Chapter Text
January 15th, 2021
There’s a first time for everything, they say. But this- this was surprisingly not the first time Tommy had been jumped. But it was the first time Tommy had been jumped by supposed friends.
Tommy walked down the alleyway, the rain patting on the roofs around him. Tommy was trying to get home quickly, as Fundy was probably waiting for him to get home. This was gonna be a really intense storm, and Tommy wasn’t trying to get caught in the crossfire. He knew walking around alone in an alley was something risky, but it would be fine just this once-
A pipe connecting to a nearby building bent in front of him, blocking him from walking any further. He turned around immediately, finding another pipe had bent over- blocking him in. His heart skipped a beat, as feet hit the ground behind him, and a figure approached. His heart sank.
He turned around, finding short pink hair, darting blue eyes, some kind of cat ears, an assortment of daggers that hung across her chest- Nemesis.
A faint smile crept across his face before he realized that she didn’t seem too happy to see him. “Niki?” He asked, gripping onto his bag. He wondered why- why was she angry? Was she angry? The last time he checked, he and Niki got off on the right foot and said goodbye to each other.
A hollow sound of feet hitting the pipe behind him scared Tommy as he whipped around, finding Cyborg smiling at him. Red and blue lens glasses, buzzcut, a horrifying look in his eyes. “Been a while… huh..” Tommy hadn’t seen the two since- well it had only been a month or so, but it felt like forever. The same confusing thing with Jack- why was he angry? What the actual fuck?
“Tommy.” Nemesis snapped, staring him down. Tommy exhaled, as he reached into his bag- finding nothing.
Fuck.
“Uh.. hi..?” Tommy asked, backing away. Cyborg shoved him back in front of Nemesis as she pulled a dagger from the belt that laid across her chest. “Hey- I uh..” Tommy looked around, finding nothing around him and no way to escape.
“Give us one reason why we shouldn’t turn you in right now.” Nemesis flipped the dagger around in her hand as Tommy inhaled, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Well you’re no different than me,” Tommy drawled, looking down. He put his hands in his pockets. If he tried hard enough, he could probably sneak out of the situation. “You’re a vigilante too.”
“Niki and Jack aren’t. They’re innocent civilians on the streets finding a vicious vigilante, ready to attack.” Cyborg added, Tommy’s heart skipping a beat yet again.
“Uh.. right, well, right now I’m Tommy. I’m not Theseus, I’m Tommy. No one would believe two people off the street that say some poor seventeen year old is the ex-hero Theseus.” Nemesis raised an eyebrow, as Tommy quickly lost the attitude he’d built up.
“Right. I forgot you were a smartass, Tommy.” Nemesis shifted her attention to Cyborg, as he wrapped an arm around Tommy’s shoulders and swept his legs out from under him.
“Get off!” Tommy shouted, struggling against Cyborg’s hold. He flailed and kicked, but Jack wouldn’t let go of him.
“You won’t live on the streets if you run your mouth like that.” Nemesis muttered, carelessly tossing another dagger to Cyborg. Tommy looked around one final time for any form of escape, but again found nothing. His brain was running at a million miles per minute, panic filling his veins and sadness wrapping around his heart. “Please,” Tommy begged. “Don’t hurt me Niki,” His breath was so quick he felt like he could’ve thrown up.
A form of sympathy flashed in Nemesis’ eyes, before she sighed. “If you’re lucky, you won’t wake up to see what we’ll do to you next.”
Cyborg threw Tommy onto his back, and within a split second he felt harsh pains along his torso and face. Tommy tried to block, but he couldn’t do much. Everything became very blurry and unclear quickly, and he was only able to see a figure crouch down and violently plant something into his abdomen, which he could only assume was a dagger. He howled in pain as the rain poured onto the three, “No brothers to save you this time, huh? No Wil? Where’d they go Tommy?” Cyborg taunted.
“Cy,” Nemesis began, looking at the end of the alleyway. He stopped stomping on Tommy’s already bruised body and turned to the end of the alley with Nemesis. “Oh,” He muttered. “Great,” Cyborg finished.
“What do you want?” Nemesis asked, taking a dagger from the belt. For a moment there was nothing but the rain that downpoured onto the nearby buildings and figures. In a split second, a figure appeared behind Nemesis and Cyborg, shoving them away from Tommy. The figure gathered Tommy in their arms, and suddenly they were somewhere else.
Tommy opened his eyes, finding they were in a different alley, and now he was leaning against a dumpster. “Hey,” The figure said gently. “Are you awake?” They asked. Tommy blinked, finding a guy crouched down in front of him. He had a mask and some kind of glasses on, along with red and green eyes. His hair and skin was white and black, and Tommy recognized him as a new vigilante in the area- Eclipse.
Tommy attempted to cover his bleeding wound, “I’m awake.. Sadly,” He managed.
“Hey, are you bleeding?” Eclipse asked.
Tommy deadpanned slightly, “I was just jumped by two of the most dangerous vigilantes.. I’m pretty sure I’m bleeding man,” Tommy removed his hand, finding his hand already covered in blood. He grimaced.
“Uh.. alright, let’s head to a hospital.” Eclipse broke a smile, wrapping Tommy’s arm around his shoulders.
“Nono.. anything but that,” Tommy attempted to drag his arm away from Eclipse but the stubborn newbie continued.
“Where do you want me to take you then?” He asked.
Tommy sighed, “Just take me to my apartment. My roommate will have to deal with this.”
Eclipse grimaced, “Are you sure you should let someone unprofessional deal with your wound?” He asked.
“Yeah, I’d say he’s pretty trained. My nephew knows a little bit about it too, I’ll live. This isn’t the worst I’ve been.” Tommy quickly reached into his bag, finding his wallet missing. Tommy groaned, “Great, they stole my wallet too. Real classy, dicks!” Tommy shouted.
Eclipse looked as if he expected the duo to appear again, but Tommy knew they wouldn’t. He knew how they functioned. If a plan went wrong they'd blame themselves and each other and then plan again. They’d do it until they got it right, and for now Tommy was safe. “Where’s your apartment?” Eclipse asked.
“Uh.. it was just by that alley. Well- past it. I was close to home when those fuckers jumped me.” Tommy gritted his teeth, the side effects of a stab wound starting to get to him quicker than desired.
“Right,” Tommy blinked again, and suddenly they were at the end of the alley, Nemesis and Cyborg long gone and the pipes still bent. His stomach churned.
“What the fuck is your power? Teleportation or something?” Tommy questioned.
Eclipse cocked their head, “Yes actually. I think it’s pretty cool,” He chimed.
Tommy rolled his eyes, “I’ll watch out for you on the news. The cops are gonna have a fucking ball trying to catch you, huh?”
Eclipse hummed, “I didn’t think about that actually. That’ll be fun.”
The two walked two blocks down, before they found themselves standing in front of Tommy’s apartment building. “I think this is as far as I can go without getting the police called on me. Can you make it up there yourself?” Eclipse asked. Tommy considered it for a moment.
Well no, I’m kinda bleeding out here and it would be nice if you could teleport me to my fucking apartment, but yes. I’ll be fine.
So there Tommy was, on a Wednesday night, trudging up the stairs to his apartment building, and unlocking the door to his apartment, bleeding out.
Tommy took a step in, and immediately passed out. It took a lot to scare the members of the complicated household, but this scared the shit out of the other two.
-
Hours later Tommy would wake up to his nephew hovering over him, and his torso bandaged up.
“Tommy!” Fundy exclaimed, clinging onto his uncle. Fundy had lived with Tommy and Tubbo since that lovely thing with Wilbur happened, and Tommy wasn’t against it. Tommy really liked his clever smug bastard of a nephew, and became close to the now 13 turning 14 year old. Fundy was given to Tommy after he was the only next of kin that was alive and trusted, and since Tubbo had a lot of money it didn’t dent their bills at all.
Speaking of Tubbo, Tommy noticed a disapproving figure glaring at him and he embraced Fundy and quickly realized this was his roommate. “Tommy fucking Innit,” Tubbo growled. Fundy sat up immediately, staring at the two with mock fear in his eyes. Tommy knew part of it was amusment. Tommy cracked a smile, “Tubbo,”
“Explain to me why on fucking earth you came home last night absolutely smothered in blood and passed out?” Tubbo leaned forward, his arms crossed. “Well, it’s actually a kinda funny story-”
“Kinda funny !?” Tubbo exclaimed. “Tommy- you came home and your cardigan was completely covered in blood! Your bag was half empty, and your chest and face was scattered with bruises and cuts! What the fuck happened?” Tubbo's face turned completely sympathetic, just a bit confused.
Tommy exhaled, “Well I was walking home, and Cyborg and Nemesis had very few kind things to say to me and beat me up in an alleyway and that new vigilante had to save me! It wasn’t my fault this time Tubbo! I’m honestly pretty proud of myself,” Tommy smiled.
“Niki?” Fundy immediately seemed disappointed, his shoulders falling and he began to fidget with his hands. He didn’t like to hear bad things about someone he’d call his best friend.
“Fundy, me and Tommy need to talk, can you leave for a minute?” Tubbo didn’t even look at Fundy, he continued to stare at Tommy.
Fundy sadly slid off of Tommy’s bed, and left the room with a click.
Tubbo took Fundy’s spot quickly as Tommy prepared himself for his roommate to maybe yell a little. Tommy knew that Tubbo cared about him, but sometimes Tubbo had a hard time getting his emotions through. Tubbo really cared. Tommy was the only person still there for Tubbo, and Tubbo did not want to let him go.
“You said Nemesis and Cyborg, right?” Tubbo asked softly.
Tommy nodded.
“What the fuck could Nemesis and Cyborg possibly want with you? You haven’t been all that active in months! Just patrols and stopping robberies, what could they want with you?” Tubbo asked. Tubbo paused for a moment, “You gave a vigilante our address?”
Tommy grimaced, “Uh.. yeah, probably wasn’t the brightest on my part. But look, I was bleeding out and very confused-” and then Tubbo sighed deeply.
"You gave a vigilante our address?" Tubbo asked slowly.
"Maybe."
Tubbo sighed. "Who was it?"
"Eclipse, this newer vigilante. He was really sweet."
"I'll beg him not to dox us. I have a long patrol tomorrow. I'll probably find them."
Then came a knock at the door, “Can I come back in yet?” Fundy asked.
Tommy and Tubbo chuckled at each other, before calling the kid in.