Wilbur looked uncertain for a moment. “I… don’t really know. I wasn’t able to open it after... you know.” Phil did know, and he now regretted asking without thinking about where Wilbur had gotten it from. Wilbur brought the bag back down, staring at it from where it was resting in his hands. “I think… I’m ready to open it now though.”

Phil looked at Wilbur with concern. “You sure mate? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Wilbur shook his head. “I’m sure.” At Phil’s nod, Wilbur came and sat beside him. He carefully pulled the bag open. With careful hands Wilbur pulled out the folded piece of paper. Upon closer inspection, it looked like there was some kind of writing scrawled across the back. “Huh.” Wilbur said, before he unfolded it.

The writing was revealed to be some kind of address to somewhere in district ten. Ignoring that for the moment, Wilbur turned over the paper, only to freeze. To Phil, the picture wasn’t much of anything special if it wasn’t for where it had come from. It was a picture of three teens. A short goat hybrid was riding on the back of a incredibly tall teen with black and white hair, split directly down the middle.

The third was a blond teen, flipping off the brown-haired teen who was pointing and laughing at him from his perch. Wilbur pointed shakily at the blond teen. “That- that was Tommy.” Phil’s breath caught in his throat.

One thing Tubbo found odd about being dead, was the fact that all of the things absolutely required on earth, eating, drinking, sleeping, were completely optional. He always took the chance however, even if he didn’t need it. Working two jobs and then using the rest of his time trying to make sure they had enough money to survive off of didn’t leave much time for sleep.

Ranboo took on a normal sleep schedule, for similar reasons. At the moment though, they were throwing off their now unnecessary sleep schedules to help Tommy settle in. Every few minutes, when he thought they weren’t watching, Tommy’s gaze would go distant, and his expression would darken.

At some point, Tommy had finally been able to figure out how to get off the ground without looking like he had been shot from a rocket (he had been flailing before every time he had gotten in the air.) Now they were sat in the large allium covered field, taking a small break.

Tommy’s gaze went far off once more, and he and Ranboo shared a look of concern. They knew what had happened after their deaths had probably been weighing on his mind, he probably didn’t know how they’d react to him becoming a villain, but they were willing to wait. Tommy could tell them once he was ready.

Tommy seemed to actually be getting the hang of flying at that point. Tubbo smiled in triumph as his friend landed mostly gracefully in front of him. He was grinning from ear to ear, and Tubbo couldn’t help but match his expression.

“I think you’ve got it boss-man!” Tubbo said excitedly. “Now that you can fly without falling flat on your face,” He pointed ignored the affronted mock glare that Tommy gave him. “We’ve got a bunch more places we can get to from here. There’s more than just this field, trust me.”

Ranboo walked up to them from where he had been… somewhere. Tubbo didn’t really know where his friend kept disappearing off to, but he had been just randomly leaving every couple hours since Tommy got there. “What are we doing?” he asked, glancing between him and Tommy.

“We’re showing Tommy a bunch of other cool places that we know of.” He stated, his bee wings unfurling.

Tommy shuffled in place. “Uh- before we do that, I need to talk to you guys.” Ranboo and Tubbo shared a look.

“Alright Tommy. What is it?” Ranboo asked, sitting down cross legged. Tommy and Tubbo followed suit,

Chapter Text

“I-” Tommy started, it seemed he wasn’t really able to find the words. “It’s about what happened after you died. What I did after you guys died.” He paused, looking at his friends. All he received was encouraging smiles in return.

Tommy sucked in a deep breath, his gaze shifting to the ground. “I- was angry at the heroes. So… I became a villain.” He chuckled humorlessly. “And hell, I was good at it. Number one villain in a year and a half.” Tubbo let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, but Tommy didn’t seem to notice. “I can’t say I regret it and I’d understand if you-”

Tubbo cut his friend off. “Boss-man.” Tommy froze, his head lifting to finally look at him and Ranboo. “If you think we’re upset about it, you’re wrong. We already knew Tommy.”

“What?” Tommy asked simply, his jaw hanging open. Tubbo could basically see the cogs turning in his friend’s mind.

Ranboo snorted. “Tommy, do you think we wouldn’t be watching our best friend when he gets stuck alone? I don’t think I could count how many times I slightly adjusted the course of a knife. I couldn’t curve those last two enough.” He said this last part sadly, and Tubbo patted his friends shoulder. They both had tried to find a way to twist that situation for Tommy to survive, but nothing had worked.

Tommy looked from them to the ground several times before muttering a simple, “Oh.” He opened his arms, a silent invitation. One that both Tubbo and Ranboo took. For the second time since their reunion, they let themselves sit and hold each other for a feeling of comfort that none of them had truly gotten for the two years they’d been separated.

Tubbo grinned as he whispered, “besides, if you start apologizing like Ranboo does, I will hide until you stop.” He felt a thwack on the back of his head, curtsy of Ranboo. Tubbo snickered in response.

With Wilbur

Wilbur sucked in another breath as he continued, “and those must be his two friends.” The villain had mentioned having two other friends that the heroes had also killed a couple years back. Looking at the grinning teens in the photo, Wilbur’s blood boiled.

He knew he couldn’t do anything, not yet. That thought gave him pause, he shook his head to clear it, he still had to talk to Phil before anything else could happen. He had noticed writing the back of the picture and he flipped it over.

Phil peered over his shoulder once more. “Is that a-” Wilbur’s brows furrowed as well.

“It’s an address.” Wilbur muttered. It looked like somewhere in district 10 if Wilbur could say anything. He said the only thought either of them had on their minds. “Should we check it out?"

With Ranboo

Ranboo once again told his friends that he had to go, but that he’d be back soon. Kristen sighed as he approached. “Again?” She asked.

He shrugged with a small grin. “You said it yourself that you find mortals interesting.” She shook her head with a fond smile at his statement. She otherwise didn’t reply, and simply held out her hand. His grin widened as he took it.

He felt the world drop out from under him and he squeezed his eyes closed. It only took a moment before he was once again standing in front of the craft household. This time seemed slightly different, however. Both Wilbur and the man he had figured out was named Phil were leaving the house.  

Was it technically stalking? Yes, but Ranboo thought he could at least sort of justify it. He was making sure Tommy’s last friend didn’t die or something. Ranboo had never been the best in social situations, and so it was times like this that he thanked being dead for making him invisible to most people.

A short drive later, Ranboo and his two oblivious companions were standing in front of a building that Ranboo knew well. “Tommy my crazy friend.” Ranboo had always enjoyed visiting Tommy’s villain base that doubled as his home. Tommy had put a lot of effort into it.

He had also noticed the fact that the piece of paper that Wilbur was holding and now checking the address against was a picture of the trio from when they had still been alive. Ranboo had always liked that photo. “Is this it?” Wilbur said, checking the address once more. Ranboo didn’t blame the man for his skepticism, from the outside it didn’t look like much.

“I guess. Lets go inside mate, see if we find anything. He wouldn’t have given you a picture with an address if that address didn’t mean anything.” Phil said, even if he looked mor econfused than anything else.

Ranboo simply teleported inside as Wilbur and Phil opened the door. He didn’t think walking in would change their opinions in the slightest.  It didn’t if their expressions were anything to go by. “If he’s going to leave an address, he should’ve left instructions.” Ranboo muttered as he walked over to the currently hidden elevator.

He ignored the two still alive people in the room as he looked for something to get their attention. A simple nail was laying on a now abandoned table, and Ranboo grinned. He picked it up, and dropped it next to the elevator.

Wilbur and Phil’s heads snapped up at the sound, and Wilbur approached slowly. “Where did that come from?” Ranboo heard him mutter, and he grinned in triumph as Wilbur’s hand trailed over the small keyhole. “Uhh- Phil I think I found something!” Wilbur shouted.

Phil walked over immediately, “What is it Wil?” Wilbur ran his hand along the same spot, slightly more forcefully. The small covering that hid the keyhole from sight was revealed by the motion. “That’s weird. Do you still have that key you found in the bag?”

Wilbur nodded as his brow furrowed. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small key that Ranboo recognized well, the same one that Tommy had used so many times before. Wilbur put it in the lock. “It fits perfectly.” The man muttered, and he turned it.

The reaction was immediate. A few lights came on near where they were standing, and the now fully powered elevator slid open. Wilbur and Phil shared a glance as they hesitantly stepped in. Ranboo had to teleport into the elevator as the doors slid shut.

Chapter Text

Eventually, Tubbo had decided to stop waiting for Ranboo and had essentially dragged Tommy into the air. The field was apparently not endless like Tommy had originally thought. Though he had yet to see what Tubbo had described. Supposedly, it was a sight that he wouldn’t forget.

The realm’s sun sat high overhead. Its heat wasn’t oppressive like Tommy thought it might be. With the cool air rushing past him, it was more like a pleasant spring day. He had felt more free than ever as a villain, but flying was on another level entirely. He now understood the appeal of a flight power, cool wind glided along his feathers, which was oddly pleasant.

He was still in a bit of shock after how the ‘reveal’ had gone. Apparently, his friends had both known and were watching to make sure he was alright. Even if that didn’t turn out very well, he appreciated it nonetheless.

Finally, they made it to the edge of the realm, and Tommy stopped where he was. The only thing still moving were his wings, which were the only reason he hadn’t plummeted to the ground. He would’ve been fine, being dead and all, but he had quickly found that it still wasn’t a pleasant experience. Learning to fly came with learning all the different positions you could possibly fall in. He thought that he could say he did more flips in hours than a professional diver did in their entire lives.

A blue void signified the end of the realm he had spent his time in so far. It was as if the sky stretched down and the world simply… ended. It didn’t seem to end, stretching out as far as he could see. Other than a blue void, a glowing purple portal sat directly in front of them, slivers of black sometimes swirled into the mass off energy but always faded after a moment. “Woah.” Tommy murmured in amazement. Stars glittered in the portal, both seeming too far away and like he could reach out and touch them if he flew over to it.

Tubbo chuckled. “It is quite impressive, isn’t it? There are other portals that go to and from this realm, but this one is under Kristen’s control.”

“Where does it lead?” Tommy asked curiously, allowing himself to get a bit closer, it’s not like you could die if you were already dead.

Tubbo smiled. “Everywhere under Kristen’s domain.” At Tommy’s questioning look, Tubbo elaborated. “As you know, Kristen, otherwise known as Mumza, is the goddess of death.” Tubbo pointedly ignored Tommys snort at the nickname ‘Mumza’. “She watches over everyone that’s dead and makes sure souls make it to one of her realms safely. That’s a lot of people, so she has quite a few. This portal leads to one of the spaces in between her realms, from here, we can get anywhere in her domain with the right combination of portals.”

Tommy looked back at the portal. “How do we know which portals to go through?”

The kind of devilish grin that Tommy received from his friend was never a good thing. “Well, she showed us around the first time we got here. Me and Ran are supposed to be guiding you around.” Tommy figured out exactly what his friend was planning and gave Tubbo a flat stare. Tubbo grinned in response, “don’t worry, you can’t get lost. We are, for lack of a better term, bound to this specific plane and can come back to it with a thought.” Tubbo was just going to follow him as he went through random portals.

Tommy shook his head with a sigh. “Alright, let’s go I guess.” The duo flew into the portal (if anyone asked, Tommy would absolutely say he didn’t hesitate).

With Wilbur

Wilbur hesitated for a moment as he stepped into the elevator. His resolve hardened as he glanced at the picture. The doors closed behind him. There was apparently 5 different floors, he was guessing that one was the level they had just been on. The glowing red number 1 sitting proudly above the door furthered his theory.

He glanced at Phil, who just shrugged. Wilbur pressed the number two button, and they began their descent. After a long few moments, the elevator dinged, and Wilbur stepped gratefully onto solid ground. Only to freeze as he saw his surroundings. Phil stopped next to him, looking equally surprised.

They emerged into a nice-looking living room. A white couch sat against one wall, in front of a large tv and stand. A small table sat off to the other side of the room. A single chair with a bright red cushion sat there. He also didn’t fail to notice that an unopened first aid kit sat on the table.

“Did he live here?” Phil wondered out loud as he stared at the apparent living room.

Wilbur walked further into the room, his surprise wearing off. “I- guess he did.” The living room wasn’t all that was on this level. Several doors hinted at other rooms. He didn’t really want to snoop around, even if the kid was dead, it still used to be Tommy’s home.

Just as he was about to turn around to go back to the elevator, a disk case sitting on the tv stand caught his eye. He walked over. The case was plain, the labels had either never been there or had been removed. Instead, a piece of paper was taped to the front. ‘Please watch if you’re not me!’ In smooth hand writing, same hand writing as the address on the back of the picture.

“Dad I think you’ll want to come see this!” He called to Phil. He picked it up and handed it to Phil as he walked over to where Wilbur was standing.

“What is this?” Phil asked, examining the case.

Wilbur shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.” He looked at the DVD player still attached to the TV. “Should we watch it?”

At any other time, Phil would’ve made a joke about ‘doing what he was told to’ but now wasn’t the time. “If it’s from Tommy, then we probable should.”

A few minutes later, Phil had found the remote to the tv and player. They were both settled on the couch as Wilbur selected for the recording to play.

Wilbur’s breath caught in his throat as Tommy appeared on the screen. Not a disheveled, dying Tommy, but one with a determined if grim expression.

Chapter Text

With a deep breath, the recording started to speak. “Hello. If you don’t know who I am, my name is Tommy. Otherwise known as the villain Vengeance. If you are seeing this recording, I am likely dead.” He chuckled humorlessly. “Not that I’d be surprised.”

Phil looked upset at that statement, but the recording didn’t care. “The only way someone would find this place is if I told them where it is. Feel free to use the space for whatever you’d like, not like I’m going to be using it.” The recording paused, mulling over his words.

“My story is a long one, but I’ll try to make it short.”

“At the time I’m recording this, the incident happened a year ago. I had two best friends Tubbo and Ranboo. At the time, we were working at a small bakery shop, being three broke runaway orphans trying to survive.”

The recording rubbed a tired hand down his face. “Fire-fist, has always been careless with his powers, and what was four more deaths caused by a hero that the committee could easily cover up? Ranboo, my annoyingly tall friend, pushed me out of the way as the roof came down on us. I lived, but nobody else did.”  Now the kid’s hatred for the hero made sense.

The kid in the recording started pacing, looking like he was unable to sit still.

If someone were to hurt Wilbur’s family, he would have likely done the same. Wilbur glanced at Phil, seeing a similar thought in his father’s gaze. The recording of Tommy sighed, and their attention was pulled back to the screen.

 “I feel so stupid that I’m doing this. Not like I’ll have anyone that really cares when I’m gone. If… you decide to follow in my footsteps, which I would appreciate but not recommend, well good luck.”

The recording clicked off. Neither of them moved for a long moment. A soft chill swept over him, breaking him out of his trance. It was so faint he almost thought he imagined it. “That was… something.” Phil murmured, still staring at the screen.

Wilbur stood abruptly, and Phil looked at him. Wilbur let out a shaky breath, knowing his decision could change their entire lives. “I want… to do something about them.” Before Phil could object he continued. “We- we’re the only ones who know what happened! Tommy was right! The heroes don’t care, I saw what-”

Though Phil cut him off. “Okay.”

“Come on Ph- What?” Wilbur said, before fully realizing what his dad had said.

Phil looked up from where he had been staring at the floor Wilbur could see something in his eyes that he didn’t normally see. Anger. “Okay. Let’s do something about those assholes.”

With Tubbo

It was rather amusing for him to watch as Tommy went through random portals. He could tell that his friend was completely lost. Despite his slight irritation however, Tubbo could tell that Tommy was having a good time. They had seen cities, sprawling fields, dark forests, frozen mountains, Tubbo could see the amazement of his friend’s face with every new sight.

They arrived in yet another of the sprawling cities of the dead. It seemed more medieval and most of the occupants looked the part. It was actually one that Tubbo had been to before, meaning he knew all the best spots. He didn’t hesitate in making the fact known as he dragged Tommy around.

Though he paused when he spotted a piece of paper hanging alone on a board. Tubbo let go of Tommy and walked up to it. “What’s wrong Tubs?” Tommy asked, though Tubbo didn’t respond. The poster had large words printed on the bottom of it. ‘MISSING’ it read.

It had a picture of a blond woman whose hair faded into a light pink. Her eyes were pure black other than a silver ring around where her pupil would be. A delicate gold crown sat on top of her head, a shimmering amethyst in the shape of a star as the centerpiece. “Oh, I hope they find her.” Tommy said, reminding Tubbo of what he had been doing.

“That’s not normal at all. Any problems are taken care of by Kristen. It shouldn’t be possible for someone to be missing.” Tubbo said, his brows furrowed.

Ranboo chose that moment to return, running up to the duo. “There you guys are! It took me a bit to find you from the soul bond.” When souls had strong enough bonds in life, their souls were bound together in a ‘soul bond’. Usually it was between lovers, but the trio’s loyalty to each other as family had been strong enough to have one manifest. Kristen had actually been a bit surprised.

Ranboo frowned, peering at the poster. “What’s this? I didn’t even know it was possible to go missing here.”

Tubbo nodded. “That’s what I thought too.” He gestured at the poster. “It apparently is though.” He shook his head, there wasn’t much they could really do about it other than keep their eyes out for the woman. There was no way Kristen wasn’t already aware of the situation.

Tommy shrugged, “Not like we can really do anything but keep an eye out anyway, let’s get going.” Though his words were dismissive, Tubbo could see the troubled look that hid behind his friend’s eyes. Yet Tubbo’s attention was indeed pulled away as Ranboo’s wings flared out briefly and he shook as if he was trying to get water off.

Tubbo felt a small shock run through his body, and he did something similar. Anytime items that they were heavily connected to were touched, they could sense it. When it was someone they loved and cared for, it felt like warmth entering their limbs.

If it was someone they didn’t fully trust it felt like a sudden shock ran through their body. Someone was touching their stuff.

With Phil

Him and Wilbur took their time as they explored the base-house. They found several things that looked like they would be of sentimental importance. A jacket that looked identical to the one that they assumed was Ranboo wore in the photo.

A small bee plush that had the word Tubbo embroidered on it, likely a gift from Tommy to Tubbo. Eventually, they got back on the elevator and went down to the next floor. They stepped out a moment later, the sight that greeted them stole the air from his lungs.

Chapter Text

Hi everyone! With the recent events that have come to light, I don't think I'll be able to continue this fic. This is incredibly upsetting to me, both the events and my cancellation of this fic.

I do not support Wilbur's actions in any way shape or form. 

So please don't take this the wrong way when I say not to attack him too much, people can change.

I will repeat that Wilbur is completely in the wrong for what he did, and his apology was absolute and totally garbage. 

I hate that I'm having to do this because I had so many cool ideas for this fic. None of my other fics will be cancelled so you can still go enjoy and read those.

Thank you so much for reaching and I wish you all the best.

Goodbye for now.