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Walking down the streets seemed to be a common starting ground for any adventure that fate had planned for Tommy, so as always, he was indeed just getting out of the building he called his home half of the time, eating his dinner that Bad had pressed into his hand after taking up yet another late shift because someone couldn't come in. Tommy always brushed it off as if it was nothing because for him he could never repay what the man had done for him.
So with a muffin stuffed halfway into his mouth and almost a dozen more in a small bag in his other hand, he went down the usual streets, music blasting in his headphones.
No one would suspect this teen to listen to Animal Crossing soundtracks yet here he was, blasting able sisters on his way home. Just like he liked it.
As always he was looking out for any dumbasses that decided to fall to his feet, all beaten up and probably half dead, yet tonight seemed to want him to finally have a quiet one.
After yesterday where he had to save one of Bad’s old colleagues, Mechanical Hero: Sam Nook, he really needed a small break, so this was more than welcome.
What he didn't think was that on this way back from his job, he wouldn't be back in his apartment for the night.
Ranboo was getting worried.
Tommy hasn't shown his face yet, he should've been home hours ago, it was already 3am and he still wasn't there. His shuddering hands gripped the phone next to him, tapping away at it as he frantically wrote Tubbo if the blonde maybe had crashed at his place for the night, hoping that he would answer him in the morning. Anxiety welled up in him but he pushed it down, thinking about how Tommy could take care of himself so Ranboo should have some faith in his roommate.
But the anxiety still lingered.
Yet, when he woke up the next day, Tubbo had written to him that Tommy wasn't at his place and he actually hadn't answered any messages yesterday after work. Now Ranboo had every reason to be anxious.
He paced around in the apartment, frantically trying to call Tommy but nothing came up, no call back, no picking up, no responding to his messages.
“Shit.”
The hero needed to go to patrol soon, so he got ready, slipping his costume on and running out of the apartment, teleporting onto the next roof he saw. The only thing on his mind for the moment was Tommy, nothing else had priority so he would use his patrolling route to look for his roommate, even if it was the last thing he did.
Meanwhile, Tubbo had the same predicament, out on patrol and looking out for his best friend, nervousness practically radiating off of him. The scars started acting up again, to his misfortune, and he just couldn't shake off the bad feeling. The worst came to worst and of course today of all days, the Blade had to be doing some bullshit again, blowing up stuff.
He was called in as a reinforcement, helping out the hero that was patrolling the area currently, Sam Nook.
When he arrived, the Blade was short of slicing open the hero, quickly interrupted by Nuke himself, shooting at him without mercy.
Blade raised an eyebrow at the kid, easily dodging out of the way and away from the hero. Behind him was Death Wing already, a hand on the Blade’s shoulder. Tubbo was just annoyed that two of the most sought after villains always had to come in contact with him of all people. So, in frustration he decided that it would be a good place to rant to them of all people.
“Gods above, can't you two fuckers pass it for today? My friend Tommy is missing and honestly, I would rather search for the blonde dumbass than fight both of you. I am so sick of this-”
A glint of recognition sparked through the winged ones eyes, pushing Blade away a little.
“What do you mean he is missing!? Didn't he come back yesterday-”
Tubbo looked up, confusion on his face.
“What do you mean- You can't tell me you know him- Death Wing you chicken fucker, please don't tell me you're one of Tommy's charity cases!”
When Tubbo didn't see a lie on the other man's face, he facepalmed.
“Of course he would do that. Sam Nook, you were saved by him a couple of days ago as well, weren't you?”
The mechanic just nodded, slightly confused at the exchange. Tubbo had his face in his hands, trying to comprehend the situation.
He came to a conclusion.
“Alright, I am sick of this shit. Blade, DeathWing. Temporary truce.”
It was a statement, not a question, and both of the villains looked at each other before nodding, looking determined.
“Ok, how about we rally up some people that had their asses saved by Tommy and then we come back and meet up to bail his ass out of whatever situation he found himself in.”
When he only got nods of confirmation, Tubbo scurried off while messaging around for anyone he knew got helped by Tommy in any way.
Which were a lot.
Meanwhile, Phil contacted some of his own side, telling all around that their favorite civilian is lost and probably got kidnapped, getting a lot of outraged exclamations as answers, as well as a couple of death threats against whoever dared to do that.
In any and all ways, this was going to be a trip to hell and back.
Tommy felt like he had a deja-vu.
When he woke up and yes, this was an absolute deja-vu, he spoke with a neutral tone.
“Hey Dream, nice seeing you again.”
Said mercenary raised an eyebrow and stood right next to the chair the nineteen year old was bound too, mask glinting in the dim light of the room.
The blonde was just sitting there and waiting for him to say something, anything at all. Then, he finally did.
“So, you doing good, Theseus? I mean, with this whole civilian life and stuff and all that.”
The question came out in a very awkward tone as Dream leaned forward and unbound the others' wrists, as if Tommy couldn't have broken himself out of there the moment he woke up. When he was finally free, he stretched his wrists to get the feeling back into the limbs and reached out to take Dream’s mask off, giving him a punch in the face instantly after that.
“That's for thinking you need to kidnap me to see how I was doing, idiot.”
Dream gave him a small laugh, wiping away the blood from his split lip.
“Yeah, but it's so much funnier this way. You know me, lil ol’ Dream cant resist pulling a classic kidnapping.”
They both laughed at that while the masked one grabbed the blonde's arm, pulling him out of the room to walk to their usual place. The lounge was a big room, full with comfortable couches and a big flatscreen, snacks in one of the cabinets on the walls.
Tommy looked around in slight awe, whistling to indicate his wonder. Dream just chuckled and shook his head, pulling him down on one of the couches to settle and catch up.
“So, what have you been doing lately? I heard you settled with a hero roommate. Oh, next time we should absolutely get like, muffins from Bad’s place, you still working there?”
Tommy tried to answer as many different questions, getting his own out from Dream himself. The man had been in town for some stuff but couldn't resist taking his old friend when he saw him. He also commented on how Dream absolutely already ate all of the muffins that Tommy had with him, gaining a loud laugh in response, tackling him down on the couch.
What both of them didnt think of was that a big group of heroes, villains and civilians alike were on their way to fuck the mercenary up for allegedly kidnapping their friend.
They really were a group full of mismatched personalities.
They had split off into smaller groups themselves, everyone with at least two others.
The former shadow hero: Whiteout, aka Bad, DeathWing and Blade went into one group, being the more strategic ones among them, weirdly being able to work together even if they were on different sides.
Nuke, Enderwalker and the Fire Hero: Arson, aka Tommy’s friend Sapnap, were in one team, used to working together from their hero work.
Other people like Sam Nook, the former diamond Hero: Carbon, Bad’s husband Skeppy, and The Siren were grouped together, working just for the time being and not talking about anything outside of their goal: saving their friend.
All of them walked together, sneaking up on the mercenaries secret base that got leaked to them by a secret contact. Purpled was also a mercenary but proved to be quite amused when they told him that they had every reason to believe that dream took Tommy. With a wave and a set of coordinates, they were sent off and are now standing in front of a secret entrance that got blown up by Carbon slamming his fist into it.
No one commented on it but most villains were still glad that the hero was in retirement, that first had to hurt.
Afterwards, they all swarmed into the hideout, shouting around and kicking doors in. It was absolute chaos up until they found their way into the living room where Tommy and Dream were playing cards, looking up at them.
Tommy looked at them and set down his cards.
“Royal flush, give me the money coward.”
WIthout even looking up, Dream grumbled as he slid the money over to Tommy, with said blonde standing up and walking over to the group, standing there dumbfounded.
“Seems as if my entourage is here, it was nice meeting you again, Dream.”
Dream leaned against a wall, crossing his arms.
“They'll pay for the damages, I don't feel like replacing more doors, Theseus.”
Before anyone could speak up, the Blade’s eyes flashed in recognition of the name.
“YOU ARE THESEUS?!”
Tommy just sighed, looking right back at Dream and showing him a middle finger, crossing his arms afterwards.
“Now I gotta explain why you called me the name of-”
“The most renowned mercenary in the whole underground, the guy who disappeared under mysterious circumstances- The one who killed Schlatt!”
Deathwing was trying to hold his composure but he couldn't, not with such a big name in the room. Surely, it couldn't be the same person, Schlatt was powerful, the most powerful villain and still Theseus killed him before disappearing. A small mutter about how the guy wasn't even that strong escaped the kids mouth but that still didn't get everyone from being put on edge.
“Well, long story short guys: I was twelve, I was desperate and I needed revenge.”
With that he turned around and walked out of the room, all the others still inside, some turned to Dream who was lighting a cigarette, smoking in peace.
“Well, I can give y'all a better explanation, for a price.”
Lets just say, a whole lot of people were shocked after what the mercenary told them, but that's a story for another time.