"You want to get food somewhere before going to the tower?" Phantom asked with a smile, something that still made Tommy shudder a little. Sure, it was meant to be easy and kind but all it reminded him of was the sharp smirk the hero had shot him during their meeting on the rooftops. He wouldn't say the hero had traumatised him, no, he was a big man and the facility had already taken over the part of his brain that was responsible for traumatic memories. There was simply no space for more, so naturally, he wasn't traumatised by Phantom indirectly throwing him into the river. Or the potion the hero had thrown at him. Or the after-effects of said potion.
He was just a little weary of the man, maybe even a little bit scared and who could blame him? Phantom had it out for his vigilante persona due to some personal vendetta or whatever, and Tommy had to remind himself more than once that he currently wasn't Theseus and in no immediate danger. Which, admittedly, wasn't true considering he was after him, but at least the hero posed no threat to him at that given point. He was supposed to protect him even and the hero's friendly attitude and chatting did quite a bit to calm his nerves a little.
During their walk to central it had quickly become clear that they wouldn't catch onto Tubbo anymore, which is why they had slowed their pace a little, Phantom had assured him that it'd be completely fine if they got to the tower a bit later than planned. "They can ping me," the hero had said with a shrug upon Tommy's questioning about his teammates' potential worry.
"We don't have to, of course," the brunette spoke again, taking in Tommy's silence, "there's a cafeteria we can get dinner from, though I'm not sure if they're still serving anything of the good stuff past seven."
"I'm not really familiar with the restaurants around here," Tommy said after pondering on his answer for a little. They had long since entered the central area of L'Manberg, a plethora of lit-up, expensive-looking shops and restaurants surrounding them as well as a rather uncomfortable amount of people. Phantom seemed hardly phased by them, but the young teen was a little unnerved. Large crowds were never something he overly liked to be in.
"Oh, I know plenty of good restaurants around here. You just have to tell me what you're feeling like having for dinner," the hero grinned at him, practically bouncing in his step as he eagerly waited for Tommy's response.
He hesitated, they hadn't ordered any food at the café in Logstedshire and it was well past six already and they'd likely not arrive at the tower before seven. And he did admittedly feel a little hungry, running from a crazy woman working for a man, who made the first years of your life hell, does that to you, he supposed. A low hum escaped his lips as he looked around, unconsciously stepping closer to the hero as a group of loudly chatting teenagers passed them, he didn't see how the brunette's face lit up and his posture changed. His eyes skimmed over the restaurant names and he hoped that one of them might sound less posh than the others and give him an idea of what he felt like having for dinner. Then he remembered something.
"What about the announcement?"
"What about it?"
"We're gonna miss it."
"Not if we decide on something fast," the hero had grinned again.
"Chinese?" He asked shyly after his eyes had caught the sign of a rather nice-looking restaurant.
Phantom beamed at him, babbling about how he had hoped for Tommy to choose Chinese since it was his favourite takeout and quickly pulled him to the establishment across the road.
"This is one of, if not, the best Chinese restaurant in central," the hero had said before quickly shoving the teen inside, the warm air immediately greeting his skin, "we actually order from here all the time."
"We?"
"Blade and Angel, it's kind of a ritual to get food from this place at least once a week, the owners know us already."
And, just as if to confirm, a young man immediately stepped to the front of the register and greeted them excitedly. The hero and the man fell into a mindless chatter, the latter seemingly more than just excited about the hero's return, all the while Tommy skimmed over the menu. It was expensive, more than what he'd usually pay for takeout but nothing that he couldn't afford. He'd just have to cut back on it for the rest of the month, it'd be fine.
"The usual?" The man behind the counter eventually asked with a bright smile.
"You know it, Fred," Phantom grinned before turning to Tommy, "have you decided what you want yet?"
"I'm not quite sure," the teen admitted, "all of it sounds really good."
"I highly recommend the kung pao chicken, it's what we always get." The hero stage whispered, resulting in a snort from both the cashier and Tommy.
"Well, if the almighty Phantom recommends it, it must be good."
The man behind the counter nodded and typed in their order on the display in front of him before announcing the total for both orders. Phantom had immediately flashed a black card and told him that he'd pay, completely ignoring the whining of the blonde teen next to him. Tommy was determined to pay for his own food this time, he already hadn't been allowed to pay back Angel for the Muffin, he really couldn't let another hero buy him food, especially not when he could actually afford it.
"Oh hush, child, let me pay." Tommy had swatted at the hero's arm, trying to restrain him with gloved hands and doing anything that might stop the hero from paying while shoving forward his own card for his order.
"Not a child, dickhead. I can pay for my own food!"
"I invited you, so I'm paying."
"You literally didn't, you just asked if we wanted to grab food outside of the tower!"
"Exactly, so I'm paying."
To the many guests in the restaurant, it must've been a peculiar sight, a young teenager and a pro hero play-fighting in front of a register, both shoving forward credit cards while demanding to pay for food. They almost looked like siblings fighting. Eventually, the man behind the counter had enough of their antics and decided to just grab the card closest to his person, which was Phantom's. The hero had a triumphant grin on his face as he turned to face Tommy again, said teen pouting and flipping him off.
"I win, gremlin," the hero said, flicking Tommy's forehead which earned him an offended squawk.
"I could've paid for it myself," the teen muttered, now crossing his arms in front of his chest. That was the second time he wasn't allowed to pay for his food, dammit.
"I know, Toms, you're independent and have your own money, but I invited you so it's only fair that I'm paying."
The teen huffed and turned to face away from the hero, ducking into himself a little in an attempt to hide his surely now red face. No one had ever called him Toms as far as he could remember, a lingering warm feeling began to spread in his chest, similar to the warmth he had felt after Angel explained that they cared about him. It was said with such a fond tone, truly confusing. A hand once again ruffled through his hair and he immediately swatted the hand away, glaring at the still-grinning hero. A major mistake, as he soon found the hero cooing at him, or rather his face.
"Aw, there is no need to be embarrassed, Toms."
"'M not!"
"Mh, sure you're not," the hero poked at his red cheek.
"Quit that!"
He poked him again. "Why are you embarrassed, Toms? Don't like people buying things for you?" The hero teased. Tommy immediately tried to kick him, Phantom only barely being able to dodge, laughing all the while.
"Stop poking me you prick, I'm not embarrassed!"
"Ah, but your red face says otherwise."
"I'll show you red, dickhead!" His attempt at tackling the hero was quickly shut down as one of the guests coughed rather loudly, sending both him and the hero angry glares. Phantom at least had the decency to look somewhat sheepish as he apologised for the ruckus before slinging an arm around Tommy's neck and dragging them off to the waiting area for takeout items, all the while the younger poked at the man's ribs in an attempt to make him let go. The hero seemed to be incredibly clingy, he made a mental note of that. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage in the future (when had he started to imagine himself interacting with them outside of his nighttime activity? And when had he stopped being scared of the man who had injured him badly just days ago?).
They spend the rest of the time waiting in silence, only occasionally jabbing or poking at each other. Phantom really liked to provoke Tommy for whatever reason, but his laughs were never as cold or cruel as they were towards Theseus or any other person he had fought. No, the laughs held an almost infinite amount of fondness and, dare he say it, adoration. Phantom especially thinks you're quite endearing, rushed back into his mind. He turned away from the man again, not wanting the hero to see him blushing even more. It's been a while since someone spoke of him and interacted with him in such a caring way, he didn't know how to react to it, okay?
Eventually, the man handed them two bags filled with containers filled with food. Tommy noted that Phantom's order consisted of three containers which were most likely for Blade and Angel and he found himself smiling a little at the nice gesture. They had then left the restaurant and continued their walk to the tower, the hero urging them to walk a little quicker so as to not miss the announcement.
"Schlatt and Angel will speak, all in real-time," Phantom had rambled excitedly, "this is by far the best that could've happened to us heroes, we have so much more freedom now."
Tommy had just smiled and nodded, uneasiness stirring in his gut as he thought back to Angel's comment about vigilantes.
"And after the announcement, we'll eat together in our usual spot, you're not afraid of heights, are you?"
"Uh, no," Tommy laughed nervously, "totally fine with heights as long as you, I don't know, don't push me off the building." It was supposed to be a halfhearted joke but due to the memories flashing in his mind, it came out much more sincere and strangled which had the hero frowning.
"Don't worry, Sunshine," Phantom said in a much softer voice while slinging an arm around the teen's neck and gently pulling him closer. He let him, not finding it in him to pull away when the man radiated such a comforting presence all of a sudden. There was no fear, no anger, just calmness and a nice mental image of a beach as a wave of relaxation hit him.
"I'd never do something like that to you. I promise."
Tommy mentally laughed at the irony.
.
They were both waiting in the hallways of Tommy's floor, waving goodbye to a fully dressed Toxic as the young hero left for the elevator. Night shift, as he explained briefly, something he chose himself this time, he hadn't wanted to be home for the weekend for some reason. Tommy didn't pry, it was none of his business. "Plus, I've already had like five coffees, wouldn't be able to fall asleep any time soon so might as well make myself useful" the young hero had winked. Phantom had scoffed at that but didn't speak up against it either.
Eventually, the elevator came back up and the two remaining members of the SBI walked towards them. Tommy noted the more casual clothes, Angel had left the metal-taloned feet behind and instead opted for regular sneakers, his outfit now consisting of a dark green sweater and black sweatpants. Blade still looked like he fell straight out of some royalty novel with his white poet shirt and the brown cargo pants and his ever-present crown and red cloak, but even he had decided to leave some of his equipment behind, namely the sword and axe. All three of them still wore their masks though, and while it was easy for Phantom to eat undisturbed, he briefly wondered how the other two would manage to do that. Then he remembered that he could just turn around so as to not face them. (Because Prime be damned, he looked forward to eating on that rooftop. If they had a problem with him turning around they could just leave, the rooftop was his now, the view was just too pretty.)
"Took you long enough," Phantom huffed, "I'm sure the food's cold by now."
"Chinese?" There was something hopeful in Angel's voice, almost childlike, Tommy mused.
"The perfect meal after such a speech," the hero nodded and gestured the two of them to follow along, already walking towards the door of the rooftop, "got our usual, Fred was very pleased to see us back."
"You'd think he'd know we're sticking with his restaurant by now," the Blade snorted while following, briefly nodding towards Tommy. Neither of them had questioned why he was with them, they seemed rather content with his presence.
"I know right? It's been, like, a year!"
"Did he switch out my-"
"Yes, he switched the chicken for Tofu, Angel."
"Thanks, mate."
"Didn't even have to say anything, just checked the marked box and, boom, vegetarian friendly."
"You're vegetarian?" Tommy asked with an arched eyebrow.
"More or less, it's complicated to explain."
"It's really not," Blade snorted, holding the door for the shorter hero and Tommy and waiting patiently for the two to walk up to the roof, "since he's an Elytrian he can eat meat, but he refuses to eat chicken."
Tommy arched an eyebrow, there was no way-
"Because he's technically part chicken?"
"I'm not a chicken, you little shit-"
"Because he's a chicken," Blade confirmed with a smirk, nodding approvingly of Tommy's small snickers, "and cannibalism is bad, apparently."
"Little shits, the lot of you," Angel said in this weirdly fond tone again, already ruffling through Tommy's hair. That seems to be a common gesture around the SBI members, the only person who has yet to ruin Tommy's hair was the Blade. He held high standards for the man, surely with the silky and soft pink, braided hair he'd know what a struggle it is to do your hair every morning. Surely he wouldn't ruin it like the other two had.
The four of them walked towards the edge of the rooftop, the heroes already settling down while Tommy stood behind them, eyeing the scenery in front of him. Blade sat in the middle with Phantom to his left and Angel to his right, though there wasn't any space next to him anymore as large pipes sat there. Which meant he'd have to sit next to Phantom, the hero who had indirectly thrown him off the roof. Technically it was his own fault for jumping, but it was the hero's fault for him not making it since the potions weakened him and his leg. So naturally, Tommy's brain connected that definitely not traumatic event with the hero and somehow added that the hero had thrown him into the river, completely reasonable.
"Are you going to join us, Toms?" The nickname again, Tommy hated it (but did he really?).
His face was already burning again and the teen was sure he was slightly blushing, he really didn't like how easy it was for the hero to spread this weird warm feeling in his chest with a single word. Wordlessly, he sat down next to the hero who immediately handed him a pair of wooden chopsticks before handing out two more to the other heroes. Phantom then turned to face him again as the Blade and Angel fell into an easy conversation, something about future schedules and meetings, which Tommy eventually tuned out. The hero cocked his head to the side, seemingly scanning over his face again. It mildly irritated the blonde teen.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer." He deadpanned to the amusement of Angel and Blade. Phantom had not reacted in the slighted, eyes now flickering over his entire head. Then.
"You're blushing again."
That bitch.
"I'm not."
"You clearly are, even your ears a little pink." That had caught the attention of the other two heroes who now scanned over his face as well.
"There must be something wrong with your eyes, big man. My face has a perfectly normal colour." He said as he turned to face the skyline again, hoping that the three heroes would just stop staring. Phantom only leaned forward to get a better look at his face, all to the bemusement of the two other members of the SBI.
"If you're still embarrassed about me buying you food I can assure you it was not a big deal, in fact, the corporation paid for it."
"Should've just let me pay for my own, prick."
Phantom just hummed before turning to face the skyline as well, carefully opening the container filled with food. Tommy mimicked him, the smell of the dish immediately hitting him and, Prime, it smelled delicious. Just as the hero had predicted, the food had gone a little cold, but that didn't mean that the food wasn't as good cold as it was hot. The teen clumsily tried to use the chopsticks, emphasis on tried, because he immediately failed and watched one of the wooden sticks fall off the building. Phantom snorted, mouth already full of rice and chicken.
"L." Came the very helpful response from the piglin in the middle.
Huffing annoyed, he tried to stab the bits of chicken and rice with his leftover chopsticks, which was hardly successful and only resulted in him getting even more agitated at the lack of food in his mouth. The fact that all three heroes were now watching him, all while poorly trying to restrain their laughter, did little to calm the teen. Eventually, he gave up and threw the other chopstick off the roof with another huff as well, now crossing his arms and pouting a little. Couldn't they have packed a fork or spoon with his order? So rude.
"Well that wasn't very smart, how are you going to eat now?" Blade asked, a mocking tone in his voice. Oh, he'd show this bastard how to eat properly. Without chopsticks. The Tommy way.
He uncrossed his arms and, without breaking eye contact with the Blade, shoved his entire (still gloved, mind you) hand into the box and scooped out a handful of rice, chicken and sauce. Ignoring the laughter of Phantom and immediate choked coughing from Angel, he then, very slowly, lifted the hand to his mouth before stuffing all of the food into his mouth, not once breaking eye contact. Tommy then began chewing obnoxiously loud, just to spite the pink-haired hero.
"You're right, Phantom," Blade spoke, sounding incredibly exhausted and disgusted at the same time, "the kid truly is a feral racoon."
"I'm not-"
"Stop speaking, you're spitting all over our food!"
"Goo', you fuckers deserve it!"
The look on Angel's face (or rather in his eyes) made the teen burst out into a fit of laughter, followed by Phantom who then had to help him keep onto the food container as he was laughing so hard, if it wasn't for the hero the container would've went flying as well. He was sure the winged hero was ageing ten years by the second.
"Sorry sorry," he eventually said, swallowing before picking up the container again and turning to face the empty rooftop, back now turned to the heroes.
"Mate, what are you doing?"
"Turning around, obviously. You guys gotta eat somehow."
"Oh," Angel's voice sounded so much smaller, softer than usual now, "thank you, we'd just have waited for you to go back to your flat."
"Yea, I get it, I'm so great, now start eating before ice cubes start to form in your boxes."
There was the sound of shuffling as well as a light snort behind him and he was sure they had now taken off their masks, meaning they would likely not talk until finished which gave him plenty of time to think about the announcement. Or rather what that implied for him and, well, everyone else in L'Manberg.
"Citizens of L'Manberg and all the regions around us," Schlatt had spoken, a sour expression on his face, "I've come to make a great announcement, something that will change the hero and civilian world for the better."
The way the ram hybrid had spit out the word 'better' had Tommy thinking the world was ending.
"Just earlier today, I, the President, and the heads of the hero corporation had a meeting with two well-known, yet unknown individuals. They spoke in the name of the Syndicate."
The second the name of the villain organisation had left the President's mouth, a silence settled over all people present in the lobby. Some people had gone deathly still, eyes blown wide as the receptionist turned up the volume of the TV hanging on the wall of the Lobby. Phantom was unaffected by the news, and Tommy was hoping that, whatever came out of this meeting, truly was as good for the heroes and ultimately citizens as the hero had claimed.
"They wished to remain anonymous, which I'm sure all of you can understand, however, they also wished to let it be known that they were two of the Leaders and are not to be messed with."
Schlatt visibly swallowed as he spoke the next words.
"The corporation has many flaws, mainly the patrol schedules and excessive publicity they gave to certain heroes while completely disregarding lower ranks in many ways. Something, that I and the heads, were painfully unaware of."
"Fucking liar," Phantom had hissed next to him, the venom in his voice could've very well killed someone.
"The two individuals made us aware of that, and I want to make it clear that no violence was involved in this meeting whatsoever. It was a peaceful meeting, a truce if you will. They brought proof, snippets, internal documents which even implied heavy corruption within our ranks, which I'm honestly not even sure how they got," the last part was muttered quietly and the blonde teen was sure it was not meant for anyone to hear. He cleared his throat.
"But that's beside the point, fact is, they made us aware of multiple issues within the corporation that need fixing. And they offered their help in form of advice and inside information, as long as their names remain anonymous to the world. They would also like to make it clear that they mean no harm to anyone and that they're working for the better of L'Manberg."
The ram hybrid had then straightened his posture and looked straight into the camera, eyes only once flickering to the left. He cleared his throat again, expression now held painfully neutral.
"The majority of the corporation's heads have already resigned their positions, too embarrassed about the failures that had taken place right in front of their eyes without anyone noticing. As your President I'd like to ask all of you to be understanding, we're all just human beings who are bound to make mistakes after all."
Schlatt had cleared his throat again, now plastering a somewhat sincere smile on his face as he waved to someone on the left side of the camera.
"And because they have all resigned their positions, replacements needed to be made. And what better people to replace them with than the very heroes working for everyone's safety?"
Angel, the Captain, Nihachu and another hero that Tommy didn't know the name of had then walked into the camera, all in full attire, chests puffed up and genuine smiles on their faces. The people in the lobby had started moving again, the prior shocked expressions slowly morphed into those of joy, cheers were heard all around them and the Lady at the reception grinned brightly. Schlatt had then taken a couple steps back, allowing Angel to take his place in front of the small little podium. The other heroes had positioned themselves behind him, arms crossed behind their backs. It looked a little ridiculous, but also really badass.
Tommy had grinned brightly as well, despite their rocky start he was happy for the winged hero. He'd been aware of the flaws in patrol schedules and whatnot during their talks. Maybe this change truly was for the better, maybe some things would change now (though the fact that it was only after the feared villain organisation had taken it into their hands to point out flaws irked him wrong).
"Frankly, when we were called into the meeting this morning we didn't expect this outcome, but I'd say it was a pleasant surprise." His blue eyes sharpened slightly, but after blinking, the sharp edge to his eyes faded immediately. Had Tommy imagined that?
"We've known about a few issues within this corporation for quite some time now and we even voiced our concerns a couple of times, but it seems our voices had only reached those, who had been corrupted by power. Thus, nothing has ever been done to fix those flaws. We ought to change that." Black feathers had ruffled slightly as the hero stood straighter, the icy blue eyes practically piercing through the lens.
"I'd like to address one of the main issues on hand, the hero patrol schedule. Contrary to popular belief, it was not possible for us heroes to choose where and when we'd patrol. It was given to us in a strict schedule which changed whenever a head deemed it fitting, even if it was technically too short notice. Changing routes out of our own accord was not something many heroes dared to do, as it messed with our monthly wages. Especially the already overlooked lower ranks had trouble with that."
"Many parts of L'Manberg went without hero patrols for quite some time, and I'd like to apologise for that. This is the first thing to change, we've all decided that heroes should be allowed to schedule their own routes as long as everyone is equally distributed over the entirety of the city. That means that crime-stricken parts of the city, such as the regions around Logstedshire, will now always have at least two heroes patrolling."
Tommy's stomach had dropped at the implications of that. Sure, his help as a vigilante was now no longer needed, but he liked being a vigilante. Helping people (being able to stop potential trafficking, making sure that no one would ever go through the same hell he had), without regulations of the corporation, because surely this wasn't all sunshine and flowers. Something must've come with these changes, maybe an inescapable contract with the Syndicate. He didn't trust the peace, didn't trust these individuals from the Syndicate, especially since there was little known about the villain organisation other than the fact that they worked against corrupt governments and did not shy away from 'minor terrorism' if needed.
"This will also mean that we'll work on detaining the vigilantes more, especially those around central district will have a potentially unpleasant awakening as we no longer have to obey the orders of corrupt people. We were told to, and I quote, look the other way when running into vigilantes in central. I'm certain a fast amount of money inspired those orders. That's no longer the case."
"Vigilantes will be detained, without unnecessary violence and force of course," the Captain had now spoken up, "we're not looking to harm those who did our job when we were unable to and without compensation. But we do have to remind everyone that power usage without a licence and vigilantism is still against the law."
"Exactly, they've done good work, but unfortunately the Captain is right, vigilantism is still illegal and we can't advocate for that. We do offer, however, a training programme for these individuals. They're given the chance to join that upon detention, as long as they remain peaceful and cooperate, which would allow them to train their abilities until they've reached the hero level. Once that is reached, they have the chance to debut as official heroes or remain in the training programme as trainers for future individuals. They'd be compensated for each profession, of course."
"What if they don't want to debut as official heroes? Or become part of the training programme altogether?" Tommy had asked, facing the hero next to him.
"They'll be given a trial," Phantom shrugged, "where all their crimes will be accounted for. Vigilantism is illegal, so is harming people in any way, even if it's in the name of the greater good and using their powers in non-life threatening situations. The final punishment depends on the number of crimes committed, but most likely-"
"Pandoras." The teen finished, paling immediately.
"They knew what they were in for when they started," Phantom said, voice more stern this time, "vigilantes are dangerous, no one knows the extent of their powers. We don't want a repeat of Pogtopia. Besides, it'd likely be the lower security side of Pandoras anyways."
Tommy had said nothing after that, they continued to watch the rest of the announcement in silence which consisted of Angel explaining further changes as well as promising to keep the city safer than it ever has been. All that went over the teen's head completely, he was too busy thinking about his future as Theseus. He could continue doing his work, would continue to do so, but now that there were heroes present in his district permanently, it'd be much harder to escape their vigilant eyes.
Maybe he really should consider the training programme. He could train with them, get taught how to handle weapons properly and maybe even patrol with them together. They wouldn't have to hate each other when he debuted as a hero, Prime, they could all become friendly. But then he remembered one vital aspect of Angel's speech.
Train their abilities. They'd have to register his ability and then everyone would find out about what a monster he truly is. Would find out about what he had done to these poor souls, maybe Grayson would even speak up against him?
But maybe he didn't have to admit to having a power? Maybe he could hide it, train with Ranboo and Tubbo until he learned total control. Maybe then he could join, save people as an official hero and pretend he didn't have an ability or something lame like minor swiftness and slow falling. He wouldn't have to hide injuries from anyone then either...
But what if they found out about his ability regardless? Would they lock him away in the high-security cell in Pandoras? Mark him a threat to society because of his ability? Or would they use him as a weapon to eradicate the threats to L'Manberg? What if they forced him to kill like he had? What if the Syndicate just decided to scoop him out of the training programme and put him through the same hell over again, moulding him into the perfect weapon? He certainly wouldn't put it past the villain organisation.
Tommy was thrown out of his thoughts when something soft was placed on his shoulders. Blinking once, twice, he realised that it was a brown trenchcoat, Phantom's trench coat. It was still warm and smelled remotely like smoke and gunpowder and another smell he couldn't identify. Making a questioning noise, he attempted to turn around to face the hero, only to be stopped by two firm yet gentle hands holding his head in position, refusing him the opportunity to look at the hero.
"Not just yet, sunshine. They're still eating."
Huh, another nickname. And, oh, right. He had forgotten about that. The teen nodded and muttered out a sheepish 'sorry' before carefully pulling the fabric closer with his non-dirty gloved hand, the hands on either side of his head retracting. He hadn't even realised how cold he'd gotten up here, the trembling hands and goosebumps all over his arms being evidence of that.
"You were shaking pretty badly. Should've just said something, we could've gone down to our level and chilled in the living room," an unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke. It reminded him of the sound of the wind, oddly enough. So that was either the Blade's or Angel's real voice, interesting.
"Sorry."
"No need to apologise, Penny for your thoughts?"
"My thoughts are worth much more than just a single penny." Tommy deadpanned.
"Ah, why of course, how rude of me to assume I could get an insight on your thoughts for basically free," Phantom snorted, "but seriously, what were you thinking about?"
"It's nothing."
"Didn't seem like nothing," the unfamiliar voice spoke again, he could hear more chewing before the hero spoke again, "You didn't react to his callings at all, what's got you worked up so bad that you zoned out completely?"
Dammit, he should really try and get control over this whole 'zoning out' thing.
"Just the whole announcement thing, I guess." Why was he being honest? He didn't know himself.
"Anything in particular?" For someone who wanted to keep his identity a secret, the hero talked a lot without the voice changer. Rather bold, if you were to ask Tommy. He didn't see the warning looks from Blade.
Tommy hesitated for a second, busying himself with cleaning his now disgustingly dirty and sticky glove. Maybe he could just wipe it on the hero's-
"If you think about doing what I think you're thinking about, don't even try, gremlin."
"I wasn't doing anything!" He protested immediately.
"Sure you weren't, Toms. Just take the glove off, then you can bury yourself in the coat all you want."
Grumbling, he shook his head and decided to let the coat hang more loosely around his shoulders. Now, if the hero weren't looking, he'd totally have smeared the food stains all over the fabric, but obviously, he couldn't do that right now. He didn't see the look all three heroes shared.
"So?"
"Aren't you guys worried about the Syndicate?" Tommy decided to voice his concerns, sue him, these guys could give him the most insight into what's going on inside the corporation at the moment.
"Worried about what exactly? They offered help in many domains, help the corporation could use." The unfamiliar voice spoke again.
"Like, don't get me wrong, the changes are amazing, we'll finally have people patrolling and crime rates will probably drop significantly and stuff, but aren't you guys worried about the Syndicate planning anything...greater?"
"I don't think they're planning anything 'greater', sunshine," Phantom said, voice going soft again at the nickname, "they uncovered a lot of corruption within the corporation and offered fixes for it, they're helping."
"But aren't you guys worried that they're just going to take over the entire city eventually and just establish a dictatorship or some shit?"
"That's the exact opposite of what the syndicate wants, mate." The unfamiliar voice spoke again.
"How can you be so sure, have you talked to them or something?" Tommy was irritated, why were they just brushing his concerns off? Couldn't they see how suspicious this entire 'advice' thing was? Two leaders of the most feared villain organisation suddenly showed up out of nowhere, no one had ever heard of them and they brought evidence of corruption from within and files they shouldn't have access to in the first place. What if Schlatt lied and they had threatened him? Or the entire meeting wasn't as violence-free like they had claimed it was?
"We have, actually," oh shit, "Blade and I were present during the meeting after all. There was quite a bit of explanation of the syndicate's views and goals."
Ah, so that was Angel's real voice. Interesting. But hold on-
"Are you guys being threatened to talk positively about them? Do you need help?" Tommy whisper-asked.
For a peak moment, it was silent, then the silence got crushed by three snorts followed by light laughter and a cooing Phantom. His cheeks burned again as the masked hero ruffled through his hair with ever so gentle hands, he tried desperately not to lean into it. Again, he was not touch starved, he just liked to savour all warmth he could get on top of this roof, it's rather cold, fuck you.
"Aw, I didn't know you were that worried about us, Toms!"
The fucking nickname again, if it was possible his face was burning even brighter. Thank Prime he was faced away from the hero. He wouldn't know (as long as his ears didn't betray him).
"I'm not, fuck off. I hope the Syndicate beats your arse."
Laughter rang over the rooftop once again and Tommy felt hands on the trench coat, wrapping it closer around his shoulders. He muttered a quiet 'thank you' which was only acknowledged with a soft hum that he was sure came from Phantom.
"There's no need to worry about the Syndicate, Tommy," the Blade spoke up, the familiar voice modulator indicating that at least one of the two heroes had put his mask back on, "their goal is to rid the world of corruption and governments."
"Main focus on the corruption, though," Angel interrupted quickly, his voice was back to the oddly metallic sound which Tommy took as his sign to turn back to face them, "they've found a lot of corruption within the corporation and offered help in fixing things. They're not a danger to us or you in any way, I promise."
And the winged hero had said it with so much sincerity, it sounded like a promise and by Prime, Tommy believed him.
...
After some moments of pleasant silence in which Tommy soaked up the light atmosphere and fresh air, Phantom poked his cheek again.
"Toms?"
The teen angrily swatted the hero's hand away again, pointedly staring straight ahead in an attempt to try and hide his face. His attempt was futile.
"So it is the nickname!"
"Literally die-"