Chapter Text
"I actually wanted to be a photographer, had a tiny camera too," Tommy reminisces, the past distant and fuzzy. He had been pretty young at the time, not able to remember the fine details of that particular memory. "I would take pictures of everything I saw!"
"Then, my old man called me a worthless piece of garbage!" He violently shakes the gun in his hand, the man sitting tied up in front of him trying to crawl away from it, muffled screams spilling out from his taped-shut mouth. "Can you believe it? My own father..." Tommy wipes a non-existing tear out of his mask, sniffling.
"That's how I became a villain, stole his power, and killed him right there with it!" Tommy giggles, his voice a little deeper than usual because of the voice changer in his mask, shaking the gun around as the people sitting on the ground watch with horrified faces.
Tommy's giggles came to a stop after a while, suddenly falling silent. He had been in this bank for a while now, waiting. He had stuffed as much cash as he could into his backpack, double-checking with the nice receptionist lady to make sure she had called the police. She had burst out crying after a second of Tommy asking her too many questions, so he had felt a little bad and left her alone. Later he had tried to play with the power he had stolen from a random man in the bank, the ice forming in his hand freezing and sharp. Tommy had stopped after it got uncomfortable.
It was starting to get boring now, with no heroes bursting into the building to rescue the civilians inside the bank. Tommy was starting to run out of stories to tell his new friends, the crowd hard to please. None of them had laughed at the joke he made about Warden, which had scratched at his mighty ego a bit.
He lays down on the bank's floor now, staring at the ceiling for an idea. He didn't want to kill anybody right now. Killing a civilian wouldn't bring a hero sooner and it wasn't really a fun thing when Tommy didn't have another villain with him to laugh along to. Blood was hard to wash off and Tommy hated throwing out his clothes when there were only a few drops of blood staining them just because normal people would freak out.
Society and its fucked up standards, man.
Tommy thinks real hard about it, trying to bring up any interesting and fun events in his life. Sixteen years of life didn't give him many stories to tell, Tommy realizes rather quickly. There is that one time Jester had fallen off a stairs once, but telling that one might ruin his reputation, which Tommy knew is a big no-no. He could bring up his amazing museum heist, but there hadn't been any real action, he had simply hauled an art piece on his shoulder and had left through the back door.
Huh. Tommy is leading a pretty boring life for a supervillain.
"Well, there was this one time I robbed a zoo," That had to be pretty interesting, right? "Got me a spider out of it. I wanted to keep the jaguar but my roommates would freak out so I had to-" his rambling is cut short by a crash coming from the door, a man with a boar mask standing on the rubble and smoke, his red cape fluttering in the wind.
Blood God.
Tommy grins at the man before him, rising from his sitting position to start his stretches. It's not like he is stiff, but a bit of preparation has never hurt anyone. The one before him is also a worthy opponent, one Tommy loves tormenting.
Blood God has a reputation worthy of a hero his standing, he is one of the most popular heroes, number four in hero rankings. He is a built man with long pink hair, a sword always hanging from his belt. Tommy is far too familiar with him by now, meeting the man several times since his early debut into the scene of crime and law. He has the power of controlling blood, hence the name, with the condition of needing to touch the person once to be able to take control of their bodies.
Blood God is a scary hero with a powerful talent, yet most villains tended to underestimate him because of the conditions around his power, thinking they could evade his touch while fighting him. Many of those dumb villains had been caught because of their overconfidence in themselves, Blood God easily able to take control of their body using their fruitless trust in their abilities.
Not Tommy though.
The way their powers work made it impossible to take control of Tommy's body, his power able to activate immediately to fight against the hero's and over-rule it instantly. If Blood God tried to take control over the villain it would backfire, poorly.
The man had learned this the hard way when he had tried to touch Tommy during their first meeting, the hero trying to grab his arm to activate his power and assume control over the situation. That struggle had ended quickly, Blood God on his knees as the city watched their beloved young hero from their TV screens; helpless and under Tommy's non-existent mercy.
That day had been saved by Crow Father swooping in, distracting Tommy enough for Blood God to retreat to safety.
Tommy had got beaten up by Crow Father pretty badly, the man who usually protected his calm nature no matter the enemy unnaturally furious as he cornered Tommy that day. Tommy didn't like to think about it, but there had been a small amount of fear inside his mind, wondering if that day would be his last. Thankfully, he was able to get away, Crow Father not following him to finish the job.
Now as Blood God looks around for him, Tommy made the decision of being a good sport. He could fire the gun at the hero but that would mean an easy win. Which wouldn't do since the news only showed the fun stuff, the fights that went on for longer and that got one decent footage from an unflatering angle. And Tommy needed all the media coverage he could get for his ultimate goal to proceed further.
So he got up, twirling the gun around his fingers and tilting his head up to show Blood God his grin under the moth-like designed mask.
Blood God takes his sword out from its sheath, holding it towards Tommy. The man takes a fighting stance, making sure that all of his skin is covered up and protected from Tommy's grabby hands with the red cloth of his cape and the netherite armor.
Honestly, pretty smart decision.
Tommy slowly makes his way over towards the taller man, both of them starting to move, making circles around the middle of the room. It quickly dawns on Tommy that Blood God is trying to lure him away from the shivering people on the floor, the hero not wanting any harm done to the civilians.
Blood God didn't seem to plan on attacking, his blade making sure Tommy is a comfortable distance away. No jazz, no class, no action, no nothing! That just wouldn't do.
Tommy raises his gun, shooting toward Blood God's legs as the man ducks and rolls away, trying to get behind Tommy. Tommy is fast enough to get out of the sword's way, Blood God swinging it with the intention to kill. Some of his curls aren't as lucky as he is, the few stray strands flying in front of his eyes.
"What the- I didn't ask for a haircut, asshole!" He shouts, Blood God ignoring his words and lunging like a wild animal.
Tommy runs away, keeping his back to the wall. As Blood God pounces again, Tommy forms an ice spike in his hand with the power he had stolen from that random man, waiting. When the hero gets close enough, he throws it, grazing Blood God's arm.
Red leaks, covering the ground they are standing on. Blood God isn't affected by his bleeding arm, sparing it a glance before continuing his non-stop blows against Tommy.
Tommy avoids another swing when he hears the sirens, the police on their way. Tommy scoffs, immediately on guard. He doesn't actually want to leave, since there hadn't actually been any cameras to witness his awesomeness. But there is also no point in staying when the area would be surrounded by armed men in a matter of seconds. Even if he wins this fight, it would be torture to get away from the blue-clad men.
He turns his attention back to Blood God, pointing his gun at the man and firing. The hero doesn't need to evade the bullet, it intentionally misses him to hit a woman shivering on the floor in the stomach instead. She cries out, taking Blood God's attention away.
While the hero is distracted by the wailing woman Tommy runs out of the bank, freezing the entrance so the hero can't follow him and ducking into an alleyway and quickly getting away from the location.
Tommy slows down when he is a fair bit away, putting his backpack down to change. He pulls out a hoodie and a jacket hiding under all the hundred bills he had stuffed inside it earlier, pulling the moth mask off his face to quickly change out of his villain garbs and burying them in the money instead. He picks up the few fallen cash, stuffing them back inside the backpack as well.
Tommy makes his way out of the alleyway he used as a very open changing room, starting his walk back to his apartment with an acceptable pace. He ignores the police cars that drive pass him, thinking of what he should eat for the day. His roommates are probably home right now, coming back from their jobs-
Oh. Oh, no.
How is Tommy going to explain the few thousands of cash he acquired in a day? The ATM blew up? Some really rich guy was handing out money?
They know Tommy well enough to not buy the bullshit he says by now.
Tommy continues walking, trying to think of a solution to his problems. He can't throw the money out, he worked his ass off for that money, but he can't take it back home either without the risk of one of his roommates going through his bag. His bank account only lets him take and put cash in small amounts and Tommy doesn't really want to wait outside of a bank putting money inside a machine for hours. Fuck child safety lock.
Ranboo would freak out and give himself a heart attack, and Tubbo might skin him alive to get an answer if Tommy got caught with so much money on his person. Tommy is already on thin ice with Shroud, Tubbo was not happy that he had brought a venomous spider into their house as pet, beside all the horrified questions over how he had even acquired the animal.
As if some deity had heard his thoughts of despair, the answer to his solutions hit him right in the face.
Literally.
An atrociously bright yellow paper flies onto his face, covering his vision with an eye-burning color. Yuck.
Tommy grabs the paper, pulling it away from his face with a grimace, reading the neat handwriting on it. 'Bad's Waffle House up for sale, contact for more info :D' and a phone number is written in cursive, the yellow paper clenched tightly in Tommy's hands.
He looks up and there it is, across the street, 'Bad's Waffle House' stands proud, the same ugly yellow papers covering its windows. Tommy glances back at his own yellow paper.
How hard could it be to run a Waffle House?
Tommy walks across the street and enters the building, the bells on the door jingling as he takes his surroundings in. It is a cute place, with pink and orange colors covering the walls, posters of some popular films Tommy remembers watching with Tubbo and Ranboo during their movie nights hung on the walls next to some colorful paintings. The chairs and tables are a saturated blue and it hurts to even glance at them for more than a few minutes.
Tommy loves it.
There are boxes around, covering every surface of the place. He can make out a low voice talking, the voice muffled as it speaks. Tommy walks up to the counter, trying to see into the kitchen. He stands beside the bar stools, red.
"Hello? Is anybody here?" Tommy makes sure his voice is loud enough to be heard by the people in the back room. There is a bang sound as the mysterious person in the kitchen moves, a muffled 'Muffin!' said like a curse.
He is about to go in to make sure the guy is fine when a literal behemoth comes out of the back.
Tommy has seen lots of scary things, in a world where hybrids are common and superpowers exist it is normal to come across some fucked up shit. Hell, he lives with an enderman hybrid, he needed to help Ranboo brush his teeth. Both the outside and the 'inside' ones. He would say he isn't scared of shit after that experience.
But the guy before him might as well be the scariest being Tommy has ever seen. He needs to crouch down, his horns scraping the ceiling as he enters. He has no face, a black void with bright white dots functioning as eyes. There are wings on his back made out of the same black smoke his whole body is, flapping once and twice. A tail peaks out from behind him, almost as tall as Tommy himself. His claws are sharp, glistening in the light from the chandelier up above. He smiles at the sight of Tommy, his teeth coming into view.
The longest one is as big as Tommy's hand holy shit-
"Hi! I'm Bad, how can I help you?" Bad says, smiling down at Tommy.
For a guy like him, Tommy was expecting more of a darker, gruff voice. His voice is a lot nicer than Tommy would have imagined it to be.
Tommy slowly offers the paper in his hand to Bad, "I was wondering about the shop...?" he mumbles. Tommy knows to pick his fights well and he is not trying anything funny with this monster of a man.
"Ah," Bad gasps, looking him up and down skeptically. "Aren't you a little young to be buying a shop?"
Tommy puts his backpack on the counter, opening it up to show Bad the money inside, "I can pay in cash!"
Bad looks a bit disturbed, his void of a face doing a funny expression. "I don't know if this is legal-"
Okay, Tommy has to pull out the big guns. He makes sure to open his eyes as much as he can, pouting up at Bad. "I really wanted to have a Waffle House..."
Bad seems conflicted, looking around and trying to avoid Tommy's gaze. Tommy has to put his all then.
"Please?" He makes sure to tear up, catching Bad's white glowing eyes. The moment Bad looks at him he has already lost the fight, hook, line, and sinker.
"Okay, fine... Come inside to the office so we can talk about the money and the deliveries..."
Tommy whoops, closing the bag and following Bad into his office. They pass the kitchen and Tommy looks around, looking for the person Bad was talking to. There is nobody else in the building. Weird...
They get into Bad's office and talk for a few hours about how much Tommy has to pay and if Tommy wants to keep things around the building. Bad also asks him if he wants to keep getting deliveries, the shop getting batches of pre-made waffles every morning.
"I can't make that many waffles myself so I just order them and heat them." Bad explains when Tommy asks, and he is kinda disappointed about the fact that the giant before him doesn't make the waffles himself. Bad tells him he bakes the muffins, pointing to an apron that is a little too small for Bad. It is a pastel pink, with ruffles and bows sitting all prettily on it. Tommy hides his chuckles behind his hands, full-out laughing when Bad glares at him.
Tommy is able to leave after a few hours of talking, his bag having an owner certificate instead of all the cash he had acquired now. Nice.
He makes his way back home, buying a newspaper on his way to read as he walks. There isn't anything interesting, his robbery has not been written about yet. There is the part about some red vines being spotted across the city but Tommy passes that page fast, not interested in the new flora appearing around the city. Who cares about some dumb flowers anyway?
He enters his building, passes the out-of-order elevator, and climbs the stairs. Tommy finds his keys, hiding deep in his pocket. He digs them out, opening the door with a huff.
Tubbo is sitting on the couch, a machine Tommy has no idea the purpose of in front of him as his gloved hands fiddle with it. He salutes the brunette, throwing himself next to his friend. The news is on, and the lady on the TV talking about a bank robbery. His bank robbery.
"You came back later than usual, did something happen?" Tubbo asks without looking up from the machine he is working on. Tommy hums, taking the remote to change channels.
"I've got a job." He says.
Tubbo frowns, "How? Who in their right mind would even hire you?"
"Rude." Tommy laughs, "It's a Waffle House." He can't exactly say he owns the place now.
Tubbo nods, going back to his scrap of metals.
After a while Ranboo gets out of his room with a bedhead, saying hi to Tommy before crumbling onto the armchair. His arms touch the ground and his legs are bent weirdly, Tommy can't imagine it can be comfortable.
With Ranboo appearing they decide to start dinner, making some mac and cheese. It is a good day, Tommy happy to spend some time with his roommates, having verbal fights with Tubbo as Ranboo listens to them, jumping into the conversation occasionally to butt in and completely change the direction of the talk to something unrelated.
They are done all too quickly, Tommy yawning as they collect the dirty dishes. It's Tubbo's turn to wash the dishes, Tommy going into his room for some early sleep. He feeds Shroud first, giving the spider some scratches on his back as he eats. Shroud is big now, grown out of his baby phase. Tommy gives him a tiny goodnight kiss, going to his bed for some well-deserved sleep.
Tommy hears a door opening and closing, hushed whispers leaving the apartment as he loses consciousness.
__
Tommy wakes up to sunlight in his eyes, wincing as he gets up from his bed. There is a plate with cold eggs on the table when he finally stumbles into the kitchen, Tubbo's messy handwriting greeting him with a good morning and informing him the two other occupants of the house left for work a little early today.
Tommy eats his cold eggs, washes the plate and gets dressed, giving Shroud a wave as he leaves, walking towards the Waffle House.
He greets Bad as he enters, helping the man with boxing the few items the man wants to keep. There isn't much he wants to take with him, only a few sentimental items that his friends gifted him through the years. Tommy had offered to help the man yesterday, just so he could start his business a little bit earlier, happy to put everything nicely in a box for Bad to keep. They get everything done before the sun sets and Bad tells him he will get the rest of the boxes in the morning and Tommy can open the place up for business tomorrow.
Tommy leaves the place happily humming, ignoring Bad's muffled words as he leaves, walking back home again. He has some money left from the bank and he is now the owner of a Waffle House. Not exactly the villain lair people might expect but Tommy isn't exactly the villain people expect either.
After the bank robbery there are some news covering what happened, but the list of villains that Tommy is pretty much has been obsessed with for the past few years is not updated. Borrower, although he shot a woman and all that, is still stuck at the eleventh place. Tommy is not all that happy about it, considering he has a plan that needs to get moving.
Tommy, as the Borrower, will become the highest ranked villain of L'manberg, the number one villain that will surely rule all crime. A few more murders here and there, maybe some stealing to spice things up and he will be sitting all snug and comfy in the first place. Tommy couldn't wait.
Becoming the number one supervillain isn't an easy job, Tommy had been trying his damn hardest to rank higher for years now. He knew from the start that the bank robbery wouldn't push him into the first place all on it's own, but not moving an inch just felt like a slap to the face. Hell, maybe it is a way for those damned heroes to laugh at him, stomping on all his hard work-
An explosion sound cuts his angry daydreaming short, smoke rising into the sky from a few streets over.
Now, normally people would get away as far as they can from these kinds of stuff. Big explosions meant super fights and nobody wanted to be in the middle of those, villains were notorious and heroes usually didn't have the time to protect the civilians unlucky enough to find themselves in a fighting ground.
Well, everyone except Tommy of course.
Tommy runs straight into the fight, wanting to see who is fighting who. He couldn't exactly join in when he is dressed like a civilian, but that didn't mean Tommy is going to miss out on a fight.
And oh isn't that a glorious fight to see.
A hero group is fighting against the villain Jester -the number five on the villains' list Jester, Tommy's best buddy Jester, one of the coolest guys on earth Jester- and two vigilantes, Ender and Expulse were between them, holding both the three heroes and the villain back with their powers.
The explosions Tommy had seen from a distance were created by Expulse, the man with a metal ram mask who is able to create a short burst of flames with his hands. Tommy could see his hands, covered in burnmarks old and new, the man's body not made to have that kind of explosive power.
Beside him Ender is teleporting around, going through everything his opponents were throwing at him. Ender is an enderman hybrid as the public knew, his power letting him go through solid objects like a ghost.
The heroes were consisting of Comet, Magma, and Mako, the cocky bastard themselves. Cosmet has the power of creating illusions. She could create anything she imagines into a reality, however, her creations were easily destroyed with enough power if you were able to realize they were just illusions. She was a powerful and dangerous woman when people didn't realize she was there, lurking in the background. Tommy specifically found it creepy when her luminous antennas would twitch, somehow always able to pinpoint the direction he was hiding at.
Tommy had never been in a fight with her alone, the hero usually stayed in the background during fights. It was probably for the better, as Tommy wouldn't hesitate to grab that power if he got a chance.
Magma is a blaze hybrid, being able to create fireballs at will like all the other blaze hybrids around the globe that usually used their cool genetic power to have some killer barbecues. His power was far more interesting than his hybrid status, something about buffing his team. Tommy didn't exactly understand how it worked, but the hero had said that it was like playing a video game most of the time in an interview, saying that he could choose anybody close enough to him to boost their power.
Mako is a weirdo that Tommy despised. They had met before and Tommy had stolen their power and had hated every second of it.
Mako's power is that they could feel thoughts and intentions. They weren't a mind reader, they couldn't read every single thought someone thought of but they could make assumptions by the way the intentions were formed. It had hurt Tommy's head to contain that power, and he had collapsed due to the intensity of it, needing to let it go. He had felt the intentions of every single person around the city, no matter how much distance there was. Tommy have had a nasty headache for a week after that experience.
It is obvious Mako is using their power when they cut Ender's attack to their throat short, pushing the vigilante back as they predicted his every other move correctly, putting Ender in a rough position.
While the group of heroes and vigilantes were fighting like dogs, Jester flies circles around them all like a hungry vulture, throwing one of his cards whenever he sees an opening. Tommy tries to contain his excitement at the sight of the older, itching to go join him in taunting the heroes and vigilantes.
Jester has the power of Luck. When Tommy had met the man for the first time all those years ago, Jester had explained it was basically just a yes or no question. A gamble. If Jester used his powers to see if he would win a fight he would have a 50/50 chance. He either won it or lost it. Tommy didn't understand how that power could be beneficial but the duck hybrid had said it had saved his life many times.
Tommy continues to watch from a distance as the figures fought like their lives depended on it, wanting to see how the fight would come to a wrap. By the way all of them were gasping for air it should be ending any moment now.
When debris created by Comet gets too close to Expulse, Ender grabs his partner, leaving the scene with a 'vwoop', only purple particles confirming they were even there to begin with.
Jester, seeing the vigilantes leaving, flees too, taking off into the sky and leaving the heroes on the roof alone. Tommy leaves after that, not all that interested in the heroes now that the fight is done and over with. He speed-walks away from the scene, going back home without getting caught by the heroes for snooping where he shouldn't. The fun is over for him, no point in risking getting found and getting questioned for being suspicious.
When he gets home the shower is running and Ranboo is on the couch with a towel on his head, several bottles sitting in front of him. Tommy catches Ranboo's eyes, getting a pleading look from the older, begging for help. With a giggle he lets his bag drop to the ground, walking behind the couch to help Ranboo with his 'bath'.
Even after several generations, endermen hybrids were not very good with water, the liquid burning their skin and leaving a purplish rash behind. Instead of tormenting themselves with water to feel clean, new shampoos and body lotions were invented so people with hybrid counterparts who did not like water could go on a public bus without getting dirty looks. Tommy carefully runs the lotion covered towel through Ranboo's hair, making sure to not touch any skin.
"Pass me the shampoo." Tommy grabs the shampoo bottle from Ranboo's hand, making sure all of Ranboo's hair is coated. After he is done Tommy picks up a dry towel, making sure the black and white locks were dry and smelling like strawberries before letting Ranboo go.
"Thanks, Tommy." Ranboo runs his hands through his hair, trying to tame them back into place. It doesn't work, his hair staying puffy and defying gravity as though trying to spite God.
"No problem Boo."
The night goes on without a problem, Tubbo gets out of the shower a few minutes later as well. It is a perfectly normal night, nothing out of ordinary as the three teens laugh and joke around.
__
Turns out running a Waffle House is lots of fun.
Tommy is far better at making waffles than he thought he would be, heating them quickly and decorating them all pretty for his customers. He is having so much fun that he almost forgets that he is supposed to be a big bad guy.
Right, he needs to come up with something to rise on the list. Something bad, something devious. Well, he can think about his evil plan later, he needs to choose if he wants to use the heart sprinkles or the star sprinkles now. Such a tough choice.
Tommy works through the day, preparing waffles and choosing sprinkles until a few hours before closing time. It is when 'he' enters.
A man around his twenties, a brown coat on his shoulder and a red beanie covering his curls. His curly brown hair falls onto his eyes, round wire-framed glasses sitting low on his nose. Tommy can see two tiny tusks peeking out of the man's mouth, a piglin hybrid.
There is something about him that makes Tommy very, very angry.
"Hi! Can I get a waffle with chocolate sauce please?"
Ah. There is a reason. This bitch ordered plain chocolate on waffles. Not in Tommy's Waffle House. "We don't sell that here," Tommy says, nicely.
The man frowns, looking up at the menu behind Tommy's head.
"It is on the menu though..." He dares point his fingers at Tommy's menu.
Tommy looks the man straight in the eyes as he grabs a black marker, turning around without breaking eye contact and crossing the line out.
"We don't sell that here," Tommy repeats, nicely.
The piglin looks horrified, speechless as he stares at Tommy. Good.
"What would you like to order?" Tommy asks.
The brunette looks back up at the menu, trying to choose something quickly. "Uh- a Triple Banana Waffle?"
Tommy gives the man his brightest service smile, turning around to start preparing the waffle. "One Triple Banana Waffle coming right up!"
He makes the man his waffle, not asking if it will be a plate or to go, putting it in a box and giving it to the man without a bag. "Please come again!" He says, the man leaving stiffly out of the door, the bells jingling as he leaves.
Tommy rocks the service industry.
__
He is hungry and tired. It is a constant cycle, his stomach rumbling for some food and him shushing it with a shaky breath. The garbage has nothing edible most of the time and it is exhausting to run around the unfamiliar streets. He is sitting behind an alleyway, watching as people pass by in their winter clothes, warm and safe.
He wishes he could be warm and safe too.