Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Ah…” Tommy smiled to himself laying on his seat, legs crossed, black sunglasses on and a can of coke in his hand. This truly was something.

He was living his best life. If someone had told him three years ago that he would be so famous and own a whole plane he'd think that person was mental, yet here he is! Flying home in his own god damn plane! And now that he ended season one of Dream SMP he had all the time in the world to himself. He could focus on other things without stressing himself with writing plot for his character! Isn't life just amazing?

Tommy was scrolling through his phone exchanging text messages with his friends taking a sip from his coke from time to time. Suddenly the whole plane shook causing him to furrow his brows. He raised his glasses. “Everything ‘lright?”

“My apologies, there appears to be—“ his private pilot was cut off by another violent shake and a nasty sound of scratching metal. “…a bit of a problem. We were hit, Mr. Simons”

“Hit? By what?” Tommy was completely bewildered. Why would someone hit them!?

“It’s… hard to explain, sir. I think it would be better if you see it for yourself…” The pilot pointed to a relatively big shark themed mech throwing something similar to bath bombs. Tommy’s jaw dropped.

What. Was. That!?

He had so many questions roaming through his head yet so little time and no one who could possibly answer them for him. So he just kinda… stood there.

That wasn’t for long thought, the pilot quickly stood up and run outside grabbing him along the way as one of the ‘bath bombs’ was thrown their way. Tommy barely set his foot outside the crushed plane when the bomb hit it causing a big, loud explosion and setting it on fire. Tommy was thrown forward with a strength he had never felt before, he soon landed a few feet away hitting the ground hard. He groaned feeling hot pain all over his body, but mostly his head and legs. His vision became blurry and the fact that everything was spinning wasn't helping either. He was almost certain he heard screaming but it was distant, as if his head was underwater, though the ringing in his ears stated otherwise. He smelt fire and something burnt, but worst of all he could taste blood.

Iron sweet, red liquid slowly make its way down his face letting him know how the explosion managed to damage him.

He lightly turned his body, groaning some more and cursing in pain as he did so, finally gaining some space between his face and the now blood covered ground. Tommy looked at the red, wet spot cringing in disgust, he then whimpered in pain as his broken nose decided it was the best moment to officially make its presence known.

Then, throughout all the chaos he heard a voice close to him. “Water, Ice, I need a little help. There’s two people, one of them is a teenager…” Tommy froze, slowly he opened his eyes again and looked at the figure before him. He blinked a few times hoping to clear his vision. “He’s conscious, but I don’t think that’ll be for long”, the voice sounded slightly irritated but there was a small line of worry to it. Tommy moved his head ever so slightly. Soon the fully black figure kneeled down. “Hi buddy, don’t worry, the help has arrived. I’m going to pick you up, alright?”

He wanted to protest but the figure’s soft demeanor made him feel like he truly was in good hands. Those hands slowly, and as carefully as a mother holding her child for the very first time, went under his upper torso gently lifting it up and then under his knees as he was completely lifted of the ground without much pain.

Was Tommy fucking dead?

There’s no way someone could EVER be able to pick someone as painless as this after a fucking explosion!! No human at least. So he must have died and an angel was taking him to his afterlife. Who knows, maybe he had just met his guardian angel.

“Woah!” Tommy heard another voice. Opposite to him and the black figure stood two more, one gray and the other white. “Hold up, there were only two?”, asked a feminine voice, unfortunately Tommy was unable to tell which one of the figures spoke. And his fuzzy vision made it impossible to judge by their appearance.

“That’s why I asked for you two’s help, no?”, the black figure sounded annoyed again. “Imma take them to a hospital, be back as fast as I can” No more words were exchanged, the figure holding Tommy only made its way to its vehicle. He struggled more and more with keeping his eyes open, his conscious threatening to leave him at any given second. “You can rest, sleep will make you good anyway”

Without further questioning Tommy closed his eyes and went fast asleep.

***

When Tommy finally regained his conscious he was quick to try and open his eyes. His eyelids felt extremely heavy but after a few tries he managed to open them. The room was dark, although he managed to make out the white ceiling even if it was somewhat gray. He looked to his sides, first only his eyes, then he slowly turned his head in one of the directions. On his left was a neatly made bed and a door, yellow light peeking onto the floor, occasionally shadows breaking the straight line informing of the other people walking outside that awfully dull room. He turned his head to the other side. One more neatly made bed and an open window, a light breeze moving the paper thin curtains ever so slightly. He fully focused on the dark blue sky of the night and tiny, white, sparkly spots decorating it.

This room really had nothing more to offer, nothing special as least. Opposite to where he laid were three more beds, a small nightstand on one of the sides to each of them, folded green-blue curtains ready to be unfolded whenever someone wanted to have more privacy. But there were nobody else but him. Tommy turned to the side fully, his bed squeaking underneath his weight.

He had to admit that he was feeling remotely better. Sure, he still was feeling a bit of pain with every movement but he would live. His left leg was a little worse though, not forgetting about the nose. Tommy couldn't help but wrinkle it purposefully. He quickly stopped and placed a hand over it feeling pain, not that he hadn't expected it…

“This is the one”

Tommy stiffen hearing a voice behind the door. Sure, it was normal to hear people talk in a hospital, nurses leading normies like himself to their family and friends, but that should not be the case. He was alone in this room and the only person that would look for him could be his pilot, but since he was in just as bad shape as he was it couldn’t possibly be him.

He held his breath when he heard a soft ‘click’ of the opening door. “Ma’am, are you sure about this?”

“Yes, absolutely”

“Alright”, the nurse sighed giving up on trying to convince the other woman. “There’s a chair in the corner, let me get it for you, Ma’am”

“Oh no, no need. I can handle myself, thank you” The mysterious woman that came to him sounded just as nice as the black figure he had met earlier that day, or was it yesterday already? Tommy heard the door closing and a chair being  placed on the right side of his bed as quietly as possible, not to disturb his ‘sleep’. He turned on his back and faced her. “Oh! You’re awake! How did you sleep, honey?”

Tommy furrowed his brows a little. “Why are you here… Miss?” Even if he was suspicious of the woman sitting beside him he still didn’t want to be rude. It wasn't one of his friends and it was evident that she was worried about him, which was weird… but he’d heard of parental instincts so that could be the case.

“I got here as fast as I heard the news. I’m so sorry, sunshine! I knew my ex-husband was crazy but I never thought he would actually hurt children!”

“I’m sorry, what!?” Tommy stared at her as if she was crazy, there was no way that this sweet woman and the person behind the weird shark robo-thing were exes! Well, maybe there was, perhaps it would be weird if they were still together.

The woman frowned. “Then when I got here I heard from the nurses that they couldn't find your guardians and I thought…“, she didn’t dare to end. Tommy could read the room though.

“My parents are fine, they’re at home. I flew this plane on my own, well, with my pilot, but I’m sure he’s fine too” He really hope so, how else was he supposed to get back? Not that he was able to anyway, at least not for some time.

“That still means you have nowhere to stay…”

“Not necessarily” Tommy turned towards her fully. “I can just buy a hotel room”

“But you need someone to take care of you!”, the woman was quick to protest, worry was both heard in her voice and written all over her posture, especially her face. “Please, allow me to offer you a place in my home”

Tommy was stunned, it took a few seconds for him to be able to speak again. “Woah, woah! I- I can’t! It’s really nice of you, Miss, but I can’t accept that!”

“I insist, after all that’s the best I could do to make my ex-husband's behavior up to you”

“No- I-“ Tommy took a breath through his nose, he regretted it quickly but decided to ignore the burning pain. “Let me be completely honest with you, Miss, you don’t want me in your house. I- I’m- I tend to be a bit much…”

She chuckled lightly. “I’m a mother, I think I can handle a nice young man like you. You kind of remind me of my son, but he’s more shy than you are”

“I- Uh- Th-thank you, Miss…” He would think he was used to hearing complement all thanks to his… fame, but somewhat his cheeks started to warm up. Tommy didn’t have a heart to tell her about his all out loud nature.

“You can call me Koko, sweetie”, she smiled brightly at him, for a moment Tommy thought that her smile literally lit up the room. He blinked, maybe his vision was getting all messed up again.

“Tommy…”

“So, Tommy, what do you say? Will you stay with us until you can go back home?”

“I… I don’t really have a choice, do I?”, he asked as nicely as he could sending a small smile her way. Koko quickly returned the smile, but her was much bigger.

“You should get some rest now. I bet it was a hard day for you” Tommy only hummed in response. He may have been in pain but it wasn't as bad as the stress he'd experience while writing his lore. He really was grateful for the patience of his viewers and their understanding, sure, there were a few ‘special cases’ but most of his community was absolutely amazing. Tommy truly loved making all of his fans smile, unironically it always put a smile on his own face, knowing he made someone’s day a bit better.

Falling asleep took a few minutes this time but eventually he drifted away into the realm of dreams.

Chapter Text

Koko stayed with Tommy throughout the whole night, leaving only once and then coming back not even an hour later. When he woke up she was quick to bombard him with questions considering his wellbeing and if he remember they conversation. To say Tommy was overwhelmed is an understatement, even the nurse pleaded the orange haired woman to give him some space. After a brief talk-through of the teen’s condition (he had to assure both women that his low blood pressure wasn’t made by the explosion, he didn’t even understand how that would be possible) the nurse left, Koko shortly after her leaving Tommy some clothes, that’s when he learned about her nightly walk to her home.

He was hesitant at first, living in one’s home was one thing but borrowing their clothes? But his own clothes were pretty much burned so with a reassurance that he only have to wear them until they get him his own clothes Tommy started to change. Koko left him a pair of black trousers, nothing special there, a white t-shirt with adorable cartoon kitties on it and a zip-up green hoodie with a badass dragon on its back. He might have fanboy over the dragon a little, but we won’t talk about that…

So apparently Tommy was supposed to get out in a few hours, from what he heard there was just some paperwork that needed to be done before that, not much of a surprise, he was going home with a woman who not only wasn’t this family but whom he was a complete stranger to after all. Oh, and her ex is a fucking villain too. You know, the norm.

Tommy wasn’t badly hurt, his nose was in place so it shouldn’t be a problem, unless he’d do something stupid, but he was under the impression that as soon as he was officially under Mrs. Koko’s wing he wouldn’t get a chance to, unless he’d really try. Thankfully he’s left leg wasn’t broken, only twisted. Now all he had left to do was playing on his phone until something actually happens. “So, what were those weird teletubbies that got me here yesterday?”, he asked to end the silence. It was somewhat weird when he didn’t talk to the woman he was supposed to live with for fuck-knows-how-long.

“Oh, those were the ninja. They’re our saviours”

“So, they fight your ex?”

Koko shrugged with a small smile. “That’s their job. If it wasn’t for them more people would get hurt” Her smile turned into a frown as she sighed. “I still can’t believe he’d actually hurt a minor…”, she shook her head disappointedly.

“I’m fine, Miss Koko”

“Koko is enough, Tommy” She sent him another one of those reassuring smiles. He looked up from his phone causing his in-game character to die.

“I still don’t think it’s a good idea…”

“We’ll be fine, honey”

“No I- You said you have a son” Tommy sat up on his bed, legs crossed as if he was about to meditate.

Koko acknowledge this attempt of changing the topic and laughed softly. “I sure do. Like I said, he’s similar to you but he’s really shy. I hope he managed to get through the morning without me. I know he can take care of himself but you know how mothers are”

Both of them laughed. “Yeah. So…”

“Anything else you wanna know?”

“I mean, I’m still kinda hanged up on those ninja. What are they like? How exactly do they fight?” Tommy put his head on one of his hands tilting it slightly and supporting it on his leg.

“Well, there’s six of them, each a different color. There’s Earth, the black ninja, all that we really know about him is that he likes music”

“I’ve been saved by the right guy” Koko sent him a questioning look so he quickly explained, “I’m quite found of music. Not really a musician myself but a lot of my friends make their own songs”

The woman chuckled. “That’s sweet. Ice, the white ninja, he’s the most mysterious, some people think he’s an android”

“Poggers!!” Tommy’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Water, the gray ninja, the only girl in the team but perhaps the most ‘badass’ as your generation like to call it” She sent him a look, warm smile never leaving her face.

“I personally prefer to say ‘girlboss’ “ He said without thinking much of it, Koko seem to feel comfortable talking to him and he did too.

“Fire, the red ninja, always stealing the spotlight. People though he was a prick at first but it quickly became obvious that though loving all the given attention he truly want what’s best for our city”

“Now this sounds like someone I would get along with” Tommy smiled, almost proudly.

“Somehow I can’t picture you acting as boldly as him, assuming that everyone should pay their attention only to you because your famous” Koko smile became even more soft, his cheeks began to warm up again.

“M-maybe I’m not as bad…”, he said looking to the side. This only caused the woman to let out another soft chuckle.

“Lightning, the blue ninja, he tends to panic a lot, but though his action tend to be more chaotic thanks to that, he’s still just as good as the rest”

“Sounds like another friend or two of mine”, his mind quickly drifted to Ranboo and Tubbo, he smiled to himself.

“Lastly, there’s the Green ninja, the leader. Everyone looks up to him the most”

“Huh. Why is his name a color and not some sort of element like the others? Why are they called like the elements in the first place!?”

“Well, this is where it get really interesting actually. All of the ninja have superpowers” Tommy gasped.

“Powers!? Like real magical powers!?”, he practically jumped in his spot scooting himself closer to the bed frame, now even more interested in color-coded figures.

“Yes”, Koko laughed a little.

“No way!! So their names are based of their element?”

Koko nodded humming, “Mhm”

“So what power does the green one have?”

“No one really knows, the ninja themselves never seem to know either. It’s a green ball of light”

“That’s sick…” Tommy was in awe. Sure, few of his friends were, like, literally Gods but he never seen someone magical. So much had happen in the span of less than 24 hours, Tommy wondered what kind of thing is he going to experience next. He had a few guesses though…

The nurse finally arrived and, after a quick reminder of how they (Tommy) should take care of his health, they slowly made their way out and towards the closest clothes shop. As horrible as it sounds Tommy was surprised by the lack of attention. He was popular, there was no question to it, so when nobody came up to him along their way he was more than confused. Fans always come up to him on the streets asking for a photo, to sign something or just to say ‘hi’ and ask about his day, he enjoyed it, his fans were so nice. Yes, there were the ‘special cases’ but they were rare (thank the Blade). At first he thought that maybe they didn’t want to bother him since he got hurt, no one beside him, Koko, the hospital staff and maybe ninja knew he wasn’t in a bad condition and, in fact, went from the accident mostly unharmed, but this seem unrealistic. He’d think that taking that into the picture would make his fans come up to him even more asking if he was okay.

But no one did. Their trip to the store and then to Koko’s apartment complex was suspiciously uneventful. Nobody seem to bother.

Oh well, maybe that was for the better.

As they arrived at the right door Koko pulled out her keys and opened them letting the teen inside, he was quick to look around. Right where they entered was a semi-opened space with two doorframes in front of one another, a hallway with exactly four doors, two on both sides, and a window at the end of that hallway. Tommy was smart enough to figure that at least two of them were bedrooms and one was a bathroom, the fourth one however was a mystery. A separate toilet, perhaps? Or an office like he had back at his home. Looking to the right through the doorframe, with no door in sight, he saw a small living room. A remotely big sofa right by the wall, a coffee table in front of it, a TV on the opposite side, a bookcase and a few plants and paintings. Tommy turned is head and walked through the left doorframe as he saw a kitchen, he set one of the bags that he was carrying on the counter. It was a totally normal kitchen, fridge, stove, microwave, few counters, trash bin and a table with six chairs.

“Man, this place sure is tidy”, said Tommy with something similar to impression in his voice.

Koko chuckled slowly getting thing out of the bag. “If there’s rules in this house the it would be ‘keeping the shared space clean’. As long as the kitchen, living room, bathroom and corridor are clean I don’t care how much of a mess is in the bedrooms”

“That’s a cool rule…” Tommy’s mind went back to the time when he was spending a few night at his friends house, any of them really. Everything was pure chaos, some of it to his own credit, but he wasn't necessarily proud of it, not after he was the one left with the mess after the sleepover at his place.

Koko started to put things into the fridge, wanting to compensate his stay here Tommy was quick to follow her asking where each thing should go. The both of them quickly emptied the bag, just then the woman’s phone started to ring. She looked at it and furrowed her brows. “Give me a minute, sweetie” She smiled his way and picked up the call. “Yes?” Tommy immediately felt awkward, should he leave? Koko frowned, “Uh, like… now?” He started to look into the second bag where his clothes were remembering how hard convincing the orange haired woman that he can pay for himself was. “Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes”, Koko sighed.

Tommy’s eyes went to her figure. “Is everything okay?”

She looked at him and sent him an apologetic smile. “Yes, just a work call. I’m sorry, but I have to go”

“Nah, it’s fine”

Koko put a hand on his head. “You’re an amazing kid, Tommy” He stared at her in shock as she grabbed her handbag and want for the front door. “Make yourself at home!”

And with that Tommy was left alone. He quickly grabbed his phone and started to take care of things. He needed his plane fixed so one of the first things he done was googling some type of mechanic to do just that. Before he was able to get that handled his pilot called him, Tommy obviously picked up. The two of them talked for a few minutes and then Tommy bought him a hotel room via internet, the pilot was Tommy’s employee after all and Tom had more than enough to pay for literally anything. Also, he would be dead if it wasn’t for him.

Unless Techno had something to say about it.

Tommy put his hand on the table to support his head while he scrolled through his phone still trying to find someone to fix his plane. His aimless, almost blank staring at his screen was interrupted by a sudden, weird feeling on his hand that was supporting his head. He looked at his palm with furrowed brows and then he  turned it to look at the other side. There, on the top of his hand was… a big ass spider. This black, scary looking, little monster was the size of his palm!

“Why hello” Tommy was unamused, and even if, it was in a positive way. He put his phone aside and pet this suspiciously purple-eyed little monster. Perhaps not the smartest idea but nothing happened so he guessed it was fine.

“Woah…” Tommy looked up hearing a feminine voice. In the doorframe stood a girl around his age with long white hair and gray eyes, she looked impressed. “You know, normally when people see him they scream like little frighten children and run away”

“I don’t see why” He shrugged continuing to pet the spider. “He seem like a nice gentleman. What’s his name?”

“Zippy”

“Nice. And what’s your name?”, he asked, his eyes returning to the pet.

“Rumi. I mean, Ha-rumi, but I rather go by Rumi. And you?”

“TommyInnit. Koko never mentioned she had a daughter…” He looked up again, sending a suspicious glance her way. As soon as his right hand left the spider alone it started to make its way up his arm.

“Well”, the girl sat down. “I’m very much adopted” She looked annoyed by that fact.

“That’s a weird explanation…” Tommy furrowed his brows. He might know Koko for less than a day but he was certain she wouldn’t exclude someone from her family just because they were adopted. Hell, she kinda adopted him!

Rumi smiled. “Yeah, no shit. No but seriously, she just know I don’t really like attention and that I can handle myself, better than Lloyd anyway…”

“So there are three bedrooms…” Tommy muttered to himself, Zippy now on top of his blond locks.

Rumi snort. “Yeah!”

The two of them (or should I say three?) spent the next few hours talking about anything that came to their mind. Tommy was yet again surprised by the lack of bigger acknowledgement after he introduced himself with his internet pseudo. But that was fine, not literally everyone on Earth had to know who he is, and he was actually happy that he wouldn’t he living with a fan. At least not one that is a girl, that would be awkward.

Tommy learned a few things. Apparently Rumi was adopted by none other than the villain himself! Thank to that Tommy learned his name, no, actually… was this his name? This dude called himself ‘Lord Garmadon’ and the ‘Garmadon’ part was also everyone’s surname…? Fucking confusing if you ask Tommy. Anyway, the pet spider was also a present from this guy! I mean at this point Tommy kind of expected that…

Rumi wasn’t bothered by the non-stopping attacks that her adoptive dad was in charge of, but that could be because he was homeschooled and practically never left the house. She denied that and in a offended tone stated that she DID leave the house, she just preferred to stay home because everyone was mean to Zippy, which Tommy only rolled his eyes to.

Finally he asked when Koko would be back, not that Rumi was a bad companion but she was similar to Wilbur and the longer they talked the more insults were thrown both ways turning their chill talk into something closer to an argument. “Oh, well…”, the girl looked to the side. “She works two jobs, so usually she sleeps from 4 to 8, then go to her first job, then gets back home at around 14:30, stay till 21:30 doing whatever and then she goes to her second job staying there until 4”

Tommy blinked. “What!?”

“Yeah… It’s not like that every day, but most of the week she spends running on 4 hours of sleep… Well, maybe more but I never seen her sleep in the day”

“Bet you never leave your room, weirdo”, Tommy snort crossing his arms. He quickly frowned. “They must pay her shit if she has two jobs…”

“I mean, she was married to the dude who’s destroying the city every few days so… I guess that makes sense??” Rumi furrowed her brows annoyed. “People raise price of whatever if we want to buy it and lower the pay if we work for them. Everyone’s like this”, she growled angrily.

“WHAT!?”

Tommy too was angry, how could someone do that? That’s fucking awful! It wasn’t their fault! Turns out this city was full of real life canon Dreams and Schlatts. Blade, were they all heartless here?

He looked at the clock. “When does your brother come back from school?”

Rumi smiled his way. “Bored already?”

“Just shut up and answer my question”, he muttered still being unhappy from the previous topic.

“School ends at 15 but he’s also working so he’ll be around 20”

Tommy furrowed his brows, Zippy finally getting of his hair and quickly making its way to its owner. “How come everyone work but you?”

“I’m not living here rent free if that’s what you’re worried about. I have my own money” Rumi’s full attention was on her pet spider, gently petting it as it lied in her hand.

“And it just magically appeared?” He raised a brow.

She snort, “Maybe”

And just like that their conversation came to an end. Tommy half-lied on the table watching the spider being pet. His eyes slowly drifted to look back at the clock.

“Do you know any good mechanics?”

Chapter Text

Tommy changed his clothes to something that was more of his style. A pair of light brown jeans, a black t-shirt with three white hearts – one realistic, one cartoonish and one pixelated,  he kept the hoodie though. This golden dragon was really cool.

When that was done he went out making Rumi promise that she’ll tell Koko he was out if he didn’t return before the woman did. He looked at his phone and started to slowly make his way to the address the girl had given him. His left leg hurt with every move so this was literally a slow and painful experience.  “Why the fuck do you fucking live in the opposite side of the fucking city!?”, Tommy shouted annoyed. Some of the people walking on the street looked at him as if he was insane, he promptly ignored them. Kind of limping on one leg he walked on the sidewalk, people giving him weird stares, whispering to each other and everyone basically got out of his way cringing. What was their fucking problem?

Tommy, having had enough of this bullshit, started to glare at everyone that acted weirdly while he was passing them. In the corner of his eye he caught a red blur. He stopped in his track and went a few steps back stopping in front of a shop window looking at the can of coke. He was quick to go into the store to go and get it. As Tommy stood in the line, only one person before him, he started to feel… weird. He knew this feeling though, someone was staring at him. He nonchalantly looked at the cashier, nope. Ho looked out the window, nope again. That left only one option, whoever was staring at him must have been behind him.

The person in front of him left with their groceries and he decided to ignore that feeling as he stepped forward and put his coke can on the counter. One ‘beep’ and a card swipe later Tommy was outta there. He walked down the street sipping his coke but that feeling didn’t go away. “Great, now what?”, he thought to himself. Did someone finally recognized him? If so, they were a total creep by just staring and not ta—

“Uh, excuse me?” Tommy stopped as he felt someone lightly poking his shoulder and hearing a suspiciously familiar voice. Turning around he was meet by a tall, dark skinned boy around his age with shoulder length fluffy raven hair and chocolate eyes. “Uh, are you okay? I’ve seen you in the news, your plane crashed, right?”

This voice…

Why did Tommy knew this voice?

He was certain he had heard it before but couldn’t remember where… “Yep, that’s me, the one and only TommyInnit. I’m fine, thanks for asking” He decided to ignore this weird déjà vu and sipped on his sweet drink. “Hey, a little advice, next time you wanna talk to someone just do it and don’t stare at them like some kind of creep”

“Oh, my bad. Didn’t mean it like that…” He scratched his neck looking to the side slightly embarrassed.

“It’s fine. Hey, by the way, do you know any shortcuts to this place?” Tommy showed him his phone.

The raven haired looked at the screen before answering, “ ‘Walker's workshop’? There’s no real shortcut there…”

“Aw man”, he wanted to swear but contained himself from doing so.

“But there’s the subway. And it would be better for your leg anyway, I can take you to it if you want”

“Yeah, that sound like a good idea” Tommy muttered more to himself than the other teen. “Thanks, uh…”

“Cole” He smiled warmly.

“Thanks for the help, Cole”

Cole laughed a little. “I didn’t do anything yet, man” And so the two of them started walking, the raven haired teen slightly in the front, he was showing the way and Tommy still was limping after all. They talked along their way, obviously, only creeps want to stay in total silence while walking with someone. Cole was a really cool dude, and he reacted like a normal person when Tommy told him he was staying with Garmadon’s family! Maybe this city isn’t completely doomed…

The higher teen, how the fuck dare he by the way, was into music and apparently could play a guitar. “Why am I always meeting Wilbur’s 2.0? At this point the next thing you’ll tell me is that you make songs too!”

“Uh, I don’t make songs per se, but I do mix music sometimes”

“That’s fucking enough…” Tommy could only sigh. “So, about that music shop?”

“Ah, yea! Well there’s not much to it to be honest, my dad owns it and I help from time to time, nothing special” Cole shrugged. “You have something in mind?”

“I mean, if I’m going to be here for a while the best thing I can do is buy my friends some presents, right? And half of them are really into music” Tommy was going to meet Wilbur when he comes back anyway, while staying at Jimmy’s secret base he got an amazing idea for a vlog…

After a few minutes they finally arrived, Cole made sure to give Tommy his number, the blond teen semi-officially making actual plans to visit the other's dad’s music shop, then they waited together for a train and waved goodbye as it set off with Tommy in it.

The train was mostly empty. He guessed it was only natural, no one really lived in the part of the city that was practically outside the city.

For a few minutes everything was normal, then he felt that feeling again. Tommy looked up from his phone and was quickly met with a pair of electric blue eyes staring at him with something similar to shock. “Uh—“

“Hello, Tommy. Excuse my friend for ‘staring like a creep’ “, said the teen next to the boy staring at him, he had baby blue eyes, white hair standing like a fucking block and an unhealthy, almost white skin tone. He looked like he was dead. The brown haired teen elbowed him. “Excuse me. Hello” He waved while his friend facepalmed.

“Hi…” Tommy said with hesitation. What was wrong with his fans in this city? I mean, they live with real life canon Dreams and Schlatts so that could be the case. They stared at each other for a while, Tommy’s eyes jumping from one teen to the other. The brunette looked to the side avoiding eye contact while the white haired smiled at him and waved again. Tommy waved back. “So… what’re your names?”

“Hi, I’m Zane!”, the white haired greeted him for the third time causing Tommy to furrow his brows in confusion. “And this is my friend Jay!” Zane pointed to the brunette who put his hood on and sink in his seat groaning.

“Nice meeting you two… Uh, next time you want to talk to someone don’t be weird about it. I understand that you were nervous but if you wanna say ‘Hi’ then just say it, ‘kay?” Wow, if this continue to be like this Tommy will become a personal do-not-act-like-a-creep trainer.

“Sorry…” Jay apologized in a half whisper taking his hands off his face showing his now pink cheeks. “Cole said that you’re going to my grandparents and I was debating if I should ask you if you want to come with us since we’re heading there anyway”

“Oh, neat! I’m all out for that!” At that Jay smiled a little. The three of them talked, you know, like normal people do. Tommy quickly expressed his annoyance when Zane told him to stop swearing, another BBH, great…

Anyway, the way to the workshop was… weird to say the least. Jay was kind of awkward and then he started making jokes that could only make him and maybe Ranboo smile. Zane on the other hand was, uh… Let’s just say he was strange, like, hella strange. This guy was acting like some sort of alien or some shit like that, but he was overall nice so Tommy didn’t voice that thought. This was a long way, cause again, Tommy was limping on one leg. He slowly started to regret this trip, with every passing minute his leg hurt even more, but he tried to ignore the pain.

They finally, fucking FINALLY, arrived at their destination, Tommy almost fell down after stepping through the door. “Hey, Ma, Pa! I bought guests!”, Jay yelled cupping his mouth.

From a room with no door to all three of the teens her way made a remotely small woman with gray-brown hair tied up in a bun and hazel eyes behind a pair of glasses. “Jay, my sweet boy!” The teen laughed nervously looking to the side as his grandmother hugged him. “Nice seeing you again, Zane!” She hugged the other teen, then her eyes landed on Tommy. “Who’s your new friend?”

“Ma, this is Tommy. He also needs Pa’s help fixing something”

The woman grabbed his hand and started to shake it with a bright smile. “Welcome, sunshine! Make yourselves at home boys, I’ll go get Ed”

Tommy quiet awkwardly followed he teens to a living room or something that was at least part of that. On the left side of that room was a big bed, a small sofa chair in front of it, next to all that was a big table and a big TV on the right. Zane took a chair at the table while Jay went to sit on the bed leaving Tommy to the small sofa chair. The shortest teen, with Tommy being in the middle of the spectrum now, grabbed a TV remote and turned the big screen on jumping between channels for a while before settling on one of them. Looking at the characters walking through a hall full of moving paintings the blond was able to figure out what the other boy settled for.

“Someone was looking for me?”, asked an average height man with white-gray hair and dark blue eyes. Tommy quickly stood up.

“Mr. Walker?”

“Please call me Ed. No need for formalities” The man smiled.

“Well, okay. Can you fix a plane?”

Ed scratched his head in confusion. “Plane?”

“Yes. I need it fixed to go back home and my…” Tommy furrowed his brows. “One of my hosts said that I should ask for your help with that. So, can you fix planes?” He looked at the man with pleading eyes.

“Uh, yeah, I can see what I can do”

“I can help too!” Jay raised his hand offering his help.

“But this will cost… I don’t want to scare you, son, but this would be a really pricey thing. Just so we’re on the same page ‘ere, you’re that kid from the plane that crashed in the middle of the city, right?”

“I know, I’m famous…” He said that on instinct, Jay started laughing as his eyes widen. “I mean-! Yes, I am. And I know it will be pricey…” His cheeks were pink but he decided to ignore that.

Ed promised to take care of Tommy’s plane and walked out wishing them a good time. The three of them were left semi-alone to watch Harry Potter and do whatever. Edna, as Tommy learned after a while thanks to his good manners, visited them from time to time asking if they needed anything. At one point Jay went to talk to her as Zane was given a block of color papers and started to do origami. “Woah…” Tommy stared in awe at the paper rose.

Zane smiled his way. “Want me to make you something?”

“Hm… can you do a bird? But not a swan just… something else that is a bird” The teen nodded and less than a minute later he handed the shorter teen a perfectly done origami bird. “Thank you” He smiled, this bird wasn’t for him of course, as much as he was amazed by that he knew damn well this would get destroyed in his room as, well, anything that was fragile and in his possession, but it would make a great gift!

Tommy stayed with them for a while longer and then he headed to the subway accompanied by both teens as he was unfamiliar with the city. Now, equipped in one more phone number and a paper bird, he was sitting in the train praying to his friend that he will get out on the right stop, he’d hate to call Koko for her help. Tommy stepped outside the subway where he though was close to Koko’s apartment based on the map in his phone and started to look for a way home.

To no luck.

He looked at his phone checking the time, it was a little past 19, no fucking wonder everything was gray-blue as fuck . “Fuck…”

“Yo, you lost?”, asked a voice behind him. Tommy turned around looking at yet another teenage boy, this time with spiky brown hair, he looked like a fucking hedgehog! “Wait, you’re that kid from the news!”

“Names TommyInnit. Do you know how to get…” Tommy typed the address on his phone. “here?”

The teen looked at his screen with furrowed brows and Tommy could see how gears moved inside his brain as his eyes started to widen with realization. “You live with Lloyd!?”

“I don’t even know that dude yet…” He muttered to himself.

“Bro, you got like, the best person ever. Lloyd’s my bestie!”

“Good for you. Can you lead me home please?”

“Lead who where?”

“AAAH!!” Both of them screamed as a feminine, weirdly familiar, voice called out. Turning their head left they were meet with a black haired girl with, uh… blue eyes? Tommy wasn’t sure, too dark to see. “Nya! Stop fucking scarring me like that!!”

“Sorry, bro. Oh, hi Tommy” Nya smiled his way.

“You know him!?”

“Cole literally texted in our main chat that he met him, Kai” The girl looked at him disappointed. But she could only sigh and facepalm as he shrugged clearly unbothered. Tommy couldn’t help but laugh. “Ignore my dumb brother” She rolled her eyes as the mentioned boy yelled an offended ‘Hey!’. “Whatcha doin here, Tom? Can I call you ‘Tom’?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’m actually going home, to my hosts”

“Koko adopted him”, said Kai crossing his arms.

“Wait, really?”

“I mean, I live with her and her kids, I have parent though! And an E-Dad” He had a smug face while adding the last part with pride. The sibling looked at each other with confusion then they turned to Tommy again. “Anyway, can one of you please tell me which way ‘ome is?”

“Uh, have you met Lloyd yet?”, Nya was the one to ask.

“No. I got to their apartment at around 11 and this bitch is out till 20!” Tommy sounded almost offended. The sibling looked at each other again, the girl let out a quick laugh.

“Well, you’re in luck ‘coz he’s ending his shift in ten minutes”

“We can drop ‘im at his job”, suggested Kai, clearly to himself, while nodding.

Tommy looked between the two of them. I mean, it was ideal, wasn’t it? He’d meet the last person he was a roommate to and since both of them were going to the same place they would run into one another either way. “Sure, sounds good”

Off they went. About three minutes later they stopped in front of a café, after a quick look through the window they stepped inside. There were only two people, one customer drinking their whatever and a blond boy with god forbid fluffy hair, his hair was just as fluffy as Ranboo’s, or even more! He was wiping the counter with some kind of cloth. “Yo!” Kai screamed causing the green-eyed teen to look up.

“Oh, hi guys” He smiled slightly and then his eyes met Tommy’s. Lloyd, as everyone referred to him, froze looking a little… scared?

“Did you knew Tommy’s going to live with you?”, asked Nya leaning against the counter.

“N-no…”

“Well, now you know” Tommy looked to the side for a second before looking back at him. “By the way, this hoodie is awesome!”

“I, uh… thanks…” Tommy  could hardly hear him as the shorter, but not enough to make any real difference, blond looked to the ground and whispered.

“Anyway”, Nya started. “We need to get going now, see you on Monday!” She winked and then the sibling walked out waving on their way to the door. Now it was just him and Tommy…

And this one person still drinking whatever-it-was-they-ordered.

They kinda just… stared at each other.

Oh boy, was it awkward.

“So, when can we go ‘ome?”  Tommy decided to break the silence.

“Uh…” Lloyd looked at the clock on the wall. “Er, t-the shift ends in 5 minutes…”, he said shyly.

Great…

Chapter Text

All the time the blonds spent together was extremely awkward. It’s safe to say they practically didn’t talk to one another.

Tommy did try to start a conversation but the other teen only answered with short sentence barely more than two words or simply nodded or shook his head in response. This annoyed him. Tommy needed to talk to someone to stay sane! He contained himself from fighting over that seeing Lloyd was just too scared to talk to him. For what reason? Tommy didn’t know. Maybe he was a fan, after all his fans living in this cursed city seem to be weirdos. Maybe it was something else, Tommy didn’t ask.

When they got home Lloyd was quick to hide in his room leaving him free to voice his annoyance to the teen’s sister, Zippy crawling over to him expressing how he understood his pain, or Tommy thought that was the case. Unhappy that Koko wasn’t back yet he went to ‘bed’ already tired, who would’ve guess that walking with a twisted leg would be so tiring? Definitely not Tommy. He took a quick shower and changed in his pj, obviously, only animals sleep shirtless or in underwear only, not to mention sleeping naked, ugh. He made a face at that thought as he covered himself with a blanked laying on the couch.

Tommy felt asleep thinking what he could do when he wakes up. Which was not much…

He dreamt of that one time he and his friends opened a charity café and how they recorded the whole thing to get even more customers. It was a good time. It was what Techno made them promise to do if he ever died.

Tommy woke up with a sad smile. It quickly faded as he furrowed his brows feeling something on his face and, worst of all, his broken nose. He touched whatever was on his face and gently picked it up and looked at it with annoyance. “What the hell, Zip?”, Tommy groaned in a sleepy voice looking at the remotely big hairy monster. The spider’s legs were moving as if it was trying to escape his light grip. He sighed and placed Zippy on his chest, the pet laid there for a while with legs close to its body and then it went back on Tommy’s face. “Zip—!”

His little tantrum, and the spider’s assault on his face, was cut short by a laughter. Rumi took Zippy off his face and let him make his way up her arm to rest on her shoulder as she faced the annoyed teen with a smug smile. “He really likes you”

“Shut up”, he growled narrowing his eyes at her. Tommy slowly sat up and lean against the couch’s backrest, well in this case side-rest. When he was done staring daggers at the girl and telling her that he did not appreciate her pet waking him up like that, and her stating that this was how he shows affection, he got up and slowly made his way to the bathroom to change his clothes. He got himself a, wait for it, Terraria themed t-shirt! How awesome is that!? He also put on his jeans from the previous day.

What? He was not supposed to leave the house anyway.

Speaking of which, after eating breakfast, more like lunch at that time, Tommy realized that he had nothing to do. He shouldn’t leave, he already broke that rule but it was a lesson learned the hard way as his leg kept him from sleeping for at least an hour last night. Being bored as hell he sat down on the couch turning the TV on and as nothing caught his attention he just settled on some animated movie, prolly Disney or some shit like that, to play in the background while he scrolled through tiktok. Somehow he got even more bored!

Tommy let out another groan. “Why are you bored all the god damn time?”, Rumi asked seeing his annoyance at nothing but thin air.

“I need to do something 24/7, and now I can’t even go anywhere…”

“You can go snoop through Lloyd’s room, he have some comic books and games on his computer, I see you like Terraria, we used to play it together… but then he fucked up” She narrowed her eyes looking at her pet.

Tommy cringed not liking the idea of going through someone’s stuff, especially if he lived with that person and they were clearly uncomfortable by his mere presence. Rumi on the other hand had no remorse, for the lack of better term, for her brother’s privacy and practically dragged Tommy to his room to find him something to focus on. Not wanting the girl to do something drastic he just settled on a comic book, he just grabbed the first one that was close to him without thinking much of it, and went out of the teen’s room, the teen in question gone to work a day shift as Tommy learned.

The rest of the day was just as boring as ever, thought the comic was pretty good. When the clock striked 15 and the shy blond got back Tommy was quick to explain how he got a hold of one of his things and how enjoyable it was, blaming him being in his room on the boy’s sister and asking if he could borrow his comics from now and then. Lloyd slightly scared (worried?) and seemingly annoyed with his adopted sister eventually agreed on this. This turned out way easier than explaining it to Koko who got home before the teen. Sure, her reaction was a lot more calmer but Tommy was nervous as fuck not wanting her to think badly of him.

After that they eat together and then Koko gone back to her job, which sucks, whilst Lloyd hid himself in his room again. Thankfully Tommy had something to do now. Suffice to say this day seem both short as fuck and long as hell.

Tommy was woken up by some noise, opening door? Ugh, it’s too late for that… or early, he didn’t have a clock. Doing the best second option, the only option, there was no way he’s going to see a fucking clock in this darkness, he picked up his phone and lit it, regret hitting him instantly. “AAH, FUCK!!”, he yelled-whispered as the brightness blinded him for a few seconds. When he was able to see something, literally anything, he turned the flash light on and pointed it toward the corridor. There in all her glory stood Rumi in black clothes, a mask on her face, semi-shocked-annoyed expression and Zippy on top of her head. “What the fuck?”

“I thought that the 24/7 thing was a metaphor…”

“Why do you look like a ninja rip off?” Maybe Tommy was still drifting between his dream realm and reality, and maybe he was mostly unconscious when he saw the ninja (half of them if he remembers correctly) but he was sure that the ninja had masks covering not only their mouth but also hair leaving only the eyes to be seen and the girl only had a mask similar to the one that Ranboo wears, covering her face but leaving the hair for the world to see.

“Imma go make some money…” For a moment she looked (more like sounded) unhappy but she quickly perked up as if she just realized something. “Wanna go with me?”

“Go?” Tommy furrowed his brows finally turning the flashlight off and blinking a few times to adjust his view to the darkness. “Where? It’s like…” He stopped to look at the time, his screen now dimed to not cause more pain for his poor eyes. “1 am!? What the fuck, man!? Not to mention that I shouldn’t be walking”

“We can fix that”

“Huh???”

Rumi rolled her eyes. “C’mon” She motioned Tommy to go with her.

Intrigued he slowly got up and followed her down the staircase leading them outside the complex. Mayhaps not the smartest move on Tommy’s part but the girl did say just a few minutes ago that she can fix his twisted leg, which is even more dumb since it’s supposed to heal on its own remotely quick either way. Nonetheless he followed her through the street quite far away from their home. “Okay, this is stupid…” Tommy groaned kicking a rock with his healthy leg. He was still in his pj, a non-vibrant shade of red with yellow stars on it, kind of too cute for his style but he felt like it matched his personality so he picked it up, the only normal thing about his outfit were his red-and-white trainers.

They turned in some side alley, not really going into it, which was somehow darker than the rest of the streets. “Are. You. Fucking kidding me!?”, yelled a new voice that Tommy was yet to identify.

“Calm down zombie-boy” Tommy could hear the eye roll. “Tommy’s cool. And I kinda owe him one, he’s going with us to Mystake”

“Couldn’t you go with ‘im there in the day? Not in the night when we’re supposed to fucking work!?”

“No. Now get yo ass outta this dumpster and get it movin’!” If you’re wondering this alley could in fact pass as a dumpster with the amount of garbage that was in it, maybe the smell wasn’t rotten bad yet but it still wasn’t very pleasant.

The now-bodied voice dragged himself onto the street and joined them. The voice belonged to, say it with me now, a teenage boy around their age with black shoulder length hair, similar to Cole’s but fluffier, not matching his host’s son fluffiness though, and… black eyes? Ugh, too dark! AGAIN!! It’s getting annoying… Anyway, what Tommy was able to notice was a streak of green in the teen’s hair. “Nice hair bro” Tommy clicked his fingers making a gun in the process.

The teen, dressed similarly to the white hair girl in all black, looked annoyed but somewhat appreciative of the complement. “Thanks…”

“Tommy meet Morro, my dumbass friend”

“At least ‘m smarter than your brother” Morro crossed his arms.

“ ‘ello” The blond waved to the boy greeting him properly.

With no further explanation whatsoever the three of them walked further down the street until they reached a big, empty parking lot and a similarly big store. As you may guess at this point they got in, with Tommy sitting in the shopping cart per Rumi’s brilliant idea, none of the stuff seem to mind and since his leg was hurting him he just had fun ‘driving’ it. When they were done with their groceries they stole the cart… not really, Rumi promised to give it back once Tommy could walk normally again and so they drove him in it to Mystake’s tea shop.

From what was explained to him Mystake was also a part of Garmadon’s family, here’s where shit got real because the girl went into details regarding everyone’s age and it quickly was revealed that the woman alongside her two siblings, Garmadon and Wu, were over hundred years old! Obviously Tommy asked how old Koko and Lloyd are and uh… let’s just say it was a weird thought and he’d rather not think about for too long.

On a brighter note Mystake was able to make magic tea. “So, we’re getting drugs?” Tommy stated with a smile remembering his lore streams when the, well, lore has just begun. He knew some of the people watching him and the rest still were very fond of L’Manberg and that made him smile. He had so much fun back then.

When they meet the woman, the very annoyed with Tommy’s presence woman, he repeated the question with the most goofy grin one could ever have. Mystake sighed as she went back to grab the ‘drug’ for him. Her unnaturally bright navy eyes glared at him as she set a cup of hot tea in front of him.

It tasted like strawberries.

Better yet, Tommy didn’t feel pain anymore after drinking it! He was so amazed when he touched his nose and felt no discomfort. After that he started to talk with the woman, Mystake slowly becoming fond of him and looking at him with warm eyes, their glow no longer threatening. He didn’t even noticed when the other two left along with the still full cart as he was too investigated in the conversation about the magic tea.

A few hours passed by and Tommy slowly started to get tired, just as he was falling asleep, it’s worth mentioning that it was getting close to 4 at this point, Rumi came back, alone, and they walked home.

Tommy crushed onto the couch and immediately felt asleep.

Chapter Text

Tommy woke up with a spider on his face…

Is this the new norm!?

Anyway, this time was better than the last one because he felt no pain, but still was annoyed as hell. A sense of dread washed over him when Koko, thank Blade not working on Sunday, told him they were going to have guests. He wasn’t necessary scared but his mind flashed to his little talk with Rumi… earlier that day. And what does ‘family dinner’ mean exactly? Was the shark guy coming too? Was Mystake coming? Specify the details people!

Tommy, left in the dark on who’s coming to the small apartment, took care of himself in form of watching Scooby-Doo movies. Maybe that’s a random thing to do but it was quite entertaining and kept him sane before he was able to meet the invited person… Well, technically people but it turned out he knew one of them.

Sometime around 16 there was a knock on the door, Tommy peeked his head through the doorframe as he saw Koo rush to them. In stepped two people, Morro and some old looking man with a long ass white beard and Chinese hat. So not Mystake, Wu, if Tommy remembered correctly. “Welcome Wu!” Bingo.

The man smiled. “Hello Misako”

Wait, what? Mrs. Koko is Mrs. Misako!? Was Tommy a douche all this time!? He started to freak out. No, Koko wanted him to drop the ‘Mrs’ title so surely she also didn’t mind being called, well, ‘Koko’ this was how she introduced herself after all. Then he noticed a pair of warm brown, almost golden, eyes staring at him. Oh fuck…

Tommy quickly stopped peeking realizing he was caught red-handed, which ironically his shirt at the time was in fact that exact color, it wasn’t his iconic shirt but it was red, it was yet again Terraria themed. “You are Tommy, am I correct?” He humped slightly with a short yelp as he heard the man’s voice close to him, looking up he was meet with his warm smile.

“Uh, y-yes…” Tommy quickly composed himself by a light cough. “Nice meeting you, sir” He outstretched his hand towards him.

Wu, Tommy fucking knew his name but still refused to let that slip his mouth as he shouldn’t know that, chuckled a bit shaking his hand. “Wu is enough. Misako mentioned you’re very polite”

“I’m starting to regret that decision…” Tommy whispered to himself unaware that he actually said that out loud, that is until he heard another short laugh. “Shit, sorry. Shit! I mean—!”  He covered his mouth with his hands to stop words, mostly swears, from slipping even more.

“It’s fine, happens to the best of us” Wu reassured him with a smile while putting a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “It’s nice meeting you”

“You too… Wu” The man smiled and left him alone. For a minute Tommy thought it was weird that he didn’t introduce the teen to him, as far as Wu knew they haven’t met each other.

Or did he?

Tommy felt his palms getting wet with sweat and how his throat closed itself for a second in a sudden panic reaction.

Nahhh, that couldn’t be that. Morro wouldn’t tell him since he was the one that seemingly wanted to keep that a secret.

Then again he allowed Tommy to go with them.

Not that he had a choice.

Wanting answers he strolled to the black haired teen. “You live with him? He’s your who exactly?”, Tommy asked in an accusing tone.

“Adoptive father” The shorter boy, about an inch or two, seem nonchalant while answering.

“So you’re cousins” Tommy had mostly the teen and Rumi in mind, because he spent most of his time with the girl, but he knew that would include the other blond in the house as well.

“Sure” He again looked unamused and completely unbothered.

Tommy furrowed his brows. “…You’re a fucking emo” He left him seeing that the teen was uninterested in… anything basically! Was he fucking depressed or something? Bet not, but either way it was best to leave him be, but that meant Tommy had to find someone else to bug. So he went to the only person he could bug, aka Rumi.

Zippy hissed happily at his appearance. “Hi Goldilocks”

“You didn’t said Morro was your guys cousin”

The girl shrugged. “Not really a valid info”

“Do you hate everyone in your adoptive family?” Tommy eyes her accusingly. She shrugged again, the spider crawling from her head to her shoulder and looking at Tommy as if answering for her. He groaned in boredom. “What’s wrong with your brother?”

“Huh? What’s with ‘im?”

“He’s avoiding me. I know I’m famous but jeez, does he have to be so damn awkward?”

Rumi furrowed her brows. “Famous…”

Tommy, annoyed that she didn’t answer his question, decided to not pay it any mind. “Can I borrow him?” He pointed to the spider. The girl, still confused, nodded slowly allowing him to take the pet. Zippy stayed with him for the rest of the day.

Afternoon, for the rest of the afternoon.

About ten minutes after the guests has came in all six of them sat at the table to eat. It’s safe to say it was pretty awkward. Lloyd sat looking down not daring to say a single word, Morro was also quiet but he was seemingly bored out of his ass and he had the mentality of an angsty 14 year old, Rumi was the most normal, though she only talked if talked to first. So you could say the only truly normal people were Koko and Wu, Tommy could only look at everyone not wanting to be rude with his loudness. At one point the adults included him and the girl into a full conversation, with that all hell broke loose, there was no stopping these two once they started.

Tommy was really proud of himself as he was able to contain himself from swearing.

It was overall a nice family dinner.

Then there was a loud ‘bang’ outside.

Everyone stopped talking and looked at each other with various emotions at once, mostly understanding, some annoyance and a bit of worry and disappointment. Tommy though was confused. “What was that?”

“Garmadon” He was kind of impressed when everyone said this at the exact same time, a different emotion marking every individual voice.

“Seems like you’re going to stay for a while longer” Koko smiled at the man trying to lit up the mood.

Wu shook his head with a light laugh. “No need. I think I can handle my own brother”

“Can I, uh, go to my room…?”, asked Lloyd speaking for the first time that afternoon, or technically night since it was almost 19.

Seeing her son discomfort Koko let him leave the table, Wu and Morro were just getting out anyway so it wasn’t a big deal. Soon enough everyone was left to do their own thing. Tommy returned the spider to its owner and then, when both females were in their rooms, he quietly got out the front door.

What? He knew it wasn’t smart but his want to see the heroes in action outweighed his reasonable thinking. It’s not like he was going to be close to them, he just planned to observe from afar. And that’s what he did.

Tommy sneaked downstairs completely unseen and then out of the building. Everything was well lit so he could see another shark themed mech (or maybe the same one that he seen when his plane crushed?) being attacked by more mechs, they didn’t really had a theme, exept the dragon one, but they were color coded just like the ninja. He heard scratching of metal on metal, this sound made it hard to hear anything else so he couldn’t really pinpoint what they were talking about, but they for sure were yelling at each other. At one point Tommy grabbed his phone and started to record this. None of his friends would believe so he’d had to send the proof!

He wasn’t recording for too long, excitement to show his friends real life heroes made him impatient. Just as he was about to click the ‘send’ button he noticed something in the corner of his eye. Tommy could swear that he saw a red blur skipping into one of the alleyways, that was not a ninja since they were fighting the baddie ahead of him. He was staring at the spot where he had seen the weird blur before he decided to go and check it. This was another one of those ‘TommyInnit is not thinking about the consequence of his actions’ moment, and he regret nothing.

Tommy peeked through the corner of the building an saw two people, one dressed in red and the other dressed in white. “Did you find it?”, asked a woman dressed in a white dress. Contrasting she had raven black hair and red glowing eyes. Tommy shivered, looking at her made him feel cold, too cold to be possible.

The man in red nodded. “I’ve seen it. I know where it is”

“You didn’t get it?”

“N-no Ma’am…” The man stuttered as the woman’s eyes seem to glow even more with anger.

“And why is that?”

“It’s w-well protected. I barely set a foot in the room and the alarm set off! It was impossible to—“ He was cut short by a hard slap. It was so loud Tommy could hear it even through the chaos nearby, it made him jump a little and hide his head behind the building.

This woman was absolutely nuts! He was too scared to look at them again, he could still hear them though. “I guess we’ll have to do it the hard way, since you clearly are an incompetent idiot” The second part was evidently said through the woman’s teeth as she was making sure her… accomplice, as that what they seem to be, was damn aware of her anger. Tommy doubted it wasn’t obvious since he just fucking know that and don’t even have to look at her for that. He could feel her anger even from his place behind the wall, just as if she made the air become heavier with it.

Deciding he have had enough of whatever-this-fucking-exchange-of-words-was, Tommy quickly tiptoed back to the apartment complex.

The woman sighed. “I guess we’ll have to do it the hard way, since you clearly are an incompetent idiot”, she said the second part through her teeth scaring the man before her even more to the point where he shrinked under her unnerving gaze. Then she finally noticed it. “Huh?” She furrowed her brows in confusion feeling the fresh scent almost burning her nostrils and throat.

It was no dragon, it would burn her more. No, this was a human scent. Though no human should smell like that, it had to be a special human. She smelled a bit of blood in it and something sweet. Still, couldn’t be a vampire, she was sure as hell it belonged to a human being.

It smelled like honey…

Her eyes narrowed when she saw a faint golden glow coming from the corner.

Someone has been watching them.

She panicked a little recognizing the danger that came with that. And all the signs of who exactly was watching them made it ten times worse. “I want to see you and your team today at midnight at the waterfall in the forest. Do. Not. Make me wait for you even a single second” With that she turned to silver mist and disappeared.

Chapter Text

“Ah…” Tommy smiled to himself laying on his seat, legs crossed, black sunglasses on and a can of coke in his hand. This truly was something.

He was living his best life. If someone had told him three years ago that he would be so famous and own a whole plane he'd think that person was mental, yet here he is! Flying home in his own god damn plane! And now that he ended season one of Dream SMP he had all the time in the world to himself. He could focus on other things without stressing himself with writing plot for his character! Isn't life just amazing?

Tommy was scrolling through his phone exchanging text messages with Wilbur, taking a sip of his coke from time to time. Suddenly the whole plane shook causing him to furrow his brows. He raised his glasses. “Everything ‘lright?”

“My apologies, there appears to be—“ His private pilot was cut off by another violent shake and a nasty sound of scratching metal. “…a bit of a problem. We were hit, Mr. Simons”

“Hit? By what?” Tommy was completely bewildered. Why would someone hit them!?

“It’s… hard to explain, sir. I think it would be better if you see it for yourself…” The pilot pointed to the window. Tommy looked even more confused than before.

There was nothing there.

The front window was all black.

“Yeah, I guess it’s really hard to exp—” Tommy cut himself off as he noticed a pair of red glowing eyes staring straight at him from the black. “Zero…?” He looked at his pilot. His brown hair and dark eyes…

Hold up.

Zero has light eyes.

Tommy took a step back. “You’re not Zero”, he growled accusingly while narrowing his eyes at the impostor. The man only smiled. And his smile grew and grew to the point where it shouldn’t be possible to smiled as wide as he did, Tommy took another step back now starting to get scared. What the fuck?

As the man stood up and started to slowly walk closer to him the teen backed away even more until he decided to turn around and run as far away as possible.

Or, well, he tried.

When Tommy turned around seeking escape he was quickly met with another person. He bumped into them and fell onto the floor, looking up he was met with the same pair of red eyes from the woman he saw in the alleyway. He felt dizziness slowly but surely creeping into his head. It seem like the woman reached her hand towards him but before she could touch him his eyes closed and…

He woke up. The yellow light crept into the living room, so it had to be pretty early. Tommy still felt dizzy.

He groaned softly getting up and walking to the kitchen. He’d think that after yesterday’s dinner with the ‘G family’ he wouldn’t need to eat any snacks before bed. But he was proven wrong as now he sat in the kitchen eating a KitKat at 4 in the morning.

As he was throwing the paper to the trash bin he saw Koko walking through the corridor to her bedroom. He frown as she was too tired to even notice him.

Tommy wanted to help, but didn’t knew how.

He got back on the couch and laid down checking his phone, he sighed seeing the video hasn’t been sent yet. Lowering it onto his chest he started to think about his dream. As most of his dreams tend to be it was a deformed memory. Tommy had normal dreams where he would be in a place he had never seen or about someone who wasn’t even him but the memory-dreams were a bigger part of his dream realm.

But this time his memory turned into a nightmare. Was he really that spooked by the people he saw the previous night? I mean, that woman was pretty scary…

Or maybe it was because she said the same thing Uncle Nasty had told him?

Tommy wondered if his fans were aware that the doll was actually possessed. Well, maybe not, but he eventually had to get rid of it because his friends freaked out after he and Wilbur did their 'banishment' stream. Little did they know he still had it, hidden away from the prying eye.

Tommy looked at his phone again, this time to check the time. 5:02. Hm…

He grabbed his clothes and quietly went to the bathroom to change. He picked a white shirt with a black star in the middle where in gold glitter letters was a phrase ‘I’m a superstar!’ and black sweatpants. After leaving his pj in the laundry basket Tommy grabbed his phone and left.

Opening Google maps he started to walk towards the closest subway station. Listen, Tommy had a lot to do and since he was not going back to sleep he was going to start doing his things now so he can end sooner like the genius he is.

There was little to no people on the streets as he walked, the perks of waking early, though 4 is a little too early. As he got to the station he had to wait a few minutes for the train to arrive. Tommy checked his messenger, still not sent, he sighed. Finally he got off the train, yet again praying to his friend to get off on the right stop. And he did!

It was a little after 6 when he knocked on the door to Walker’s house. He didn’t wait long before they were opened by the elder woman. “Tommy? Oh my, what are you doing here this early, sunshine?” She asked letting him inside. “Have you even eat breakfast?”

Tommy was slightly taken aback by the question. “Uh, no, bu—”

“Oh! Sunshine…” His cheeks turned pink when she looked at him with concern. “Don’t worry, we’re having breakfast in a few”

“That’s not necess—”

“It’s fine, honey!” She smiled while cutting him off. “Would you be so kind and wake Jay up? He always sleeps past his alarm”

“Oh, okay” Tommy quickly agreed as that could be his way of returning the favor for letting (more like making) him eat with them. And it was a week day so the teen probably had school, unlike Tommy, cause he’s too cool for that.

He laughed at the joke he made in his head then cringed. Note to self, spend less time with Boob Boy.

After getting a quick instruction on how to get to the teen’s room Tommy gone further into the house, upstairs to be exact. He walked to an open space, a pretty big one for that matter, that seem like another small house. There was an open kitchen on the left, a small bathroom and Jay’s room on the left. Tommy didn’t waste any time inspecting anything though, he just went straight to the teen’s room.

“Hello” Tommy blinked as he was greet by the white hair teen sitting on a sofa chair close to a book case, another empty chair next to him separated by a small table, a TV in front of both the chairs and the bed which was on the left, Jay soundly sleeping on it with a stuffed animal in his arms.

Tommy was confused. “…Hey? Uh… What are you doing here?” He couldn’t help but ask. It was weird. Sure, he seen them both getting it this house two days ago but that was, well, two days ago and he’d thought the other teen already went home!

“We were having a sleepover!” Zane smiled brightly like an excited child.

Satisfied with that answer Tommy decided to ignore it. “Edna said that you should get ready, breakfast in few, school”

“Noted. We’ll get down soon”

“Noted…” Tommy copied the teen and walked back downstairs. He helped setting the table and a few minutes later he, the Walker’s and the weird teen sat down to eat.

Except Zane wasn’t eating.

Anyway, after eating the two teens left for school, asking why Tommy wasn’t going too along the way and after a brief explanation he was left with the elder couple. “Came to check your plane?” Ed, who hasn’t said a word about it until now, and neither did Tommy, finally picked up the topic. Tommy nodded. “Well, it ain’t much. I just got it ‘ere the other day and checked what I would need. I actually found your luggage”

“Really?” He couldn’t help but smile, he had his and his friends merch in there and it would be a shame if he lost it.

“Yea, I haven’t actually checked how damaged it is but you can grab it if you want”

“Yeah, thanks!”

Ed lead him to the backyard, a big backyard, where his plane was. Tommy was extremely happy seeing his things were mostly undamaged. He quickly grabbed his Ranboo jacket, put it on and waved goodbye as he left, now with his stuff.

To the subway again.

Sitting down he looked at his messenger. Still not sent. He groaned, normally he would scroll through Tiktok or something like that to pass the time but he still wasn’t confident in knowing where exactly should he leave the train so he had to keep a close eye on the map. Another 30 minutes has passed and he got out. When Tommy gone out this morning he didn’t thought he would be going back so soon but since now he had things to carry around he decided it was best not to stall and just return. He could inspect the city some other time, he had plenty of that after all.

He was about halfway home when he bumped into someone. “Of—! My bad, mate” Tommy quickly blurred out gripping onto his phone as it almost fell out of his hand.

“You should be more careful, kiddo” Looking up he saw another teen, who fucking else? He looked similar to hedgehog guy he met earlier, Kay, if Tommy was correct, he had brown hair, not hedgehog styled, and dark brown eyes that looked almost black.

Tommy scoffed. “‘Kiddo’? Do you have any fucking idea who you’re talking to?” He would cross his arms if it wasn’t for the suitcase he was holding.

The teen eyed him up and down with a raised brow, clearly unamused. “A kid with a suitcase”

“It’s TommyInnit, you dickhead! And for your information I’m a man! The biggest man amongst man in fact!!”

“Uh-huh” Tommy growled at him as they stared each other down. The rude teen rolled his eyes and started to walk again passing him.

Don’t say anything. Don’t say anything. Don’t say any—

“Shouldn’t you be in school or some shit like that?” Tommy facepalmed mentally. He know he should leave, ignore the teen and go home but he did NOT appreciate being called a fucking kid.

“Shouldn’t you be in nursery?” He smiled mockingly. Tommy furrowed his brows and slightly opened his mouth in offence, but he did nothing more than that. This douche wasn’t worth his precious time, so Tommy just cursed under his breath and turned around. “Oh? That’s it? You’re giving up already?”

“Danny, don’t be an ass”, said a female voice. “And to TommyInnit of all people!” He stopped. It took him a second but eventually he turned around. Next to Danny stood a girl with golden hair and similarly dark, almost black, eyes as her friend.

“Why would that matter?”, the teen looked between her and Tommy with an annoyed face.

The girl, now also annoyed, sighed and rolled her eyes. “It’s the kid that crushed”

“Oh shit, really?” The brunet looked Tommy up and down again. “Oh fuck. It really is him!”

Tommy cringed. “Oi! Can you, like, go screw yourself? I’m trying to get ‘ome”

“Ignore my friend” The girl was quick to push the said friend aside, hard enough for him to stumble a little and waved his hands trying to catch his balance, she walked closer to Tommy and outstretched her hand. “Ariane, I’m a huge fan”

Now, Tommy was done talking with randos on the street, but Ariane was the first actually normal fan he had met so far so he sighed, smiled and shook her hand. “You want a photo? Autograph? I’m kinda busy but I could lend you a minute”

She was focused on their connected hands but laughed once Tommy took his back. “You give out autographs?”

“Yeah” He didn’t know how to react to that, why was that even a question?

They stood in silence. Danny the Dick walked closer to them causing Tommy to glare at him still pissed by the ‘kid’ nickname. “Are you busy busy?”

“Uh, not really. But I’d rather not walk around carrying a suitcase” He pointed to said suitcase with his phone.

“Would you be free after, let’s say… 8?”

“Uh…” He looked at the time and then at the map. “I’d say so, why?”

She smiled. “Want to hang out with me and my friends? I promise they’re nice, unlike Dan”

“Hey! He started it!” The boy was shushed by his friend who sent him a sharp glare.

“So?”

“I guess…” Tommy shrugged. He had nothing planned for that day, like always, and he wasn’t really in a mood to spend time with The Spider Lady again.

So, Tommy made plans with Ariane to meet up in the park after 8. He literally just dropped the suitcase and immediately went out again, walking around the part of the city close to his temporary home, then to a store to buy a can of coke and slowly made his way to the park. There was almost nobody around, Tommy could count the people he saw on one hand. Not that he was surprised, it was the time of the day and the day of the week when most of them would work or go to school. The girl didn’t give him her number nor did she specify where they would be so he was walking around trying to see someone who looked like the dickman he’d met less than an hour ago.

“Why won’t you sent?” He muttered to himself looking at the still not delivered message meant for his friends to see. He sighed noting to get his phone fixed since it clearly wasn’t working, even though everything else was fine. He had the money, why the hell not use it?

Tommy looked at his phone with annoyance one more time before deciding to put it away, he stopped however when he noticed a group of eight teenagers standing behind him through and was about to say something before Danny the Dick covered his mouth with his hand. What the fuck? “Sorry, Tom, it’s just business”

Tommy furrowed his brows seeing how the teen smiled at him, it wasn’t a normal smile, it was filled with malice. Before he knew it his phone was taken away from him, this caused Tommy to try and get it back. Another boy from the group grabbed him from behind preventing him from doing so, he started to trash around and scream even though he knew it would be muffled. What. The. Fuck?

Tommy was well aware that there may be people who would want to rob or kidnap him, was never really bothered but aware, he just still couldn’t believe that was what was happening. Blade, should he be even surprised? Everyone’s a weirdo here after all…

“The fuck do you want!?” He growled as soon as Danny’s hand left his mouth.

The teen smiled, as the only one of his team that seem to find the situation funny. “Nothing really” He shrugged.

“Then why the fuck did you took my phone!?” Tommy didn’t get an answer as the teens before him put on color coded hoods, he frowned in confusion as he recognized six of the colors. “More wannabe ninja?” Sure enough they were red, blue, white, black, grey and green, what he didn’t understand though was the two additional ‘ninja’ wearing purple and light blue.

“Alright, team, you know what to do” The red one, aka The Dick, said and the rest nodded running into different directions, leaving Tommy with the one that held him. He started to trash again, it yet again did nothing but it was worth a try.

“Tommy!?” He stopped and looked at the owner of the familiar voice. Morro furrowed his brows eyeing the gray ninja wannabe. “You’re no ninja… Let him go” He growled at him, looking like he was ready to fight.

“Screw off, I’m busy”

“Well, me too” As Tommy could do nothing but watch, a breeze brushed his face and the next thing he knew the teen behind him let go of him with a grunt. Before he was even able to react he felt the gust of wind pulling him away from the gray ninja rip-off.

Turning around to look back Tommy saw a medium-sized brunch laying on the ground not so far from the teen. “What the hell was that!?”

Morro grabbed his wrist. “I think we have bigger problems at the moment!!” And with that they started running away. Wind helped them from behind both blocking the other teen and increasing their speed, Tommy could barely feel the ground under his feet, it was almost like they weren’t running but flying. When they finally stopped they weren’t even tired, this was no running at all! “I think we’re safe here…” Morro peeked from the corner.

“Now, will you explain?” Tommy crossed his arms. “What’s with the wind? It wasn’t there before!”

The black haired teen looked at him and sighed. “Did they take anything?”

“Uh, my phone, but—”

“You stay here. Me or Rumi will come back for you”

“Ru—? HEY!!” Tommy screamed after him as he left the alleyway faster than they did while getting there. In the most childish manner ever Tommy stomped his foot. Nobody will tell him to stay in one place! And how the hell was Rumi of all people supposed to come and get him? She wasn’t even there!

He sighed and peeked out, he saw Morro fighting one of Danny’s jocks. To be specific he was beating him with the same brunch that only a few moment earlier allowed them to escape.

“Hmm…” Tommy decided it was time to go home, he’s not going to wait in this dump! He can buy a new phone, though he would need the old one to transfer all of his contacts… “Shit…” He muttered to himself as he slid down the wall.

Now he’d need to go and get— “Don’t you dare go out there, Theseus”

Tommy eyes widen hearing the oh-so familiar voice. It wasn’t the type of déjà vu like when he met Cole or Nya, because it was someone’s he knew for a fact he talked to so many times before. But at the same time it was a voice of someone who he shouldn’t be able to hear ever again. “Techno…?”

No one answered.

He furrowed his brows looking out of the alleyway.

There was no one there. I mean, Morro was still very much fig— beating the shit outta one of Dick’s sidekicks but… there was nobody who this voice could possibly belong to. And even if there were, there’s no way they’d knew his nickname. His LORE nickname. Okay, maybe his fans would know but Tommy really doubted someone would do something like that to him. Even if they were weirdos.

“We’re goin’” Tommy yelp as he heard a girl’s voice behind him. Rumi quickly covered his mouth making him hit the wall. “Stop making noise!” She yelled-whispered at him with furrowed brows and after a few more seconds she took her hand away.

“How the fuck did you got here? And how’d you knew!? This doesn’t make any fucking—”

“Tommy!” The girl put a finger to her mouth, “Less talking, more going home” Rumi grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him towards her. “Now, you better keep quiet about what you’re going to see”

“What does—” Before he could finish the girl let go of him and purpleish crystals shoot out of her hands forming a staircase leading up to the roof of the building. Tommy’s jaw dropped. “You have superpowers!?”

“Duck”

Tommy did as Techno’s voice told him and soon he saw the same crystal blast flying past him. “Be quiet!”

“Sorry… You have superpowers!?” He yelled-whispered this time to which the girl rolled her eyes.

“No, those crystal stairs were always there” Rumi crossed her arms and he furrowed his brows unamused by the sarcasm. Before Tommy could come up with any comeback she grabbed his wrist and dragged him up the stairs. He expected it to be slippery like ice but it wasn’t, it was just as normal as any other dry surface. When they were all the way up they started to run through the roofs, Rumi created a path to every next one as they were close to the edge.

It didn’t take long before they reached their home. “You’re going home?”, Tommy asked seeing the girl heading towards the staircase.

“Yep. Whatever they tried to do is none of my business, as soon as Morro gets your phone back he’s goin’ home as well”

He watched her disappear into the staircase as he still stood on the roof. Tommy looked back and felt a gust of wind blow past him. “He has powers too, doesn’t he?”

It was pretty obvious at this point, but Tommy wondered one thing: if they had powers they why weren’t they ninja too?

And that voice…

Chapter Text

So many questions, so little answers.

Tommy finally got up from the couch, he quickly skipped towards the front door and out of the complex again. Maybe that wasn’t the smartest idea but this time he had no intentions on meeting up with randos, even the one that posed as his fans.

He stopped when he noticed he just passed a candy store, feeling around in his pockets he decided to go in and buy some live-savers in case he needed them. He then continued, now armed with a bad of candy, down the street until he reached his destination.

***

“Uh—” The blond turned around and locked eyes with the other blond. Lloyd blinked, confused with what he was seeing. “What are you doing?”

“I’m Scooby-Dooing” Tommy shrugged getting back to his work. He was sitting with crossed legs, holding a medium whiteboard with one hand while he used the other one to write on it with colorful markers. This kind of reminded him of writing lore.

No, scratch that.

This highly reminded him of Game Theory.

“Holy shit I’m the new MatPat…” He whispered to himself.

“What?” Lloyd didn’t get an answer. “Okay… Uh, why are you… ‘Scooby-Dooing’?”

Tommy turned to him again, this time looking dead in his eyes with a serious face. “The Gods have spoken to me”

The teen looked to the sides with nervousness. “What do you mean?” The only answer he got was Tommy turning more towards him and motioning at his Technoblade merch t-shirt. “Okay…” It seemed like the blue eyed teen had lost it, completely. “I’ll… leave you to it…”

“Yeah, you better! I’m a very busy man!” Lloyd spared him the last glance before quickly going to his room. So quickly in fact, he lost some kind of green cloth behind. Tommy squinted his eyes, but before he could call out for the teen he came back and two times as fast grabbed it and disappeared behind a wall. Tommy furrowed his brows before glancing at his whiteboard. “Hm…”

***

“Your brother is sus”

“Name one time he wasn’t” The girl rolled her eyes.

Tommy glared at her with suspicion while petting the spider in his lap. “Name one time you weren’t”

“Touché”

“No, but seriously, you were hiding shit from, pretty much everyone! Being highly sus is a thing one does when they’re hiding shit…” Tommy said, trailing off once he started thinking about his own words. He was right, of course! So right in fact, he started to wonder what type of secrets was the other blond in the house hiding.

“Listen, I don’t really care about your ‘investigation’ play. Why’d you come here in the first place?” Rumi furrowed her brows and eyed Tommy suspiciously.

The teen didn’t like that, he glared at her. “For your information, I wanted to know, what type of spider is Zippy exactly? Is he venomous?”

“All spiders are venomous”

“Really!?”

The girl looked at him as if he was stupid.

TommyInnit is not stupid.

“Oh, don’t give me that look! How venomous is he?”

“Well wouldn’t you want to know? Zippy…”

“Hell no!!” Tommy quickly thrown the spider off of him. The spider in question hissed at him after the girl caught him. “Sorry, buddy, but I need to survive long enough for the Sorry Boys”

Rumi raised a brow, “The Sorry Boys?”

Tommy’s eyes widen and he quickly covered his mouth. “You heard nothing! Or Imma tell everybody you have cool-ass magical powers!” He pointed at her and made a threatening expression. She only stared at him. Tommy coughed, “Anyway, I think I’m gonna go, new thing to handle. Bye!!” And just like that he booked it towards his little space on the couch.

OMG, Tommy spilled the beans, Wilbur’s going to kill him!

No, no, no. Don’t panic, not yet. It’s just the name of their secret project they worked so hard on he accidentally told to one of his fans.

It’s fine.

It’s okay.

It’s not like he told her what the project was about.

He shook his head. Wilbur’s definitely going to kill him. Thank Blade Tubbo isn’t involved in this project or he’d suffer for days before finally getting the sweet relief of death.

Speaking of Tubbzo…

Tommy checked his phone. “Fuck you, you absolute bitch!!” He thrown it on the ground seeing how the videos still haven’t gone through. He really should get a new phone.

“Um, everything alright?”

Tommy turned to look at the other blond. “Yeah, just connection problems…” He muttered. As the teen passed him he eyed him suspiciously. Tommy noticed he had a bag with him, the same one from where the green cloth fell out. “Hey, wait for me!”

“Huh?”

“I’m going with you, you’re the only one I haven’t socialize with”

“O-oh, you don’t need to!” Lloyd took a step back and smiled awkwardly at him. “I, uh, I need to focus on my job and—”

“Bro, I worked at a café once, there’s nothing to focus on! And if so, I can help! Am not going to live with someone I don’t know” Tommy crossed his arms, that was enough for the shorter blond to realize he wouldn’t take ‘no’ as an answer.

“Alright…”

Tommy smiled brightly as he was met with an almost immediate victory.

Tommy was just that charming of a man, wasn’t he?

***

Tommy had to admit, the café Lloyd worked at was pretty nice. No, scratch that, it was straight up cute! In the best sense of the word!

The walls were all pastel colors, some of them, alongside windows, had stickers on them, Tommy quickly noticed a wall full of sticky notes with kind words from strangers who visited this café. How did he know they were the customers? Next to that specific wall was a small table with sticky notes and a cup of pens, all as cutesy as a pen can be. He himself decided to bite, grabbing the first pen that came to his hand and giving the wall his autograph.

The chairs were super comfy, having clothed backrests and pillows which were just the right balance between hard and soft making it feel like you were sitting on clouds without sinking into them. Every table had a symbol instead of numbers, it was engraved in the tiny plastic-like sings in a way you could feel it underneath your fingers. Tommy may or may not have spent a few good seconds running his fingers up and down the cat he got on his table.

And when it came to the food and the drinks…

Tommy’s eyes sparkled right after he took one sip of his coffee with milk, actually it was more milk with coffee and a shit-tone of caramel syrup but meh. “Holy fuck, did you made this!?”

The shorter blond looked away and scratched his neck. “Uh, well, yeah but—”

“You did this yourself and you tell me they pay you close to nothing!?” Tommy furrowed his brows in anger, how dare they? “Who runs this place? I wanna speak to the manager!”

“Wha—? N-no!! You don’t have to do this! In fact, I rather you not do this! Don’t even think about this, Tommy!” Lloyd gave him a light glare.

“No can do. I already activated my Karen mode, and when my Karen mode is on I need to get through with it. What’s their name?”

“Tommy, no—”

“Tommy yes! I left my autograph on the wall! A mark after my fabulous self can’t be left in a place as two-faced as this!!”

“Please, don’t—”

“Lloyd” Tommy reached over the counter and grabbed his shirt before leaning in. “Bring. Me. The manager”

“Oi! Is anyone going to take my order or what?” A voice called out from behind Tommy. The teen slowly looked behind him and glared at the man. The man glared back. “Get lost kid, I don’t have time for this bullshit”

Tommy eyed him up and down with a rather unhappy expression. “…Sure” Before anyone could stop him he jumped over the counter and run into the further parts of the building. He could hear his name being called and later some complains from the mean man but he only rolled his eyes at the commotion, he was busy after all.

“That was stupid”

Tommy stopped hearing his dead friend. He then crossed his arms and pretended to be hurt, “So you’re only going to talk to me when you don’t like my amazing ideas?” He waited for a few seconds but the voice didn’t answer him. “Techno, I’m sorry! You know I am! C’mon, please talk to me…!!”

Another moment of silence.

“Techno…?” He asked looking around, maybe he was just going crazy?

“Oh, stop crying for my own sake!”

Tommy smiled, then furrowed his brows, “Oi! I wasn’t crying!”

“Sure. You know you shouldn’t be here?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Like, you shouldn’t have jumped over the counter since you don’t work here. Not that it would be a thing to do if you did work here either, but I have a feeling you’d do that anyway”

“Already did that, thank you very much!” His proud smiled slowly turned into a frown of confusion. “How… are you talking to me? You’re…” He trailed off, he really didn’t want to end that sentence. Honestly, he kind of feared he would stop hearing his voice if he mentioned out loud the state his friend was in, or at least was supposed to be in. “Holy fuck, you’re just like Jesus!”

“I am very much still dead, Theseus” Techno commented with an unamused tone.

Tommy pouted while crossing his arms. “Then what are you? Other than that obviously”

“God”

“So you are like Jesus—”

“Uh, Tommy?” The teen tensed up a little hearing the other blond behind him. “Have you gave up on the ‘Karen mode’ or whatever and, uh, settled on talking to yourself instead…?”

Tommy looked behind his shoulder and send the teen a smiled, it was awkward but he hope the teen wouldn’t notice.

Lloyd noticed instantly.

Tommy laughed a little, “Uh, no? I’m just making a game plan!”

“Well played, Tommy”

The sarcasm in Techno’s voice made Tommy roll his eyes. “Anyway, Imma go and talk to the manager now, so if you excuse me—”

“Tommy” Lloyd grabbed his wrist stopping him from making any more steps. “I know you’re just trying to help but trust me when I say I don’t need this”

Tommy nonchalantly took his hand away, looking at the teen with pure professionalism. “Don’t worry, I’m going to use my… fame” Tommy cringed while saying this word which made the other blond confused. “To convince them to give you a promotion. Thankfully my Karen mode includes only Opposite Karen behavior”

“What is that supposed to mean???”

As an answer to that Tommy only pat his shoulder with a smile, the he quickly booked it down the hall, speedreading all the signs on the doors he passed. Finally, after like 5-6 seconds, he saw the one he was looking for. He proceeded to kick the door open. There was a man sitting behind an office desk, he looked up in confusion as he saw the teen with a determined look on his face, he then sighed. “No, I’m not firing Garmadon’s kid…”

Tommy furrowed his brows. “Wha—?”

“No, he didn’t poison your drinks nor food” The man continued, looking either bored or tired, hard to tell.

Tommy blinked, slowly straightening as he stared at the man. He had black curly hair and hazel eyes with shadows under them, signalising he was definitely tired, the unevenly shaved short beard was also a dead giveaway. Now Tommy felt bad for kicking the door. “Uh, I’m not here for that. I mean, kinda, but not really! I was actually… hoping you could give him a raise..?”

The man blinked before letting out a short laugh, it wasn’t mocking which made Tommy feel even worse. “Aren’t you a kind one?” Tommy shifted in his spot, oh Blade no! Was he blushing!? He fought the urge to cover his cheeks, maybe if he acts like nothing happened nobody will notice… And it seem to work since the man sighed without mentioning it, “Listen kid, my hands are tied, the higher ups would fire me on spot if I dared to treat a damn kid equally to others!” He rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed with the reality he was living in. “Besides, money’s been tough lately, I can’t even pay my other servers their full paychecks. Barely anyone wants to come here anymore, not counting those mean buttholes” The man furrowed his brows and groaned.

Tommy just stood there, getting more and more embarrassed by his usual antics, he was standing in front of a very sad, tired and miserable man and he just kicked the door to his office.

“Help him”

Tommy blinked. What?

“Help him” Techno repeated. “I know you want to. You don’t need to keep yourself from doing something good, you know?”

Yeah…

“Yeah” Tommy said quietly to himself as he begun to nod, a smile creeping onto his face. He looked at the man with the same determination he came with. “I can help!”

“Heh?”

“That’s my line!”

“I can help you save this business of yours!”

“Kid, not to be mean but—”

“Not a kid! I’m eighteen! Aaand, not to brag, but am suuuper reliable” The more Tommy said the more the man stared at him as if he was crazy. “Trust me. Give me some time and this business will have its second youth, no mean a-holes and more money than you could ever imagine! And best of all, I’ll do it all for free!” Tommy thrown his hand up, he furrowed his brows and looked to the side. “Well, half-free”

“…’Kay, I’ll bite. What do you want in exchange?”

“I want my host bro to be paid equally with the others”

The man stared at Tommy for a few seconds trying to understand with his limited knowledge on the topic who he was talking about. Finally he answered, “Sure. If you really can do all you just said I’ll do my best to find another company, one that treats everybody equally”

“Seems legit”

Tommy smiled. “Seems we have ourselves a deal, Mr…” He looked down at the name plate. “Sasamo” Welp, that’s a weird-ass surname.

The man laughed. “Just call me Sonu. And who do I have the pleasure to have a deal with?”

“Innit. TommyInnit” Tommy smiled, feeling even cooler than just a second ago, Sonu snickered. “Or Tom Simons, both will work. Though I only give autographs under the Innit one”

“Autographs? Haha, I see I got myself a real star!”

It was a joke, but Tommy remained oblivious to that fact and took it as a complement, his merch had a star on it after all. “Ya sure do, my man! Ya sure do! So, I’ll take one of these” He took a business card with a number on it. “It’s your number, right?”

“Yeah, I use my own phone for work”

Tommy furrowed his brows but the smile didn’t leave his face. “Not for long” He made the gun fingers while closing the door gently. When he made sure they wouldn’t just fell out he made his way to the front. “Yo, mate, me back!” Lloyd glanced at him before continuing with his task. “Oh, c’mon! You could’ve told me Sonu was just as nice as this place! I called him two-faced behind his back and now I feel like shit!” Tommy kicked on air, stopping to think about his words before grinning. “Feeling like a saggy, massive sack of shit…”

“Are you seriously chit-chattering instead of doing my order?” Some girl asked. Tommy immediately glared at her. Yep, she looked just as bratty as he’d imagine.

“Fuck off, Chemical Face, the business men are talking!”

“Tommy…”

“That’s true! And soon no bitches are going to enter this café!” Tommy blinked at his words, “Well, the nice bitches are going to be allowed. But not you!” He pointed at the teenage girl.

She gritted her teeth. “Where’s the manager?”

“Unluckily for you, I’m the new manager” Tommy said smugly, making Lloyd look at his as if he was crazy. He looked at him, “What did she order?”

“Uh, the same thing you did, but why—?”

“Give it less sugar, ‘m taking it”

“Wha—??”

Tommy leaned over the counter and smiled at the girl with malice. “We thank you for visiting us but the business is closed for assholes from now on. Please make your way out of here before I do something I regret”

“What!? You can’t do that!!”

“Yeah, Tommy, since you talked with Mr. Sonu you know—”

“I know what I said” He said loudly, cutting the green eyed teen off. “Where is the closest cash machine?”

“Around the corner. Why?”

“We’re about to make business” Tommy answered as mysterious as ever before making his way out. Well, not before he made sure the brat girl went out as well. “Keep the coffee warm!!”

It took a couple of minutes but Tommy finally found the cash machine, getting his golden card out and getting some money before going back.

“How generous of you, Theseus”

Tommy furrowed his brows, “Why the nickname?”

“I didn’t get to end my lore, gimme a break”

“Fair enough. And yeah! ‘M going to be generous to a business am soon to co-own!”

“Going a bit far there, but people are going to stare at you for talking to yourself so sure” Tommy snickered at the comment. He honestly didn’t mind being called crazy if his craziness was showing in form of his dead friend’s voice in his head.

Chapter Text

Tommy spend the rest of the day, and a bit of the next one for that matter, thinking hard about various ways to help Sonu’s café. But it’s okay, he was good at his job, and he was undoubtedly good at advertising things. His only regret being that Lovejoy wasn’t available, he could really use them (and maybe some support from his brother figure, I mean what—). But, yet again, it was fine, he had plenty of ideas.

“No”

“Why!?”

Rumi sighed deeply, “How would you explain you found two elemental masters nobody else in the city ever heard of?”

Tommy crossed his arms and huffed. “Elemental masters are knows as the ultimate good force, I doubt anybody would mind getting two new ones”

“We’re not joining the ninja forces. And on that note, we definitely don’t want them to know about us” The girl stared at the blond, Zippy hissed, as if agreeing with her words.

Tommy looked less than amused, he looked away and leaned back. “…What if I recruit the ninjas in?”

“You’re making it worse” Techno said and the teen groaned seeing how the girl was now glaring at him.

“I recruit only the ninjas in?”

Rumi furrowed her brows in confusion, “How the hell would you do that?”

Tommy smiled. “I have high charisma stats”

“Uh-huh…” He glared at the girl, not liking how she dared to doubt his skills.

Okay, it was time for plan B.

Tommy wasn’t the best at drawing, but he could muster up something more than just shapes resembling specific things. Also, what else are fun electronics for? Though he could still use a hand.

Ugh, where was Fundy when you needed him?

Well, he could always call him…

But he would do that some other time, because right now was time for some more shopping. Tommy grabbed a coke flavored lollipop and headed out, he loved going out. And the threat of starting a fight with Rumi was hanging over his head every second he spend at Koko’s apartment, it was a win-win really.

But fate decided to screw him over.

At this point Tommy noticed every next day was more wild then the last one, therefore his surprise was rather minimal once the Shark Guy attacked the city in broad daylight. “Shit” He sworn, looking at the shark-thingy unamused, don’t get me wrong, sharks are pretty cool, but this one caused him a lot of trouble. Having no other option Tommy booked it to the closest shop.

There was a chime as the door opened, then a loud slam as the blond closed them in hurry. He was not getting hospitalized again.

Tommy looked through the windows, at this point he could barely feel the paper straw keeping his lollipop intact under the small ball of coke sweetness. How long will this take? Not that he needed to do all of his shopping now, but being involuntary stuck in one place didn’t seem very fun, and he was a fan of fun.

He turned around with furrowed brows, his expression slowly soften as he realized he was in a music shop. Wait, wasn't this where Cool’s dad worked?

He heard Techno groan I his head. “It was Cole”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever”

He slowly walked away from the window and started to look around, his feet stopping, alongside his eyes, as one of the guitars caught his attention. It was pretty normal – regular size, made out of something Tommy could only guess is oak with golden elements. Weirdly enough the strings seem to… shine, as if they were covered in golden glitter.

Now wait a goddamn minute. Why would he need Wilbur and his band when he already knew most of their songs and could play the guitar? Sure, he wasn’t as good as any of the true musicians but Wil did teach him how to play, and his viewers always seem to complement his voice when he was singing on streams.

Hell, he could sing, play and stream the whole thing!

A part of him still wished Lovejoy (mostly Wilbur) could be there, so that they could sing together, but if they weren’t around Tommy had to take matters into his own hands.

He literally took the matter into his own hands, and by ‘matter’ I mean the guitar. He was going to buy it, he could test it so he knows if he needed anything else. Tommy slowly moved his hand and pulled each one of the strings, it sounded a little off. He looked around and found a lonely chair he took a seat and pulled the strings again to check which ones are off.

He adjusted the third string and pulled, first alone, then with the rest of the strings.

He adjusted the first one and tried, he adjusted it again.

Hm, almost.

He adjusted the sixth one just a little bit.

Did I say he wasn’t a professionalist? If so, forget it, he was pretty good!

Tommy tried playing the chorus part of ‘Your new boyfriend’. Okay, nevermind.

He adjusted both the second and the third string.

He tried playing the chorus again.

“Alright” Tommy smiled to himself. Feeling how he could now taste the paper more than coke he took the straw out of his mouth and put it into his pocket, then he tried playing something else. He soon got experimental, trying to play other songs he knew and liked, even if he didn’t necessarily knew how to play them with a guitar, the fight right outside the shop long forgotten as he managed to play something similar enough for other to know he was playing ‘Non-stop’, well, at least the beginning of it. “Wanna throw me up a song?” Tommy raised his head with a proud smile, wanting to look at the ceiling as he was addressing the voice in his head. He stopped midway, his smile disappearing as he noticed a man behind the counter staring at him with amazement.

“On, no. I doubt you know any old songs, but you’re doing amazing! Tell me, who do I have the pleasure to listen to? Are you in a band of any sorts?”

“Uh, no… I’m Tommy” He placed the guitar on his lap, both hands grabbing onto the side to secure it from any damage. He then squinted his eyes, “Well, I kinda am a comedian? Or rather I’m trying to be, I don’t have a show yet…”

The man smiled warmly at him. Yep, definitely a father. “Well, I’m sure you’ll do a great job. With a talent like yours, I’d be surprised if it were any other way! What bring you to my shop?”

“Oh!” Tommy blinked and laughed a little. “Just the Shark Guy attacking the city. Though I was planning to visit actually! Uh, Cole told me about this place. Can I buy this?” He pointed to the guitar in his lap.

“Of course! I’m sorry we meet under these circumstances, but I’m glad you’re here. And please, just call me Lou”

“Got it” Tommy stood up and walked closer to him, handing the guitar so Lou could get the price tag off. He took out his golden card, well, not really, it was red with golden markings but he was used to his friends (especially Tubbo) calling it that way. One swipe later he was the rightful owner of the guitar.

The doorbell chimed, at first Tommy wasn’t bothered, but when he looked at Lou he noticed the man looked rather scared, yet somehow determined as he quickly run around eth counter to stand between Tommy and the new customer.

“That’s not a regular customer, Theseus”

Tommy furrowed his brows and turned around just as the man blocked him from… a man in a crab suit? The fuck?

“All shops are closed  during Garmadon’s attack, I must ask you to leave sir”

Tommy opened his mouth to speak, but Techno was faster, “Not a word” Tommy promptly closed his mouth.

The Crab Man laughed, it took only a second for Tommy to realize he had a gun, and another one to realize it was made out of plastic. “Give me your money or I’ll wreck this whole place up”

Tommy suppressed a growl. “Don’t even think about it, Tommy…”

“Think about what? I wasn’t thinking of anything!”

“Tommy…”

”It’s just a piece of plastic!!”

“It’s not worth it”

“…”

“Wait… you just want the gun, am I right?”

“Damn right I do! And being a good person is the sweet bonus no one could refuse!” Tommy could hear Techno groan, but that didn’t stop him from taking a stance next to the man. “It’s closed, weirdo. And it’s not poggers to steal from others, especially small businesses”

The Crab Man blinked in confusion. “Did you not hear what I said? Are you deaf or something!? I don’t care if it’s closed and I couldn’t care less if it’s not ‘poggers’! What does that even mean!?”

“Tommy, you’re an idiot…”

“It means you’re an…” He stopped himself and looked at the man, he didn’t want to swear in front of adults he barely knew. “You’re a bad person who deserves to get their butt kicked”

Lou looked at him in worry, “Tommy, please stay out of this. Go to the back”

“I’m eighteen, Mr. Lou” The blond said with slight annoyance.

“So is my son” The man looked at him with furrowed brows, now speaking in a stern tone. “Go to the back”

“Tommy, listen to—”

But Tommy had other plans, seems like the trouble he got into for the past couple of days didn’t teach him anything because before Techno could end the blond was already on his way towards the Crab Man.

He needed a cool plastic gun. It would help him so much with scaring off the mean customers and could save his ass in any other instance!

He was desperate.

“Left!”

So desperate, he understood the command without further explanation. He jumped left and time seem to slow, just as his feet touched the ground he resumed his run, he saw the plastic bullet flying by the spot he just left. He couldn’t help but smirk.

“Duck!”

Tommy did as he was told, he used his momentum to slid closer to the thug as he lowered his upper body to avoid another bullet. He was so close when the man pointed the gun directly at him.

He didn’t need the voice to tell him there was no way to avoid getting hit by this one.

“Straw!!”

Huh?

Now this was confusing. Was Techno out of his mind?

Was Tommy out of his?

But who would dare and defy Blade of all? Tommy quickly took the paper straw out of his pocket, it was now a little bend, and swing it in front of his face. To everybody’s surprise he managed to hit the bullet, getting it out of the way just in time so he could grab the gun. The Crab Man was too stunned to even try to stop Tommy from getting his prize.

Tommy blinked. “Holy shit…” He then looked at the gun and grinned. “The shop’s closed, bitch!!” He pointed the gun at the Crab Man and started to fire at him like a madman. He waited for the moment he was out of ammunition, but it never came, he was left with the thought it will soon run out and he will have to use the gun some other way.

The Crab Man groaned as he was hit by shit-tone of plastic bullets, never doing any real damage but still hurting on impact thanks to the power of fast movement. Just as he was about to jump at the teen Tommy’s perfectly, though accidentally, aimed bullet hit his right eye. “AHH!!”

Tommy stopped, scared of what he had done, he never meant any real damage after all! He just wanted the man to leave him and Lou alone. “Shit, sorry, Crabby! I didn’t mean to—”

“Shut up! Shut the fuck up!! Ow! You popped mu eye out!”

Tommy furrowed his brows, a little offended from the accusation. “Not true! I hit it on accident!”

“Ugh! I’m gonna hit you on accident—!!” The Crab Man growled, getting his hand away from his face and showing the nasty looking eye, Tommy cringed.

But before any of them managed to do or say anything the door slammed open, a person dressed in all black with a mask covering most of their face, and their head, stood in the doorframe. Tommy’s eyes widen as he recognized his savior. “Earth…” His whisper seem to be louder than he intended it to be as the black ninja looked at him, but only for a second, right after that he sprinted towards the Crab Man and kicked him, now standing between him and Tommy and Lou.

“I suggest you leave  before things get more messy” Earth cracked his knuckles as he growled at the thug, it was both a warning and a threat.

The Crab Man groaned, straightening and preparing for a fight. “Don’t you have more important things to take care of, Crust Boy?”

“You’re lucky we’re in a shop” Earth said in a low voice before jumping at the man again Tommy couldn’t believe his eyes when the ninja managed to tackle the man in less than five seconds, the man ended pinned to the floor, Earth half sitting on his back, holding the man’s hand there so that he couldn’t move. “Now, you have two options. Either you give up, we get you patched up and then we have a calm conversation before putting you in jail. Or you’ll end up in jail with a broken arm” As if to prove he wasn’t joking Earth pressed on the man’s hand. The Crab Man hissed in pain. “So, what will it be?”

“Fine!! I’ll be nice! Just— Let me go already!!”

The ninja only hummed, grabbing both of the man wrists in one hand and helping him stand up. Tommy furrowed his brows and made an almost offended noise, “Well that was quite disappointing…”

“Huh?” Earth turned his head to look at the teen while Tommy continued with his rant.

Tommy was looking only at the Crab Man, totally not minding the hero holding him in place for basically everybody’s safety, including his own. “You could at least put on a fight, you know? You just fucking gave up! I never gave up in a fight!”

Tommy never had a real fight, but when it came to games his words were true, he never gave up! No matter how many times he failed!

The only response he got was an angry growl and the light struggled of the thug to get to him, that was merely one tug as Earth pulled him back in an instant. “Okay, I changed my mind. That’s not disappointing, that’s just pathetic”

“You’ll regret those words, brat! When I’m out, I’ll make you eat them—!!”

“Easy there” The black ninja tighten his grip, making the man hiss in pain again, he then turned to Tommy, “You shouldn’t provoke him”

Tommy huffed while crossing his arms. “I’m just telling what’s on my mind”

“And sometimes you should keep it to yourself, Theseus”

The blond rolled his eyes. As he watched Earth lead the Crab Man to the exit he suddenly remembered his genius plan, the one he had to change because Rumi was being a bitch about showing up and lending him a hand. He skipped over to the ninja, calling out his hero name, “Earth, wait!” The ninja stopped in his track, turning to look at Tommy with confusion once again. The blond cleared his throat, it was business time, “Is there a possibility, you and your team could help me out with something?”

“Probably, what’s the matter?”

“Well…” He needed to be smart about this, it was not a case of life-or-death and it wasn’t hard to guess it would be harder to convince the ninja to help him just because of that. Wasn’t it though? The G family needed money to survive, just like anybody else on this fucking planet. Tommy smiled internally, looks like he just found a great point to make. “See, I got this friend…”

“Friend?” Earth sounded almost amused, but the teen was too busy plotting to pay his voice tone any mind.

“Yeah. Listen, when you look at it the right way, it’s kind of a do-or-die situation really”

“Uh-huh” The ninja was now smiling, even more amused than before, the mask couldn’t hide how he squinted his eyes.

Tommy started smiling as well, a thing he always did when he was doing business, it made him more charismatic. Or that’s what he had always thought. “So, this friend works in a very nice café, with Blade forbid best food and drinks one could ever have in their entire life! But the industry kinda sucks and the owner, Blade bless his soul, is at his wits end! Sonu’s café is a true blessing in disguise, Anyway, I’m in charge of bringing it back to its glory, and I was hoping that maybe you guys could come by and do some… magic tricks or something, so that more people get the memo on what they been missing” As he ended his smile was a little more awkward, it also started to hurt a little. Barely a second passed before Tommy added in hurry, “You’ll be getting free drinks for the rest of forever if you do”

(“Is he serious!?” Cole couldn’t believe what he was hearing, it took all of his willpower not to just burst out in laughter and drop on the floor choking on air. “Okay, okay… Ohh, this is too good!!”)

Earth cleared his throat, “That sounds like a blast but… we’re quite busy”

“I-It would be enough if you just mention the café after one of your fights! Really!! And it’s not like I have a date to when I’m doing my part of the endorsement so..” Tommy laughed, a bit nervously.

Please, say yes. Please, say yes. Please, say—

“I’ll see what we can do for you and your friend”

(Cole needed to end this conversation and quick, because if this continues he will lose it and either die laughing or coo at the teen.)

Tommy’s eyes sparkled. “Really!? Thank you!! You’re the best! You’re my new favourite!!”

Earth laughed a little, “Glad to hear that” He winked at him, Tommy too happy for words to describe. The black ninja pushed the thug forward, motioning with his head it was time to go. “I’ll see you around!” He waved as he crossed the door and slowly disappeared from Tommy’s (and Lou’s) view.

“Not bad, Toms”

“Of course! I am a businessman after all!”

“Good job, guys” One of the police officers said to the four ninja.

“I got one!” Cole called out, waving his free hand so there wouldn’t be any problem with noticing him.

“Oh, Earth! My goodness, you do!”

“At least there’s some good in you abandoning us in the middle of the fight” Kai muttered as the officer was putting handcuffs on the Crab Man, Cole glared at him while Nya elbowed hm.

“Where’s Green?”

Everybody immediately became awkward. Jay chuckled nervously, “We had code green again…”

“Oh boy…” Cole couldn’t help but sigh and place a hand over his eyes.

Before any more words could leave any of the five the officer turned to them again. “Should we leave him for you guys or can we put him next to his colleagues?”

“Lock him in, officer. I doubt any of those morons have any useful information…” Kai rolled his eyes, they tried getting something out of them a few times, the results were always the damn same and they didn’t learn anything.

The officer saluted and joined his partner in one of the police cars, the five watched them leave. “We should get going” Nya said, Zane nodded to her words.

“I agree, we need to find Green and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid”

Cole laughed to himself. “Hell yes we do! I got something to tell you guys. But we need to be in full squad” He whistled as his friends stared at him with confusion, soon his Earth Mech run up to them and he jumped in. “Let’s go!”

Not really having other options, the rest did the same and they all headed towards the warehouse on their mechs.

Chapter Text

“—and then I punched him in the face, and that’s how I got this!” Tommy ended his story with a Hamilton pose, the biggest grin imaginable decorating his face as he held the plastic gun high up.

“You punched him?” Rumi raised a brow at him.

He blinked, “W-well, yeah! Anyway, then, I started shooting at the guy and just as I was about to finish him off, one of the ninja kicked down the door! They tackled the Crab weirdo to the ground and we talked” Tommy smiled, jumping down onto the couch and sitting next to the girl.

The guitar he bought was set down, leaning against the couch’s side, as soon as he got home, everything was wet. Just as Tommy set foot outside the music shop it started raining, he may or may not have run all the way home to avoid most of the damage, he still didn’t go unscratched though, or unwetted in this case.

As soon as he changed into something, you know, not wet and fixed his hair, which was now only a little damp, he went to tell Rumi about his adventure.

I mean, holy hell, he just got himself a gun, of course he had to tell somebody!

“So you ‘recruited’ them?”

“Yes!” Tommy exclaimed proudly. “Earth said they’ll see what they can do”

The girl hummed in acknowledgement, then the front door opened and in walked a rather sad looking blond. Rumi furrowed her brows, “What are you doing here? School’s not over yet”

“Leave me alone”

Tommy blinked.

Woah, what happened to this guy? He sounded so… drained.

The two looked after the teen as he passed through the corridor until he disappeared behind the wall, Rumi stared some more before turning to the TV as if nothing happened. Tommy wasn’t really happy with that. “What’s up with ‘im?”

The girl shrugged, “Beats me. But it’s not like he would tell me, nor do I really care”

“You don’t care about your brother?” Tommy furrowed his brows. Surely she was joking, she had to be. He himself would never admit out loud he cares for Wilbur to the amount he does but that didn’t change the fact he do care a shit-ton. (He looked at the place where the guitar was for a quick second)

“I don’t care to ask” She corrected herself. “As I said, he wouldn’t tell me, so there’s no point in wasting my time on this shit” The spider resting on top of the backrest hissed, in agreement, Tommy assumed.

It seem fair of an answer. And it satisfied the blond, for now at least.

But the weirdly cold atmosphere kicked his good mood to the ground, all the enthusiasm he had long forgotten as he was left with a bad taste in his mouth.

The silence became awkward.

“Tommy”

He almost let out a relieved breath once he heard his God friend. “Yeah?”

“You were supposed to watch YouTube videos to find some good songs, remember?”

“Oh, I completely forgot!” He said out loud, earning himself a weirded out look from the girl.

“About?”

“Uh— I was gonna check out some songs to play at the big reopening” Tommy smiled at her with one of the biggest grins, it was a little awkward at first but it soon turned into a real one once he started to get a new brilliant idea. Maybe he could come up with a song on his own…

The girl sighed, “All I wanted was peace and quiet… Welp,” She slowly got to her feet, visibly unhappy she had to change her location. “I ain’t gonna sit around and listen to your cat music”

“Hey! I play good!!”

“I don’t doubt” Rumi roller her eyes, extending her hand so that Zippy could get on it. There was SO much doubt in her voice. “I’ll leave you to it” Tommy glared at her as she left the room.

When the girl was gone Tommy got to work, getting his phone out and searching through his favourite songs to see if anything was suiting for the event and if he could potentially learn how to play it.

“I mean, everything will be a bop if you sing it”

He stopped, a smiled creeping onto his face as his eyes sparkled. “You really think so…?”

“You always know how to put on a good show… Also, I was nodding as I said that” This made Tommy snort, the image of Technoblade as his pig skin, royal outfit with a red cape, various golden jewelry and a crown in all their glory, slowly nodding his head with a semi bored expression in front of his imagination’s eyes.

The happy face was slowly replaced as his thoughts went back to Wilbur. Now that he thought about it the musician must have been so worried, it’s been days since he texted him.

Tommy had a very annoying habit of being, well, let’s call things by their names, clingy. He send a lot of weird messages or pictures or audio recordings or short videos at all times to most of his friends, especially the ones he was most attached to. A few flirty memes to Ranboo late at night, half remade by Tommy to make them funnier or ‘more accurate’, a shit-ton of audio and videos to Tubbo in the most random times imaginable, somehow always catching the other teen off guard, a spam to Eryn, Jack or Freddie with new ideas. And in the middle of it all was Wilby— Wilbur, getting a little bit of everything all of the time.

Tommy was proud of how annoying he could be at times, hearing, seeing or reading how irritated his brother was. “Tommy! For fucks sake, do you have to be in contact with me 24/7 a whole ass year!?”

Yes. The answer was ‘yes’.

Because it wasn’t ‘24/7 a whole ass year’, it was just almost every day with a short break in-between texts. But since the Sorry Boys were in the making he, Wilbur and the rest of the project group were constantly chatting. Everyday something new was popping in their discord, a new idea to give honest opinion on. Yet he haven’t checked it for days now…

“Fuck” He cringed, making an impact with the brick wall of guilt.

He wasn’t one to leave anyone on read (unless he was wronged by them), in fact he was always the first one to reply. He always had a strong, more or less, opinion on the topic. And now everyone from the team was either going to see him as a dick or be worried about him because he didn’t reply for days! He was too focused on that stupid video not going through and totally forgot about everything else!!

Blade damnit, Tommy knew his attention span was that of a goldfish but holy hell that was bad.

No more distractions! He needed to tell everyone was fine and apologize for—

Just as he was about to fix the damage his all-too-distracted-self had made he caught a glimpse of the other blond, Tommy looked towards the corridor. Lloyd looked as shitty as the last time he saw him, still visibly sulking over whatever happened before he got home early. Was it school that got him down so much?

Good Blade, it most thought he poisoned their food and went to complain about him to the very owner, how awful his school life had to be?

Tommy cringed again, this time even more.

People can be horrible, he knew that all too well. Random drama over nothing, baseless cancellations, a swarm of angry fans attacking you because you made a joke about their favourite creator… The list goes on.

It wasn’t fair.

“Stop him”

The more Tommy thought about how bad the other blond’s life had to be the more sad he felt. It wasn’t Lloyd’s fault his father was a villain. He didn’t want this, more than anyone else, Tommy was sure.

He didn’t deserve this.

In fact, he deserved a break.

“I thought we went over this already. Don’t debate if you should do something good, Tommy, just do it. I’ll warn you if it’s stupid or dangerous before you can even open your mouth”

“Where’re you going?”

The green eyed blond stopped just before he could disappear behind the wall, slowly turning to look at Tommy and blink in surprise. “Work?”

“Yeah, I don’t think so” Tommy said, getting up and reaching for his new guitar.

“Huh? What do you mean? I need to—”

“You’re staying home, my man. I’ll pick up your shift”

Lloyd’s eyes widen, he stared at Tommy as he reached out for the handle. “What…? Y-you can’t—!”

“Listen,” He faced the shorter blond, sighing a little. “I should’ve warn you from the very get-go – if I wanna do something, I do it. I don’t take ‘no’ for an answer”

“But—”

“It’ll be fine” Tommy rolled his eyes, then smiled at the other teen. “I’m basically a co-owner, remember?” For a few more seconds Lloyd tried finding any counterargument, he failed as the only thing that left him was very confused noises.

Not wasting time on fighting over things that already been solved, Tommy walked out the door, it was still raining a little but it looked like it was going away so he saw no point in bringing an umbrella.

“You know, now I’m wondering… How many times have you hesitated to do something good?”

Tommy almost stopped, caught off guard by the question. Instead he only made a very weird step due to his legs giving in for a second. “It doesn’t happen that often…”

Technically true. Tommy always loved helping others, but when it got to helping stranger he had his doubts. He’s brave, but life taught him not to trust everybody, even if he deeply believed there is only a handful of truly bad people.

Danny the Dick for example.

“You’re a great kid, Tommy. I may sound cheesy right now but… just follow your heart, okay?” Now Tommy almost tripped, he had to stop for a moment to compose himself. Fuck, he was close to crying. Why did these words made him feel so warm inside? “If anybody messes with you, I’ll make sure their afterlife is worse than hell” The blond laughed a little, curse Techno for being both wholesome and funny at the same time.

But those words stuck with him all the way to the café, as he reached the entrance he really had to fight off tears. He blinked before stepping inside, quickly going to Sonu’s office to tell him about the change.

The next few hours Tommy spend on serving the very little people that came into the café, writing down new ideas for the grand reopening on his phone as he slowly went through his technically-new-friend’s shift.

“Tommy? What are you doing here?” He shrugged when the teen he identified as Cole came to him with one of the most surprised expressions he ever seen.

“Just revisiting good memories. How ‘bout you?”

“Well, I wanted to talk to Lloyd…” The teen looked away with a sheepish smile, it quickly turned into a normal smile as he faced Tommy again. “But I’d love to talk to you too! I heard you visited my dad”

“Oh yeah, your dad’s shop is so cool, dude!” His eyes sparkled as he set the cup on the counter, forgetting about it for a moment as he picked up the guitar. “I got this baby from there! Look at her! Isn’t she the most beautiful guitar you ever set your eyes upon!?”

Cole laughed. “Oh yeah, she’s sooo pretty”

“Don’t flirt with her!!” Tommy immediately pulled the guitar as far away from the other teen as possible, how dared he hit on his beloved!?

“Sorry, sorry!” Cole laughed some more before coughing a little to compose himself. “Sooooo, we heard you’re, uh trying to make this place better?”

“Hell yeah I am!” Tommy beamed, posing proudly. “I’m so good I even got the ninja to help out”

“Oh?” Cole’s smiled widen and his eyes seem to light up (in the non-literal sense).

“Mhm! I talked to Earth today, they’re officially my favourite ninja. They were so cool!” The blond’s eyes sparkled as he thought back. Listen, there were only two options, either the Crab Man was that pathetic (which he still kind of was, no matter how you looked at this) or Earth was just that badass. Tommy decided to go with the second option, mostly because he would rather think someone is cool than lame.

The raven head’s smile became even more wide, he quickly coughed into his fist. “You know, you’re the first person to refer to any of the ninja as ‘they’. At least that I’m aware of”

“Well, I’m not going to just assume they’re a ‘she’ or a ‘he’ just because they sound or look like one! On that note…” Tommy squinted his eyes at him, “You know what’s weird? You lowkey sound like Earth”

Cole’s eyes immediately widen and his smile faded as he turned a little pale. “U-uh, really?”

Before Tommy could answer, though he was already nodding, a very annoyed ‘ahem’ came from behind Cole. The blond furrowed his brows as the other teen stepped to the side to reveal none other than the mean teenage girl from two days ago. Tommy groaned, “Chemical Face! What are you doing here? I thought I told you this place takes no bad bitches like you”

“On no, it’s you again!” Tommy could swear the girl’s hair stood up like an angry cat’s fur while she glared at him, he gladly returned the gesture.

Unfortunately for her this time around he had a weapon. Tommy raised his plastic gun, which was probably out of darts, and pointed it at her, not really aiming. “You shall leave and never come back, understood? Or else I won’t hesitate to bang you out of existence” He surprised himself with how dark he managed to make this sound, but he was great at acting so it quickly made him feel proud. A victorious smile lighted his face as she stomped away, he spun the gun on his finger.

“Wow…”

“It’s a life lesson, don’t let the bitches get over your head, and sometimes you have to take drastic measures for the greater good”

Cole stared at him for a few seconds, eyebrows furrowed yet a small smiled on his lips while the blond set the gun down and leaned on the counter. “This sounds like a movie quote”

“Really? Good Blade, I really am a great actor”

Cole laughed and shook his head (inside he was letting a thousands breaths of relief as the topic was changed and seemingly forgotten), “You can play? Or are you trying to learn?” He asked, pointing at the instrument behind Tommy.

“A little bit of both. My bro—” Tommy immediately stopped himself, and bit his tongue for good measure. Fuck, was he really—?

“It’s moments like this I regret not being able to hold a camera”

“Shuddup!” He screamed in his mind before continuing out loud, “My friend taught me a little, but it wasn’t that much”

“Are you planning on using it to help the café?”

“Yeah, that was the plan” Tommy sighed. “I still need to make these damn flyers…”

“Let me guess, you’re not that good at drawing”

“I am plenty good!” He lightly glared at the taller teen.

“Okay, okay! I don’t doubt you. But if you need any help just know me and the rest are pretty good at drawing too”

Tommy blinked, hmm…

He could always use some help. Especially when it was proposed to him.

The two teens made plans to meet with everybody on Saturday, Cole texted everyone in their group chat to check of somebody had plans for that day, thankfully no one did. The rest of Tommy’s shift was spend on scaring off mean customers and learning how to play a few songs on the guitar, thanks to Cole being his teacher. When the taller teen was heading back so did all the customers. Having a few more minutes to spare, and knowing (praying) nobody else would visit he decided to make two more coffees, one for himself – more milk than coffee and quite a lot caramel syrup – that he finished before officially ending ‘his’ shift. The second one was more balanced – half coffee, half milk and normal amount of caramel syrup, after all it was quite late and close to, like, anyone’s bed time.

“You are such a great kid”

“Stop cooing at me!” He yelled in a whisper as his cheeks now started to get a bit warm, and so did his heart. Luck really wasn’t on his side that day, just as he was getting ready to leave it started pouring. Seems like the weather Gods hated him.

Maybe he should text Noah?

They weren’t that close but it wasn’t like they were strangers, and if it would help with the rain then maybe it was worth a try…

But then again, they weren’t that close for Tommy to just text him out of nowhere at this hour.

Having no other option left, Tommy just took a deep breath and sprinted towards his temporary home. The run was very uncomfortable, he almost immediately got fucking soaked and the way he was holding all of his things got his arms sore. But his mission was a success as not even a single drop left the cup and it was only a little damp.

As soon as the door to the staircase closed behind him he stopped and took a few deep breaths. Oh Blade, why did his throat hurt so much?

“That wasn’t very smart. You could’ve at least call a taxi”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re repeating yourself…” Tommy rolled his eyes.

He spend a moment at the ground floor, catching his breath and trying to get a hold of his shivering body, finally he decided there was no point in giving up now and he started walking up the stairs. The guitar was quickly placed by the door, the gun thrown to the ground next to the couch as he walked into ‘his room’ more commonly known as the living room. Lloyd, who miraculously was watching TV, looked at him with worry. “How long have you been in the rain?”

“Dunno. Here” He extended his hand with the coffee cup.

The shorter blond blinked, his eyes slowly widening in realization, “What? You didn’t—”

“Fucking hell! Would you just take a gift from a very wet man!?” Perhaps it was a weird thing to say but the teen could be at least a little appreciative for all the trouble he went through to get him this coffee.

“Tommy…”

“I know, Tech! I know! Just… ‘M cold, mate…”

“Shouldn’t have run in the rain”

Tommy rolled his eyes.

There was a few more seconds before Lloyd hesitantly took the cup from Tommy’s hand, “Thanks…”

“No problemo. Imma take a bath now, call the ambulance if I don’t get out in an hour!” Tommy called out as he walked towards the bathroom. Suddenly he stopped. “Wait, if you can see me, does that mean—”

“Why the hell would I want to watch that!?”

Chapter Text

Tommy sniffled.

Welp, who would have guess he’d get a cold from running in rain?

“I did. I certainly did”

“You don’t count” The blond muttered in his head, a scowl on his face as he sat under the blanket with a cup of freshly made tea. Koko was fighting someone over the phone in the kitchen. Naturally, Tommy took this opportunity to listen in, though his headache made it hard to focus, even if the woman’s voice was so clear.

“No, I am not coming today!... I don’t care!... Sure, have a splendid day” It was actually quite impressive, Tommy never expected Koko to have it in her to be such a girlboss.

“You didn’t have to do that…” The girl started, neither sad or angry.

“No, I had to. It’s always like this! I never ask for days off, and the only time I do it’s when one of my children is sick or badly injured. Yet he still refuses! I swear I’m going to—”

“Mom, calm down”

“Yeah, I could’ve take care of him! Besides, he’s not a child” The eye roll was evident in Rumi’s voice. Tommy roller his own eyes. But the statement was true, the only thing he needed was some drugs, he could handle that on his own.

This night was one of the most shitty nights Tommy had to live through, aka. any night when he was sick. He was so fucking cold, and he wanted to sleep but it was just too cold.

This night Tommy had a fever.

It wasn’t that bad, honestly!

But when Koko came back her Mommy Senses immediately told her something was off. Poor woman didn’t get any sleep because of him and now, when it was almost time to go to her day job, she wasn’t even getting ready.

There was a moment of silence, soon he noticed Koko approaching him. She smiled at him as she crouched down, it was a semi forced smile as Tommy could clearly see how tense she was. “How are you feeling, honey?”

Tommy sniffled, “Good enough”

“I’m glad. Call me if you need anything, okay?” He gave a quick nod, which was followed by a salute to show that he truly wasn’t in need of babying.

“See? I told you, you have nothing to worry about. You should’ve just—”

“No, Riri” The woman turned to her adopted daughter with a stern… basically everything.

“But now you’re—”

“I’m fine” Koko insisted. Rumi could do nothing but sigh in defeat before going to her room, rather angrily may I add.

Why did Tommy feel bad?

All he did was help!

Correction, all he wanted to do was help, but all he managed to actually do is add more problems for his hosts.

He screamed internally.

This was not a part of his plan.

“I think you helped them out a lot. This was just a thing we couldn’t avoid with you being you. Honestly, it could’ve been worse” Tommy groaned, leaning against the couch in annoyance. Techno was absolutely right, it could’ve been worse, but that didn’t change the fact that Tommy fucked up. “Now, you’re being a bit dramatic. You payed yourself for yesterday’s shift ten times what Lloyd normally gets. Compared to what they have, I say you made them half rich!”

“I mean, it was I who worked” Tommy hummed to himself while answering the voice in his head. He was looking through Disney+ in hopes of finding something interesting. A small smile appeared on his face once he found Up.

“Then work more”

Like hell that would happen. He already had plenty of business in his daily life, even now!

Though…

“Where’s my whiteboard?” The movie’s sad intro barely started when Tommy paused it, frantically looking around for what’s his. This question wasn’t for anyone in particular so he ignored all the answers he got and found it on his own. The markers were more tricky, those tiny, annoying— “There you fucking are!”

The black marker barely got into his hand when the cap was already in Tommy’s mouth. “Tommy, no!” Koko screamed, Mommy Senses kicking in again, the teen quickly pulled the plastic out of his mouth.

Tommy marked out a whole week, writing ‘T’ and ‘Ll’ one after another and leaving Sunday empty, he then grabbed his phone and started counting. He furrowed his brows, thinking for a moment before changing the order and drawing a line on top of the ‘l’ under Saturday to make it a ‘T’ then quickly counted again. Now this, ladies and gentlemen, and everybody in between, was a master plan.

Maybe he was going a bit far, but who could possibly complain?

With a proud smile he kicked his legs and was about to get up and walk away when he realized one small issue – there was no way Koko would let him leave when he was sick. Even if it was just a dumb cold. He knew better, when Mommy Senses kick in there was no coming back, not unless he was as good as new.

It was time for the big guns.

“Which are???”

Tommy had to turn into a secret agent, of course! Agent TommyInnit, known as Big Innit, aka. Agent Innit, aka. Big Agent Innit, aka. Agent 0.

“Nobody calls you that. And why Agent 0 specifically?”

“Because 0 is right before 1! It means I’m the best of the best, to the point where my accomplishments cannot be countered!... And because I was Patient 0 in Charlie’s zombie video”

“Maybe you should lay down…” But Techno should know better, should know Tommy isn’t one to back down from a great plan, especially if he was the one to come up with it.

Koko was tired, she was constantly overworked and hadn’t have a good sleep in years, not to mention she didn’t get sleep at all this night. If Tommy would wait long enough, surely she would fell asleep! He felt bad for thinking that way but he had things to do! COVID of all things didn’t stop him so why should a common cold?

“Koko?” He called out softly.

“Yes, honey?” The woman quickly appeared in the doorway, an aura of concern surrounding her as she eyed him head to toe, making sure he’s okay.

“Since you’re not going to work today… Can you watch Up with me?” Tommy tried his best in mustering up the most pitiful puppy eyes look in his entire life.

It turned out to be super effective as the woman immediately cooed at him. “Of course” She answered, slowly strolling to come sit next to him. Koko took the mug from his hands and set it on the small table in front of them before smiling at the teen. Tommy took his chance at being ultra cute and leaned in to lay his head against her shoulder, no more encouragement was needed for Koko to thrown an arm around him and pull him into a hug.

Blade damn, how long has it been since the last time he had a hug like this?

***

It took a while for Koko to fall asleep, a little less than the whole movie but Tommy adored Up so much he just had to finish the movie before getting to work. He slowly got away  from Koko’s warm embrace and gently lied her down before throwing the blanket over her sleeping form. He felt a bit of guilt. “Well, at least she’ll get some sleep” He reached for his gun and slowly made his way towards the door, turning around every now and then to make sure the woman was still sleeping.

Getting out was the worst part, but as soon as he closed the door with a soft click and let go of the handle it was over. Tommy stood there for a second before rushing down the stairs.

Blade, he’s the best secret agent on the planet!

“Sooo not true”

“You don’t know anything about secret agents, Techno” The blond rolled his eyes, jumping over two steps and landing at the very bottom of the staircase, right in front of the door.

“You can be an agent all you want, Theseus. But I can assure you, you’re no secret”

“I could be!” Some people passing the teen looked at him as if he was crazy, Tommy ignored them, as per usual. He just came up with the best idea yet and needed to show it to his friend in business, he just knew Sonu would love this.

***

Listen, either this city is cursed or Tommy is.

Honestly, nobody would be surprised if it were both.

Tommy couldn’t even make it halfway to the café when he heard panicked screaming, soon a shark themed mech loomed over the city, all accompanied by a not-so-maniacal maniacal laughter. Tommy groaned in annoyance, this city was getting on his nerves.

What was even the goal? What purpose this shit show even had? Why do all of this???

Welp, not like Tommy could ever understand a villain.

No, scratch that.

Tommy of all would understand a villain!

There had to be something that pushed the man to do this, there had to be. Nobody was that evil to do bad things just because they could. At least nobody sane!

Though, how could he know? It’s not like he met the guy and talked with hi—

“Tommy…” The voice groaned.

Nevermind. This could wait. Now he had more pressing matters on his hands.

On the topic of pressing, Tommy was so lost in his thoughts running from annoyance to quick analysis and finishing in a new idea, that he didn’t notice a man running at him with… he didn’t even have the time to comprehend what exactly the Jellyfish Man was running at him with. When it finally dawned on him he needed to save his ass, before he could say what the potential damage could be, he was pushed away.

The white ninja let a grunt at the thing that was supposed to get Tommy pierce through their abdomen.

Oh.

Oh Blade.

“Who gave the Jelly Man a fucking axe!?”

“We should get you an axe… You know, on second thought—”

Ice didn’t seem all that bothered, despite being fucking stabbed with an axe! The white ninja grabbed the Jelly Man’s arms before kicking him away, the axe being ripped away with a weird sound, or at least one Tommy found weird, this is not how he would imagine a whole ass axe being ripped away from someone’s… anything basically! It was weirdly… metallic?

While Ice charged at the man, grabbing his hands and freezing them in place so he could take the axe away from him, Tommy noticed an alarming lack of blood. Or at least the red substance he recognized as blood. The hero’s suit around the stab wound and the weapons used to cause said wound were covered in something blue.

Blue substance instead of red.

Blue blood instead of red.

Whoever was behind that white outfit couldn’t be human. Not fully.

While Tommy stared in awe, the axe being forgotten as soon as it didn’t pose more threat, the white ninja turned to him. “You should be more careful, Tommy. Those thugs are more crazy than Garmadon himself”

“I noticed… Uh, you’re… bleeding…”

Ice looked down, baby blue eyes (why… were they so familiar?) looking at the stab wound. He slowly looked up, looking at Tommy softly, “I’ll be okay. You should go hide”

All Tommy managed was a small, barely noticeable nod. Ice smiled at him, he could tell even though he had a mask covering his face, a thing he learned while hanging out with Ranboo (then again, it wasn’t all that hard to tell). And then, he was gone.

You know what?

It’s a problem for another time.

Chapter Text

“Tommy!!”

“Ow, fucking balls! Don’t scream at me!!” The blond glared at the white haired girl he had the misfortune to meet along his way back.

“Why the fuck aren’t you home!?”

“Listen, there’s a reason I call myself a businessman” Tommy placed his hands on his hips giving a little shrug while the girl crossed her arms. Was it the lighting or did her eyes just turn a little purple…?

“I can assure you it’s not the lighting…”

“I don’t really care if you’re out, but if Koko wakes up she’s going to freak out!”

“I was just heading back, for your limited information” The two stared each other down, “As always, I was struck with an amazing idea and needed to set things in motion. By the way… was Ice ever recorded bleeding?”

Rumi furrowed her brows, not that he didn’t expect that, it was a pretty weird question after all, “No? At least not officially. There’re a few videos on social media but can’t really trust that. Why?”

“Well, seems like I was the first to see it then” he smiled proudly, the girl deepened her frown. Tommy pulled his phone, quickly opening Google and typing in. “So, I was thinking…”

Rumi groaned, “Do you ever fucking stop thinking? I need a break from your wild ideas…”

Techno snort, “I second that”

Tommy huffed. “You’re not even involved! Anyway, I told Earth to tell their friends about Sonu’s café—”

“You already informed me of that”

“I’m reminding you” He glared at Rumi, just like Wilbur, Wilbur always cut him off if he started to repeat himself (while all Tommy wanted to do was to be poetic). “As I was saying, I came up with a Hero Discount! I can easily afford that! But, even if having good drinks and food for half free—”

“That’s one way to see it…”

“Half free,” Tommy pressed while they walked, Garmadon’s attack was still on full, apparently this one was quite a stir but Rumi didn’t give a shit, “We can one-up! Imagine if after a hard fight, just like this one, they could come there and drink… healing potions?”

Tommy already knew the answer was a definitive N-O when the girl abruptly stopped. He slowly turned around to face her, Rumi took a deep breath. “First of all, it’s tea, not potions. Second, this is why I hate your ideas. Third, do you really think Mystake would allow this?”

“She seem to like me” He shrugged, then swayed a little while his eyes briefly scanned over the results of his search ‘White ninja bleeding’, let’s hope no FBI agents are watching over his search history. He looked back at the girl and smiled sheepishly, “And I have a history with potions…”

“You’re stomping on thin ice, Theseus”

Rumi shook her head. “You’re a maniac, a helpless maniac”

“Please! Wouldn’t you help a man I need?” Tommy tried his best to do puppy eyes, but she stayed just as cold as before.

“Ew”

“Fine” Tommy rolled his eyes, huffing as he looked at his phone again. His eyes quickly widen as he read on of the results. “Ninja have social media!?”

The girl groaned, “Yeah”

He blinked, looking at her in bewilderment, “Aren’t they supposed to be anonymous?”

“What can I say, they’re stupid”

Indeed.

Who in their right mind would ever think being on social media makes you anonymous!?

***

The two, oop– Sorry, three and a half, managed to get back before Mrs. Garmadon woke up, thank fuck. The rest of the day Tommy spend looking through profiles of all six of the city’s heroes.

You know, Tommy learned a lot while being out on the internet.

And just as he expected, and also just as Rumi said, the heroes leaked a few more personal things about themselves.

Fire, or rather Flaming_Hero69, a rather interesting choice of an internet pseudo for a hero but okay (the amount of times Tommy named his avatars weird innuendo-like things was way too long for him to really have any strong opinions on other people’s pseudos), leaked quite a lot about himself (he/him as the profile enlighten the blond). After a few hours of careful research Tommy had to stop scrolling down, there was no end to this madness! Fire posted multiple times a day, practically everyday! Tommy quickly learned what food and drinks he liked, and disliked, what type of music he listens to, his favourite shows, sports, animals… There were even a few short videos of him doing cool tricks with his powers. Every comment left under one of his posts was liked by the hero himself, and he responded to a good amount of them.

It may not seem like much at first sight, but Fire made a crucial mistake – the videos. Internet has its rules, and one of the most important one’s is to never, under no circumstances, post anything that could potentially point to where you are. The red ninja didn’t need to leak his actual address for Tommy, and other smart internet users, to know the basic area where the hero at least trained or liked going to do his training, or perhaps hang out in general.

If Tommy wasn’t lazy, and if he cared for the hero’s true identity, he could easily find the place.

Water, H20_LilPad, was a little smarter, but still fucked up. She (she/her as Tommy learned) posted some basic stuff, just like her red teammate. She posted a few videos from public places, smart move, definitely smarter than the other hero, but still not perfect. Her mistake was giving to the public information about her newly bought motorcycle with some old hero lady (weirdly the drawing – apparently Water’s own job – immediately reminded him of Koko, it was probably the orange hair).

Sure, anybody can have that motorcycle, and a lot of people could have similar painting, but if you went the extra mile and checked if the painting matched when you see one in person you could just wait around for the heroine to get back.

Chances are in your favor if you’re counting on finding out her identity.

Earth, aka. Tommy’s official favourite, aka. MusicMan_, pronounce he/they, was mostly posting music related stuff. Their biggest mistakes was posting pictures of their room/garage/studio while they were showing off their instruments, audio recordings of them singing and tutorial videos on how to play various instruments. The voice in the tutorials was modified, good, but his singing voice was left untouched.

On that note, why did he lowkey sounded like Cole? Though, signing voice doesn’t equal actual voice.

But it’s pretty darn close.

Doesn’t matter, it’s not like Tommy would ever go to the hero’s music room anyway, nor would he hear Cole sing.

Lightning, Blue Raven, he/they, was pretty smart, impressively smart. On every social media he posted videos or audio recordings on he had a voice changer (and there was a lot of videos considering they had a whole-ass gaming channel!), most of his posts were about various games, shows, books… Just a shit-ton of geeking out.

There wasn’t much Tommy could accuse them of when it came to revealing their real identity, unless showing off newly bought merch from any given fandom counted as one.

But a lot of fans buy merch, it’s not a dead giveaway.

Not unless you get yourself a limited edition…

Ice, the one to save him today and who conveniently named themself ‘The White Ninja’ on their social media, they/them (if you want to believe what the bio said). They were… well, they didn’t post all that much actually, all they did was post articles of them and their friends with comments on whether or not they thought it was good (most of the time it was). If one of the ninja was ‘accused’ of something, Ice was quick to defend them, or (as Tommy learned through some deeper research) if someone they and/or the rest saved posted about it they would respond with ‘It was nice talking to you :D’ or ‘Hope you get better soon!’ if the person got injured. There was also a few links to various charities, a new one appearing each month from what the blond noticed (he may or may not donated to one of the cancer treatment charities while he was there, Techno cooed at him).

Nothing to use if one was to try and find out their real identity. It looked more like a fan decided to pose as the hero to spread wholesomeness.

Not that anyone would mind.

Lastly there was Green – Jade G.

Now that was an interesting case. Despite posting quite a lot, there was nothing Tommy could find to reveal their real identity (not that Tommy tried but still). It was just like if any normal person had social media and not a hero. Just like the rest they had their likes and dislikes, favorite shows, games, books (though there were mostly comics, a lot of which Tommy saw in Lloyd’s room). All the photos were in public places with maybe shoes or a hand in the camera but nothing that could lead to them, they didn’t even say what their actual gender (or sex) was! All Tommy had was one response in the comment threat: ‘You can call me whatever pronouns you want, I don’t mind :)’, so the blond guessed they were Genderfluid…?

There’s a shit-ton of question marks all over the place!

No video they posted had their voice at all, there were only subtitles for others to read. No link ever could point you any further, it was mostly links to the same charities as Ice posted, though less frequently, and a few to articles of the heroes, alerts of any kind, other shit like that… honestly, the list goes on.

That’s pretty fucking impressive.

Whoever they were, they just lived their best life in peace, maybe trying to make it a little bit easier for everybody else. I mean, ‘If you ever need somebody to talk to, feel free to DM me :)’ was pretty encouraging, especially when it was right under comments or posts about someone not feeling accepted by their friends and family, feeling bad with themselves and other sad stuff like that.

Holy fuck, Green was better than Tommy when it came to fan interaction…

The blond frowned. “Tommy, they’re a hero”

“But I could always try to do better…”

“You’re plenty good already. Don’t overwork yourself”

Sure. Tommy already had a ton to handle.

The only interesting thing Tommy found at Green’s social media (not that their life was boring!) was one person in their friend group. All six of the ninja had a lot of their fans added as friend, but Jade had one person who wasn’t anywhere else – Angelo GA. Angelo was what one would consider a superfan, most of the posts were about Green and Jade G was tagged a lot. The hero also had quite a lot of pictures where Angelo was tagged. Tommy quickly found out just how close the two were, other fans joked about them being siblings or something like that.

Angelo was an average teen, bright emerald eyes sparkling with joy on every picture alongside a wide grin, long dark hair (it looked mostly brown but at a couple of the pictures Tommy noticed it shining in gold, even if only a little bit), mostly braided. He (he/him) was a true fan, he had a lot of merch, mostly with Green’s iconic (as Tommy learn thanks to his research) golden dragon symbol. Or just the dragon, maybe gold just looked good with green. But he also had a lot of different styles of clothes – vibrantly colored, non-vibrant, fancy, casual, cute….

From what Tommy learned, Angelo wasn’t from Ninjago City, he visited each summer and sometimes for holidays but he wasn’t around all that much.

Maybe that’s why barely anybody else from the City had him in their friend group.

That’s pretty interesting actually, since he and Jade had pictures together (hands, shoes, pictures in cafés with only Angelo in the frame on Green’s profile…) they had to know each other, ergo Angelo knew who was the Green Ninja! If someone got a hold of him…

“You really think he would tell?”

“Nope. I doubt he would tell even if he was tortured. But if they hang out together during summer all it takes if for someone to follow Angelo around!”

“In other words, Ice is the only one whose true identity is safe”

“Eh, I’d say Lightning is safer. How many citizens could possibly sound like them and bleed in blue?” Tommy hummed, finally setting his phone down. He yawned, all this research tired him, I mean, it was a day full of reading.

While they were walking home earlier that day, Tommy miraculously managed to convince Rumi to get him to Mystake’s, well… annoy her into agreeing, so potion project was a go.

Or Tommy hoped so.

Chapter Text

Next morning was way better than the last one. Tommy didn’t have a fever in the middle of the night, his throat hurt him just a little bit and, let’s be honest, sneezing is normal enough for people who aren’t sick that it couldn’t possibly be a tell on whether or not somebody was sick.

Allergic maybe, but sick? Oh no, you can’t feed him that bullshit.

Tommy had a secret thought that maybe, just maybe, the tea he was drinking yesterday was magical, some kind of tea-medicine perhaps? Either way, he was feeling better so Koko didn’t have to worry about him (spoiler alert: she did anyway) and could have a break from all the mess in her life.

The blond pretty quickly realized what had happened the other morning, and that now the woman had only one job.

Oops?

“Not your fault”

True, if they paid her shit they didn’t even deserve her!

Maybe living with only one job when two were barely giving you enough to live wasn’t the greatest thing in the world but hey, Tommy was there! He can help! In fact, he was already long on the way to help!

“You sure you’re okay?” The other blond asked as Tommy was putting on his shoes.

“Mhm! Don’t worry, a common cold can’t beat me that easily”

Rumi turned to her brother with a bored expression, “Since when do you care so much?”

Lloyd glared at her. “Since when do you care?”

“Touché. Is this really necessary?” She looked at Tommy with a raised brow, eyeing both the gun and the guitar.

“Absolutely!”

“Is it?”

“Yes.”

The girl sighed, “Whatever you say, Tommy…” She opened the door, the teen immediately sprinted out and she followed him downstairs in her own pace.

Tommy bounced in excitement, if this mission is a success Sonu’s café would be saved as soon as he would mention the magical drinks. I mean, he – TommyInnit, would mention a one in a lifetime café which can sell you fucking drugs! It’s the most ‘on-topic’ thing in the entire universe!

People. Would. Go. Crazy!

When the girl reached the bottom of the stairs she send Tommy a look, silently telling him to stop being a weirdo (Techno was so nice and said it out loud just to make sure the teen got the memo). The blond rolled his eyes and the two, and Zippy, walked towards Mystake’s tea shop. Tommy was constantly looking around, trying to remember the way, chances are he would visit the woman more often.

“Slim chances”

“Those are still chances”

The trip was uneventful (maybe Tommy was only getting into trouble while being alone), soon enough they entered the shop. Mystake eyed them, and a second later a bright smile lighten up her face, “Tommy! What brings you here?”

“Hello to you too, Auntie” Rumi muttered, the woman glanced at her, the smile falling for a second, it returned as soon as she looked at Tommy again. “So—”

“Teach me!” Tommy bowed theatrically, hands clasped together as if he was praying.

“Teach you?” The woman furrowed her brows in confusion.

The girl groaned. “Yeaaaah… Uh, Tommy wanted to learn how to make your magical tea” Mystake’s eyes widen and she slowly turned her eyes from her adoptive niece to the teen next to her. Tommy looked at her with puppy eyes, praying to Blade this would work.

“Damn, I feel honored and all but—”

The woman laughed, “Oh really?” Tommy nodded frantically, stating without words just how badly he wanted that. “Now, what makes you think I’ll be willing to share my secret with you out of all the people?”

Tommy shifted under her piercing gaze, suddenly he felt so small. “W-well… I have some experience”

“Oh?”

“Yeah…” He took a discrete breath and pushed his chest in confidence. “And, I want to help your family”

“How would you knowing how to make my teas help them?” Tommy took a less discrete breath and hesitated before answering.

Yeah. What was his plan?

At one point in the (hopefully) near future he would have to go back to his home in Brighton, so him knowing how to make magical tea didn’t make much sense.

Tommy didn’t think it the whole way through.

Perhaps it was the cold…

“We all know it wasn’t”

“Okay, uh, I take that back”

“Take back what?” Mystake raised a brow at him.

“Me making drugs— I mean, magical tea” He quickly corrected himself realizing he said the wrong word yet again. “Could you, err, perhaps, consider sending your potions to Sonu’s café…?”

She gave him an approving od, “That’s more like it. But consider thinking why haven’t I already done that”

Tommy blinked.

What?

“Probably the same reason Wilbur wanted to keep it secret”

“Uh, you don’t want people to know you can make magical tea…?” She nodded again, smiling at the teen while Rumi send him the ‘should’ve listen’ look. “But you can stay anonymous!” He quickly added.

This time Mysatke shook her head, sighing, “Unfortunately no. Sonu’s sponsor doesn’t allow anonymous donations"

Tommy smiled victoriously, mission ‘making drugs’ was saved, “That won’t be a problem, it just so happened that I’m trying to change that. How would you like for us to cooperate?” He leaned on the counter, staring at Mystake while the girl next to him kept looking between the two.

The woman laughed.

Tommy’s smiled fell and he straighten up in confusion.

This was a true enigma…

“Who would’ve thought a business newbie would come to ask for my endorsement…”

“N-newbie!?” The teen squeaked in anger, he was no newbie! Those millions of fans and billions of money weren’t just magically given to him! He worked for it!

“Uh on. Tommy, don’t”

Partly thanks to Techno, and partly thanks to Tommy’s own good nature, the blond didn’t say anything more than that one word, instead he stayed quiet, lightly glaring at the woman as she grinned with a raised brow.

This wasn’t about him.

This was about helping others.

He couldn’t fuck this up.

He took a deep breath and changed his expression to more unbothered one, even if he still was angry inside.  After a few moments the woman’s expression soften, “You have a big heart, Tommy. I think I can help you”

“HA! Checkmate, atheists!”

Rumi blinked, this wasn’t normal, Mystake usually would scream everybody away! “A… Are you serious…?” The woman nodded with a smile.

(Whaaaaaaa…?)

Tommy was fucking magical himself. At least according to the girl.

According to him, he was just that charming and/or charismatic.

In reality? Techno guessed he was just lucky, based on the fact he would get into some kind of trouble as soon as he was left all alone.

Tommy spend more than half his day in the tea shop, helping Mystake with the customers and practicing his guitar skills in the corner while the whit haired girl left to do who-knows-what who-knows-where.

It was a day filled with work, happy work.

As Tommy set foot outside it was almost 20, and it was raining. Well, okay, drizzling but still. He sighed knowing his hair and clothes are going to get damp, the guitar quickly found itself over his head while he took out his phone to find the way back.

“Maybe this time we can ask for a mug of hot chocolate…” Tommy rolled his eyes at the voice, he wouldn’t get sick because of this child rain.

“Tommy, come back inside”

“Huh?” He blinked, turning his head to look at the woman. Mystake was standing in the doorway, doors opened wide and showing off the yorange light inside.

“Come back inside. There’s going to be a storm tonight, it’s not smart to leave”

“I’ll be fi—”

“I already taken care of everything. You’re staying with me for a night” She then smiled at him before going inside, leaving the door just as open as before. Tommy hesitated.

“This feels like a typical mentor meeting”

“The fuck are you talking about!?”

The longer the doors stayed wide open, the more Tommy longed to go inside, mostly because he didn’t want the woman to have creepy insects in her house, especially if she was brewing teas there. So, he walked in and closed the door behind him, the guitar ending on his back as it was no longer needed. He looked at Mystake but she only smiled at him and disappeared into the further part of her house. Tommy had no option but to follow her. The game of cat and mouse continued for a few minutes until the teen found himself in the storage right between the shop and the living part of the building. “Why does it feel like a witch’s house?” You can’t blame him for that question crossing his mind, at least one of the woman’s siblings was a fucking villain for Blade’s sake!

“Don’t mix me with any mess here”

“Am I in danger?”

“What do you think?”

“I think we already established I’m not the brightest when it comes to ‘danger detection’!”

“Tommy,” The blond tensed up, he wasn’t exactly scared but he still was nervous. What if she is a witch and can read his mind? Does that mean she knows he’s crazy!? He tried getting anything from her weird navy eyes but he got nothing. In fact, why did they look more purple under this poor lighting…? “I got winds of your recent adventures, and I’ve been wondering if you could perhaps help me with something”

Was Tommy in a mafia movie!? ‘Coz he sure felt like it!

“Techno…?”

“She’s not bad, but I’m not entirely sure what’s her goal…”

Mystake laughed. “You have some questions, I can answer them. You want to do some things, good things, I can help you. You know I can, you wouldn’t come here today if that wasn’t the case. To be honest, I was awaiting your return ever since the last time you left”

Okaaaay, well that wasn’t ominous at all…

Tommy opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it, “How about I teach you?”

His mouth stayed opened as he blinked in shock. “What…?”

“You wanted to know how to make my ‘drugs’, right?”

“But didn’t you—”

She shrugged, “It wouldn’t hurt if you knew”

What. Was. Happening…?

This couldn’t possibly be happening… right?

Tommy felt like he was on cloud nine.

“She still has ulterior motives, Theseus”

Oh fuck that!

Who cared about ulterior motives when he could be making drugs IRL!?

“W-would you really?” In response he received a slight nod, Tommy couldn’t help but smiled. “I’m in!”

“I knew you would be. So, what do you want to learn first?”

***

Tommy was gone for more than anybody anticipated (a whole another day). But oh boy, the things he has learned! Maybe it wasn’t all that much, but damn was it exciting to drinks his own creation and feel the effect.

Or should I say… taste the effect?

Either way, it was amazing!

At the end of day two Mystake not only allowed him to take the teas he made home but also invited him to visit her again.

Even though the woman didn’t say it was a secret he decided it’s best to keep it from everyone, especially Harumi, you never know with Wilbur’s 2.0. And it seem pretty straight forward that no one should know about the mere existence of magical tea in the first place.

Whatever, all that mattered is that he had fun (and could now prank people—).

Tommy looked over his treasure as he sat on the couch in Koko’s apartment. Before he could think of something stupid Techno reminded him that he had not only a backpack but also a suitcase to hide it in. The teen laughed awkwardly as he went to hide the teas.

Chapter Text

Saturday has finally arrived.

After this day Tommy would be one BIG step closer to saving Sonu’s café from the undeserved treatment it received from jerks like Chemical Face.

And he would spend the whole day with Lloyd and his friends.

Tommy had his doubts on whether this will be a success or not as the day begun with him and the other blond drinking tea in an awkward silence. Well, from what Tommy seen, the rest isn’t as awkward so it couldn’t be that bad… right?

“You’re seriously worried about being awkward? That’s a first…”

It sure was.

Tommy usually would just go all out, literally breaking down the walls of awkward meetings, no matter who he was talking to. But Lloyd was a special case, even if Tommy already hung out with him before. The teen seen to always be on edge and Tommy was sure his humor wouldn’t really help.

He couldn’t keep being family-friendly forever though. At some point, he was sure he would make a joke about something not so PG, and if he was to place any guesses, he’d say it was that day. They were going to spend a whole day in a group, Tommy being himself will immediately get comfortable and jokes will slip up.

There was no way of stopping him…

“Want me to scream at you ever few minutes?”

“Absolutely no”

“Good, wouldn’t do that anyway”

“Then why bother asking!?”

Tommy groaned while the voice in his head laughed, his sulking didn’t last long as the sound of Techno’s laughter forced a smile on his face.

He missed this.

Techno laughing at his misery.

Normally he would start screaming or kept on sulking. But he really missed this.

Missed him.

The laughter stopped. “Tommy…”

The teen took a breath and looked at his phone to check the time. “How long is the way to Zane’s house again?”

The other blond looked up with confusion, “Hm? O-oh, about ten minutes”

Tommy hummed, looking at the time again. “Can we go now? You know, since I never visited him before?” This didn’t really matter for him, he just wanted the awful silence to end (especially when his own thoughts were starting to torture him).

“Uh, yeah, sure”

“Cool” He grabbed his empty mug and went to place it in the sink before going to grab his stuff, aka. the gun and guitar. Maybe he should’ve washed the mug but he could do that when they get back, the silence was too suffocating for this. A minute or so later the two finally left the apartment complex.

It. Was. Bad.

The taller teen furrowed his brows once he and the other received hateful glares from literally everyone they passed. This was the opposite to what Tommy was used to. Sure, he met a few haters, but this was a whole new level! He felt a weird pit in his stomach and got extremely uneasy. Even more so when he realized they were mostly aimed at the teen next to him while he got bewildered looks of disgust.

Not one person looked at him with as much as neutral expression.

He was not one to care that much, but holy Jesus this was like a nightmare!

Those bad feeling grew as he started to hear whispers from the people around them.

All the mean comments.

All the mean jokes.

All the wishes of something bad happening to the teen beside him.

“I really hope he’d just kill himself”

Tommy stopped abruptly, glaring at the man who dared say that. Oh, this stopped being unnerving and became irritating, frustrating, so annoying.

“Hey, what’re ya staring for?” The man asked angrily as he noticed the blue eyed teen glaring at him.

Lloyd stopped and turned around with fear, “Tommy…?”

“What are you staring for?” The older teen retorted, ignoring the calling of the other blond. This really pissed him off. Tommy scoffed, “You think you’re funny or something?”

“Excuse me?” The man asked through gritted teeth, his friend crossed him arms as he also stared the teen down.

“You’re pathetic. A grown ass man wishing death upon a kid? Really? That’s just fucking pathetic”

“What did you just call me, freak!?” The man growled, taking a step forward.

Tommy felt a light tug on his arm, “Tommy, please, let’s just go—”

The second man eyed Lloyd and snickered, “This your boyfriend or something?”

This bitches were done for.

“You have something against gay people?” Tommy snatched back his hand, taking a step to glare at the other man. He would not stand for this, it just became personal.

“Drop-kick ‘im! Wait— You don’t know how to fight…”

“Maybe I do, or maybe I just have a problem with this one”

“Tommy, don’t—”

It was a second too late as the teen quickly took another step and kicked the second man in the balls.

Tommy wasn’t good at fighting, he never fought anyone outside of friendly sparings with his friends (mostly Tubbo), and he was fully aware this was foul play. Normally, he wouldn’t do that. But in this case, he didn’t care as this bitch-ass motherfucker deserved it.

“I suggest you run” The voice in his head said as soon as the man dropped to his knees, yelping in pain. Despite having a deep need to kick or punch the first man as well Tommy decided to listen to his dead friend, he grabbed Lloyd’s wrist and started running down the street.

If a real fight broke out he would surely lose, so he’ll take this as his victory.

“How far are we?”

“I-It’s that one!” The other blond pointed at a house while they kept on running. “You know, you r-really didn’t need to—”

“Fuck yeah I had! No fucker will insult my friends to my face!!” He mostly meant the friends from back home, the people he spend so much time with before ending in this cursed city, but he didn’t mind if these words would include Lloyd and the others.

Asking one more time if this was the correct house, Tommy pushed the door open, closing it with a loud ‘thud’ as soon as the two were inside. Almost instantly Zane got up from the couch, smiling at the two, “Hi! You’re early”

“Were you running?” A kid looking like Zane’s recolored small copy asked from his place on the couch.

“Yea, yes, and I didn’t know you had a brother”

“Oh right! Tommy, this is Echo, my little brother. Echo, this is Tommy, my new friend!”

“Hi!” The small reverse-colored copy of Zane waved at the teen with a big smile, it only felt right to wave back. Even if the kid had strangely yellow looking eyes.

(Man, what’s up with the poor lighting, making everyone’s eyes look so weird?

“It’s the middle of the day…”)

“Tommy wanted to come a bit early since he never been here” Lloyd explained, earning a nod from the tall ass teen. No, seriously, Tommy felt like he was hanging out with both Ranboo and Darryl while being in Zane’s presence, and it was an interesting experience to say the least.

“I drop-kicked a guy on the way” Tommy added proudly.

“Kicked. Not drop-kicked”

He rolled his eyes at the correction. “What’s the fucking difference?”

“Skill”

Tommy refrained from commenting this.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Is everything okay?” Zane looked at him with worry.

“Yeah? I wasn’t the one to get kicked”

“You made a face just now”

“Oh… Can I snoop around?”

The teen’s worried frown was quickly replaced by a polite smile. “Go ahead” Tommy snapped his fingers into a gun and was just about to start his own tour when a voice stopped him.

“Can I tour you?”

The blond turned to the younger brother. Was he really about to get toured by a kiddo? “Sure?” Echo’s eyes sparkled and he jumped from the couch before bouncing to the teen. There was no turning back now, he followed the kid.

The kid gave him a tour of the house. It was a house like any other, as soon as you walked in you were in a fairly big living room with a big couch, TV, bookshelf, small coffee table and a nice rug covering half of the floor, it was really spacious. On the left was a regular kitchen and dining area (Tommy never paid much attention to kitchens. Dining room? The only thing he noticed that was worth noting were the family pictures lacking any female members, it was only Zane, his brother and some elderly man), in front of the door was a staircase and a door leading to a small toilet. As one would expect at this point, the first floor had two bedrooms, a bathroom and a fairly big office connected to the master bedroom.

Okay, this floor was actually quite surprising. Only two bedrooms and one bathroom? Zane and Echo shared a room, and it was super tidy for two brothers living together, especially if one of them was a kid. Tommy just found that… odd, in a way.

Once the tour was over the two went back to the living room where all four waited for the rest to show up, in the meantime Tommy was practicing one of the songs he planned on playing to save the café. “If you don’t mind me asking, where does your dad work?” He asked, joining the conversation when he grew tired of messing up the melody over and over again.

“Our dad’s a hero!” Echo beamed with pride, making Tommy’s eyes widen a little.

“Wait, really?”

Zane chuckled while shaking his head. “He’s a doctor, a bit of a scientist and is pretty good with machines. He’s been a little all over the place, to be honest. He goes wherever and does whatever if he thinks he can help” He explained, his voice made it obvious how proud he was of his father. “But he mostly likes helping coming up with new cancer medicine and treatments”

Tommy blinked.

“Well would you look at that!”

“Tommy? You look a little pale, do you feel well?” The older brother tilted his head, the worried expression from almost half an hour ago back on his face.

“Y-yeah… What is your last name again?”

“Julien”

“Ice has articles of your dad’s progress on their profile” As if it was a magical spell these words made the other blond tense up again, Zane only grinned happily.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, and a shit ton of cancer treatment charities”

The white head hummed, “They were always my favourite…”

Before anyone could add something to this topic there was a knock on the door, then they were almost kicked open. “What’s up, bitches, I’m here! And we didn’t crash this time!” With a loud, almost as loud as Tommy’s, scream in came Kay—

“Kai”

—in came Kai, with sunglasses on and a smug ass smile on his face. Right behind him was his sister, Nya, if Tommy was correct (the voice staying quiet was a good sign).

“That’s because I was behind the wheel, moron!” The girl hit her brother at the back of his head with an annoyed growl, then smiled and waved at the rest, “Hey, guys!” All four answered at once, though with different things, while she reached down to her bag and got out a book. She walked towards the younger brother and handed it to him, Echo’s eyes sparkled. “Here, like I promised. I didn’t knew you can play” Nya said as her eyes turned to Tommy.

The teen shrugged. “Only partly, I’m more skilled with pianos”

“You only say that because you haven’t heard my brother try and play anything”

“Hey! I don’t need to know how to play to be cool!”

“Oh, ‘coz you plenty cool already?” Nya snatched the sunglasses from the teen. “Those are mine, by the way” She said as she looked at the four. Tommy’s eyes widen once he heard the other blond snicker. Holy fuck, it didn’t even cross his mind he had never hear Lloyd laugh, it was a first.

“I mean…” Techno didn’t have to finish, if what happened today happened everyday then of course he’d only laugh every once in a while!

Blade, Tommy really started to hate this city.

At least there were some good people here too…

“You’re lucky there’s a child here…” The brunette muttered, glaring at his sister in annoyance (Tommy lowkey agreed with the statement). She rolled her eyes, and Tommy got a feeling she knew exactly what he wanted to say. The two quickly joined the four on the couch.

It took a few minutes for the last two to arrive, but nobody could complain they were a little late when they brought more supplies for the same reason they all gathered in Zane’s house in the first place.

Finally, with everybody there, the brainstorming could begin, everyone found themselves a comfortable place, whether it was on the couch or the floor, grabbed a piece of paper and whatever supplies the deemed needed for their part and got to work. It got really funny real quick, Cole was so nice to play music from his speaker, which he apparently carried with him at all time, jokes and comments were thrown left and right, as well as some of the supplies or useless scraps.

It felt just like the brainstorming for lore or the Sorry Boys. With something new and wild being thrown at any given second in a comfortable atmosphere where everyone had fun.

Tommy stopped.

He looked around at the others and took out his phone.

Nobody has texted him for a whole week…

Why did he feel… sad about that?

“Wow, you’re THAT clingy?”

He quickly furrowed his brows, “I’m not clingy!!”

“Hey, Tommy, you okay?” Cole asked, causing everybody else to stop their work as well.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, just thought about my friends back home…”

“What are they like?” Zane looked at him with curiosity, being the only one to return to his poster.

“Well…” Where should he even start? It felt like simple words couldn’t really grasp just how amazing his friends are. “There’s Toby, he often acts all soft and sweet but in reality he’s just a machine of mass destruction. If you get on his bad side, you’re royally fucked” Tommy looked at the side, he felt his friend’s  wrath more times than he’d ever wish to. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s amazing! Hate is just our love language”

“Isn’t hate your love language with everyone?”

The blond decided to ignore the voice in his head. “We also have Ranboo, and lemme tell you, Ranboo is a fucking legend! The amount of chaos he manages to cause with barely half a sentence is fucking impressive. They’re also the one to try and calm Tubbo whenever I fuck up. There’s Charlie, my weirdest, and perhaps funniest, man. Charlie is a whole new level of chaos on his own, so you can only imagine how chaotic he gets when he’s with all of us. You can’t get bored around him, that’s for sure. Then there’s Phil, he’s like a dad to pretty much everyone. He actually keeps us in check, or, well, tries to. But, most of the times, he gives up and joins in on a smaller scale. And there’s Wilbur...” He trailed off, why did talking about Wil, of all, made him more sad? He cleared his throat, “He mostly focuses on annoying Phil, all the while I annoy him. And I always meet his 2.0’s, for some damn reason! We’re kind of like…” Oh Blade, why did his cheeks feel warm!? “…brothers, since we tend to fight a lot, and most of the time it’s about some stupid shit”

Tommy had a shit ton more, but talking about all of his friends would take literally forever! So he settled on his favourite six.

Don’t get me wrong, Freddie, Jack, Schlatt, Kristin and the others got a special place in his heart too!

And let’s not forget about—

Tommy shifted in his spot, slowly going back to work as the blush faded away. “There was also Techno, not his real name but, you know… He liked confusing people with what his real name is” He smiled sadly to himself. “He was funny, cunning, fucking supportive and The best at pvp… He was good at a lot of things actually” He squinted his eyes.

“You’re making me blush… /j”

The blond blinked. “Did you just really say ‘/j’?” Something was really wrong with his head, perhaps he should see a doctor?

“I’m sorry” The white head said when Tommy stayed quite for some time. “Also, they sound nice, your friends”

Kai scoffed in offence. “Are you fucking kidding me? You always complain when I’m chaotic!”

“Yeah, but we’re a different case…” Cole muttered, eyes not leaving the paper.

“Oh, fuck that! I demand equality!”

“Sit yo ass down, brother…”

“I burned a car once!”

“Kai…” Lloyd send his friend a warning gaze, the hedgehog ignored him.

“You burned a car?” Tommy asked in shock.

The teen blinked, then cleared his throat awkwardly. “It was an accident…”

“You crashed and something exploded or…?”

“Uh—”

“You could say that” Nya answered for her brother, glaring at said teen while eh obediently sat down.

Okay…?

While the conversation ended there, the slightly tense atmosphere remained. That is before Jay and Cole started cracking jokes again. Tommy tried not thinking about sad thing as to not start another melancholic topic and ruin the mood.

The next two to three hours were spend with them talking about more fun stuff and making posters. They ended up making at least five different posters each before everyone grew tired. Jay let out a deep sigh in exhaustion, “How much more do we need to make?”

Tommy barely started thinking about how much would be enough when Zane spoke up, “I think we can stop there. Ninjago City is big but we can cover all grounds if we go about it strategically. You can leave that to me and Echo”

“Neat” Tommy grinned, taking everything on himself was starting to become overwhelming.

“So you’re saying we can take a break” Kai also smiled, his sister glanced at him warningly. “Cinema?”

“Figures” Cole laughed, immediately pulling out his phone. “You up, Tommy?”

“Sure, sounds fun”

They quickly cleaned up and left the house, leaving Echo on his own. Tommy questioned whether it was a good idea but nobody seem concerned so he guessed it was fine.

As soon as the blond set foot outside he remembered the situation from a few hours ago, his mood instantly dropped. Despite feeling anger slowly rising inside of him he didn’t complain, he didn’t even mention anything, instead he continued talking with the others, pretending he and Lloyd never met the mean men and that he never kicked one of them in the balls. It wasn’t easy as people were still glaring at them but it was definitely easier, the other five managed to keep a light atmosphere and put the no-names into the background pretty well.

On the way Tommy felt his throat start to hurt a little, and one would think he was already over the cold…

Oh well, he reached into his pocket and got out a lollipop. Now, don’t let yourselves be deceived, it was no ordinary lollipop, it was the special kind Koko got for him from the pharmacy. As it was half candy half medicine it helped him with keeping both the sore throat away and his blood pressure in check.

Though it wasn’t the tastiest, it tasted like herbs. Smelled like some too.

As they were checking in, the lollipop was already almost done, it helped they decided to buy some snacks. But, let’s be honest, everybody likes movie snacks.

“More objects to throw at random muggers”

“Never thought of that…” Tommy squinted his eyes at the poor menu, now wondering what would make the greatest weapon.

“Garmadork and the dork squad?”

The fuck?

Tommy’s intense thought process was interrupted by a voice belonging to some brunette teen. Said teen had a shit eating grin on his face while he was approaching the group, rapidly. Kai immediately growled, “Fuck off, Chad” Tommy blinked, then tried suppressing a laugh. Was this kid really named ‘Chad’? Or was this just a nickname? Please, let this be a nickname…

“He doesn’t look like a chad…”

“He kinda does though…” The blond thought, noticing the teen was well build despite the jacket he was wearing. His mind played ‘Not gay tho’ moment from Wilbur’s song as he realized the thought was rather sus.

Can’t a man appreciate another man like a bro without being gay!?

Tommy’s Sus Mode was put on hold as the Chad guy eyed him up and down in confusion. “Who are you?”

The blond furrowed his brows in annoyance. “TommyInnit. Is everyone living under a fucking rock? I been here, what? A week and a half? How is everyone still confused!?”

“Leave!” Kai growled at the other brunette just as he opened his mouth to speak.

Chad ignored him and continued talking to Tommy. “The one from the plane crash?”

Tommy couldn’t help but deadpan stare at the teen. Why was this the first thing everybody brought up? Not that he was an attention seeker, but come on!

“No, the one from Dream SMP”

Chad furrowed his brows. “From what?” Tommy wanted to facepalm. But before he could the teen continued, “Anyway, you do realize that idiot behind you is a son of the guy who caused your plane to crash, right?”

“You mean Lloyd?” The mentioned blond quickly put on his hood and tried covering his face with it, it didn’t really work. “Yeah, I do. Why? And don’t call him an idiot”

“Excuse me?” Chad made a face as if Tommy just insulted his mother, and five generations back. “You seriously don’t see a problem here?”

“Other than you being mean?”

“He’s pretty small, you could try drop-kicking him. I’d say you actually have a chance, just don’t forget the ‘drop’ part”

Chad stared at him for a little before scoffing. “I see you recruited another moron into your little group”

“I said leave!” Kai repeated, taking a stand between him and Tommy.

Chad rolled his eyes and started to walk away, elbowing Kai as he passed him. “See ya in school, dorks!”

“I swear, one day I’m going to burn this bitch down…” The hedgehog growled when the mean teen was far away from the group. “Or his house, his car, his fucking mother—”

Cole put a hand on his shoulder. “Ignore him”

“You know I can’t!”

“So you’re just going to stood down to his level? Again?” Nya asked, looking at her brother meaningfully. Just like any other time, the teen immediately ceased all action, this time looking away in shame.

Oh?

“Let’s just grab some snacks and watch the movie…?” Jay suggested quietly, everyone quickly agreed with him, but the mood was ruined.

Two things were for sure, whoever this Chad guy was, his mere presence was a nuisance to the six and he was a huge dick.

Perhaps as big as Danny?

Before Tommy could wonder whether or not the teen deserved a plastic bullet to the back of his head the person in front of them moved away, making room for them to step to the counter and grab their movie snacks.

Whatever, food was more important than some random moron.

***

The movie was pretty good. It wasn’t the greatest but it was enjoyable, and Tommy laughed a couple of time.

Though some could disagree, for example, one particular villain who decided to attack as soon as the movie ended. Or perhaps he actually liked the movie and that’s why he waited for it to finish before starting his chaos spree? Maybe there was a third option where the villain wasn’t allowed to watch it and got angry…

Whatever the case, it ended with the same result.

At this rate Tommy wondered if he should start counting how man days has it been since the last attack. Challenge the villain, if you will, to beat his record and stay in his secret lair for more than last time, so that he and the rest can got out without their daily businesses being interrupted for no reason.

He was also curious which sea animal-man would he encounter this time.

Maybe today it would be a sea animal-woman?

Too busy thinking about stupid stuff he didn’t notice the six sending each other meaningful looks.

He did notice however when an empty cup was thrown at the other blond, hitting him in the back of his head. Tommy looked behind, trying to see which prick did it, fortunately for that person there was no way to tell.

“I suggest we hide” Zane said, as calm as ever.

(This line was meant to make Tommy go hide so he wouldn’t get in troubles while they go to find a safe space to change into their gi’s without anyone seeing them. Unfortunately for the heroes, life had quite different plans for the blue eyed blond…)

Tommy sighed, annoyed.

Hide.

Hiding hadn’t done any good for him.

“Neither did running head first into the streets in the middle of an attack”

The voice was right.

Tommy could do nothing but sulk and follow as every person in the theatre started to look for a place to hide.

At least that was the plan, nobody fucking expected Crab Man to make a reappearance, kick the front door open and literally bolt at the teen with an actual weapon. How did Tommy know it was the same one? Well, the eyepatch was a pretty good giveaway. Every present person ignored the yelp of one fallen blond who was jumped on by a grown ass man in a crab costume welding a fucking hatchet.

(While the people panicked the ninja quickly booked it the other way, with Zane being last as he helped some people when they tripped. He was just about to join his team when he heard Tommy yelp in both fear and surprise.)

“Kick him!”

“Don’t need to fucking tell me!!” He retorted to the voice as he was doing literally everything to get the crazy man off of him, kicking and punching, all the while he was trying to push the hatchet away from his face.

Correction, while he was trying to stop it from getting any closer to his face.

“You took my eye, I’m gonna take yours!!”

“I already apologized!!” The Crab Man stopped pressing the weapon down, instead he harshly pulled his hand up and out of Tommy’s grip before quickly pushing down again. There was no way Tommy could catch his hand, and no way he would stop the blade from fucking killing him without getting hurt.

It was scary.

His whole life flashed before his eyes in less than a second.

It would only hurt for a short while. As soon as the attack was over he could go home and drink Mystake’s healing tea.

He would be okay.

Just as long as he didn’t die.

If he had time he would’ve definitely tell Techno’s voice ‘Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t wanna talk to you in person, I just have a few millions things I’d rather do before that’.

But there was no time.

And Tommy had one too many things to think about to have an actual reaction other than starting at the man in horror, the hatchet glistering as it aimed at his face. Not even his eyes, his whole face!

It all felt so long. Awaiting the impact, the pain. Death.

The blade was just about to pierce thought his skin and skull when Zane grabbed the man’s hand, other hand going under Crab Man’s other hand and around his upper torso to pull him off a fairly traumatized Tommy. As soon as the shock passed the man quickly pushed the taller teen away and turned to face him.

Tommy just lied on the cold floor, breathing heavily as his brain was struck on a loading screen. Thoughts running too fast while the world was slowly coming back it its natural speed from the extreme slow-mo.

In his barely conscious state the white haired teen dodging almost flawlessly didn’t seem all too weird, and the way he was doing so made it only seem reasonable he should be able to do that.

(Zane wasn’t trying to fight, not in his civilian ‘form’, it could be a giveaway, so he restricted himself to only dodging. It was tricky, he shouldn’t be too good, but if he got hurt it would be a whole new problem so he had to pick the lesser evil.

All he needed to do is get Tommy somewhere safe.)

“Tommy, you need to move!”

Move?

How? Where? Why?

“‘Coz you’re about to get murdered!!”

Oh…

That.

As the world finally stabilized Tommy jolted up, sitting and staring at the two fighting before him. The voice yelled at him once more, urging him to rise to his feet and run. He managed the first part before Crab Man sprinted at him again.

This time Tommy was more prepared, even if only a little bit. As soon as he was standing his right hand went to grab the plastic gun thoughtfully attached to his trousers for easy access.

It wasn’t a real gun, but it would do.

And if it angered the man more?

Well, Tommy could think about it later.

Before the gun could be fully pointed at the Crab Man he grabbed Tommy’s hand and easily pushed it away.

Why was this dude so fucking strong!?

Yet again Zane came to his rescue, sliding in between the two, grabbing the hand welding the deadly weapon and actually kicking the man away. “Tommy, out!” He said, not looking at the blond, eyes still carefully watching the offender.

This once, Tommy was fully on board with listening to someone.

Too bad Crab Man didn’t agree.

The blond was just a few steps away when the man run at him again, this time aiming at his back. Zane quickly sprinted after Tommy, pushing him forward and encouraging him to be faster without words.

(Just as the white ninja’s hand pushed on Tommy’s back he felt the hatchet pierce through his side, he quickly covered it with one hand before pushing the teen even more. The adrenaline made the rest of his work easy.)

The two run outside, at one point Tommy’s hand was pulled back, making him stumble a little as his body was forced to abruptly change directions. They hid in an alleyway next to the theatre. Zane’s hand was firmly, although gently, placed on his shoulder, keeping him from moving while he himself looked out. Tommy tried peeking but failed miserably. However, his attempts made him notice something else.

Zane was holding one hand to his side, pressing into it while something blue was staining his shirt and hand.

Wait…

Blue?

Was this an injury?

But why was it blue?

It wasn’t long before he realized he had already seen something like this, blue liquid. Blue blood.

This was the exact same thing Ice was bleeding with.

But could it be? I mean, it was only the color, and it’s not like Tommy’s a color expert!

He kept staring at the possible wound, thinking about what was going on. Heart still pounding against his chest, being out of breath from both fear, running and all the little fighting. “Are you okay, Tommy?” The teen only looked up once he heard the concern voice of… Zane.

(He didn’t know what Zane was anymore.)

“Y-yeah… How about you?”

“I’m fine. Listen carefully, you need to stay here. Don’t go out unless one of the ninja are with you. You understand?”

“I— Wha—?”

“I need to go, but I promise you, it will all be okay”

(He was going to come back for him in a second, so it had to be okay! He even accounted for Tommy’s ability of getting into troubles in a surprisingly fast pace.)

Tommy, having a million thoughts running through his head and being quite overwhelmed, answered with a nod after a short moment. As soon as Zane made sure the blond wouldn’t go anywhere on his own, he was off, leaving Tommy with his own thoughts alone.

Zane bleed in blue just like Ice.

Their voices sounded weirdly similar.

And Ice had a lot of articles talking about Zane’s dad…

Hell, now that Tommy though about it, he recognized Zane’s eyes behind Ice’s mask last time he— they saved his life!

But there was no way… was there?

Zane and Lloyd were friends. Why would one of the ninja befriend the son of the guy they had to fight on daily basis?

Maybe Tommy was just going insane. I mean, he was hearing the voice of his dead friend…

But even if these two were completely different people, that still didn’t change the fact Zane wasn’t human.

Chapter Text

“Hello, I believe we met before” Tommy did a double take as the white ninja spoke to him.

“Am I that crazy or is their voice different than last time?”

“Definitely different than last time” With Techno’s affirmation the blond’s wild theory about Zane and Ice being the same person made even more sense. But if they weren’t human, how did they make such a dumb mistake?

They didn’t even give Tommy time to think about what just happened before his own fucking eyes.

“Y-yeah…” The teen decided to not voice any of his doubts.

“Are you feeling well?”

“Not really…? I— I don’t know, everything’s so weird…” Tommy placed a hand on his head, it was starting to hurt, and not only because of the impact with the theater’s floor.

“Would you like to see a doctor?”

“More like a fucking therapist…” He muttered to himself. “Listen, I just wanna go ‘ome”

The hero dressed in white gave him a nod. “Please follow me then” Having no other choice, Tommy followed possibly Zane as they led him through the city, all while some sea animal-people were wrecking chaos on the streets.

As soon as Tommy got to Koko’s apartment the woman was all over him, checking for any injuries. Once that was over he was surprised to get hugged by her. “Um, Koko…? Is everything okay?”

“With me! You look like you just escaped death itself!” Tommy had no heart to tell her she was actually correct, instead he insisted he was fine and that he only needed a little break. With that breaking being him checking the ninja’s social media again.

To his dismay, it only left him with more questions than answers.

He even went as far as to look up Zane’s official profile and it didn’t do jack! Though it was very similar to Ice’s profile, just without all the fan interaction and with more school related stuff. Tommy kept on scrolling through the heroes’ social media mindlessly.

“What if Zane’s not the only one?” Techno asked suddenly, making the teen stop dead in his tracks.

Tommy furrowed his brows, “We don’t even know if they really are one and the same”

“Didn’t you also say Cole and Earth sounded like one another?”

“Earth was the one to help in Cole’s dad’s shop…”

Fucking hell, now there were two?

What’s next? Every single one of Lloyd’s friends is a ninja!?

“Wanna place our guesses?”

Nya would be Water, since she’s the only girl in the team. She drove a car to Zane’s place though so there was no saying if she owned a motorcycle…

With that it would be pretty ironic if Kai was Fire, he did act like quite the arsonist after all.

And that left Jay to be either Green or Lightning…

Unless…

“You really think HE’s Green?”

“Dunno, but if it were him, it would be quite interesting. What better way is there to cover up your secret identity, than to pretend you’re your own super fan? The fans said they act like siblings!”

With this looking like the most reasonable choice for the ninja’s leader, Jay was left to be Lightning.

Listen, Tommy didn’t care in the beginning, but if the people he hang out with today were heroes, two of which saved his ass multiple times, he needed to know.

Oh yeah, baby, Agent 0 is back!

All he needed was a plan…

He looked at his merch suitcase, a smile slowly creeping onto his face.

***

Harumi had no idea what was wrong with Tommy and Mystake. The two just… got along, and it was super suspicious!

But what was she to do when the blond asked her to take him to the woman yet again? Mystake already told her to bring Tommy whenever he wished to, when asked why she immediately went back to her old bitter self and shooed her off.

The Universe truly works in mysterious ways…

“Back so soon? The attack barely ended” The woman commented as the two crossed her shop’s door.

Before the girl could even open her mouth, Tommy already jumped closer to the counter, “Was I supposed to visit during the attack?”

Mystake laughed. “Wise words, young man” The girl sighed deeply, why was she even here? These two clearly forgotten all about her as soon as they saw each other. “Come then, I could use your help. Oh, and Rumi?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell Morro you’re free tonight”

“…Sure” Rumi said as she became visibly more bothered by her aunt’s behavior. Welp, at least she got a free day-off. “I, uh, leave you two to… whatever you’re planning on doing” She squinted her eyes at them in suspicion (which was very much so ignored) before leaving the shop and going on with her day.

When the girl left, the two walked to the storage are. “Tell me, Tommy, is there a specific reason for your unannounced visit?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it, feeling anxiety building up at the word ‘unannounced’, “Should I warn you next time?”

“No worries, I assure you I’m not angry” She let out a soft laugh. “I am simply curious”

“Oh” And just like that, the little anxiety that managed to build up disappeared without a trace. “Well, I was also curious as to what you meant when you said you wanted my help with something. You mentioned it last time I visited”

“Why, I think you might be just the encouragement my students need”

“Students? You mean…?” He trailed off, but the woman didn’t end for him, instead she stared at him expectedly with a kind smile on her face. “Rumi and Morro?”

“Correct. You see, I came to realize they had what we here in Ninjago call Elemental Powers. They were special, destined to do great things. But once they themselves figured it out, they decided to run away from the responsibilities that came with their gift. That’s why, instead of seeking the same man who trained the ninja, they came to me. In exchanged for keeping their powers a secret and teaching them how to control them, I asked them to help with my shop. As I taught them everything I know, they were so nice to keep helping me, that’s why I decided to start paying them with the only thing I had left to offer after knowledge – money. As much as I appreciate the help, I am saddened to hear they rather waste their gift on nonsense than further explore their potential”

“…That’s a massive lore drop. But, uh, how do I tie into all of this?”

Mystake smiled, a little… mischievously? “I strongly believe if some brave, magicless person would stand up to fight and help the heroes protect this city they would want to prove themselves and thus discover the courage they need to finally do what they were destined for”

Tommy’s eyes widen. He and the voice though of the same thing – Techno’s quote, the one from right before he placed the last wither skull on the T-posing soul sand.

“You want me to become a trainee hero!?”

“A vigilante. Putting both the heroes and my students to a test, after all, if they can’t handle a wild teen, how could they possibly handle a true villain?”

All this cryptic talk was starting to give the blond another headache. “Aren’t they already fighting a true villain?”

She laughed. “My brother may attack this city more than anyone likes it, fire his generals left and right and act like a villain, but trust me, at his very core, there’s good. There’s a reason none of the civilians died at his own hands”

“Good thing she added ‘own’” Techno said, referring to all the times Tommy almost died at the hands of one of the sea-people. Or Garmadon’s generals as he just learned.

“Who knows, maybe you could also put him to a test…”

Mystake must have known what she was doing, setting the teen up for mischief and literally challenging everyone who held some sort of higher ground in this city. But how could she? She couldn’t know he was already halfway to figuring out who the people behind the masks were, and that was a key factor to getting him to agree!

Because now, he got a great opportunity to test the waters, finding out whether or not Lloyd’s friends were ninja while also messing with them.

A great opportunity to see how long does it takes to break the two, to see if Wilbur’s 2.0 (aka. Harumi) would react the same way his brother figure does.

A great opportunity to cause chaos…

“I don’t know how to fight” He admitted.

“I can teach you. But only if you’re willing to sacrifice some of your time”

Tommy had plenty of that, didn’t he?

Such a small price to pay for such a great thing.

And Blade knows he was always up for mischief…

The voice sighed, “I sure do…”

***

At this point, Tommy was lowkey living with Mystake.

Harumi was more than suspicious of them, the girl knew something was up.

Tommy spend all Sunday learning basics of fighting, finally he could at least have a chance of winning against Tubbo! Well, maybe he was getting ahead of himself, but he could surely beat Ranboo!

“Aimsey could effing kill you if they wanted to”

“Not true!!”

Frowning in annoyance Tommy stared at the notes he made on his phone. He needed a plan to uncover the ninja’s secret identities. Not to mention he needed to handle Sonu’s café and the fact he offered he would pick up two and a half shifts throughout the week.

He was working on three not so separate things at once.

“Maybe you should slow down…”

“TommyInnit never slows down!”

“Yeah, well, you definitely should”

But he didn’t have time for that. He always says he has all the time in the world but his time in the city was limited. He needed to get back to record Sorry Boys…

“Tommy! Would you come here and help? I don’t pay you for nothing!!”

The blond refrained from shouting back ‘you don’t pay me’, his personal schemes could wait a moment or two.

Monday was almost the same as Sunday, Tommy helped Mystake around the shop, trained, made some magical teas for himself and was coming up with various ideas on how to unmask the ninja. As he run out of ideas, and decided most of them would never work in real life, he started thinking about his future role as a vigilante. He needed a costume. Hey, if everyone was hiding their identity it only felt right to join in!

When his outfit ideas run out, he started coming up with things he could do to mess with people once he’s ready.

Then came Tuesday, first day he had to leave the shop since Mystake started training him as he promised to pick Lloyd’s shift that day. Tommy was pretty all over the place already when he had to stop selling tea to fairly nice customers and start selling coffee to mostly annoying customers.

Well, at least he only had one (maybe three, if he was particularly unlucky) customers per hour, so he wasn’t that winded. And it definitely wasn’t boring. Barely half an hour passed and wouldn’t you know it, the guy Tommy suspected of being his favourite ninja (his guardian angel, as he thought the very first time they ‘met’) walked through the door.

Now, Tommy didn’t know if Lloyd had told Cole about the shift change or if he figured it out on his own by stalking him.

I mean, he’s supposed to be a ninja, right?

“Maybe we should focus on more important stuff. It’s the perfect opportunity to ask”

“Facts” Tommy grabbed the coffee and placed it on the counter in front of the supposed hero. “I was wondering, do you know how to play Hallelujah?”

Cole furrowed his brows, confused. “That one song from Shrek? Or Sing?”

Now Tommy furrowed his brows. Why was that the first connection? “Suuuuuure…”

“Uh…” He looked away, feeling kind of called out. “Sure. Why?”

“Imma need you to teach me how to play that”

“For the ‘charity’?”

“Bingo”

Cole looked to the sides, still being a little confused. “Okay, uh, wanna do this here or at my house?”

Tommy smiled, his plan was working, and he was killing two birds with one stone. “As much as I’d love to do it here, I don’t think most people here are worthy of hearing the beauty of my singing voice” The supposed hero laughed. “Oh, you laugh now, but just you wait for my great debut next week!”

Cole instantly raised his hands. “I ain’t saying you’re bad!”

“You better not!”

“I wouldn’t dare to” The two gave each other cheeky grins. Cole then frowned a little, “Hey, you sure you’re okay?”

“Huh? Oh, you mean what happened on Saturday? Yeah, I mean…” Tommy looked away, thinking about his second confrontation with the Crab Man was still freaking him out a little, because the more he thought about it, the more he realized he could have gotten seriously hurt. “It was pretty scary, but I’m yet to abandon my wild and potentially dangerous ideas so it can’t be that bad” He forced a smile.

The other teen also smiled a little, though it was rather obvious he was still worried. “Just try to be more careful?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault! He jumped at me!! How was I supposed to know that would happen!?”

Cole shook his head, “How you survived this long is beyond me…”

The blond let out a laugh in pride. “Tommy Danger Kraken Innit cannot be stopped! Not even by Death herself!”

“…Is your second name really Kraken?”

“Third” he corrected, making the teen rise a brow at him, he added quickly with a mischievous smile, “And that’s for me to know and for you to find out”

On Wednesday Tommy went back to his routine with Mystake, now with the awareness he was one step closer to figuring the ninja out, even if it was a very small step.

Thursday was almost the same as Tuesday, as these two were the days Tommy decided to pick up the shifts at Sonu’s. Cole yet again walked through the door not so long after he clocked in, they talked, joked and scared off bad people.

Friday was the day Tommy started to regret agreeing to all of this. Mystake’s lessons were like PE on drugs! And he started to get the feeling he was annoying the customers.

“It was one person, Theseus”

“Yeah, out of four that walked in today!”

“You barely started…”

Tommy’s mood was so bad he didn’t even want to play the guitar on his breaks. As time went by he started to wonder what was wrong with him, why was he so… burned out.

This day was the least productive of the entire week.

He didn’t make any progress with his unmasking plan, no new idea to be a chaotic lil shit.

Instead, he found himself staring at his phone.

Nobody had texted him for two weeks now…

Finally came Saturday…

A week of suspecting Lloyd’s friends of being the ninja, with little to no progress on the matter.

A week of training with Mystake, whom he started calling Great M (at first he suggested Big M, but Techno was more for Sensei M), and having learnt close to nothing.

A week of nothing but disappointment…

Tommy blinked, then growled, annoyed with the randomly depressing thought. He got up and practically stomped over to the other blond’s room. He knocked on the door, perhaps a little too hard but oh well. Moments later the door opened and he was met with one, very annoyed teen. “Heck do you—” Lloyd cut off, eyes widening once he saw the other blond, his expression immediately changed to more kind and apologetic one. “Oh! S-sorry about that… Uh, want another comic?”

Tommy snort. “Siblings much? Anyway, can you skate?”

“Skate? Like, on roller skates?” Tommy nodded. “Uh, sure. I’m no expert though, so don’t make me do anything weird”

“I would never!... Well…” The blue eyed blond trailed off, looking at the side. Should he ask Techno? But it was a voice in his head, probably made up by his imagination so—

“It is kinda weird”

“Okay, it may be a little weird… But in a good way! I made a posit a few minutes ago that I, the amazing TommyInnit, will be a skate waiter! How does that sound?”

Lloyd blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry, you want to be a what?”

“A. Waiter. On. Skates. Wanna join?”

“I— Uh— Um—” The two stared at each other, one with bright, hopeful eyes, the other with indescribable confusion. “Where do you even get these ideas?”

“I broke a guy’s balls for you”

“I genuinely hope you didn’t, and you really shouldn’t have. You could’ve get hurt…”

As soon as Tommy noticed the other teen tense up again he knew he needed to do something so this wouldn’t get awkward. “Sometimes you gotta take one for the team. Would be easier if we had Tubbo, but since he’s not here I, unfortunately, have to do everything on my own” He rolled his eyes with a quiet huff, not because he was annoyed but because he missed his friend. “So, you in or not? ‘Coz if you’re in, then there’s a question of whether or not you own any skates. I know I don’t, so it’s either me going shopping alone or with you, and I kinda wanna know this before we need to leave for work”

“W-well, I can go with you either way, we are going to the same place after all… And, um, as for the skates, I do have a pair”

Tommy’s eyes sparkled with joy. “So you’re in!?”

“I-I—”

“Broken Balls Guy” He reminded with a smile, a little too happy about lowkey forcing someone to do something they didn’t fully agreed to.

With Tommy’s excitement Lloyd could do nothing but sigh and reluctantly agree. His life couldn’t magically get worse because of this, also the blue eyed blond had something in him that made it hard to his shatter his happiness.

The two didn’t had too much time to spare, their shift was beginning in an hour and they needed at least fifteen minutes to get to the café from the apartment complex. They both agreed to spend half an hour on shopping. After Tommy’s minor protest, a rule to extend the time if they were still within the fifteen minutes walk to Sonu’s was made.

The shopping trip went rather smoothly, on the third try Tommy found an amazing pair of red skates with yellow and white elements. They do say third time’s the charm.

With that out of the way, they decided to head to work early. People were yet again staring at them, this time however a lot of confusion was added to the mix of hatred and disgust.

Well, sounds like a them problem.

After getting to the café Tommy quickly rushed to inform Sonu about the plan, the man was confused but he laughed it off and wished the two good luck.

Honestly? With Tommy’s post the blue eyed blond thought there would be more people. Lloyd’s friends came, but other than that the café didn’t have a drastic spike in the customer department.

Feeling a little bad, and feeling even worse with the fact he missed his fans (that just felt like he was an attention seeker), he turned off his phone and focused on having fun instead.

Chapter Text

Tommy shifted anxiously from one leg to another, waiting for the door to open, humming while staring at the lyrics on his phone. Man, he really needed to learn the second and third verse, half of it seem to come out of nowhere!

He sighed as he got lost, thankfully the door finally opened. “Tommy, the future star! Come in, what do you want to drink?” Lou started as the blond crossed the front door. Before Tommy could open his mouth the man continued, “If you’re planning on singing may I suggest my special brew? It helps to ease the vocal cords and prevents your throat from going sore”

“Uh, sure? I mean, I dunno if we’ll be singing but that sounds like it could help me”

“Still sore after your cold?”

“Yeah, a little bit”

“Oh, it will work like a charm! Feel free to look around, Cole’s in his room, I’m sure you won’t miss it” With a wink and a bright smile Lou walked to the kitchen (which Tommy promptly ignored).

The corridor he just walked into was rather slim, enough for two people to comfortably pass each other but nothing more than that. In front of him was a big living room with all sorts of stuff, bookshelves, desktop computer, big ass TV (by far the biggest he’d seen in someone’s house), couch and a game console with joysticks and a VR set placed in and on the TV table, other than that the room was fairly empty. Walking down the hallway Tommy passed the kitchen (where he noticed a small table to eat at) and found three doors, one to his right – they were opened wide for the world to see what’s inside, and what’s inside is the most normal master bedroom anyone could imagine (not that it was boring!) – one right in front of him – the bathroom – and one slightly on the left, a lot of music related stickers with a few cake related ones surrounding Cole’s name, written in fairly big, orange, sparkling letters.

Yup, this couldn’t be more obvious.

“Unless it’s a trap”

“Facts” Tommy agreed, but knowing damn well this wasn’t the case, he pushed the door open. As soon as his hand pressed the handle the soft sound of Pink Panther theme being played on the guitar reached his ears. With the door completely opened the two teens started at each other, Tommy with both surprised and amused look on his face, and Cole grinning at him, a joyful glint in his eyes. “Well that’s an entrance”

“He does it all the time!” Lou called from the kitchen, making the raven head roll his eyes.

(It was true, he did it every single first time someone visited him.

Which made a total of three times, counting this one.)

Tommy hummed, smiling (a bit forcefully) as he walked into the room and closed the door. “Nice place”

“Thanks”

No, no ‘thanks’, Cole.

His room had nothing Tommy could connect to anything from Earth’s music videos, and he was 100% sure as he purposefully watched most, if not all, of the videos before coming here. Wasted an hour or two of sleep for that shit too.

Not only that, there were no other instruments either…

Okay, looks like he’ll have to dig in. “So I was wondering, do you play anything other than guitar?” He asked, sitting down next to the could-be-hero. “You know, since you mix music and stuff” He added as his dead friend’s voice oh-so nicely reminded him.

“Yeah, I actually do! A lot of things to be honest…” Cole laughed a little, looking rather embarrassed about it.

“Fucking knew it”

“Huh?”

“You give me the vibe. So, you have other instruments here or…?” He trailed off, leaving the question as open as possible. Either for Cole to deny anything and everything if he was smart, or be so nice and explain he actually has a whole music studio, or hides his shit in the closet or something.

But Cole-could-be-Earth was the blond’s angel, how could he possibly not answer his question with literally every information he needed? “Yeah, my dad lets me keep everything in the garage. Hey, Nya said you can play piano”

Blade, bless this poor teen’s soul. He was too nice for his own good.

Or maybe Tommy just had this effect on people…

(Or perhaps was it Techno…?)

Tommy grinned, feeling proud of his plan working so smoothly despite the rocky start. “Definitely better than the guitar. Actually, I bet I can play better than you do” As soon as Cole narrowed his eyes at him with a competitive glint he knew he had won.

If Cole’s instruments look exactly like Earth’s, with the two having the same music studio on top of that, then they were undoubtedly one and the same.

And if they were one, it was safe to assume the same for Zane and Ice.

“Oh really? How much would you bet on it?” The nail to the two heroes’ coffin.

“A week of free coffee. You?”

“Hm… Playing with you in front of a camera this Friday”

Tommy’s jaw dropped.

Holy shit…

No, listen, this was BIG. If Cole really is the black ninja then Tommy needed him to be there for the charity stream. He listened to his covers a shit-ton of times and it was something else.

He had to win this bet.

“Wanna go now or after the lesson?” Cole tilted his head, noticing the spark in the blond’s eyes.

Tommy thought for a second. “I’m pumped up, let’s do this!” He smiled getting up. The other quickly followed his move and extended a hand for him to shake. Tommy hesitated, opening his mouth for a moment before shaking it.

Man, when did he become so anxious?

Cole grabbed his guitar and headed out the door, Tommy quickly followed him. “We’re going to the garage” The raven head informed his father as the two passed the kitchen, the man hummed in acknowledgement. They entered the living room and sure enough there was a door (one which Tommy failed to notice earlier as it felt odd to properly snoop around with an adult in sight) which lead to the garage with a shit-ton of instruments.

The door to Earth’s music studio.

(Now, Cole’s not stupid, but his secret identity never really had to be hidden before.

His dad never checked his social media, let alone Earth’s.

His friends were on his team, so there was no need for secrecy.

And his only friend outside the team literally had no way of spontaneously visiting him.

How could he possibly know Tommy was onto him?)

“Two down, four to go”

So one third of success.

Now he only had to win this bet and it would all be solved!

“Wanna go first?”

Tommy smiled with confidence and nodded. Cole stepped aside, motioning with his hand at the keyboard piano, also smiling. The blond took a seat and took a breath, thinking of what he can play. There was so many things he knew he can play, and amazingly at that!

“Fuck it” Tommy liked being unpredictable, catching others off guard with the most random, weirdest shit to make them laugh. But puh-lease, playing Megalovania was always funny, it’s a meme after all!

It was undeniably predictable though, so much in fact Cole laughed to himself hearing the first few notes. Tommy pay it no mind and continued his performance. He knew this one so well he didn’t even had to watch his fingers to play it correctly, it made a proud smile creep onto his face as he looked up at the other teen, not even skipping a singular note. He played a good part of the song before changing it up to the melody of Your New Boyfriend, which he also memorized quite well, though he had to look back at his hands for this one.

This was nice.

It reminded him of that one time he and Tubbo were annoying Ranboo on his stream.

He stopped, fingers hovering over the keys as he felt his heart sting, the smile on his face turned into a sad frown.

Was Tubbo mad at him?

They had plans, he failed to be there and now Tubbo wasn’t texting him…

For two weeks.

But he apologized!

Also, it wasn’t like Tommy didn’t give him enough time to get someone to take his place!

Ugh, Tubbo and his fucking mood swings…

He felt a hand being gently placed on his shoulder, “Tommy? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah…” He cleared his throat. If Tubbo wanted to be a bitch about something Tommy warned him about, he wasn’t going to stop him. “Impressed?” He asked, forcing a confident smile.

Cole stared at him with concern for a moment before returning the smile, though his eyes still watched the blond carefully. “Intrigued. My turn to shine” Tommy promptly got up and allowed him to sit down. The teen started playing what he quickly recognized to be one of Hamilton songs, his smile turned genuine at this.

End of the day, there was no real way of telling who actually won, so they settled for a tie with Tommy immediately taking out his phone to call Sonu and tell him about the free coffee week for the teen hero. Without telling the man the teen was one of the heroes.

He ain’t gonna be a dick!

After all was handled, Lou brought them tea and they began their actual lesson. With Cole being there for charity stream Tommy only had to learn how to play Hallelujah, as Earth was extremely talented with any instrument they touched, which was suuuuper helpful. Finally Tommy didn’t have to carry this entire thing all on his own.

“So, why Hallelujah of all things?”

Oh.

This was unexpected.

Oh well, not everyone has to know Dream SMP, right? “There’s a song my fans absolutely adore, and it just so happened to be to the melody of Hallelujah”

“Oh, that’s cool. So you streamed before?”

“Ya duh!” He laughed, what a silly question! “Been streaming for a looooong time now. How come you never heard?” Tommy tilted his head, genuinely confused as to how that was possible. Not everyone had to know him, but to not ever hear of him? Not even once in passing? That was close to impossible!

Cole shrugged, looking to the side. “Dunno. I guess I been too absorbed in my own bubble…”

“Wait, so Cole’s not your fan?”

“Prolly is now. What’s your point?”

“Huh… Guess he really is an angel…”

Tommy furrowed his brows. The fuck was this about?

Techno sighed, “You know, since he went out of his way to make sure you’re sure in is civilian ‘form’ and constantly keeps on trying to befriend you?”

Oh…

Yeah. If he had never heard of him, he couldn’t know he’s famous (somehow) and thus risking his identity just to make sure he was fine.

But it didn’t make sense…

If Cole was so sweet, why would he befriend the son of the guy he has to fight on a day-to-day basis? Tommy doubt the teen had it in him to do it for any other reason than to actually be friends. Same goes for Zane.

Man, I must’ve been really hard to fight your friend’s father in secret, knowing more than anyone how awfully your friend is treated for simply existing…

“Your own bubble? Pft! You’ve been everything but that ever since the first time you saw me!”

The hero looked back at him and smiled a little. “You called my a creep”

“My point exactly! Also, you make you not knowing me before we met sound like a bad thing, meanwhile you went out of your way to ask if I was oaky after only seeing me on TV! Considering how most of the people in this forsaken city are absolute piece of shit, you’re a literal angel!”

“I-I’m an angel!?” The teen blinked, his cheeks warming up at the very much unexpected comment. “The same can be said about you!”

“Huh?” Tommy also blinked, not following the logic.

“You’ve been nothing but kind to the kid whose dad literally crushed your plane and forced to stay in this city you never been to before, let alone heard of! You broke a guy’s balls for the same kid, picked up half of his shifts and are helping him to get payed equally to everyone else! If someone’s here an angel, then it’s you!!”

“I—” He blinked again, this time a little embarrassed. “What kind of angel swears like a sailor…?”

“You!” Cole chuckled to himself. “And apparently this angel has some impressive skills of getting into troubles in a blink of an eye”

“…I burned a guy’s Minecraft base for fun”

Cole shrugged. “I changed Kai’s hair paint to pink last Halloween”

“That’s not as bad as you might think” Tommy crossed his arms, a smirk on his face.

“Paint your hair pink then. Do it and hold a cancer charity”

That’s the second most on-topic thing ever.

Chapter Text

Four.

Four days till Friday.

Four days till Tommy’s charity stream.

Four ninjas to unmask.

And four times had he stared at his phone to see if the messages he sent to Tubbo passed through.

Me, 13:46 Thursday
[See ya on Sunday Tubbso!]

Bee Bitch, 13:46 Thursday
[Can’t wait!]
Read

Me, 08:27 Friday
[Hey sorry I don’t think I can do this with you man]
[I’m in the hospital rn]
[You shared a picture]
[My plane crushed]
[Dunno when it’s gonna get fixed]
[Wish I could be there tho :'(]
Sent

Me, 19:05 Sunday
[You shared a video]
Error

Me, 18 seconds ago
[Are you mad at me?]
[I really wanted to do this with you Tubbo!]
[Promise!]
[I can make it up to you!]
[As soon as I come back!]
[I can fly to you]
[If you want ofc…]
…

A finger hovered over the sent button for another text (‘I miss you’) as he waited in anticipation for any sign, whether it may be another error or the message going through.

But every second felt like eternity and it was killing him.

Why was this taking so long!?

Tommy groaned loudly, sinking into the bean seat. “I just wanted to make sure my friend isn’t mad at me, am I asking for too much!?”

“Apparently”

Tommy groaned again.

Why was the Universe against him?

He was working his ass off trying to be a good person and this is what he gets in return!?

“You could use this as an excuse though…”

“Huh?”

“You’re stressed, been for some time now, starting to hate this city and now question whether or not your friends like you”

“Tech!” Tommy whined, covering his face to hide from the world. “You’re not helping!”

“I’m just saying it’s the perfect opportunity to track down Green. They said they were open for DMs, right? Now you don’t have to make up problems to talk about and which I would definitely have to remind you of later so you don’t get your story mixed up”

Huh…

Why didn’t he thought of that sooner?

It was a genius idea!

“I know” The voice said smugly.

Tommy quickly raised his phone and looked up Green’s social media to send them a message. Fingers stopping for a second before touching the screen as he couldn’t resist the temptation to make a reference to one of Wilbur’s songs.

Me, 1 second ago
[What’s popping?]
[Sooooo]
[I heard you’re okay with ppl texting u?]
[To talk and stuff]
Sent

“Tommy, would you please come help me?” He let out a deep sigh at the sound of Mystake’s voice, however he didn’t complain, instead he slowly got up and started walking to the front of the shop, the phone pushed into his trousers. He busied himself with fulfilling his end of the bargain, helping the customers until he felt his phone vibrate. Still, he waited for the customers to leave before checking it.

Jade G, 5 minutes ago
[Hi Tommy!]
[Yeah I am]
[Need a friend?]

Me, now
[Could use one since I think mine’s mad at me]

Jade G, now
[Sorry to hear that :(]
[What are you up to?]

Me, now
[Working]
[Or getting overworked]
[Whatever fits]

Jade G, now
[Is it about the café?]
[(Great work btw I love this place)]
Read

Huh, that was interesting. So Green was a regular at Sonu’s café? Of all the places, they picked the only one where the son of Garmadon himself works on a day-to-day basis…

It seem like the whole ninja team was keeping an eye on the poor blond.

Me, now
[Kinda]
[No offence to Sonu but I reeeeally want this to be over already]
[I’m excited for the charity tho]

Jade G, now
[Me 2!]
[I heard you were going to stream the whole thing?]

Me, now
[Yeah]
[You can take the boy outta Twitch but you cannot take the Twitch outta boy]
[I actually miss streaming]

Jade G, now
[Oh?]
[You must be great with cameras then]
[Don’t overwork yourself too much tho]
[Everybody needs a break from time to time]
Read

Tommy suppressed the temptation of asking whether or not the hero takes a break themself, the answer seem to pop up in his brain as soon as he even began to wonder about that. Just as he replied with ‘thx’ another person came in, he exhaled having to go back to work, the phone being pushed into his pocket again.

Did his camera and all the other stuff even survived the explosion? All Ed ever mentioned was his friends’ merch, though Tommy should still probably buy new pieces as they would most definitely be damaged. Man, seems like he’d have to go shopping soon.

It wasn’t too bad of a waste, he could afford twenty new of these things, but he had some videotape of him in Jimmy’s base (only the things the man allowed him to film) and hanging out with him and the crew which he was planning on uploading once he films some additional scenes back in his apartment. It would be a shame if he had lost all of that.

Oh well, there was no point crying over spilled milk. He could one-up in his next vlog, somehow.

The rest of the day was just as vaguely productive as always, with Tommy helping around the shop and having to train in his free time while Techno’s voice was no help whatsoever and instead complained or made fun of him.

Tommy wouldn’t have it any other way.

When his shift had come to an end he grabbed his stuff and went to buy a new camera, texting Green along the way. Talking to the hero was genuinely really nice, the blond could get out some of the things that has been bothering him.

“You just really need someone to talk to”

It wasn’t far from the truth, but talking was catharsis, at least to him.

“I think you mean screaming”

Tommy was unamused by the comment, bored even.

He walked around for a couple of minutes, trying to find the right shop without Google Maps, it wasn’t easy but once he did managed to find one he was beaming with pride. He walked in and got semi lost yet again as he tried looking for the things he needed, this time he didn’t mind spending a few more minutes walking around as he could potentially find something interesting.

Tommy kept on walking from one isle to another, so much so a few employees asked him if he needed help, he politely declined and said he was just trying to see if anything caught his eye. When asked if he needed help with the things he was carrying he also declined and said he was used to it, thus he started a whole conversation with one of the girl as she was intrigued by him being a streamer. “And you take care of everything yourself?”

“Mostly. I get some help from time to time, but I try to be as independent as humanly possible”

“I’m very impressed”

Just then Tommy stumbled forward, tripping over his own feet, one of the boxes he was holding fell out of his hands, but before it could land on the floor the girl caught it. “Nice reflex”

“It’s important every employee has it. It prevents accidents such as this. I shall hold this for the rest of our trip around the store, is that okay with you?” She tilted her head. Tommy blinked before giving her a small nod.

Yeeeeeeah, everyone, meet Pixal, the daughter of the owner. He noticed almost immediately something was different about her, the way she answered, moved and reacted. Not to be mean, but he lowkey got uncanny valley vibes from her.

Well, he got uncanny valley vibes from every employee in there.

“How come you never got uncanny valley vibes from Zane?”

“No fucking idea. Whoever made him is a technological genius”

“Wouldn’t that be his father? It would make sense he calls him that if that’s the case”

“He also called Echo his brother” Tommy quickly dismissed the idea. Although…

“They look identical…” Techno said the exact same thing he just started thinking about.

Tommy stopped in realization, holy fuck how con one be so blind!? Pixal also stopped and turned to look at him with concern, “Did something happened, Tommy?”

“…No, no. I’m okay, just remembered something” He resumed his walking, the girl didn’t question him, just followed as if they never stopped walking in the first place. “Soooo, your dad owns the place?”

“Yes”

“And you help him here instead going to school”

“I’m homeschooled”

“Of course”

Just as Tommy opened his mouth to ask yet another question there was an angry scream. Wait a minute, he recognized this voice from somewhere… “Now look what you have done, creep!”

This wasn’t Danny, though Tommy was fully convinced he would say the same damn thing. But no, not this time.

The blond sighed, realizing the bullying problem in this city affected everyone who was different in any way, shape or form.

Blade, now the gay comment sounded even worse. That bitch was rightfully deprived of the ability to have children.

Being his curious self, and having enough of people in this forsaken city, he followed the sound of unjustified angriness. Taking a hard left at one point he found himself stopping again, this time in surprise. He watched for a second or two as Chad bullied one of the nice employees who earlier offered Tommy their help, but he couldn’t just stand there and watch! “Oi! Leave them alone!”

The brunette immediately stopped, turning to look at the familiar blond in surprise. “You?”

“Yeah, me! The one and only. Now stop being a dick and either buy something or get the fuck out”

Pixal put a hand on his shoulder. “This is not necessary, Tommy. We’re used to—”

“Would you hold this for me?” The blond quickly cut her off, giving her the rest of the boxes, the girl took everything without a word of complain. With free hands he stomped closer to the other teen, staring him down.

Chad scoffed. “Or what? Whatcha gonna do about it?”

As if this was his cue Tommy quickly reached for the gun and pointed it straight at the other teen’s forehead. “Guess you’ll have to see for yourself” To Tommy’s utter shock, the teen started laughing, then pushed the plastic gun away with one hand while still doing so.

Oh, the disrespect!

“Drop-kick?”

Sure, he could try. That would be the greatest way of checking whether or not Mystake’s training actually did anything.

Putting his gun back in its place, Tommy quickly grabbed Chad’s shoulders, bend him forward a little bit to slam his knee into his stomach. As the brunette sucked in air he let go of his shoulders and elbowed his side, hard enough to make him stumble forward. He knee-kicked his back for good measure, causing Chad to actually fell on the floor.

Tommy smiled proudly. “And?”

“Meh, could use some practice”

Tommy’s smile immediately turned into an offended frown. “Practice!? C’mon, that was pretty poggers!”

“If by poggers you mean Great M’s lessons had gone to waste, then yes, it was pretty poggers”

“You know that’s not what I meant!!”

“That was highly unnecessary…” Pixal said, but judging by her tone she wasn’t angry nor sad, but she was definitely not happy either.

“Bullshit. When a bitch has no respect for the hard workers they deserve to be drop-kicked” Tommy growled, glaring at the teen on the floor. “Let’s go” He said, jumping over Chad and finally heading towards checkout, Pixal followed without another word.

Tommy stopped at the checkout, lowkey confused by the high-tech of it. “Let me take care of it” He took a step back, allowing the girl to get everything checked. Tommy watched her, trying to understand how the self-checkout worked in case he ever comes back. He did not understand a thing of what was happening. “Here. Now you have to scan your credit card here” She pointed, Tommy quickly followed her instruction.

A cartoonish face of a man in glasses showed up. “Thanks you for your purchase. Hope you enjoy your new Borg-Tech!” He smiled, happy sparkles showing around him.

“This your father?”

Pixal laughed a little. “Only a resemblance of him, but yes, this is more or less how my father looks. That is, if he was an anime character” She laughed some more, Tommy couldn’t help but join.

“Make sense. Well, I better be going now. It was nice talking to you” He said with a bright smile, slowly packing all the boxes to a bag the girl got him from the checkout machine.

“It was nice talking to you too, Tommy. I hope we’ll meet again soon. Do you wish to know my number?” She tilted her head with the most innocent look imaginable on her face. Tommy’s eyes snapped towards her, blinking at the question. Seeing he’s more confused now, she added, “Zane said you’re friends, I can see why. Since we have a common friend and we enjoyed spending time together I assumed you’d like to have a way of contacting me. My apologies if I overstepped your boundary” She lightly bowed to him, the action making him wave his hands energetically, eyes even wider from shock.

“Woah, woah! No need to bow!! It’s alright! Really! Yeah, okay, I guess knowing each other’s numbers could be useful. Hehe…” He scratched his head, still feeling awkward from all the weird little things. After they exchanged numbers and said their goodbyes Tommy was on his way back. He and Chad glared at each other as the blond passed him.

“You’re gonna regret this, freak”

Tommy answered like any other mature man would – making the ‘L’ shape with his hand and blowing a raspberry, then smiled smugly as he quickened his pace to escape any possible consequences.

Chapter Text

“Hi, Tommy” The teen’s head snapped towards the other blond, who just walked into the kitchen for breakfast. Tommy squinted his eyes at him in suspicion, making the green eyed blond shift uneasily. “What?”

“Nothing…” Instead of commenting on Lloyd’s unusual behavior Tommy settled on stuffing his mouth with Koko’s food, but this didn’t prevent him from eyeing the blond, which in turn made him look to the ground, clearly not enjoying it and becoming shy all over again.

Tommy lived with the Garmadons for almost three weeks, this was the first time Lloyd initiate any type of interaction with him.

“Aww, I’m glad you boys are getting along” The woman said, ruffling her son’s hair and making him smile as she sat down to eat with them, only Rumi was missing from the table.

“How’s the job hunt going?” Lloyd asked just what Tommy was thinking. Well, not entirely, he’d much rather Koko not try to find another shitty day job but he already voiced his concerns and the woman (bless her soul) promised to pick something that would allow her to quit her night job.

Koko sighed, “Well, it’s certainly going. I have a few thing arranged already, but it’s not much. And as much as I hate to say this, I’m at the reserve bench…”

“If they interview you and decide you can’t have the job because your ex is a villain, I’m going to sue, and I’ll make a vlog out of it. I’ll bring those bitches down” Tommy promised, growing angry at the idea of someone rejecting the sweet woman for such an idiotic reason.

Koko laughed a little, reaching over to ruffle his hair as well. “Thank you, Tommy. But, seriously, don’t sue anyone” The blond huffed, the small smile caused by the affectionate gesture disappearing as he stuffed his mouth with more food.

“I think you have enough on your head already” Lloyd chimed in, looking at the other blond with— wait, is that concern???

“Hm?” Tommy furrowed his brows in confusion. “Oh it’s nothing, trust me. I’ve dealt with worse” Like millions of people expecting him to do a certain thing and do it greatly. Though his fans weren’t only that, most of them understood when he needed a break. But the thought of so many people watching him was enough on its own to rise his own expectations of his performance.

“This still seems like a lot. Maybe you should slow down a little?” The green eyed blond suggested. Tommy blinked, doing a double take, what was up with him today? “Don’t you get overwhelmed?”

“Uhhh… As soon as I’m done helping Sonu I won’t have so much on my plate. And that’s in three days. I think I can hang on a little longer”

“Don’t overwork yourself, Tommy” Koko said sternly, the teen snort.

“Whatever you say Ms. Two-Jobs”

“You know, it’s not funny when I only have one job. Not to mention, you have two jobs now” The woman said, squinting her eyes with a big smile. Man, it was great they had similar sense of humor.

“Koko, not to be mean, but between you and me, I think I can handle a LOT more than you. Again, I don’t mean it as an insult, I would say the same thing to Phil if he had two jobs and run on four hours of sleep”

Now it was time for the woman to snort, “Oh, Tommy, sweetie, you have no idea just how much I can take”

Tommy blinked, suppressing his intrusive thoughts and struggling not to make a dirty joke, he instead composed himself and continued as if nothing bad had crossed his thoughts, “I’d say a whole villain. Anyway, does anyone knows where Rumes is? I mean, if she was home I’d surely be attacked by a spider by now”

Lloyd choked on air. “Rumes?”

“Yeah. Where is she?”

“For your safety, I hope she’s far away. She’d most definitely kill you if she heard that”

“I think it’s a pretty good nickname”

“Thank you!”

Koko giggled. “She’s with Morro, but I have no idea where they are”

At that moment Tommy experienced the second double take of the day. “I sincerely hope somewhere in public” This time his mouth moved faster than his uncorrupted brain cells, spilling some of the not-so-family-friendly thoughts out for the world to hear.

“Aren’t they both adopted?”

Tommy suppressed the urge to facepalm. “Why am I friends with an American…?”

“…What does that have to do with anything???”

Ignoring the voice in his head, he cleared his throat. “Mm, great food. I gotta go now, wanted to run some errands before work” Tommy quickly excused himself and went to grab his stuff, leaving before any other weird thought of his could spill out.

Tommy had nothing to do before work, and even if, since it was Sonu he was supposed to work for that day he had a few more hours before his shift. Hey, he could always spend them doing something productive, like…

He stopped, looking around for a place to stay I for the remaining hours. What could he do? Practice playing Hallelujah, but he can do that at Sonu’s.

Test his new recording gear?

I mean, it was an idea…

Out of habit, he looked at his phone, checking of the messages he typed in got send and/or read. He frowned as he saw another error. This actually gave him an idea, his phone was clearly malfunctioning so he could ask Pixal for help. And even if it wasn’t, he could still use some manual on all the functions of BorgCam and all the other stuff. Not to mention the shop was semi on the way to work.

As Tommy walked through the streets he noticed some people were starting at him. It wouldn’t be too weird if it wasn’t for the way they were looking at him. The people in this city only stared at him if he did something weird before, now some stared at him for seemingly no reason, and those weren’t the looks he was used to thanks to his fame.

He hated to admit, but it made him feel a little uneasy.

As soon as he got to the store he exhaled deeply. Blade, what was happening with people today? Everyone was so fucking weird…

“Hello, Tommy. Is there a problem with your latest purchase?” Pixal greeted the teen, tilting her head.

“No, no. Haven’t used anything yet to be honest…” He scratched his head, looking at the side as he laughed a little, shaking off the feeling caused by the creeps on the streets. “Uh, I would like some help though. My phone seems to, I don’t even know, be dumb, I guess? I tried sending messages to one of my friends but nothing’s going through” He showed her his phone to prove his words.

Pixal leaned in a little. “Hm… It is weird. Are there any other malfunctions?”

“Not that I noticed”

“Can I?” Tommy handed her his phone, the girl stared at it for a moment, then started turning it as if to check for any exterior damage. When she didn’t found anything she tried fixing the problem in the only way possible, checking the options on it while the blond waited for any update. “Hm. I don’t see anything wrong. Besides the message error that is. I’m sorry, I don’t think I can fix this”

“Aw man!”

“I can ask my father to get a look, if you want. Zane said your friends are quite important to you, I can understand why not being able to contact them would be bothersome”

“Is your dad here or…?”

“Yes, he’s in his office at the back, working on another piece. Would you like to see him?”

He shrugged, “If I can”

“Follow me then” Pixal started walking and Tommy had no choice but to follow her, she still had his phone in her hand after all. All the employees waved and greeted them, the teen smiled and waved back awkwardly, lowkey fighting his fight-or-flight instincts with every smile he received. Chad was a dick but he was right, the people working there were rather creepy.

They passed the whole store and stopped at a big door without a knob or a handle, Pixal pulled out an ID card and scanned it on the card reader. There was a quiet buzz and she pushed the door open, allowing Tommy to go in first. As he stepped in he found himself in a big office, lots of high-tech gadgets laying around, both big and small, kind of like the tech lab in Big Hero 6.

There was a man with glasses in a wheelchair working on one of the smaller gadgets, he looked like a real life version of the cartoon man he saw in checkout station the other day. He soon stopped his work and looked up at the two, a smile quickly lighting up his face. “Tommy! So good to see you! What bring you here?” The man – Borg, if all of the names in the store were anything to go off – turned his wheelchair and got closer to him. Now this, this was what Tommy was used to, and what he was embarrassed to admit he had missed.

“Tommy, this is my father, Cyrus Borg”

“Nice to meet you, sir”

“Oh no, none of that, Tommy! Call me Cyrus! I heard quite a lot about you” The man chuckled, the teen couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Tommy’s messages can’t go through. I checked his phone but didn’t find any other malfunctions. We were wondering if you could help” The girl said, handing the blond’s phone to her father.

“How are you enjoying my technology so far? Pixal told me you bought some recording pieces, glad my tech will make it to your charity stream” Cyrus asked, looking over the phone the same way his daughter did just a minute or so ago.

“Oh… Well, I haven’t tested it yet… “Tommy looked away with an awkward smile, now he felt bad.

The man laughed again. “Then remember to text my daughter when you do. I can assure you thought, you’ll enjoy it. I put a lot of thought into each piece to deliver the best quality possible. Of course, it’s not flawless, I’m only human after all” Tommy hummed, feeling a little shy from being recognized after so long, and by someone older than him nonetheless. Cyrus liked up and sent him a warm smile before going back to checking his phone, his expression slowly changing to confusion as he couldn’t find anything that could cause the problem. “Hm… It’s really weird… I’m sorry, I don’t think I can fix this”

“Nah, it’s fine, man. Just a lil disappointing…” Tommy sighed. Great, just what he needed right now. But it didn’t make sense, he could text the possible heroes no problem whatsoever! So why couldn’t he text his friends…? “Sorry for interrupting your work”

“It’s okay, Tommy” Borg smiled at him, a smile he had gotten from every parent he got along with ever. “It must be hard not being able to talk to your friends and family”

“Yeah…”

“Hey, at least you have me!”

He smiled at the voice, Techno was right, and at the moment these words meant the world to him. “Well, thanks for trying. I’ll get going now. It was nice to meet you, Cyrus”

“Ditto. I hope you don’t get into more troubles” The man laughed, it was only natural for Tommy to join him.

“We’ll see about that!” He threw while the girl opened the door for him.

“Visit me before you fly back home, will you?”

“Sure thing!”

Well, that was nice. Even if his messages were still broken he at least got the normal encounter with someone. He really enjoyed talking with Cyrus, and he had time, but the man was so nice Tommy didn’t want to keep him from his work for too long. That unfortunately meant he had to find himself a new thing to do.

He said goodbye to Pixal and left the store, going back to aimlessly walking around while slowly approaching Sonu’s café.

***

At the end of the day Tommy was forced to help on the morning shift, waiting for his shift to begin as he didn’t managed to find anything else to occupy himself with. But all is well that ends well, and him heling the morning shift lady turned out to be fucking awesome!

Tommy was yet to meet other employees, not that there were many, he just never got the chance to see them. But meeting Maya – the sweet woman working all the morning shifts Monday through Friday – made him want to know more about the people working there, he’d have to ask Sonu about them.

Maya was a global treasure, just like Koko, maybe because they both were mother? The two only spend ten minutes together when Tommy already received an invite to her home, that’s probably because he was lowkey friends with her two children, who just so happened to be Kai and Nya, but still, that was pretty quick. He, of course, took her on that offer, being able to snoop around the two possible heroes’ rooms was very helpful with uncovering their identities.

And so, just like Tommy helped with Maya’s shift, the woman stayed to help him until the both of them could go. The blond smiled to himself, thinking just how confused the two teens/heroes would be once they saw him in their house.

As they walked, people were obviously starting at them, but this time it didn’t bother Tommy as much as it did before. But like, focusing on some no-names being morons was hard when you had such a lovely person by your side. Maya was like sunlight, shining so bright that no amount of negativity could ever reach you. The woman herself seem pretty oblivious to all the weird stares the two were getting, smiling and talking to the teens as if nobody else was there.

“I’m home! And I brought a guest!” Maya called out as she and Tommy walked into her house.

“Mom, who on Earth did you brought this— Tommy!?” The supposedly red ninja exclaimed in shock, seeing the blond standing next to his mother. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I befriended your mother” Tommy smiled.

“You WHAT!?” Kai screamed, alongside Nya who quickly appeared next to him.

“Kids, why haven’t you told me you’re friends with such a nice gentleman? Did you know Tommy’s a streamer? How exciting is that!” Maya’s eyes sparkled, making her daughter facepalm.

“Why did you brought him here? Not to be rude” The girl quickly added, glancing at Tommy before turning to glare at her mother.

“He’s your friend. And now also mine, he has all the right to visit our home” The woman crossed her arms, Tommy had to suppress a laugh.

He cleared his throat. “One of you have a nice motorcycle”

Nya’s eyes immediately abandoned the glare battle she had with her mom and she smiled at him. “Why thank you! Did you know I did the drawing myself? Water inspired me to do so, she’s almost as cool as the Lady Iron Dragon herself!”

“This is getting too easy”

“For real!” Tommy took the picture of the drawing before entering the house, he could check if it was one-to-one with Water’s when he gets home. But with the girl’s reaction, it was safe to assume they were in fact identical. “So, who’s this Lady Iron Dragon exactly?” He asked, he had been wondering about this heroine for some time now,

Nya and Maya let out a loud, dramatic gasp, Kai sighed and covered his face with his hand, almost facepalming, “Oh boy…”

“You don’t know who LID is!?”

“Uh, should I?”

Chapter Text

After learning all about LID in under three hours, Tommy understood why the two were so hyped about the legendary heroine.

She. Was. Amazing!!

Now Kai was stuck with three LID enthusiasts.

Back at Koko’s apartment Harumi had a similar problem, with Tommy talking non-stop about the woman with an undying passion. “Tommy, for the love of literally everything, can you shut up for a minute!?”

The blond glared at the girl, oh the disrespect!

For the first time in his life, he took the hint and went to bug his host mom instead. To his delight, Koko was more than happy to listen to his bickering, smiling ear to ear at his praises directed towards the heroine.

***

Wednesday passed without a problem. In the morning he was met with the same surprise as the previous day – Lloyd interacting with him in the morning, maybe he shouldn’t be so surprised by this, they were living with one another for like three weeks now but the green eyed blond seem to avoid him up until that one time about 24 hours ago.

Tommy did see Danny the Dick in passing, but they never interacted so it was a great success.

Overall, it was just like any other day he had to work for Mystake.

On Thursday he may or may not gave himself a paid day off, all in good faith, of course! He needed to test his Borg-Tech, it shouldn’t take him too long but it’s better to be safe than sorry, and he wasn’t about to reveal Sonu’s café before the grand re-opening. He packed his gadgets into his backpack and went on his merry way to the skatepark he learned about thanks to Water.

“Why go to the skatepark if you won’t skate?”

“I have skates!”

“This… doesn’t seem safe. Especially if you’re going to hold a camera in one hand”

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”

“You’re going to land in the hospital just before your grand stream”

Okay, yeah, that didn’t sound like a great idea…

He had time to think over what he was and wasn’t going to do a vlog about once he reaches his destination. Arriving at the place his plans were quickly thrown out the window as he saw Dan again! Blade, was he looking for Tommy?

“It’s a public space, Theseus”

“Fuck it. Maybe they have some abandoned warehouses in the area?” With that thought the blond quickly turned on his heels and started walking away in search for something interesting to get on camera. Out of boredom it ended with him getting his phone out and recording a short video for TikTok. “Guys, I got this new camera and I wanted to test it out, but there’s a bitch in the spot I picked. Soooo, now I’m going into the woods. Hope to find something cool. Wish me luck! Long time no see, by the way” As Tommy looked up from his screen he saw few people staring at him, again.

He really fucking hoped he’d find an abandoned warehouse, at least it would be a great vlog.

I mean, Sam and Colby have a whole channel committed to this shit!

“With your luck, you’d end up in Garmadon’s secret base”

“So be it. It would be a great vlog!”

“Ah yes, the famous ‘tour around my local villain’s base’ vlog”

“If we had villains, those would be famous”

Tommy spend quite some time trying to find a path leading into the nearest woods, he was not about to get lost right before his charity stream. This caused even more people to stare at him as if he was crazy, he ignored them and took all the time he needed, and more. Before crossing the forest’s line he got out his new camera. Tommy walked for a few minutes, taking in the nature, soft singing of the birds, the light breeze being a perfect refresher in the warm temperature.

But nothing caught his eye.

Well at least it was pretty, thought it was still a bummer he had nothing to put on camera. Wanting to test the BorgCam (which shouldn’t not be confused with Borg cu—), yet having no reason to make a vlog out of it, he decided to normally test it, you know, like any normal non-youtuber/streamer person. At least this allowed him to play with all the functions without having to edit them out later.

And thus, Tommy accidentally took a break from all the stress.

“I’m sure I could use this somewhere. Maybe in a bit…”

“Is humanity prepared for peaceful TommyInnit?” The blond laughed at the comment. The day Tommy becomes peaceful, the end of the world will be announced. “And maybe I’d come down to Earth, huh?”

“…I shall become peaceful right after tomorrow if that’s the case”

“What about being a vigilante?”

“…Okay, right after I’m done with that”

“We’ll see how long you’ll last”

“That’s a promise now” Tommy smirked, Techno could do nothing but sigh.

He tried sticking to the path, he really didn’t need to get fucking lost, but there were a few moments where he did step off to check something that seem interesting, still hoping to get something he could at least tell a story about in the next video or stream. But it was nothing, after nothing, after nothing…

It wasn’t necessary boring, but it just wouldn’t make the cut into the Funny Stories Department.

“How deep do you think this place is?” He asked, wanting to fill the quiet.

“Dunno, but it seems rather big. Maybe we should head back soon?”

Tommy sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right…” He stopped, the camera falling to his side, still on. He thought for a moment. “Have I already posted about tomorrow’s stream?”

“I don’t think so”

Welp, at least he had things to do now.

Just as Tommy turned around, he heard faint voices from somewhere off the path. His eyes widen, fuck, he had no idea there were people out there!

“It’s a public place”

“Yeah, and I’m talking to myself in the middle of the woods!” He screamed at his friend, this time in his thoughts. Tommy stood there, frozen in place, listening, trying to figure where the voices were coming from. “Why do this sound like chanting…?” He whined at the ominous sound.

“It actually does. You should probably get going”

No need to tell him twice, he ain’t dealing with no cult.

Not now, not ever.

This was waaaaay outside his capabilities.

He started running down the path, towards the direction he came from. “Hide!” Techno screamed moments after the blond started running.

“Huh?”

“Hide! Now!” Tommy was not about to ignore the voice that got him his gun, and with the way Techno was saying it, it was hard to disobey. He quickly jumped to hide behind one of the bigger trees. “Don’t move until I say otherwise”

Was it weird he trusted the  voice to be able to tell him when it was safe to get out?

It was just a fragment of his imagination after all…

Either way, he listened. Soon enough, he heard running. Tommy couldn’t help but move his head ever so slightly to see who it was, his eyes widen once he recognized Dan. Still, he stayed still until Techno said it was safe. “What are you doing?” The voice called once Tommy started going after the teen.

Tommy didn’t answer. He just followed Dan, ignoring Techno’s advice to get the hell out. He hesitated once the teen strayed from the path, but never turned back. The further Tommy walked the darker it became, the sunlight being blocked by the thick layer of leaves.

The chanting became clearer with each step.

“You’re late” Tommy’s eyes widen as he recognized the voice, it’s that woman again, and she was angry, per usual Tommy assumed. He peeked from some bushes, being as quiet as possible.

“Apologies, Ma’am, I… run into some problems…” Tommy ducked down as the teen started to look around. With the little time he had to look around, he noticed all of Dan’s friends were there and they had some black campfire. It was actually quite impressive, he had never seen black fire before.

The woman growled, “Problem? What could possibly stop you from—”

“I saw him” Dan cut her off. Tommy peeked out again, the woman looked shocked. The brunette cleared his throat, “With all respect, Ma’am, I saw Tom right before out meeting was due and then I saw him dangerously close to our spot”

“They’re talking about me!?” No, no, no, this couldn’t be, this had to be just another guy called Tom… right?

But with how the woman started looking around it was hard to believe there was some other Tom. The blond quickly ducked again, now thinking of an easy escape route he suddenly remembered the camera in his hand and quickly decided to record them, if something was to happen to him he’d want his friends to see which bitches have killed him, and if he survives he could look at the footage for… I don’t know, clues, maybe? “How close exactly?”

“He walked down the path”

“They’re definitely talking about you. There was literally no one else”

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fu—

“Down? You’re sure he didn’t follow you here?” A girl, which voice Tommy didn’t recognize, asked.

“W-well—”

“There!!” The woman screamed, and Techno’s voice followed her.

“RUN!!” Even before the voice started yelling at him, Tommy was already launching forward, still being close to the ground. He sprinted as fast as he could, in a straight line at first, he needed to get back on the path, otherwise he’d get lost.

Which didn’t seem too bad considering someone was hot on his tail.

Eight teenagers to be precise.

But whatever would happen, he couldn’t lose the camera, nor get it damaged in any way. Not only because he had to stream the next day, but also because he needed whatever the fuck they were doing in that forest on tape.

Tommy had a choice, getting lost or fucking dying. He chose option numero uno with big hopes of his dead friend helping him find his way back when he no longer had a target on his back.

Hope is the only thing he could do at the moment.

With the adrenaline rush he miraculously managed to avoid slamming into any of the trees as he was taking wild turns to avoid getting caught, and/or killed. He seem to be doing really great, maybe he didn’t even have to go back on the path to get the fuck out and run straight home, whether it be one of the ninja’s or Koko’s apartment.

And if push came to shove, he still had his gun, so he could take one of them.

Given they don’t rip the gun from his hand…

Man, this real life manhunt wasn’t fun at all.

“Oi, Human GPS, help me out a bit maybe!?”

“Like, out?”

“No, direct me to the nearest McDonald’s. Of course I want out!!”

“Don’t yell! They’re going to know where you’re running to!”

“Then start being helpful!”

“Tommy, this is serious—”

“You think I don’t know that?!”

“If they see the camera—”

“Out, Techno! OUT!!”

“Turn left and keep going straight”

Tommy quickly took a sharp left and sprinted even faster. It took another ten or so minutes of running for him to, quite literally, jump out onto the street, thankfully no car was around. With Techno continuing to direct him, the blond run all the way to Zane’s house. Not taking any chances, he quickly pushed the door open and slammed them behind himself, breathing heavily from all the running.

“Tommy?” Echo asked from his place on the couch, a man Tommy had seen in pictures around the house sitting next to him with a confused expression. “Were you running again?”

“Almost got effing killed! Um, good morning, Mr. Julien. S-sorry for the impromptu visit…”

“Oh, it’s fine. And, please, just Julien is enough. Di– Did you just said you were almost killed? By who?”

“Long story...” Tommy looked to the side. Suddenly he remembered the camera was still recording, he promptly turned it off. “Again, I’m deeply sorry for the trouble. But, uh, could I stay here for a little bit? Please???”

“Of course! Were you chased? Should I call the police?”

“No, no! There’s no need, I’ll… go to the police on my way back home. Have a video and all” He pointed to the camera rather awkwardly. Now, how to change the topic…?

Oh right!

“Um, your sons told me you make cancer treatments and medicine?”

“Very smooth, Theseus…”

Chapter Text

Prick, 13:46 Thursday
[See ya on Sunday Tubbso!]

Me, 13:46 Thursday
[Can’t wait!]
Read

Me, 16:12 Saturday
[Still up for tmrw?]
Sent

Me, 07:58 Sunday
[Are we doing this or not?]
Sent

Me, 08:13 Sunday
[Tommy I need an answer]
Sent

Me, 10:31 Wednesday
[Tommy?]
[You good man?]
Sent

Me, 11:06 Thursday
[Tom Simons!]
[You better start an swearing me!]
[answer*]
[answering*]
Sent

Me, 00:19 Saturday
[Tommy I’m worried]
[Please answer]
Sent

Me, 17:52 Saturday
[?]
Sent

Me, 14:26 Tuesday
[?]
Sent

Me, 12:58 Wednesday
[?]
Sent

Me, 15:01 Friday
[??????]
Sent

Me, 05:27 Saturday
[Tommy?????]
[Helloooo???]
Sent

Me, 23:59 Saturday
[You shared a screenshot]
[Explain yourself]
[NOW]
Sent

Me, 00:55 Sunday
[Tommy!!]
[I’m still fucking watinh]
[waiting*]
Sent

Me, 23:40 Monday
[This isn’t funny]
Sent

Me, 00:00 Tuesday
[I’m going to kill you when you’re back]
Sent

Me, 10:31 Wednesday
[I rlly hate you rn]
Sent

Me, 3 minutes ago
[Tommy please talk to me]
[Did I do something?]
Sent

Toby sighed, staring at the messages he sent with sadness. Maybe he would finally respond? They were supposed to record a video for his channel three weeks ago, as Tommy seem to dip he had to ask Jack to join almost last minute.

He was both mad and worried.

Then only mad once the blond made a post about Skating Saturday in Sonu’s café.

I’m sorry, Tommy was where exactly?

And he was doing what?

But most importantly, why wasn’t he answering him?

They didn’t have a fight, in fact, they were on the best of terms when the blond stopped responding. He didn’t even read what Tubbo had sent him!

Wilbur knew Tommy.

He knew the kid recently bought a whole-ass plane and hired a personal pilot for no other reason than pure fun.

And maybe for the sake of cooler vlogs.

He knew Tommy was invited to spend a week at Jimmy’s secret base, the man apparently was stalked or something and got one for himself all the way in Antarctica.

He knew Tommy should be back already.

And yet, the teen was nowhere to be found.

No messages, no responses, no posts, no nothing!

He didn’t even react to any form of contact Wilbur, or literally anyone else, had ever tried, and they tried everything!

All they got in return was silence.

At first, he was angry. They were working on something important to him, how could Tommy be so arrogant and ignore them!? He knew it was important to him!

And so, he started to panic. From all of his friends, Tommy wasn’t one to go quiet all of the sudden, and he wouldn’t just fucking ignore him. Especially if he knew it was something important.

And even if, Sorry Boys was just as important to Tommy as it was to all of the team.

Then why was Tommy quiet?

Why hadn’t he answered!?

After weeks of radio silence there was finally something. A post.

Tommy announced there’s going to be a Skating Saturday at Sonu’s café.

Uh, what?

I mean, at least they got something to go off of.

Wilbur wondered if he should berate the teen for ignoring him and the others, the anger coming back for a moment, but he decided against it, instead he congratulated and politely asked where the soon-to-be famous café was.

Tommy didn’t respond.

Well that’s just fucking rude.

Then, a few days later, there was a TikTok – Tommy going into the woods to test his new camera.

Yet again, no response.

Okay, bitch.

Then, another post.

Tommy was about to have a charity stream to help save Sonu’s café and, wouldn’t you know it, he announced it would be a singing stream where he promised to end with L’manberg’s anthem.

God, that was SOOO Tommy.

They tried asking yet again.

This time he oh-so kindly answered, but that only left them all more confused than before.

“What the fuck is Ninjago City?” The brunette furrowed his brows.

Never, and I mean EVER, not even while drunk, had he heard about anything like that.

He tried googling it.

Either Google Maps is just as helpful as Google Translate or this place was made up.

The whole Sorry gang discussed it. Nobody fucking knew where this Ninjago City was.

“Somewhere between Antarctica and Brighton?” Ranboo suggested, without any confidence whatsoever.

They discussed it with Tubbo and the others, but they didn’t know anything either!

They tried asking more questions, all under Tommy’s post as it seem to be the only way of communication.

The lost blond was of no help at all.

Kristin blinked in surprise. “What?”

“Yeah I know! It doesn’t even sound like a real place!” Phil slid a hand down his face, groaning. He recently got an invite to Quackity’s SMP but how could he, or Alex, be hyped about it when Tommy was gone? The blond actually suspected the other man decided to tell him now to cheer him up a little. “But Tommy wouldn’t just make it all up…”

Phil’s wife bit her lip, looking to the side, “That’s not really what I meant…”

“Huh?”

The woman sighed. “Tommy shouldn’t be able to go there. Nobody should, to be honest”

“What are you talking about?” Oh god, the least thing Phil needed at the moment was the love of his life being mysterious.

Kristin took a deep breath. “You remember when I told you there are some places on Earth a normal human can’t go?”

“The Portals?” His eyes widen, mouth opening a little as she nodded.

Being married to someone of actual God blood was pretty interesting, everyone turned it into a joke of course and never treated it seriously. Not even Phil believe it when his wife informed him of her ‘status’.

But, one day, after Kristin finally managed to convince her husband she actually IS of God blood, the two had a conversation where the man asked her various questions. After that day, it was normal for the two to either ask (Phil) or tell (Kristin) a random thing about the world that should be impossible.

On one of these days Kristin mentioned the Portals, places in the world where one can travel between the realms (possibly even timelines). And it’s not just living and dead, Earth, Hell, Heaven or whatever else, actually other worlds that could, potentially, have magic on a day-to-day basis.

“You don’t think…”

“Tommy and his pilot accidentally fell into one”

Phil put a hand on his head, this couldn’t be happening… “I-I guess that could explain why he hadn’t respond to any texts. But then, how did he make that post?”

“That’s a tricky question… And I’m sad to say I don’t have any answer for it” The woman frowned.

“We can think about that some other time. Do you know how we can get Tommy back?”

She looked away again, “The easiest way is for him to go through the same portal again. Since he was in his plane, or I at least assume he was, the portal has to be in the air”

“But that would mean he has to fly in the direction he flew from! With Tommy not knowing this…”

“He will only get lost”

This isn’t good…

Ranboo was streaming one of the weird dating simulators when the door to his office swung open, he jumped on his chair, hands instinctively flying up to cover his mouth. Sure, his friends have seen him without the mask, but not knowing who it was and what they wanted made him panic a little.

Their hands stayed on as they watched Tubbo and some girl with white shoulder-length hair and glowing green eyes stand in the doorway. “Tubbo? Who is…?”

“It’s me!”

Ranboo’s eyes widen, hands finally lowering down. “Drista!? What are you two doing here?”

“We are going after Tommy!” The girl declared, grabbing Toby’s wrist and dragging him closer to the taller teen.

“W-what???”

“Don’t ask me! I don’t even know how we got here so fast! I swear she just appeared in my room, grabbed my wrist and the next thing I know, we’re outside your office!!”

“What!? W-wait, I’m streaming!!” Drista stopped right in front of them, staring them down. “Uh, sorry, guys, I need to end now. I promise we’ll finish this some other ti—” The girl ended the stream, cutting them off before grabbing their wrist. “H-hey!!”

The world before the three’s eyes flashed and they disappeared from Ranboo’s office, the only trace of them ever being there was the still working PC.

Chapter Text

Me, 27 minutes ago
[You shared a picture]
[Almost got killed in the woods]
[xoxo] The message has been successfully deleted

Green boi 2.0, now
[?????]
[Wdym]
[Tommy]
[Don’t joke about that]
[This is not funny]

Me, now
[/srs]

Green boi 2.0, now
[What happened?????]

Me, now
[I was in the forest testing my new Borg cum]
[CAM****]
[Sorry]

Green boi 2.0, now
[😐]

Me, now
[Fucking autocorrect]
[And then I accidentally stumbled into a cult meeting or some shit]
[But I’m fine now]
[Vibing with Dr. Julien and Echo]

Green boi 2.0, now
[Not gonna ask why your autocorrect did THAT]
[Why were u testing the camera in the woods???]

Me, now
[Content]

Green boi 2.0, now
[…]
[Nvm]
[Were u followed?]
[Should we come and take care of whatever that was?]

Me, now
[Nah]
[Vibing /srs]
[You shared a picture]

Green boi 2.0, now
[Did you get any of this on camera?]

Me, now
[Think so]

Green boi 2.0, now
[Stay where you are]
[I’m dropping by in a few]
Read

“I just said I don’t need help…” Tommy muttered to himself.

“There’s a cult out there, I think it’s reasonable they want to take care of it”

The teen groaned. “I dunt wanna be interviewed right now” He had enough of this cursed day, first he gets chased in the woods and then his friends go crazy under his charity stream announcement.

The fuck do you mean ‘where is Ninjago City’, Will? What was Tommy? Fucking Geologist? Google Maps???

Seriously, if his friends were going to ask him dumb questions (after not contacting him for three weeks!!) he rather pretend he never saw their comments.

Julien chuckled, “Told you. The ninjas take their job very seriously”

“Not what I need, Doc” He growled softly, glaring at his phone in annoyance. “…Can I have some more coffee?”

“It would be your third cup…” Julien said, the smile on his face turning into a frown of concern.

“I’m legally allowed to consume as much caffeine as I wish to”

The man crossed his arms, trying his best to give him a stern look. It didn’t work one bit. “Well I’m not legally required to allow that in my household”

Tommy groaned again. “It’s mostly milk anyway!”

“You add three spoons of sugar” Echo noticed, earning a sharp glare from the blond.

“Doc’s right, you shouldn’t drink any more. This could end badly…” Tommy glared at nothing but air and started typing.

Me, now
[Overdosing sugar and caffeine ✌]

Green boi 2.0, now
[NO]
[Tommy]
[You better be alive when I get there]
Read

The blond laughed. He was soooo going to enjoy messing with them once he becomes a vigilante.

Tommy did not get another cup of coffee, he was also quickly banned from having his hands anywhere near sugar as he started to eat it dry. He started to plan his escape, he didn’t need Green there, it was nothing!

Hopefully…

“They know you. Not only that, they seem to especially have a bone to pick with you for some reason”

“I, on the other hand, have a bone to pick with literally everyone here!”

“Not everyone”

“Don’t” Tommy growled quietly. Soon, there was a knock. “Don’t!” He repeated louder as Julien was about to get up to get the door, the man raised a brow. Tommy sighed, “I’ll get it” He forced himself up and slowly walked to open the door, he semi glared at the hero, “I don’t need help”

Green rolled their eyes. “Stop complaining and give me the camera”

“Get your own camera!”

“Tommy”

The blond blinked, a little thrown off by the stern tone, the hero almost sounded like Techno at the moment. Tommy groaned, “Fine. But only because I want to be nice and help you with your job”

The hero snort, “I appreciate it”

Still glaring at the most-probably-teen before him, Tommy stepped aside and allowed the hero to get inside, he closed the door and reluctantly guided them to the camera.

“Hi, Green!” Echo smiled, waving excitedly at the teen. The hero waved back.

“It’s an honor to have you here” Julien bowed a little.

“Don’t make a big deal out of it” Tommy muttered, Green crossed their arms and gave him The look. He grabbed his camera and played the video, showing it to everyone. He had skipped the first few minutes as not only was it useless but he also talked to himself there. Well, to Techno, but… you know…

There was a moment of him walking in silence, the chanting he had heard ever so faintly not audible on the recording. “Huh?” Tommy stopped, the jumped behind one of the trees. There were some rustling, after which Tommy went back onto the path. The video became darker, but surprisingly the quality made it possible to see almost everything just as good as before.

The chanting became audible.

“You’re late”

“Apologies, Ma’am, I… run into some problems…” Some shuffling as Tommy hid in the bushes.

“Problem? What could possibly stop you from—”

“I saw him. With all respect, Ma’am, I saw Tom right before our meeting was due and then I saw him dangerously close to our spot” Moments after this the camera was finally pointed at the whole commotion.

“Stop it” Tommy kindly stopped the recording so that all four of them could look at all the people there. The scary woman, Danny the Dick and his lil friend group. “Do you know any of them?” Green looked at him.

“Unfortunately” The blond groaned. “This bitch—” Tommy pointed at nuisance nr. 1, “—ordered his friends to steal my phone once. Not only that, they held me hostage!”

The hero furrowed their brows. “What? When did that happen?”

“Like…” Tommy thought for a second, quickly doing math in his head. “Two-three weeks ago? I lowkey got save by Rumes and her bestie”

“Rumes???” The green ninja asked in deep confusion. There was something weird in the way they said it, but Tommy coulnd’t put his fingers on it.

“It’s a perfectly fine nickname, thank you very much”

(“Perfectly fine if you have a death wish!” The green eyed blond thought to himself. It was a miracle his crazy sister hadn’t killed this boy already.)

“Nevermind. I take they’re not your friends?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely not. I swear on Tubbo’s kidney!”

Green eyed the blond with something between repulsion, confusion and disappointment. “Can you send me this video? This looks serious, my team should look into this”

“Only if I steal Rumes’ laptop” Tommy shrugged, smiling to himself. Messing with the girl was part of his agreement with Great M after all.

“Don’t steal anything!”

Tommy crossed his arms, “Okay, Mom”

“Do you want me to take this camera?” Green placed their hands on their hips, yet again giving him The look.

Why you little—

“No!!”

“Then send it over normally! Ice is taking care of hackers from time to time”

“I already said I’d do!!”

Techno snickered. “I really like them”

“Well I hate them”

***

Tommy got himself a BorgTop, opened the box in the Borg-Store and with Pixal’s help sent the video to Green, right after editing the unimportant parts out. He remembered clearly he was screaming Techno’s name and he’d hate to explain that. Especially since at least five of the ninja know Techno’s fucking dead.

…Ugh, these words were awful!

Barely thinking about them made Tommy cringe in mix of pain and sadness.

“I’m undead”

“…The fuck are you on?” The teen asked out loud, laying down on the couch back at Koko’s apartment after a hard day of not-work, struggling to sleep thanks to his stream next day.

And the weird ritual in the woods.

“I never die”

“Tech…” He whined, not fucking now…

“I can’t just throw my motto out the window! And if I’m undead then I literally cannot die”

If you’re a God you cannot die, but sure. It’s not like Tommy had any control over his subconscious, his dreams were the best proof of that. So if his mind suddenly decided the voice he heard is undead, he had no option but to accept it.

He really should be sleeping…

“Count Friend”

Tommy groaned. “The what now?”

“Lore sheep? The one Wilbur had?”

Oh.

He shook his head, “That’s stupid!”

Techno sighed.

Tommy blinked, and immediately jumped up as he saw the thick leaves from earlier that day… Or was it yesterday already? Either way, he should not be there, not now, not this fast.

“Is sparing stupid?” Techno asked, his voice for the first time in a long time coming from an actual place Tommy could pinpoint in the world surrounding him.

He slowly turned around, eyes widening as he saw his dead friend as clear as day. “What. The. Fuck.” This… This was impossible…

There, before him, was Techno, but he didn’t look like the Techno he knew, he looked more like his Minecraft skin or his character in animations – long, pink hair, crimson, glowing eyes, dressed in very fancy, royal-like outfit completed with a red cape and various, golden jewellery. He was… human? Human like? It was hard to say when he looked like any other normal human being but had this… something that made it feel like Tommy was staring at something more, something greater.

The blond placed a hand on his head. “My, God, what was in those pancakes…?” Techno huffed and crossed his arms at that. “Am I in a sugar coma!?”

“No”

“Oh…” After a moment he started to slowly get up. “So, I’m lucid dreaming”

“Also no. Though it works pretty much the same”

“What it? What is this place!?” Tommy quickly realized the question was rather dumb, he was obviously in the forest, more specifically in the spot where Dan and his cult were… doing cult stuff.

Summoning demons…?

Listen, Tommy wasn’t the one in a cult.

“Ever heard of sleeping paralysis?”

“Yeah…?”

“This ‘place’ is both this and lucid dreaming in a sense. Except you’re not really sleeping”

“Then how…?”

“Since you’re so bored, I thought we could test Great M’s teachings until you actually fell asleep. Then I’ll leave you to it”

Tommy blinked, the fuck? “What do you mean??? You could’ve do this all along!?”

“Well, yeah”

“Then why didn’t you say anything!? Or do this before!?”

Techno sighed. “Coz I really shouldn’t be doing this, or even be talking to you in the first place. Yet here I am, breaking both of those rules because of you…” He rolled his eyes as if annoyed then crossed his arms. “Will you stop complaining now and spar with me or do you want me to send you back?”

“No! Wait! Hold on! Hold on a fucking minute!” Tommy waved his hands, hoping to prevent his friend from disappearing and to slow everything down. “ I– I need a god damn second… S-so you’re not a voice in my head, created by my imagination so that I don’t get in too much trouble, sounding like Techno since he— you’re the only one I would actually listen to?”

The man(?) uncrossed his arms with another sigh. “No, I’m an actual God, showing off as a voice in your head so that you don’t get into too much trouble since you seem to love it so much! How else would I be able to do all the things I did so far?”

TommyInnit.exe has stopped working.

What.

No.

This whole ‘God friends’ thing was a joke!

Always has been!

Well, since Dream SMP.

The whole crew joked about Techno, Drista, Kristin, Foolish and a few others being gods. And they were, but in lore! They’d still make jokes about them being Gods IRL but those. were. jokes!

Everybody knew it was a joke.

But should Tommy be this surprised? He was now friends with people who had actual magical powers…

“Okay, maybe we can spar another time then…” The man— God said as he saw Tommy blue screen in real life, having what Techno could only suspect was a reality crisis.

“NO!!” The blond yelled out. He probably needed more time to understand just what the fuck actually happened here but he didn’t want Techno to just disappear when he was right in front of him. “Can… can I touch you here?”

Techno blinked, not expecting the question and being a little thrown off by the way Tommy had said it, he sounded so sad and desperate. “Uh, yeah? In a sense. Why—?” He barely managed to get the last word out before the teen dashed at him full speed, which with little space between them made the blond practically jump at him and lock him in a tight hug.

It didn’t feel like a real hug.

It wasn’t warm, but it wasn’t cold either.

It wasn’t soft, but at least Tommy didn’t feel like he was hugging a rock.

It lacked all the good bits real hugs had.

It didn’t feel good.

Tommy tighten his hold as much as he could. Why didn’t it feel right?

Why!?

He quickly grew irritated at how fake the hug felt. Even when he was hugged back it didn’t felt real.

Against his own will, he let out a soft sob.

Why…?

Why couldn’t it be real?

Soon, tears were streaming down his face, wetting the God’s shirt as Tommy pressed his face into his chest. “Tommy…”

He tried stopping his sobbing but it didn’t work, not when he had something he wanted so badly, feel so fake.

Then…

it disappeared.

Opening his eyed he was back on the couch in Koko’s apartment, crying into his hands.

This hurt even more.

All he wanted was one last hug!

***

To say Tommy’s night was shit would be an understatement.

As a sobbing mess he had to go to Koko’s room so that he could cuddle with someone to fell asleep. But having a real hug with someone only made him cry more.

He didn’t like this.

It felt as if he was grieving all over again. He already did that! And he sure as hell didn’t want to go back to square one!!

Great.

All he had left was to focus on his charity stream, after that he can hide underground for another month or so to process everything that happened that night.

God, he needed a break.

At this point he literally couldn’t care less if he had made a promise to Mystake or not.

He just wanted a fucking break.

He wanted to go home, his real home, whether it be his apartment or parents’ house, both were good.

Definitely better than this cursed place.

“How do you do this, man?”

“Huh?” Lloyd blinked, surprised by the sudden question.

“You live in this fucking city, getting bullied every single day, not to mention people here are just plain crazy and your dad constantly attacks, and you haven’t snapped yet. How do you do this?”

“Uh, well… I have good friends?”

Right.

And Tommy was friendless at the moment.

Hey, at least he got to eat the other blond’s gummies – a present from Koko after waking up that morning, one which Lloyd was yet to find out about.

“If my friends were here, nobody would bully me at all. Not that anyone does!” Except for this fucking God friend!

Man, if Techno was an actual God, what about the others? Were the jokes actually facts?

Ugh, it was better not to think about it. Not right now.

The morning passed rather smoothly, Mystake allowed him to skip a day so he get to eat gummies while watching Moana and texting with Green, they were the only one he could text at the moment.

(Looking at one photo Tommy had sent, Lloyd immediately recognized his gummy bag and he wasn’t too happy with the blue eyed blond stealing goods from him.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t do anything about it.)

After he was done with the movie, he grabbed all his stuff and went on his merry was to Sonu’s. People yet again staring at him as he carried both his backpack and guitar.

He ignored them as always.

Arriving at the café he quickly greeted Sonu and settled down, getting his camera out to record the ‘behind the scenes’. Tommy took a breath. Okay, this was his time to shine, he needed to make extra sure to suppress his sad thoughts just for a few hours. If he was sad on his first stream in almost two months, people would get more worried than they already were, and he really didn’t want that.

He forced a smiled and turned the camera on. After making a quick intro he started to give his viewers a tour of the whole café, well, the main area, wouldn’t want anyone getting to Sonu, now would we? He talked about all the changes that happened thanks to him, like the walls being recolored to red and white with golden patterns and stickers, leaving only the autograph wall untouched while also creating another one. The tables and chairs replaced with lighter versions, some of the symbol cards being replaced and the fact the café had a radio now.

When he was done with the tour he went to have a Big Man interview with Sonu and right after that he quickly went to take care of all the other preparations for the stream.

Throughout all this, the voice stayed silent, as if it was never there to begin with…

Few minutes before the stream was supposed to begin, with Tommy technically already being live, Lloyd and his friends came. “Woa-ho! Making a crowd already, aren’t we?”

Cole smiled, “I never played in front of camera! Let along a crowd of strangers!” Well, the first one was a lie, unless he meant he never played in front of a camera with his face shown.

“Bro, you only play, I have to sing! If you ever mess up, just act like it was all planned and I’ll carry out” Tommy winked at him, NOT in a flirtatious way. “Or just don’t look at the crowd, nor camera” Because I know you can do amazingly.

“Hey, we’re here to cheer for the both of you!” Kai also smiled.

“I don’t need no cheering. If you want to help go donate some money” Tommy crossed his arms, smiling back and praying everyone would catch the joke. Thankfully they all seem to understand.

“If you want money go for Jay, he’s the rich one here”

“H-Hey!!”

Huh…

But it made sense, some of the limited editions from Lightning’s collection were pretty expensive, Tommy had checked that out of curiosity.

Continuing the joke Tommy turned to the possibly-blue-ninja, “One pound, one free drink?”

Nya laughed. “I thought you were supposed to help Sonu, not get him out of business”

“I am helping! It’s Big Man Café now so people are going to go crazy! A few free drinks for the people who helped out can’t hurt anybody”

“Whatever you say, Tom”

He crossed his arms with a quiet huff. “Are you here to complain about my work? If so, then, kindly, GTFO. I don’t need no negative energy here”

“I’ll make sure they don’t complain any more” Zane promised with a friendly smile, bowing a little. God, what was up with this bowing shit?

Tommy shook his head and waved his hands, feeling weird from having someone bow to him, no matter the reason for it. “‘S fine. Just, don’t doubt my abilities to promote shit. Also, we’re going live in a few, so unless you want to be famous, you should find some spot outside the frame” Everyone nodded, the five walked away while Cole stayed close to Tommy. “First time on camera? It’s kind of hard to believe” He teased making the taller teen look at him with a confused expression.

“What do you mean?”

“Dunno, you struck me as the type to already be on camera”

“Maybe as a child…”

“So it’s more like trauma then?”

Cole looked away, scratching his head, “Not really…” Tommy took this as his cue to stop, seeing how the questioning made the teen feel uncomfortable and it’s not like he wanted to reveal he knew he was one of the heroes. It was best if Tommy kept this to himself.

The two of them got comfortable in front of the camera, or at least as comfortable as they could. Though getting comfortable wasn’t too hard as they had the chairs from the café to sit on, unfortunately the soft cushions weren’t enough to ease all their nerves.

The beginning was the worst, as Tommy hadn’t stream in some time he obviously wanted to talk to chat before he and Cole started singing. There was a fair group of people who were angry/annoyed by the lack of any information as to why Tommy was gone for so long, thankfully his moderators quickly took care of it. It made things awkward though and the blond couldn’t shake the guilt for a few good minutes after that.

Each couple of minutes more of his fans joined the stream, and more people from the street stopped by to listen to his and Cole’s playing. Tommy did most of the singing, but not all, they had a few duets once Cole grew more comfortable, the hero never sang alone though, which Tommy found reasonable.

They obviously had to take breaks, singing for hours on end is fucking tiring man. Not to mention it was the best time for the crowd to buy things from the café.

There were only pros to this.

(Not counting how the servers got a little overworked and how Lloyd and the other four had to help the out.)

It was almost after sunset when they had the last break. Well, Cole was done with everything, it was Tommy who had to preform one last song.

This break was the longest, taking whole 15 minutes, mostly spend on talking to chat, before he picked up his guitar. “Okay, guys? Guys. Are you ready for this? One last song! And after that I’m heading straight to bed. Cole, you will be fucking carrying me there” The mentioned teen laughed, showing thumbs up with a quick ‘Sure!’. Tommy snickered.

Then he looked back at the camera, took a breath and…

I heard there was a special place,
Where men could go emancipate,
The brutality and tyranny of their rulers.
Well, this place is real you needn’t fret,
With Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo and Eret,
It's a very big and not blown up L’Manberg.

My L'Manberg
My L'Manberg
My L'Manberg
My L'Manberg

For freedom and for liberty,
Our nation sought to build on these,
A victory for all under democracy.
Well the darkness came and then it went,
We built a home and watched it sink,
And from the rubble, there emerged L’Manberg.

My L'Manberg
My L'Manberg
My L'Manberg
My L'Manberg

With bloodied hands
and weakened knees,
Our people rose like the phoenix,
Our empty fields and canals ‘round L’Mantree.
With sweat and tears we armed our ranks,
We laid foundations in our land,
And from every lips from here up to infinity;

We sing L’Manberg
We sing L’Manberg
We sing L’Manberg
To our L’Manberg

Maybe he was full of himself, but he expected a bigger reaction from the crowd. Oh well, at least his chat was going absolutely bonkers. He stayed live for a minute or two and when he was finally done, Cole and the Smith siblings immediately posed as his bodyguards and escorted him inside while the others took care of packing his stuff.

Every employee was tired, almost laying down on every piece of furniture they could, only Sonu was beaming with energy. Also Maya a little bit, she and Tommy waved at each other before he turned to the man, “Ay, partner!”

Sonu laughed, “I’m not sure whether or not this will actually help but I’m really grateful for your commitment” He bowed.

Seriously, what’s up with everybody!?

“It helped already, check your bank account” Tommy snapped his fingers making two guns while he smiled proudly. Sonu hesitatingly took out his phone.

Cole lightly pushed the blond, “Really want me to carry you?”

“I’ll have you know I’m legally married”

“I’m sorry, what?” Kai stared at him with wide eyes, Tommy couldn’t help but laugh. But the blond never answered, just started walking towards the exit.

“I’m retiring, partner! Hope you find someone half as good as me!”

“Hey, come back here!! What do you mean you’re married!?” Kai turned on his heels and started chasing after him, seeing how the supposed hero was literally running at him the blond quickly started running as well, booking it out the door while trying not to laugh.

Why was messing with people so funny?

It quickly stopped being fun, as soon as the four were all outside they noticed the other three being confronted by Chad.

God, can’t Tommy catch a break?

He furrowed his brows and angrily stomped over to them. “Any fucking problem, Dickhead?”

The brunette immediately sent him a mocking smile. “Yes, actually. What’s up with this whole shitshow? You act like you’re some kind of celebrity when all you did is get your plane thrashed. And don’t get me even started on that little song of yours” He laughed, making Tommy’s blood boil. “You wrote this shit yourself?”

Tommy curled his hands into fists.

“Tommy, no”

But the voice’s reappearance didn’t stop him from returning the favor. “What makes you think you have any right to bully people? You walk around pretending you’re some kind of king and expect everyone to bend to your fucking will. Well, let me in you on a little secret, you’re a fucking nobody. A sad, strange, little man who’s an absolute no name. And, for your limited information, I am a celebrity” Tommy puffed his chest proudly, grinning as smugly as possible.

Chad let out a short growl, ticked off by the comment. The next thing Tommy knew, he was harshly pushed and stumbled back, having a small collision with Jay, who then struggled not to fall.

Oh c’mon, he wasn’t that heavy!

Tommy scoffed, “Oi!! Can you, like, fuck off already?”

“If someone’s here a loser then it’s you and your little friend group. Just you wait when this freak turns on you!” The brunette shouted, pointing at the other blond.

Tommy quickly slapped his hand away, taking a step closer and growling at him. “Stop calling him that!”

“Tommy”

“Tommy…” Cole put a hand on his shoulder.

“I can have yo ass beaten, you know?”

Chad snort, causing Tommy to tighten his fists, trying to stop the urge to punch the guy in front of him. “Oh really?”

“Really”

“Stop” He felt a tug, Cole pulling him back in an attempt to stop the fight that seem so close to beginning.

“Seriously, Theseus. If you don’t wanna listen to me, at least listen to him” Tommy’s jaw clenched at the voice.

God, it hurts.

Why can’t he just go away!?

Not that Tommy wanted that but… hearing the voice speak made him remember the oh-so fake hug from last night and that made him want to fucking cry.

“I don’t think so… Crybaby” As soon as he heard those words he raised his hand, aiming for that stupid face and—

Crack.

—he landed a hit.

Chad’s hand flew up to cover his nose as he wailed in pain.

Cole grabbed Tommy’s still-in-air hand. “We should get going—” He barely could end what he was saying when the brunette jumped at them, aiming mainly for the blue eyed blond. Being a trained ninja, Cole was faster, they managed to avoid getting hit by mere seconds as he took a step back and pulled Tommy with him, the rest jumped back as to avoid getting hurt by accident (thought they suspected it wouldn’t really be an accident). He glared at Chad, “You started it, don’t be so surprised now”

“He broke my nose!!”

“You’re lucky it was your nose!” Tommy barked back, Cole shot him a stern look.

“Yeah!!” Kai echoed, perhaps being a little too happy with how things turned out, also earning himself a stern look.

“You’re all crazy!! Get some fucking help!”

“You’re the one to always start a fight!” Nya chimed in, holding a hand on her brother’s shoulder, it seem like she was speaking for the both of them. “Now you found someone who’s not afraid to return the favor. Sounds to me like you brought this onto yourself, by yourself”

Zane nodded. “Making fun of us for the way we are is bad enough on its own, but making fun of someone who’s crying is a new low”

“Y-yeah! Not cool, man!” Jay crossed his arms, huffing a little, thought it was rather obvious he was anxious.

Chad chuckled, “I brought it onto myself? You’re the ones who hang out with—”

“Fucking Christ. Is your mom really that big of a slut that you have to take it out on others?” Listen, insulting someone’s mother was a low blow, and it was the last thing Tommy would normally do, but he had too much stress for the past few days and the more the teen spoke the more annoyed he grew.

Cole groaned.

(“Why, Tommy? Why!?”)

Chad was, of course, not happy with that. He blinked in shock, eyes widening and snapping to look at the  blue eyed blond. “What did you just say…?”

“To—”

“Is your mom—” Tommy took a step forward, away from the hero, who immediately tried pulling him back. He failed as the blond slapped his hand away (and what was Cole to do when he couldn’t use his super strength on him?). “—that big of a slut—” Before Tommy could finish he was pulled closer to the brunette by his collar, the other six quickly took semi fighting stances.

“Take. That. Back.”

Tommy narrowed his eyes and grabbed Chad’s wrists. “No” He deadpanned, staring him dead in the eyes.

“Take. That. Back!” Chad pulled him even closer, their nose almost touching. Tommy immediately let go of his hands and instead started pulling his shoulders, feeling sick from the close contact.

But he wasn’t going to just give up.

“N-fucking-O. Now let—” Chad raised him up, for a second Tommy thought he was about to get choked, if not by this psycho’s hands then by his own hoodie’s collar, but as soon as his feet lost the ground, and as soon as the whole six yelled at Chad to stop, Tommy felt a harsh push towards the ground, the hands never leaving his collar. He subconsciously tighten his hold on the brunette’s shoulders.

“Get your fucking hands off of him!!” Just as he felt his lower body hit the ground the hands left his collar, instead of his head hitting the ground he felt arms wrapping around his upper torso, pulling him onto something close to a hug.

Tommy’s head started spinning from everything that was happening.

In front of him, Tubbo was going absolutely crazy on the taller brunette, screaming insult after insult, profanity after profanity, threat after threat, punching and kicking blindly and surprisingly laying most of the hits.

Tommy forced himself to look away from the glorious scene to see who was holding him. There, in all his masked glory, was Ranboo, glaring daggers at the teen who dared attempting throwing Tommy to the ground.

A smile crept onto his face, as well as tears into his eyes as he slowly looked back at his short bestie make a punching bag out of Chad.

Now he could die in peace.

“Don’t actually die though. Please”

“Huh”

Tommy did a double take hearing a familiar feminine voice. His head whipped around, eyes just as wide as Chad’s as he stared at the girl. “Drista!? Wh-why do you look like that!? And why are you all here!?”

“Uh oh…”

Drista sighed deeply, hand sliding down her face. “I’ll explain later”

“Later!?” Tommy shrieked, taking great offence at being left in the dark for uncertain amount of time.

“It’s a long talk, Theseus. And it’s best if they don’t hear it…”

He blinked. “Huh…?”

“Listen to Him” Drista said casually. Wait… did she just—?

“Yes. We’ll explain later”

He blinked again.

“Him?” Ranboo also looked at the girl, raising a brow in confusion, this dragged another long sigh out of her.

Well, at least Tommy wasn’t the only one blue screening.

“Tommy fucking Simons Innit!!”

Uh oh.

Being instantly humbled beyond possibility, he slowly turned his head to Tubbo, the short brunette stomping over to the two, glaring daggers at the blond. Ranboo immediately let go of him and started to back away. “H-hey!” Tommy tried joining them but as soon as Tubbo saw him get up he sprinted at him. Before he could react, Tommy was yet again held by his collar, being nose to nose with another brunette. This time he was slightly bend forward and didn’t feel grossed out by the lack of space between them, thought he didn’t feel good either. He chuckled nervously, “Hey, Tubboooo! Good to see ya, Big Man! Big T! My bestie! How have you be— OW, FOR FUCKS SAKE!!” He screamed in pain once the shorter teen bonked their heads together, hard.

“That’s for not answering my texts!” Tommy was soon punched in the arm. “That’s for making me worried!” Another punch, this time to Tommy’s shoulder, this one being lighter. “That’s for being a fucking moron!” Tommy expected another punch, but instead he was pulled into a tight hug. Though, with the way Tubbo was squeezing him, it might as well be counted as another attack. “I hate you so fucking much…” Tubbo muttered into his chest.

He wasted no time in hugging him back, trying his best to match his strength. “I missed you too, Toby”

“…Can I join?”

Tommy scoffed hearing the tall bitch ask. “Fuck no!”

Ranboo looked down, feeling a little hurt.

Tommy sighed, feeling his heart ache. “Oh, alright… C’mere, Boob Boy” He forcibly pulled them into the hug, Ranboo smiled wrapping their arms around their two friends.

Chapter Text

Explaining everything was hard.

And it cost Tommy a fine party.

(A party that never happened and got replaced by a very serious Secret Ninja Force meeting the second the blond announced he can’t attend it.)

First, Tommy had to introduce his friends to each other, explaining how Tubbo was legally his husband, making the mentioned boy groan in annoyance.

Then, he had to get them all a hotel room as ‘It was his responsibility since he was the reason they all got “stuck” there’. Okay, Tubbo, you’re a bigger bitch than Tommy thought. He couldn’t just leave them there though, he just got them back! So he ended up moving into the hotel with them, which left him needing to explain the situation to Koko as well.

After getting everything in place, and checking up on Zero with the blond conveniently picking the same hotel the man was in, the four gathered in their room. Tommy’s eyes kept on jumping from one teen to the other, waiting for some damn answers!

As it turned out, the answers only left him more confused.

1) Apparently the God jokes weren’t really jokes, this information on its own had Tommy question his own sanity and whether or not this whole thing was made up. Maybe after the place crash he landed in the hospital and never woke up, his brain making up everything he had seen, heard and experienced thus far, also altered his memory of said accident.

But, seriously, a coma?

It felt a little too real…

Anyway, with the first point out of the way, the girl moved on to point 2) How she and the other two magically appeared in Ninjago City? The answer is actually hidden in the question itself – they magically appeared; teleported from Ranboo’s office to be exact, by Drista herself.

Tommy started questioning whether this is all a video game of some sort. I mean, Drista as a God was known from using creative mode in Minecraft, which is a video game.

And he couldn’t lie, the idea was better than the coma one. And almost thrilling…

But then again, how the hell would Tommy end up inside of a video game world anyway?

Well, the answer is in point 3) the so-called Portals, one of which Tommy and his plane fell into.

Or flew through.

Something he shouldn’t be able to do but, well, I guess he’s Tommy and didn’t care enough to follow the rules, slipping through to another realm with superheroes in it.

Okay, this was actually pretty pog and didn’t cause Tommy any reality crisis.

…What? Superheroes are cool!

4) Gods can apparently pick champions. From what Tommy understood from Drista’s explanation, it’s, in short, favoring one person – talking to them, giving gifts, making sure they don’t get hurt, ect.

Huh, sounds fucking familiar.

“I’m your champion?” He asked aloud, feeling like he was about to cry again.

Techno sighed. ‘If I say yes you’re never going to let me live this down’

‘But you’re undead’

‘That’s the point…’

The two turned to look at Drista, seeing how Tommy was smiling. The girl sighed, “Kind of. Tommy was originally my champion” She growled quietly, staring at the blond as if she could see the other God in him. She quickly composed herself, changing her expression to a mischievous one, “Well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll just borrow his original champion”

‘Excuse me!?’

“Which is…?” Toby raised a brow, curiosity getting the best of him.

She smiled, simply pointing at the tallest teen; the trio’s eyes widen. “What!?” Ranboo choked out.

“Why am I the only one Godless!?” The brunet whined, Tommy had to suppress a laugh.

‘Can we focus on what’s really important?’ Techno asked, it was easy to tell he wasn’t happy about his OG champion being stolen for the time being by the sound of his voice.

Drista rolled her eyes. “It’s not that complicated. You just gotta wait for the plane to get fixed and follow Techno’s instructions”

“Well that’s anticlimactic…” Tubbo commented, leaning back on the couch with a bored expression.

“Well, it can’t be that easy” Ranboo chimed in, bending forward to support his head on his hands. “Someone out there is clearly trying to get Tommy already—”

“What do you mean ‘already’!?” The blond cut in, offended.

“—and I doubt they’d just let him leave” The teen ended as if he was never interrupted.

“But why do they want him?”

Tommy let out an offended noise. “Don’t you want me, Toby? We’re fucking married, you know!”

The shorter teen glared at him, “Not by choice”

“Oh, c’mon! You gotta admit you like the bit!”

“Not a chance” Tubbo smiled while the other pouted.

“…Could it be they know Tommy’s a champion?” Ranboo suggested, ignoring the two completely skipping the whole problem. “Or that he’s special in any way?”

“Aww, my husband-in-law thinks I’m special! So sweet of you, Boo” Everyone gave Tommy a look as he cooed at the taller teen’s words.

Tubbo groaned, covering his face with one hand. “This is not how this works”

‘I want you to know I’m shaking my head in disappointment’

Drista started laughing, Tommy could do nothing but huff. “And how are you so knowledgeable in all this stuff? You only found out about everything today, yet you’re acting like you’re a professional!” He accused, hoping to change the topic.

Ranboo blinked, confusion slowly marking their features. “I… don’t know… That’s weird”

“Would be my doing” Drista smiled, a little too smug if you ask Tommy. “Don’t give me that look, Gods messing with people has its consequences, you know” She added, noticing the glare.

The taller brunet blinked again, this time with wide eyes. “Why did you do that?!”

“Calm down! It’s not that bad, it’s just smoll side effects until your mind and body gets used to it” She shrugged, unbothered as hell which made Tommy suppress another laugh.

“How come nothing’s wrong with Tommy then!?”

“I’m the God of Chaos. There’s hardly a couple of things that could mess with him after having to deal with that” The blond couldn’t help but grin at that.

After this, the topic was changed again, they were still circling around the whole thing and everything that happened through those three week but the mood was lighter.

Until Tommy mentioned Great M’s magical teas, at that, all chaos broke loose.

***

Saturday morning was… something.

Why was Tubbo a squirrel? No one fucking knows, especially not Tommy.

Apparently he messed up somehow and his potions were not working as they should. Well, some of them were good…

Though, can we say they were bad when Ranboo was stuck on the ceiling? I don’t think so.

Either way, Tommy had to undo all of this mess. And wouldn’t you know it, his Friday shift has been moved to Saturday so he had the perfect opportunity to fix everything.

One small issue, he’d probably have to tell Mystake…

He asked Drista for help, but she absolutely refused, Tommy guessed it made sense for the God of Chaos, this was pretty chaotic after all.

Or maybe the girl was still annoyed with her champion being stolen from her. Who knows?

As soon as the blond crossed the front door the woman eyed the ginger animal sitting on top of his head, tugging at his hair every now and then as punishment, making him groan under his breath in both pain and annoyance. He forced a smiled as he met her suspicious gaze,  “Heeeey! Uh, we may have a small, little, real tiny problem…”

Mystake sighed. “Who’s this?”

“Tubbo” As if to confirm, the squirrel made a noise. The woman could do nothing but sigh again and help the two, that meant leaving them to take care of the customers while she made something to fix the whole Squbbo situation.

When the problem got fixed Tommy got the toughest training yet, all while Tubbo picked up his work duties out of the goodness of his heart. The blond’s reluctance to inform his mentor about Ceilingboo was out the roof after this.

Despite this, his life was pretty pog. After coming back to the hotel the four (five) started brainstorming ideas for Tommy’s vigilante ‘project.’

Oh, and also Ranboo’s.

What? It was pretty cool and Tommy’s not gonna stop his friend from joining. Tubbo was also part of the whole operation, being the ‘backseat support’ as he decided he’s not risking his ass, that was for the God Champions. “You’re just a big pussy”

“I, personally, prefer ass”

“You’re a big asshole then”

A smirk quickly made its way up onto Tubbo’s face, “You’re such a bottom”

“OI!! If someone’s here a bottom then it’s Boob Boy!”

Ranboo furrowed their brows, shaking their head from the whiplash. “What did I do!?”

“It’s in the law. Since you’re mine husband-in-law, and I’m obviously not a bottom, then, by default, you’re the bottom. And so is Tubbo” The blond explained, taking a big sip from his coke.

The shorter brunet raised a brow. “You’re going to become a bottom if you don’t stop”

“Make me!”

“That’s… the point” Tubbo deadpanned, squinting his eyes  at the more-than-ready-to-fight blond.

‘Stop’ Techno whined, sounding miserable beyond belief.

“I agree” The girl cringed at them. Tommy promptly showed her his tongue. She quickly returned the favor before changing the topic for good, “Gear. What can you guys get for free…”

“We can steal from the ninjas” Tommy suggested, making Tubbo roll his eyes.

“For that you’d have to know where they have their base”

“We could find them” Ranboo threw, looking through the heroes’ social media.

‘At this rate they’re going to think you’re a wannabe villain team and not vigilantes’

The blond huffed, crossing his arms in offence. There was a moment of silence before he popped another idea, “We ask someone for help?”

Literally everyone furrowed their brows. “Like who? How can you be sure you know someone who can make us cool stuff and not spill the tea?” The shortest teen asked for all of them.

Tommy smirked. “Money”

“That’s… the worst hero support in history” The brunet muttered and Tommy glared at him.

“Vigilante” He corrected, voice dripping with venom. “And we’re supposed to mess with people, if the ninjas find out we’re ourselves then they have to deal with it while we hang out with them”

Ranboo perked up at that, eyes sparkling a little, “Right, they would probably want to keep quiet even if they knew, since they themselves have secret identities. That’s ingenious!”

The blond smiled again. “Thanks, Silver Hubby”

The teen blinked while the other two in the room send Tommy a look. “Silver Hubby??” Tubbo asked, actually dreading the answer.

“Husband-in-law means second husband, you get a silver medal if you’re in second place” He explained proudly, then furrowed his brows in wonder. “Wait, but that would make you the Golden Hubby” He pointed at Toby. “That can’t be. I’m the Golden one here!”

“Silver is a pretty cool codename…” Ranboo muttered to themself.

“I already used it on Ice”

They raised a brow with a deadpan expression. “Did you tell them?”

“…no…”

They smiled. “Can I have a paper and something to write?” Drista grabbed on air as if holding said objects and they appeared in her hands, she handed it to them. “Thanks”

“Uh, what are you doing?” Tommy raised a brow, watching the teen as he walked past him to sit down near a desktop.

“What does it look like?”

“Like you’re about to waste the rest of the day” The other brunet commented.

Ranboo turned and spared him a light glare. “And you’re not wasting it right now?”

“Touché”

“Take that back, Tubbo, we’re going to bribe a man for help!” Tommy exclaimed, jumping onto his feet and almost immediately running for the door. The shorter teen watched him, lazily getting up and following in a slow pace. He shot him a questioning look as he saw the blond was attaching a plastic gun to his trousers while holding onto a pair of skates. Toby decided it wasn’t worth asking why.

The two left the hotel and the blond lead them to the Borg Store. While Tommy walked through the store with confidence, Tubbo couldn’t help but look around, quickly turning his gaze away as his and one of the employee’s eyes met, he felt like he needed to run away from this place. But since Tommy walked around like he semi-owned the place, they couldn’t possibly be murderers.

Right?

“Pix!” The blond greeted the most-certainly not human girl behind the counter.

She smiled at him, “Welcome back, Tommy. I see you brought a friend”

“Pix, meet Tubbo, my husband” The brunet groaned at that while Tommy chuckled. “Hubby, meet Pixal. Her father’s going to help us” Tubbo fought the urge to comment on how this name was more than strange.

“You wish to see my father?” The girl tilted her head, asking to confirm, and making a shiver run down the shorter teen’s spine as the vibrant green eyes observed them curiously.

Before he could say anything, mostly ask Tommy what the hell  was going on and if he was crazy, the blond put a hand on his mouth and simply answered, “That’s right! He’s a genius after all, I bet he won’t have any problems with my request”

“Follow me then” Pixal started leading them towards the door Tommy had only seen once before. She scanned her ID card and let the two teens inside.

“Cyrus, my man!” Tommy exclaimed loudly, a bright smile on his face. Tubbo wasn’t even surprised at this point.

The man looked up, a smile quickly forming on his face. “Tommy! Got your plane fixed?”

“Not yet. Actually, I came here ‘coz I need some help”

“Oh? What can I do for you?” Without another word, or even introducing his husband, Tommy put his skates on the table. Cyrus eyed them before looking back at the teen, conflicted. “Um, I’m afraid I don’t understand”

“You see, I came here in business. And I’m willing to pay whatever you see fit for your service” The brunet almost facepalmed at the way his friend had said this. It was the same tone he used on him every time he wanted to drag him into something stupid. Or scam him.

Cyrus blinked, then chuckled a little nervously. “I still need some more details, Tommy”

“Let me in you on a lil secret of mine” The blond looked both ways, as if checking if they were listened on. Neverminding the girl still present in the room, he leaned forward and after a moment of silent suspense he whispered to him, “I’m Theseus”

“…This is your codename???” The brunet couldn’t help but ask, giving the other teen a ‘are you serious?’ look.

Tommy huffed in offence, turning to his friend, “I’m just listening to my Sensei”

‘Don’t say that. Last time I wanted to be a Sensei figure to someone they died’ Tommy furrowed his brows in confusion, he then quickly remembered Ranboo’s character died on one of the man’s lore streams.

“I’m sorry, codename?” The man in the wheelchair blinked, the blond sighed seeing he was still confused (not that he didn’t expect him to understand this fast but still).

“I’m becoming a vigilante. I’m gonna be that guy who drop-kicks a mugger and then messes with Shark Guy’s army of unhinged sea-animal people while ‘borrowing’ ninjas’ stuff. I’m gonna be the double agent, playing both teams so that I never lose, and if I do, I’ll drag them all down with me!” He exclaimed in a dramatic voice, striking weird poses and waving his hands around.

“So you’re Canon Tommy now?” Tubbo deadpanned, making the blond stop for a second.

“Kinda…? Anyway!” He turned to Cyrus again, the man looking more than flabbergasted. “Me and my friend Ranboo need some cool gear. As I said, I’ll pay whatever you see fit. Also, I’ll cash in Tubbo as an assistant!”

The brunet felt as if he got bitch-slapped. Of course Tommy would cash him in while he’s at it! “Huh!? When did I agree to this!?”

“C’mon, Tuubso, it’s an Advanced Tech Lab! You can’t tell me you’re not interested even a little bit”

The shorter teen send a light glare to his friend, but his head and eyes turned on its own, glancing at all the stuff the man had in his office. He let out a defeated sigh, “Okay, you got me there. So, does that mean I can throw propositions?”

“‘Course! You’re our backseat support after all” Tommy smiled, throwing an arm around his husband. The smile falling down as he noticed the girl was still in the room, oh well. He guessed it wouldn’t be a problem with how excited she looked. “Soooo,” He slowly turned to the man yet again, eyes staying on Pixal for a little longer before looking forward. “Will you help us?”

Cyrus’ mouth was opened, the tiniest of noises cutting off before they could become words as he was left stunned and struggled to speak. His eyes quickly glance a little to the side of the two boys.

Hold on. Was he looking at his daughter?

Tommy made a face in wonder, but just as he was about to glance at her too the man chuckled, nervously, “I feel honored that you trust me but, um, I need to ask, since you came here and said it so casually—”

“It’s a secret. I said that, didn’t I, Tubbo?” The shorter teen nodded to his words, even if he’d rather leave him on read.

The man gave them a light nod in understanding, a smile crept onto his face. Tommy also smiled, damn he was just so charismatic, wasn’t he? “I’ll be glad to help. I assume you have a few ideas already?” He glanced down at the skates placed in front of him.

The two teens smiled at each other, Tubbo joining the blond moments later as he had to take in just how ridiculously lucky Tommy was, mischievous grins plastered on their faces. “That we do”

***

After discussing between themselves what their gear could be (and putting Ranboo on speaker for it), Tubbo was left with the man while Tommy went out to meet with the other teen and talk about their costume ideas. Despite having a head start Tommy still struggled with picking one.

“I have one heck of an idea!” Ranboo exclaimed with excitement as soon as they were close enough.

“Yeah, well, I got plenty of those”

They rolled their eyes at that. “Prism. I can be Prism”

Tommy squinted his eyes, “What? Whatever happened to Silver?”

“Got tired of mixing the letters. And Prism is great since it reflects light!”

“Are you seriously making gay your whole personality?” The blond asked with a deadpan expression, Ranboo furrowed his brows.

“No” He sassed in offence. “Don’t you realize how many cool stuff one can do with light? What about yours and Tubbo’s glitter bombs?”

“Glitter is the most powerful and annoying weapon in the entire universe! Just like me” Tommy grinned proudly, since nobody in this realm knew him, he could put his usual catchphrase to good use – He was ‘bout to be annoying at first.

Ranboo stared at him as he beamed with pride and confidence. They couldn’t help but snort in sheer amusement. “Is your costume going to be covered in glitter too?”

“Hell no!! I’d never get it out, we’re supposed to make everyone else’s life harder, not ours!”

“On the costume material topic, look what I found” They showed him their phone, a page with some silver cloth which was shining in multicolor. Tommy’s mouth opened on its own as he admired the fabric on the picture. “I know, right? Had you not called me, I’d draw a sketch of what I want my costume to look like. But since you did, I decided to just look for some cool accessories and found this”

“Boo, that’s one of your best ideas! Now we just gotta find someone who can sew…” He trailed off, turning around in thought. Was there anyone he could trust with their secret and who had the sewing skills they needed? Oh wait, he did! He snapped his fingers and smiled, “Got it! How would you like to snoop around in two of the ninjas’ house?”

Ranboo furrowed his brows. “You got someone who can make our costumes right under their noses?”

Tommy laughed like a Disney villain, or like Bo in ‘Welcome to the Internet’. “It’s a betrayal they’ll never see coming… C’mon, Prism, let show those ninjas who holds all the aces!”

‘Bruh’

Tommy’s ‘evil’ grin quickly fell, being replaced with annoyance. He groaned, “Let’s get a move on already”

The blond lead his second friend toward the sibling heroes’ house, all the while he thought of the most ridiculous ways to distract the two if necessary.

It was not necessary as the two were gone.

“Could be investigating the cult stuff” Ranboo theorized, Tommy hummed. They said this in a whisper just as Maya went to make them some tea.

‘Exactly what I thought!’

‘You don’t need to show your favoritism, Dick’

‘How am I favoring Ranboo if you’re the one I’m talking to?’

Tommy didn’t answer, smirking a little. He had won! He knew he was better!

No offence, Ranboo.

‘You truly have a heart of gold’

What was that supposed to mean? Like, Tommy knew he wasn’t a monster but this still felt like an overstatement.

“Here’s your tea” The woman smiled at them as she set two cups down before going back into the kitchen and taking her own cup. She sat down in front of them. “What is that thing you need my help with?”

“We’re becoming vigilantes” Tommy said as if it was just another common topic to talk about over tea. Maya blinked a couple of times, taking this as a sign the message was mostly processed, he continued, “And we need someone to make us costumes. You’re in?”

Everyone was silent for a minute or so, Ranboo quietly sipping on his tea while his eyes kept on going back and for the between his friend and the woman, Tommy seem to be taking this as a staring contest. Finally, Maya let out a short, lighthearted laugh, “Of course I’m in! You guys have any ideas?”

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Zane’s fingertips tracked the burned grass, the place where the black fire was. He scanned the area before looking at his fingers and rubbing them together. “Still nothing”

Kai groaned, “How can there be nothing? It’s not normal to have a black campfire!”

“Whoever they are, they sure know how to get rid of evidence…” Lloyd said, looking around with squinted eyes as if that was supposed to help him spot anything.

“I say we set a trap”

Nya tsked at her brother’s idea. “And how would we do that, genius?” The red ninja raised his hand, he took a breath but before he could say anything she cut him off with a stern tone, “We aren’t using Tommy as bait, Jones”

The brunet huffed, crossing his arms. “You always piss on my ideas”

“That’s cause they suck” Kai glared at his sister and she smirked in response. Cole and Jay laughed quietly.

“Yeah, I ain’t putting Tommy up to no danger. We don’t even know what they want with him” The black ninja added after composing himself. He really didn’t like the idea of endangering the blue eyed blond.

“No one’s putting Tommy in danger” The blond said firmly, agreeing with the Master of Earth.

“What do they even want with him? I’d understand if they were after us, but Tommy?” Jay scratched his head. “He has his charm and all but… It’s still weird”

“Weird isn’t the word I’d use” The white ninja chimed in. “I’d say it’s making me rather curious. If he was just another person walking in on them, they’d still want him gone, but they seem to be actively looking for him”

Cole sighed. “I swear on my DJ set, this kid gets into too much trouble. Have you guys noticed he’s always out when Garmadon attacks?”

“Misery loves company” Lloyd shrugged, he’d know this one too well. He also sighed, not finding anything after checking the same spot over million times. “There really is nothing here. Zane, have you located anyone from the video?”

He shook his head, “Negative. None of the cameras in the entire city or the nearest area recorded any sightings of any of them. I’m also noting an alarming lack of any records on their leader, it’s like she doesn’t even exist”

“New idea” The Master of Bad Ideas said, making everyone either groan or look at him with concern. He smiled as he lit his hands on fire.

“Kai—” Both Lloyd and Nya started at the same time but it was a little too late, the teen already shot the burned spot with his power. The girl faceplamed. “Great. If there was any evidence, now it’s surely gone, thanks bro” She muttered while the white ninja put the fire out.

Zane stared at the spot, noticing how his friend’s fire didn’t burn the whole area more and instead tracked a certain symbol. “Looks like Kai just found us our first clue”

“I did?” The Master of Fire looked at the symbol in confusion. “Oh… I mean, of course! I knew what I was doing” He crossed his arms with a proud smile.

“Mhm…” Nya gave him a deadpan stare as she and the other three walked to look at the symbol as well. “Well, at least you’re useful. Sometimes” She grinned as her brother huffed in offence.

“Uh, is this some sort of code?” Jay asked, looking at the weird lines and dots written into something resembling a semi-circular heptagon.

“Could be” Cole threw, tilting his head as if it would help him understand.

“…Aren’t those Elemental symbols? Fire, Earth, Water…” The green ninja pointed out making three out of five of his friends look at him with confusion.

“Eh, what? These look nothing like our symbols” Kai said, looking at the blond as if he was making all of this up.

“Those are Elemental symbols, Airhead. You would’ve know this if you didn’t skip so many classes” Jay countered, the other teen glared at him.

“Ancient symbols for Elements of Water, Earth, Fire, Ice, Air, Lightning and Crystal. I’m not familiar with this symbol though” Zane pointed at the middle where it honestly looked just like a mishmash of lines and dots that could only mean some gibberish.

Kai snort, “How is Crystal an element?”

“Same way Lightning is” Cole joked, making him and the red ninja laugh while Jay glared at them.

“Guys,” Lloyd also gave them a light glare. “This is serious. This isn’t only about Tommy anymore, I think this ‘cult’ is also after us”

Chapter Text

“It says here we need to add ‘shimmering toad legs’…? What are we even brewing???” Ranboo – wearing a doctor’s coat and chief’s hat on their head – looked away from the recipe and at the two teens looking around in the bag for the thing.

“What do you mean ‘what are we brewing’? It’s literally written on that paper you’re holding!! Stop asking stupid questions and read the rest… AHA!” Tommy – wearing pixelated sunglasses, plastic gloves and having a colander on his head, two pillows tied around his torso with a stray cloth the mask teen had on them for some fucking reason – complained before pulling out a plastic bag full of shimmering legs.

Tubbo – with an apron, some building googles, wearing oven mittens and a box over his head – squinted his eyes, “These look more like frog legs to me”

The blond suppressed a facepalm. “Frogs, toads, what’s the damn difference?”

“There is a difference if we want this to work properly” The tallest teen complained, not liking how he dismissed the tiny detail.

“You didn’t even know what this potion is supposed to do a second ago!” Tommy crossed his arms, sending a glare at his friend in annoyance.

“I know I don’t want to turn into a toad!”

“Just read the damn recipe, Ranboo. What do we do with the legs?” Tubbo urged, done with the useless fight.

They looked down at the paper, a semi-confused look on their face as they said, “It doesn’t say”

Tubbo groaned. “What kind of recipe juts says the ingredients and doesn’t tell you what to do with them!?”

Tommy let out a short laugh. “Still goin’ to blame me for turning you into a squirrel?”

“Until my dying day”

At this point Ranboo gave up, placing the paper down on the floor and getting up, the hat quickly being taken off. “Where’re you going?” Tommy asked, using such a tone one would assume he was accusing the other of some horrid crime.

“To get us some food. I have a feeling we’re going to spend the whole day in here…” He muttered, throwing the hat on the floor without much thought, the coat following soon after. “Any wishes?”

“Get me that chocolate fountain and I’ll fucking kiss you” Tommy shot them his best flirtatious smile.

They only spared him an unamused glance. “Tubbo?”

“If you do get us that fountain, I’ll shove whatever we’ll brew down his throat” The oldest teen smiled mischievously, his smile only grown once the blond’s head snapped towards him and he shot him a betrayed look.

“Tubbo!!”

Ranboo sighed. “Anything I can actually get you, guys?”

“Some fucking support would be great…” Tommy growled, still glaring at the shorter brunet.

The teen decided it would be better if he chose the food himself. He walked out of their room, putting the mask on and walked down the hall to the elevator. When he arrived at the mechanical door there was one person already waiting, seconds later the door opened letting the both of them in. Less than a minute later the elevator reached the ground floor and everyone, Ranboo and two other people, walked out and went their separate ways.

They walked to the semi restaurant and started looking over both the menu and the food laid out on a table for the guests to take when they had snack cravings. They eyed everything, none of the food really peaked their appetite.

Ranboo took out his phone to find the nearest non-hotel restaurant. There were a few of them but it still wasn’t up to his taste at the moment, and if they were, they didn’t offer delivery and were too far for him to go there on foot, let alone carry the food back.

Just before they were about to give up they noticed a restaurant no delivery but it wasn’t hat far and it offered pastas.

Ranboo’s stomach growled and he felt his mouth water as he imagined eating some spaghetti. After typing a quick message to his friends (with him sending the entire menu in their group chat) he was on his way out the hotel and following Google Maps.

About ten minutes later they arrived at their destination, mouth watering yet again as they felt a delicious smell coming from inside even without them touching the door.

God, now he felt like he’s starving.

But just before his hand could touch the handle he felt the ground shake, this was not a good sign. In a matter of seconds people started screaming and running away in panic, definitely not a good sign.

Thinking quick, Ranboo’s hand pushed the handle down and they practically jumped into the restaurant. The situation there wasn’t any better, everyone was screaming or crying and hiding, mostly under tables. Before they could even begin question anything they felt their phone vibrate.

Lost’n’found, now
[U safe?]

Me, now
[In the restaurant]
[Should I be concerned?]

Lost’n’found, now
[Nah]
[But if you see a Crab Man with an eye patch RUN]
[Got beef with I’m]
[Him*]

Me, now
[Gotcha]
Read

Ranboo looked around, no Crab Man in sight. He shrugged to himself as he walked to the counter, standing there and exchanging memes with the other two while he waited for the attack to stop.

“Fancy meeting you ‘ere” They yelped and jumped back, almost dropping their phone as the God Girl appeared next to them out of thin air.

“Drista! Jesus Christ, don’t scare me like that! Uh… What are you doing here?”

“Came to check out the chaos. And then my inner God Senses told me you were nearby, so here I am!” She did the jazz hands and smiled at them, as if her words weren’t confusing at all.

Ranboo stared at her. “You have God Senses now?”

“Always had ‘em. Wanna check out what’s this all about?”

“But— Don’t we already know what’s this about?”

“Well, how can you be sure if you’re hiding?” Drista asked, her smile already telling  the older about her ulterior motives. Why did she have to pick him to be her substitute champion? She was going to get him killed at some point! “I can read your thoughts” She said flatly, giving him a lowkey annoyed look.

“Sorry, sorry! Just—” They sighed in defeat. “I’m really hungry…”

“I’ll get you magically self-filling bag o’ food if you’ll go out”

He blinked, quickly thinking this over. “…Can you make it a bag of chaos instead?”

Her mischievous smile quickly returned at the idea. “I like your way of thinking”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get unnecessary hurt!” Ranboo exclaimed before running for the door, Drista cheered as she joined him. They didn’t have to go that far to see any action, they barely set foot outside and immediately saw Water (aka Nya) fighting some… Fish Tank woman? Okay, now Ranboo understood what Tommy meant when he said Garmadon’s army is ‘fucking confusing’. Despite the confusion, he couldn’t help but notice the irony in a Water Ninja fighting a fish tank.

The girl next to him laughed. “Oh Me! This place is sooo good!” She then  turned to the tall teen, “This is your competition right there”

Ranboo furrowed their brows. “Competition?”

“Mhm! You gotta represent me, which means there cannot be anyone more chaotic than you” She smiled at them, the furrowed her brows and looked away, realizing her mistake, “Beside me that is”

“Alright…” They said slowly, already thinking of something potentially chaotic to do. They smiled, “Gimme a water gun” Drista flicked her wrist and the gun appeared in their hands. “Thanks” They threw before cocking the gun, aiming and splashing water on the Fish Tank Lady, now two streams hitting her. The heroine stopped in surprise while the warrior lady turned to glare and growl at the teen. “I mean, you’d think a fish tank of all things would be waterproof”

Nya shook her head, an amused snort coming from her throat, “Your sense of humor is just as poor as Lightning’s”

“It takes a professional gamer to know one. By the way, I really like your painting”

The hero girl smiled, eyes sparkling, “Thanks!” She jumped at the woman before she could charge at the two teens. “You guys should go hide now. It’s not safe out here”

“Wha!? But we just got ‘ere!” Drista huffed, crossing her arms in offence.

Ranboo thought to themself. They took a picture, making both the hero and warrior ladies confused, said picture was quickly sent to the group chat.

Me, now
[You shared a picture]

Security, now
[✨Girlboss✨]

Lost’n’found, now
[HOW IS FISH TANK ON THE TEAM!?!?!??!]
Read

Nya blinked, severely confused. “Di– Did you just took a photo of me fighting?”

“No. I took a photo of you winning. We can go now” He smiled before casually turning around and slowly going back into the restaurant. Drista raised a brow but followed not too long after. Right after they walked inside again the girl opened her mouth, ready to speak but he cut her off, “Can you take some pictures of her from some other angles? And also some of the other ninjas?” Sensing chaotic potential in this she smiled and disappeared. In the meantime Ranboo looked around in search of some employee who could do him the damn pastas. “Um, excuse me?” He looked over the counter and stared down at the young man hiding there. “Could you take my order?”

The man stared at them with wide eyes, so wide Ranboo thought they were going to fell out at any second. “Are you nuts!? Don’t you see what’s happening out there!?”

“Like you said, it’s out there, and we’re in here. I’m starving, man!”

“Listen, I don’t care what kind of problems you have, I’m not risking my life making pasta for some entitled dude!!”

They furrowed their brows, a little offended with the accusations, they then sighed, sliding a hand down their face. “Fine. I can serve myself”

“What?” The man stared at them as they jumped over the counter and walked into the kitchen. The teen ignored him and instead started to look around for the stuff they needed to make what they craved so much all by themself.

~~~

“Tommy?”

“Hm?”

“I think we made a horrible mistake”

The blond furrowed his brows, eyes straying from the brewing tea and instead landed on his friend who was looking at his phone with a face of horror. “Why? What happened?” Tubbo silently turned his phone to show the other teen the screen. There was a picture from Ranboo, one that showed a bunch of kitchen utensils and some uncooked spaghetti. Tommy quickly turned pale, eyes jumping from the picture to meet the brunet’s gaze with deep fear. “Please tell me they’re making this for themself and not all of us”

“Luckily, yea. But we were this close to a death penalty” He put two fingers real close to empathize his point.

Tommy let out a relieved sigh, swiping the non-existent sweat from his forehead while he hummed, “Good” As silence fallen over them again, he turned to observe the tea as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Then, the realization hit him, “Hey, but if he’s making shit only for himself then what about us!?” Tubbo shrugged in answer. The two of them stared at each other for some time before smiles slowly crept onto their faces.

‘Oh God…’

They dashed towards the door, almost causing things to fell with their rapid movements. It was as if they were taking part in some sort of race, taking the stairs instead if the elevator as to not waste time, even though they lived on the highest floor. No amount of them almost tripping and falling or Techno’s screaming in the blond’s head could stop them.

Finally, they reached the ground floor, bursting out into the hallway and scaring some other guests. First, there was Tommy, Tubbo right behind him, pushing him as they both tried to take a sharp turn with their speed, the blond ended up colliding with the wall, hard, as the shorter teen bumped into him. There was no time for complaining though, they didn’t want to waste any second arguing when they were so close. Just a few more meters…

Tubbo grabbed his friend’s arm as he resumed his run, slowly regaining the Sonic like speed. They almost crashed with a couple of other hotel guests as they reached the restaurant in the building.

There, they saw it.

In all of its ungodly sweet glory, was the chocolate fountain.

The rest, as they say, is history…

“Hm…”

“You got something?” Kai pushed his head against Zane’s to look at the laptop. The two had a school project together and as they finished the Fire Ninja decided to stay over for a little longer.

The droid silently took out one earbud and handed it to him, Kai put it in without a word. “Tommy edited out some audio. Not only that, the video has been cut. I’m curious as to why”

“I mean, he was testing the camera back then. Maybe he said something he’d rather not have anyone hear or did something he’d rather not show. Jay does this all the time”

“I know, but…” They trailed off in thought.

Kai snort. “You know what Sensei would say to that. ‘Butts are meant for sitting!’” He got up and pulled his best Wu impression, both with the voice and pose. He then took the earbud out and handed it back. “I dunno why you’re so hanged up on that, it’s really not that big of a deal”

But the edited parts could be the motive, there was something about Tommy that was just as special as their team having Elemental Powers that made the Cult target him. And the teen was obviously trying to hide something.

Just what was up with Tommy?

Chapter Text

What happened on Sunday was promised to never be spoken of ever gain.

The whole trio was severely punished by their digestive systems for their poor life choices.

It was worse than being wasted!

Well, not really, but it certainly felt that way when they were glue to the toilet all afternoon.

“Unnnnngh… Is it morning already…?” The blond groaned, stretching while still staying on the floor as he failed to reach the bed at 2 in the morning. “God, I was never more wasted…”

“I’m more worried they’re going to kick us out…” Ranboo muttered from his place on the bed, he actually went to sleep at a more reasonable time and wasn’t as tortured as the other two.

“Some of us have bigger problems, Boob Boy! Sugar is a lifeline for me, yet I feel sick just thinking about it…” Tommy cringed in disgust, feeling something twist and turn in his stomach, the memory of the sweet sweet chocolate at the back of his throat making him feel nauseous all over again. “Maaaan, Imma need some coke”

“Coke’s also sweet” Tubbo commented, muttering into the pillow he managed to drag down with him as he fell out of bed in the middle of his sleep. What was more impressive is the fact he didn’t wake up on impact with the floor.

“Shuddup, Bitch”

The short brunet muttered something that Tommy was sure wasn’t even actual words. They all lied there in silence for a few seconds before Tommy’s phone made a ping noise. The teen groaned as he started looking for it, it ended up with him swearing in annoyance as he didn’t see it anywhere near him. Eventually, after getting up (to his utter dismay), he found it next to their unfinished potion. He looked at the screen as if it just insulted his mother before noticing what, or rather who, forced him up.

Green boi 2.0, 3 minutes ago
[Can we meet today?]
[We needs to talk with you about sth important]
Read

Oh fuck. That sounded serious…

Me, now
[Sure]
[Quick q]
[Is this a secret meeting or can I bring some friends over?]

Green boi 2.0, now
[Yeah you should probably bring someone]
Read

“Oh shit” He swore under his breath, not liking how the hero took a moment before answering.

“We’re homeless already?” Ranboo asked with worry, sitting up to have at least some view at his friend’s back.

“I have a date with the guys we’re supposed to mess with” Tommy walked back to their room,  typing another  message.

Me, now
[Time n place?]

Green boi 2.0, now
[8pm at the docks]
[Green boi 2.0 shared a link]
[In case you need it ;)]

Me, now
[Thx]
[Wilby there]
[WILL BE***]

Green boi 2.0, now
[Great!]
[Have a nice day!]
Read

“Whaaa…?” Tubbo raised from the floor while Tommy suppressed a growl at his autocorrect, why was it even able to do that!? “So you’re cheating on us?”

It took a second for the words to sink in but when they did Tubbo was immediately grounded by the tall teen’s pillow. Ranboo glared at him, the shorter brunet showed no signs of wanting to take the pillow off his face. They turned to Tommy and simply asked, “Why?”

“I dunno! Green just said they want to talk. It’s probably about this whole cult shit”

Ranboo blinked, a little confused, and then raised a brow. “Why do you keep using their codename?”

Tommy furrowed his brows. “Coz I don’t know who they are? Why else would I call them that??”

“Wait… You don’t know???”

Excuse me?

Tommy’s eyes almost dropped out of his sockets with how wide they were opened. “You know!?”

“I mean—… Yeah??? It’s kind of hard not to when you already figured out the other five”

“What do you—!?” He stopped himself, swallowing his pride for just this one time, “It’s not this Angelo dude, is it?”

“No?”

“FUCK!!”

“Why would you even think it was him?” The genuine confusion and disbelief in Ranboo’s voice made the blond want to strangle them for a second.

“It made sense!!”

“I— Wha— Just— How???”

“Oh, fuck off! Just tell us if you know!”

“Nobody’s telling you nuthin’”

Tommy jumped as the girl appeared right next to him, some unintelligible noises following his wild hands movements. “Ranboo,” He started again after taking a deep breath to calm down at least a little bit. “I’m about to go and talk with them in person, tell me who they are right now”

“Don’t!” Tubbo finally got up, using the bed’s side as support as he climbed up to sit next to the tallest teen. “But do tell me when he’s out” He smiled evilly at the bewildered blond.

Tommy let out an amused snort. “I can’t fucking believe this… My own husbands are plotting against me! Freddie would never do me in like this!”

“Then let’s divorce and you can marry Freddie all you want” Tubbo rolled his eyes. “No, but seriously, we should probably get di—”

“Divorce? So you two can take everything away from me? Tsk. Not a chance!”

‘Why do you always start nonsensical fights?’ Drista laughed at the voice’s comment.

Tommy threw his hands up, “Great! Now everyone’s against me! What’s next? You gonna befriends the Crazy Crab and plan my funeral?”

“No. Actually, I was wondering what’s up with Angelo too…” Ranboo admitted, finally biting the topic he wanted to get into ever since he saw the teen’s profile.

“If he’s not Green then what’s about ‘im?” Tommy muttered in a bored tone, defeat kicking his interest to the ground way too hard.

“Well, he know who Green is, that’s first of all. And then there’s his relationship with them…”

Drista started nodding, “Yeah, this guy is definitely something”

“Ugh, can we focus on our main problem here?” Tommy groaned, realizing just how far they stayed from the main topic. “Whoever Green is, they and the rest want to meet up. You guys gotta lend me a hand here”

“They’re not killers…” Tubbo noticed making the blond give him a deadpan look before going to grab the ammo pillow and hit him in the face. “Fucking— Asshole!”

“You should fucking pray they’re not, because you’re going with me” As Tommy got in response was a middle finger from the defeated brunet.

“This could be our chance to figure out where their secret base is” Ranboo suggested making Tommy’s eyes lit up.

“Oh yeah!” The blond cheered before glaring at the teen again, “I still won’t forgive you for not telling who Green is”

***

The day was rather normal, they managed to get by without any bigger problems or weird ideas.

The unfinished potion from the day before was flushed down the drain, with Techno openly praying it wouldn’t come to haunt them later. They cleaned everything up, per Ranboo’s undying pleads so they wouldn’t get thrown out, the teen was not impressed when Tommy said he can just find them another hotel.

They honestly tried being calm and quiet for the most part.

Only when the sun started going down did Tommy realize they could’ve just ask Drista to help them, both with the cleaning and with the possibly angry hotel service. “We’re a bunch of morons…”

The girl chuckled to herself, “You sure are”

Tommy groaned but couldn’t do anything about it now, it was too late. It was rather obvious they had to leave earlier to find the damn docks. At first the plan was to bring a couple of stuff with them, but since they didn’t really have anything useful yet, this plan was quickly scrapped. Instead they decided to split in two groups, Tubbo was to go with Tommy to meet the heroes while Ranboo and Drista hid in the bushes so they could follow the colorful teens to their base after the meeting.

After some research they learned the forest where Tommy stumbled across the whole cult gang was just on the way to their destination. “We should probably go investigate there” The shortest teen said just before they left the room.

‘Bad idea…’

“I almost got killed there” Tommy gave him a look, agreeing with the voice in secret. He quickly regretted it as Techno cooed at him.

“There could be something important there! We could use this to mess with the ninjas later” Tubbo argued, knowing his friends a little too well and smiling once he saw they gave it a second.

Even though the idea was enticing Tommy shook his head, “No. If there’s something important left, it’s a trap. For me, most probably”

Tubbo gave him a cheeky grin. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. Meanwhile these two stalk the ninjas”

“Stop calling it that!” The tallest teen joined in, having enough of the two calling their spying mission stalking. Though it was technically correct…

“I can get behind that plan” Drista chimed in, Tommy send her a light glare for endorsing dangerous behavior. She rolled her eyes at him. “Techno will warn you if there’s any danger nearby, no need to be such a baby”

The blond muttered to himself, “You’re gonna get my ass kidnapped…”

Ultimately, they had to agree to the compromise. They kind of argued about this all the way out the hotel, and then they argued about other things most of the way. A few meters from the dock they split up, just as they planned.

Playing spies was pretty cool. This actually reminded Tommy they needed to get some walkie talkies. Unless, of course, Cyrus was already ahead of them. I mean, he had Tubbo to help.

Welp, that was a problem for another day, as this one was slowly coming to an end.

As soon as there was an opening, the two saw the six color-coded teens, they were just as fast in spotting them as Green almost instantly stared waving in their direction. Tommy raised his hand in greeting, approaching the heroes. “This is Toby, Tubbo, my hubby and security” Said boy glared at him but raised his hand and muttered a soft ‘Hi’. “So… What’s up?”

“One small question. Wh—”

“Seriously!?” Tubbo couldn’t help but scream hearing Fire’s words. “You took us out for ONE question?”

The hero dressed in red looked away, a little embarrassed. “Well… not entirely… Anyway. What did you edit out on that video?” For some weird reason Tommy tensed up, feeling his cheeks get warm from embarrassment. Perhaps it was because he got caught?

Whatever, it’s not like he has to tell them the truth.

Not to mention he knows their identities, so really, he was the one in the position of power here.

He crossed his arms while Tubbo gave him a questioning look, Tommy tried his best to keep a slightly offended expression. “I gave you all that’s important”

“We’re not doubting you” Zane assured, taking a step towards him with one hand raised, as if Tommy was some kind of wild animal. They weren’t too wrong… “Green said the ‘cult’ attacked you before the whole incident in the woods. We just want to figure out the reason why you’re being targeted specifically”

‘Hm, sounds legit’

‘Of course it does’ Tommy mentally rolled his eyes at the voice. He cleared his throat, “Beats me. Listen, if I knew, this whole thing wouldn’t even happen in the first place! Cause they would be already rotting in jail!!”

“Can you tell us what was on the edited out parts?” Cole asked, using a tone one would approach a wild animal with. Now listen here, you little shit—

“The question should be: do I want to? And the answer to that questions is—”

“Tommy...” Green almost growled at the blond, yet again reminding him of Techno.

“…Yes!” Tubbo tried hard not to snort or make any sound that would betray just how funny he found the situation. It was just soooo TommyInnit of the blond to quickly change his story once the other person found his words less than pleasurable. “Of course! I’d loooooove to help you guys!” The blond finished through gritted teeth as he fake smiled, glaring daggers at the hero dressed in green. “I just edited out me talking to myself, and the whole running for my life part”

“Was it that hard?” Green crossed their arms, giving him a look that Tommy just hated.

“Yes” He deadpanned, still glaring daggers at them. Tubbo covered his mouth to stop his laughter. “Is that all?”

“Thank you for your cooperation” Ice bowed a little. This time, as much as Tommy was a bit freaked out, he understood this was a cultural thing thanks to Drista’s explanation. “We’d also want to warn you”

The blue eyes teens looked at each other, getting a little concerned.

‘I don’t like this…’

“This whole cult appears to be after Elemental Masters. And, for some reason, you tie into this” The black ninja explained, giving the blond backlash.

“I’m not an Elemental Master” He muttered with a semi-bored tone. Were they thinking he was and didn’t fucking knew about it??? No, seriously, what was this? Tommy was targeted, sure, but…

Just what was their theory?

“I, for one, believe you! Though it would be fun to have you on the team…” Earth trailed off, smiling which made Tommy smile as well. His smile only grew when he noticed the look Tubbo was giving the masked hero, too bad Tommy couldn’t take a picture of him. “But… Since it’s a cult—”

“You’ll probably get sacrificed to some Lovecraft God” Jay shot, cutting his friend off. Tommy and Tubbo shared  look, quickly covering their smiled with their hands as they snickered. “Oh. He took it better than I expected…” The blue ninja scratched his head.

‘Ohhhh, the irony. The God they’re talking about is you!’

‘Do I look like a Lovecraft monster to you!?’

‘I mean, you could. If you squint your eyes re—’

‘Don’t. You. Even. Dare’

‘Hey, I didn’t choose how you look!’ Tommy shook his head, now laughing both at the heroes and the voice. “So… what? They chose me as an offering gift?” He asked sarcastically.

“Or a vessel” The red ninja added, making the two laugh some more. “You’re not concerned? Even the tiniest bit??”

“Pft! Oh please, I don’t believe in—” He stopped.

Wait.

This wasn’t his world.

If people here could have magical powers then couldn’t there actually be some Terraria-esque monsters?

And he already been over the whole ‘Gods actually exist’ thing…

His eyes widen in realization, the smile turning by a deeply troubled frown. “Oh fuck…”

Tubbo rolled his eyes and elbowed him lightly. “Calm down, you big baby” Tommy glared at him, fear still visible on his features. “No one’s harming you” The brunet assured, not because he was that concerned but because he wanted to comfort his friend.

“We’ll all be on lookout. But try avoiding running into any of them” Green said and Tommy slowly nodded to their words, mostly because the felling was still sinking in.

“That’s still a shity reason to get us out at this hour” The brunet pointed out, wanting to change the topic for Tommy’s sake.

“Right… Uh, let’s just say poor timing is our specialty” Cole scratched his head.

“I’ll be sure to remember that when I die” Tommy muttered.

“No one’s dying” Green said flatly. “We’ll keep close to you”

Tommy was just about to roll his eyes when he realized what it meant. “Oh hell no!” His mouth run faster than his thoughts. Seeing the questioning looks and one sharp glare he immediately regretted not thinking before speaking. “Guys, it’s enough I have Tubbo constantly on my back. I bet he’ll keep me locked up like a fucking Disney princess now that he had heard all this” Said brunet grinned and elbowed him again as if saying to not give him any bright ideas. Tommy send him a look with a small smile, silently telling the teen to kindly fuck off.

“You’ll never even know we’re there” Earth promised with a wink. Tommy couldn’t help but give them a look. Of course they’re gonna know!

“Whatever” He rolled his eyes. “So, uh, see ya around?”

“Were you not listening? We just told you, you won’t even see us!” Lightning exclaimed making Tommy faceplam and causing Tubbo to sigh.

‘Tech?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Can you somehow tell Drista to make some distraction? I get the feeling we’re not gonna get away from them anytime soon…’ The teen could only assume the God did what he asked of him as soon there was some weird noise coming from somewhere in the area where he knew for a fact his friends weren’t hiding. “Okaaaay, we’ll let you handle whatever the fuck that was. We’re gonna go home now. BYE!” He quickly threw before grabbing Tubbo’s arm, quickly spinning around and booking it the opposite direction. If they got lucky maybe the heroes would think he got scared and really went home.

“Was that you or…?” The shorter boy asked, noticing his friend was genuinely anxious.

“Close. I think. I hope”

Not really an answer Tubbo wanted but it was good enough for now. They run for some time before Techno’s voice assured they weren’t followed by anyone. The two talked/argued as they quickly made their way to the woods, in there Techno had to be their GPS as Tommy had no idea where the summoning spot was, and it was dark as shit so they could barely see anything even with their phones flashlights’ on.

Finally, after what felt like hours, they found it – a semi-circular heptagon with weird lines and dots written into it. “This wasn’t here before…” The blond admitted.

“The fire was at this exact spot?”

“Yeah”

“Oh fuck. It really is a cult!”

“But what were they trying to summon…”

Tommy slowly reached out a hand to touch it, wanting to check the texture but the God’s voice stopped him ‘Theseus, don’t’ Tommy huffed, plopping down on the ground and crossing his arms.

Just then, a soft buzzing could be heard from somewhere between the shadows of trees and leaves. The two quickly turned towards the sound, listening carefully while staying dad silent.

Why did it sound like phone buzzing?

They shared a look, seemingly having the same idea, before glancing at their phones. It couldn’t be it, the sound was coming from somewhere away from them and neither got any messages. ‘Tech…?’

‘Two’

Tommy blinked. “What do you mean two?” He hissed quietly, Tubbo’s eyes widen and his head snapped back to look at the place where the buzzing came from. The shorter teen then looked at his friend, waiting for any update. Tommy slowly got up, quickly gluing himself to Tubbo’s side and motioning with his eyes that they should leave. But before they did they heart some rustling from the same spot they heard the buzzing. The brunet quickly glanced at his phone, pointing it at the weird symbol and taking a picture. As soon as the sound reached Tommy’s ears he started pushing his friend. “Go, go, go!!” He whispered-yelled and the two quickly booked it towards the forest’s exit.

Ranboo sighed as the girl approached him in a fit of crazed giggles. “Did you really have to do that?”

“Someone’s gotta keep them on high alert” She shrugged, evidently proud of her jumpscare, or rather how the blue ninja screamed like a little girl and threw himself at his teammate dressed in black. “‘Ight, I think we can start following them right about… now”

Despite their disapproval of her previous action less than a second ago, Ranboo gave a small nod and the two quietly started following the heroes, far away for the group not to hear them but close enough for the two to still have them in their sight. It quickly became obvious why the six wished to meet with Tommy in this specific location, not too far from the docks was a big warehouse – the reason the duo followed the heroes.

The two smiled at each other and high fived as they saw the six go inside, catching a glimpse of the mech’s Ranboo has seen in the articles about the heroes before the door closed.

Man, the urge to get inside was so effing strong…

Not catching Drista’s smile the teen took out his phone and saved the location on the e-map. Just as he was about to turn around and silently tell the girl they could leave she placed a hand on his shoulder. He felt a weird sensation all over his body, it didn’t hurt nor was unpleasant, it was actually kind of warm and felt quiet nice. What was not so nice however was the realization that came afterwards.

With a blink of an eye Ranboo noticed they were suddenly super small, their body felt lighter, almost weightless in comparison with how it normally was. Their eyebrows furrowed as they looked down in confusion as they felt like they now had a… second pair of arms? Legs? Both? “AAAAAH!!” They jumped back, screaming in horror as they saw they were no longer human but some kind of insect.

“A moth” The girl specified with a snicker.

“Who cares!? Why did you do that!? Can you undo that!? Please, tell me I’m not stuck like this forever!!”

“Calm down! It’s easily reversible” With Drista’s assurance the moth teen sighed. “You wanted to look inside, right?”

“What does that have to do with turning me into a moth!?”

“Well, we can't just waltz in there like this” She motioned to her human body, then turned into a moth as well. “But this is a different story. They won’t even notice we’re there!” Ranboo was about to complain some more but she quickly cut him off even before his tiny moth mouth had a chance to fully open, “Let’s go!”

The moth girl quickly zoomed towards the warehouse with the quietest sound of her flapping wings. Ranboo couldn’t believe this was actually happening. They jumped and tried moving their wings, founding definitely too much ease with controlling this new body. They followed the girl as she looked around for a way inside.

Ranboo’s eyes sparkled as he took in the inside of the warehouse. It wasn’t that much, only six super cool mech’s! Ohh boy, he was about to get jealous. He couldn’t help it when his mind started wondering, thinking whether the things Borg (and Tubbo) would make him and Tommy would be even half as awesome.

They especially were amazed by the enormous, green dragon mech, gloriously standing in the middle of the warehouse.

With a thing like that, no wonder why everyone adored the green ninja.

Ranboo smiled as they imagined Tommy’s reaction once they show him this place. Heck, Tubbo’s reaction as well!

If only they could take a picture…

Drista grinned at him.

Chapter Text

Just as Cole woke up, even before opening his eyes or moving in any way, he realized something was wrong. Every single day he was woken by the smell of something tasty his father made them for breakfast, they would eat and talk before the teen would get ready for school.

It was their shared morning routine. So much so it continued even on weekends.

With no fail.

Except this one time.

Even without the delicious smell that made him drool and his stomach growl he woke up at around the same time as usual, his body clock prepared for what should happen.

With no smell, no calling for him, he had to decide on his own when to get up. He sluggishly sat up, for the first time in what seem like forever not having to wipe his mouth, he was a little confused. He moved slowly as he got from the bed and walked into the hallway. “Dad?” He called out, peeking into his father’s room, there was no one there. Cole moved to the kitchen, nobody.

Furrowing his brows the black ninja searched his whole house.

So he wasn’t back yet…

Weird.

Maybe Cole should’ve been suspicious when he couldn’t find the man after coming home after meeting with Tommy last night, but it wasn’t that unusual for him to go meet with his ‘band’. Though, he never left without any message, whether it be a text or a sticky note, or literally anything!

He was starting to get worried now.

As he went through his morning routine (without eating anything first) he tried calling him; there was a familiar ringtone coming from the master bedroom.

Cole’s heart stopped.

Hold the fuck up…

As if his own life— No, as if his father’s life depended on it, he bolted across the hall to find that damn phone, hoping he was just hearing things.

He was not.

“Fuck… Fuck!!”

Tubbo smiled proudly while Allium Duo gasped as they stared at all the gadgets Cyrus managed to prepare for them in such a short time. Said man laughed fondly at their shining eyes. “If you think these are cool just you wait until I make more”

“There’s more!?” Tommy squeaked in sheer excitement, blue eyes shining so bright they could compete with the sunny sky.

“There’s going to be more” Tubbo corrected, and proudly so, he was the one who made most of the suggestions after all. “These gadgets are now under my trademark”

Tommy looked at him weirdly while Ranboo raised a brow, “What do you mean?” The taller teen then started rotating the communication device (which could be confused with an earbud) in his hand in search of said trademark. “The only thing here is this G”

“That’s me. Or rather, my vigilante codename – Gadget”

The two exchanged looks. “Missed opportunity” Ranboo muttered making Tubbo groan.

“Yeeeeah. Also, G? Seriously??? That’s the worst thing you could’ve possibly chose! I mean, there’s the bad guy me and Boo are s’posed to fight”

The brunet nodded. “Not to mention Green. That’s literally part of their internet pseudo”

“Oh, so you’re names are better?”

“If I could,” Pixal stepped in between the three, stopping the argument before it could become heated or turn into an actual ‘play’ fight. “I think all of you have clever codenames” She send them a genuine smile, it was meant to be heartwarming but it mostly caused them to get this uncanny feeling in the pit of their stomachs. “I’m also glad there’s going to be more vigilantes in the city now”

Record scratch!?

“More!?” The trio screamed at once, Borg couldn’t help but laugh at them, tinkering something while he watched them be the besties they are, it was always nice to see others have such strong relationships, whether to be family, friendship or any type of partnership.

“You haven’t heard about Samurai X?”

“Uh, no?” Tubbo offered, giving her an ‘are you serious?’ look.

“Do tell!” Tommy quickly demanded and Ranboo nodded their head so violently it looked like it was about to fall off. This job was getting more and more interesting with every day.

“Samurai X was the only protector of Ninjago City before the Secret Ninja Force were created, after that they disappeared for some time before finally coming back upgraded. Some speculate it’s only a fan of the original Samurai as the suit and their fighting styles are different. There’s also a theory that the old Samurai is now in the Secret Ninja Force”

With their mouths on the floor, the three teens looked at each other. Tommy send a look: ‘Ranboo, find them!’; the tallest teen immediately got out their phone and opened social media. Tubbo snatched it and typed in the hero girl’s username before handing it back. Tommy couldn’t help but snap his fingers, smiling widely as he had a feeling his shorter friends was absolutely right.

Nya was the one obsessing over a hero, and it seem like it was for a very long time now. If someone from the team was to become a hero before actually getting recruited to be one, it had to be her!

Tommy coughed, covering his smiled before he managed to put on a neutral, though still visibly interested, look. “So, um, is there a way we could, uh… learn something more about that Samurai?” Cyrus snort, his hand quickly flying up to cover his mouth so no more sounds would leave him. Tommy gave him a look; SUS.

Pixal nodded, definitely more composed than her creator. “I’m certain you can find more information about them if you try. But if you’re looking for any clues as to who they are… don’t. They’ll come to you sooner than later”

Ranboo stopped his ‘secret cyberstalking tactic’ in favor of exchanging confused looks with the other two yet again. “What do you mean?”

“I believe there’s a secret Vigilante Syndicate” She said as in thought. Meanwhile, all Tommy heard was a loud ‘HEH!?’ from the voice. “If I’m correct they’ll most certainly want to invite you once you become one of them”

“I was in a syndicate once…” Ranboo muttered under his breath, eyes slowly drifting back to his phone as he continued his research, opening a second tab to search the Samurai themself.

‘Bruh, couldn’t THIS be your lore!? It’s so much better!’

If Tommy could, he would give the voice a deadpan look.

“We gonna play four teams…” Tubbo whispered to himself, eyes shining with mischief.

“Okay, okay. So, when can we count on you finishing this?” The blond asked, slowly planning their grand entrance into the hero field.

“I’m still working out some kinks—” The two blue eyed teens couldn’t stop themselves from snorting, which the man was so nice to ignore. “—but I’d say these here are mostly ready to be used”

“Now, when you say mostly—” Ranboo was quickly cut off, his concerns ignored by everyone.

Tommy clasped his hands with a bright smile. “Awesome! We’ll get back with our suits next time! See ya around! C’mon guys, we have work to do” He grabbed his friends and started pulling them towards the exit, the one they now had special passes for so they wouldn’t have to ask for Pixal every time.

Tubbo pulled back, giving the blond a stern look as he turned to look at him with confusion. “I’ll stay here. You offered me as part of the payment, remember?”

Tommy blinked. “You can’t possibly be serious right now, Tubbzo!” Tubbo only raised a brow, cracking a smile and making Tommy groan. “Fine, be a bitch if you want to so badly! We’re goin’, Boo” He snapped, dragging the tall ass teen by the arm.

“W-wait, but what about—”

“Bye, Bitch Boy!!” The blond’s scream cut Ranboo off, they sighed, giving up on voicing their concerns while Tommy pulled them through the mechanical door. The two quickly walked out of the store, stopping at the entrance he started shaking the brunet. “Can you fucking believe this!? We’re gonna have allies! We’re gonna have our backs covered! Our asses are safe!”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that” They more so muttered, lightly pushing his hands away and looking at their phone again. “…Is it only me or is Cyrus acting a little weird?”

“Oh yeah! He’s, like, super sus!”

“I don’t think he’s the new Samurai though…”

“Fuck if I know” Tommy shrugged and Ranboo hummed in acknowledgment.

‘Problem’s approaching your location’ The blond quickly started looking around, eyebrows furrowed at the words.

“What’s up?” Ranboo asked, noticing his expression at the corner of his eye.

“Problem’s approaching our location…” He repeated, making the voice snort.

The tall teen stopped, looking up at their friend with a raised brow. “You mean plural or…?”

Tommy opened his mouth to answer, and promptly close it as he didn’t know the answer. Techno groaned, ‘Something that could be a problem’

“A could be problem” He specified making the other hum again, they turned to look at their phone.

Moments later the blond noticed the could-be-problem, running at them as if the world was on fire, or worse.

“You missed a bus or something?” Tommy asked, raising his voice so the teen would hear him.

Cole stopped right in from of them, only a few feet from Tommy, he opened his mouth as if he was about to speak but the only thing that came out was deep pants. He raised a finger, head hanging down while he tried catching his breath. “Have you—… Were you—” He took a deep breath through his nose and swallowed, straightening up before actually ending his sentence, “Were you guys by nay chance at the music shop?”

“Your dad’s music shop? No. Why?” Tommy raised a brow in confusion.

The secret hero made a quiet noise, one of both disappointment, fear and defeat. He frowned sadly, “I’m looking for my dad. Let me know if you see him anywhere”

“Wait!” The blond stopped him just as he was about to continue his run. “We’ll go with you” Ranboo quickly nodded in agreement, pushing their phone into their trousers’ pocket.

“Really? Th-thanks!” Cole send them a really really grateful smile. The three of them quickly made their way to the music shop. They didn’t even get inside as the doors were locked and if they were locked the man obviously wasn’t there. Cole immediately became even more concerned, quickly getting out his phone and placing it to his ear before the other two could ask him what to do now. “My dad’s gone” Tommy could hear a calm yet confused voice coming from the other side, he couldn’t say who it was though and didn’t manage to make out any words. He and Ranboo shared a glace. “I’m not stupid, Zane!”

‘This sounds serious…’

‘Like I said. A problem’

Tommy was genuinely sad for the hero. Damn, now he missed his parents extra lot, it was so long since he talked to them. Hell, since he fucking saw them in person!

His sorrowful thoughts were put on hold as he noticed a familiar face across the street. Tommy went pale remembering both his first visit to the forest and the meeting with the heroes last night.

Fuck.

He stepped closer to Ranboo, not knowing if it was fear for his own life or the need to protect the other. The tall brunet raised a brow, eyes slowly following his to look at none other than Danny the Dick. Not knowing who this guy was, Ranboo looked back at the blond. Tommy was too fucking focused on the cult member to notice, or pay any attention to Cole. “Who’s that?” Ranboo asked in half whispered, catching the hero’s attention.

Cole turned around, the phone call ended only a moment ago, his eyes widen and he gripped his phone harder.

“It’s Danny” Tommy’s voice was barely above a whisper. His blood ran cold as he was reminded of the fact he was being actively stalked. Ranboo’s expression now mirrored the other two. They quickly grabbed Tommy’s arm protectively, and in fear.

“Um, how buys are you at the moment?” Cole asked, trying to pretend he never saw nor recognized the cultist.

“That depends” Ranboo replied, his eyes switching between the hero and the guy that almost got his friend killed.

“So, um…” Cole scratched his head with a sheepish smile. “Looks like I’m organizing a search party for my father”

“Oh, we’ll most definitely help” The masked teen said. Tommy slowly nodded to their words, eyes deadlocked on the stalker.

“I cannot stress enough how thankful I am to you guys”

“Don’t mention it”

The search was just as successful as one would think – they didn’t found the man anywhere they looked, and that’s with everyone (all eight teens) walking in pairs around the city to cover more ground. But hey, at least it helped Tommy forget about almost getting sacrificed to who-knows-what-monstrosity, even if only for a moment.

The two champions tried asking their respective (yet at the same time each others) Gods for help, but it didn’t change anything. The GPS God couldn’t locate people, and Tommy couldn’t blame him. All Drista said was for Ranboo to reach into his chaos fanny pack, they got out a, wait for it, compass!

“This brings back some memories…” The blond muttered while Ranboo looked at the sky to check the sun.

“It’s off. It might actually work!”

“Great! Now, how the hell are we going to explain to them we have a magical compass that shows Cole’s Father’s exact location?” Tommy asked, giving his friend a deadpan look.

The taller teen looked away sheepishly, he thought for a moment. He, just as Tommy, wanted to help Cole find his father, but the blond was right, the heroes would have some questions, and they were trying to avoid those for now. Especially out in the open when Tommy’s stalker (stalkers?) could be watching and/or eavesdropping on them.

“…Do you think Maya finished at least one of our costumes?”

Tommy’s eye sparkled at the proposition. “Oh Blade, I hope! Let’s fucking go!!” He quickly grabbed their wrist and started speed walking towards Smith’s house.

Tommy couldn’t lie, he wished it was his costume the woman had finished if she actually did one, but he wouldn’t be too sad if it was Ranboo’s. They deserved to get some action all for themself, he had plenty of his own adventures already. The thoughts of either of them having something ‘vigilante’ to do was exciting him to no end and making his legs move faster.

Ranboo must have felt the same as they matched his steps without a single fail.

Was it weird they were going to go inside Smith’s house while the two teens were out helping their friend and teammate look for his lost father? Kind of.

And it was definitely creepy.

Even more so since Maya was on her morning shift at Sonu—

Tommy stopped abruptly, the brunet made a few more steps, passing him before also coming to a halt. “Fuck” The blond sworn, a loud slap ringing through the streets as his palm violently made contact with his forehead. “Maya’s not even fucking home right now!”

Ranboo blinked at the sudden statement. “She’s not?”

“No! I completely forgot she has the morning shifts Monday through Friday!” His hand slid down his face as he groaned loudly at his stupidity.

“We can always—” Ranboo started without thinking much, and quickly cut himself off as realization dawned on him. He cleared his throat. “I mean… Those are our suits. And she knows we’re gonna be vigilantes, so…”

Tommy’s eyes widen as his brain slowly caught on with the brunet’s thinking process. “No way you’re suggesting we— What if she didn’t finish either of them?”

“We can go through two of the ninjas’ stuff…?” They  asked sheepishly, eyes wrinkling with their awkward smile.

Tommy shook his head in disbelief. “Drista brings out the worst in you, man”

“Hey, I never complained when you stole stuff on the SMP!”

“…I bring out the worst in you” The blond muttered in realization, eyes staring into the ground blankly while Ranboo crossed his arms and gave him a look. Tommy shrugged, a small smiled on his face, “Oh well” They continued onward until they found themselves in front of the Smith’s house. “How are we gonna open the door?”

“With just a bit of…” Ranboo said searching through their fanny pack, moments later they took out a hair pin and smiled at him, “Help” Tommy returned the smile and watched as they started to mess with the lock, neither of them thinking even for a second about how weird this must look for everyone passing by, or how they would lock the door back up afterwards.

After a few quick seconds there was a soft click and they both went inside. The small corridor they found themselves in could be considered kind of claustrophobic, yet at the same time it had enough space to fit at least five people. Maybe it was the stairs or the big ass closet filled with winter coats, boots of any kind and whatnots.

Sharing one glance the two peaked through the opening on their right, partly standing in the much bigger kitchen and having a part view of the big dining table standing in between said kitchen and the living room, no walls to separate any of them. Knowing better than to assume the woman was stupid enough to leave their costumes on the couch or something like this, they turned around and walked up the stairs. Even if they were sure nobody was home, the squeaking on each step made them extremely anxious. Thankfully they didn’t have to walk too far, the master bedroom’s door in their sight just as they reached the top.

Ignoring the other three sets of doors, they walked in, calming baby blue and clean white walls greeting them with open arms, the air warm and welcoming despite the circumstances. Like the last time they had seen the room (though only for a second before they quickly retreated) the bed was neatly made, the desk at the wall next to it well organized, still without any electronic on it. Neither the big closet, bookshelves or TV table had a speck of dust, the TV cleaned spotless to the point it could be considered a black faced mirror. Soft, lavender curtains waving at the light breeze coming from the slightly opened window.

God, it felt like a rich man’s house.

Tommy honestly had no idea why Maya insisted on working, especially at Sonu’s back in the day when his business was kind of shity. The woman didn’t even have to work since her husband was the breadwinner. The teen could only guess she got lonely sitting home alone and decided to spread some wholesomeness.

They quickly started searching every little place in the room. With some effort they found a secret stash of… Oh God were those crisps!? “She’s either the best mother alive, or the most evil mother alive” Tommy muttered in awe at the collection, the costumes hidden amongst them.

“Yep” Ranboo agreed with a slow nod before they took out all the clothes/cloths they could find, matching them as best as they could.

Their eyes shined while they stared at just how good of a job Maya did, even if it wasn’t finished yet. “Oh my… Blade. This is fucking pog!”

Ranboo was speechless, their costume being the one to look semi-usable as given. Pitch, void-like black suit pants (or at least they looked like some), buttoned up white shirt with purple sleeves, widened at the end (they noted how the shirt had buttons on one side but no holes for them on the other) and a vest made from the same textile as the pants. They noted a lack of a hooded cape and the special face mask, but at least the outfit had fingerless gloves matching the pants and vest.

Tommy’s costume was only pieces of fabric. It was a bit disappointing but it was probably best the woman focused on one costume at the time, and it wasn’t that long since they asked her. Borg having stuff for them was a different story, he had an army of androids!

“Welp, seems like fate made its choice” The blond noted, smiling at his friend. “Let’s find you some buttoned up shirt”

Chapter Text

“So, let me get this straight. You joined a search party, then Boo got a magical compass that points to where the person you were trying to find is, and since it would be pretty sus, you decided it’s best if you get your costumes so at least one of you can handle this as a vigilante, but the person who is in charge of making said costumes in not home, so you decided to break in like thieves. Now, Ranboo is off all on his own, without anyone knowing where they are in case something bad happens, while you snoop around…” Tubbo summed up, giving the device in front of him a deadpan look as if it was his two besties.

“Thought you oughta know” Tommy said, even without seeing him Tubbo knew he shrugged as if it was nothing. Just another dreadful day in this cursed realm…

“Just don’t set anything on fire…”

The blond on the other end huffed, “And what’re you gonn’ do about it? You have no power here! And you know what else you don’t have?” He paused for a second, the smirk all too easy to hear in his voice.

Tubbo rolled his eyes. “The Blade?”

“The Blade!”

“You, on the other hand, are gonna get jailed”

“Yeah, yeah. Soooo, how’s work goin’?”

“It would definitely go better if someone wasn’t distracting me with their crimes” He growled out of annoyance. It was hard to focus on the tech with one hand glued to his ear and someone talking about something he was genuinely interested in. “So, you know, when I eventually bail you outta jail, be sure to remember that and pay for me every time until we get out of this realm, hm?”

“Oh, Hubby. If you’re broke you should’ve just said so!” Tommy cooed. Before he could add anything Tubbo ended the call and slammed his phone onto the desk, praying it didn’t fucking break.

He cleared his throat, slowly turning to the android girl. Cyrus went to explain his delivery guy in the other room, leaving the two to talk. The more they spend together, the less she was scaring him. “You’re a second degree witness now”

Pixal laughed. “Shall we continue?”

“Yes, please”

“You’d want to connect these two wires” She pointed, he gave her a nod and followed the advice.

Ranboo run as he followed the compass, it seem like the only reasonable choice while wearing (part of) his vigilante costume. They weren’t running necessary fast, it was just barely above speed-walking but it would do. It’s not like he wanted to get tired and need to take countless breaks. If you ask him, he’d say he was doing pretty good, they managed to avoid bumping into things without having to stop running so it was definitely something to be proud of.

They run in a straight line, at this rate if the man was kidnapped Ranboo could only guess they’ll eventually end in the kidnapper’s (kidnappers’?) hideout, which sounded like they should definitely have someone there with them. Unfortunately, it was a little too late for this kind of observation.

If the straight line was the first bad sign, then him having to enter the forest was the second. Ranboo stopped just before the forest line, hesitating.

They were supposed to have fun and maybe help if they could, not get in danger and hurt, and/or killed.

He looked back and then at the rows of trees again. Strangely enough they felt a weird pull forward, into the forest. They didn’t try and fight it, it didn’t feel evil nor malicious, just a bit forceful. Kind of like Tommy or Tubbo deciding to do something crazy and dragging him along against his will.

“Drista…?” He called out hesitantly. Hearing a faint giggle that seem to come from inside his head he let out a relieved breath and resumed his run with confidence. The tempo they picked earlier perfect for the trees they now had to avoid as they made their way through the woods. Though it was a little too fast for when he suddenly reached a sharp drop, only by pure luck did they managed to stop at the very end and not fell onto their face, or a tree. Or a rock. Either way, it would hurt with the possibility of rearranging their face which didn’t sound like fun in any way, shape or form.

Ranboo glanced down at the compass in his hand and carefully slid down the dirt onto lower ground before running once more.

It was actually quite disappointing. Sure, when and if they reach the place the man was kept in, they’d surely have to fight to at least get out themself, but so far?

Where’s the adven—

‘Watch out!’

Ranboo stopped, or rather his legs did, slightly launching his upper body forward and almost making him loose his balance just as an arrow zoomed close to his chest. If he hadn’t stopped in time it would have hit him!

Nevermind, they definitely preferred it when it was calm!

Their eyes whipped around in search of the attacker. On the right, there was a hooded person aiming another arrow at them. They barely managed to note some weird green substance on the tip of the arrow before it flew straight at him. Ranboo jumped back, a scared sound involuntarily coming from his throat as the archer missed only by an inch.

At this point the rescue mission had to be abandoned for his own good. Trying to find a kidnapper (multiple???) without anything to protect yourself with was a horrible idea and Ranboo hated the fact he was the one to come up with it.

‘What are does!?’ They screamed in their mind, something Tommy wouldn’t be able to do under these circumstances.

‘Poison arrows. I think’

‘WHAT arrows!?’

Oh no, no, no, no, nonononononono—

Ranboo was quick to spin around and start sprinting the other way. Arrows are one thing, but poison!? They already experienced food poisoning in the last few days and they weren’t planning on coming back anytime soon. Especially not with whatever the heck was this!

‘Use the fanny pack!’

Sure! Whatever!

Like he had the time to search through that thing!

But knowing he’d have to climb the small altitude, his hand reached down and started wandering around. ‘There!’ Ranboo tighten their grip around whatever they were holding at the voice’s command and pulled it out. They spared only one quick glance at the thing – a jar of marbles.

Now, who the eff holds their marbles in a glass jar? He could never know. As soon as the voice yelled another comment Ranboo skidded to a stop, turned around and yeeted the jar straight at the attacker. The poison arrow broke it just before it could hit them in the face, marbles falling down at their feet while the teen took a moment to realize the arrow wasn’t stopped and was in fact still flying at him.

With one hand moving back into the fanny pack on its own and legs trying their best to both run and jump at the same time, Ranboo took one big step back, turning his body and doing a ballerina like half spin before leaping forward. His face made direct contact with some roots as he didn’t manage to catch himself with only one hand listening to him.

They groaned in pain, but there was no time for complaining. They quickly picked themself up and run for the altitude, using a pickaxe to pull themself up. He decided not to question anything and instead thanked the God Girl over and over again as he now run in the opposite direction of the compass’s arrow.

‘Ray just came back’

“Excuse me!?”

Why was this bitch doing home so early!? From what Tommy heard directly from the man’s wife he worked day till night! So he should only now be arriving at work!!

He looked around frantically, quickly leaping towards the window in Kai’s room. He bumped into some furniture, causing an American football ball to fell down. Tommy stopped at the noise, slowly tuning to stare at said ball like a deer in headlights. ‘This is why I hate Americans!’

‘Be quiet!’

‘A bit too late for that!!’

“Kai? Why aren’t you in school yet?”

“What do I do, Tech?” He whispered, looking around the room for a place to hide. And he was not hiding in a closet, thank you very much. “What do I do!?”

“Son?” There was a knock, the man’s voice right outside the door.

‘Why are you still standing here? Run!!’

Ignoring the knocking, Tommy opened the window and looked down. He was having second thoughts, but then he heard the door open and he had no choice but to jump out. “Son, wh—OH DEAR HEAVENS, KAI, NO!!!” The blond felt awful, it surely looked either like the teen was running away for whatever reason or like a suicide attempt. He’d have to explain it to Maya later…

Oh fuck, what if he decides to call??? Kai would know Tommy (or at least someone) was at his house, not to mention in his room, and then the rest would know too…

And now his whole body hurt. Ugh, why do people have bushes around their houses!?

“Kai!? Are you okay!? Why’d you do that!?”

Tommy stayed quiet, not even getting up so he’d have less chances at getting spotted. ‘What is he doing?’

‘Looking down at this bush’

‘Can you make him go away?’

‘And how would I do that???’

“Son, I won’t be angry. Just tell me what’s wrong” Blade, why did he have to sound so fucking concerned? It made Tommy feel even more guilty, and it wasn’t a nice feeling! “Can you at least tell me if you’re okay? You’re not too hurt, are you?” The blond sighed, trying his best to stay out of sight as he raised a thumbs up for the man to see. There was a long pause, he guessed Ray was trying to decipher what the fuck he was showing him. “Okay, okay. I’m glad. Uh… come back when you, em…when you’re done? Love you”

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

“I’m going to burn in hell…” He muttered to himself after hearing the window close. It was not worth it.

Damn, he needed some coke.

He stayed down for a moment longer before quickly getting up and booking it forward, not really caring where he ended up or that his clothes were all dirty, he just needed to be far far away from this place.

Once he was sure (as much as one can be) the man wouldn’t know he was the one to jump out the window in his son’s bedroom he stopped, taking a moment to catch his breath. Noticing how people were staring at him more than usually he looked down and groaned, “Great…”

Tommy sent his friend a quick text and started walking to the hotel. Listen, as much as he wanted to drink some coke at the moment, he wouldn’t just waltz into a store with dirty clothes on. Have some respect for the working men!

But it was times like this, where he was just minding his own business, that life loved messing with him. Or maybe it’s just this city.

No, seriously, at this point he could start suspecting Shark Guy just knew. Somehow.

Never-fucking-mind, store it is then! ‘Think about the coke…’ He told himself, suppressing another annoyed groan. If he was the one with a vigilante suit he’d definitely tell the villain he was busy looking for a kidnapping case and to stop interrupting his precious work hours. An amused smile crept onto his face at the thought, ‘One day, one day…’

‘I’d actually like to see that’ Tommy’s smile grew.

He picked the first food store he saw, just as he reached out to open the door his phone started ringing. He walked inside while taking it out, furrowing his eyebrows at the caller. He and Ranboo agreed it was best Tommy texts them as to not disturb their vigilante mission. Sure, they could call him when it was done but they couldn’t possibly find Lou that quickly, or at least Tommy had a feeling this wasn’t the case.

Staying close to the door, as his gut told him to, he picked up the call. “Yeeees?”

“I’m coming back”

Tommy frowned even more, they sounded like they were in pain. “What happened?”

“Someone tried shooting me with poison arrows” He tensed up. What? “And I faceplanted into some roots, it wasn’t nice…”

“Oh shit. They didn’t hit you, right?”

“Yeah, thanks to Drista I’m mostly fine”

“How bad is it?” He asked, playing with his hoodie’s strings as he grew more and more concerned for his friend with each second.

“Well, there’s blood…”

“Where are you?”

“I can see the city” There was a short pause. “Wait, is—”

“Yeah, yeah, there’s an attack going on. Listen, I’m at, uhhh… Hold on a sec” He quickly walked outside, holding the door open as he looked at the store’s name. He furrowed his brows, “Foodies… God, who came up with that name? Uh, it has a green LED on black background. I’ll be waiting for you”

“Roger that”

The call ended and Tommy walked back inside, staring out the window in hopes to see his friend sooner rather than later, he didn’t want them to get even more hurt.

Ping.

Tubbo stopped his work and reached for his phone, if it was any other scenario he would leave it until he was done but his two besties were out while the city was under attack so it was better to be safe than sorry.

Lost’n’found, now
[I have a mission for u]
Read

Oh, this was never a good sign.

Me, now
[I’m afraid]

Lost’n’found, now
[Boo’s hurt]
[U need to deliver the healing tea]

Me, now
[It’s that bad?]

Lost’n’found, now
[No]
[Dw]
[I just don’t want them to be in pain for some shitty reason]
[I think we can agree on that one]

Me, now
[Yeah]
[So which one is it]
Read

There was a moment of radio silence. Tubbo did not like that.

Lost’n’found, now
[I think it’s better u get it from Great M]
Read

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” He glared at the phone’s screen.

“We can take a break if you need” The girl offered, seeing his expression. “I think I need a break myself”

He raised a brow. ‘For what?’, he wanted to ask, she didn’t need to use the restroom so why would she need a break? “Yeah, gotta run…”

“Oh? You’re going outside?”

“Yep” He popped the p with an unamused stare, still questioning her break motives.

“Be careful”

“Thanks” He said slowly getting up. A sigh left him as he walked towards the door, “I’ll be needing it…”

Having your face bleeding had it perks, all the warriors Ranboo run into quickly retreated, looking either surprised, horrified or cringing in disgust.

Some fighter they are.

He run around, trying to find the store Tommy was hiding in. He skidded to a stop seeing one of the warriors act like he had rabies. ‘Is that a Crab pirate?’ Drista asked, noting the eye patch over his right eye.

Wait. Didn’t Tommy said this guy almost murdered him?

‘Oh. He did actually’

Ranboo was not about to lead this guy to the blond teen.

They reached into their fanny pack and pulled out a red cloth. He stared at it in confusion before he got an idea, one that made him cringe. “…Oh boy…”

‘I think you know what you gotta do’

“I’m starting to dislike you controlling that bag” They muttered under their breath. Against their better judgement, Ranboo started walking towards the crazy man. “Hey! You, Crab…Man…Warrior…Dude!” He called out. The man turned towards him with a raised brow and raised a finger, pointing at himself. “Yeah, you! You know crabs don’t act like that, right? ‘Cause you’re acting like a dog with rabies”

“Uh, are you trying to insult me?”

“…yes? Is it…not working?” Oh god, he could use Tommy’s help right about now.

Crab Man tilted his head, squinting his eyes at the masked teen. Slowly, a mocking grin spread across his lips, making Ranboo feel like they should hid underground. “You think I’m going to get scared by some random kid that got KO’d out of prom?”

“W-well…” God, was this really what he looked like? He cleared his throat and pushed his chest forward in fake confidence, “I’m not just some random, kicked out of prom kid, but if I was, I’d be the King. Anyway– My friend, Theseus, sends you his regards. That being said,” He waved the red cloth in the way he assumed it was supposed to be done, “…Olé?”

The face the Crab Man made was honestly hard to decipher; shock, disbelief, slight offence, pure confusion and slowly rising anger mixed all together. Ranboo cringed, which made them suffer from both the humiliating aspect of the situation and the pain. He didn’t know if he’d rather the man laugh at him or play along and charge like a bull.

‘If you goal is to make sure he doesn’t run into Tom, then it’s the latter one’

Right…

“Theseus? I don’t know a Theseus”

The masked teen glanced to the side. “It’s enough he knows you”

The Crab Man eyed him up and down. Oh no, not the eye elevator! “And who are you?”

Ranboo winced, they weren’t that bothered by the question (maybe a little concerned about his health, and everybody’s around) but between their muscles relaxing and them forcing their fake confidence their body jolted on its own. Just like last night when he was trying to sleep, feeling as if he was falling into abyss, his body jolted up. “Prism. Today’s…not my day…” He admitted, arms slumping as he sighed. They quickly straighten up, “But me and Theseus are going to kick your butt once we reunite!”

“Uh-huh”

‘Such disrespect! We should teach him a lesson. Pop his other eye!!’

‘Violence is not the answer’

The girl huffed, ‘You’re just not asking the right question’

‘What does that mean???’

They received no answer, though there probably wasn’t any coming, instead they heard, and felt, something big land behind them. “Theseus may not be here to assist you, Prism, but I can do as a substitute” A robotic voice said from behind him. Ranboo turned around, eyes wide as he stared at the dark blue mech.

Was this…

“Samurai X…?”

They climbed out of the mech and jumped down, making a cool pose as they landed on the ground. “Correct. But let’s take care of the threat before we continued our conversation, shall we?” They pressed some button Ranboo didn’t even know was there, on their chest and their mech blinked and made some sound before flying off while the Samurai took a battle stance.

Having over a million of questions, the masked teen gave them a small nod, too confused to fully process anything in real time. The Samurai immediately charged at the Crab Man, he quickly did the same, raising his weapon (‘Holy crap, this guy has a weapon!’). Just before he could swing it down, the Samurai jumped to the side and kicked him before he could grasp the situation.

Now Ranboo realized his second problem, he didn’t know how to actually fight (not that they wanted to actually fight anyone). From what Tommy said, he knew how to do some basics, Tubbo just needed to get angry enough to start throwing people around, but him? They were all too busy handling everything else to think of that…

Not like it really mattered at the moment as Samurai X was doing a pretty good job on their own.

“Prism, watch out!” Their scream got him out of his thought train, just in time to dodge the weapon being thrown straight at him. The Samurai themself threw one of their katanas at the Crab Warrior, charging yet again while the teen avoided the blade. Crab Man got pushed back, then the Samurai’s mech came back and shot a rope at him, tying him up. They walked towards Ranboo. “Are you okay?”

“Uh, y-yeah. That was… pretty cool”

“Thank you” Through their robotic voice it was hard to tell emotions, but Ranboo assumed they were smiling at him, just for his own sake. The Samurai reached down and took out a small blue crystal from definitely not their pocket. “In the name of the Vigilante Syndicate, I want to invite you and your friends to join us. We will help you with training and equipment. Once you’re ready, find a secluded location and break this so we can talk. It’s not mandatory, of course, but if you ever wish for our help, please know we’re more than happy to assist you”

They handed him the small crystal, Ranboo stared at it before looking up. “Thanks”

The Samurai put a hand on their shoulder. “Take care, Prism. I hope to see you soon” After this, they jumped into their mech and flew off.

Welp, that was something…

Now to find Tommy.

With a heavy heart, Tommy yeeted his coke can at the intruder – aka Dolphin Man – armed with a water gun, yep, a water gun.

Speaking of guns; Tommy reached for his own and started shooting at him. “I just wasted a very good coke on you, Dick!”

“Argh! Stop shooting me!”

“No can do!” Unless he runs out of ammo, which was yet to happen since he got that gun. Questionable, but Tommy wasn’t going to complain. Not about the ammo at least, but water getting in his face was a different story, “Hey!” Dolphin Man only laughed, continuing his retaliation.

Between the laughter, water splashing, foam bullets hitting every possible surface and the occasional panicked/scared screams from the other people hiding in the store, nobody heard when someone stepped through the door. Ranboo took one look at the situation before slowly walking to the crazy man in a costume. Seeing them approach, Tommy ceased fire, watching as they poked the man’s arm to catch his attention.

“Huh?” Dolphin Man turned around, also stopping his attack, the masked teen only raised hand and let out a soft ‘Hello there’ before the man screamed in horror and dashed towards the nearest hiding spot, causing a coupled of people to scream and run somewhere else.

The brunet eyed the spot where the scaredy-cat hid. “Should we take care of him or…?”

“Meh, I’d say he’s not worth it” Tommy answered with a shrug.

‘NOW he’s not worth it?’

‘Shuddup’ He growled at the voice, then turned to his friend with concern. “You look like shit”

“And I feel like I need a bath” They added, nodding in agreement. Tommy snort.

The blond started walking towards the exit, with Ranboo quickly joining his side. They stopped by the door and looked out at the chaos either slowly dying out or just getting started. “New rule: we stick together, no matter what. And if we can’t, for whatever reason, we at least have to tell where we’re going”

“I like this rule”

“Tubbo made it”

Ranboo rolled his eyes with a snicker, “Of course he did”

Chapter Text

Tuesday was officially a big failure; unofficially it was a small success.

Cole ended up making an official missing person report on his father right after Garmadon’s attack finished. The duo felt bad for not telling they kind of know where the man is.

Buuuuut the trio got an invite from the syndicate.

“Wait, they said friends? Plural?” Tubbo questioned, staring at the unmasked teen with wide eyes.

Ranboo squinted his eyes, now questioning his own memory. “Uhhh… I’m pretty sure?

“You don’t sound so sure” Tommy noted, for the first time checking how much ammo the gun had, to his utter surprise the chamber was full; Tommy also counted how many bullets were there – 10. He definitely shoot more than that.

“…Pixal is the Samurai”

Ranboo and Tommy looked at the shorter brunet with surprised expressions. “Why do you say that?” The blond asked.

“Oh shoot… This makes sense!” Ranboo exclaimed before Tubbo could elaborate. Now Tommy stared at the both of them, eyes jumping from one to the other.

“Think about it. Borg assigned her to help me help him make the stuff for our vigilante thing. And she’s the only one who knows I’m also part of this”

“Also Maya though” Drista added, surprisingly walking into the room like a sane person would do.

“Thank you!” Tommy quickly cheered.

Tubbo raised a brow. “So you think Maya’s the Samurai?”

The blond’s smile fell and he looked away awkwardly. “…no”

“Thought so”

Tommy huffed while the girl laughed at him. The best option he got was not questioning this further. “So…the question is, do we tell her we know?”

“I say we wait until we’re actually in the syndicate and check if they all know each other’s identity. If they don’t, then we talk to her privately” Ranboo suggested.

“And if it’s not her?” Tommy asked, getting a glare from his husband. “I’m just saying we could be wrong!”

“Like hell we are” Tubbo rolled his eyes. “But sure, let’s pretend I’m wrong. But ask either Pixal or the Samurai if they’re one another and you’ll get the answer. If they’re not, tough luck. If they are, you buy me a car” He grinned evilly.

“Wait, what!? Where did that come from!? What would you even need a car for!?”

“So that I can follow you and save your ass?”

“You’re not getting a car from me!”

“You made  me sign the prenup!!”

“I don’t own a car, Tubbo!!”

“You own a fucking plane!!”

“Not the same thing!!”

“Not to mention you’re a billionaire!! Are you seriously telling me you can’t buy a car—?”

“I may be a billionaire but I’m also a businessman! I don’t just go around throwing money left and right, you know—!”

“You literally bought a private plane for funnsies—”

***

Growl.

Cole sighed. It was almost noon and he was still in his bed, hungry, staring at whatever was in front of him. The school allowed him to stay home for the rest of the week due to his father being completely gone. He had no intent on getting out when he woke up, what was the point? There was no one waiting for him to do so.

Not to mention this situation reminded him of when he lost his mother over ten years ago…

Ping.

He sighed again, slowly reaching for his phone.

Wonder, now
[Wonder shared a picture]
[Did you know there’s a new vigilante?]
Read

He furrowed his brows, staring at the picture, one of Samurai X and someone in a quite fancy outfit and with a bloody face.

Me, now
[Rlly?]
[They don’t look…]

Wonder, now
[Mhm!]
[Their name is Prism]
[Also they have a friend called Theseus]
[Prepare for more vigilante rants >;)]
Read

Cole couldn’t help but chuckle, Vania always knew how to cheer him up. They were friends for almost as long as he was left without a mother, it was something they bonded over, no matter how sad and/or morbid that may sound. She was also the first friend he had ever made.

Cole used to be quite liked in kindergarten, he was like the big brother of the whole group; he’d scare the mean kids off if needed. But he never had friends nor favorites, like any good big brother. As his mother’s health declined, he slowly stopped hanging out with his classmates, he’d rather spend time with her instead of other kids. Soon the kids he had scared off resumed their terror an playground’s grounds and eventually got to him. He tried ignoring them for the most part, but one day he just snapped and got into a fight with them, a fight which he won. After that none of the kids tried talking to him anymore.

He became invisible on his own accord.

Even when he got to high school, nobody knew about him, he was only there when he was needed, when they were picking teams in PE, when he needed to forward something to another student. It was this way until he became a ninja. But before all that, he befriended Vania, or rather she befriended him. She was an exchange student and only stayed for a week at his school before going back to her hometown far, far away. But it was enough time for the two to become besties.

Despite her not being present in the city 99.99% of the year, she somehow had all the vigilante info from the city, flawlessly accurate.

She also knows Cole is Earth.

Don’t ask him, he literally has no idea how she figured it out.

Growl.

He groaned, if this continues he’s going to starve.

Not really wanting to, Cole got out of bed and went to do himself something to eat. It was depressing to do it all alone but it was either that or certain death.

“Woo-hoo!!”

“Wait! You’re gonna—!” Ranboo was cut off by the blond colliding with one of the employees, causing them to drop at least five boxes, all of which landed on Tommy as he hit the clean floor. Ranboo quickly rushed to the both of them.

“Oow!”

“Are you hurt, Tommy?” The android asked, reaching out a hand to help him up, he took it.

“Nah, I’m fine” He brushed off before turning to the masked teen with shining eyes. “This is so fucking pog!!” The two grabbed each other’s arms as the blond almost fell yet again, getting this excited on boots that were currently in skate mode wasn’t the safest. Borg took their first visit to heart and designed their boots so that they could become skates, keeping the red-white-yellow-gold color scheme for Tommy and giving Ranboo a purple-white-black-silver one. The blond was too excited and decided to test them while still in the store (at least he didn’t do it in Borg’s lab).

“Maybe we should take this outside?”

Tommy rolled his eyes, but didn’t complain when the taller teen started slowly leading him out. As they let go the blond immediately zoomed away, leaving Ranboo behind to sigh as he chased after him in case he had another brilliant idea and got hurt.

They should technically be back at the hotel and master their skills in making at least the healing tea, but how could they refuse going out when Borg offered them this gift of utter joy?

So, how does the skate boots work exactly? It was a very complex though simple working mechanism, it was just a pair of combat boots with built-in wheels, fully controlled by the person wearing them by a small button, one which is supposed to be hidden in their gloves once they have them. There’s also a to-be failsafe in form of Tubbo having access to a spare button (none of the two knew how that would help and the shorter brunet wouldn’t tell).

People were staring at Tommy as he skated through, but they were decent enough to get out of his way so he paid them no mind. He did hear however how some recognized him from that one event at Sonu’s; the smile he had from having fun grew ever so slightly.

Yep, Wednesday was a good day.

***

Cole couldn’t believe he of all was saying this (well, okay, thinking) but he had no appetite. After waking up and being bugged by his stomach demanding some food, he got up and made himself a sandwich, his favorite one. It tasted bland. Finishing it was like torture and it felt like he was doing this one thing for eternity.

The first 24 hours are the most important, huh?

Maybe he should’ve make that report immediately after noticing Lou was gone. Just because they can fight Garmadon’s crazy army doesn’t mean they’re so good at everything else.

Maybe he should’ve stayed at home that day. Sure, his secret would probably be spoiled but at least his dad would still be home, where it’s safe. Where it was supposed to be safe.

Ping.

Wonder, now
[Wonder shared a screenshot]
[Shame they didn’t catch them]
Read

Cole’s eyes widen, Vania’s screenshot showed a news headline stating that Samurai X and Winter stopped someone (presumably a group of people) from smuggling Vengestone into the city, the only thing able to nullify any sort of magical abilities. He immediately forwarded the screenshot to his friends.

Wonder, now
[Also]
[Guess who’s coming to town soon]

Me, now
[I wanna say it’s you but I know I’m wrong]
[When?]

Wonder, now
     [I wanna say it’s you but I know I’m wrong]<
[I wish I could </3]
     [When]<
[Idk exactly when but he’s supposed to visit soon]
[SUPPOSED TO]
[Could do me in like last time tho :/]

Me, now
[I hope he does]
[We could use some extra help]

Wonder, now
[Ask the syndicate! >:(]

Me, now
[;P]

Wonder, now
[Idiota]
Read

As much as the idea was good, contacting the syndicate was rather tricky as both teams had their own rules. Though if the situation continues like this they might actually have to work together…

“I hate you and everything you stand for” Those were the words Tommy and Ranboo were greeted with as soon as they crossed the door.

“Wha!? We came here to help, you know!”

Rumi rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why you came here, but it’s definitely not to help”

“This is insulting! I helped literally so many people since I got here! How can you—”

“Tommy…” Ranboo tried, and was promptly ignored.

“—even insinuate I’m here for something else! Maybe you should stop fucking projecting your problems onto me and—”

“What’s all this about?” Mystake asked, finally coming to the front and looking between the three.

“Tommy’s projecting” The girl said, completely unbothered by the blond’s rant.

“Am not!!”

‘Eh, you definitely were’

‘Literally fucking how???’

‘Wil—’

“Shut up” He growled out loud, eyes widening as he realized his mistake. Thankfully the girl seem to take it as part of his defense against her.

The woman crossed her arms and gave them a look. “What is it this time?”

“We run out of ingredients…” Ranboo said before the other could. Harumi furrowed her brows, she looked at her boss with confusion.

Mystake raised a brow. “Already?”

“Yes” The two said simultaneously. Now the girl kept of switching between staring at them and the woman.

She sighed. “Wait here…”

Rumi’s eyes followed the woman as she left, then she glared at the two teens with suspicion. Tommy huffed and crossed his arms, glaring back. “What?”

“I may not know what all of you are scheming yet, but when I find out you better pray I don’t care enough”

He rolled his eyes. “The city is constantly getting attacked and all you can think of is what I’m doing in my free time? Like, really, how can one be so obsessed? I mean, I know it’s me but—” Ranboo coughed, the blond furrowed his brows at them. “What?”

“Nothing”

“No, you have something to say, say it to my face”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” He deadpanned, not even looking at Tommy.

‘There’s a whole cult hunting you down and you’re calling her obsessed?’

Tommy made a face at the voice, but slowly realized Techno was literally answering his question. “You fuck!”

Their eyes met, Ranboo raised a brow, “What did I do?”

“Ohhh, so you don’t even have the balls to mention Danny the Fucking Cultist by the name? Why even bring him up then!?”

Harumi blinked. “Hold the fuck up. Who’s Danny the Cultist?”

“There’s, uh, a cult, and they’re after Tommy, for some reason” Ranboo explained, feeling how the mood shifted.

“Old news!” Tommy growled, throwing his hands up before crossing them again.

“You’re hunted by a fucking cult???”

“Well, hunt is a big word, and an exaggeration. No one’s actively hunting me down”

“Ehhh…” Ranboo looked away, squinting his eyes.

‘Debatable’

Tommy groaned. ‘I have no friends…’

Chapter Text

Friday passed in a blink of an eye, with the trio helping Maya with the costumes for a change (Tubbo was more or less dragged there against his will). Their healing tea making lessons were… certainly going.

As the sun hid behind the horizon they decided to re-watch The Office. At around eight Ranboo headed to bed, leaving the two to their own fun. Not too long after that, he walked right past them and bumped into the door leading out into the hallway. The two raised a brow. “Uhh, you okay?” Tommy asked. The only answer the brunet gave them was a poor attempt at pushing the door open, followed by some annoyed grunts. Quickly realizing it was one of these moments, Tommy sighed, “Oh, there we go…”

“Ran, go to bed” Tubbo ordered, getting up and walking to the sleepwalking teen.

“We need to go”

“Yeah, to bed”

Ranboo turned around and glared at the other brunet. “They’re coming”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “It’s not the time to get all creepy”

“Back to bed with you” Tubbo grabbed his friend’s arm and started lightly pulling him towards the bedroom, they pulled back. “Boo”

“We. Need. To. Go.”

“You’re not going out” The shortest of the three crossed his arms, glaring back. Ranboo muttered something and turned around, trying to open the door again. “No!” Tubbo quickly stopped him, pulling back harder. “Tommy, help me put this shitass into bed!”

The blond snickered, but he did get up to help. “Boob, get yo ass back into bed” Ranboo took one look at him, grabbed his arm and tried opening the door. Yes, again. “Hey!”

‘…Oh no’

“Huh?”

‘It’s not normal sleepwalking. Remember when Drista said there would be side effects until their mind gets used to her power?’

“Don’t fucking tell me…” Hearing the blond talk to himself Tubbo send him a puzzled look. Tommy sighed, putting a hand on his face. “Drista”

The shorter teen blinked, confused at first. “Oh… So, um, should we go?”

“Probably. But what I wanna know is where the hell is she right now”

Tubbo rolled his eyes. “Wherever she is, she’s probably laughing her ass off. You need the fucking card room” He turned to the other teen as they still tried with the door.

Ranboo stopped, as if confused, “Card room?”

“The card to our room”

“So the room card?” Tommy deadpanned, in answer the shortest teen elbowed him.

“Card room sounds better” Tubbo muttered while going off to get said card.

***

Cole sighed as he finally finished his dinner; it took waaay too long. Slowly, as if he had a ton of bricks tied to each limb and his super strength was failing him miserably, he got up and washed his plate, leaving it to dry as he wiped his hands with a towel.

He didn’t knew if it was his father being gone, the police not having anything or the fact that in three days he’d have to pretend his life is normal even more that made it so hard to…function. He talked with his friends and all that but… It just didn’t feel right, not when his father wasn’t there, wasn’t safe.

He walked into the hallway, heading to his room, stopping right before the door to glance at the empty master bedroom. The frown on his face deepened.

Then, there was a knock at the front door.

Cole furrowed his brows, who the hell would visit him at this hour? Apart from Kai, that is.

He groaned and went to shoo the red ninja off. “I’m not—” He stopped, eyes widening as he saw the crazy trio right outside his door. “Uhhh, what are you—?”

“We need to go” Ranboo said, sounding just as out of it as before; the other two sighed.

Cole grew more confused. He opened his mouth to speak but Tommy cut him off, “Don’t ask. We have no idea either”

The ninja looked between the two then at Ranboo, staring at him for a longer moment. “…Is this normal?”

“Kind of –ish?” The blond more so asked, squinting his eyes and glancing at the side. “Usually they don’t drag us out in the middle of the night to a specific person”

“We need to go” The masked teen repeated, this time more stern.

“I agree” The shorter brunet muttered, eyeing his sleeping friend.

“Go where?” The black ninja asked, tilting his head as he only managed to become even more confused.

Tommy groaned. “We don’t know! Go grab some clothes and let’s get this over with. I’d actually like to catch some z’s tonight…”

He hesitated, this was weird, very weird. But, Tommy of all people was out at night, a thing he was specifically advised not to do, so, like any good guardian angel, Cole sighed and told them to give him a second while he went to get a hoodie. He put the first thing that got into his hands as he walked back to them. “So… lead the way?” He asked the sleeping teen after locking the door.

Ranboo silently started walking. They quickly followed.

“…You know,” Cole started, whispering as they slowly walked through the silent streets. “You shouldn’t be out at this hour, Garmadon could attack at any moment”

“Pft. You’re acting like we’re afraid of that guy” Tommy rolled his eyes, he then sent him a smile. “I’m literally one text away from Green. My ass is covered”

“And therefore ours by default” The other not-asleep teen added, Tommy nodding to his words. Cole only stared at them.

They walked in silence for a while, too focused on the sleepwalking teen to come up with anything to talk about. Instead of talking, they enjoyed the peace, taking as much of it in, the light breeze, the starts and the moon, the soft sounds of their steps. Even with worry creeping at the back of his mind, it was the most peaceful Tommy had felt since crashing in this city.

Then Ranboo stopped.

“…We’re ‘ere…?” Tubbo looked up at their friend, they just stood there wordlessly.

“You dragged us to the park” Tommy deadpanned, not believing his fucking eyes as he grew annoyed. “At this hour? I know you’re asleep and all, but what is fucking wrong with you!?” At that the masked teen, still very much asleep, quickly spun around and hushed him, raising a finger to his covered mouth. The blond pinched the bridge of his nose, suppressing the rant he was about to go on.

Tubbo put a hand under his chin in wonder, eyes scanning the area as if looking for possible reason. He looked at the raven haired teen and they shifted awkwardly, his eyes widen. “They wanted you out” He said in half whisper, more to himself really.

Cole frowned a little. “What do you mean?”

Tommy looked at his shorter friend while he quickly glanced at Ranboo and went back to looking around in thought. He squinted his eyes, also eyeing the still sleeping teen. Not finding anything interesting, he looked at Tubbo again. “Toby?”

“What are you doing here?”

Tommy jumped at the sudden appearance of a new voice, he quickly turned to glare at the owner, “Fucking hell, man! Don’t sneak up on me like that!! And what are you doing here?”

Morro snort quietly. “I was taking a night stroll. Then I saw you all here, remembered Rumi said something about a cult ganging up on you and thought this ain’t gonna end good. So I came over to save your ass” Tommy crossed his arms unamused while the new addition to the teen looked at the sleeping teen. “…Is he okay?”

“Yes, he is okay!” The blond snapped and Tubbo shook his head with a sigh.

“Wait, there’s a what now?” Cole asked to keep his identity safe. Unfortunately for him, Tommy got confused.

“Didn’t you already know that?” The black ninja blinked, now also confused. A quiet voice in his head screamed ‘He knows!!’ making him tense up. “We told them, right, Tubbo?” Tommy turned to his husband for help.

The shortest teen facepalmed, both he and the voice sighed before answering simultaneously, “No”

“Oh… Well, there’s a cult. And they’re kind of trying to kidnap me” He squinted his eyes. “Mannap me”

Tubbo groaned. “Why are you going around telling people about it in the first place?!”

“It slipped! And honestly, it was Boob’s fault!”

“Hold on, so there’s a cult gunning for you and you decided it was a good idea to go out at night?!” Cole asked, letting his worries take over for better acting; Tommy was actually quite impressed.

“Again, their fault,” He pointed at Ranboo. “Not mine! I’d rather finish The Office and go catch some z’s!”

“Stop screaming”

“Oh, fuck you!”

“No, be quiet” Morro growled lowly, eyes focused on something away from them as he rushed everyone into hiding.

“They’re going to Cole’s house” Tubbo whispered, the Wind Master glanced at him in understanding while Cole and Tommy furrowed their brows in confusion.

“Excuse me?”
“They????”

“The people that kidnapped your father” He explained, earning a hum from Morro. “And probably the cult members” Tommy raised a brow. “Okay, I’m guessing. But you gotta admit, it makes sense”

Cole held his breath for a second, tensing up again. “But why would they go after me?” (Talk about keeping appearances.)

“Because you and Tommy are close”

‘And also because you have Elemental Power’ Tommy added in his head. But outside, he crossed his arms, “He says, being married to me” At that Morro looked at him with a raised brow.

“They don’t know that” Tubbo huffed.

Tommy rolled his eyes. “So what do we do?”

Tubbo thought for a moment. “Do you have anything important there? Like, super important?” Cole gave it a second before shaking his head with a quiet ‘No’. “Then we do absolutely nothing. Especially since our ‘team’ is in less than ideal condition to take on a fucking cult”

“Okay, so we know what not to do. But what do we do?” Tommy pressed.

“I can, uh…” Morro cringed, as if what he was saying was hurting him in some way. “Take you to my place… But we have to be very careful, if Wu decides we’re acting suspicious life will become very hard. For everyone included”

Especially for Cole, with Morro being right behind him, and the rest of the ninja team.

“Uh, wouldn’t us coming in at this hour be suspicious to begin with?” Tubbo questioned.

“A little bit, but it’s more salvageable than sneaking you in”

The brunet hummed in agreement. “We blame it on Tom”

A very offended noise escaped the blond’s throat. “Why it’s always on me!? Why can’t we blame it on him!?” He pointed at Ranboo, who looked like he was yawning while rubbing one of his eyes.

“Eh, it’s easier this way” Tubbo shrugged.

“What do you mean it’s easi—!?”

‘Tommy’

He huffed, offended. “I’ve got no friends…”

‘This again? And may I remind you of the crazy cultists gunning for you?’

‘It’s also easy to blame everything on me’

‘Also that’ He let out a sad whine, he really did have no friends…

Ranboo yawned again, this time audibly, they blinked a couple of times as they looked around confused. “Why are we in the park?”

“YOU TELL US!!” Tommy reacted instinctively, getting slapped by the shortest teen in reward. He shot him a murderous glare while massaging his cheek, “Ow…”

“Tubbo!” The masked teen gasped at him.

“He’s screaming while the fucking cult is nearby, either he shuts up or he’ll die!”

“Doesn’t mean you should hit him like that!”

“It wasn’t even that hard—!”

Cole and Morro only glanced at each other.

***

“You live on a fucking ship?!” Tubbo exclaimed for the trio, mostly for Tommy who decided to stay quiet after the harsh shushing from him. They stared with wide, shining from excitement eyes. Ranboo, on the other hand, was a little confused.

Why did he have a feeling he had already seen this place…?

Like, sure, they were all at the docks to meet the ninja, but it wasn’t this exact spot.

Drista’s faint giggles didn’t help him.

“Yup. But it’s not as fun as you may think, it’s cramped as fuck”

An almost evil smile appeared on Tubbo’s face, he put a hand on Morro’s shoulder. “Well, say goodbye to your personal space”

The taller teen sighed. “Is it too late to back out?”

Cole chuckled. “Unfortunately”

Morro groaned quietly before leading everyone on board. The trio may or may not squealed, no one but the other two will ever know for sure though. (For their own sake they pretended the two Gods weren’t listening in on them.)

“I’m back! And I brought some friends” Morro called out. Wu slowly walked out to them, his eyes scanned the whole group, a little confused. Cole offered him an awkward wave. “I might have slipped about us living on the Bounty, and Tommy here got excited. That kid’s really persistent” Morro added before the man could ask anything. Wu let out a chuckle while Tommy huffed at the comment.

Chapter Text

Tommy and Tubbo walked through the forest until they found it – a semi-circular heptagon with weird lines and dots written into it. “This wasn’t here before…” The blond admitted, squinting his eyes at the weird symbol.

“The fire was at this exact spot?” Tubbo asked to confirm. Tommy gave him a small nod, eyes focused on the ground. “Oh fuck. It really is a cult!”

“But what were they trying to summon…” Tommy slowly reached out a hand to touch the weird symbol burned onto the ground. After a short moment he felt warmth underneath his fingertips gently brushing against the burned grass. He jumped back as the symbol slowly light up in multiple colours.

Tubbo glared at him. "The hell did you do!?"

"I didn't do shit!"

"Like hell you didn't!!"

The two had a glare battle for a moment before looking at the lit up symbol. Or symbols combined into one big one. Upon further inspection the two blue eyed boys noticed each smaller symbol had its own colour - ice blue (almost white), electric blue, blue (they didn't have any second adjective for this one), red, orange, purple and some light green kind of -ish going into blue...?

"Mint?"

Tommy threw his bestie an 'you for real, bruh?' look. "Do I look like a colour enthusiast?"

"...Pistachio...?" Tubbo offered again, making the blond groan. With the lack of support, the shorter teen discarded any other guesses and dropped the topic, instead taking a picture. "'Kay, we can go now"

"I beg the differ" The duo quickly got up, taking 'battle' stances as Danny the Fucked Cultist came out from the shadows, his little group following him soon after. "See? I told you he'd fell for it"

Tommy huffed. "Bold of you to assume I'm that dumb"

"Oh really? Then what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm not here anymore"

"Huh—?"

Before anyone could fully comprehend the situation, Tommy grabbed Tubbo's wrist and booked it the other way, hopefully out of the forest. "Was this right or left, Techno?" He asked out loud at one point. The two of them stopped once he received no answer. "Techno? Which way is the exit?" Why wasn't he answering? This was not the time for silent treatment! Also, Tommy did nothing to make him angry! So why—

Suddenly, a cold, cruel laughter sounded from...everywhere, it seem. Tommy tensed up, his blood running cold at the sound, he stepped closer to his friend, their sides glued together. "Your friend cannot help you now" If Tommy wasn't scared before, he'd certainly be scared now. It was that woman. "You're Tommy, right? Or so I've heard"

"Toms...?" Tubbo grabbed his shoulder with his free hand, voice barely above a whisper as he, too, was scared shitless. Their eyes met. The blond didn't answer, he only loosen his grip on the older's wrist to take his hand instead.

"And your dear friend Tubbo…"

Tommy gritted his teeth, squeezing the brunet's hand protectively. "What do you want?"

She chuckled. "You shouldn't have come here, Tommy. You're messing with my plans... But I'm willing to give you a chance. You better use it wisely, cause there won't be another one"

"Fuck off!!"

The woman hiding in the shadows (or being one with them?) sighed. "Don't mistake my threats for bluff, child. If you care about your safety, or, better yet, your friends, you will not engage"

He scoffed. "Show yourself if you're so brave!"

"Tommy, I don't think—"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is that really what you want?" 

Just as Tommy was about to answer, two glowing red eyes stared at him from the shadows. The world slowly turned to black, the feeling of Tubbo's body disappearing as the blond was left alone in the abyss. Well, he wasn't entirely alone... "What the fuck did you just do!?"

"Ohhh, I can do waaaay worse. Especially after I complete my plan" The eyes flew towards him, growing to the point he had to look up to see them. "Don't. Fuck. With. My. Plans. Tommy"

("Tommy!!" There was a distant scream. Tubbo's scream. But...it was off, he wasn't scared, but worried.)

He squeezed his hands into fists. "Well, don't fuck with my friends!" The eyes squinted, watching him carefully, waiting for his facade to fall. When it didn't, they quickly came at him, causing him to jump awake. Tommy let out a pained cry as his forehead hit something.

"Ow, fuck!!" Tubbo cursed, announcing he was the 'thing' Tommy had hit by accident.

"Tommy!" Ranboo called out in distress, pushing the smaller boy so they could sat him up. "Are you okay?"

"Wha...?" The blond blinked, slowly looking at his two friends. He let out a breath in relief. It was just a stupid dream...

"Ummm..."

Tommy groaned. "Oh fuck me"

Tubbo switched between looking at his friend and the girl. "Okay, what the fuck happened now?"

"The cult leader may or may not got into Tom's head while he was sleeping. Aaaand she caused him nightmares"

‘It wasn't a nightmare’

Drista sighed. "Fine. She gave him a warning"

Now it was Tubbo's turn to blink blankly. "How?"

"I dunno!"

"Again, are you okay?" Ranboo pressed for an answer, tuning to the blond boy.

Tommy sighed, "I think so..."

 'You saw that?'

‘Unfortunately....’

'Why didn't you do anything!?'

"This doesn't work like that, Tommy" The girl chimed in (the other two exchanged looks, yet again being excluded from a silent conversation). "Actually, this world is...weird like that. There are certain things and "spells", for the lack of better words, that can block even us Gods" He huffed, not happy with the information. Nor the fact he only got it now.

"You're talking about Vengestone?" The masked teen asked, only partly– not even confused really, just surprised. Drista gave him a nod.

"The fuck is that???"

"How much do you know about this world?" Tommy cut in just as the girl took a breath. She looked surprised by the question, this made him feel a tiny bit better.

"Pretty much everything. Well... Okay, everything is an overstatement. But I know most of things. Why?"

"Show her the picture" Toby raised a brow, but quick caught on and got his phone. Ranboo peeked as he showed the girl the picture of the weird symbol in the forest. Tommy watched carefully, growing grumpy as he noticed both the girl and his tall bestie's eyes widen with recognition. "Of fucking course..."

"You know what this is?"

"Mostly..." The girl admitted.

"These are old symbols for Ice, Fire, Lightning, Earth, Water, Wind and Crystal" Ranboo continued for her, pointing out each element. Tommy's eyes widen at the last two; guess who else is fucked!

"And the last one is..." Drista swallowed, as if... No way, was she actually scared??? 

"Well..." The masked teen picked up again, "With it being pretty much a mix of all the others, you'd think it's Creation, but it's actually the opposite"

"So, Destruction?" The shorter brunet offered, not really understanding the hesitation. Ranboo gave him a nod, but Drista shook her head.

"It's way worse. This...is the symbol of..." She stopped for a moment, really, really disturbed. "...The Overlord... Which, he technically IS the embodiment of Destruction, so..." Drista added, somewhat agreeing with her predecessors.

"Okay..." Tubbo said slowly.

"Wait, what about Green?" Tommy asked but all he got was a confused look from the girl. "Where's their element?"

"But... He doesn't have any in this world. There is a version where he does, yes, but this isn't the one"

The trio looked at her with wide eyes, though Ranboo wasn't as confused as the other two. Tommy took a breath, "The fuck do you mean they don't—!?"

***

Being woken up by an alarm is never a good way to start your day. But it's even worse when said alarm means you have to go and fight your own father first thing in the morning. "Do you seriously have nothing better to do at...?" Lloyd muttered under his breath, glancing at his phone. He sighed, "4:30 in the morning..." Before he could lament any more he got a notification from their group chat.

The muscle 💪, now
[U guys have to do w/o me]

The annoying one 🤓, now
[😭😭😭]

The failsafe 💅, now
[Y?]

The looks 😎, now
[We have work Cole 😒]
[You can't just sleep in]

The muscle 💪, now
[I'm not sleeping in 😡]

The brains 🧠, now
     [U guys have to do w/o me]<
[Did something happened?]

The muscle 💪, now
[I'm @ Wu's]

The looks 😎, now
     [I'm @ Wu's]<
[BRUH]

The muscle 💪, now
[W/ Tommy & his friends]
[N Morro 2]

The looks 😎, now
[Oh...]

The annoying one 🤓, now
[HAHHAHAH]
[GET OWNED KAI]
Read

Lloyd couldn't help but snort. At least he had friends to keep him sane. Still, being the only one without any magical abilities in a group where everyone else had them was kind of a bummer. (Imagine him finding out his adoptive sister has powers—)

But, since he has no magical power whatsoever, why the hell everyone thinks he does?

Well, let's start off with that - not everyone thinks he does. The ninja, for example, are fully aware of his lack of magical abilities. (Unless you count being hated on by the entire city for no reason as one, which, if you do, get help.) Furthermore, three of them helped him with covering that fact up. Don't get me wrong, Cole and Kai helped too, they made their cover more believable.

Did you get more confused? Good, that was the plan.

This was never a big problem, in the beginning the team wasn't using their powers as they had no idea how, when they started using them it was only as last resort, Special Attack if you will. It was supposed to stay like this actually, but once a bunch of teenagers learns how to use their magical powers without the danger of killing any of them there was no stopping them from having fun. TL;DR they went a little crazy. And soon the information about their unnatural abilities was all over the news and the internet. As much as Wu was a little annoyed, the team was overjoyed to be able to freely show-off, whether to each other or anybody else.

But at that point people started questioning what power Green had. At first the whole team ignore it, it wasn't like he couldn't fight without super powers so it wasn't a big deal. Then the Dumbass Trio came up with this amazing idea to scare all the criminals with a power that didn't even exist, somehow managed to convince Zane it was truly a genius plan and bribed Nya with this overcomplicated blueprint.

At one point it became a game, the five had to keep one-uping each other so the secret wouldn't spoil. And thus, apparently each ninja is more confused than the other about what the fuck Green's power really is and if something in their genius invention fails, they have to be the ex machina and cover up for the nonexistent power.

Is it really worth it?

Probably not. But it was a little too late to stop now.

Talking about the present (well, technically the past), let's focus on the attack.

Sneaking out was always the easiest part, you just get up and leave while nobody's paying you bigger attention, which, despite being the second most hated person in the entire city, was actually quite easy to accomplish. Coming back was way harder, because as a hero practically everyone looks up to him, and at least few of them would be crazy enough to follow him in a desperate attempt to find out his identity, which is an absolute nightmare. (I mean it both figuratively and literally, he had a few nightmares involving various people finding out one of his identities.) Not to mention fighting, surprise-surprise, is quite draining, so they were all (except for Zane) tired afterwards.

Taking all that into consideration, it was actually quite good the attack happened so early in the morning, because nobody would be out. Or at least no one should be. Thankfully Cole was keeping an eye on Tommy and his friends so this wouldn't be a problem.

Hopefully.

Tommy was weird like that.

"Greeeeeen" Kai's voice called out as soon as the blond put the communicator into his ear, Lloyd rolled his eyes.

"I'm going, I'm going. Just gimme a second"

"Leave him alone" Nya reprimanded her brother making him scoff.

"I'm just making sure nobody else bails on us today"

"Leave Earth alone too"

"That's classified information right there" The android reminded. The team agreed it was best not to discuss sensitive and alike matters over their intercoms, just as it was best not to discuss anything ninja related with their non-ninja socials. You know, in case someone was trying to spy on them.

"Is it though?" The red ninja questioned.

"Yeah, Ice, you're overreacting a little bit" Jay chimed in. The Ice Master proceeded to explain exactly why this would count as classified information, Lloyd was too busy trying to locate them to really hear all that, all he caught was something about 'possible advantage'. "Okay, yeah, sure. But, like, we've been fighting those guys almost every day for a few years now, I don't think there's anything that could—"

"Remember that one time you almost crashed your jet? Like a month ago????" Kai remarked.

"I-I was tired! We had that stupid project and I haven't slept in two—!"

"Guys, focus" Lloyd cut their argument short, at this point being close enough to make out each mech in action. "Ice?"

"Give it one minute"

"Thanks. Keep him busy until then?"

"You got it boss!"
"Will do!"
"Gotcha!"
"Affirmative"

***

Finally checking his phone, Tommy noticed there was Garmadon's attack at around 4:30. "The fuck? What else have I missed?"

Everyone shrugged. "Probably not much. Also, it's not like you're the only one who was asleep" Tubbo noticed, getting his phone to also check the notification.

"Everyone normal was sleeping at that time" Ranboo added, feeling bad for the heroes to have to put up with that so early.

Tommy snickered, then a certain thought crossed his mind. He turned to the girl, "Did Cole sneak out?"

"Nope"

"Huh..."

"Morro did though"

The trio's heads whipped around to look at her in shock, again. Tommy took a breath, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE—!?"

Chapter Text

"You're sure you don't want to stay?" Morro asked with hope. Ever since this morning the trio was staring at him suspiciously, especially Tommy. It was stressing the shit out of him.

Cole laughed, also noticing the weird looks. "Sorry, but I really have to go home. Good luck!" He wished as he headed out, the other groaned in despair.

Morro knew they knew. He didn't know how they know, but that didn't change the fact they somehow do. It wasn't important, the deed had been done and now he's screwed. Knowing the How wouldn't save him from the upcoming conversation.

Rumi's not gonna like this...

Not that she liked the situation thus far, but still.

Turning around with a sigh he was immediately met with the blond, standing right in front of him, narrowing his eyes with folded arms. "...Okay, that is fucking creepy"

"We need to have a word" He said simply, not stopping with the stare. Morro cringed, then silently ushered him to his room, the other two quickly joined them. There was a moment before Tommy picked up again, "Why did you sneak out at 4 in the morning?"

"Actually, it was closer to 5 in the morning at that point"

The blond huffed. "Same thing!"

Morro sighed. "Okay... Let's start with: Do your friends know?"

"About your powers? Well now they do!" They knew from the moment they all got reunited, but he didn't need to know that. Also, it was Tommy who was supposed to be asking questions!

"And they know about our job" It was more-so a statement than a question.

Tommy made a face at that, "Weeeell...not really. I don't even know what you two really do! But I shared the gist of it, yeah"

Another sigh. Morro leaned back and took a moment to compose himself; the trio exchanged looks. "One of the things we do, is take care of a certain magical artefact hidden/stored in Mystake's tea shop" He paused, watching how their expressions changed. The change on Tommy's face was most evident, from stern and suspicion to surprise and excitement. He continued, "This morning, we got a silent alarm"

Ranboo gasped. "Someone was trying to steal it?"

He nodded. "And it wasn't the first time. Remember when we had that family dinner?" He turned to the blond and he nodded slowly.

"…Show him the picture" Tommy said after a moment, lightly elbowing Tubbo before anyone could butt in. The other teen gave him a look, all the while Morro stared at them puzzled and Ranboo seem to have a small epiphany, catching onto Tommy's thought process. "He's the Wind Elemental!" Tubbo eyed his other bestie, seeing them nod, he sighed and reached for his phone, seconds later he turned it so that the Wind Master can see. "You know these?"

"Kinda..." Morro tilted his head, eyes squinting at the weird symbols.

"Well, we figured those are elemental symbols" Hearing Tommy say this the teen gave him an unimpressed look. "So you do know"

"Wu's kind of obsessed with stuff like that, so it's really hard not to know" He confessed with a shrug.

"Really? Does he have a book?" Ranboo asked just what Tommy was thinking. Sneaky bitch...

‘You're talking about Drista?’

'Who fucking else?'

‘Jealousy doesn't look good on you’

"Holy fuck!!" Tommy screamed, hearing another voice in his head. All eyes fell on him.

"Toms?" Tubbo called out, concerned.

He blinked, looked at each of them before letting out an awkward laugh. "I'm okay"

'The fuck are you doing in my head!?'

‘Yeah!’

‘Uh, God of Chaos?’

'...Fair enough’

While Tommy was having the silent conversation, Morro observed all three of them, seeing none of the brunets pressed for more information he decided to ignore it. For now at least. "Yeah, why?"

"Can we see it?" Ranboo asked right away, earning a suspicious look. Too bad, cause Tommy was about to tell them to keep the used-to-be-his-now-their-god in their head else he might get a headache.

"But why?"

"This–" Tommy pointed at the picture, "–is what me and Tubbo found in the spot where I last encountered the whole cult. And, I mean, it looks like a fucking pentagram, doesn't it?"

"Heptagram" Tubbo corrected. The blond glared at him.

"A summoning circle" The two made eye contact, with the older teen being unamused by his husband's antics. "Either way, it includes you, Rumes and five out of six ninjas" Tommy noted the weird face the teen made at his super clever nickname for the white haired girl.

"It would be really helpful if we had a book or something that could help us solve this" Ranboo finished, giving an actual explanation. He added after a second, "By the way, what do we know about that magical artefact you and Harumi are protecting?"

Morro furrowed his brows. "You think it's connected?" They gave him a nod and he looked to the side. "I'm not supposed to say..."

"Oh, c'mon! Me and Mystake get on!" Tommy exclaimed, crossing his arms.

Morro glared at him. "I literally don't know how. Also, we don't really know what it does either. All we have is that it's pretty powerful"

"I'd still like to have a look at that book..." Ranboo said in thought. Quickly realizing it wasn't his choice, he scratched his neck. "If I can, of course"

"Uh, books? The old man's obviously gonna have a lot of this stuff" Tubbo offered, impressing his friends as he thought of that one all on his own.

Now Morro crossed his arms, giving them an unamused glare, "Now you wanna have unlimited access to our private library?"

"You have a private library???" Tommy asked, generally impressed and intrigued. Morro only facepalmed. He huffed, "You could've just said no..." Just then Ranboo elbowed him lightly, he looked at them with a raised brow. The teen gave him a knowing look, trying to silently communicate. Tommy groaned, "I'm not a telepath"

There was a double sigh. ‘Maybe the Syndicate has a library with books like that’

"Oh. Okay, nevermind, I guess I am" Thanks to the brunet mimicking the girl as she sighed and giving Tommy a look of disappointment this seem pretty natural, as if Tommy eventually figured things on his own. This didn't make it less suspicious though.

"You're all weird" Morro commented, squinting his eyes at all three (Tubbo not-so-discreetly sulked over the two having silent possibly-Gods-involving-conversation).

"We do try our best" Tommy gave him a cheeky, perhaps a little mischievous, grin. "So, about that book..."

He let out something between a sigh and a groan. "You're not gonna let that go, are you?"

"Nope" All three answered with bright, definitely mischievous, smiles, making him groan again.

"Fine. I'll see what I can do"

After this, the conversation mostly ended, with the trio now being more interested in their own company, thus kind of excluding the fourth teen. Taking it as a sign, he reluctantly left to talk with his adoptive father. As soon as Morro was out of earshot, Tommy turned to the taller brunet, "Keep your God in your head, ‘ight?"

Ranboo's hands flew up in defense, "I can't control her!"

"Is that what happened?" The shortest friend questioned.

"Yeah"

"Dude, that scared the shit outta me!"

"Me too!"

"Boo" The girl suddenly appeared right in front of them, causing the two legal husbands to scream and hug each other. Ranboo placed a hand on his face in disappointment while she laughed, almost maniacally.

"Not funny!!" Tommy growled, glaring daggers at her.

"I thought we were supposed to lay low!" Tubbo added, just as angry as the blond.

"I am laying low" Drista said, slowly fading away and ending up totally invisible when she stopped talking. The two jumpscared teens exchanged looks. Tommy reached out a hand to check if she was still there. He swore under his breath, all the while she laughed. ‘Jealous much?’

"In your fucking dreams, Drista"

‘You know I can tell when you're lying, right?’

'Shhh! No one needs to know'

‘I certainly know’

"Ran, I swear on Techno's crown I'm going to strangle you"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Doesn't matter!!"

 "Can we please restrain ourselves from resolving our issues in public?" Tubbo pleaded, tired of this shitshow.

"Uh, how is this public?" Tommy raised a brow. He was promptly shut up with a punch to his arm. "...You know this is domestic abuse, right?" Aaaand there goes another one; he let out a grunt in pain. 'Say goodbye to your real estate, Hubby'

Ranboo sighed. "Can we please restrain ourselves from beating one another?"

"Can Tommy restrain himself from being stoopid?" The husbands glared at each other. Tommy didn't comment, not wanting to end up with a bruise on his arm.

***

This went smoother than they anticipated, they expected Wu to ask questions but the old man just handed them the book and said to have fun, also to return it in one piece. The trio went 'home' with an Elemental Encyclopedia in Tommy's hand, which was probably going against the plead.

"So, we have everything here? Every single Element?" The shortest teen asked, quickly jumping to sit next to the blond as he opened the book.

"Should be. He has no reason to lie to us"

"It's a little suspicious, isn't it?" Ranboo asked, taking a seat on Tommy's right. "He was a little...I dunno. I would ask if someone without elemental power asked for a book about them"

"You're paranoid" Tommy waved them off, eyes tracing the words on the last page in the book.

"...What if he's The Sensei?" The blond blinked, snapped back to reality. He and Tubbo slowly looked up at them. "Think about it. Mystake said the ninja were trained under someone. He certainly looks the part"

Oh shit…

"Wait, so he knows" Tubbo started, Tommy was stuck on the loading screen. "They must have already looked into that"

"But they don't know who the other two are" Ranboo thought aloud.

"Objection" Drista reappeared again, making Tommy glare at her. "I'd say they don't know who's the Crystal Elemental. And, before you ask, the answer as to why I say that is in that book"

"You've read this?" The shorter brunet raised a brow.

Tommy rolled his eyes. "She didn't fucking need to. But she's making us do it because she sucks!" In response the girl showed him her tongue. "The feeling's mutual..."

Tubbo eyed the book. "That's quite a heavy lecture..."

"Good luck!" Drista beamed before skipping off.

"Ugh. I'd much rather see that artefact…" Tommy muttered, closing the book with a soft thud.

"Yeah, me too…" His husband joined in, crossing his arms and looking to the side.

"We can always give it a try" Ranboo shrugged. "How about we split again? You two can go and try your chances with Mystake while I stay and try with Drista"

"Simp" The blond muttered, glaring at the masked teen.

Both Ranboo and Tubbo gave him a look. "Don't use words you don't know the meaning of, Toms" The shorter said, sounding both horrified and disappointed.

"I know what it means!"

"I don't think so..." Ranboo shook his head disapprovingly.

"I'm not dumb!!"

"Yeah, but you're stoopid" Tubbo deadpanned. 

"Fuck you!!"

Ranboo sighed tiredly.

***

The trio did split, following Ranboo's idea. They were supposed to try and somehow convince the God Girl to tell him what they all would eventually learn by reading the Elemental Encyclopedia while the husbands were to try and learn anything about the artefact from Mystake. 

This could end up either horribly wrong or incredibly well.

Knowing them, somehow both.

Tommy wasn't surprised one bit seeing the white haired girl in the tea shop, nor was he surprised when she immediately glared at them. Morro had obviously already told her all about their little adventures, starting from them meeting in the park at night by accident and ending with them borrowing the damn book from his father. "Before you start hating on the entire Universe for me ever coming to existence—"

"Too late"

Tommy paused for a moment, while Tubbo grinned a little. "Welcome to the club"

The blond shot his friends a betrayed look and deadpanned, "Ouch"

Tubbo shrugged nonchalantly. "You've been annoying since last night"

Tommy refrained from commenting this one. "Anyway... We warned your sorry asses, so now I expect some answers!" He leaned forward, putting one hand on the counter. For a moment he and the girl stared at each other in silence, with Tubbo observing them at the side. "Well...?"

"We don't have answers"

"But can we see it?"

Rumi hesitated before answering, "No"

The two boys glanced at each other, Tommy then looked back at the girl, squinting his eyes. "Uh, says who exactly?"

"Isn't it enough you're hunted by a cult?" Rumi crossed her arms, giving him a stern look. Tommy was not intimidated, more challenged.

"I'm a side-quest! And if Morro told you everything then—"

"Tommy," She cut him off, this time the stern tone doing its job. "If they want this artefact then you shouldn't be anywhere near it. And I'm not saying this just because I don't want you to fuck with my job"

Tommy stared at her blankly, he glanced at the side before looking at her again. "...But can we see it though?" Tubbo had to suppress a laugh, all while Harumi blinked, flabbergasted.

"You shouldn't!"

"But I wanna!"

"Will you two stop screaming at once?" Mystake asked, sounding just as done with all of them as she looked as she stepped to the shop's front. "What are you arguing over this time?"

"We heard about that artefact you're hiding and came here to get more information" Tubbo explained, and thank God he did as the two were already about to go on a rant about the other being a nuisance. "Please?"

"You know about Torllecco's Prism?" The woman raised her eyebrows in surprise, not expecting them to know about her little secret. She eyed the girl, who immediately raised her hands in defense, the two used that moment to glance at each other before she turned to them again. "How?"

"Ranboo's a light sleeper, and they sometimes sleepwalk" The brunet started, he then gave a brief summary of their last night, claiming the teen had a second sleepwalking session later on. While he told the woman all about how he 'stayed up late' and 'heard some noise as he tried getting Ranboo back into bed, deciding then to check it and noticing Morro sneaking out' then adding the confrontation from this morning, Tommy couldn't help but think Mystake somehow knew which part of the story was a lie.

‘You know, it is pretty weird she decided to become your mentor, isn't it?’

'Huh?' Was this only him or did she glanced at him as the voice spoke up?

‘I understand her teaching Morro and Harumi since they have powers, but why you?’

Tommy's eyes widen.

He never thought of that.

Why him indeed...

"So you know it does something, but don't know what exactly. I'm sorry but…how??? How do you know it does something if you haven't tested it, because if you have tested it, you would know what it does" Tubbo ended with a little rant.

"That one night might have been the first time they tried stealing the Prism from my shop, but it wasn't the first time they tried stealing it. Knowing now that those people have formed a cult of sorts, it's more than obvious it's very powerful and that they cannot get it in their hands"

"But what. does. it. do?" The brunet pressed, completely oblivious to his friend completely tuning out of the conversation.

"Doesn't matter" Rumi comment.

"But it does! What if they find another way? It's bound to be similar to their original plan, so we might figure out a way to stop them for good if we know what that thing does!"

‘It's a prism...’

"Also, who the fuck is Torllecco?" Tubbo questioned further, only earning a shrug from the girl.

"Don't know, don't care"

‘Oh my...self. Tommy, it's a prism!’

'And???'

‘...This is why I chose Ranboo’

'OI!!' Tommy wasn't even surprised when he saw Mystake glancing at him yet again. But this time he made a face, so maybe he's crazy after all.

"Then thanks for nothing" Tubbo muttered, now annoyed with the girl. He send Tommy a knowing look, finally getting the same vibe from her as he did. The blond looked at him with an expression that could only say 'I told you so' making him sigh. "I hope Ranboo's faring better than us..."

"Not even close" Drista teased, grinning cheekily and causing Ranboo to groan.

The masked teen hid his face with the book. "C'mon, you could at least give me one small hint!"

"Hmm… Nope" Yet another unidentified sound left the defeated teen, making the girl laugh at him. "Alright, alright, I'll give you 'one small hint'. But only ONE. Uno. Ein, and then finito"

"...How many languages do you know?"

There was a short pause, with her slowly tuning her head to give him an unamused look. "I'm a God"

"…right..." Ranboo looked away sheepishly.

"Check the Storm Element"

"Huh?"

"Then you'll know why I said they know who has the Wind Element. Orevuar!" She bit them farewell before disappearing, not a trail left after her presence.

Ranboo stared at the spot some more before his gaze slowly turned to the book. He opened it, quickly turning to the last page to check where he could find this ‘Storm Element’. 

Chapter Text

The two husbands convinced Mystake to show them the heavily protected prism (needless to say Rumi was not happy with that). Just as the name suggests, it was a clear gemstone that reflected light, splitting it into all the colours of rainbow and generally looking really pretty. This, unfortunately, was as far as they got though.

To Tubbo's utter disappointment, they couldn't even test it!

Getting back, they were met with quite the surprise, in form of their friend actually reading the damn encyclopedia! "You had one job, Boo! One fucking job!" Tommy groaned, feeling they only managed to get more questions.

"I learned something" They quickly said in defense, giving the blond a light-hearted glare before going back to the lecture. "A lot of things actually. If I didn't get into this as much as I did, we would've solved everything probably too late. Or never"

Tommy crossed his arms, not that he didn't believe his friend, this day was just tiring and full of disappointment. "Oh yeah? So what did you learn?"

"First of all, I found out that four out of six ninjas have what's called the Elements of Creation"

Tubbo squinted his eyes, "Isn't Creation an element on its own?"

"It is, but within it there are the elements of Ice, Lightning, Fire and Earth. Supposedly, this world was created by those four, thus earning the title"

The two blue eyed teens glanced at each other, then at the masked teen, then at each other again. Finally, Tommy spoke, "Ice, Lightning, Fire and Earth? But I always thought the main four were Fire, Earth, Water and Air"

"Listen, I ain't the God here" Ranboo said flatly.

Tubbo snort. "Understandable. Please, continue"

"Wind and Water actually originated from one element - Storm, which came from some sea serpent. I'll spare you the confusing details and get straight to what I found after a quick deep web dive—"

"You searched the dark web!?" Tommy screamed, cutting him off.

"Deep web. Two different things" The masked teen corrected. "Anyway, I managed to find the tree of registered Wielders of Storm, Water and Wind. Turns out Smith siblings and Morro are cousins" He made a pause, looking at the two for any reaction. When none came, he hummed and continued, "Maya's the old Elemental Wielder of Water, and she had a sister who was the Wielder of Wind"

"They're dead, aren't they?" Tubbo asked, already suspecting the answer.

"Morro's biological parents? Yes..." Ranboo frowned, letting out a saddened sigh.

"...Do we wanna know how…?"

They shook their head. "Not important. I only mentioned it because of Maya. You see, as much as Elemental Powers pass onto the children, that doesn't mean the parent literally gives it up"

Tommy's eyes sparkled. "You're saying she still has hers?"

Ranboo gave a small nod. "It would be weaker than Nya's, but yes"

"That's. So. Cool!!"

"Got anything on Rumi?"

"Oh yeah. So, turns out Drista was wrong—"

"HEY!!" The girl screamed from the other room, Ranboo didn't even acknowledge it.

"—and the symbol in the middle is Darkness, not Destruction. But it's still the symbol of the Overlord. One of the names he went by in the past is Crystal King"

There was a moment of silence, then Tommy spoke, "So, it's, like, evil-turned-good situation?"

"Kinda...?"

"Huh"

"We now also know for sure that Lou was kidnapped as a means of getting Cole. The cult must have also looked at the family trees. With that, they only don't know who has the Elements of Ice and Crystal"

"Cause Zane's a robot. They must’ve got their power in some other way" Tubbo added, earning a nod.

"What's up with Rumes then? Why doesn't she have a tree?" Tommy wondered out loud.

"Well..." Ranboo started hesitantly. "It could be the evil-turned-good situation. Or something else..."

The blond hummed then deadpanned, "And we have no idea what that is"

"I did all I could"

"You did great, Boo!" Tubbo quickly assured the other teen. "I think it's the most information we got today!"

Tommy quickly nodded. "All we got was that stupid Torllecco's Prism"

Ranboo furrowed his brows, confused by the name. "How do you even spell that?"

"I think it's... T-O...L?-E-C... C-O"

The youngest made a face at his friend's spelling. "The fuck it would be spelled that way? It's obviously T-H-O-R-E-C-O"

Now Tubbo made a face, first putting the letters together, then at the idea. "And that makes more sense how???"

‘I'd like to know that as well’

"Uh, Thor?" Tommy raised a brow, annoyed by everyone questioning his logic.

"But it's gotta have double Cs, Mystake said 'Lec-Co'. So you also missed the L. And I'm pretty sure she said 'Tor' not 'Thor'"

Tommy rolled his eyes. "And you're the expert of words" Tubbo send him a glare, but otherwise said and did nothing. "Either way, all we have to do now is figure out how the Elemental Powers and this Prism connect"

"You're sure it's a prism?" Ranboo questioned, catching the two off guard.

"Pretty sure, why?" Tubbo asked, confused.

"Huh... Well, in my research I found that Vengestone is not the only thing able to mess with magic. There's this blue crystal that can take away Elemental Powers, if connected with something called Chronosteel. In this combination the crystal acts as a 'boost' to the metal, allowing it to take more than one power at once"

Tommy gasped, realizing what Techno was trying to tell him earlier. "It's a prism!"

‘Ding ding ding!’

The two looked at him with raised brows. Before either could ask for him to elaborate, he continued, "Oh my Blade, it can collect powers and allow someone else to use them!"

Tubbo gasped. "Like a prism can separate light to make a rainbow!"

"Oh my— It's literally in the name!" Ranboo's eyes sparkled at the realization. "Tor-llec-co. Co-llec-tor!"

"Bruh! They stole from you!" Tommy commented, looking at Ranboo. The trio laughed. He suddenly stopped, the implications dawning on him. "That's how they want to complete the ritual..." The other two turned serious as well.

"...Well, they've been doing a shitty job so far" Tubbo reminded, looking up and recalling past information.

"But something's gotta give. If they keep trying, they'll eventually succeed"

"Meh" The shorter brunet made a so-so motion with his hand. "Mystake's good"

"Even great warriors fall..."

‘If you're making a reference to me, quit it’

"...How about some unrelated fun?" Ranboo proposed, already reaching for their phone to look for something.

"Good idea! What do we even have in this cursed city?" Tubbo leaned over the other's shoulder to look at their phone as well.

Tommy thought for a moment. "Skate park, cinema, theatre... mall..." He squinted his eyes. "If we're lucky there could be a concert somewhere. Or a festival, I dunno"

"We could always hit a club or something" The shortest noted, looking away from the screen and at the blond.

Tommy snort. "Take me to the nearest gay bar"

The brunet wasn't amused. "Or we can go to an arcade. There're arcades here, right?" He turned to the other brunet in the room.

Ranboo hummed in affirmation. "And a beach"

"Beach!?" The two stared at them as if he just proclaimed he won the lottery, big smiles plastered on their faces and eyes sparkling as if they were filled with tiny stars.

"We'd have to take the subway there, but we'd still have plenty of time to have fun" Ranboo turned their phone to show the pictures from the place. "Only problem is that we don't have any swimwear"

"We are SO going there!" Tubbo declared instantly, by his tone it was obvious he wouldn't take no for an answer. "Don't." He shot a warning glare at the blond, seeing how he was about to comment. Tommy raised his hands in defense.

Just then, Tommy's phone went off.

Tubbo's shoulders slumped down and he groaned, "What now?"

The blond got out his phone, he furrowed his brows looking at the cause of the noise. "It's Kai" He tapped the notification to show the full message. "…Hey, remember that party you made me skip?"

"The one that was supposed to happen the same day we reunited?" The tallest teen asked, making him nod.

Tommy's eyes stayed on the screen for a moment, then he looked up with a smirk on his face. "Looks like I didn't miss anything at all" He turned his phone just like Ranboo did earlier.

Kai Smith, 37 seconds ago
[Hi Tom]
[Bn wondering if u n your friends wanna come 2 my place 4 a party]
[Nothing fancy]
[Just me n the other guys]
[Nya's out on a sleepover w/ 1? of her friends]
[N my parents r gonna b out on a date]
[No drugs]
[Smoking is strictly prohibited in the house]
[Text me if u want sth special 2 drink booze or not]
[If u wanna come ofc]
[In which case the party starts @ 8]
[U r welcome 2 come earlier tho :)]
Read

"God, he sounds desperate" Tubbo commented, more on the amount of texts than their actual message; the taller brunet chuckled at that. "It's probably one of those 'You won't even know we're there' moments" He did quotation marks with his fingers and rolled his eyes, now Tommy laughed.

"Bro looks like he've been doing this for some time now" The blond snickered, turning the phone again and staring at the 'rules'.

‘His grammar is killing me just as much as yours, Tom’ He rolled his eyes at the comment.

Tubbo sighed, slightly disappointed, "So, no beach today?" Tommy snort, glancing up and sending him a meaningful look. "Fine. But I want a beer for that"

"Any special requests?"

"Make it normal" The boy pleaded, looking at his friend with this tired look as if he was overworking himself for the last month or so.

"Boo?"

"Strawberry soda"

Tommy raised a brow a them. "Seriously?"

"I'm American, remember?"

"Oh, right. You're all a bunch of big babies..." The blond deadpanned and the shortest teen chuckled.

"I wouldn't drink even if I could—"

"You technically can" The two noted. He promptly ignored them.

"I don't think Drista herself knows what could happen to my mind if I got drunk while under her power's influence"

Tubbo snort. "Influence square" Ranboo gave him a light-hearted glare and smacked him with a pillow. "Worth it"

***

Not a thing can go wrong.

I mean, the three have already accounted for all repercussions, right? Ranboo's gonna be sober and they have two Gods to get them out of any weird predicament. They also assumed all parents were informed of this party, so there really was nothing to worry about.

So why was Tommy so anxious?

‘Not my doin'’

‘Don't look at me’

Sensing the blond's distress (or maybe hearing about it from the God Girl), Ranboo put a hand on his shoulder, they smiled once he looked up at them. "We're gonna be fine"

Tommy quickly returned the smile. "Yeah! And we're gonna have a great time!"

"You know, when push comes to shove, we can always blackmail them to turn this into a sleepover" Tubbo started, adding his two cents to ease the tension, quickly realizing what caused Tommy's stress. He smiled to himself mischievously, "I'm up for obliviously dropping hints that we know" The other two chuckled at the comment.

With almost half of an hour to spare, they arrived at the Smith's house. Tommy and Tubbo both reached out to press the doorbell, but the blond was faster, he send his husband a victorious grin. Tubbo glared at him, pressing the button anyway. Before Kai could get to the door the two pressed the poor button more than ten times. The ninja gave them an unamused look, Ranboo raised their hands so they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. "Glad you could make it..."

Tommy crossed his arms at the tone. "You know, when you say it like that, I'm starting to think your mom made you invite us" There was a second of silence before Kai laughed.

"I promise she didn't. Come in" He stepped aside, allowing the trio to pass through the door then closed the it behind them and followed them to the kitchen and living room/dining area. "Basically everything's here free game, just don't break anything" He said as they looked around the living room area. The coffee table had a bunch of empty bowls on it and a speaker in the middle, next to which was a black party lights ball (turned off at the moment). There were few pastel coloured balloons hanged around the whole room with some shining strings attached to them. "If you miraculously run out of snacks or drinks feel free to grab more" He pointed at a pile of snacks and a few non-alcoholic drinks standing on the kitchen counter, paper cups stacked right next to them. "My sister and parents' rooms are off limits. And I'd really appreciate it if you didn't fuck up my room"

"Don't worry, we're not animals" Tubbo joked, grinning widely at the hero. He smiled back at him.

"By the way, Cole's gonna bring your special drinks" Kai said to the two blue eyed devils before turning to the tallest teen, "Your soda's in the fridge, you can grab it whenever you want"

"Thanks"

"Well, make yourselves comfortable, boys. Imma finish up some things and I'll join you, 'kay?" Quickly getting the trio's blessing, Kai left the room.

Without exchanging a single word, the three went to do their own thing, although it started with all three approaching the coffee table and the big couch. Tubbo grabbed one bowl and headed for the snack pile while the remaining two sat down, Tommy got out his phone and started connecting it to the speaker via Bluetooth and Ranboo turned on the party lights ball then went to turn on the gaming console. Tubbo's eyes lit up as he found a bag of Monster Munch, he quickly grabbed it and started filling the bowl.

"You got any popcorn?" Ranboo asked, earning a suspicious look from the blond next to him.

The shortest boy glanced at them then looked into the pile. "You want butter pops, right?"

"Mhm"

"Three"

"Nice"

Tommy made a choking noise, cringing in disgust. "No."

They glanced at him. "I'm not forcing you to do anything, y'know?"

"You're a childhood ruiner"

Tubbo snickered, dimming the lights as he walked back to them. The taller brunet scooted over so that he could sit in-between him and Tommy, for easy snack access. Soon Megalovania started playing. The two gave the youngest a look, Tommy snickered to himself before he changing it.

Not too long after, Kai came back, waving a hand with a familiar device with a smile. "Got my sister's blessing to use her Nintendo"

Tommy perked up. "Oh my Gods, Mario Kart pogchamp!" Tubbo gave him a disappointed look, gulping down a fistfull of Monster Munch. "Ran, turn that off, right now!"

"I barely turned it on..."

"Fuck that! We're playing Mario Kart!" Giving him a nasty look, Ranboo followed the order.

The four played Mario Kart, killing the time while waiting for other guests to arrive.

Cole arrived first (well, technically second and practically fourth), carrying a bag with four beer cans and a bottle of lemon flavored vodka. Tommy facepalmed, "How come I didn't think of that?"

"Oh, we have a second one in the fridge" Kai said, filling a bowl with salsa chips while Cole put the containment of his bag into the fridge to cool them off.

"How much alcohol do you have?" Ranboo asked, now growing concerned they were gonna be left as the only sober person who had to deal with the mess.

"That, plus whiskey. Only me and Cole really drink, Jay and my sister only drink occasionally and it's usually drinks, hence the flavored vodka"

"You can make drinks with practically every alcohol" Tubbo argued, staring at his Monster Munch bowl, questioning whether or not he should try looking for more.

"I thought the whole point of drinks was to make it sweet" Tommy reflected the statement.

"I agree" 

Tubbo glared at the taller brunet. "You have no voice here! Also, lemon vodka is sour, not sweet"

"Sour candy exists" Tommy quipped.

"Dark chocolate exists!"

"Yeah, but it was made by a psychopath!"

"It's the only true chocolate!!"

"What about the other two?" Ranboo asked the secret heroes, partially because he was curious and partially because he wanted to end the argument.

"Zane doesn't like drinking" The three shared a look as Kai answered. Of course they don't, they're a fucking android! "And Lloyd just doesn't want to" The secret ninja shrugged.

"That's cool and all, but can we get back to the game?" The blond asked, motioning at the paused game. "I know y'all afraid to lose, but c'mon! Don't deprive me of my victory!" Everyone laughed at his theatrics, all while he sulked, really wanting to continue (and win) the game.

Tommy ended up second, Ranboo beating him at the very last second. Even with their mask on and the dimmed lights he could see a smug smirk on their face. "Die."

‘Sooo mature’

"Respectfully" The blond added quickly at the comment, everyone laughed at him. "This is the worst party I had in my life..."

"It barely even started!" The red ninja exclaimed, sounding hurt by the statement. He didn't get to start an argument about this as his doorbell ringed. Mumbling something under his breath, he went to greet another one of his friends. "My party's dying" He deadpanned at the teen, not even saying 'hi', or letting him say it. The rest of the party, except for Tommy, snort.

Jay hesitantly stepped inside, heading right to see everyone else. The group raised their hands and cheerily exclaimed, "Hi!" Only Tommy was less enthusiastic and stayed in his sulking position, arms crossed as he mumbled said greeting with the rest. Jay awkwardly waved back before looking at Kai, waiting for him to elaborate. 

The brunet shook his head, seemingly defeated, and pointed at the small bag in the ginger head's hand. "What's that?"

"Oh! I, um..." He turned, looking at the Bench Trio and catching Tommy's attention, making him stop sulking right then and there. "I got you three gifts. I wanted to get Tommy something for the help, and then I thought it would be pretty awkward if I didn't get you two something, so, um..." He chuckled, scratching his neck, then walked over to the three and handed them the bag, looking away. "Here you go..."

They looked at each other in disbelief and reached into the bag, each pulling out a hand sized color-coded box with their names on it – Tommy pulled out a blue box with Ranboo's name written in silver, Tubbo got a red box with Tommy's name, and Ranboo got Tubbo's green box. They quickly swapped boxes and admired them before checking the insides. Each of them had a bracelet with a crystal charm, Tommy got a red star, Tubbo a green circle/disc, and Ranboo a blue diamond (which amused him to no end), each bracelet also had two crystal beads with the other two colors.

"Are those...?" Tommy started, picking the bracelet to fully see it.

"...Friendship Bracelets?" Tubbo ended for him, looking up at the secret Blue Ninja.

Jay looked away with a small nervous smile. "Yeah..."

"These look expensive" Ranboo noted. Cole and Kai suppressed a laugh and the ginger boy blushed a little.

"They were made on request... So, yeah, they were pretty expensive..."

"Jay's parents are rich" Cole explained before anyone could feel guilty (or before Tommy offered to give him the money back in triple). "They're famous actors, and they are the best of the best"

"They are" Jay agreed with a sigh, "I just wish they would be around more often..." He slumped down next to the secret Black Ninja, looking at the table with a shitton of empty bowls with sad eyes. Everyone stayed silent, frowning. Cole placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry 'bout that"

"Don't be. The party's dead anyway" Kai joked, taking a seat on his other side. He placed a hand on his other shoulder, "No, but seriously, never apologize for being vulnerable"

"These—" Tommy started, showing off the bracelet, now placed on his right wrist. "—are the poggest, man"

"My husband's right. For once" Tubbo chimed in, earning a glare from the blond. "You up for Mario Kart?"

Jay shrugged. "Sure"

"I'm in!" Cole quickly jumped in, wanting a turn.

"I'm winning this one!" Tommy declared with newfound confidence. Ranboo shook his head, smiling to themself as they grabbed the now empty bowl with Monster Munch crumbs and went to fill it with something new.

Somehow, Tommy ended up third, losing to Cole on the second place and Jay on the first. He sulked all over, now twice as badly (if not more), while Tubbo and Kai struggled to catch their breaths laughing; Ranboo observed the situation in quiet, sipping on their strawberry soda. "Weak-ass party..." The blond mumbled under his breath, hand reaching for the chips bowl so he can shove a fistfull into his mouth angrily. Cole let out a laugh while Jay looked away, smiling awkwardly, feeling guilty in a way. 

The doorbell ringed, Kai tried composing himself before he went to open it, letting Zane in. The secret White Ninja followed their teammate back to the couch. He looked at Tommy, slightly concerned. "Is something wrong, Tommy?"

He huffed. "Yes."

Tubbo chuckled. "He lost at Mario Kart. Two times"

"At least I beat your sorry ass two times!!" The blond immediately snapped at him, his husband only laughed harder, making him even more annoyed.

Zane blinked slowly, probably processing the information (in their case quite literally). They looked down, noting the three bracelets, they smiled noticing the colour pattern. "Nice Friendship Bracelets"

"I know, right? Jay got them for us" Tubbo explained, shooting the ginger head a grateful look, silently thanking him again. 

Ranboo finished their drink, they fixed the mask on their face as the slowly got up to throw away the empty bottle. The other two eyed him. "That was quick" Tommy pointed out, both impressed and confused.

The tallest brunet shrugged. "Anyone want anything form the kitchen?"

Cole raised his hand. "Can we get that beer? General question" The last part was added as he looked at the host.

Kai gave it a second. "Sure. I'm sure Lloyd wouldn't mind" He joined the other standing brunet and the two went to get first alcohol of the night.

"Got any Monster Munches?" Tubbo called out, turning to the two and now sitting with his back towards the TV. He watched as Ranboo stopped in his track, turning to the snack pile and searching through it. After a moment he got out one last bag. The shortest brunet extending both arms and made a 'gimme' motion. Ranboo threw the bag across the room, it landed on the floor. Without a single complaint, Tubbo jumped over the couch to get his treasure, smiling widely.

"And they call me the child" Tommy muttered, quickly getting a glare and a light punch to the side. "Dick"

The next few minutes were (surprisingly) calm. Tommy, Tubbo, Kai and Cole drank their beers while the others got themselves whatever was standing on the counter, they all talked and munched on their chips. 

About 15 minutes after the party officially started, the bell ringed. Kai put his can on the coffee table (now there was some place due to at least three bowls being used and either sitting on someone's lap, or placed on the couch) and went to open the door. "It's a boys night out!" He screamed unhappily, making everyone turn their heads to look in his direction, even though a wall blocked their view.

"Yeah, well, I don't see you inviting your actual cousin over" 

Tommy froze. No.

Tubbo snickered at him.

There was going to be murder on this party.

Lloyd sighed, annoyed as his adopted sister stood right next to him. "I really tried my best to stop her from coming here..."

"Is Tommy drinking?"

"NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS!!" Tommy instantly screamed at the top of his lungs, angrily glaring at the entrance in the kitchen. 

Soon enough the white haired girl slipped past Kai and walked into the room, giving the blue eyed blond a stern look. "Listen, as long as you and I share the same boss, I'm not leaving you unsupervised"

"She's not my boss!!" Rumi only raised a brow and walked to them to take a seat not too far from him. "The fuck are you doing?"

"Sitting down"

Tommy suppressed a growl. "Can you not do this in my personal bubble?"

"I'm not even touching you"

"You're still in my bubble!" He did growl.

The two standing ninja exchanged looks before sighing and joining the rest, turning the lights off completely along the way. Kai tried ignoring the girl's presence and picked up his halfway empty can. Rumi glanced in his direction and reached over to snatch the can out of his hand before he could take another sip. The teen blinked in surprise, then glared at the girl, "Hey, what the fuck!?"

"You're not 18 yet" She simply said before taking a sip herself, much to everyone's bewilderment. Tommy quickly shielded his can, leaning as far away from her as he possibly could before he was glued to his husband.

"You do realize I already had half of it?" The Fire Ninja raised a brow but the girl only shrugged, not giving a single fuck. "Okay, that's just gross"

"That's not what I heard from Sky"

Kai blinked, getting flustered which caused his cheeks to grow warm (now he was really fucking glad he turned off the lights). "Y-you talked with Sky?" Rumi only smirked at him. 

"Who's Sky?" Ranboo asked, as politely as one could.

"Kai's FWB"

"NO!!" The teen screamed, giving the girl a death glare while she laughed. "She's... my crush..."

"Is it 'girl talk' moment? If so, count me out" Tubbo muttered. Ranboo right on his trail.

"Second that"

Cole laughed and shook his head. "We wouldn't have much to talk about then"

"'Boy talk' then?" Tommy offered, earning a look from his shorter friend.

"It's a gamble either way" Kai admitted, crossing his arms. "Nobody's here really dating. At least to my knowledge" He glanced at the trio and the girl sipping his beer before giving Jay a meaningful look, causing the boy to shrink in his seat. "Me and Cole have crushes. And I think it's pretty safe to say we all dated someone at some point. Well, except for Zane and Lloyd"

"I am in the process of starting a relationship" The secret White Ninja chirped in. "Pixal's been busy lately, helping Tommy and his friends"

The two brunets looked at their blond friend while he himself had a realization. "Shit. Sorry, mate! We didn't know…"

Zane smiled at him. "It's quite okay. The process is rather slow"

"So, what's your deal?" Tubbo shot to the secret Black Ninja, suddenly this conversation became really interesting.

Cole looked away, scratching his head as his smile became a little bit sheepish. "There's this guy from school, Geo. We have a few classes together. We're both... awkward..."

Tommy snort. "You? Awkward? I can't even imagine that"

"Yeah" Rumi agreed, reaching into one of her pockets and getting out her phone.

"Don't stalk him!" The boy immediately screamed, his face growing red.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not stalking if the information is public" The Bench Trio let out an amused snort at that comment.

"How would you like it if I looked up Emma?"

She stopped, furrowing her brows in confusion. "We broke up ages ago…"

"You do this with everyone?" Ranboo asked, shifting her attention and getting a ‘are you fucking serious?’ look from his besties.

Harumi looked up at them. "Pretty much. Why?"

The masked teen glanced at his friends. "How come you haven't figured out the ninja's identities then?" All secret heroes froze, looking at him with wide eyes. He decided to play dumb, "What?"

"Ehh, too much effort" The girl shrugged it off, getting back to looking up Cole's future boyfriend. "Tommy, you're up"

He blinked, caught off guard. "Huh?"

"He's married" Kai deadpanned, still being baffled by that fact.

"I was forced!" Tubbo quickly announced.

"Both me and my Hubby are single" Tommy answered, smiling proudly as he threw an arm around his bestie's shoulder. Tubbo pushed him away, glaring daggers. "But yeah, legally, we are married"

"He's straight" Ranboo quipped, making Tommy give him an unamused look.

"Bi curious" He corrected, earning a look from Tubbo. "Anyway, you three—" He turned to the two newest guests and Zane. "We are playing Mario Kart. I don't take no for an answer!"

Tubbo snort. "He lost two times"

"SHUT UP!!"

The topic was abandoned at that, leaving the three remaining boys with their 'secrets'.

***

Tommy (finally) ended up winning. He jumped to his feet, throwing his hands up in victory and smiled widely, "HA! Checkmate, atheist!!"

"Gentlemen, he did it" Tubbo said, in a slightly condescending voice. Tommy ignored him and continued celebrating his victory.

"Gimme a fucking glass. I'm joining in on this joy ride" He straight up jumped over the couch, quickly heading for the kitchen to look through cupboards for a glass. Fuck paper cups, he was a winner!

With a glass in hand, he run back to the group, jumped over the backseat to reclaim his spot and made a 'gimmie' motion at Kai and Cole. They laughed and the former handed him the flavored vodka they had opened not too long ago. Harumi gave him a look, "You're gonna drink it like that?"

Tommy shot her a glare. "You're drinking too!"

"But I'm not raw doggin' it!!" 

Tubbo burst out laughing, a few others stopped themselves before joining him. Tommy blinked, then snort, then facepalmed. He took a breath to compose himself. "Well, I'm a Big Man, and I'm not scared of anything!" He exclaimed, slowly pouring the alcohol into his glass.

"Technically, the tournament is not over yet. All the winners should play against each other now to establish which one is the ultimate winner" Ranboo pointed out, earning a glare from his blond friend.

"But if Tommy ends up fourth he'll throw a pissy tantrum" The girl deadpanned, as if it was facts, which is wasn't!

He glared at her. "Do you ever shut up?"

"No" Lloyd answered before his sister could, Kai nodded with approval to this. She glared at the both of them.

"You would though" Tubbo commented, giggling to himself.

Tommy sulked, finally getting a sip from his glass. He cringed, making his husband laugh all over again. "'Kay, maybe I could use some coke thrown in there..."

‘Please do. I don't want you to get totally wasted this early on’

He huffed, slightly offended, and took another sip, cringing yet again. Tubbo snort, "Pussy"

"You're the pussy here! You mixed it with orange juice of all things!!" Tommy snapped back at him, taking yet another sip angrily. Yes, he cringed this time too, even though he tried his best not to. It truly was good, just really fucking sour.

"Drink half of it, then add something" The tallest brunet advised. Tommy only glared at them.

"You're not my dad!"

Ranboo deadpanned at him. "If you add anything now it'll overflow"

"Oh yeah..." Tommy stared at his glass for a moment, then quickly started drinking the liquid like a dehydrated person drinks their water.

"No, not that—!" Ranboo quickly called out, but it was already too late, the glass became half empty in a matter of seconds. He facepalmed. "...fast..."

Rumi stared at him, questioning whether he was stupid or stupid while he cringed at the taste. "...We are not giving you more"

"I feel like I just drank acid..." He complained, sounding as if he was about to either cough or vomit.

"Jesus, Toms, that was SO stupid" Tubbo admitted, looking at him both impressed and worried. 

Tommy put his glass down, instead grabbing another bowl from the coffee table and normally walking around the couch. Placing the bowl on the counter, he picked the first bag that landed in his hands and emptied it into the bowl. When it was filled, he grabbed a bottle of coke and walked with the two things back. He poured some of the sweet liquid into his glass and left it for the time being. Two chips soon landed in his mouth.

It burned. 

He let out a soft sob at the pain and all eyes turned to him. "Tommy?" Ranboo started, concerned.

Tubbo eyed the chips and took one. He cringed, feeling fire spreading on his tongue. "...It's spicy"

The masked teen facepalmed. "My God... Tommy, you never mix spicy food and alcohol"

"I didn't know it was spicy!"

Intrigued, in a way, Rumi reached over and also grabbed a chip. She coughed, blinking rapidly at the pain. "This could be used as a torture method..."

"It can't be that bad…" Kai muttered, having to get up to have a teste. He furrowed his brows but otherwise didn't seem too bothered.

Following everyone's example, Cole also got up to get one. His eyebrows went up, but he didn't seem to mind the tingly feeling at all. "It's pretty good"

Tommy and Rumi gaped at him in shock. "You're a psychopath" The blond said, cleaning the remains of tears that threatened to spill from his eye due to the pain in his throat.

The secret ninja shrugged, taking the bowl of fire from him, the Fire Ninja exchanging it for their halfway eaten bowl with, hopefully, regular, non-spicy chips. Tommy eyed it, distrustful. Deciding he didn't want another painful surprise, he pushed the bowl away from him.

"Let's have that last mach"

***

As the night progressed, it became irrelevant whether Tommy reached the first place or he fell all the way down. The title of the Ultimate Winner got assigned to Jay, but most forgot all about it after they started taking turns playing Mario Party. The first bottle of flavored vodka got finished up and the second was already halfway done, with Jay having one drink. 

The forbidden Chips of Pain passed around from hands to hands like a game of tag, instead it was a matter of how long you can withstand the burning in your throat before giving up; score points were assigned after the third run. Tommy eventually gave in and started trusting chips again, but the Bowl of Edible Pain, slid under his hand by Tubbo at one point, made him lose that trust tenfold.

"Can we do karaoke?" The shortest teen asked, getting a lot of excitement from everyone.

"We can go to Dareth's karaoke place" Kai quickly picked up.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea" Zane cut in gently, they got a bunch of disappointed looks from basically everyone.

"Why not?" Tommy asked, being the most bumped, with Tubbo right after him.

"It's night and most of you are drunk" Ranboo deadpanned, then gave his husband-in-law a look, "And with your abilities, I wouldn't be surprised if you somehow got lost"

The blue eyed blond, crossed his arms with a pout. "'M not a child..."

"Everythin's awesome..." Tubbo started singing quietly, deciding to ignore the conversation at the same moment karaoke got canceled.

"We can do karaoke here" Lloyd proposed.

"Not the same..." The girl muttered, taking another sip from her drink.

"Agreed..." Tommy sulked, slowly sliding down against the couch to practically lay on Tubbo's side. The brunet glanced at him unhappily but didn't say nor did anything to stop him.

"Ranboo's right, guys" Jay joined in, being 98% on the sober side. "It's not safe. Especially for Tommy"

The mentioned blond jumped up, but remained seated. "I'm no' a child, damnit!!"

"No, no, he has a point..." Rumi started, squinting her eyes as she thought. She vaguely pointed at the masked teen, "An' he's too. If Tommy gets fuckin' lost he'll get jumped on by that shitty cult. Did cha know he is hunted down by a motherfuckin' cult?"

"Yuuuuupp" Cole answered blankly, kind of deadpanning her before he realized what she had said. "Wait, you know 'bout that?"

"Mhmm. He's made it pretty obvious"

"Ah, nuh-uh. You just happened to stand there's when..." He trailed off, doing some wild gestures with his hands but not looking like he was going to finish the sentence.

Tubbo snort at him. "Yep. That's a perfectly coherent sentence right there"

"I think it's enough, Tommy" Ranboo said, looking at his friend with concern.

Rumi extended a hand towards him. "Gimme" He glared at her, leaning back to protect his drink until he bumped into Tubbo.

The other blond gave her a stern look. "You had enough too" The girl scoffed, flipping her hair and turning away. Lloyd turned to Kai, visibly unhappy, "I'm not babying her. If she's too drunk to go home, it's your problem" Kai looked at him as if the blond had betrayed him.

The two husbands stared at him in disbelief. "Daaaaaamn"

"I can assist her home" Zane offered, first looking at Lloyd then at Harumi.

Harumi snapped her fingers pointing at the secretly android teen. "Now that's respect!" She said, giving practically everyone a look, but mostly her brother, who rolled his eyes at her.

"Who gives a shit 'bout respect? I wanna do karaoke!" Tubbo complained, pushing Tommy off of him while the other groaned in disagreement.

Ranboo gave him a stern, mother hen look. "You're being a hypocrite right now"

The shorter brunet furrowed his brows, slowly turning his head to look at them. "How so?"

"You're throwing a fit"

"…….Shit"

Tommy started laughing, Cole shook his head and Kai snort, slowly going through the motions of accessing the internet on the big TV screen.

"So, uh, no disrespect, bro, but I've been wonderin'... What's up with that mask?" Rumi asked, vaguely pointing at Ranboo's face and slowly taking another sip.

"Oh... I get uncomfortable looking at my face for too long, and when other people do. And it helps with anxiety, in a way. I used to wear sunglasses too"

There was a moment of silence as the girl slowly processed the information. She turned away, seemingly guilty. "Damn, now I feel like shit for askin'..."

"It's fine. I'm actually surprised nobody asked about it earlier" They assured, smiling with their eyes.

"Mm. Since we're bringing in the big Qs" Tommy picked up, turning to the girl and staring at her. There was a moment of silence, but as she opened her mouth to urge him to continue, he spoke on his own accord, "What happened to Zip? I haven't seen him since I left your guys' abode"

Tubbo gave him a look. "Who the fuck says abode in that context?" Tommy completely ignored him.

"Oh, he's doin' just fine. I don't take him out since, well," She shrugged, pausing for a second. "One, he's a spider, and two, people react ten times worse when they see 'im than when it's only me or my bro alone"

Tommy pondered over the response for a second. He shrugged, "Makes sense" He drank the remaining liquid from his glass and stood up, confusing everyone. "Imma head out"

"What? Why? Where???" Ranboo quickly got to their feet, ready to follow the teen.

The blond rolled his eyes and shook his head, which wasn't the best idea since everything felt fuzzy already. He ignored the slight uncomfortable feeling as he answered, "To get some fucking air. Duh"

"I'm going with you" The mask teen quickly announced, giving him a look to show they wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Me too" Rumi joined in, slowly placing her almost empty cup and getting up.

Lloyd sighed. "Then so am I"

The girl glared at her brother. "I can handle myself"

"You're drunk" He simply deadpanned, giving her the same look Ranboo gave Tommy.

The blue eyed blond groaned in annoyance at the shitshow, aka. the two Garmadons engaging in a staring contest. He rolled his eyes and headed for the glass door leading into the backyard, Ranboo hot on his tail. Seeing them leave, Lloyd ignored his sister and followed them. Harumi growled, also going after them.

"You're not gonna throw up, are you?" Ranboo asked concerned, putting a hand on the blond's shoulder. Tommy slowly shook his head. "Good. But if something's happening tell us, okay?"

"Ran..." He whined. Maybe it was the alcohol, but he was getting really fucking tired of being treated like a baby by everyone!

"Hey, you'd do the same for me" Tommy huffed, looking away as he felt his cheeks warm up. Ranboo smiled at him. After a few second, they glanced at the siblings and turned their back to them, earning curious looks. They removed the mask and took a deep breath, releasing it in a sigh. "You know what? This was actually a good idea"

"Hmph. All my ideas are great!" The blue eyed blond crossed his arms, yet again huffing like a little kid. 

They all stated silent for a moment, enjoying the light breeze of fresh air and the night sky, adored by tiny white specks sprinkles all over it. Soon some music was blasted from inside the house; Tubbo, Kai and Cole's voices screaming the lyrics (and at each other) making the four chuckle.

Tommy frowned with a sigh. "We're suck cockblocks..."

All heads whipped in his direction.

"Dude, what?—" Lloyd asked flatly, making a face. He could barely finish speaking before his sister burst out laughing, bending in half as she held her stomach, making him glance at her in concern.

Ranboo stared at his bestie flabbergasted. "I— Uh— ...Why????"

Tommy hummed. "Y'know, we stopped Zane from getting laid" Rumi started laughing even harder, almost falling down if it wasn't for her brother's help.

The tall-ass brunet let out a flabbergasted noise. "I don't even think that's—" They got cut off.

"What if they have, like... like have...." Tommy squinted his eyes, feeling too fuzzy to think properly and not being able to find the word he was looking for. "Like that one sickness when they cough out petals and shit?" The two sober people gave him looks filled with confusion, the girl was too busy wiping tears from her eyes and calming down, now having giggling fits.

"...You mean Hanahaki?" Ranboo asked hesitantly. What even was happening right now?

"Yeah, that one!"

The older teen placed a hand on their face, not being able to handle this anymore. "Just because people here have superpowers doesn't mean they're gonna start coughing up flowers, Tommy..."

"But what if???" He asked, sounding genuinely concern now. Ranboo sighed, he fixed the mask onto his face and glanced at the other two (mainly at Lloyd) for help.

Harumi snort. "If it were real, I would've already been dead since 'm allergic to pollen. ‘Specially flower pollen"

"Oh…" The girl snort again, this time at the expression Tommy was making. "Well, either way, it's not poggers!"

"So what're you thinking?" The brunet asked, sounding just so done with him.

"Double date!" He cheered, as if he was just handed the main prize in a contest, then he looked up, eyebrows draw together in confusion, "Uhhhh, triple date...?" He paused, thinking for a hot second before looking at the trio in search for help, "What's after triple?"

Ranboo sighed again. "Quadruple"

"Really????"

"Yes, really" They deadpanned, giving him a look of annoyance. If Tommy saw, he chose to ignore it. "And that doesn't explain much"

"Oh, y'know" Tommy raised his right hand, then his left and then smacked them together with a soft 'clap', he then separated them and did jazz hands with a big, open mouth grin.

"I'm afraid I don't know..."

As the masked teen was staring his friend down, Lloyd glanced at his sister, raising a brow in question. Rumi frowned, "What?"

"You're the same level of chaos, so I was hoping you'd translate" The girl glared at him but the other sober teen snorted in amusement.

"Quaduple date. We set up all the guys with their crushes and  o b s e r v e" Tommy finally elaborated, weirdly accenting the last word and making his voice lower. His bestie stared at him, flabbergasted.

"You should lay down..."

"NOOOOOO—"

***

Tommy did ended up laying down, but only after coming back and having a sing-off with other drunkies. Unfortunately for him, Tubbo managed to fill the whole ninja team in on (perhaps) his greatest embarrassment – Jump In the Cadillac (aka. That's What I like by Bruno Mars), which fucking sucks coz Tommy used to love this song!

But alas, it was finally peaceful. Sure, the party didn't end right then and there when Ranboo dragged the blond upstairs (having gained Kai's permission to use his room as the 'battlefield'), and it didn't end for quite some time after that, leading to few misfortune events.... Buuuuut it eventually died down. 

Tubbo, Cole and Harumi ended sprayed out all across the couch (and floor) being in the blissful state that is being more asleep than awake but still 'registering' shit. Or they would if they weren't drunk.

Kai somehow managed to stop himself from joining them, being able to say farewell to the other three as they left before slowly, like, reeeeeally slow, texting his sister and asking for permission to sleep in her room (for some reason his drunk-self decided his own bed was now Tommy's since the boy was already sleeping there). He did get her permission, and a promise to get his ass kicked had he (Gods forbid) puked in there at any point.

As for the remaining three – Lloyd kept the end of his promise, Zane did not; the two left with Jay, walking the slightly tipsy teen home. Zane then walked the blond home, just to be sure nobody tried anything stupid.

Ranboo walked out of Kai's room in search of said teen so he could get some place to sleep on his own. Luckily, Kai was already at the stop of the stairs at this point, one hand at the wall for support. "Hey," The taller brunet called out, the other slowly looked up at them. "I was just looking for you"

"Mhm?" Kai leaned against the wall, god he was so tired.

"Do you have any spare mattresses or something? Even a blanket would do, really"

"Uhhhh... Ther' should be so'thing in my parents' roooo..." He yawned, leaning even more against the wall.

"Okay, thanks" There was a pause, neither of them moved. Ranboo eyed the younger teen up and down, biting his lip in concern, "Um... Do you need help?"

"Hm? Oh. Kinda..." He let out a sheepish laugh, scratching his neck. The masked brunet quickly walked to his side and slowly helped him into his sister's room. Kai mumbled a quiet 'Thanks' as they reached the bed.

Ranboo waved at the teen, left the room and quickly made his way to the master bedroom. They glanced at the bed, part of them itched to check the secret stash where their and Tommy's vigilante costumes were hidden. He shook his head and went for the closet instead. As suspected, apart from clothes he also found a bunch of sheets, covers and a few blankets. They picked two and started to make their way back.

A loud THUD stopped them dead in their tracks, the sound of slamming doors making them jump and their head whipped towards the stairs.

Someone just came inside...

And they weren't the sneakiest about it either.

All fear that the loud bang had caused him was quickly replaced with deep worry once he registered the sound crying and hard breathing. Wasting no time, he threw the blankets on the floor, just outside Kai's room, and quickly run downstairs.

"Maya?"

The woman looked up at them; her eyes red and filled with pain, her face wet from tears and twisted in deep sorrow. She tried wiping her tears away, but they just got replaced with fresh ones as she shook, needing to lean against the wall just like her son just a few moments ago.

Ranboo was quickly at her side, not really knowing how to react and choosing to just panic for the time being. "What happened!? Where's Ray???" Whatever they just did, it was apparently bad as the woman sobbed even harder, now struggling to catch her breath. "M-miss!! H-hey, I— I-I-I don't k-know what's happening, but you need to breath, o-okay? Just breath

...p-please?"