Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It was as if pure power was going through his blood. 

It was loud and overwhelming and making him feel like he was floating in a big pool with the water rushing into his ears and making him unable to really focus on where he was in space– 

He felt– There was something moving beneath his skin and it would probably barf from it if it weren’t for the fact that he felt like his whole body was currently on fire, holy shit– 

A scream left his throat, he was aware enough to realize that, but that was the best he could comprehend at that moment as his knees gave out and he fell onto the hard ground, his hands scraping against the stone as he desperately tried to stop himself from falling onto his face. 

Or at least that’s what he was pretty sure he was doing, as with how loud everything seemed to be, he couldn't really focus.

He heard other screams– screams of people he knew, that was for sure, just who– 

“Red, I’m coming!” 

Tommy’s eyes widened. 

He managed to move his head (managed to be aware, more like–) to look to the direction of the voice and saw Phil running towards him, his wings raised as if to scare the opponent, which he shouldn’t do, he was injured– 

Another scream was ripped out of him when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and hauled him up roughly, making everything spin. He managed to see a blur of pink and red ( Techno…?) stand right in front of him with his shoulders tense and hands clenched into fists. 

Then an arm wrapped around his throat in a chokehold and  he felt something cold, like metal, press to his temple and suddenly he understood why Techno wasn’t moving. 

“Now…” he heard Schlatt’s voice as if through a fog, a very thick fog. “I would advise nobody move now, or the guy gets a bullet through the brain.” 

The whole battlefield (could he even call it that?) was quiet then – no more fighting, no more screaming or the sounds of weapons crashing together – erie silent. 

Something was still up with Tommy’s skin, as if ants were crawling all over him but worse. It was making it hard to think, hard to focus on anything even when he really fucking wanted to, he was in a middle of a fight goddamnit– 

A grunt slipped past his tightly shut lips, one that he’s been trying his damn hardest to stop, but the feeling of uncomfortableness was beginning to turn to straight up painful, and he really tried not to show, really tried to be quiet– 

But he was starting to slip. 

“Oho,” Schlatt chuckled. “Looks like it’s working.” 

“What did you do?” Techno asked with venom dripping of every word (Tommy didn’t think he’d ever heard the man so angry). “What did you do?!” 

Tommy finally managed to fully open his eyes. Everything felt too bright, too sharp, as if he was looking through some busted glasses, making his head start to hurt on top of everything. 

But then he finally and properly saw what was going on all around him. 

Like he first thought, Techno was right in front of them, just a few feet back, and almost vibrating with rage. His clothes were dirty and his hair was a mess, but those red eyes were only trained at them two– or more at Schlatt, really, and for the first time Tommy was actually happy his idol wasn’t focused on him. 

The once beautiful and happy park was almost fully gone now– everything was covered in ash and dirt, trees overturned with the roots sticking out, almost framing the great crater and making it seem like some sort of tornado went through the area. (Maybe it kinda did, with how powerful the attack was, tornado seemed like the calmer option.) 

Rose was lying somewhere in the debris, Totem God was down, but Minx was still out there, though he could only see her trying to keep standing as she swayed on her feet. They could probably take her down if they tried a bit more, but he knew he was hopeless at that moment. 

A little further away he could see Phil. He was shaking slightly as he held his injured wing with a hand so that it wouldn’t touch the ground. His eyes weren’t on Tommy though, not even on Schlatt– He was currently staring daggers into Quackity who was aiming another gun at him, although he didn’t look like he was really trying too hard, as his grip didn’t look that strong and his body was quite relaxed. 

As if he didn’t have anything to worry about anything anymore. 

(Tommy didn’t like the implications of that.) 

Schlatt laughed, which only made Techno even more mad. 

“You don’t have to worry about that,” he chuckled, sounding less and less sane with every second that passed. “By the time we’re done, I’m sure you’ll have other stuff to focus on.” 

Tommy managed to find enough strength in himself to move, to try to wiggle his way out, but it was futile. Whatever was happening with his body has just decided to become stronger– It wasn’t just a weird feeling anymore, it was actually starting to hurt, and hurt badly. 

This time he didn’t even try as a scream left him at the same time his legs gave out, the pain blinding him and making his ears ring and– 

Something was happening with his skin, something was fucking piercing it from the INSIDE– 

He screamed again, but this time he was silenced quickly with a blow to the side of his head. 

So as if the effect of whatever was in that dart wasn’t enough, he was now double disoriented and in pain thanks to being fucking hit in the head, what even is his life– 

“Don’t touch him!” Techno’s voice came from behind the fog. 

“Or what?” Schlatt asked mockingly. “You take a step closer and he’s dead. Or even better, we can just kill the Angel and be done with you all, the choice is yours!” 

Techno turned then, just barely but enough for him to see Quackity tilt his head slightly as he raised the gun a bit higher to point right at Phil’s face. Tommy would like to see Phil’s reaction, to see Techno’s reaction, but he couldn't. His body felt like it was on fire and now he was a hundred percent sure that there was something coming out of his face what the fuck– 

And then, he exploded. 

Okay, wait– Maybe not really, but that was how it felt like at first. 

It happened in the span of a second– First with him feeling his powers kinda boil inside of him and rise to the top, an amount of pure energy that he’s never had the chance to experience, to even think about. 

He didn’t even have the time to try and stop it, not that he was really in a good enough state to be coherent enough for that, and before he knew it all that energy was being let out. 

It was scary to see; The blast left his body with such speed that nobody really had the time to react, they could only see the red wave of electricity coming their way before they were all swept off their feet. 

Techno was the first one to get hit, the wave throwing him back until he hit the group a dozen feet away or so. Then it was Quackity and Phil, both of them being thrown back, though with a bit less power, but still enough to have them be taken out of the main war zone. 

Tommy’s ears were ringing again. 

And then, he heard cackling from behind him. Schlatt, not affected at all by the blast, seemed to be having a blast (hah). 

“Oh, this is perfect,” he chuckled, more talking to himself than Tommy (and he couldn't really blame him, as he was barely able to comprehend what was happening). “That’s one way to get rid of those fucks.” 

And then Tommy was being dragged away, his legs dragging on the ground as he was still unable to properly stand. He tried to scream, tried to fight it, but he was hopeless as Schlatt dragged him away. Towards the hole that the explosion made. 

He didn’t like where it was going. 

Before he knew it, he was being thrown onto the ground, barely managing to catch himself with his hands on the… tiles??? before his face hit them. He tried to maybe try to get up, to at least try to fight back, but a boot pressing itself hard against his spine quickly put an end to it. 

He heard frantic footsteps coming from above (he was apparently underground now…) and he managed to turn his head just in time to see the form of Techno appear at the entrance of the hole he was now in before it fucking closed. He didn’t know what to call those (a trapdoor?? a diagonal door?), but he knew that suddenly there were huge metal plates that closed the entrance. 

And now it was just the two of them. 

Fuck. 

Even if he could instantly hear someone heavily banging on the closed doors, he couldn’t really pay it much attention as he was hauled up again by Schlatt and then dragged deeper into the darkness. 

Whatever was happening with his body has now calmed down somehow; or at least he didn’t feel like pulling his skin off anymore, but he could still feel something buzzing under his skin – at that point he didn’t know if it was the effects of the– the poison (?) or his powers– 

And just then, his body forced itself to release another wave of electricity, making him grind his teeth. His eyes were wide open in a mix of shock and pain, which allowed him to see how it seemed to rocked the world around him. 

But it didn’t phase Schlatt at all, obviously, and the man just continued dragging him to wherever he was dragging him. 

Tommy. though, finally felt like he was strong enough to do something; maybe it was the adrenaline finally doing its thing, maybe his body was overloaded now from the surge of power, but either way he didn’t care – he just wanted to make sure Schlatt regretted ever messing with him– 

For a second he felt as if he was flying. His body wasn't being dragged anymore and instead he was being thrown forward at something. With how he could feel his bones rattle, it was some hard metal. 

Before he could react, his hands were being forced up and something closed around them, making him unable to move them away. His ankles received the same treatment quickly after that. 

"You've really given us all a lot of shit, you know?" Schlatt asked as he moved away from the metal bed Tommy was on. "But now–" Something clicked. "Everything is gonna be worth it!"

"What the fuck," Tommy managed to whisper as something whitled into life above his head. "What the fuck."

"This," the man started. "Is my ticket to finally getting what I deserve." 

He didn't know what was above him, but it was bright and loud, some sort of machine–

"You're just gonna give us a bit of help, yeah? Of course we could continue using Punz's powers, but from what we've gathered, you're a bunch more powerful."

Tommy coughed– or at least tried to, as the sound that left his throat sounded more like– 

"Did you fucking chirp ?" Schlatt laughed. "Like a goddamn bird? Jesus, looks like that redstone did a number on you, huh?"

Fucking– Redstone? That's what's been injected into him?! A goddamn drug that–

That strengthened someone's powers… 

In the corner of his eye he saw Schlatt grin. 

"Now you're getting it."

It was as a new fear-powered strength appeared in him, making him struggle even more and try his goddamn best to break whatever was holding him down– 

“It’s no use,” Schlatt laughed. “This is enforced netherite, there’s no fucking way you can just force your way through it– you know what, do whatever.” And then, under his breath– “Not like you’ll be alive for much longer.” 

Something was making a weird sound above him. 

“To make it simple,” he continued. “This is a power enhancer. You might have noticed that the others were a bit more to beat, yeah? Well, with this thing going full force, we’re gonna be unstoppable and I can just take the city! And change that goddamn name while I’m at it.”

With a sinking heart, Tommy fully realized what has been going on around them this whole time. 

It was never about drugs or the fighting rings, no, it was about power. About being strong enough to take over the city, hell, maybe even the whole country. Schlatt and Quackity seemed power hungry enough to try that, he was sure of that. They probably didn’t care about the long run! They probably had more than enough and, if he were to guess, this whole scheme was just to take the attention away from what they were really planning. 

But he might never really know.

The machine above them was getting louder and louder now, seemingly about to potentially ruin Tommy’s life– 

Record scratch, pause. 

Yep, that’s me, you’re probably wondering how I got into this situation– 

At that moment, it was as if Tommy was realizing how all the things he’d done the past few months had come to this.

He used to be just a guy with powers (okay, maybe not just a guy, as so far not that many people had them, but still–) and then suddenly he was being recruited into being a hero, but this?! Those last few months felt more intense than everything he’d encountered so far. 

It was supposed to be a quick and easy mission he cried to himself, but even he knew that it was a lie. He’d knew it would be hard, but come on– he was about to fucking die and he couldn’t even move– 

He tried his best to do something, wrecking his arms from side to side, electricity cracking under his skin as he used all the strength he possessed, ignoring how it made something bubble in his fucking bones or something, fueling him with some sick sort of belief that he could do something if he just tried fucking hard enough, goddamnit– !

Crack. 

For a second the paralyzing thought of having just broken a bone shot through his head, but then– no, there wasn’t pain. 

It was the thing that was holding him down that just cracked. 

And judging from Schlatt’s current very surprised expression, it wasn’t just a little thing. 

He– 

He was doing it.

Tommy tried shooting the electricity into the shackles around his wrists and he could feel the metal start to give under his power.

“That’s–” Schlatt started, and for the first time– “That’s not possible! Stop it!” 

He sounded scared. 

Then the man was grabbing at Tommy’s wrists himself, holding him down as he grit his teeth loud enough for Tommy to hear it above all the noise around them. Schlatt’s fingers were now digging painfully into Tommy’s skin, but he couldn’t really focus on that, couldn't allow himself to get distracted, as he discharged all he had into the metal around his hands. 

Crack. 

“Stop it!” Schlatt screamed and then– 

He punched Tommy right in his mask, resulting in a loud crack as his fist made contact with it. It made his head spin and ultimately made him stop struggling as he tried his best to properly get back to himself– 

“Fucking brat,” the man growled. “I am this fucking close to finally getting what I deserve, and you’re trying to ruin it, huh?!” 

Tommy struggled to breathe through the pain (he was, like, almost sure his nose was broken), but at least his vision was no longer spinning. The con to that was the fact that he could see Schlatt’s ugly mug right in front of him. 

“F-Fuck you,” he coughed out. “You’re really talking as if I’m doing this willingly.” 

Schlatt opened his mouth, looking like the fucking devil with those horns and that grin and oh my fucking god were his eyes red– 

“It’s gonna be over soon,” he sneered as he moved back. “We just need a bit of your power and then I never have to put with you bullshit ever again–” 

A scream left Tommy’s throat at that, making the man take a step back in surprise. It was kinda as if Tommy’s own body couldn’t hold the sheer frustration he was feeling and just screaming his lungs out was the best he could think to do– 

Another wave of electricity left his body at that, making the world around him shake with the intensity of it, which surprised even Tommy himself, because hole fuck, he can do that? 

But even then, he wasn’t done. 

He screamed once more as he forced his arms to move, to fight against the restrains and– And the metal was cracking again as he filled it with his lightning, with his power, making it rattle and– 

Break. 

The metal around his wrists finally gave out, blasted away from his wrists and making Schlatt grunt as a bit hit him in the face. 

Tommy breathed.

In.

Out. 

And looked straight into Schlatt’s eyes. 

The man didn’t look as mighty as he did before, now with a cut on his cheek and fear in his eyes as he seemingly tried to kill Tommy with his glare alone. 

Of course, his feet were still trapped, so he couldn’t really jump to attack the guy like he’d want to, but for now? 

That was enough. 

It didn’t really last long, as Schlatt was quick to reach towards his belt and pull out a gun, making Tommy’s heart start to hammer like crazy. Memories of that damned dart breaking his skin and making him feel like he was dying were now flooding his mind, making his hands shake and breathing quicken, but he still fought with himself to at least pretend to be calm. 

“You piece of shit,” the man sneered, his breathing labored. “You think you’re such a big deal, huh?! That you can beat me?! Well, let’s see how much you’re bulletproof then, yeah?!”

Then the gun was being aimed right between his eyes, the light reflecting off the silver surface of the weapon as Tommy could basically feel his heart stop for the second that it took Schlatt’s finger to reach the trigger– 

And then as second before it was fired, the gun was being aimed at the sky and shooting a hole through the ceiling.

Both Tommy and Schlatt just stared, both in equal surprise as the gun left a trail of smoke and the shot’s echo rang in the room. 

Then, finally, Tommy noticed a figure standing right next to Schlatt, still holding onto the gun as his coat moved with his movement and his eyes glowed from under the mask. 

“Hello,” Wilbur, Phantom, grinned. “Did you miss me?” 

And fuck, Tommy really did.