Chapter Text
Fuck, his head hurt.
He knew Bad wouldn't have appreciate him saying that, but this is necessary.
Very, very necessary.
He didn't care about his "language", to him, it was like— coping, in a way. For what? He couldn't remember, only blurs and what he could recount.
Which was only the past 7 years, by the way.
Tommy is 16.
He would get out of bed half awake, and would make sure his roommates were still sleeping, before he got changed into his gear.
Tommy was avian, so he could.. manipulate air molecules, which means he has the ability to stop, start, or pause airflow.
Why does he always get the boring stuff?
He can't even fly! His wings were detached from his body, according to Purpled. He just remembered laying on the floor, and pain. And blood. Lots of blood.
He can also run fast, but that isn't as cool, as making ice or floating or lightning.
Tommy, himself when in gear, looked sort of like a cyberpunk trickster. He wore a red and white hoodie without sleeves paired with a black undershirt, he had stabilized gloves able to channel his telekinesis to the fingertips with knives hidden beneath the fabric and metal elbow pads.
Tommy’s altered voice from the modulator was altered to sound more feminine, but also somewhat indescribable. His frame was already seemingly that of a more androgynous figure than a masculine one, might as well make his voice the same.
The city was surprisingly quiet for a Wednesday night, especially a cool autumn one, where people could be enjoying some nice hot chocolate with their families. He would check his phone on updates of any boats arriving tonight at the dock. There was one, and it was a goldilock of money.
Jackpot.
But there was one problem (as there always is). Since it was a goldilock zone of expensive items, there would be other villains, and probably other heroes trying to get their greedy hands on it, or trying to protect it, and the only bet he had on knowing who would be there, would be one of his bestfriends, his command center for information, Purpled (currently out from the field from an injury).
He would swipe to the messaging app on his phone and would start typing.
—glorified grape—
feral child: call m
feral child: me
glorified grape: what for
feral child: crime
feral child: money
glorified grape: very legal
glorified grape: yeah i can call
feral child: thanks big p
glorified grape: pls don't call me that
Tommy would smirk as his attempted to annoying his friend had succeeded, and he would put his earpiece into his ears.
He was surprised at the durability of them, having been through so much, and they took him forever to save up for. He would hit the "call" button on Purpled's contact information, and it would ring once, twice, and three times before he picked up.
"Three rings to pick up, you fucking bitch." Tommy whispered, rolling his eyes as he walked down the street.
"Shut up, fucker. I could go ahead and hang up right now—"
Tommy chuckled nervously as he looked down the road. "No, no, we're fine!"
A small silence was heard for a bit longer than Tommy would have wished.
"There have been a couple of hero sightings of Dream and Torch near there, doubt you'll run into them, and that new vigilante Nemesis or whatever her name was and her partner. I heard she was born with gills because of her being a Merling, that's pretty cool. Anyways.."
"I don't think I have anything to worry about. I mean, I am the biggest man of all. I don't die, I don't need to worry at all." Tommy would hear a snort come from the other side of the line.
"You are a fucking idiot. How long until you get to the docks? I'm on a time crunch. My brother gets back in two hours and if he finds out who I'm on the phone with.." Purpled would pause. "Endgame."
"Well, tell him to get his head out of his ass."
"No, you tell him that."
"You aren't such a big man after all.." Tommy would sigh. "I'll be there in a minute. You know, avian speed and all.."
"Right. It looks like that hero with the spiral goggles was spotted. What's his name? Rewind? It doesn't look like you'll have many friends there. Like you have any.." Tommy heard a snicker through the call.
"Shut up, dickhead. I just arrived, I don't see anyone.. should I be waiting for the ship to arrive? It looks like the fucking boat is early.." He would frown. "Or are they hiding from the all great and wonderful Tommy.. what was my name?" He would think for a second, walking over to an empty shipping container. "Right, Hermes."
"Tommy, you've been a villain for nearly four years, how do you forget your name—"
"Talk to that memory shit they've got at the agency! It made my mind go all mushy."
"It already was."
There would be an awkward silence.
"What does your brother do that causes him to get home so late? Does he work the night shift or something? Because that is incredibly boring." Tommy would say as he leaned against the shipping container. He would squint his eyes, seeing a figure on the edge of the dock, and it didn't look like anybody he recognized.
"There's somebody."
There would be another pause as tapping could be heard from the other line.
"What do they look like?" Purpled would say.
"Well, wait there's two of them.. one has sunglasses and the other has a blue hoodie with a star on it."
Some more clicking could be heard, and a horn of a ship could be heard in the distance.
"Uh, maybe vigilantes? I dunno."
"Vigilantes? So.. danger. Got it." He would pause as the pair turned towards him, and he would move deeper into the shipping container, thankful that he had found this container to hide in.
Their voices started to get louder the closer they got to the container, clearly Australian. "Oh they're Australian. Fuck Australia." Tommy would whisper into the microphone of his headphones as the voice walked past the container. "Okay, they left, and I trying the boats here. Could you get into the security cameras or anything?"
Purpled would pause as he typed something in. "Uh.. yeah, I could try.." More typing if the keys could be heard from the other end.
"Great.. now let me just exit the container. Tell me if you see anybody. I don't want a burned hand, again." He would shudder as he imagined the last villain to get caught in Torch's path. He would exit the container, trying his best to not make any noise as typing continued to come from the other end.
"..Tommy, watch out. There are some people near the edge of the dock, it looks like, and I think they're more vigilantes.. what are their names.. Chorus and Glaze?Teleportation and ice. You may run fast, but running against air won't do anything against teleporting. Be careful, and whatever you do, don't tell them that you're a villain or whatever the fuck you do when you meet people."
"Oh wow. Thanks so much, asshole." He would say with clear sarcasm. "Such an optimistic crowd today." And so he walked to the docks.