Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been a normal day for Tommyinnit, as normal as it could get that is. In other words, why Tubbo needed 8 stacks of sand was not a question Tommy was going to ask, being revived once was more than enough.  After mining over 500 sand, he had been dragged into a mineshaft to collect string.

Now, Tommy was finally heading back, luckily along an established trail so they didn’t have to deal with any mobs. With Tommy working on re-organizing his inventory, he didn’t notice that Tubbo stopped until the back of his shirt was tugged backwards. He looked up to snap at Tubbo only to pause.

What looked like a nether portal was situated in the middle of the road, but instead of the usual purple, it was a swirling blue and green. “Was that there before?” Tubbo whispered. Tommy shook his head.

It definitely wasn’t. Pointedly ignoring Tubbo’s mutterings that he was an idiot he walked up to it and stuck his hand through experimentally, the portal didn’t react. He could still see his hand from across the translucent energy. Except for the weird color, there was nothing different about it from a normal portal.

A loud groan caught his attention, and his head whipped towards the sound. Tubbo must have had the same thought because a diamond sword now sat comfortably in his friend’s hand. Tommy wasted no time in following his lead. Soon, the familiar weight of a sword rested firmly in his hands. A crossbow sat in his next hot bar slot if he needed it, and he never went without a few arrows in his inventory.

He kept his shield in his hot bar. If any skeletons or creepers came up while they were fighting the zombies, they wouldn’t be too much of an issue. Soon, the first zombie came out of the tree line. Then another came following behind, then another…. And another. “Oh bloody hell.” Tommy complained. There to be at least two dozen of the things.

Not bothering to wait for the zombies to reach them, Tommy shot forward. With a crit plus two more strikes, the first zombie of the hoard was down. An arrow lodged itself in the eye of another, but Tommy paid it no mind. Tubbo could handle himself, that had been proved time and time again. Tommy danced along the outside of the hoard, slowly whittling it down. Rotten flesh was slowly but surely filling his inventory, and he absently considered how he’d get rid of it all. Maybe he could find a village somewhere.

“Tommy watch-!” Tubbo’s shout came seconds too late. Tommy hadn’t equipped his shield so he could be faster in order to not get overwhelmed, but the hiss of a creeper Tubbo had tried to warn him about, he pulled it out and held it up as fast as he could.

He barely got it out in time. Tommy was flung off his feet and his ears were still ringing as he landed roughly on his back. Being that close to a creeper explosion was never pleasant, even after several wars filled with withers and TNT. He shoved himself up to a sitting position, only to see the world swirling in green around him.

He realized all too late that he was sitting in the lit portal frame. He didn’t have anytime to get out of it. All too soon to be normal his vision went dark. He squeezed his eyes shut as his stomach dropped. Instead of the quick teleportation that came with nether portals, which usually didn’t feel like much other than a sense of weightlessness, a tingle spread over his body. He squirmed uncomfortably at the sensation.

After a long few moments, the feeling abruptly stopped, and he stumbled out of the portal, landing face first. He didn’t recognize his surroundings. It was dark wherever he was, the only source of light being a full moon high above. He grumbled about sucky gods and how magic was even worse. He put his hands under himself and shoved himself up from the cool ground. After years of dealing with one war or another, working against his own body weight wasn’t an issue.

It wasn’t something physical that made him freeze, not really. He gaped at his hands in shock. They were, for once since he was… he didn’t even know, completely devoid of scars. The marks that told the world he had survived through war after war, were just gone. The only thing that didn’t leave had now disappeared like they’d never been there.

He didn’t know what to think as he finally shoved himself fully to where he was sitting. He looked behind himself to where the portal had been. Key word: had. The portal was now an unassuming pile of dust on the ground.

That set off more alarm bells in his mind, and he groaned in annoyance. He shoved himself to his feet, figuring if he was stuck he might as well explore. Night was a dangerous time, and he reached into his inventory. Only for it to not open. Luckily he was still in the clothes he had been in when he got thrown through the portal except for his armor which was mysteriously missing, meaning his small communicator was still hanging around his neck.

He peered at the screen, but the only message was ‘Tommyinnit has joined the server’ and nothing else. He no longer had any of his gear, he could only hope it had been returned to his inventory and not destroyed entirely. He couldn’t go through exile, not again. Giving up on accessing his inventory or switching hot bar slots, he carefully examined his surroundings.

He listened intently to the sounds of the forest around him. Night was dangerous, especially without any gear. Years ago, maybe he would’ve rushed off immediately. After years of first Wilbur’s harsh training and then war after war, impulsiveness had long since been left behind.

Unease curled in his stomach. He didn’t know where he was, he didn’t have any equipment, and the only thing he had was his communicator which was completely useless at the moment. He didn’t let that distract him more than necessary and with that plus him being on high alert, despite how quiet it was, he heard a twig snap.

His head snapped towards the sound, flying into a defensive position out of a habit he once again was thankful for, only for a blinding light to be flashed in his face. He turned his head away with a hiss of pain at the sudden light change. “What the- kid what are you doing here?” an oddly familiar voice asked. Whoever it was didn’t sound hostile, but he had been wrong before. Making that kind of mistake could cost everything.

He didn’t respond, and instead lunged for the mysterious woman. She let out an almost impressive string of curses as they tumbled to the ground. He always preferred fighting with weapons, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to kill/disable someone with his bare hands.

He was swiftly overpowering the woman. Alarm bells chimed loudly in his mind as she reached toward her hip. He didn’t recognize anything she had on her belt, meaning she had unknown weapons while he had none. He wasn’t going to take any chances if he could help it.

Instead of going after her face and neck like he had been, he switched direction, jerking towards the same thing she was, trying to get it away from her before she could use whatever it was.

With Puffy

Officer Puffy had been sent out into the forest immediately when they had discovered that all of their scanners had stopped working in a large area in the middle of it. All she wanted to do was go home and see her two sweet sons. They had both gotten two weeks off work in order to come visit and stay with her for a while.

Despite her being nowhere near being an old lady, they had insisted on staying and take care of her. Even with all her joking complaints, she did enjoy having them around. She smiled again while thinking how that surprise visit had turned out.

With a shake of her head, she waved her flashlight around once more. She didn’t know exactly what she was looking for. In her entire time as a police officer there had never been anything that could make their scanners do that.

She didn’t have any time to think in the next few moments. A twig snapped, and she turned her flash light towards the sound. She found that it was in fact her that had made the sound, but that wasn’t what she was worried about.

“What the- kid what are you doing here?” Both concern and suspicion laced her tone. There was nothing around the weird teen and he couldn’t have been older than 17, but he was smack dab in the middle of where the scanners had gone out.

He didn’t say anything, and she was about to speak again when he suddenly lunged at her, sending both of them sprawling to the ground. “Fuck-” she yelped in surprise. Her back hit the ground roughly, and she felt her radio break, the pieces digging painfully into her lower back. Backup was a long ways away, and even if they weren’t she now had no way to signal for them.

It only took a couple moments of trying to get the kid off her to figure out she was fighting a losing battle. He was stronger than a war veteran, and she would know. She knew drastic measures would be necessary. She didn’t hesitate as she came to realization.

She reached for her taser. He tried to grab it as soon as she did, but his hand landed on the opposite end of it, her hand on the trigger with his right where it would go into his hand. Not best case but she would take it.

Green eyes met a cold gray-blue, and she pulled the trigger.

Chapter Text

Now, Puffy had seen a lot of reactions to tasers, but this was new. Most people screamed, or at least flailed. Instead, the teen simply tensed, gritting his teeth. He flung himself off of her and shook himself off. Puffy stumbled to her feet in the opposite direction. Her chest heaved with the effort of the past few moments. He didn’t look all that fazed, other than the fact that he shuddered violently for a moment, a. if to dislodge the taser that was no longer attached. Neither of them moved for another tense moment. “What the hell do you want from me?” The teen snarled.

Puffy jerked backwards in surprise. Both at the fact that he had actually spoke and his question. “What?” she asked, confusion lacing her tone.

She couldn’t see his expression in the dark, but she did hear him scoff. “You heard what I said. Why did I get kidnapped. Or were you looking for somebody else?”

“I didn’t kidnap you!?” she finally said. “Our scanners went out and I went looking for the cause, I don’t bloody kidnap people!”

With Tubbo

Tubbo didn’t have time to think. With Tommy gone, the hoard focused their entire attention on him. “Shit.” He muttered as he pulled out his sword. He didn’t fail to notice however, that the portal disintegrated a couple moments after Tommy had been pulled through it. He didn’t waste any time, looking to finish the zombies off as soon as possible.

A few minutes later, the hoard was all dead. Tubbo walked over to where the portal had been, running his hand though the pile the portal had left behind. It looked like a pile of dust but felt more like cool sand. He grit his teeth, pulling his communicator out from under his armor. There was a bunch of messages of surprise. His brow furrowed, and he scrolled to where they began.

Blood drained from his face and his eyes widened. ‘Tommyinnit has left the server’ sat proudly before all of the messages. With that happening, it was no secret that something had just happened. He didn’t bother hiding his message to Ranboo.

Tubbo: Ran, we need to talk, about you know

Ranboo: You know where I am

Quackity: Do you know something we don’t?

Tubbo: fuck off Q

BadBoyHalo: LANGUAGE, but seriously.

Tubbo: you can fuck off too

He shoved his communicator back into place as he started running, ignoring the vibrations coming from the device. He arrived at the mansion soon enough, and he burst through the door. Ranboo was standing a few feet away from it, a concenrnd expression his face. Michael didn’t seem to notice either of his dads’ distress and came running up to Tubbo with a happy snort. Tubbo hugged his son back without really thinking about it. “I saw Tommy disappear.” Tubbo said. Ranboo’s eyes widened, and he jerked his head to indicate they go further in. Tubbo nodded before turning to the small child still attached to him. “I need you to let go for now, me and Ran have something to talk about.”

Micheal looked at him with wide eyes and nodded, finally letting go. Tubbo patted his head affectionately. “You’re not in trouble. It’s just something that happened while I was out.”

Soon, him and Ranboo were sitting at the table. They had insisted for Micheal to go to bed, much to the toddler’s complaint. Micheal could talk, not very well but he could, he usually just chose not to. “What do you mean you saw Tommy disappear?” Ranboo asked as soon as they were both settled.

Tubbo took a deep breath. “Me and Tommy went out to gather some materials when we came across a strange portal.” Ranboo’s brow furrowed, only to realize a moment later. Ranboo’s dark half went a shade lighter, the closest the Enderman hybrid could get to having the color drain from his face. Tubbo nodded and continued his story.

“We were just looking at it when a hoard of zombies attacked us. We were on an established trail so it caught us a bit off guard. While we were fighting the zombies, a creeper snuck up on Tommy. I didn’t manage to warn him quick enough. He just barely got his shield up in time, and when he did the explosion knocked him into the portal.” Tubbo ran a tired hand down his face as he finished off the story. “It pulled him through before he could move.”

Ranboo looked off to the side, considering what Tubbo had said. “Why didn’t he come back through then?” He asked after a moment.

Tubbo shook his head. “He couldn’t. The portal disintegrated right after he went though.”

Ranboo’s head snapped back to look at him. “It… disintegrated?” Tubbo nodded. “That’s… not good.” He muttered after another moment.

Tubbo let out a breath. “No, no it is not.” He agreed.

“Uncle Tommy is gone?” A small voice asked from the doorway. Both of their heads snapped towards the sound.

“Micheal! We told you to go to bed!” Ranboo said. His voice was slightly more harsh than usual. Tubbo shot him a look. “Sorry- just, why aren’t you in bed?”

Micheal walked up to them. His hooves clacking lightly against the wooden floor. “I wanted to know what’s going on.” The toddler pouted. “Is uncle Tommy gone?”

Tubbo sighed. “I get it, I really do, but you need to listen to us when we tell you to do things.” Micheal nodded, but still stared at him expectantly. Tubbo sighed again, before answering the toddler’s question. “Yes, uncle Tommy is missing.” Micheal let out a distressed snort. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him. I promise.”

With Tommy

Tommy was heavily confused. First, a portal yanks him… somewhere. Now the person he had been suspecting built the portal was insisting that she didn’t kidnap people. He didn’t know what she meant by ‘scanners’, but that didn’t seem like the important thing at the moment.

The woman sighed. “Just, come with me to the station so we can figure out whatever the hell is happening. Unless you plan to attack me again.”

Tommy considered it. She had an odd device that seemed to give her control over lightning. While he had nothing. He considered his options carefully. If he cooperated now, he could likely get away later, since he knew he could overpower the strange woman physically. “Fine.” He snarled. He had been through several wars; he could get through being sling shotted somewhere by a random portal.

He made an effort to ignore the unease curling in his stomach that was becoming more extreme by the second. She made a move to approach him. “Do not take a step closer. I’m not going to make the mistake of letting someone I don’t trust close to me again.”

She stopped in her tracks. “Neither of us trust each other. I don’t trust you to be behind me. So it’s either we walk side by side or we go nowhere.” She said, apparently her patience was running out. Another thing slowly leaning in Tommy’s favor. A frustrated opponent was all the more vulnerable.

She was right in a way however. He grit his teeth as he said, “Fine.”

Chapter Text

With Tubbo

Tubbo hadn’t left his workshop in hours. He ran test after test after test on the sand like substance that the portal had left behind. His brows were furrowed in concentration as he mixed a small bit of the powder into another potion. The blast of black smoke that blew into his face right after alerted him of another failure.

He groaned as he let his head fall onto the table. Everything he had tried didn’t work. Tubbo could even count how many experiments he had tried. He had even tried to coat blocks of obsidian in the stuff and treat them like a normal portal. Aside from a brief swirl of magic it had done nothing.

He heard a soft click and a knock at the door. He picked his head up to Ranboo standing there with a concerned expression. Micheal was clinging onto his husband’s leg with a similar expression. “You need to take a break Tub. You get more and more dangerous to yourself the more tired you are.” Ranboo said. “Besides, a few minutes of a break won’t make any difference on the time to get Tommy back. He would prefer you to rest anyway.”

 Tubbo sighed, standing up. His joints popped several times as a result of not going anywhere for hours on end. “Sometimes I hate that you’re right Boo.”

The room froze when another small voice asked, “W-what’s going on?” Everyone in the room turned to the small black-haired boy who had just woken up. Shroud shrunk back slightly due to all the eyes on him.

Before either Tubbo or Ranboo could respond and do damage control, Micheal responded. “Uncle Tommy went missing! Dad and Papa are twying to find him, but they haven’t found anything.”

“W-what?” Shroud asked, his red eyes already turning glassy as he turned to Tubbo and Ranboo. “Where’s my dad?” Tubbo walked over and crouched down in front of the toddler, wrapping shroud in a hug.

“We don’t know Shroud.” He said. Shroud started crying and Tubbo reputed more quietly, “We don’t know.”

With Puffy

Puffy let out a sigh of relief as they walked back into the city. Her day was (hopefully) coming to an end and she could go back home. The teen stopped as soon as they get there though, his mouth hanging open. She didn’t see why however.

The roads were busy as usual. People in cars sped by without care of what was happening outside of whatever they were worrying about. Streetlights illuminated the area. People walked up and down the sidewalks. His eyes were wide and for the first time since they met, he just looked like a confused kid. His gaze landed on her and his mouth dropped open. He looked somehow even more confused. “What the actual fuck.”

“What?” She asked, now she was confused. Whoever this kid was did not act like a normal person, not that she didn’t already know that.

He shook his head, his already tense body language tensing more. “You look like someone I know. Don’t worry about it.”

That didn’t answer any of her questions, but she would save those for when they got to the station. Fortunately, an officer saw them and came running up. “Officer!” The man said as he approached. “There you are, the scanners came back on but you didn’t respond when we tried to tell you. There was about to be a search party sent after you.”  

Puffy chuckled, briefly debating what to say. Something told her that things were not quite as it seemed. “Yeah, I fell and my walkie-talkie got broken. I found someone stranded in the woods, I’m taking them back to the station.” She responded as she gestured at the teen.

The teen eyed both of them suspiciously, looking like he’d rather be pretty much anywhere else. Her fellow officer didn’t seem to notice. “Well in that case, I’ll go with you. I was just put over here for if you got back.”

The next problem started when they tried to get the strange teen into her car. He had objected, acting like he had no idea what a car was. She was starting to think he might have been on drugs or something. Through everything else didn’t point towards her conclusion. His eyes conveyed a different story.

He watched everything as if the world was out to attack him. She had learned to read body language but his was rigidly controlled. He looked ready to fight. They did eventually get him in the police car, however.

As soon as they were alone in the car, he asked, “Why did you lie?” She glanced at him in the rear-view mirror. “Are you trying to earn my trust? Because I can tell that it won’t work. I’m not that stupid.” His gaze was hostile, but a flash of sadness flashed across her face. “What?” He demanded, apparently noticing it.

Puffy thought about it before she responded. “I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell the whole truth. You’re just a kid, and you obviously don’t know what’s going on. Aggravated assault against a police officer can give you a minimum of 5 years in prison, a kid doesn’t... deserve… that...” She trailed off as she saw the look in his eyes.

He looked haunted. She would expect that look from war veterans not some kid she found in a forest. His hand came up and he touched the skin around his left eye. his After a moment of silence she was about to ask if he was alright but he shook his head before she could. His voice trembled slightly when he spoke next. “Y- yeah. I would prefer not to deal with prison.”

She didn’t get a chance to ask about his reaction as they finally arrived at their destination. She didn’t fail to notice how his hands were still shaking slightly when they got out. They went inside and after talking with a few other people they got into a secure room.

It wasn’t going to be an interrogation like some of her colleagues had suggested. She had carefully omitted the detail about how he had attacked her. After a while of asking questions, it was rather obvious that he actually knew as little as he seemed to.

He refused to tell her anything about where he had come from and how he got there but anything to do with after he got to the forest, he was willing to talk about. All the while her colleagues were trying to find information about the strange boy who she had found out was named Tommy.

“Well, I think that’s all I can think of that we need to know. Do you have any family we can contact to get you home?” She asked, thinking nothing really of the question.

Through judging by the way he stilled, there was more to it than that. “No.”

She wasn't sure whether or not to press the issue, but it seemed that question was going to be delayed as someone burst into the room. She shot to her feet, surprised. “What’s going on?” She asked, the adrenaline in her veins from the sudden intrusion still hadn't faded as the man spoke.

“Whoever the kid is. He doesn’t exist apparently. We checked everything so either he lied about his name or he spawned out of thin air.” Puffy’s eyes widened, and she turned to the kid.

Tommy frowned with seemingly confusion; it didn't help that he was staring at them like they were idiots. "Yeah? Everyone spawns in from world spawn at some point, do you not know how the world works?" Puffy was starting to reconsider the idea that Tommy was on drugs.

Chapter Text

11:22 pm / 23:22 - With Tommy

He didn’t know what was going on, but he was likely in danger. Why did that woman look like Puffy? Where were his scars? Why wasn’t his inventory working? Why wouldn’t his communicator connect? Those weren’t even it, and he still had no idea where the hell the portal had spat him out. It didn’t help that they were still staring at him. The silence stretched on uncomfortably.

He forced himself to calm down. All he had to do was treat it like exile, it was pretty much the same aside from the fact the Dream wasn’t there to destroy his progress. He went though the facts as quickly as possible, being distracted in any situation was dangerous.

He was far from home if he could claim he had one anymore, had no way to contact anyone, and everyone he had seen so far was some degree of hostile. So yeah, exile part…. something. At least it wasn't because of someone he trusted betraying him this time. Not that it changed the situation really at all.

The Puffy clone was looking at him like he had just burned down someone’s house. He would know, he’d done it enough times to recognize the expression. The clone sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You know what? We’re just going to-“

His ears were ringing, and he backed up until his back hit the bark of a tree. “You know what? We’re just going to have to teach you a lesson.” Dream snarled, brandishing his axe. Tommy couldn’t see his face, but he could hear the savage grin on his friend’s face.

“P- please Dream, I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean it, I didn’t mean it-!” He brought his arms up to protect his face but it didn’t do him any good.

He came back-to in a rush. He felt cold material pressing against his back, his clothes feeling all too thin. His hands were pressing against the sides of his head. His vision was still blurry, and he was well aware he was hyperventilating. Hands clamped around his wrists, sending a wave of panic through his body. Tommy could hear voices around, but it was as if he was underwater again.

He yanked his arms back, he could hear himself shouting, but he couldn’t tell what he was saying. He knew it was the past and he was no longer there, but another irrational part of him screamed that Tubbo had cast him out again, that Dream had come to get his favorite toy back.

“You know I don’t like doing this, but you have to learn not to disobey me Tommy~” Dream cooed, wrapping up the wounds that he had caused himself. “We’re friends Tommy, that means you have to listen to me.”

Tommy knew that. Dream had repeatedly beat it into his head. He nodded. “I’m sorry Dream. It won’t happen again.”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

He had to calm down. He was in danger. Any sign of weakness was deadly. But Dream wanted him to listen without a complaint! He shook his head, he wasn’t there anymore. Dream was an asshole, not his friend.

The ringing in his ears was only growing louder, he wished he was home. L’manburg. He missed it, though all that was left now was a glass covered crater. He missed the time before it all. Not that it would ever go back to the way it once was. Phil would never care, Techno would always hate him, Wilbur would always be insane.

With Puffy

She pinched the bridge of her nose, why must everything always be so complicated? “You know what? We’re just going to keep him here for the night then get into contact with a social….” She trailed off as the sound of a chair hitting the floor caught her attention. “Kid?”

He quickly began to back up until he hit the wall, muttering something she couldn’t hear. His eyes were wide and panicked, more importantly, they were glazed over. His hands were pressed against the sides of his head. His was pulling his hair hard enough for some to come out. His breathing was visibly fast. She rushed forward, grabbing his wrists. She didn’t want to set him off but she couldn’t let him hurt himself either. “Kid calm-”

He recoiled violently, pulling his hands out of her grasp. “I’m sorry Dream! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! It won’t happen again! I promise just leave me alone, please stop, please please leave me alone.” She backed up quickly, sharing a panicked look with her co-worker who then ran out of the room.

He slid down against the wall, curling into a ball. For a split second, he looked as if he was covered in scars, jagged lines crisscrossing his body. Yet she blinked and they were gone. It must’ve just been her imagination.

Puffy approached him carefully. “Kid?” She spoke softly, she wasn’t able to see his eyes to tell if whatever had just happened was over.

Tears were still running down his face as he looked up, his eyes still glazed over. “Bee?” He asked quietly, his voice weak and shaky. “Take me home. Please take me home, I don’t where that is but take me home.”

It felt like he had just stabbed her in the heart. This kid must’ve gone though some shit. She spoke softly. “I- I don’t know who ‘Bee’ is, I’m sorry. We’re trying to figure out where your home is.”

His eyes abruptly cleared, and he scrambled to his feet. He spoke in an odd language she didn’t understand. “⌇⊑⟟⏁ ⌇⊑⟟⏁ ⌇⊑⟟⏁, ⎅⏃⋔⋏ ⟟⏁ ⏁⍜⋔⋔⊬, ⋏⍜⏁ ⊑⟒⍀⟒, ⋏⍜⏁ ⋏⍜⍙” He then looked at her with wide eyes, he was still breathing hard. She stood up and he pushed her backwards. “Get away from me.”

She held her hands up. “I was just trying to get whatever that was to stop. Sorry about trying to help.” She winced, that was harsh and there was obviously something terrible that had happened to this kid. “Sorry, you didn’t deserve that.”

He scoffed, his tone sarcastic. “Wow, that’s new, didn’t know people had the ability to apologize anymore.”

“Who hurt you?” She couldn’t stop the words before she said them.

“Not that you care, but everyone.”

Chapter Text

With Tommy

He glared at the Puff clone. She just stared right back at him with a look of concern. Tommy wouldn’t believe that it was sincere however. He had learned long ago not to believe that. Phil had given him much the same expression before throwing him back to the snow the next day to fend for himself against Dream.

Her accomplice quickly returned; with someone Tommy would recognize. He jumped back, his heart speeding up in his chest. First a clone of Puffy, now a clone of BadBoyHalo. What was going on? A conversation he had with Ranboo a while back popped into his head.

“What if, you know?”

“Ranboo, even if there were other worlds with separate versions of us, it wouldn’t change anything.”

“But- never mind, it doesn’t matter anyway.”

He had ended up apologizing after that conversation. He had been rather rude in his denial. If it was anything like Ran had suggested… well there could be a lot of problems. Though they hadn’t found his name in whatever ‘system’ they had mentioned. Maybe it was a lot like the communicators? He hadn’t seen any devices even remotely similar to his.

Though why they couldn’t find him in it was a mystery. If it was like Ran had thought, wouldn’t there be a version of him as well? Tommy would almost be glad if there wasn’t. He’d heard horror stories of what happened when servers broke in the past, Phil had loved telling about his adventures, before he wanted to return to them at least.

Maybe he was just dreaming. Weird ass dream, and he hadn’t had one even half as pleasant since the independence war, but still a dream. That creeper explosion had felt pretty damn real though, and so did the fight with the Puffy clone. He was in danger here; he didn’t have time to try to figure out what was going on.

He eyed the BBH clone warily. Even if his half-assed theory (Tubbo was the scientist why did he have to deal with stuff like this-) was correct, there was no guarantee the man wasn’t under the influence of the egg. The room was silent for a long moment, the other occupants of the room were all staring at him.

 Having everyone’s eyes on him was not bringing back good memories. “I, Tubbo Underscore, herby exile Tommy Innit from the country of L’manburg.” Everyone had been staring at him then too. In the past, maybe he would’ve snapped at them, but the impulsive kid he used to be had died a long time ago.

‘Puffy’ turned to ‘Bad’. “The issue’s been fixed, sort of. Sorry that you had to be bothered Bad.” She apologized. Another reminder that he was not where he was supposed to be. After the red banquet, Puffy had and still did avoid Bad like the man was under the withering effect. Not that Tommy blamed her, the egg was not something you’d want to be controlled by.

‘Bad’ shook his head in response to the clone’s words. “Don’t worry about it Puffy,” he glanced at Tommy. “We should probably figure out a course of action anyway.” Tommy glanced at the clock. 1:24 am. Not bad then, not great by any means but nowhere near something to worry about.

Though he paused at the thought. Was Shroud okay? Hopefully Tubbo and Ranboo had put him to bed already, the kid didn’t need to stay up this late. The longer he had to stay wherever he was the worse it’d be. His childhood had been stolen, he didn’t want the same thing to happen to his son just because he’d gone missing.

He pulled his communicator out of his shirt, powering it on once more. ‘Tommyinnit has joined the server’. The single message sat at the top of the screen. Hopefully Tubbo wouldn’t set off any nukes trying to find him. Tommy smiled sadly, the president totally would. Oh how far they’d come. He couldn’t even count how many times they’d gone from friends to enemies back to friends anymore.

“What’s that?” Bad’s voice asked semming to have followed his gaze, and Tommy’s gaze shot up from the device in his hand. He glared at the clone, and the man flinched back from his gaze slightly after their eyes met.

Tommy shoved his communicator back into his plain shirt. “None of your business.” He snapped in response, any cards he had he needed to keep close to his chest. The less they knew about him the safer he was. He could only hope Tubbo and Ran found a way to get him back to snowchester soon. Both of the clones looked absolutely exhausted, which Tommy found he didn’t understand. It wasn’t even late yet.

‘Puffy’ sighed. “I was thinking to just let him stay at the station for the night and then figure out a foster care placement for him.” ‘Bad’ opened his mouth, as if to object, but ‘Puffy’ cut him off. “I know Bad, but it seems like the best option we have. If we pull some strings right, we can probably get him put under someone we trust.” Yeah, Tommy didn’t really like that option either. That would mean that they could keep an eye on him.

He could probably find a way around whatever they did though. They were ridiculously weak, judging from his scuffle with the Puffy clone from earlier. They didn’t react very fast either, which was also beneficial to him. Had they never been to war before? Cowards. Everyone went into war at least once; it was just a fact of life. He’d know, having been in the things several times throughout his lifetime.

He glanced down at his hands. The skin was smooth, and they didn’t shake like they usually did after the nerve damage he’d gotten from the disk war. His scars were gone. It was uncomfortable to say the least. Maybe it’d help them underestimate him, if they didn’t have the sense to properly interrogate him then it was unlikely that they’d have the sense to consider him a true threat.

Even those who didn’t have scars were known to be dangerous back in the smp. Foolish’s gold skin was devoid of scars, but everyone knew to stay on his good side, or they be ready for one nether of a fight at least. Phil looked soft, but his title of being the angel of death wasn’t undeserved.

Not that Tommy was going to tell them. He’d found ways to escape worse situations, he didn’t plan to make it any harder to escape this one.

Chapter Text

The next morning – Still with Tommy

He had been given a bed inside the ‘station’ and told they’d be going and bringing him… somewhere in the morning. Now it was the aforementioned morning, at least if the sun streaming through the window was any clue. The bed he was now sat up in was nothing like he’d ever seen before. After they’d left him alone in the nearly blank room the fatigue had hit him all at once and he’d stumbled blearily over to the oddly soft piece of furniture.

It wasn’t wool, the material was much too smooth for that. He rubbed the material between two fingers, it was incredibly weird feeling. Putting it out of his mind, Tommy swung his legs off the bed. Sleeping in his clothes might not have been the best idea but there wasn’t much he could take comfort in in this place. At least having his clothes from home where he’d come from gave him some sense of control. Tommy’s communicator hung heavily around his neck. He lifted it and flipped it around to read the screen. Yet the only words that were displayed were the same ones that had been there when he’d arrived. Gritting his teeth, he let the device fall back to his chest.

Tommy ran back through the situation in his mind. He was alone (not new), in a place with people that looked like people he’d met (that was new), and in danger at every turn (average Thursday). All he had to do was bide his time and escape. Tubbo and Ranboo would come looking for him soon they were probably happy without the extra burden and he’d get back to Snowchester. His hands didn’t shake like they should’ve as he pushed himself to his feet. He walked over and examined the window. The glass wasn’t all that thick, but breaking it would likely cause too much of a ruckus for him to be able to sneak off.

There was no buttons or levers around it that he saw either, so it likely wasn’t one of those fancy redstone contraptions he’d heard about in the past. Tommy reached towards the glass, pressing his palm against it with a shaky breath. The slightly warmth leaching into his palm was a stark reminder that this was real. The windows in Snowchester were cold at all times of the day. It wasn’t his first time being far from a place he would almost call home, but it was the first time he had truly no way to find his way back.

Tommy reached into his inventory for his sword, the familiar weight usually comforting even with all the memories attached to it. At least he tried. He flinched slightly. Right, he couldn’t open the small pocket dimension. The teen regretted not getting any wood while he’d had the chance, getting thrown somewhere random was something he was more than used to it was exile all over again, so it shouldn’t have caught him so off guard.

Finally, Tommy turned his attention to what was outside the glass. His place on what appeared to be a second floor gave him a good over view of the surrounding area. The world outside was much different than what he was used to. Smooth roads, nothing floating, brick and what he assumed was metal were both prominent. Windows lined every building like they didn’t have to worry about being attacked in the middle of the night. The area was cramped, buildings rubbing right up against each other. Then there were the people. So. Many. People.

He had known there were other servers. Servers with more people than the 30 or so that he’d known met. Phil had found him on one after all, but they were nothing like this. The stone strips beside the streets were crowded, people moving constantly in every direction. The actual road was filled with the weird giant covered minecart things from the evening before. Tommy took a step back from the window, reluctantly tearing his gaze away to inspect the door at the front of the room. It looked like just a regular wooden door, but when he crossed the room and attempted to pull it open it didn’t budge. Tommy narrowed his eyes. How typical of them. Try and pretend they’re nice and give him somewhere to sleep, then trap him as soon as they have the chance. Some things never change, not even over dimensional borders or weird dreams evidentially.

Tommy rolled his shoulders, briefly considering ramming the door to break it. That’d still be dangerous though. The device that ‘Puffy’ had used wasn’t one he’d recognized. It hadn’t been a trident; it hadn’t been raining either. How she’d used lightning, or at least a small bolt, was a mystery. Mystery or not, it’d hurt like a bitch and he wasn’t all too keen on repeating the experience.

Clenching his fists, Tommy sat back down where he’d woken up. He didn’t want to wait any longer, but if nothing else, the wars had taught him to be patient. If you waited for the right moment, it could turn the tide of the battle. Well, if you didn’t get betrayed in the process at least.

That’s what usually happened. Making connections here was a bad idea. He hadn’t been planning on it but the reminder still stung a bit. Trusting anyone was dangerous, not to mention usually useless. People would all turn on you for one reason or another, that’s just how the world worked.

The door let out a kind of clicking sound, and Tommy flinched. His gaze darted towards it just in time to watch it swing inward. Yet another person he would recognize stepped in. Though he looked different. Much different. Skeppy looked how he had when they’d first met. Aside from the crystals that usually stuck out of the man’s skin. His eyes were a bright blue, shining with mischief. His skin was devoid of scars, and there were no red vines to be seen anywhere on his form. Tommy itched to grab his sword, but no move to open his inventory came up with any results.

The man smiled upon seeing him. “You must be Tommy. My name’s officer Skeppy, but just call me Skeppy. I was told to come get you for your placement.” Tommy didn’t feel like going anywhere with this guy, especially when he looked like someone who wanted to take over the server and mind control everyone. Nonetheless, Tommy stood. The faster he got out of the building the faster he could make his escape.

Chapter Text

With Ranboo

Tubbo was passed out in bed. It wasn’t all too surprising all things considered. He’d spent hours the night before doing research into what had happened even after being up since dawn the day before. The sun was only starting to come up over the horizon, and Ranboo was busy making breakfast. It was an almost calming thing to do. Filling the bottom of the smokers with coal, chopping up some vegetables to fry, grabbing the five lamb chops because the kids shared one and Tommy always ate two- he paused. Tommy wasn’t here.

He slowly put two of the small meat slabs down. Ranboo wrapped his tail around his leg in a comforting gesture, forcing himself to resume with his task. The clicking of heels against wood alerted him to someone else approaching. Tubbo likely wasn’t going to be getting up for at least another hour, which meant it was probably Michael.

Ranboo forced the anxiety rolling in his gut and forced his tail to uncurl. They needed to at least not make Michel and Shroud worry more than they already were. The small piglin boy came around the corner a moment later, his nose twitching slightly. The smell of food had probably traveled through the house by then, so it wasn’t surprising that Michael would come to investigate.

“Good morning, Michael.” Ranboo greeted softly, momentarily stopping in his endeavor to make breakfast. Michael let out a little chuff of greeting before walking over and essentially attaching himself to Ranboo’s leg. This was how the boy usually was. Very quiet and only using words when absolutely necessary. The night before had been the first time they’d heard him speak so much at the same time in a long while. Except maybe Shroud of course. The had several rooms in the house that were safe for the kids to be alone in, which is where the two spent most of their time. 

Lifting up his tail, Ranboo used it to ruffle Michael’s hair. The kid let out a series of chuffs and huffs in an imitation of giggling while trying to avoid Ranboo’s tail without letting go of his leg. If not for the absence of Tommy’s snickering and occasional yelled encouragement in the background, it would’ve just been like any other morning.

Michael must’ve thought the same, Ranboo felt him pause in his squirming as he looked towards where Tommy would usually be sitting and watching him cook. Michael’s grip on his leg tightened a minuscule amount. Ranboo reached down and properly patted his son’s head. “It’s okay.” He reassured. “We’ll find him and bring him home soon.”

“Shroud hasn’t left uncle Tommy’s room.” Michael said, glancing back down the hall he’d come from. “Worried.” Ranboo frowned. Michael was right, that was worrying.

Ranboo’s stood back up, looking to the raw meat still sitting next to the smokers ready to be cooked. “I’ll check on him after breakfast.” His voice remained steady as he spoke, though the agitated swinging of his tail betrayed his nerves. Michael watched his tail for a moment, his head moving back and forth in time with the movement before he stopped and nodded. The toddler finally released Ranboo’s leg, the soft click of hooves away from him and the kitchen alerted Ranboo of his son leaving the room without Ranboo having to turn around.

Wrapping his tail around his leg once more, Ranboo resumed cooking. He placed the lamb chops in the smokers, only spearing a moment to watch them before grabbing a stone skewer out of his inventory and and stabbing the vegetables with it. He placed them back into his inventory momentarily to head across the kitchen and flip over the meat. He hummed lightly under his breath. He didn’t know where exactly it was from, but Tubbo often hummed the same thing when concentrated and it’d gotten stuck in his head.

Just as Ranboo moved to start roasting the skewers from the heat coming off the smokers, the sound of a bell made him pause. Who could it have been? Maybe Techno had come to hang out with him? It was unlikely, the piglin man was usually busy for most of the morning with his garden. Maybe it was Phil then? Sometimes the avian invited him to have some tea, though usually that was only when he was at the cabin. The bell rang again. He wouldn’t know unless he checked.

Ranboo sighed. Yelling out, “Coming! Give me just a minute!” He quickly pulled the meat off the flames, luckily it was done already and shoving both it and the still un-cooked vegetables into his inventory. Hopefully it wasn’t someone with bad intention. He may keep a sword on him, but that didn’t mean he wanted to try and use the thing, even with Techno’s lessons. The bell outside rang once more and he picked up the pace. His claws tapped against the floor with every step, reminding him that he should probably cut them sometime soon.

Ranboo reached the door soon enough but hesitated as he reached for the handle. It could be anyone on the other side of the thing. He’d not picked up his communicator from he and Tubbo’s nightstand so if someone had sent him a message he hadn’t seen it. For all he knew, a new war had started up on the server and the person on the other side of the door was conscripting. Which, from Tubbo’s stories and his memory book, would apparently not be too out of the ordinary, but he’d still prefer to avoid it. There were very few people who they could trust to watch the kids even if they had told anyone that they’d adopted children.

He knew Tommy wouldn’t trust anyone with their safety. Ranboo squared himself, swinging open the door. “Listen, whatever war you’re asking for help for the answer is no-” he cut himself off.

Standing in front of the door was a man. Dressed in lime green and white with a mask of a simple smiling face. Ranboo took a shaky step backward. Dream’s head was tilted at him, or his mask was at least. “I’m not conscripting for any war, Ranboo Beloved.” His tone held vague amusement, but there was also a venom dripping from the words. “I am simply looking for information on our missing… friend.” Dream flourished the axe in his hand casually, the sun glinting off the weapon. “I heard you all might have some information on the matter. Mind if I come in?”

Ranboo’s eyes darted from side to side. Technically, Dream’s status as an admin made anything like Tommy’s disappearance, his problem. But this was also a man that had hurt both Tommy and Tubbo before. They were in no way friends. Ranboo reached towards the string trigger with his tail, pulling on it roughly.

From far in the house, four bells went off. One in he and Tubbo’s bedroom, one in both the kid’s rooms that alerted them they needed to find somewhere to hide, and the last in Tommy’s room that would usually be to alert the teen to escape. With everyone hopefully warned, all Ranboo could do was step aside and let the monster named Dream inside. “Of course, I was just making breakfast.”

Chapter Text

With Tommy

The Skeppy clone was weird. Not that actual Skeppy wasn't, especially after the egg, but this man was just straight bizarre. He didn't wear any armor which would've been a death sentence on the SMP, he spoke loudly and without care to Tommy like they were old friends, and he'd willing turned his back on Tommy, like a fucking idiot.

Tommy wasn't going to risk taking advantage of it however. The building was crawling with people more prepared for a fight than he was. Which was not an unusual situation for him but would make anything he did more dangerous. People watched him as he and ‘Skeppy’ passed by them, whispering to each other. No matter what universe- nightmare- clone haven- you were in, somethings never changed. Such as him being watched like he was some wild animal caught for their entertainment.

He scanned each room with his gaze as they went through them, taking note of the similarities and differences between the room styles and furniture from back on the SMP. He didn’t recognize a lot of the materials used, there was no wool or stone in sight. There was some wood, but not much. No torches lined the walls, instead there were little bulbs that emitted light that were attached to the ceiling. It was almost disturbing. It didn’t help that they hurt his eyes, whoever thought those things were a good idea needed to have the sense talked into them because while they were effective they were ugly and painful to look at.

They came into the lobby and Skeppy turned around. Tommy fought not to flinch backwards at the sudden movement, but failed miserably. “So here’s the plan- shit you okay? Why’d you flinch?”

Of course he was being questioned. That’s definitely something he wants to (NOT) happen. “Nothing.” He replied curtly. “Continue with whatever you were saying Skeppy.” He couldn’t quite keep the venom from his tone from his words, and Skeppy’s frown deepened. Tommy grimaced internally.

Either fortunately or unfortunately, Skeppy chose not to comment on it, though his tone was a lot less light. It made Tommy wish he was wearing armor. “The plan, is to take you to a foster home.” Tommy wondered if that was supposed to mean something to him, but he assumed it was since Skeppy continued on without elaborating. “The woman we’re placing you with is a detective, which means she will be keeping an eye on you.” Good to know. “She’s a nice person, but she also doesn't take shit.”

Nice? Doubtful. People weren't just ‘nice’ for no reason. The ‘doesn't take shit’ part though? He'd believe it. Maybe the person he was going to be dealing with would be sensible, whether that was working up to be a good or bad thing was yet to be decided. “And who is this woman?” He asked. It likely wouldn’t mean anything-

“Her name is Niki.”

Tommy froze. He could practically feel himself go three shades paler. Niki? The same Niki who had attempted to kill him? That Niki? Oh shit. Niki was a dangerous person; she was all smiles until she could turn around and betray you. The smell of warm cookies permeated the air as they ll sat around L’mantree, laughing and enjoying their freedom.  Tommy shook off the shock quickly, he was in a dangerous position and couldn’t afford to show weakness. Especially not when they were trying to force him to be around Niki. “Fine then.” He prayed to no god in particular for his voice not to shake. “Let’s go.”

He almost mistook ‘Skeppy’s’ expression for concern before the man turned around once more. Tommy forced himself to calm down. The clones were clearly different from their original selves, and if none of the other clones knew him then Niki’s probably wouldn’t either. Yet both the Skeppy and Puffy clones had acted similar to how the originals had when they’d first joined the SMP. Which meant trusting the woman would be like signing a contract meant for his death.

Tommy had been planning to escape during the night, but that may not be an option. He’d have to judge based off of what happened what they got there. He reached for his inventory, but still nothing happened. There was nothing he could use but his raw strength and experience. Which he’d admit was not nothing, a war or three would do that, but could still prove to be inadequate.

‘Skeppy’ pulled the door open and they stepped out. He was immediately hit with the sound of the lively city. People talked as if they had no care in the world, most walked past without looking up from their odd-looking communicators (at least he assumed that’s what they were). One of the weird moving machines sat in front of the building. It was mainly white, with ‘Police’ printted on the side in large black letters. ‘Skeppy’ walked up to it and pulled one of the back panels out and looking towards Tommy. The silence between them stretched on for a long moment. He was considering running right then, but he was smart enough to know he wouldn’t get very far. “You coming?” Skeppy asked, and Tommy wordlessly walked forward and stepped into the machine, sitting down. His shoulders remained tense as the machine started up and began to move.

He stared out the window as they went. There were no trees, just endless buildings, roads, and sidewalks. It was a sad sight to Tommy, who was so used to the spanning nature of the SMP. Even after a forest was burnt down there were still the hardiest plants to be found under the ash. Even in the desert you could find cacti and animals that made their home there. Snowy forests had their foxes, wolves, and other critters. Yet the nature that seem to stay no matter how much the rest of the world tried to get rid of it was no where to be seen. He turned away from the window and looked down at his hands.

Tommy didn’t know where home was, but he wanted it back.

 They arrived at what Tommy assumed was their destination all too soon. It was a nice house all things considered. The walls were painted a soft gray which worked well with the black roof. There was a garden on both sides of the light wooden porch, filled with flowers and various vegetables. The moving machine stopped, and Skeppy helped him get out of it a few seconds later. Well, he tried at least, Tommy just glared at him and got out on his own.

The door to the house opened, and out stepped someone who Tommy would recognize well.

Niki Nihachu.

Chapter Text

With Niki, 15 minutes earlier

The cookies were in the oven, and all Niki had to do was wait for them to be done. She paced with anxiety as she went back over what Puffy had told her in her head. Tommy would be Niki’s newest charge. A seventeen-year-old, he’d come from in the middle of where their sensors had gone out. Out if the forest somewhere. Puffy had shared that the kid had attacked her on first sight and only stopped after she’d tased him.

Niki didn’t like to dig for information on the kids she fostered, but Puffy had told her there was no real choice here. Niki had told her that she’d take note of anything unusual, but nothing more. The room was already set up, and everything ready. The kid apparently hadn’t had anything with him other than the clothes he was wearing and some kind of device Puffy didn't recognize.

She walked back over the kitchen island, where her notepad was waiting open. The page being so empty bothered her, but she suspected it’d be filled soon. She picked up her pen, spinning it slowly with her fingers. Her first priority would remain the same as usual. Make sure the kid was comfortable and do everything to help him adjust, but she had no idea how to do that.

A loud alarm broke Niki out of her thoughts, and she quickly ventured over the oven. Leaning down, she examined the cookies and then grabbed her oven mitts to pull them out. It’d take them a few minutes to cool. She turned the oven off just in time to hear her phone buzz on the counter. She took in a deep breath, holding it for a second before releasing it slowly. Niki reached for her phone and picked it up off the counter. Practice made putting her password in easy, and the notification popped up across the top of her screen.

Skeppy: Almost there

Skeppy: And before you tell me off for texting, we’re at a light

She was still going to tell him off for that. He was police officer for crying out loud and that was stupid even for a regular civilian- Niki shook her head. She’d have time to think about that later. For now, she just sighed and glanced out the window through the open blinds. She’d just have to figure it out as she went. She pushed herself up to her feet and walked out of the kitchen. A last check to make sure everything was in order was needed, even though she’d already taken a walk through several times. If nothing else, the established routine always helped her nerves.

It was only a few minutes later that she saw a police car pull into her driveway through the open kitchen blinds. Niki pulled her hair out of its tight bun so she’d look at least slightly less cynical and walked over to the door. She took a deep breath, then opened the door and stepped outside.

Skeppy was standing with his hand on the car door. His black hair and uniform were both messy, a typical sight for the man despite the constant exaggeration he received from his partner. The unusual thing was his expression. His friendly expression was there, but there was a caution behind it that was unmistakable to Niki.

The man’s gaze was fixed on the teenager that had just stepped out of the car. Tommy Innt. The kid was a dirty blond, his hair messy and unevenly cut. A single pure white strand stood out against the rest of it. He was lean and almost lanky, and his skin was oddly pale. His clothes, a white shirt with red sleeves and a pair of khaki pants, were splotched with dirt.

A thin cord hung around his neck, attached to a small box that must’ve been the device Puffy mentioned. The teenager was look around when she stepped out, and his head immediately snaped in her direction as the door closed. He went still as they locked eyes. His hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white. His eyes were an almost gray blue, but they were the kind of gray that spoke of past horrors turning them dark instead of naturally like that.

Years of detective work made Niki an expert on reading people, and every sense was screaming that he was angry, hurt, and worse of all; volatile.

Niki tried not to let her trepidation show, pasting on a smile and lifting her hand to wave at the two people in her driveway. This finally broke her and the kid’s staring match. Skeppy closed the door and began to make his way towards her. Tommy followed him a moment later, putting himself behind the officer. Niki noted the behavior in her mind. “Good morning, Niki.” Skeppy greeted as they got close enough to speak without shouting.

“Good morning, officer.” Niki greeted, lowering her head slightly. Skeppy scowled but held his tongue. He never liked it when people used his title. Niki then turned her attention towards the kid, Tommy, and smiled. “Hi, my name’s Niki” Niki said, choosing her words carefully. “What’s your name?” She already knew, but it was often better to let kids introduce, or not introduce in some cases, themselves. It seemed it would be the latter, judging by the fact he stayed silent and just stared straight ahead, more through her than at her. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides repeatedly. Niki and Skeppy shared a glance. Before it could get too horribly awkward she said, “Well, please come inside, both of you. I’m sure we have plenty to talk about and that can’t all be done out here.”

With that, Niki turned on her heel and led the pair inside her house.

With Ranboo

Ranboo turned around, some instinct in the back of his mind screaming for him not to turn his back towards Dream. He ignored it of course. He couldn’t afford to piss this man off. Not if what he knew was true.

Every heavy footstep from Dream’s netherite boots made Ranboo cringe. The wood was definitely going to be scratched. There was a reason all boots were banned in the house, aside from in Tubbo’s laboratory, where many rules were thrown away in favor of pure creative insanity. “You’ve got a nice little spot here, you know.” Dream observed. “The snow makes it hard to come and go easily, it’s a great spot to hide things.” 

“I’m not quite sure what you’re insinuating, Dream.” Ranboo said, inwardly cursing when his voice trembled. He resisted the urge to wrap his tail around his ankle. The house was quiet, unusually so for that time of morning. Ranboo wasn’t sure whether that was a very good thing or very very bad one.

Dream huffed from behind Ranboo. “I’m not insinuating anything, is it really that wrong to compliment the choices of my server members? I apologize if you feel I meant it with hostility.”

“You mean everything with hostility Dream.” Tubbo said, appearing around the corner in deceptively casual clothing. A crossbow rested on his back, long with a netherite sword at his waist. “Even if that hostility is presented with a side of a manipulative smile.”

Chapter Text

With Niki

They were only a few steps into the house when the second set of footsteps behind Niki stopped. She stopped as well and turned around. It was Tommy. His head was tilted up slightly, his expression unreadable. Before she could ask what was wrong, he looked right at her. “Did you make cookies?” He asked, speaking for the first time since they’d gotten there.

Okay. Niki hadn’t been expecting that. She only wasted a second on surprise before answering though. “Yes, would you like some? They’re fresh, straight out of the oven.” She would be glad for the progress. Something told her that any interaction that she could get him to willingly have would be monumental, though that wasn’t an entirely unfamiliar thing.

Her hopes were quickly dashed as a flash of pain appeared on his face, disappearing as quickly as it came. “No.” Tommy replied, the word laced with a venom Niki was well familiar with from her work. Skeppy glanced at Tommy and then her. She discreetly shook her head.

“Well that’s alright.” She said, gesturing for them to continue on. As they exited the entrance hallway into the kitchen she turned around. “Officer, wait at the table please, we can talk in a bit.” The man didn’t waste any time following her instructions. He trusted her to know what she was doing. She softened her tone slightly as she addressed Tommy. “Would you like a house tour or to see your room?” Offer choice, don’t pressure a response. Just treat him like any other possibly-traumatized foster kid. Tommy had been watching Skeppy as the officer sat down, but he looked at her when she spoke. “Officer Skeppy can wait a bit, I’m sure.”

 He seemed to consider it for a moment before answering. He was slightly pale, and his hands were shaking pretty badly. “The room,” he finally said. It was a good sign he was answering, at least.

Niki smiled. “Alright, follow me then.” She said, turning around. “It’s just down the hall and to the left here.” She’d done this over a dozen times by now. Besides, it was her own house, it’d be more surprising if the path wasn’t familiar. They quickly arrived at the door. It was a plain wooden door, same as the rest of the house. After checking Tommy was still behind her, Niki turned the handle and pushed the door open. The bed was pushed up against the wall opposite the door, leaving them facing the footboard as they walked in. A small nightstand was situated on the right side of the bed while on the left side of the room had a large dresser with a small chair next to it.

Niki was about to speak, but as she turned around she saw that Tommy had gone still, his gaze focused on the large mirror above the dresser. Niki winced internally. She almost always took the mirror down before a new kid came in, and then offered to put it back up after they had settled in for a few days. Tommy didn’t notice Niki’s displeasure with her mistake. His hand drifted up towards his face, his brows furrowed with that same unreadable expression. He carefully lifted the right side of his hair, gently running his fingers across the skin there.

Yeah that was weird. She continued to stand there awkwardly for a minute as he examined his appearance, checking different places on his arms and shoulders as well like he was looking for something. Finally Niki spoke up. “So, this is your room. I’m not sure exactly what you’re used to, but I hope this is alright. Do you want to settle in for now? I can go talk to the Officer for a minute.”

Tommy startled slightly, as if he’d forgotten she was there. He grabbed at something in the air, though Niki didn’t see any obvious thing for him to be grabbing for. He glanced at his hand in confusion before shaking his head and looking back towards her. “Yeah, you- you can go.” His voice shook slightly, but Niki wouldn’t comment on it.

“Alright, I’ll just be in the kitchen. If you need anything, just go there. I’ll come and knock on the door when me and the officer are done. Would you like me to close the door?” The only response she got was a quick nod. He didn’t take his eyes off her as she quickly made her way out, closing the door behind her. Finally alone, if only for a minute, Niki breathed a deep breath. She could already tell that this was going to be difficult. Nonetheless, she’d do what she could. Having taken a moment to collect herself, Niki made her way to the kitchen where Skeppy was waiting.

“Well?” Skeppy asked without preamble as she walked in. Niki sighed as she sat down across from him and he winced. “That bad, huh?”

She sighed, quickly going over what she’d noticed. “Where do I start? He’s got the feeling of a bomb about to go off, and the way he watches the room… well I’m sure you noticed that.” At Skeppy’s nod, she pulled out her notepad from her pocket, scribbling things down as she continued. “Aside from when he got distracted, he refused to take his eyes off me, as if he’s waiting for me to attack him. He’s constantly positioned like he’s ready to either run or hurt someone. He’s pale and shaking on top of all that.” She punctuated the last sentence with a slightly harder than necessary jab of her pen. “Skeppy what and who did you just hand me?”

Skeppy shook his head, his expression a mix of apologetic and slight worry. “That’s the thing Niki. I don’t know.” Niki was sure she looked like she’d eaten something sour. “There’s an on-going investigation, but we’re not expecting much if I’m being honest. We managed to do some DNA testing using some hair and found no matches anywhere. Labs said they’d never seen anything like it. The age he told us came back accurate, but otherwise? They’re not even sure he’s human.”

Niki blinked at him, her face going deadpan. “Skeppy,” She said, her voice tense in a way that made Skeppy very much aware of her displeasure. “Is there an alien in my house?”

“I don’t know, maybe?”

“…I fucking hate you.”

“I know.”

“Get out.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Chapter Text

With Tommy

They were gone. Tommy’s scars were gone. All of them. Every single one was gone. He didn’t look like himself. His face was the same, and that damned white strand hadn’t disappeared but without his scars… the wars had made him and now the reminders of his continued survival through it all were just gone. Tommy tore his gaze away from the mirror before he started to spiral any more than he already was.

Every move ‘Niki’ took had Tommy struggling not to flinch. She smiled, seemed bubbly, but so had the actual Niki been. She’d baked cookies, offered him some like everything was normal. It felt like early L’manburg days. That thought nearly made him sick. Those days deserved to buried and forgotten just like the people who once lived there.

Tommy forced himself to take in and let out a deep breath. He needed to figure out what to do, and fast. Facts first. He still had little to no idea where he was. That was the most important part. His communicator seemed to indicate that he was in a new server, but that didn’t make sense. No one had been able to find a way off the server in at least a couple of years, and he knew they’d tried. Second of all, this didn’t seem like a normal server. Not only were there clones of the actual SMPers, the portal hadn’t looked anything like what a normal server port did.

The first thought was an ‘alternate dimension’ like he’d first questioned, but with his mind now clear he threw that idea out. It was ridiculous and even if it was true, it wouldn’t get him anywhere. The second was limbo. He had been in limbo. This was not fucking limbo. Third, maybe this whole thing was Dream’s doing. Wouldn’t be the first time that bastard messed with the laws of reality. Four, this was some kind of weird nightmare. That was the most likely option, even if everything had felt pretty damn real so far.

Four different things that could be happening, and he didn’t like any of them. Tommy sighed, and turned his attention to the room at large. The first part in figuring out what was happening was to examine his surroundings. The mirror he’d been looking at was situated on top of a dark oak dresser with three drawers. Opening each of the drawers, he found nothing of interest. Well, except air. Air was interesting if you asked the scientists of the SMP. Supposedly. He’d never paid much attention to their rants.  

A bed was situated in the center of the room. Walking over to it, he pressed a hand down experimentally. It was quite plush, but didn’t have the slight scratchy texture he’d expect a wool bed to have. Pinching one of the sheets between his fingers, he found it to be quite thin if rather soft. That was fine for their current biome. Not that it mattered, though, since he planned to be out of here as soon as possible.

He walked around the bed and poked at the nightstand. Sitting on top of it was what looked like a mini wooden shaped pillar with some kind of cloth cap held away from the main body with a metal frame. It was similar to a redstone contraption he’d seen in Sam’s collections, though he couldn’t remember the purpose of it. His jaw clenched at the thought, and he went back to looking around. He crouched down to get a look at the rest of the stand. There was one large drawer taking up the entirety of the inside of the nightstand with a door that opened horizontally. It was similarly empty.  

Tommy was beginning to suspect there was nothing really in here other than the basic furniture. He stood, quickly walking over to a white door in the side of the room. A small closet. He sighed, closing it. There was nothing else in the room for him to look at.

 He turned, sweeping his gaze over the room. It was quiet, the hushed talking from the other room having stopped at some point while he was distracted. The silence was near suffocating. No muted kids shouting, no rambling, no explosions and shouted apologies, nothing. The server was never quiet, and yet here he was. Drowning in silence.

Tommy closed his eyes, forcing a deep breath through his nose. He needed a plan and he needed a plan fast. There was no window in the room, meaning he’d likely have to go back out the way he came in order to leave the Niki clone’s house. She’d offered him a tour earlier, and while he dreaded the idea of being around her longer than necessary, he needed to know the layout. More specifically, where he could expect her to be at any given time. If he could evade her and get out, he could start trying to figure out in earnest what was going on and how to get back to the SMP.

…did he want to get back? He shook his head at the thought. It didn’t matter what he wanted. He had to get back, if not for himself then at least for Shroud. Dream was probably on a rampage if the server got the message he’d left. The man didn’t know about the kids but that was only a thin wall of safety. He’d likely go to question Tubbo and Ranboo first, which was dangerous for everyone.

Steeling his resolve, Tommy went back to the door and opened it slowly. When no one leapt out to attack him he stepped out. The house wasn’t all that large, nothing like the maze that was the mansion. He quickly retraced his way back through it, arriving at the kitchen. A large pan was sitting on top of the counter, the smell wafting off of it sickeningly familiar. ‘Niki’ was mysteriously absent, and he half considered just making a run for the door right then.

There were two reasons he decided against that course of action however. One was that ‘Niki’ could be watching, testing him to get into his head. The other was that he wouldn’t be able to hide as easily in broad daylight. The area behind her house led back into the forest, or into another forest biome at least, which would provide him the cover he needed later on.

He turned back to the empty room after reluctantly tearing his eyes away from the door. It was a pretty typical setup, with cabinets attached to the ceiling and counters under them for preparing food. There was what looked like a slightly upgraded version of Tubbo and Ranboo’s smoker, something that Tubbo had invented that made it easier to cook using some redstone stuff. He’d lost the details by tuning out Tubbo’s ramble about it when he’d first made the thing.

There was a table a couple of yards away, surrounded by chairs. On it was something Tommy did not expect. ‘Niki’ had left her communicator on the table. Or at least what he assumed worked as one in this weird ass place. The screen glowed faintly, allowing him to just see a private chat.

Skeppy: Remember Niki, if you need anything just ask

Skeppy: Unless it’s information about your new alien child, then I can’t really do shit for you

Niki: If you have more to say you can just come back in you know, you haven’t even left the driveway

Skeppy: You told me to get out. Anyway, I’m sure it’ll be a fantastic challenge for your detective skills. If he starts making stuff float, try some duck tape! It’s usually pretty strong!

Niki: Why are you like this?

Skeppy: :3

Skeppy: Just let me, Bad, or Puffy know if you find out anything

So he was right to think they were trying to get information out of him. He could work with that. It told him they needed him alive, at least. Unless it was a trap of course, which was always a possibility.  Footsteps sounded from around a corner and Tommy jumped back away from the communicator. He turned just in for when ‘Niki’ stepped into view, who visibly startled when she saw him. “Oh, you’re out of your room.” She said, surprise evident in her tone. “Sorry, I was just going to the bathroom, I didn’t mean to leave you alone.”

Tommy’s jaw clenched. Her body language whispered of unease and distrust even if her tone was light. It was well masked. He’d quickly come to realize that this woman wasn’t without training. If he hadn’t been through as many negotiations as he had he likely would’ve missed it. Even so, she smiled. “Well since you’re here anyway, would you like to go over the rules of the house? They’re not that bad, I promise. I try not to be a dictator.” Her tone shifted to joking with her last sentence, but Tommy’s fists clenched as Schlatt’s manic grin flashed through his mind.

Her gaze flicked to his hands and her expression fell slightly. Tommy forced his hands to unclench before they gaze away any more weakness. “Sure,” he gritted out. It could only be about noon, which meant he had several hours he’d have to be walking on eggshells before he could escape. Knowing at least what was expected on the surface would make things easier. Do what they expect you to until they trust it enough to be surprised by a different move.

Her smile grew slightly. “Alright,” she moved towards the table, and then paused as if just remembering something. She turned towards him again. “Wait, Skeppy said you hadn’t eaten anything since before Puffy found you. Are you hungry? I can make food, I know you said no to cookies, but I can make pretty much anything else that I have ingredients for. Or we can order out, if you’d like.”

Tommy opened his mouth to let out a sharp decline to the offer, but paused as his stomach growled audibly. His face flushed red. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast the following day since he’d been out mining around lunch and neither him nor Tubbo had felt like taking a break to go get food since they’d forgotten to bring any. The problem, however, was that he couldn’t trust anything ‘Niki’ made. It could be poisoned, could be a trap so she could claim he owed her, could be anything. She’d already tried to kill him before (or a version of her had, at least). Besides, he’d gone longer without food before. He’d survive. The fact that his body was starting to complain already was unusual and rather annoying.  

If he didn’t eat, he couldn’t run though. Meaning he had little to no choice. “Order out?” he asked finally. He’d heard of practices like that on other servers, at least. Where food was made by a business and delivered. It wasn’t a common practice, and certainly not one Tommy had seen the process for.

‘Niki’ smiled again, nodding. “Fair enough,” she walked over to the table and picked up her communicator before powering it back on. Her back was to him, but he saw her hand tighten around it momentarily. It was still on the same screen, meaning she was looking at what ‘Skeppy’ had said. Tommy could feel his hands shaking and he forced them to still. Finally, ‘Niki’ turned around again after another moment. He could tell her smile was strained. “Alright, where do you want to order from?”

Chapter Text

Tommy abruptly decided he was never leaving. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He was still going to get out of this place as soon as he could. In the meantime though, he was going to eat as much of this food as he possibly could.

They’d gotten it from this place ‘Niki’ called Chick-fil-a. It wasn’t anywhere near as good as Ranboo’s cooking, very little was, but there was just something so delightful about it. Either that or it was the fact he hadn’t eaten in he didn’t even know how long right after he’d started to get used to having regular meals.

Tommy could see ‘Niki’ giving him small glances as he inhaled his chicken nuggets and each one made him want to punch her. He briefly considered the possibility that she poisoned the food, but he’d watched the entire process she’d gone through with ordering it from her communicator. Now that some of his earlier fear had faded, anger was left behind. Some random portal drags him away from the SMP and he ends up in a random place with clones of the people he knows. And he has to act nice to people he knows would turn on him at a moments notice because they could be dangerous.

The next time she glanced at him, he stopped eating. “What?” he finally snapped, trying and failing to keep hostility from creeping into his tone. ‘Niki’ startled, as if she hadn’t realized she’d been watching him, or that he’d seen her doing it. “Why do you keep looking at me?”

It was unlikely she’d give him an answer, but maybe she’d stop fucking looking at him. “Sorry.” ‘Niki’ gave him an awkward smile. “I just didn’t expect you to be so enthusiastic. Wherever you were before Puffy found you, you were getting food right?” Her tone suggested a joke, but there was a hint of concern in her eyes. Tommy recognized it for what it was though, a ploy for information.

“Yes, they did,” he replied bluntly. As if Tubbo and Ranboo would let him get away with not eating. Or, Tubbo wouldn’t at least. Ranboo often forgot too, leading to a lecture for the both of them from Tubbo. Tommy and Niki lapsed back into silence, eating without interruption. She’d at least stopped looking at him, which was good. He didn’t like people looking at him. It never brought good things.

They finished eating and Tommy watched the Niki clone clean the table back off quickly before sitting back down. They quickly went over the rules, which were relatively simple. There were only a couple that really stuck out to him:

1.       Any problems had to be talked through, aggression was not welcome. (The Niki clone had stressed this quite a bit. Even specifically mentioning that she wouldn’t hit him and he wouldn’t hit her. Tommy almost scoffed. Like she’d stick true to that.)

2.       He would be held reasonable for any actions he made. (You know, at least he wouldn’t be held responsible for a nation.)

3.       Curfew. He had to be at the house (she didn’t say home. He… appreciated that for some reason) before 10 everyday, earlier on school days. (he hadn’t gone to school in years. The SMP didn’t have school systems like many of the network servers did. Even if it had, Tommy was sure he wouldn’t have had time for it.)

4.       Stay vigilant when out and about. (Tommy would admit to his eyebrows raising about that. If there was one thing he knew how to do, it was how to be careful. You died if you weren’t.)

‘Niki’ asked if he had any rules he wanted her to follow after that. Like it mattered if he did. And she’d likely use anything he said against him. Besides, he didn’t plan to stay.

The tour was after that. Tommy memorized what he could. The Niki clone’s room was down the hall and to the right of the room she’d provided for Tommy. It wasn’t far per say, but it wasn’t right next to the room either. He’d still have to be careful and mute his steps as much as possible, however. He frequently had to stop himself from asking questions. The less he said the better. ‘Niki’ was already digging for information.

The rest of the day passed quickly. ‘Niki’ mostly left Tommy to his own devices, which was most definitely to his benefit. The less time he had to spend with her, the better. It also left him time to try to figure out the solution to his many many problems.

He needed to make it back onto the server. Unless Dream had un-whitelisted him for some reason, he wouldn’t have. He liked his toy too much, then he should be able to make it onto the server. Most likely, he needed to go back to where that weird portal had spat him out. That had to have been spawn right? The portal didn’t look like a server port and it definitely didn’t act like one with the whole disintegration thing, but it was his best lead.

When night finally fell, Tommy wouldn’t say he was nervous. Honestly he felt calm. It was the calm that settled over your mind during war once the pre-battle jitters faded. That space where you felt like you had everything and nothing to lose. His hands curled into fists as he shook his head. He needed to focus. His communicator said it was almost midnight. Exhaustion tugged at his bones like a nagging child. A combination of stress and inability to rest soundly the night before had made his tiredness much worse than it should’ve been.

Not that it mattered. He could rest when he was dead, that was what Wilbur and Techno had always said, when he got home. With that thought, Tommy forced himself to move. He’d never been the quietest of people, but he’d had him moments. He avoided the squeaky floorboards as he went to the room’s door and eased it open. He tensed for a moment, as if expecting an ambush. When none came, he stuck his head out the door and looked both ways down the hallway.

The coast was clear. Tommy let out a quiet breath. Sneaking around was nerve racking, no matter what circumstances it was in. Having to do so always made him have a new appreciation for Tubbo’s work for Pogtopia. His hands twitched as if to curl into fists.

He slowly crept towards the door, checking behind him as he went. Every muscle in his body was tense. He’d had all the time in the world to consider the misfortunes of his current situation, now would likely be his only chance to act. One shot. That was all he’d ever gotten for anything and all he ever would. The world liked to punish the ones who failed that shot.

It was almost anticlimactic to reach the front door. Undoing the small chain lock, Tommy risked one more glance behind him as he turned the doorknob. This felt too easy-

An alarm blared as he opened the door. His eyes widened, and he jumped back from it. It was too late, however. Loud and fast footsteps pounded down the hallway, and Niki- ‘Niki’ rounded the corner. They both froze, locking eyes for just a single moment.

And then he bolted out the door.

With Karl

Tommyinnit had made it off server. Tommyinnit, had made it, off server. Everyone was in an uproar. News had spread fast, and no one knew how he'd managed it. Dream had sealed the way on and off server almost three and a half years earlier. No one was supposed to even be able to contact anyone outside, much less leave.

Karl twisted the silver engagement band on his ring finger. Dream had been silent, but it was unlikely that would last long. If Karl had to guess, the man would be paying a visit to Snowchester. Based off of what Karl had seen in chat, Ranboo and Tubbo knew something about what had happened and so there would be a good place to look. Karl looked down at his hands, noticing the nervous tick he'd started. He pursed his lips at the sight, letting his hand fall to his sides. There was no point worrying about it.

The streets of Kinoko were empty, as they usually were. It wasn't an odd sight, but it still felt… empty? There was no chattering of people, no conversations overlaying each other until it was an indistinguishable din, no people rushing to and fro, nothing. It was just silent. Karl found that he didn't like silence. Liked it less and less and time went on.

There were people scattered around, Karl knew that, but he couldn't be bothered to go seek them out. Things were going to get very busy soon. That much was sure.

Karl turned back towards his library. He wanted to spend some time at home. It was unlikely he'd get much time to in the coming days. He glanced around, and then slid the ring off his finger and placed it in his inventory as he made his way back to his house.