Tommy had never been so exhausted.
He'd worn himself out a while ago when he was swinging and biting and just being feral. He was seeing red and just trying to hurt someone and get out. He just wanted to get out and go home.
Tommy had quickly realized it may have been a mistake when they had put him in a bland room. It was totally white- white walls, white floor, white bed, white chair, white desk. The attached bathroom was white and empty as well. He realized he should have looked around and tried to figure out a plan of escape.
Tommy paced around the room for a bit and looked at the walls. They were hard- concrete, probably. No holes, no cracks.
He sat at the desk and opened the drawers. Nothing was in them except for a pencil and a small notebook. "Not so smart, are you, villains!" He held the pencil in his hand like he was going to stab someone.
His victorious grin dropped quickly. Who was he kidding- a pencil wasn't going to do anything to a woman who could teleport or a man who could increase gravity. In theory, he could silence their powers, but he still didn't know how his powers worked.
Tommy sighed and put the items back. Maybe he could start a journal or something. Nah, he'd only do that if the world went to shit and he and Tubbo were trying to survive the apocalypse in a hell swamp or something.
He sighed again, the lack of things to do making him anxious. He sat down on the bed but quickly flopped over so he was laying down. He couldn't stand looking at the ceiling- it was too white, too bright. He screwed his eyes shut.
Before he could stop it, he was asleep.
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In the other room, the villains had gathered around a small table. Eret had his fingers steepled and was looking down at the floor. Niki's eyes flicked from one person's face to the others quickly. Minx looked down, her hands folded in her lap. Fundy looked at his claws, as if amazed they were there.
The rest of the group seemed to be just watching these few- trying to get a handle on the intensity of the situation without breaking the silence which seemed to be the only thing keeping the peace between all of them.
The person who broke the silence was Eret. He leaned back and pushed his glasses back up. Everyone looked up at him.
"Someone get Quackity, Harvey, Scott, and Jack, we need to debrief with a full assembly gathering." Punz was the one to stand up and dart out of the room, going to grab the four who had stayed behind.
Quackity, Harvey, Scott, and Jack were arguably the quietest member of the assembly. None of them had made a public appearance yet. They had powers that were hard to use in a fight, so they used them in the lab instead. They walked in and took their spots around the table. Scott was a telepath- he could read minds and project his own thoughts into others.
Quackity could make things. As long as he had the material, he could shape it however he wanted. His power was absolutely vital to make Mute. He had to combine the activating agents with the concentrated blood- it was a process just to make one needle-full.
Jack Manifold could control electricity. He was less vital in the process of making Mute- he just needed to take power and put it in the centrifuges and other machines. They were trying to move away from the needle approach and instead make Mute a pill- if they were going to monetize this or have it a constant thing, they'd need to make it easy to take.
Harvey was just fast. He was usually the messenger and picked up the blood bags from the other people's hiding spots. He was key- if he wasn't so fast, they most likely would have been caught a while ago.
As soon as the others had taken their seats, Eret began the debrief. He retold his side of the story, the others jumping in when they had important point. Minx's face went a bit pale as she retold her part. The ones who hadn't been there sat, silent and maybe just a bit judging.
Everyone just seemed to look at each other. This went on for another few minutes until Minx stood up, knocking over her chair. She turned around quickly. "I-" she paused and took a breath, "I'm going to go check on the boy. T-Tommy, his name is Tommy."
She was out of the room before anyone could say anything. Everyone's eyes were on her back as the door shut behind her. No one said anything until a solid ten seconds later.
"Well." Punz broke this silence. "Eret, tell them about what Tommy can do."
Eret paused for a second before a small smile broke out on his face. "We've found him, Scott, Harvey, and Quackity. We found someone who can silence powers."
Scott was the first to realize what that meant. "We can finish Mute now!" They'd been stuck on it for a while. They figured out how to transfer the impacts of powers through a needle. They thought that the girl who could dampen powers would be good enough to make a serum to get rid of someone's powers, but Wilbur was evidence that it wasn't enough.
But Tommy, if he could silence powers... They could finally manufacture Mute. Fundy seemed to realize this next, his ears perking up and his eyes widening. He looked back down at his hands. He'd just wanted to be normal. Now that his goal was so close, he knew he'd do anything for it.
Eret had done this for Dream. He had been close with him back when they ruled together. But now, Eret was a bit unsure about all of this. He looked around the table. He knew Fundy's reason for being here, Minx's and Niki's too. Scott had a valiant reason, and Harvey did too. But some of them were just there for power. Eret wasn't sure if he should do this anymore. He glanced at everyone's faces. Soon after, he realized something. He was too deep in to get out of it now.
Niki was worried. She had started a while ago for a not-so-heroic reason. But now, she was here for her friends. For Fundy and Minx and Eret and Scott. Seeing them so tense sent shivers up her spine. She just wanted them all to be happy.
The meeting was ended and almost everyone went to their rooms. They'd decided it would be best if they all stayed together after their public stunt. That way they'd have a chance if the heroes all marched in, looking to get Tommy or just get revenge.
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Minx stormed out of the meeting room and went to her room. She sat down in her chair and ran her hands through her hair. She felt guilty. Why did she feel guilty? She wasn't the one who gave the fucking order to grab the fucking twat.
But she had been the one to teleport him out. She had been the one to do the action.
She sat in her room for a few hours, scrolling through her phone and trying to find something to make her forget what had transpired, how she'd almost killed a child, how she'd kidnapped one now-
She had to make up for it somehow. She searched through her desk drawer. There. She pulled out her watercolor set. She knew he should have a notebook- maybe he'd make something nice.
After putting that in her bag (and leaving her knives and cane in her room, she didn't want Tommy to get those off of her.), she went down to the kitchens. They'd need to feed him, anyways. She made a PB&J (it was the only thing she knew kids liked for sure) and some water for him. Then she went down to his cell.
The Assembly had rented out a small apartment building a while ago- it had enough room for each of the members if they needed to hide out, and one other room, along with the nessecites and a basement, which they used to develop Mute. The extra room was turned into a holding cell of sorts- that's where Tommy was now. It'd been about three hours. She knocked on his door and waited.
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Tommy had woken up a half hour before Minx knocked. He felt a bit less tired- his power explosion had taken a lot out of him.
While he was thinking of powers... He tried to call them to his hands. The field of energy had looked like a moving scribble, glowing a bright white. He figured his hands should light up with a similar scribble-looking thing. He couldn't be sure. He didn't know how powers were supposed to work!
He was frustrated and not paying attention. Then a spark popped off of his hand. He jumped before realizing it was his power. He shook his hands out, trying to get the feeling of using his powers out of his hands. It felt odd, not unlike when your hand is just waking up.
He tried to call his powers back again, but they just didn't seem to be willing to listen. He sighed and stopped paying attention. Pop. Another spark appeared. "Aw, shit!" He just couldn't seem to get it to listen when he wanted to.
Then Tommy got an idea. He tried to bring his powers and then stopped, waiting for a spark to pop out.
Nothing happened. Tommy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He thought about flopping down on his bed and going back to sleep. Maybe it was just a dream. Maybe if he went to sleep, he'd wake up at home, before things had gone wrong.
Maybe he'd wake up back in his pile of blankets, Wilbur and Tubbo and Phil asleep in the room around him, Techno barreling in moments later. Even with Tubbo's fever and the panic he'd felt the night before, Tommy thought that day had been one of the best in his life.
Tommy decided to stand up and he started pacing in the small free area of the room. "I wanna go home." He murmured to himself. He said those words over and over, pacing, until they meant nothing.
The knock on his door made him jump. "Uh. Come in." he said, sitting back down on the bed.
Minx stuck her head in. "Tommy?"
"Yeah, that's me. I don't know who else you were expecting. It's not like you kidnapped Tubbo too." Tommy regretted those words as soon as he said them. Minx's already sad face gave nothing away and he just made himself wonder. Was Tubbo here? Had they gotten him, too?
"I- I'm so so-" Minx stopped herself. She wanted to apologize. She hated seeing him here. Tommy's face, which had been animated in their battle as he made faces at her and struggled to fight her, was almost totally neutral. She ended up just saying, "I brought you stuff."
Tommy watched indiffrently as Minx set the water and sandwich on his desk. She put down another cup of water and sent the watercolors and paintbrush down next to it.
"What am I supposed to do with that?" Tommy asked. Minx looked up, startled.
"Uhm, paint. I figured it may have been boring if you were just sitting here. And I didn't know if you'd want to write or anything- you can use the notebook to paint instead."
"Oh. I guess it's better than just sitting here and trying to work on my-" He cut himself off. Didn't Techno always quote that Sun Tzu guy? Hadn't he said something about not letting your enemy know your plans? Damn, Tommy missed hearing Techno say funny stuff. It'd only been about four hours, but as far as Tommy knew, he had another 20 years before he saw the sun again, let alone Techno.
"...Work on your powers?" Minx finished for him. He grimaced.
"I was trying to keep it a secret, but yeah."
"I... I could... no..." Minx stuttered a bit, trying to find the right words.
"What?"
"Tommy, next time I see you I need to tell you about my idea." Minx started to leave, but stuck her head back in and spoke again, quieter this time.
"Tommy, I want to help you get out of here."
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Niki watched Minx leave her room. She watched Minx make the sandwich and she watched Minx walk down to the holding cell.
She listened through the door to Tommy and Minx's conversation. Then she hid in the next room over and barely heard Minx's last line. As she did, her breath hitched.
What was Minx doing? Niki sighed and put her forehead on the wall. She just wanted her friends to be happy. Why did something have to tear them apart every time things seemed to be looking up?
And what side would she fall on when Tommy got out of here and Minx rebelled?