Chapter Text
tommy was placed in a small cage, but this time it was different. the cage was small and made for transport. in the crowd, there were hundreds, probably thousands of people in chairs. they were all watching with wide, power hungry eyes.
tommy cawed loudly and fluffed up his wings. he snarled, clawing at the cage’s door frantically. he screeched and kicked yet his attempts were fruitless. ‘why are they gathering so early? surely its only 3am.’ tommy thought madly. ‘i’m not gonna be able to get tubbo and george out!’
“this is #24, the Manberg fighting champion.” quackity explained, listing him off as if he was some sort of big celebrity. “due to recent events he is now open for bidding! he’s a great guard dog, and one good swipe from his talons are deadly. be careful though, folks, he’ll kill anything in sight— especially us humans.” tommy scanned the crowd as they began shouting out how much money they would spend on him, and it was rising quick.
“1,000!” a man shouted.
“2,000– no, 3,000!” cried another. tommy screamed, flapping his wings out desperately.
the bids kept rising and rising as if they were being shot up by a catapult. in the first minute they were already up to 500,000.
“four million.” somebody called out. the crowd went silent.
“four million going once, twice, and… sold!” quackity said, delight dripping from his tongue. tommy’s jaw had dropped. ‘4 million? on me of all people? i’m worth 500,000 at most.’ tommy sighed, anxious to see his new owners.
…
the auction had wrapped up and there was still no sign of tubbo or george. had the two not been picked out for the auction? were they being kept? it made sense for quackity to keep the ones that nobody knew so they could go somewhere new and start fresh without the bad reputation that tommy had caused. tommy swore quietly and wiped the growing tears away from his eyes. quackity kicked his cage.
“stop whining, you’re new guy is here.” the man hissed. tommy whimpered and stood up straight— as straight as he could in the cramped cage, anyways. tommy’s heart stopped as he saw the man who had won.
it was the masked man.
“holy shit.” he whispered. quackity walked forward and shook the man’s hand.
“hey, man! pleasure to be doing business with you. are you gonna be paying in full or are we doing 30/70, 50/50?” quackity asked, a big grin on his face. the man shook quackity’s hand and chuckled.
“funny you think i’d be paying at all.” the man said, his happy façade dropping suddenly. he pulled out a gun and shot quackity in the leg and shoulder. quackity screamed, stumbling backwards and collapsing to the floor.
“security!” he wailed. the man grabbed tommy’s cage by it’s handle and booked it.
“now, techno!” the man barked. on cue, there was a loud booming noise coming from the area where the hybrids were kept. tommy’s stomach did a flip. he warbled. the man seemed to frown, although it was hard to tell with the mask covering most of his face. “don’t worry, kiddo, you’re gonna be safe soon. i’ve got you.” the man cooed reassuringly. tommy didn’t feel any better. for all he cared, he was being kidnapped, his friends are possibly injured, and he just watched quackity get fucking shot. he covered his ears and began to cry over the sounds of people screaming and hybrids trying to escape.
the hybrid area had been blown open, there were hybrids everywhere. some of them were mildly injured, some of the more youthful ones were running with their kin or carrying older folk. he didn’t catch a glimpse of tubbo or george. ‘please be okay.’ he thought, ‘please.’ before he could even process what was truly happening, they were outside and tommy was being pushed into a car.
the man jumped into the passenger's seat and buckled quickly. there was another man, clearly younger, who was masked also. he was wearing a black face mask, one used when you were sick or trying to put an end to a global pandemic. he had curly brown hair, just not as dark as tubbo’s. then, another man hopped into the car and sat next to tommy faster than tommy could blink.
“step on it, wil!” the man next to tommy ordered. with that, the car sped down the street. tommy breathed heavily and whined. the man sitting next to tommy peered down into his cage.
“hey, little guy.” the man said. tommy squawked and curled up on himself. “aw, i won’t hurt you. i’m techno.” techno pulled a hat off of his head and revealed… pig ears. tommy gasped.
“i’m like you.” techno explained calmly. “i’m a hybrid too.” tommy scowled. he had to be faking, those had to be fake, right? tommy shook his head and hissed, just like george had taught him to.
“you’re scaring him, tech.” the original masked laughed, “he’s probably going through a lot right now. give him a bit to relax.” techno shrugged and looked out the window, enjoying the view. the masked man looked over his shoulder and smiled at tommy.
“hey, mate.” the man beamed, “i’m phil. this is wilbur,” he motioned towards the driver, “and you’ve already met techno. sorry if this is a bit of a bad start, it’ll get better, i promise!” tommy’s expression churned into one of disgust. how could this man be so positive, he literally just shot one of the most wanted criminal masterminds and was probably gonna be hunted down and killed? phil tsk’ed. “ah, not much of a talked. that’s alright, you’ll get used to us eventually!”
the car pulled to a stop at a very nice-looking house. there we no other homes anywhere near, and the backyard was a forest. tommy flicked his ear and flexed his talons uncomfortably. techno grabbed the top of his cage and carried him inside. tommy paniced internally, staring down at the floor beneath him. this place seemed so nice and big, unlike his cell back at the rink. the rink. would quackity come try and find him? what if he was dead? tommy sighed, clearing his mind. techno set tommy’s cage down inside a room and unlocked it.
“this is your room. the bathroom is right across from the hall if you need it. you should get some rest, we’ll talk to you and explain everything in the morning.” techno said nonchalantly, “goodnight, kid.” the pink haired man shut the door, leaving tommy alone.
the room was nice, tommy decided. it had a bed— not a cot— with grey blankets and pillows. there was a small oak bookcase across from said bed. next to the door was a closet. straight ahead there was a window, a big window without bars or anything. tommy hesitantly slipped out of the cage and took a look around, worried that this might be some sort of trap. was this his new cell? was he gonna have to fight again?
tommy shuddered at the thought of killing more innocents. he sat down on the bed, and to his pleasant surprise, it was extremely soft and not stiff like his old cot. ‘this has to be some sort of trick.’ tommy thought nervously.
there’s no way a sane person would show up, offer 4 million dollars for tommy, shoot quackity, and drive away with the kid in the backseat. the man was on drugs, tommy concluded thoughtfully. he stood and stretched his wings out. following his previous actions, he did some simple stretching exercises to help his sore muscles. as tommy stretched, he began to think about his friends that he had left behind. had tubbo and george made it out okay? were they even alive? tommy sighed, knowing what he had to do.
he had to go find tubbo and george.
it would be best to travel by night and through the forest, as to not catch the attention of anyone nearby. tommy took a few deep breaths before turning to the window.
‘for sapnap.’ he promised himself as he unlocked his window, threw himself off the roof, and bolted into the dark forest.