T.W.: violence, implied character death
It has been a few hours since Dream and Not Found left. Tommy had long since finished the McDonald's, and was now investing the room. There really wasn't much there. A bed, a small table, and the chair he was tied to. Other than that, it was empty. There wasn't even a bathroom.
Tommy jumped as he heard voices on the other side of the door. He inches closer, trying to make out what they were saying.
"Just trust us! We're so close to catching them!"
"Dude, last time you two asked me on one of these secret missions you- ...- someone!"
"I did that to protect you. Don't act all high and mighty now. If that got out, all three of us would have been stripped of hero status."
There was a moment of silence.
"Just protect the hostage, and when it's over we'll let him go."
"Fine."
Tommy jumped back onto the bed just before the door opened. Dream and Not Found walked through. Neither of them glanced at him as a third person walked in. The third eyes went wide as he saw Tommy. He grabbed dreams arm, pulling him to the corner of the room.
"You kidnapped a kid!?" The man hissed.
"Calm down! We're not going to hurt him!" Dream huffed, "that's why you're here. Just keep him safe until we have the SBI."
"And if they don't show up?" The man asked.
Dream went silent for a moment, "you don't have to worry about that Sapnap. Just keep the kid here."
Dream yanked his arm out of Sapnap's grip, walking over to Tommy. He seemed to smile at the boy.
"Hey Tommy." Dream started, "My friend Sapnap is going to be watching you for the rest of the day. And if everything goes as planned, you'll be back home with your family by tomorrow!"
Tommy glanced at the man in the corner, "okay."
"Good." Dream pat Tommy's head, "Not Found and I are going on patrol. We'll be back when it's time to take you home."
Tommy jerked his head away. Dream gave him an uneasy feeling. The two heros quickly left the room, leaving just Tommy and Sapnap.
Sapnap sighed, taking a few steps forward, "are you okay? They haven't hurt you, have they?"
Tommy shook his head, "no, I'm okay."
Sapnap let out a breath, "good."
"I want to go home." Tommy sighed, pulling his knees to his chest.
"I know." Sapnap said, sitting in the empty chair, "but villains might be after you."
"Yeah, I know." Tommy rolled his eyes, "the hero committee thinks my family are villains and they're keeping me here to protect me."
"No..." Sapnap shook his head, "the hero committee has nothing to do with this. This is Dream and Not Found on their own. Almost no one believes that your family are villains. But there are villains assembling on the Doomsday border right now. We don't know why, but Dream wants me to keep you here and out of the way of the fight, just in case, you know?"
"Why would villains be after me?" Tommy asked.
"I don't know." Sapnap said, "but I'm sure Dream and George did something completely stupid that pissed them off."
"So, they're not after me?" Tommy frowned.
Sapnap shrugged, "probably not. At least I don't think so."
Tommy let out a small laugh, "I don't know wether to be relieved or insulted."
"I'd be relieved if I was you." Sapnap laughed, "apparently Not Found saw Protesilaus in the Doomsday district a bit ago."
"Protesilaus!? From the Sleepy Bois!?" Tommy's eyes went wide, "why was he in the Doomsday district."
"Don't know." Sapnap shrugged.
"What if the rest of them come here!?" Tommy gasped, "what if Doomsday happens again!?"
"Tommy!" Sapnap gripped the boys shoulders, "that's not going to happen again. We went too far during that."
"You did?" Tommy turned to the man, "I-I thought the villains did most of the damage?"
Sapnap sighed, leaning back, "yeah, everyone thinks that. The hero committee likes to protect their heros image."
Tommy turned to the pyromancy hero, "what really happened on Doomsday?"
"Are you sure you want to know?" Sapnap asked.
Tommy nodded shortly. Sapnap sighed.
"Okay."
Sapnap stood in the middle of the evacuated city, waiting for the villains to show up. This should be a simple battle. Catch the escaping villains and return them to the hero committee. Dream gave a short laugh beside him.
"Is it just me, or does Protesilaus always look like he just woke up?" Dream whispered to him.
Sapnap scoffed out a laugh, "you wanna fight him?"
"Sure." Dream shrugged, "George, you want to fight Icarus?"
"No." George shot Dream a glare, "you know our powers cancel out. I'm fighting Zephyrus."
Dream sighed, "alright, that leaves Icarus for you Sap."
"Sweet." Sapnap smiled.
Dream crouched down, hovering on his energy manipulation, "they're here."
Sapnap launched himself into the air with his flames. He saw the three villains approaching. His eyes locked onto Icarus, the villains trenchcoat fluttering in the wind.
"I'm heading in!" Sapnap shouted to his team, "I'm fighting Icarus, so I'll be out of contact! Try to watch my back!"
"Alright!" Dream yelled back, "George! Hear that!?"
"Yeah!" George nodded, "I'm heading forward!"
Sapnap nodded, jetting straight towards Icarus. He lit flames by his head, blocking out all sounds other than the roar of the fire. Icarus looked up just in time to dodge a flaming punch. Sapnap lit a wall of flames, blocking contact with the rest of the villains.
He and Icarus engaged in a silent battle. Fire spread along the buildings from Sapnap's attacks. Icarus dodged and weaved around the flames as he threw out knives at the hero. One stuck in Sapnap's shoulder. He pulled it out, cauterizing the wound. Then another knife his his leg, then stomach.
"GEORGE!" Sapnap yelled.
The sleep heros head shot up. Zephyrus used this opportunity to slash with one of his feathers. Not Found jumped back, earning yet another small scratch from the razor feathers. He ran off to Sapnap's call, the winged villain right on his tail.
"Sap!" George called, " I'm here!"
"Just cover me for a minute." Sapnap hissed out.
Icarus smiled at the heros as Zephyrus flew over the wall of flames. The winged villain landed next to Icarus.
"Are you okay?" Zephyrus asked.
"Perfect." Icarus grinned, "Hey Not Found! Kill your friend."
George froze momentarily. He let out a low growl.
"You know your siren song doesn't work on me." George spat.
"And your sleep power doesn't work on me!" Icarus yelled, lunging toward the hero.
The two grappled in the air as they fell from a building. George used one of his own knives to block Icarus. But the ground was approaching fast. If this continued, they'd both die.
Suddenly, George was yanked up into the air. Icarus' eyes went wide as he continued to fall. George watched as he hit the ground. He smiled lightly. One less villain to deal with.
"George, you good!?" Dream asked, setting them both on a roof.
"Yeah." George nodded, "Sapnap is up there with Zephyrus. He got hit with some of Icarus's knives."
"Shit." Dream cursed lightly, "well, Protesilaus and I toppled a few buildings. It should take him a while to climb out from the rubble."
"You collapsed a building on him?" George looked up at the masked hero.
Dream shrugged, "one, five. Doesn't matter. Let's get to Sap."
George nodded. Dream lifted the two of them to where Sapnap was holding off Zephyrus. The flame hero couldn't burn away the feathers quite fast enough, and was now covered in cuts. Dream landed heavily on the roof, holding his side.
"You okay?" George asked.
Dream nodded, "yeah, Protesilaus got me. I'll live."
"Alright." George said, jumping at the winged villain.
He almost reached Zephyrus, but the villains reaction was too quick. Zephyrus lashed out with his wing, knocking George back and slicing his skin open.
"GEORGE!" Sapnap yelled, only to be stabbed by one of Zephyrus' feathers.
Sapnap growled, blasting out flames. Half the district was on fire at this point, the other half buried in rubble. Icarus had fallen twenty stories down. Protesilaus had twenty stories dropped on him. Zephyrus had just been blasted with fire. The heros let out a breath.
Then Zephyrus wings shot out, slicing the three heros. He flew off, diving down and out of sight before anyone could react.
Dream growled, "DAMN IT!"
Hr cured out in pain, holding his side. Blood had soaked through the fabric of his green hoodie. George quickly cought him as Sapnap stood up.
"They got away..." Sapnap sighed, wincing as he cauterized his major injuries.
"We'll, Zephyrus did." George said, "Icarus is probably dead. And Protesilaus might be too, or he'll at least be out for a long while."
Sapnap nodded, "then let's get to the infirmery and get rescue heros out here."
"No." Dream hissed, "if Protesilaus and Icarus are alive, they'll be saved."
"That-thats the point!" Sapnap yelled.
"Leave. Them." Dream ordered, "the less villains the better."
"Besides." George grinned, "watching Icarus dead on the ground was more cathartic than I thought."
Dream nodded, "let the fire burn the bodies. Count them as MIA. Zephyrus will be easy to take down alone."
"This isn't right." Sapnap said, "this is exactly like Lazar and Vik!"
"Sapnap!" Dream yelled, "enough. Let's go."
Sapnap didn't say anything for a moment. The he moved towards Dream.
"Let me cauterize that before we move." Sapnap sighed, "we don't want you bleeding out before you see Puffy."
"Just hurry up." Dream huffed, "Zephyrus might still be around."
"Okay, okay." Sapnap said, smoke rising from his hands, "it's going to hurt like a bitch."
"And then we went back to the hero committee." Sapnap sighed.
Tommy looked at his hands, "so Dream and George tried to kill Icarus and Protesilaus..."
Sapnap nodded, "yeah. The district burned to the ground. We thought the Sleepy Bois were dead. You can imagine our surprise when we saw them again."
Tommy managed a small laugh, "yeah."
Just then, a loud boom shook the building.