Chapter Text
Terrible fortune: Tommy and Wilbur had lost the election to Schlatt due to him and Quackity teaming up. But… Tommy can't help but blame himself. He put votes in for Schlatt 2020 because Schlatt is his idol, but he didn't expect Schlatt to actually win.
That leads them to right now, Tommy and Wilbur being sent to sit in the audience, Schlatt blabbering about... whatever it was. Quackity glared down at them—well, not glared, but stared at them with a smirk—but it felt like he wasn't looking at Wilbur but just focused on Tommy.
“Now is the time to bring someone up. Come back up, Tommy!” Schlatt said into the microphone, which brought back Tommy's attention. Tommy looked at Wilbur, then started walking to the stage. There were a thousand different voices, all saying different things.
Things like “Oh my God! Schlatt said our name!” “Schlatt called us up!! I'm so happy!" “He said my name!” We were happy about Schlatt even saying his name and making him come up and stand next to him.
The others were anxious. They were a lot more reasonable: “Schlatt is a terrible man; he probably wants to kill us in front of everyone.” To sum up, Tommy didn't like either of these thought processes.
Tommy took a deep breath, and before he could process it, he was standing next to Schlatt in front of everyone. He still couldn't tell if he was anxious or happy.
Schlatt turned to Tommy and looked at him. “Tommy, I want you to tell your friend Tubbo and your brother Wilbur that they are exiled. I want to give them a head start, knowing how close you are with them.”
Did Schlatt say this to make Tommy feel better? Probably, but Tommy's brain was only stuck on the fact that Schlatt knew Tommy enough to know he was close with his brother and his best friend.
Tommy ran down and told Wilbur the news: “Wilbur, Schlatt told me to give you and Tubbo a head start; you've been exiled. I don't know why you need a head start or anything.” He spoke quickly, like there was no time left in the world.
Wilbur was shocked, but then looked at Tommy and asked, “Are you not exiled?” but he was cut off.
“My first order as president is to EXILE Tubbo and Wilbur from L'Manberg!” Schlatt didn't even use the microphone; he screamed it so everyone could hear.
Wilbur grabbed Tubbo's arm and sped off. People were firing arrows at them. Tommy couldn't look; he didn't want to think of his brother or best friend being shot.
Tommy looked in any other direction and met Schlatts eyes, then looked at Quackitys.
Schlatt went back to talking into the microphone, “Tommy, may you come back up here?”
Tommy went back on stage without complaining, only looking at Schlatt and Quackity, not daring to look back at the crowd.
“I've decided to make Tommy my right-hand man! How do you feel, Tommy?” Schlatt said into the microphone, He looked over to Tommy, giving him the stand.
The crowd looked surprised, even the people who apparently knew what was supposed to happen.
Tommys hands were sweating, but he spoke up nonetheless: “I'm... I can't tell if I'm feeling nervous or excited.” He said truthfully that it was like two sides of him were fighting at once.
“Don't worry Tommy, you'll do great.” Quackity said to Tommy, not into the microphone or anything, but just a helping hand.
Tommy didn't know if he should believe what they said or not.
The election had ended, and it was just Tommy and Schlatt discussing what to do with the country now. Quackity was also in the room, but he was too busy beating a level on candy crush.
Tommy sat upright in his chair, He still didn't know what he was feeling, so he decided to just focus on what schlatt was saying.
Schlatt was definitely speaking, swirling around a shot of vodka, “So, I was thinking of changing the name to manberg, cause we don't take L’s. Do either of you have an objection?”
Tommy spoke up, “I don't think we should change it, because... uhm, it's important to its history, and it'd be wrong to change it so soon.”
Schlatt raised an eyebrow. “Hmm, good point. Make slight changes so they don't realize it. I like how you think, Tommy.”
Tommy's hands were sweaty, but he didn't know why. “Thank you?”
Quackity chuckled and then screamed of joy. “I FINISHED LEVEL 824 OF CANDY CRUSH!! HOLY SHIT!! SCHLATT WANT TO MARRY ME??”
Tommy and Schlatt let out a slight laugh at that, with Schlatt laughing a little harder.
“Not right now, Quackity; maybe later, one step at a time, and one day at a time.” Schlatt said.
Quackity giggled, “Sorry, high-off emotions; that level was a pain in my ass.”
Tommy laughed at that, and so did Schlatt.
“It's been a long day; why not take a nap or something?” Schlatt said to Tommy, “You look exhausted.”
“Fair, I was probably going to take one after this.” Tommy rubbed his eyes and went back to his house, going to sleep.
The next day arrived, and around noon, Quackity, Schlatt, and Tommy met for another meeting, discussing how to change the flag.
Quackity spoke first: “So, I say we make the back black, have the circle whatever and the x in it still, but make it red.”
"I say we, uhm, change the colors a little, since most flags' colors have meanings. So we don't really change the history, like how with the Australia flag they have the, what is it, British flag on it, since they.” Tommy took a breath to help stop stuttering. "Australia kept the British flag to acknowledge the British settlement, despite now being, what's it, uhm, independent.”
Schlatt thought for a while, “Alright, that makes sense, so should we change it or make slight alterations?”
They all thought for a while.
“Hold on, what did the original colors mean?" Quackity asked.
“The blue stripe stands for freedom and liberty. The white stripe stands for peace. The red stripe commemorates the blood that was spilled while fighting for our independence. The yellow and black accents are to denote the walls of L'Manberg." Tommy proudly stated:.
"Hmm, okay, I say we remove the black and yellow since we don't have walls.” Schlatt states.
“There's, like, a lot of flags with blue, red, and white. That's why the American, Canadian, and British flags stand out a lot, despite having pretty basic colors when it comes to flags, they make design that sticks out, the Americans have 50 states, so they have 50 stars, the Canadians have a literal leaf, and the British have a weird ass whatever they have, its so weird it sticks out.” Quackity explained.
"We could also change the colors a little bit too, and change how it's designed.” Tommy threw in.
“Ugh, you guys are nerds; I'm on the edge of killing myself." Schlatt scoffed.
“EDGE? Edging? You're edging yourself?" Quackity said way too quickly, practically speaking over Schlatt.
“What does edging mean?" Tommy asked.
Schlatt and Quackity awkwardly looked at each other and said, “No.” They said in sync.
“Okay then." Tommy smiled innocently.
“Anyways, I say we change the blue to purple, because purple is prettier." Quackity said.
“Purple does mean royalty and wealth, on and off flags." Tommy explained.
“NERD ALERT!!! NERD!!!" Quackity yelled at Tommy.
Schlatt chuckled. "Hey, his nerdiness is helping us.”
Tommy smiled at Schlatt, defending him.
“Nerdiness is not allowed; you should know that." Quackity joked.
Schlatt joined in, “Wow, fun hater."
“SHUT UP!! I'm the alpha 😈😈😈" Quackity smiled and started laughing.
Schlatt and Tommy cringed at that.
“Aren't we redesigning the flag?” Schlatt asked
Tommy spoke, "Yeah, we are. Let's make something up and call it good; how about shapes?”
“Be more specific, like how many shapes?" Quackity suggested.
Tommy spoke, "How about 5 white stars, remembering the original members, Eret, Me, Tubbo, Wilbur, and fundy. And they form an X because there were originally X’s on the original flag?”
"That sounds good enough.” Schlatt shrugged, and so did Quackity
Fundy was sent to burn down the flag, while most of the SMP watched, either in horror or in joy.
Tommy watched it from afar, standing next to Quackity, who had his arms around his shoulder. Realizing that seeing his old flag being burned upset him, he turned Tommy around and started walking in another direction, talking about gambling.
“Big Q, is it bad that I feel bad about being in Schlatt's cabinet, or whatever it's called?” Tommy asked, nervous. Looking at Quackity, who sighed.
Quackity thought for a while, then responded. “No, it's in your right to feel bad. Wilbur was your brother, and Tubbo is your best friend, so you would feel bad not being on their side of a war. You didn't really have a choice, now that I think about it.”
Quackity stopped talking, looking at Tommy as if asking to continue, which he did after Tommy nodded. “Though I'm not mad that Schlatt chose you as a right hand, It's hard to explain, but he is an addict. I don't know if you noticed or not, but he threw out all the drugs in the office. When I asked him about it, he responded saying, “I can't disappoint my biggest fan.” Then he chuckled, shooing me out right after.”
When Quackity said that last part, he got a little flustered. ”Oh, so he knew I was a fan of his?” He asked very quietly, in a shy way.
Quackity chuckled. “I mean, it's not a big secret. You get nervous when he's around, like you'll embarrass yourself if you mess up.”
Tommy sighed, knowing Quackity was right. He still smiled nonetheless, blushing a bit, which Quackity noticed. “Aw, are you embarrassed right now?”
Tommy blushed further, covering his face. “Shut up!” Quackity just laughed but didn't say anything else, heading back to the office and meeting with Schlatt once more.