Chapter Text
In all fairness, Tommy hadn’t really meant to make a fool of the three.
He was just getting adjusted to being a vigilante, committing crimes when he wanted to, stopping them other times.
He pushed through the crowd, it annoyed him slightly, he pondered as to why there was a large crowd, He bumped into someone, their wings flaring in a defensive position.
“Sorry!” Tommy called back to them, spitting it out in a hurry before he pushed his way to the front of the crowd, where police officers stood in front of barriers, their tall stature being credited to their hybrid features.
That’s when he came across the sight of the infamous Antartartic Empire, the villain team that consisted of The Blade and the Angel of Death and the famous solo-hero, Siren.
Normally their fights kept far away from the public, with one side, usually the losing one, paying for damages; but sometimes they’d fight in the middle of the street. Causing the police to set up barriers and evacuate people.
The three were locked in battle, as per usual, but they were also in the way of where Tommy needed to go.
Usually, when they were fighting, citizens were notified to avoid the area and recommended different routes to travel, his former foster parents always told him to stay away from these areas. Tommy soured at the thought, pursing his lips. They were gone now. Tommy thought to himself bitterly.
Tommy wasn’t a citizen now, he was a vigilante. His former foster parents put him back in the system anyway, so why should he listen to what they had told him if they were liars who didn’t keep their promise?
So, he made his first mistake of the evening, slipping unnoticed into an alleyway and beginning to move up the building. Pulling his hood over his head, covering his raccoon ears and blonde hair, scaling the building he planned to arrive at the rooftop.
The battle seemed intense, Tommy winced as Siren got tossed into a wall, from where he was, he heard the gasps of citizens and the cry of pain from Siren, watching as he didn’t move for a minute before getting back up and back into the fight, he really doesn’t understand how Heroes just recover from that, surely they must have some awful back pain?
That couldn’t be Tommy, ever, he wouldn’t fail like that and he was too cool for back pain. Sucks to be Siren though.
He moved across the rooftops swiftly, keeping his eye on the fight, making sure he wouldn’t get caught in it, remaining mostly successful until he got to the last rooftop.
There, The Angel of Death landed on the rooftop in front of him, wings fluttering slightly behind him, resting and catching his breath before he looked around and he locked eyes with Tommy.
He felt oddly aware of how fucked this was, he’s absolutely fucked if he can’t get away.
This was the worst staring competition of his life, Tommy patted his sweaty palms dry on his pants, keeping his gaze on the villain beside him. They were silent for a minute before Tommy spoke up, his voice quivering slightly.
“You blinked, I win, can I get past you now or?” Tommy blurted out, running on adrenaline, slowly scrambling to get up, eyes darting around.
“What the fuck are you on about- Who even are you?” Birdman (as Tommy decided to call him) sounded bewildered, his confused voice taking on a deeper pitch, Tommy inhaled shakily, his knees weak as he got up, heart plummeting as he yelled suddenly, voice scratchy.
“Well okay, fuck you too then!” He didn’t give Birdman any time to react, before he slammed into him, knocking him off the roof, Tommy nearly fell.
Birdman let out a startled yell as he fell, flapping his wings in a slight panic, before hovering and regaining his focus, cursing to himself quietly, Tommy had yelped and wobbled, as he was regaining his balance he felt gazes on him, holding his breath.
Oh shit, maybe he shouldn’t have done that. Lesson learned, don’t knock villains off the roof.
There was a moment’s pause before Birdman darted back upwards and Tommy took off, hearing, after a moment, footsteps behind him, one set sounded lighter and the other sounded heavier.
He jumped to the other rooftop, going in a sprint to get away, ducking and dodging when Birdman tried to swoop and grab him, he wanted to jump to another rooftop but was unfortunately stopped by another person, causing him to abruptly stop.
“Where you goin’? Who are you?” a deeper male voice asked, he recognized as the acclaimed hero Siren, he inhaled sharply at that. His tone lilted with more urgency and annoyance than birdman.
Tommy rolled his eyes, trying to keep his facade of confidence on the surface. who the fuck did he think he was talking to? He thought quietly to himself, Siren needs to have some respect.
“I am a bigger man than you, and that’s all you need to know dickhead.” Tommy said hurriedly, laughing at his own statement before catching his breath, looking behind him and biting his lip to hide the abashed grin at the fury on Siren’s face, before ducking as the man tried to grab him and leaping off the building, sliding down before running through the street.
Tommy got a little further down the street before his arm was grabbed and he was pulled towards The Blade, he was looking directly at the man’s mask, which showed his anger through the slits in his eyes.
“I don’t know who you think you are, but you’re going to tell me or else.” The threat was obvious, Tommy analysed his situation before an easy way out hit him.
“I don’t think I will!” Tommy said cockily, his smile growing. The Blade’s anger grew at his words, but he never got the chance to speak, as Tommy bit down on an exposed part of his arm. Hard. causing him to let go of his arm.
“You- You little shit!” The Blade called out, holding his arm as Tommy ran away.
Once he was a distance away, Tommy turned to face Siren, Birdman and The Blade, this was his second mistake, although he didn’t know it, as what he said next enraged the three.
“I’m the Biggest Man you three will ever meet, later dickheads!” He laughed boastfully at their angry yells and ran quickly.
They attempted to follow, but Tommy ducked skillfully, skirting around buildings, before finally catching his breath in an alleyway before freeing his tail, removing his shitty mask, stuffing it into his pocket and pulling his hood down, returning home.
-
Now, he was a normal citizen, he was Tommy now, not the Tommy that pissed off villains and heroes, No, he was the Tommy who had friends and had homework he needed to do...
Tommy had a mix of feelings, he was delighted that he had managed to get away, he was worried about the effect that would have, considering how mad they looked and the more he walked, the more he realised he ached. Jumping off a building wasn’t the best idea, he thought to himself, but it was a little late to be realising that.
He walked back to “The Home”, the place where kids like him, the ones in the system or waiting to be adopted stayed, He looked around absentmindedly, not really taking in the sights as exhaustion crept into his bones, running away from three people is tiring, more tiring than the pacer test he had last Friday, he decided in his head.
As he approached the Home, he looked at it. It was a big building admittedly, but it looked run down from the outside, however, once you step inside, it was clearly lived in and well taken care of, though it was loud, as kids ran about and played in the rooms.
Tommy sighed to himself, taking his shoes and jacket off, hanging it up and greeting a few people as he walked up to his room, it was bland, but they let him have a few things, like the old records he had found in the trash and the cow plush he had kept by his side since he was ten, affectionately named Henry.
The Home wasn’t a bad place, the kids were okay, albeit very loud at points, loud enough that Tommy’s ears hurt and the people taking care of them were actually decent people, it’s just that Tommy didn’t want to be in the system but then again, That was the case for most of them, wasn’t it?
He sighed and sat at his desk, opening his school bag and pulling out homework, sorting through it and grinning slightly when he saw his English homework.
Tommy wasn’t bad at school, he just didn’t want to be there, so he slacked off and caused trouble in classes, but his favourite class however was English, and it was all because of the teacher.
His English teacher was so cool, first of all, he didn’t go by his last name, so everybody called him by his first name, Techno.
He would let you eat in class, he didn’t mind if the work was late, he listened to concerns and sometimes, he would just let them watch movies. Techno was the coolest teacher in the school.
That’s why Tommy behaved in his class, he did his homework, he turned work in on time, he actually tried in the class after all, why bother such a cool teacher?
With those thoughts out of the way, he decided to get started on his English homework, as it was the only one he felt motivated enough to do after the events of today.
An hour later, he had nearly completed it, humming one of Wilbur Soot’s new songs, when one of the younger kids ran in, tugging him excitedly to the main room, insisting there was something he had to see.
Tommy nearly fainted when he realised what was on screen, but kept his composure and listened in, sitting with the other kids.
Tommy held in a gasp when he realised the blurry image on the screen was him, taken when he jumped off the building, by the looks of it. “-only an hour ago, a mysterious man appeared during one of the Antarctic Empire and Siren’s conflicts, He seemingly managed to get away from the three, he’s rumoured to have walked away unharmed, but it isn’t confirmed... The reports are calling him Big Man-” The woman on the screen went on, Tommy nearly snorted when he heard what they were calling him.
The kids around him began talking, way too loudly for Tommy, as his ears began to hurt, thankfully, the carers told them it was time to settle down, so he retreated to his room, calling out goodnight to the others, finishing off his English work and putting it back in his bag carefully before getting ready for bed.
As he tucked himself in, he wondered what his next adventure as Big Man would be and as he drifted off to sleep, he wondered what he’d be doing in English class tomorrow.
Let’s dial it back, however, to just after Tommy had run away from the three.
They had searched for a while, trying to find the person who had made a fool of the three of them, before they saw the News report.
“I swear to God, the second I get my hands on that brat - He made an absolute fool of us and now everyone knows!” Siren stomped his foot angrily, embarrassment written on the parts of his face not covered by his masquerade mask.
“I get it but are you really gonna find him on your own?” The Angel of Death spoke, crossing his arms and sighing, He looked irritated, though that was putting his mood lightly.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You couldn’t catch him either, last I checked, he threw you off the building with a bodyslam!” Siren glared at The Angel of Death, who returned the expression with the same amount of ‘oh my god this bitch’ in his expression.
“Look, quit fightin’ we’re gonna get nowhere with this.” Techno sighed to himself, running his hands through his hair, “We’re not gonna find him like this.”
“You’re right Blade… huh, Can you handle a temporary alliance Siren or is it too much for you?” The Angel of Death had a slightly condescending tone to his voice as if he was talking to a child.
“I- you know what, I cannot be assed, fine. The second we find the little shit I’m going right back to kicking your ass.” Siren sighed, defeated, before checking his watch.
“Okay, that wasn’t so hard.” Techno knew that was a complete lie, they would have argued all day if they could have, “Meet at the coffee shop over there at like twelve pm tomorrow? Sort out what we’re doing?” Techno gestured to the aforementioned coffee shop.
He nearly sighed in relief when they both agreed, Siren a little more eagerly than Phil, then they headed their separate ways with a rushed goodbye, considering none of them wanted to spend more time there than they already had.
Techno unlocked the door to his house, he had taken off his gear into an alleyway to ensure he wouldn’t be recognised on the way home and as he stepped inside, slipping his shoes off, he went hunting for the cases for the gear, setting a reminder to polish them after work.
Speaking of work his phone alarm went off, reminding him to plan for his classes the next day and he groaned. Techno didn’t hate the classes, but planning for them were a pain, especially considering the low pay he got as a teacher.
He sighed and got to work, organising the materials he would need for his classes and checking which students were in the classes.
Now, teachers weren’t supposed to have favourites, but Techno definitely had a few, Tommy was one of them.
Tommy was a smart kid, he just didn’t show it by not putting effort into classes, but Tommy must have liked his classes, as the work he got from the kid was nothing but excellent.
He has other favourites, of course, Ranboo and a few other kids, but Tommy was in his class first thing, he thinks he’ll let them watch a movie. It’s a Monday morning after all, who doesn’t hate Mondays?
He packs a DVD into his bag alongside his planner and the work he needs before heading up to bed, exhausted by the chase from earlier he didn’t bother to change, collapsing on the bed and getting comfy.
As he slowly fell asleep, he wondered who that person was, why was he even there? He didn’t get to speculate, as he fell asleep.
Tomorrow is another day.