Tommy woke up surrounded by the scent of a burning pine forest with the sharp sting of gunpowder. There was also some strange flowery scent mixed in as well.
Either way, it wasn't a scent he was used to, causing the raven avian to stiffen slightly. His inner raven didn't seem too bothered by the situation, cooing about the soft blankets he had been resting in and relaxed by the unfamiliar scent. It was unusual, his talons sharpening on reflex.
Where am I? He thought, slowly sitting up.
A chirp caught his attention, causing him to jolt slightly and look in the direction of the noise. And there was his brother.
The events of last night finally caught up with the younger avian, causing him to relax slightly.
Wilbur was sitting in a chair next to the bed, Ace practically draped over him and sleeping. His older brother seemed unbothered with the villain using him as a pillow, blinking at him with a sharp gaze.
"You haven't slept, have you?" Tommy questioned, leveling the magpie avian with a small glare.
"Nope," Wilbur responded.
"Instincts being cringe again?" The younger asked.
"I wouldn't call it being cringe," the magpie avian hummed. "But they have been acting up. I've made a note that we're going to need a bigger nest because I'm going to cuddle you and you will not get out of it."
"I missed you too, bitch," the hero in training chuckled. "So am I allowed to get up?"
"For the sake of my inner magpie's sanity, please don't," the fallen hero huffed, wings stretching slightly. "I can't get up right now and while the casino is empty I'd rather you not wander around without supervision. You might blow something up."
The raven avian raised an eyebrow at the sleeping villain, "Can't you just wake him up?"
"Typically we sleep during the day and make our moves at night," Wilbur explained. "We're kinda nocturnal since the casinos operate at night. But y'know. Villain shit. Our sleep schedules are fucked. I try to let him sleep as much as I can. He's been stressed since reaching S-Rank status."
"Oh yeah, the announcement did boost him in rankings, didn't it?" Tommy contemplated.
His inner bird shot a small glare at Ace, studying the villain with narrowed eyes.
"So this is the simp who was obsessed with you," he commented.
Wilbur snorted, covering his mouth as his shoulders shook with laughter, "Oh my gods Tommy."
The shrike avian grumbled something under his breath, clinging onto the magpie avian tighter. His older brother stilled at the movement, chirping something to the other man that caused the villain to settle.
Tommy stared for a bit, watching the way his brother lightly nudged the villain into a more comfortable position as the shrike avian fell back into sleep.
"He treats you well, right?" The raven avian asked, drawing the fallen hero's attention. "I saw the notes, Wil. I know that he... he does seem to actually care about you. I could tell a long time ago that he didn't see you as an enemy. He seems like a decent guy. But... he's not forcing anything right? Relationship wise I mean? He didn't like... force you to be flock or anything like that, right? I said I approved the marriage n' shit but he is good to you, right?"
The magpie avian blushed a bit, looking away with a soft smile, "He's... he is good to me, Toms. I'm pretty sure I mentioned last night but he's been making sure I eat and sleep properly, he's helping me with my wings, and he makes sure I take breaks when needed. Hell, he did that even while we were nemesis and what not. Making me take breaks and eat food and stuff."
"He may be a villain, but... he's kind. He's helped me through a lot of stuff."
There was something undeniably fond in his tone, eyes glancing at the villain with deep rooted affection.
"Ew, gross, sappy shit," Tommy grumbled with an eye roll. "You're looking at him like you're actually married to the guy. Cringe."
"Quiet, gremlin," Wilbur hissed playfully.
"I am serious, though, he didn't claim you as flock without permission, right?" The younger asked. "Because that would make him a wrong'un and I will smack him for it."
The magpie avian looked distinctly guilty in that moment, wings drooping slightly, "Actually uh... he was... kinda... sunk into his instincts at the time? And um... I kinda just... claimed him? Myself?"
The raven avian just stared. Processing that.
"WILBUR YOU WRONG'UN!"
"ACK!"
He reached over and started batting his older brother over the head with his wing, "You better have fucking apologized to him when he woke up from his instincts! Wilbur, what the fuck!?"
Ace jolted away as Wilbur struggled to fight off the younger's wing, squawking as he flew out of the chair.
"What the fuck!?" The villain questioned, landing a few paces away as Tommy reached for one of the pillows and started whacking his brother with it.
"You don't just 'yoink' flock members Wil!" Tommy scolded. "There is a fucking process!"
The fallen hero just squawked at the relentless assault, beating his wings and flying to hide behind Ace, "Sunrise! The gremlin is yelling at me!"
"Oh don't go hiding behind your boyfriend you bitch!" The raven avian glared, wings flared out. "God, I am so sorry about him. WILBUR YOU KNOW BETTER!"
"Okay but I'm not apologetic and he didn't mind," Wilbur defended.
The younger hissed, "Oh you're going to be apologetic when I'm done with you!"
The villain started laughing, doubling over as his wings shook, "This is amazing, what the fuck did I just wake up to? Listen, Tommy, kid, it's alright. Honestly I was waiting for him to do that for months, so I wasn't mad."
"Doesn't change the fact that Wilbur is a wrong'un for not asking first," Tommy grumbled, flicking his wings in and out to smooth the feathers before folding them back in. "He should know better. You don't force flock!"
Ace sat back up, smiling, "I'm not going to scold him for taking something he wanted, especially since I had been waiting for him to make the first move for months by that time. I haven't had a flock since I was twelve, so I was actually really happy about it. Don't be too mad at your brother, gremlin. He was half asleep at the time and his instincts demanded it. Besides, we're villains. We take what we want."
Wilbur wrapped his arms around the villain, purring softly. The shrike avian rolled his eyes with a playful smile.
"He's been clingy ever since I claimed him back," he stage whispered, like he was telling Tommy a secret.
The magpie avian's wings ruffled, "Hey! I am not clingy!"
"No, that sounds accurate," the younger deadpanned, staring at his brother. "It's like how he hyper focuses on new projects. He gets all excited and protective over things he's working on that he's personally invested in. Wil, have you ever played one of your songs for him?"
The fallen hero immediately goes red in the face then, Ace turning to give him a curious look, "He's mentioned that he's dabbled in songwriting but he's actually made songs?"
"A few," the raven avian snickered, relishing in the way his brother started trying to hide with his wings. "He gets clingy with things he likes or sees as his. He wouldn't let anyone in the family look at his songs, not even me. And what few friends he made in high school. Oh my god, he would not let Techno anywhere near them."
"Techno was an anti-social fuck who was more focused on training," Wilbur grumbled, avoiding eye contact with the villain who had a teasing smirk on his face. "He didn't try to make friends. It wasn't like I was keeping them away on purpose."
"Buuut you never tried to invite him either," Tommy teased. "Clingy!"
"I'm not clingy!" The fallen hero argued.
"No, you're definitely clingy," Ace agreed.
"Sunrise! How dare you take his side?" Wilbur faked a hurt expression, backing away and dramatically pretending to faint on the bed. "My own partner! How will I ever recover from this?"
"Perish," both Tommy and Ace echoed in unison.
The magpie avian gave them both an exasperated look, causing the other two avians to start laughing. The younger decided to give his older brother one good smack with the pillow now that he was laying on the bed, in turn causing the fallen hero to squawk again and try to roll away.
"You deserved that," the raven avian huffed.
He turned his attention back to Ace, "So what? Does this make me a villain now?"
The shrike avian shrugged, "You don't have to make a decision now if you don't want to. Nobody is going to force you into it. You can just stay here if you want, or we can set you up somewhere far out of your father's reach. There are other options outside of being a hero or villain. If you plan on avoiding the public eye, we can pull some strings, get you a name change, blah, blah, blah, you're a smart kid, you get the point. Wilbur here legally couldn't get his name changed for a number of reasons, but if you plan on starting fresh somewhere new, we can probably work something out."
"Huh, pog," Tommy hummed. "So I can just... stay with Wil?"
"Yep," the villain confirmed, sitting on the edge of the bed next to the younger avian. "You can live here in the casino with us, but you don't have to do anything villain related if you don't want to. I can still show you how to make explosives though."
"Do NOT teach the gremlin TNT, or so help me," Wilbur grumbled, moving over to sit behind Ace.
"So... does that mean I can change my name like Wilbur did?" Tommy asked.
The villain chuckled, "Yep! I'm guessing your last name since that seems to be a reoccurring theme? Oh, and don't worry about trying to match your brother. He chose a weird one."
"Hey! I think I picked a really good new last name!" The magpie avian huffed. "Soot, like ashes, smoldering fire. I'm going to burn society to the ground and laugh about it."
"Why is it always fire with you?" The younger avian questioned.
"Cause fire is pretty!" Wilbur argued.
"You never would've admitted that a few months ago," Ace teased.
"Shut," the fallen hero huffed, reaching up and starting to preen the shorter's wings. The shrike avian purred, adjusting his wings to allow a better angle.
His brother caught his staring and shot him a look, "You're next gremlin. Don't think I don't see those broken feathers."
The raven avian hissed playfully, "At least I attempted to take care of them. I was just tired a lot after training and couldn't reach some spots."
"I know, Toms," Wilbur's gaze softened. "It's hard maintaining care when training is going on."
Ace huffed slightly, reaching over and yanking Tommy over, "I'll handle it."
The hero in training squawked a bit, flaring his wings out until he heard a soft chirping coo.
"Relax gremlin, we can both attack your brother's wings here in a minute. Let me get the worst of this mess cleared up so it'll be less of a hassle on your end," the villain hummed, running practiced fingers through the inky black feathers and moving them back into place. "God, your wings are huge. I envy you fucking corvids."
"Don't fight it," Wilbur chuckled. "He has no respect for wing boundaries. If he sees damaged wings, he's fixing it. He's always been like that."
"Excuse me! It's not my fault that you damn heroes don't understand the importance of proper wing care," Ace rumbled, tone frustrated. "Damnit. Songbird, gonna have to borrow your talons here. I am not plucking these broken feathers out."
"Is it worse than I thought?"
Tommy heard shuffling as the familiar hands of his brother extended his other wing out for examination. There was a soft hiss.
"Toms... what the fuck were they doing to you?" Wilbur's tone hummed with danger, something protective in his voice.
"... Training has been intense since you left," the hero in training muttered, relaxing his wings to the other avians' touch. "Phil found this... Hero Committee Representative to train me after the others were killed in your explosions. She uh... she's... mean."
"Damn heroes," Ace hissed. "They're like a damn hydra. You take out one part of em' and two more replace the one you killed."
"My mythology analogies are rubbing off on you," Wilbur hummed, though Tommy could practically feel the tenseness in his brother's tone.
They continued working through his wings, fixing the feathers and removing broken or damaged feathers so new ones could grow.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Ace commented, hiss in his voice. "But if you have a name, I'd certainly appreciate it."
"Sunrise," the magpie avian groaned. "No murder yet."
"Says the guy who wanted to blow up the bridge for his debut," the villain huffed.
"You should've let him attack the bridge," Tommy snickered. "It would've been funny if he took it down."
"See!?"
~Time Skip~
His wings felt...great, actually.
They had taken their time with preening them, but the raven avian's wings honestly felt better than they had in a while. He was now staring intently at Ace, studying the mask and the visible brown eye.
Slowly, he looked over at his brother, who was blinking at both of them, confused.
"So you are marrying him, right?"
The magpie avian immediately turned red, sputtering slightly as he threw his wings over his head. Ace cackled from his seat on the bed, slight blush on the visible side of his face. Tommy turned back to look at him.
"Please take care of him, he's a mess," the younger avian hummed.
The shrike avian chuckled, "I will, don't worry."
"DO I GET A SAY IN ANY OF THIS!?"
"Nope," Ace snickered.
"Absolutely not," Tommy agreed.
The fallen hero just groaned, grabbing a pillow and shoving his face in it.
Returning his gaze to the villain sitting across from him, he watched as the shrike avian slowly removed the half mask on his face.
"You can call me Quackity, alright gremlin?"
Tommy's gaze locked on the scar on the other avian's face as he set his mask on the nightstand.
"Alright," he agreed, deciding not to press.
Ace-Quackity shot him a smile before turning a mischievous look at Wilbur, "So I'm assuming you want my last name?"
"Sunrise if you don't shut the fuck up right fucking now I swear-"
The shrike avian cut him off by reaching over and ruffling his hair, the magpie avian settling at the action.
"I hate you," he grumbled once the other retracted his hand.
"You love me," the villain snickered.
~Time Skip~
So, as it turns out, Quackity wasn't kidding about the casino thing.
The fucks literally lived in a casino.
As their base.
It was fucking epic.
It hadn't taken him very long to adjust to the nocturnal sleeping schedule, seeing how hero training had kinda fucked his already poor sleep. But Wilbur was there, just like when he was a kid, ready with a story or song to help him sleep during the days. He had gotten a new room underground with the rest of the casino staff (he thinks Quackity is running a mafia, in fact, he's sure of it) instead of being stuck in his brother's nest (which, thank god for, he can only handle so much of those two fucking flirting).
But he adjusted faster than he probably should've. Murder talk not bothering him as much as the others seemed to think it would. And, to be fair, he was being trained to be an assassin. Not that they knew that, he hadn't really talked to them about it. They hadn't pressed, and he didn't feel like mentioning it.
Got used to Wilbur's new flock scent decently well too. But he hadn't really accepted the new scent as his own.
Now he was fine being Wilbur's flock. His brother will always be his flock, no matter what.
But while he had come to accept Quackity as Wilbur's partner, he wasn't ready to accept the other avian as flock yet. So, for now, he kept his family's flock scent.
For now.
Now, that wasn't him saying that Quackity was a wrong'un. The shrike bastard was actually pretty fucking cool. The other avian had shown him around, explained where everything was, let him know which scents belonged to who, introduced him to a few people, and the bastard had even stayed true to his promise of showing the younger how to craft TNT.
Much to Wilbur's displeasure, but still.
Also, he got to watch them spar.
And he could see in every movement how far his brother had come. So, at the very least, he'll give Quackity props for being a decent person.
He's not going to call the shrike avian a good person, because he very much wasn't. He was still a mass murdering terrorist who kidnapped his brother twice and had very questionable morals.
But, from what he could tell, he was a good friend to those he considered friends, he was a good partner to Wilbur, and he was a fair boss to his staff.
So he wasn't terrible.
Which was more than he could say for Phil, who was a right bastard.
His general opinion of the villain was that he was alright, and pretty fun. Chaotic as hell, maybe even more so than him, but he didn't actively put anyone he was close to in danger.
He had let Tommy use his rage room one time.
It was nice.
Though he did question why the villain had a rage room in the first place, to which the shrike bastard had responded that 'even villains have issues'.
Which, yeah, duh. He was a teenager, not stupid.
The raven avian was, overall, having a good time. He could fuck around with the casino games during the day when everyone else was asleep, train with Wilbur during the nights while Quackity was busy (training with his brother was actually pretty fun), and the casino staff always managed to keep him entertained with plenty of stories about why they were villains or why they worked with Quackity.
It was...kinda incredible.
So many different people, so many different powers, all coming together under the united front of 'society fucking sucks'. Everyone working in the casino has been wronged in some way.
Some came from hero families, sibling rivalries, lack of parental attention, things like that. Others came from places of discrimination, bullied for powers that they couldn't control. A few were running from someone or something, stories of abuse and being afraid to go home. Some of them simply had nowhere to go, or were hiding out under Ace's protection. A couple of people had accidentally used their powers in situations where it wasn't suitable, or broke some other bullshit law and were labeled as villains for the rest of their lives. There were even one or two of them who had been saved by a villain at one point while a hero refused to help.
It was eye-opening in a way.
Tommy always knew that their society was fucked.
He knew it everyday when his brothers would come home with bad bruises, he knew it when Wilbur started to become more closed off and secretive, he knew it when Techno's episodes started up and kept getting worse, he knew it when their father started pushing more and more responsibilities onto Techno.
Tommy had been around to see his oldest brother slowly lose his spirit. He had been around to witness the horrors of heroism.
And yet, he still tried to be one. Why?
Well...he wanted to be there for Wilbur. His entire family were heroes, why not him? Besides, he knew their father had hopes that they'd all become a team in the future.
Phil was bad about hiding what he wanted from them.
Sometimes, Tommy feels like it was on purpose.
Phil was a wrong'un, he decided.
He decided that a long time ago, but still.
"Hey, Tommy!" Wilbur called, drawing the raven avian from his thoughts.
"What's up big man?" Tommy questioned, poking his head over the railing to look down at Wilbur who was in the main room of the casino.
His older brother smiled up at him, "There you are! I've been looking for you for hours!"
"Whoops," the younger shrugged with a smug smirk. "Guess I'm just the best at hiding. You suck!"
"Gremlin child!" The magpie avian laughed. "Can you come down here? I know you're probably about to go to bed, but there's some people that Q and I want you to meet!"
"Oh do I finally get to meet the infamous Tubbo who you were terrified of introducing me to?" The former hero in training questioned, spreading his wings and gliding down to his brother's side.
Wilbur chuckled, "Yes, you finally get to meet other villains from the top ten."
"Wait, shit, really? Top ten? Like A-Rank fuckers or S-Rank?" The raven avian questioned.
"A-Rank, number seven last I checked. Bee and Blink," the fallen hero admitted.
"HOLY SHIT, YOU'RE INTRODUCING ME TO THE FUCKING NUKE VILLAIN!?" Tommy shouted, wings fluffing out in excitement.
"You don't need to worry-"
"WHO THE FUCK SAID I WAS WORRIED!?" The younger shouted with a laugh. "THAT'S FUCKING EPIC WIL! You know three fucking top rank villains!"
"Toms, I am a top rank villain," Wilbur deadpanned, starting to walk.
"Yeah but you're a bitch," the raven avian teased.
His older brother squawked at him, earning a chittering laugh in return.
That was another new thing that took some time getting used to, the bird noises.
It was everyday with Quackity and Wilbur. They commonly talked with chirps and trills, words exchanged with flicking wings and ruffling feathers. It was an entire other language that Tommy was completely lost with.
His instincts understood most of it, but the damn raven refused to share its fucking homework answers like a bitch.
The bird actively chirped a laugh at him for that particular thought, blinking at him with beady little eyes.
Bitch. He thought in the direction of his instincts, which earned another chirping laugh.
He was still confused on what the fuck they were saying half the time, but he could understand bits and pieces. Instinctively he was able to respond, and he understood which noises were more aggressive and which ones were meant to be comforting.
But he swears, it was nothing like what his brother had with that damn villain. It was weird. It was like they genuinely had full blown conversations with just fucking chirps. He kind of just assumed it was due to the instinct suppression that he was having issues understanding it. Wilbur had been away from the tower for a lot longer than he had, so he was assuming the magpie avian had a lot more time to understand what certain chirps meant.
"Alright, here we are," Wilbur hummed, using his wing to gesture in the direction of three people.
One of which he was quick to identify as Quackity. Exchanging words with a shorter person who was wearing a face mask and a pair of goggles.
The person the shrike avian was talking to was obviously wearing a blond wig (the color was way too off to be natural and he swore he saw a strand of brown hair poking out), no obvious powers at first glance. They wore something similar to a bomber jacket paired with sweatpants and combat boots.
The third person was tall.
Like.
Taller than fucking Tommy tall.
He immediately hated the guy.
This other person had split dyed hair, one side white, the other black. They wore a suit in contrast to the other person's bomber jacket, but had a matching set of goggles and also wore a face mask.
Bee and Blink. He thought.
"Alright," he stated, walking ahead of his brother. "Which one of you is Tubbo, and how fast can we point a nuke at the Minecraft Hero Tower?"
Quackity snorted, doubling over with laughter as Wilbur squawked again.
"SEE!?" Wilbur shouted, gesturing at Tommy and causing Quackity to laugh even harder. "THIS IS WHY I DIDN'T WANT TO INTRODUCE THEM! THE BRIDGE IS GOING DOWN BY THE END OF THE WEEK!"
Bee, the one in the bomber jacket, laughed.
He pushed the goggles up and pulled down the face mask, revealing forest green eyes and a feral grin, "You. I like you. I have two nukes planted in the city right now, if you've got the coordinates for the tower, I can bring it down tomorrow."
"You must be Tubbo then," Tommy smirked. "Wonderful to officially meet you. My brother has been agonizing over the idea of us meeting for weeks now."
"I already regret agreeing to this," the tall one, Blink, sighs, shaking his head.
"Hush darling, the adults are talking," Tubbo snickered, causing the taller to groan.
"Quackity, I'm questioning all of your choices in life," Blink grumbled, pushing up his goggles to give the shrike avian a glare.
One of his eyes was green, the other red, a strange intensity in the glare.
The TNT Villain was unaffected by the glare, smirking, "Oh c'mon. This is perfect. Give them explosives, point them at the Hero Committee, and boom! No more heroes!"
"In all seriousness," Tommy said, turning his attention back to the Nuke Villain. "Can we actually nuke the hero tower? I want to know if nuclear radiation will fuck with Tech's regeneration. And also kill Phil. I want him dead."
Wilbur coughed behind him, sounding like he was choking on air for a solid five seconds there.
"OI! I have plans for Phil! Save the nuking for later!" The magpie avian hissed, walking over and lightly batting the younger avian with his wing.
"Ah, so you finally arrive bitch," Tubbo said, smirking at Wilbur. "You owe me and Boo a story. Don't think I forgot, asshole."
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Blink cut in, giving his partner a stern look.
His older brother chuckled, "It's no trouble, Ran. You know I love telling stories."
"Are we moving to the lounge then?" Quackity questioned, yawning as he stretched his wings out. "Cause' I'm going to have to steal Wilbur here soon to sleep. I'm fucking exhausted."
"Alright, alright," the magpie avian chuckled. "Gods, I'm in such high demand."
Tommy watched the way his brother's wings twitched, fluffing up ever so slightly.
The raven avian smiled subtly to himself as they started walking to the lounge, watching how Wilbur talked with Quackity and the other villain duo.
He was enjoying the attention. Then again, his brother had always loved having eyes on him so long as they didn't pry too much. He's glad the older had finally found his audience, it was nice seeing his wings shine like this.
It was nice hearing the absolute joy in a musical tone versus how Wilbur used to talk.
He never realized how dead his brother's voice used to be until he heard the melodic voice he was always supposed to have.
They eventually sat down in the lounge, Wilbur claiming the couch and Quackity immediately filling the space next to him. The shrike avian tucked himself under the taller's wing, leaning against him with very loud purrs.
"That's not a bird," Tommy blurted. "That's a fucking cat."
Tubbo and Blink both snorted, Wilbur snickering as well while Quackity shot him a small glare.
"Well fuck you too gremlin," the shrike avian hissed.
"I mean," Wilbur trailed off. "I do like cats."
"Do not agree with the fucking child in front of me," the TNT Villain deadpanned.
"Hey!" Tommy hissed. "I am the fucking biggest man! Don't call me a child, bitch!"
"Yeah!" Tubbo agreed.
Blink just sighed deeply, pressing his face into his gloved hands while shaking his head.
"Alright," Wilbur snickered. "What story should I tell today lads?"
"And if one of you says Persephone's Abduction, I will throw a knife at you," Quackity cut in. "I've had to listen to that one five times now."
The magpie avian just laughed at his partner's disgruntled expression.
"Threat duly noted," Blink hummed. "How about the story of Odysseus?"
"We'd be here all day," Wilbur deadpanned.
"Something we haven't heard yet preferably," Tubbo huffed, throwing an arm over the back of the chair he was sharing with Blink.
Tommy flopped into one of the recliners, humming, "How about the story of Icarus?"
Tubbo and Blink gave him curious looks, Wilbur perking up.
"Ohhh, been a while since I told you that one, huh?" His older brother smiled, nostalgia clouding his eyes. "How old were you?"
"I was a fucking baby is what I was," the raven avian smirked. "So tell it again, bitch."
"Maybe next time I should tell Theseus and The Minotaur," Wilbur hummed.
"Oh you little shit," Tommy hissed, sitting up.
"Okay, okay, don't threaten me," his older brother chuckled. "Now, the reason why I bring it up is because the context for Icarus's story is more complicated than the actual story itself since it ties into the myth of Theseus and The Minotaur. So if any of you ever actually want to hear that story, let me know."
Wilbur continued, "Now, the relevant backstory here is that King Minos commissioned Daedalus to build him a labyrinth to imprison the Minotaur. Since Minos was, like most ancient kings were, a dick, he used the labyrinth to kill people he didn't like. To prevent the secrets of the labyrinth from getting out, he had Daedalus and his son Icarus arrested and then locked away in a tower so they could never reveal how the labyrinth worked."
"Dick move," Tubbo huffed.
Blink settled into the chair more comfortably, Quackity also getting comfortable at the magpie avian's side.
"Very much so," the fallen hero chuckled. "So Daedalus and Icarus are stuck in the tower, but, if you happen to recall, Daedalus is something of a brilliant inventor. So it wasn't going to take him very long to find a way out. Now, this is where we get into the more familiar part of the story, because the solution Daedalus comes up with is two pairs of wings made from feathers and wax so they could fly out of the tower."
"They put the wings on, and Daedalus warns Icarus to be careful, because if he flies too low, the sea spray will make the feathers too heavy to fly, but if he flies to high, the sun will melt the wax and cause the wings to fall apart," Wilbur hummed.
"Most people don't mention the sea spray bit," he added. "But the original story was a warning against complacency and hubris. Fly too low, and you'll never fly again. Fly too high, and you'll crash and burn."
"That's a good lesson," Blink commented. "I think everyone could stand to learn from that."
"But of course," Tommy cut in. "Icarus is a teenager."
"Tommy, you're a teenager," Wilbur deadpanned.
"I make good decisions, excuse you bitch!" The raven avian defended. "Icarus was a fucking dumbass because the second he started flying, he does that thing that teenagers do where they think they're immortal because nothing ever truly life threatening has happened to them yet. I'll have you know that I have experienced multiple life threatening situations, and I do not think I'm immortal. So ha! I'm mature!"
Quackity snickered under Wilbur's wing, meanwhile the magpie avian was just shaking his head with a sigh.
"Yes, you make good decisions," his older brother drolled. "Just like that time where you decided eating an entire cake by yourself was a good decision. Or when you thought stealing Techno's favorite dagger was smart. Or-"
The younger avian picked up a book from the table and hurled it at the taller. The fallen hero ducked with a hiss, glaring at him.
"Gremlin child!"
"I'm not a child bitch! I am the biggest man!"
"Child. Tiny baby bird."
"Tiny!? YOU ARE BARELY TALLER THAN ME YOU LITTLE SHIT-"
"Boys," Quackity cut in, interrupting their bickering. "Tommy, you can bully Wilbur later. Songbird, harass your brother some other time. I still want to go to sleep at a reasonable time here."
Wilbur nodded, clearing his throat, "Continuing. But yes, Tommy is right. Icarus, being an impulsive teenager, decided that he should be fine. So he started flying higher and higher. He got too high, and the sun proceeded to melt the wax in his wings, causing them to fall apart. Icarus fell and eventually drowned in the ocean below. Daedalus was unable to help him because Icarus had already gotten too close to the ocean, and even if he was able to catch up in time, he wouldn't be able to carry his son and fly at the same time. Either way, it would've killed them both. So Daedalus kept flying, and Icarus became a universal symbol for the folly of pride."
"In the end, it's a simple story," his brother hummed. "But the lesson, as you said earlier Ran, is something we can all learn from. You should never be complacent, but beware of becoming overconfident. Find your middle ground, and soar."
The magpie avian turned to give the youngest a look, "So, any particular reason you wanted to hear that one?"
Tommy's grin was something feral, "Oh, don't mind me starting to mentally call Phil Icarus because the bastard is going to crash and burn due to his stupidity."
"Y'know what?" Wilbur prompted, his own grin turning sharp. "I think that's a good analogy to end the day with. You boys have fun, but don't blow anything up please."
The fallen hero nudged Quackity up, and the two left the lounge to return to their nest.
Tubbo turned to give him a look, "We should make a wedding cake for them."
Blink snorted, "Do you even know how to make a cake?"
"I do," Tommy cut in, smirking at Tubbo. "And that is a fucking pog idea. Let's do it!"
Once they were sure the two older avians were asleep, they slunk into the kitchen to enact their plan.
~Time Skip~
"So, what's the story with you two?" Tommy asked, Ranboo (which was apparently Blink's actual name) stirring the cake batter as Tubbo started cleaning up.
"What do you mean?" Tubbo questioned.
"I mean like... why are you guys villains?" The avian clarified. "Everyone in this casino has some kind of motive for it. What's up with you guys?"
Ranboo shot a small glance over at his platonic husband, Tubbo having paused his motions of wiping down the counter.
"Don't feel like you have to talk about it," Tommy cut in quickly. "Hell knows I haven't told Wil or Big Q much about what happened to me. Sometimes it's just uncomfortable talking about it, and I get that. So you don't have to say anything if you don't want to, I was just curious."
"Nah, you're fine Boss Man," Tubbo said, dusting off his hands on a washcloth. "I've come to terms with what happened to me, so I'm not really worried about talking about it anymore. On my end, it was more or less discrimination. Bad day, after bad day, after bad day. It all just kinda built up until I decided, y'know what? Fuck this shit."
The Nuke Villain sighed, tossing his washcloth into the sink with a contemplative look, "My parents abandoned me when I was little. I was in the foster system for a long fucking time. Eventually I had enough of getting passed around, bullied, and always those damn pitying looks. I couldn't stand the pity. Honestly, that was the worst fucking thing. But, I just ran away one time. And I never looked back."
"Then, somehow, Quackity found me," the shorter chuckled. "I don't know how, but he found me one day. I can't remember exactly how old I was, but I do remember him showing me the ropes of being a villain. He didn't pity me, he saw potential. So he showed me how things work in the underground, let me stay with him until I was ready to go at it alone. Once I had gotten a start as a minor villain, he gave me the option to either stay and work with him in the casinos, or I could become my own villain. I chose to go at it as a solo operating villain. And then I picked up Boo one day, and the rest was history."
"Huh," Tommy hummed. "So the shrike bastard isn't a total piece of shit. Good to know. But why the fuck were you bullied? You're literally a fucking genius."
Tubbo smiled something painful, "Promise not to laugh at me?"
"If I laughed at you, I have no doubt you'd probably find a way to ruin my life with explosives," the avian deadpanned. "So no, I'm not going to laugh at you."
"Even if I say that I don't have powers?"
The room went quiet, Ranboo pausing to glance at Tubbo.
Tommy...
He had heard about things like that. He'd read things. But people without powers were...incredibly rare. Like once in a blue moon type rare. He'd also heard stories of people having their powers stolen or erased with certain other abilities.
But someone being born without a power was almost completely unheard of.
"Huh," the avian muttered. "Pog."
And he turned back to check on the oven.
"... What the fuck?" Tubbo said. "That's... that's all you have to say to that?"
"Tubbo, you've threatened the city like... ten times with homemade nukes," Tommy laughed. "The fact that you don't have a power doesn't change that. I'm going to be blunt here, but it's fucking weird on my end. I'm not even going to pretend to understand what the fuck that's like. But you're literally a genius, and you've done a lot of impressive things. Suddenly knowing that you don't have a power isn't going to change my opinion of you. In fact, it only makes your achievements that much more impressive. Dude, you're literally in the top ten villain ranks! Without a power! That's fucking badass!"
When he turned back to glance at the two villains, they were both just staring at him with surprised looks.
"What?" He questioned.
The Nuke Villain just smiled at him, "That's the first time someone outside of Boo or Quackity has said something like that to me."
"Well that's bullshit," Tommy huffed. "People fucking suck."
The shorter laughed, "Fuck society, am I right?"
"Wrong'uns, all of em'," the avian said, turning to look at Ranboo next. "What about you boob boy?"
"Probably something you can relate to a bit more," the taller shrugged. "Hero family, training programs. Took one long look at what they wanted me to do and noped out of there faster than I could teleport."
That caused Tommy to still, his wings twitching.
"Can I ask what family you were from?"
"It wasn't a family with the kind of legacy you and Wilbur dealt with, my parents were the first heroes from either family," Ranboo hummed, continuing to stir the cake batter. "They both had dragon powers, actually. End and Nether were their hero names. My father, End, had the most dragon like features out of the two of them. Horns, a tail, wings, and his skin was mostly scales. Black like void. My mother, Nether, on the other hand, only had the wings and horns. But she could breathe fire like an actual dragon. My teleportation came from my father's side of the family, and I dye my hair like this as a way to remember them. Matching with my eyes and stuff, since dad's eyes were green and mom's were red."
The Teleportation Villain was quiet before he spoke again, "I had already started going to hero school when they were killed in a villain attack. I found out when I went home and... well. Foster system. I got put in with another hero family who immediately signed me up for the extra training programs you're probably familiar with. After about two weeks of the hell training I started having these really bad blackouts that I wouldn't be able to remember when I woke up. From what I understand, they had started trying to induce them on purpose since I started displaying powers more similar to my parents when I blacked out."
Tommy was stunned, but the taller didn't stop talking.
"I... on my head there are these bumps. They grow into horns when I blackout according to my instructors," Ranboo continued. "And... I think they mentioned that I grow a tail too? I had Tubbo check something for me and there are patches of scales on my back, but I've never grown wings before I don't think. I... like I said, I can't remember. After taking a long look at what they were doing, and what they wanted me to do, I ran. I ran as fast as I could, and eventually, Tubbo found me. Thus, we became a villain duo."
"Forced power mutations," Tommy hissed, wings pulling in uncomfortably. "Of fucking course. Bastards."
Ranboo tilted his head at the avian as he started pacing, "You good?"
"No, no I'm not, actually," the former hero in training grumbled. "Because that damn Hero Committee Representative was trying to do something similar to me."
He turned to look at the taller, gaze sharp, "They were trying to induce a power mutation in you. Trying to strengthen your powers or test if your parents' powers could be drawn out. These blackouts of yours were probably the result of stress or resistance training. Either that, or they were trying to use drugs. Did they ever give you strange drinks or did your lunch ever taste weird?"
The Teleportation Villain paused, squinting at the avian before horror dawned in his eyes.
"Now that you mention it... they did always have some kind of drink for me before the training started..."
Tommy hissed, "Our society is so fucked up. Goddamnit."
Tubbo glanced between them, looking vaguely worried, "Tommy... what's going on in those training programs?"
"A lot of fucked up shit," the avian growled.
He glanced between Ranboo and Tubbo, weighing his options.
On one talon, he could tell them. Get it off his chest. Organize his thoughts.
On the other talon, he literally could hear the bitch screaming at him whenever he considered telling anyone about what was going on.
After a while of debating it, he sighed.
"Okay," he muttered, lowering his voice and feeling discomfort twist in his stomach at what he was about to do. "What I'm about to tell you is something that I haven't told anyone. Not even Wilbur, or Quackity. I asked you guys for your stories, this is... this is what happened to me."
He took a breath, taking the bowl of batter from Ranboo and pouring it into a pan before shoving it in the oven.
"They wanted me to be their perfect little assassin," Tommy admitted. "They were training me to kill, just like they trained Techno to kill. But Techno was trained for self defense. That some villains had to be taken out if they proved too dangerous. They wanted me to be a weapon. Something they could point at villains, or even heroes at risk of defecting."
"What the fuck?" Tubbo muttered, tone horrified.
"They taught Techno to kill, they taught Wilbur to go numb," the avian shuddered, wings pulling in around himself. "They taught me both. And... they decided to see if they could somehow strengthen my power. We learn from pretty young ages that sometimes powers can mutate and become stronger in high stress situations. Kind of like how adrenaline can make our bodies do things that previously couldn't be done. So, they decided to put me in stress simulations. They attacked me relentlessly, they threw weapons and powers at me with no fucking sympathy. Until eventually..."
He glanced at his talons, turning around to face the villain duo. With a shaky sigh, he jabbed one of his talons at his hand, holding it out as a bit of blood dripped from the small wound.
"Tommy what the-" Ranboo trailed off as the wound closed, the blood flow stalling as his skin stitched back together.
"That..." Tubbo trailed off. "Your mother is Lady Death. That's... that's her power."
Tommy nodded, walking over to the sink and rinsing his hand off.
"Their goal was to make me stronger," the avian laughed drily. "And in the end, I have the speed of my father and the regeneration of my mother. Wack shit, am I right? The regeneration is a new development, actually. Happened like... two sessions before Wilbur came and stole me. I haven't told him yet..."
He turned off the water, glancing at Ranboo, "And that's probably what they were trying to do to you. I didn't blackout like you did, but I'm guessing the only reason you have the start of horns and scales is because of whatever the hell they were giving you in that drink. They were trying to force your powers to mutate, just like they did with me."
"That's fucking child experimentation, what the fuck," Tubbo growled.
"Just uh... don't mention this shit to Wil and Q yet," Tommy added, wings flicking in and out nervously. "I um... I'm not ready to talk to them about it. Mainly because I feel like Wilbur is going to try and blow up the city because of it."
"And I'm much better?" The Nuke Villain questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"You don't have protective avian instincts that are going to go nuts over it," Tommy deadpanned.
Before he knew what was happening, Ranboo apparently decided they were doing a group hug now.
He wrapped a wing around both villains, managing to easily dwarf Tubbo.
"Ha! I am the king of hugs!" Tommy declared, his inner bird chirping something that he didn't understand.
"Why are your wings so big!?" Tubbo exclaimed.
"Raven moment," the avian snickered.
~Time Skip~
"WHY IS THERE FIRE!? WHY IS FIRE HAPPENING!?"
"Oh no."
"THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO FUCKING SAY TO THAT BOOB BOY!?"
"I'm immune to fire."
"WHAT THE HELL-"
"I LEAVE YOU THREE ALONE FOR FIVE FUCKING HOURS!"
"Oh, hi Big Q. How's it going?"
"You're grounded."
"YOU CAN'T GROUND ME! YOU AIN'T MY DAD!"
"Oh my fucking-WILBUR!"
"Shit. RANBOOB HIDE ME!"
"Oh no, you aren't using me as a shield."
"Ranboo please. C'mon. We had a bonding moment. We hugged. You can't just let me die like this."
"Perish."
Tubbo just fucking laughed as the fire rose higher.
~Time Skip, POV Swap~
Wilbur was just minding his own business. He swears, it just started out as a normal night.
Currently, he is running from a specific gremlin child who has apparently decided that it was time to continue their self care day.
"GET BACK HERE BITCH!"
"YOU ARE NOT SUBJECTING MY TALONS TO YOUR TORTURE AGAIN!"
"TOO BAD ASSHOLE! GET OVER HERE!"
"QUACKITY!"
He threw himself into his partner's office and immediately dove behind the shrike avian.
"HELP!"
Tommy was in the room shortly after, feral smirk on his face, "Hi Big Q. Mind handing over my brother? He has a promise to stay true to."
The villain just looked between the two brothers, confused.
"Can I ask what this is about?"
"Self care day," Tommy responded. "I'm borrowing him for the night since you interrupted our last one."
The shrike avian hummed, turning to glance at Wilbur, "And why are you running?"
"The gremlin has nail polish," the fallen hero hissed, using one of the shorter avian's wings to hide behind.
"Ohh, you should do black again, Tommy," Quackity snickered. "It looked great the last time."
"Read you loud and clear big man," the raven avian laughed.
"Don't encourage this!"
"C'mere Wil!"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
He darted out of the office past the gremlin and flew for it.
~POV Swap~
Quackity hummed, watching the flurry of blue feathers as Wilbur ran for it.
"Need help?" He questioned.
"It'd be appreciated," Tommy hummed.
"Alright, let's bully him into self care," the shrike avian smirked, spreading his wings and flying out the door with the younger avian right on his heels.
"C'MERE SONGBIRD!"
"YOU CAN'T HIDE FOREVER WIL!"
"WHY ARE BOTH OF YOU AFTER ME NOW!?"
Tommy was able to catch up to Wilbur quickly because of the size of his wings, basically tackling the magpie avian out of the air and back onto the upper levels of the casino. Quackity was there immediately to grab the tallest avian before he could dart again.
"Nope, you aren't getting away!" He chirped, scooping the struggling fallen hero up with a laugh.
"Sunriiiise! Don't side with the fucking gremlin!" Wilbur whined, flapping his wings a few times to try and playfully bat them away from him.
He got a face full of feathers a few times, but wasn't letting go.
"Where are we taking him, gremlin?" The shrike avian snickered.
"Let's head to the lounge," Tommy hummed, folding his wings in. "You got the key?"
Wilbur squawked a few small curses, causing the villain to snicker, "Top drawer of my desk."
"On it!" The raven avian trilled, flying off in the direction of the office.
Quackity just laughed, carrying his partner over to the lounge. Foolish spotted them, asked a few questions, and then went about his day.
He kicked the door to the lounge open and threw Wilbur on the couch with a playful chirp. The magpie avian batted him over the head with a wing in response, playfully hissing at him.
The shrike avian chittered back, returning the soft wing smack.
"Wait," Wilbur muttered, pushing the villain's wing away. "If the lounge was already unlocked, why did he ask for the key?"
As if fucking summoned, they turned to see Tommy walking in the room.
He locked the door behind him.
"Ha!" The gremlin laughed. "My master plan has worked! Now both of you are stuck with me!"
"Did I just get bamboozled by a child?" Quackity questioned.
"Yes, yes you did," Wilbur snickered behind him.
"Alright gremlin," the shrike avian said, raising an eyebrow at the younger. "What's this about?"
"You're both taking a break tonight," Tommy hummed, walking over and perching himself on the couch's arm rest. "Since you're Wilbur's new flock, shrike bastard, I'm including you in this. Also, you work too much. Seriously, for a villain who promotes doing whatever the fuck you want, you do way too much boring ass paperwork."
"He has a point," the fallen hero commented from the couch before reaching up and shoving his brother off of the armrest, earning a loud squawk from the nestling. "But fuck you for basically kidnapping us."
"Keep talking like that, and I'm using the pink nail polish on you," the younger threatened.
The magpie avian quieted at the threat, peering over the edge of the couch at his brother with a playful click.
Tommy just cackled, "Fork over your phones bitches. Neither of you are getting out of this."
~Time Skip~
Quackity watched the two brothers interact, conversation flowing between all three of them as Tommy painted Wilbur's talons black like the last time.
"You were right, black makes him look fierce," the raven avian snickered, hands sure and steady as he applied the paint to the magpie avian's talons.
Wilbur just hummed, content as he leaned back against the couch.
"He's out of it," the shrike avian snickered, reaching over and carefully starting to braid a few strands of the fallen hero's hair. His actions earned a soft chirp in turn, the taller nudging his hands slightly.
"That's not going to help," Tommy commented, rolling his eyes. "He gets all melty when people play with his hair. Especially when it comes to flock."
"Trust me, I've noticed," the villain smiled.
The nestling finished Wilbur's talons and immediately turned to him with a smirk, "Your turn shrike bitch."
Quackity huffed in amusement, finishing the small braid in his partner's hair before shaking out one of his wings until a grey feather fell. Scooping up the feather, he tucked it into the hair tie, finishing the braid with a satisfied purr.
"Huh," Tommy muttered before snatching one of the villain's hands. "What color do you want?"
"Uhh... blue?" The shrike avian tried.
"Simp," the gremlin snickered.
"Oh c'mon, how does that make me a simp?" The shorter questioned.
"Blue is his favorite color," the raven avian responded, adjusting his grip on Quackity's hand. "Oh, pog. Your hands don't shake. This'll be quick then."
"They only shake when something startles me," the shrike avian admitted, shrugging as the younger fished a bottle of nail polish from his bag. "Typically shattering glass. I fucking hate that sound."
"Oh, that explains the lack of glass cups and bottles then," Tommy contemplated, starting to paint a nice navy blue color on the shorter's nails. "... Aren't shrikes supposed to be predatory? Where are your talons Big Q?"
Wilbur stirred from his spot on the couch, "That's a sensitive topic-"
"Nah, it's fine songbird," Quackity assured, stretching out a wing to nudge the taller. "He's allowed to ask. The basic gist of it, Tommy, is that my mother was a fucking asshole who wanted me to live a 'peaceful' lifestyle. When she was a teenager, she had her talons removed via power. It's a slightly expensive procedure that's typically only used on animal features that may cause harm to the person who had the power. Like if someone has tusks that grow too large and threaten to hurt the person. Things like that. She had mine removed after I got into a few fights, and they've never been able to grow back since."
The nestling hissed, anger flashing in his gaze, "Fucking bullshit power suppression."
"Yeah," the shrike avian agreed, focusing on the careful strokes of nail polish.
There was quiet, Wilbur placing a wing around his shoulders for comfort. Honestly, he did miss having talons sometimes. But there was nothing he could really do about-
"High stress situations might bring them back," Tommy said, gaze intense as he focused on his task, seeming to ramble without meaning to. "A power mutation, I mean. A lot of animal-based powers like ours will typically gain extra features associated with that animal when undergoing mutations or extremely high stress. There are articles written and some research done on things like this. People growing horns when they didn't have them originally, fangs getting sharper, sometimes people will even get taller. I think there was one incident reported about an avian growing a long feathered tail to help with tighter turns during a high stress flight while trying to escape a villain."
Both older avians tilted their heads at the younger as he kept talking, still steadily working on the shrike avian's nails.
"Just, in theory, a power mutation or high stress situation might cause your talons to grow back as a defense mechanism. That's not a guarantee though, it's not a highly studied topic. But there is a high chance that, along with a few other potential features, you could regain talons. Our talons are constantly growing, so for your talons to have been completely removed the power used would've had to have done something to the genetic code that coded for your talons to grow. A power mutation might be able to unblock that. Besides, I know for a fact that Wilbur's talons grow whenever he enters feral mode. So perhaps all you need is something to trigger that need for talon growth. Something stressful, something that triggers instincts, or a power mutation-"
The nestling cut himself off, stopping his rant once he realized there were no more nails to paint.
"Huh, I'm really not used to painting regular sized nails. I was expecting this to take longer," he muttered, screwing the cap back on the nail polish before storing it back in his bag.
"Toms, where did you learn all that?" Wilbur questioned, a small layer of concern in his voice.
"Trauma," Tommy deadpanned, giving them a look. "Now c'mere."
The younger avian dragged the fallen hero closer to him, starting to tie a braid next to the one Quackity made.
"Tommy-"
"Wilbur, I'm not going to talk about it right now," the raven avian stated. "I can tell you that the Hero Committee Representative that Phil had me training with was very interested in the topic of power mutations. And that's the best you're getting right now. I care about you, and I'd trust you with my life, but I don't feel comfortable talking about it yet."
The taller looked like he was about to protest when Quackity held out a wing, giving him a stern look.
"Songbird, you need to give him time, just like how I had to give you time, and you gave me time," the villain huffed. "If he's not ready to talk about it, he's not ready to talk about it. I love you, and I understand you're worried, but give the kid space. What matters is that he's safe now."
He turned his gaze to the nestling, who was giving him a surprised look.
The shrike avian smiled, "Don't fuss at him too much. He's just worried, which is reasonable. You clearly went through some fucked up shit, even if we don't know the details. And he really missed you. So while he shouldn't be prying-"
He made sure to shoot his partner another glance before turning back to Tommy, "-Don't get too snappy with him. He just wants to make sure you're okay."
The former hero in training studied him for a minute before huffing something that sounded vaguely like approval.
"I know that bitch. He's always been a worrier like that," the raven avian responded, shaking out one of his wings until a loose feather fell out. "But, thank you for telling him off."
He tucked the fallen feather into the hair tie, making sure to playfully nudge his brother before turning a feral grin at the shrike avian.
"Your turn."
"Wait what-!?"
Quackity squawked as he was yanked over by the younger avian, about to throw out more questions until he felt a few strands of his hair being pulled into a braid. His inner bird froze, as did he.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Tommy's eyes narrowed in concentration as he weaved a few strands of black hair into a simple braid. Small like the two in Wilbur's hair. He didn't say anything as the nestling tied the braid into place, nor did he speak when a black feather was tucked into the hair tie.
Wilbur looked back and forth between them, gaze confused for a solid few seconds before it melted into something fond.
"Aww Tommy-"
"Bitch, not a word out of you," the raven avian snapped immediately, shooting a playful glare at his brother. The fallen hero didn't listen, starting to coo the second the younger stopped talking.
Quackity was still just stunned.
Because he knew exactly what the braid meant. Wilbur had told him himself when he woke up from his instincts.
It was a flock thing.
Annnd his shrike is already going nuts. Great.
"I think you broke him?"
"Q, you alright? You look like you're bluescreening."
Tommy poked him, causing the shrike avian to jolt slightly.
"Ah! Um. Yep. I'm good," he laughed. "Just uh... processing?"
Wilbur tilted his head at him before his eyes lit up, "Oh right! Your shrike is probably going crazy right now, huh?"
At a confirming nod, the magpie avian just purred reassuringly, using his wings to pull the villain closer.
"Excuse him, Toms, he just gets overwhelmed with flock things," the fallen hero teased.
The shrike avian huffed, lightly knocking his head against the taller's shoulder, "I do not get overwhelmed."
"Sunrise, you looked like you were about ready to hug the nestling, and we both know it," his partner chuckled.
Quackity just groaned, feeling the magpie avian start tying a second braid in his hair now that the nail polish has dried on his talons. Once a feather was tucked into that braid, they both looked at Tommy.
The nestling looked at both of them, glancing from one to the other before sighing.
"Fine, fine," he grumbled. "Alright, okay. This is me accepting your goddamn new flock. Got it? Just don't make a big deal about it and get over here."
He extended his wings open in invitation, Wilbur immediately rushing over to accept the hug. The shrike avian lingered for a bit, unsure until Tommy looked directly at him and adjusted the other wing.
"You too shrike bastard."
His inner shrike chirped in delight, moving over to hug the nestling.
Finally, a complete flock.
All three avians would walk out of the lounge with two braids in their hair. Quackity had one decorated with a black feather, and one with a blue feather. Wilbur had one black feather, and one grey feather. And Tommy walked away with two small braids, side by side.
A blue feather, and a grey feather.
~Time Skip~
"Hey, Big Q, I've got a question for you?"
"Hm? Yeah, what is it gremlin?"
"If I was to, hypothetically, be considering that a villain arc would be very pog, where would I start?"
Quackity looked up from his paperwork, surprised, before starting to smile something vicious.
"Well, I'd say we should start by coming up with a villain name, and getting rid of that pesky last name of yours. Any ideas?"
"And if I said I already had a list that I brainstormed with Tubbo earlier?"
"Then I'd say you're better prepared than your brother was. Have a seat, kid. We've got a lot to talk about."