Tommy felt odd, thinking about all that happened and was about to happen. The unsettling feeling was still there, making it's presence known with the weird feeling in his arms. They felt like someone was poking a needle through his skin and then putting it together with a string.
He knew something was wrong and that only made him realize that maybe it didn't have anything to do with Japan. Maybe it was L'manburg that was in danger and he wasn't there to help. He wasn't there to do anything. While he was staying in a safe place with people who took care of him, his friends could be out there fighting for their life like always. But, could he even call then his friends? More like co-workers if it was the right word, he couldn't remember.
"Sit still for a second kid, I can't check on you if you keep moving!" The Recovery Girl smacked him in the head gently and he whined, hand massaging his abused head.
"I'm sorry, I just can't help but worry.." he said quietly and only then did Recovery Girl stopped what she was doing and looked down at him.
Noticing the all too familiar pout and the way Tommy wouldn't look anywhere else but at the floor, she sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"What's on your mind? Are you worried shout your friend?" She asked and he bit his lower lip.
"If by friend you mean Todoroki, then not really. I mean, I am worried that he might get hurt but it's not exactly what I'm worried about." Tommy explained, glancing up at her with eyes that showed nothing but pain and fear.
She offered him a small smile, ruffling his hair a little. She continued her work, checking for any injuries before making sure he didn't have a fever.
"I can't promise that nothing happened to your friends but I'm sure they are more capable than anyone else to take care of each other. After all, Aizawa told me that you always praised their abilities to fight and defend their country." She said.
Tommy's eyes widened a little as he looked her straight in the eyes.
"How do you know-?"
"Don't be surprised. Nezu informed some of us about your situation a long time ago. Along with Aizawa, they thought it would be the best thing to do. And don't worry, no one expect for the teachers knows" She said softly, before taking a step back to write something down in her notebook. "You can put your shirt on. I only need to check your hands"
Tommy slipped the shirt over his head and down his body, struggling a little to get his wings through the holes on the back.
On the other hand, he didn't know how to feel. He expected the Principal to tell the other teachers and Heroes about his situation, after all it would be stupid to not let them know that there was a strange kid from another world walking around and hoping to become a hero one day. But how much did they know?
"How much do you know?" He asked with a hopeful face.
"Oh, not much I suppose. Nezu told us something about the place where you come from, how it wasn't the best place to live. He mentioned something about exile and your brothers death, which I'm truly sorry for" she placed the notebook down and walked up to him again, reaching out to grab his hands.
Tommy placed his hands in her own, feeling the old but still warm skin.
He flinched when she traced her hand up to his wrist, visibly noticing the small reaction.
"Is there something I should know about?" She asked, stoping for a second before carrying on.
"I-" he stopped.
Was it okay to tell? Should he let her know, out of all people? She could help but.. how would she react? He felt disgusted about it, hated it even. The way it reminded him of everything he went through. The fact that it was with him till this very day and he couldn't get rid of it.
Should he say the truth? Was it okay to expose a part of his memory?
"During my second exile, there was a guy who would watch over me to make sure I wouldn't escape. He would come every day and- and he would" Tommy didn't know how to put it in words. Was it even possible? "I was lost and alone and I lost all hope quite frankly. I was barely holding on and the strength to keep going was leaving slowly and soon I found myself rethinking all my choices"
He looked at Recovery Girl who was silently looking at him, still holding his hands as a sign of support.
"But there was one person who would visit me and bring at least a little bit of light into my life. I really appreciated him and the fact that he still put up with me. But then.. that guy would come around and erase every progress that I made. He would destroy my stuff, make me feel like the absolute shit I am and even then, he was never satisfied. He made strict rules for me that I couldn't break Because if I did.."
Tommy froze. The punishments. The cruel thing Dream would do to Tommy if he didn't obey or act the right way. The punishments that would keep him awake at night in fear that Dream would come back and make him suffer again. The countless day's when he would do nothing but sit around and patch up all his wounds from all the punishments.
Dream was a cruel man and he carried himself like a God, knowing what he did. Because he was in complete control.
"One day, I guess he didn't like the way I spoke to him.. That day, I lost all the control and everything that belonged to me." Tommy said, clenching his hands and gripping the smaller hands in his.
"He.. he turned me into his puppet and made his."
Recovery Girl tried to free her hands so she could place them on his shoulder and calm him down but he didn't let her.
"He turned me into a fucking animal.. a dog that he could out on a leash and drag around while shouting commands" Tommy smiled with his open wide, yet the smile was far from happiness. "He did something cruel.."
Recovery Girl managed to free her hands when Tommy was too busy staring at a wall and she pushed him down on the bed, holding him in one place. He looked at her with cold eyes, the blue orbs glaring at her as if he had seen someone completely different from her.
"What did he do to you?" She asked.
And Tommy's smile faded, his eyes turning back to normal as he looked down at his hands, nothing small drops of blood on them.
He chuckled.
"He labelled me" Tommy said. "He labelled me with a piece of iron that he had previously put in fire to make it burning hot. And it was. It almost matched the fire in Nether and the melting iron stick to my skin. It hurt, oh it hurt so much I thought I was dying. But he didn't do it once and then let go, no. He repeated it many times, over and over again. Because Dream wasn't satisfied unless he knew that it was perfect." Tommy let his hand wrap around his arm, where the label was.
He pulled at his shirt, exposing the skin there. At first, there was nothing there. But then Tommy pulled at the small plaster, whining while doing so before it was revealed. A small scar that wasn't new, that much she could tell by the fading color and scar that was left behind. It was still red with some very old dried out blood. But that wasn't something that scared her the most. No, the one thing that scared her was the fact that it wasn't like any other normal scar.
The shape was too familiar to miss it.
A smiley face with two dots as eyes.
Recovery Girl had to hold back her gasp and tears that threatened to escape. Her hand reached out and her fingers gently touched the scar, tracing it with so much care that Tommy wanted to pull away and run. But he stayed in the same position, letting the old woman examine his scar.
While he looked at it, the ugly memories swam through his mind and he felt shivers down his back. The smiley face looking right back at him, staring deep into his soul. It was creepy, how he always felt like the smiley face was watching him, even if the plaster was covering it.
"Tommy.." she whispered. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
And Tommy couldn't speak. Be it out of fear, or maybe it was too painful to say.
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked away and pulled the sleeve down, ignoring the burning passion to take a knife and plung it into the smile, make it look like anything but the familiar face.
But he didn't do that, too.
Because he was too weak and pathetic to do something like that.
When was Dream? He made it so easy to live and to forget.
He made it easy for Tommy to chose between death and live.
Maybe if it wasn't for the stupid glitch, then maybe he would be happily dead, away from everyone and everything. Then it would be better. Better for him, better for L'manburg and better for Japan.
Because he was the problem, just like everyone said. Tommy was just too selfish to notice it.
･.｡.:* *.:｡.･
Quackity sat in his office staring at the wall with a tired look. He was exhausted, both mentally and physically but he managed. Pushing the stack of appears sway with his boot, he made himself as comfortable as it was possible. His back hurt and his head was begging for a break but he had do much to do.
And he was still waiting for someone to deliver important news to him.
"I can still hear his voice.." he hummed to himself, eyes closing for a second to relax. "In the back of my head"
The sound of footsteps echoing down the hall made him crack his eyes open to se if anyone was coming in. When he saw nothing he closed his eyes again and breathed out.
"He said: 'Why couldn't you save me?' And I looked into his eyes, whispering I'm sorry and watching him disappear again" he hummed.
The doors slowly opened and Quackity didn't bother to open his eyes, the familiar pattern of footsteps was hurried deep in his memory.
"I hope you're here to bring me some good news, Sam" Quackity said, cracking one eye open to show the man that he was listening.
Sam stood by the doors, his pose stiff and mask covering his face. Quackity frowned, pulling his feet off of the desk and leaning over it. His expression slowly hardened, the sword clanking loudly by his hip as he placed one hand on the handle.
"Did you do what I asked for, Sam? Or did you forget what your job here is about?" Quackity asked.
Sam was still staring at him, before he took a step forward. Noticing the stiffen pose and how his right hand slipped towards his own weapon, Quackity quickly stood up and pulled his own sword out. He had no armor and the sword itself wasn't probably enough to kill someone, but he would manage.
He glared at Sam, barging his teeth just when his wings opened to appear bigger.
"Sam, what's wrong with you?"
"I'm afraid our deal had some to an end, Quackity" Sam said yet his voice was off.
It wasn't like his normal voice.
"What are you talking about?!" Quackity was losing his patience.
"The Egg wants your head served on a platter and your head is exactly what I will take" Sam said, bringing his sword in front of him.
Quackity lowered himself in his knees a little, putting all his strength into his arms and legs.
"What the fuck? Did you join the egg too?!" He yelled, anger swirling in his eyes.
"The Egg made a promise that I couldn't say no to. Don't make it harder than it should be" Sam said.
Quackity had no time to react before the creeper hybrid lunged at him, swords clashing at the kast second. Quackity used the advantage of being smaller and kicked Sam in the gut, sending him back a little. The man growled, eyes burning with rage as they slowly turned into a red colour. Smoke left his lips seconds before Quackity slammed into him full body, sending him to the ground. What Quackity didn't expect was for him legs to get swipped from under him by Sam's tail and that moments later was wrapping around his neck.
Quackity gripped it, trying to pull away but he struggled, air slowly leaving his lungs. Doin panic settled in and he frantically looked around before his eyes landed on his sword. He reached out for it but Sam noticed and tried to grab it first, which only pushed Quackity into deeper rage as he snatched it moments before Sam's finger could touch it.
Quackity was quick to thrust the sword forward, nothing the opening that Sam left, easily slicing his arm.
Sam howled in pain, his tail loosening as he went to grab onto his arm. Quackity pushed his tail off if him and jumped into his feet, struggling for air as he stumbled around the room. His hands landed in the wall, looking for something blindly as he did not dare to take his eyes off of Sam. When his hands touched something cold, he pulled on it and without thinking, pointed at Sam who was still on the ground, hissing in pain.
"You fucker! You think you can come in here and try to kill me?! I'm not some weak bitch, Sam! I don't have anything to lose either" he said, pointing the crossbow at the man.
Sam looked up, only to freeze while smoke left his mouth. He wasn't giving you. And Quackity recognizing the familiar hissing let the arrow fly across the room before he jumped behind the ciuch that was next to him. The Yelp of pain was there but it wasn't enough to stop the creeper from blowing the room up.
Just when the explosion was about to go off, the doors were thrown open again and Quackity in panic looked at them.
"What's going on in he-"
Quackity struggled to stand up but when he did, he faired another arrow before throwing himself at the pinknette, easily pinning him to the ground. Just as they landed, a loud explosion went off and fire sparkled. Quackity screamed, feeling something sharp impale his leg as he covered the man under him, wings acting like a shield for the both of them.
He felt Technoblade wrap his arms around his shoulder before he was yanked to the side, but still on top.
The ringing in his ears was terrible and the agonizing pain paralyzed his body, making him cry out even louder. But he ignored it, since he still has something to do.
The smoke was blinding his vision, making it almost impossible to move or even run. He felt Technoblade grabbing onto his arm but he pushed him away. If he waited for Techno to stop coughing and get pick himself up from the explosion, Sam would be probably long gone.
He loaded the cross bow and walked inside the room, eyes scanning the room that now was full of smoke and fire.
His eyes caught the small movement in the corner and anyone didn't hesitate to shot, already loading the crossbow again.
"This is for the attempt to kill me" he gritted out, letting the arrow go again. "And this is for my office"
Sam cried out in pain, falling to the ground as he slowly bled out.
"You don't mind being knocked out, do you? You will wake up and we will talk." Quackity said, firing off the last arrow before the screams of pain went silent.
He turned to face Techno who already managed to pick himself up and stare at him.
"What was that?" He asked.
Quackity shrugged, before answering.
"I will explain it to you later. For now, get him in the prisons and make sure he doesn't wake up too soon"
Quackity made his way down the corridor while Technoblade stood there before picking up Sam and leaving.