Chapter Text
Sagging against the wall, the boy fell. It was a hard day, after buying groceries and essentials between lots of rushing people. It’s better to buy when there are less of them, but there was just no time for that. No, it had to be now, as everyone knew, soon the shop wouldn’t work for a few days. The threat was clear from the news, the attacks have been moving south, and no shop has agreed to work in dangerous times. The only way to get food would be to buy it right now, including for the boy.
He let out a breath of relief as he finally entered his apartment and dropped down the bags. Panicked people are the worst to shop around. Leaning against the wall, he gave his body some rest. Tommy wasn’t the strongest, but it’s not like he could ask anyone for help. They already helped so much, asking for more would raise suspicion.
Under a fake identity, he managed to contact the heroes as a single mother with a child, who’s flat got destroyed in the last villain attack. With so many calls of the same problem, but from different people, they didn’t bother checking how real the information was, just giving at least some roof for the citizens. So they didn’t know Tommy was a ten-year-old boy living alone. They didn’t have to know that part.
He was given some funds too, helpful for some time. Soon he would have to figure out how to get more. They were running out despite him saving as much as he could. Not his choice!
Now, he had to sit still, and just hope that his flat actually doesn’t get destroyed this time. Going back to the streets didn’t seem enticing. He only got a hold of himself, cooking some simple food, finally getting new clothes. Tommy didn’t spend so much time and effort for some villain just to come here and destroy it all.
Tommy’s stomach grumbled and he looked at his bag full of food. Time to cook. He wasn’t good at it, settling on porridge, eggs, pasta and cereal. The last one didn’t really require cooking, but in Tommy’s eyes it did, as he still had to add milk.
Grabbing his bag, he took out some grains for porridge. As bad as he was at cooking it, and the taste not being anything he would want to eat for a long time, but he didn't have a choice.
Coming over to the stone and climbing on the short little chair he put to see what he was doing, he grabbed a pot and filled it up with water and milk. Adding some flavour, pouring the grains in and stirring it all for some time, and he was done. Taking a small plate, his only flat plate, he put a piece of porridge on it. Steam was coming off it and Tommy knew he would have to let it cool down. After some time, Tommy couldn’t wait anymore and devoured the food.
It… wasn’t the worst, but he had made it better in the past. He was still learning.
The funds he was given were great, he could afford so much! Now, that most of them were gone, Tommy was mentally preparing for no good food in a while again. Not that he would call his cooking good, but porridge tasted much better with milk, same with cereal. He tried to ration it by eating porridge made with water, but the taste alone made him want to throw up, to the point he would rather eat from a garbage can, so he still used milk.
It happened when he was drinking his water. The ground shook underneath him, making him fall and catch his cup just in time. He felt heat hit him and disappear as he was on his knees.
An explosion.
At least his windows didn’t break, probably keeping them opened helped here. He thought it would take at least one more day before the attacks. These villains arrived here way quicker than anyone expected. Not only that, they have already managed to blow something up.
Just as he gathered himself, another explosion followed. With how little they affected him, the sound being far away, they were probably a long distance from his house. Close enough to shake it up, but not enough to be a real threat. He had gone through worse. He remembered how a few years ago, back when he was on the streets, an explosion happened near him. It burned him and the ringing in his ears took a while to go away, the shockwave slammed him into a wall, which also hurt.
Reluctantly, after a few minutes, Tommy turned on the TV. He had to spend quite a lot of the funds he was given on it, but there wasn’t another choice. TVs were one of the only ways to check the news, to see how safe each territory was, how dangerous it was outside. Many people used their phones, but he didn’t get that many funds to buy one, at least one that could actually help with it. He had a small phone which was half broken, he found thrown away.
It had an emergency signalling system, as it was mandatory for all phones to have it, but his could only warn him of an ongoing fight, which wasn’t enough. So, like many others, he bought a cheap TV, constantly checking the news channels.
Now, he was carefully listening to the news, to avoid useless information, he picked the local news channel that covered only his district.
Another attack has hit our district, a villain attack.
Mass destruction is possible as the villains were identified as the Sl-
Tommy changed the channel.
Keep inside your homes at all times, as they could use you in their fights if they see you.
Reminder to close your ears, run if a shadow passes over you and absolutely cover any injuries if they have blood slipping out of them.
Typical warnings, why did he expect anything else. This was boring, he heard that information so many times!
Stay inside, under no circumstances go outside, stay insi-
Tommy turned the TV off.
Nothing interesting. He got his confirmation that the villains were close, he didn’t care about the rest.
Tommy never really cared about villains and heroes. He got help from the heroes, and he respected them, was grateful and praised them, but he never really looked into them. All of these public appearances, lectures, warning videos, special power-oriented schools, trying to find them in peaceful times… None of that interested him.
With villains, he just tried to stay careful, try to avoid damage, not get involved. He lost track of what villains there are even right now, their names or powers… Their outfits and their goals. He just didn’t care.
Hm…
Where he lived, there were a lot of cafes with tables outdoors… Cafes where people could be eating before rushing off at the threat of the villains. Sometimes not finishing their food…
He had an idea. Tommy had some funds and just bought groceries, but getting a bit of extra food wouldn’t hurt, he could keep it for later.
Now, he would grab the leftovers, that weren’t even in a dumpster! He would sort the food he’d… “clean up” and in his groceries depending on how long each could last. This way, his next shopping trip for groceries wouldn’t come any time soon! There was no one outside, no one to judge him or shoo him away from their food. No, no one would care or even know. They wouldn’t stand in his way! Free food, here he comes!
Leaving his apartment, Tommy grabbed a bag where he would put the food in. Running down the stairs, he was about to go outside-
“Kid, where are you going?” A gruff voice asked behind him.
Tommy slowly turned around to see one of his neighbours. The man was middle-aged, with small stubble on his chin. Never looking the best, clothes quickly thrown on, and Tommy wondered if the man had put them on just to confront him. That would explain why he looked so messy. At the same time, he always looked messy.
“Outside” Tommy answered, quick and short, moving closer to the door by walking backwards.
“It’s dangerous out there, I heard a door open and this is not the time anyone should be leaving, even less a kid!” The man said, brows furrowing, with a tint of actual worry in his voice.
“Where are your parents watching, are you trying to sneak out to be cool because I really recommend not doing that, it’s not cool, it’s dangerous” the man continued while Tommy looked down.
This neighbour didn’t even know him, but was already showing some care. In this whole world, there were still people that cared, other than the people who’s job was to care, like the heroes. Yet, Tommy wasn’t abandoning his plans. The small moment of being acknowledged made him stop for a second, but he also couldn’t miss an opportunity like this.
“Don’t worry sir, I’m coming out for just a few minutes, everything will be okay and… thank you for trying to stop me” Tommy said, including his genuine gratefulness for the man’s care.
“Be careful kid, I hope you decide to stay inside after all” the man answered after a second, and closed his door.
This whole conversation really ruined his mood. He was about to have fun scraping the food off tables, but now he felt like a problem. That man cared, if something happened to Tommy he would blame himself for not trying harder.
That man shouldn’t worry about him! He’s just some kid, there is nothing inside of him that would make someone care about him. Tommy didn’t understand.
He stood in the hallway, the door outside behind him, for a few minutes. He wasn’t used to this. Taking a deep breath, he turned around. He had some work to do.
With that thought, he opened the door, and walked outside.
The streets outside were empty and barren. Like all life was sucked out of them. Behind one of the high-rise buildings, Tommy saw smoke. Probably from those explosions. He turned to the side and started running towards the cafes.
Just like he guessed, there was food. A smile broke on his face as he ran up to the tables. Tommy was amazed at just how much food was left. He started shoving food down his bag, trying not to get it mixed up with the rest of its contents. The blonde didn’t want to accidentally cover a piece of meat with a cake.
Now, the sight of a child desperately grabbing leftovers from some tables didn’t give him much grace, but he felt like he didn’t have any anyway. At some point, he started giggling at just how much food he was getting. This could last him for weeks! Oh, this cake looked delicious-
“Why are you cleaning those tables, child?’ A voice said behind him, again, just how many times in a day can that happen.
It also made him jump, because nobody was supposed to be outside right now.
He turned around to see some tall man, he wore a trench coat, his face hidden by some blue mask. Bits of gunpowder littered the trench coat, something like a small speaker was hanging on the man’s neck.
Ah, so it wasn’t just somebody. It was a villain because no one would dress up like that.
How fun.
“Man, I was just getting food so now if you, please excuse me-” Tommy said as he started sidestepping the man.
He saw at least two more tables with food that would go to waste now.
“Why is a child eating someone’s leftovers?” The man answered and took a step to the side so that he would stand in front of him again.
Prick.
“It’s dangerous outside, and I don’t think you fully realised the danger, just look at me!” The trench coat man, or trench bitch as he would name him, said pointing at himself.
Tommy watched as the tench bitch kept standing there pointing at himself. Was something supposed to happen? Did the man expect something?
“Yeah, I’ll go” Tommy said after squinting his eyes one last time and trying to step to the side again.
The trench bitch blocked his path again. What was his problem? Villains nowadays, so rude!
“Did you not hear in the news who is around the district right now?” The trench bitch asked, and Tommy was really getting tired of his questions.
“Yeah, I watched the news and whatever, let me go” Tommy answered, using his strategy of moving to the side which ended the same way again.
He should work on a new strategy, this one wasn’t working at all. They stood on the road now from how many times they side stepped.
“Child, are you not scared of me, because you don’t seem to realise who you’re talking to” the tench bitch said and Tommy had to take a deep breath to calm down.
“Stop calling me a child, I’m not a child, I’m a Big Man!” Tommy answered, completely ignoring the villain at first.
“Why would I care who you are, you’re some villain or something, I’m going home” Tommy responded and started turning his head around trying to find a way out.
“Some villain, how could you not recognise me, I’m Siren!” The villain announced, sputtering at first and then throwing his hands to the sides.
“Ah, Siren, yeah I heard something about you, I think, I don’t really care, bye” Tommy answered, unbothered, like he didn’t just hear the name.
Before the villain who was now stammering, hands hanging limp in comparison to when he spread them out.
Tommy used the moment and ran straight into Siren, who instinctually jumped to the side with a shriek.
Not stopping, Tommy kept running until he turned a corner into his block. Stupid villains, didn’t let him get more food. He went inside his house, the neighbour opening his door again, relieved to see that the kid had come back okay.
Tommy just gave the man a smile and went into his own apartment. Now, what has he collected? He was shuffling through his bag, pulling out food and sorting it with all of the food he already had, when he heard a loud thud from his window.
Person? No, he lived on the third floor. Tree? Were there any trees growing around that side of the building?
Thud.
Thump.
He came closer to the window at the perfect moment to see a fucking man flying through his window and smashing it to bits.
“I got it!” The man yelled outside and flew out.
That was… an interaction.
Tommy thought that was over when the same man flew back in holding someone. The blonde quickly recognised it as trench bitch.
Oh, fuck.
Did he piss off the wrong villain?
Siren, Siren, Siren…
He had heard that name before, the people on the news channels liked to scream it.
While Tommy was trying to remember who these people were, the flying man brought another person in. Now there were three villains in Tommy’s tiny apartment. Do they just like bothering broke people? Why would out of every house, they come to his?
“Now, do you know who we are?” Siren said, he was also heaving like he just ran a mile.
“Villains” Tommy answered, confused, but didn’t let it show.
“Mate, you really don’t know us?” The flying man asked, leaning closer.
Tommy finally got a good look at the man. He had giant black wings, a green mask, light blonde hair. He was also shorter than the other two.
The third person was bulky, dressed in king’s attire, the gown and a crown. That person’s mask was shaped like a boar but it was also pink, just like the hair that flowed out behind it.
“Why were you cleaning those tables?” Wing man, as Tommy named him, asked, cocking his head to the side like a bird.
“To get the food on them for myself” Tommy explained, and was surprised when he heard a quick inhale.
“Where are your parents, mate?” Wing Man asked, and Tommy wanted to punch him in the face.
He owed nothing to them, and now he was in the middle of an interrogation.
“Don’t have any, now could you leave, and please pay for the fucking window I don’t have the money to fix it” Tommy answered and by now his tone wasn’t hiding the anger he felt.
“We can’t just leave you like this-” Wing Man said, but he was quickly interrupted by Tommy.
“There are many kids living alone with no money, and it’s not your job, as I could remind you, villains, to do, now get out” Tommy said and spat out the last two words.
What now would they play the saviours? ‘We can’t just leave you like this’ his ass, he isn’t dealing with them.
“Also, Siren, your name is stupid, it’s not intimidating at all” Tommy added to which Siren squawked.
“What?” He asked, taken aback.
“Like, what’s your name, are you the one with the long one?" Tommy said as he pointed to Wing Man.
That made the man share a glance with the others.
“The one with the long one” he repeated, contemplating something.
“Oh wow, it’s a shit name, I remembered it was long, but not that much!” Tommy answered, a laugh breaking out of him.
“That’s not, ha, my name, it’s the angel of Death” the man said, letting out a small laugh at the situation.
“Siren, see, the Angel of Death, that sounds ominous!” Tommy said as Siren made another wounded sound.
“What’s your name?” Tommy asked and pointed his finger to the pink one’s chest.
For a second, no one spoke. Why were they so surprised he addressed everyone, and not only the other two? This man was standing silently here the whole time not uttering a word and they expected him to just ignore that person? That person that also came from his now broken window?
“The Blood God” the man said and wow, his voice was deep.
“The Blood God… Siren, you expect your name to entice fear when you have a person named The Blood God around you?” Tommy said, looking at Siren.
“The Angel of Death at least stands a chance but you, no, you’re not scary” Tommy added, closing his eyes in time to miss the rage that filled the villain he was ridiculing.
“My name fits me the best, you little shit, you seem a bit too courageous, do you want a reminder of who is standing in front of you?” Siren said, his hands clenched into fists as he took a step forward.
“Siren-” Wing Man, the Angel of Death was too long to constantly call him, said as he grabbed Siren’s sleeve.
“No, how about we show this little brat who he is messing with?” Siren snapped quickly tugging his sleeve out of the other man’s hand.
Has Tommy pissed off the wrong person? Probably. Would he back down? Absolutely not.
The villain has stepped forward, grabbed the hem of the boy’s shirt and lifted him above the ground.
Tommy, very openly, yawned.
“You little-” Siren mumbled, before clutching more fabric in his hand.
Tommy didn’t know what was in the villain’s plan, but when he saw another hand rise and get closer to his face, his instincts acted.
He bit.
Hard.
“Ow, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Siren yelled, clutching his bleeding hand, the other let go of the boy completely.
“What, you expected I would just let you hit me?” Tommy asked, a bit confused.
He actually didn’t know if Siren even wanted to hit him, he just saw hand, danger and that resulted in biting.
“I wasn’t going to hit you, I was trying to grab your chin to make you look at me!” Siren screamed, taking a step back.
“Siren, leave the kid alone, as much as I like seeing orphans cry, it’s okay, he will shit himself when he finds out who we are, it’s time we go” the Blood God said, the second time in this whole visit.
Siren seemed to take a deep breath and his hands unclenched.
“Once you find out, you’ll realise how good it was for you, we were in a good mood, child” Siren said and turned around.
“We were in a good mood, ooooh” Tommy mocked the villains, making Siren take a stop in his walking for a moment, his shoulders shaking before he calmed down and continued his leave.
“Who’s paying for the window?” Tommy screamed as the villains started jumping out of it.
A second later a load of tied bucks flew right at him through the window.
Wow, they actually left money, Tommy was half-joking, he didn’t expect it to work. Also, it was clear that it was much more money than how much it would take to fix his window. He didn’t mind, if he was given this money, he would use it.
He could buy so much! Like a second shirt, this one already has holes in it.
The next time he watched the news, he tried to actually listen to who the villains were.
The attack of the Sleepy Alliance has continued, this morning there was an explosion in the east, civilians are recommended to stay inside at all times unless an evacuation is happening.
Siren has been extremely active, witnesses claiming they saw the villain prowling the streets around one block. The reasons are unknown as of now. As a member of the Sleepy Alliance, he is known for being dangerous and attacking impulsively.
Ah, Sleepy Alliance. That’s where he heard about Siren from. Oh, he fucked up more than he thought. While he didn’t really look into specific villains, anyone who wasn’t living under a rock would know that those were dangerous. The Sleepy Alliance was the top villain group, their only rival would be the Dream Team. Tommy mocked one of the top villains.
At least it finally made sense why Siren was so surprised he didn't know about him. The newscaster was right, he was so impulsive. Following some child to their home because they said they didn’t recognise you. It probably crushed some of his ego. Good.
Still, Tommy was going to use the attack on the east side. That meant that the shops on the west side were working again, and he could finally use the money he was given. He had already fixed his window, the repairman turned out to be that neighbour he saw, who even gave him a cheaper price.
So, Tommy gathered himself up, took a bag and some of the money and set out. He knew that technically everyone was still instructed to stay inside, but Tommy didn’t care. More and more people started leaving their houses now that the attack was isolated on one side. Everyone knew it could take seconds for the villains to move to a different part of the district, but life went on.
Shop owners still had their jobs and had to make some money, so when the attack was at least far away, they worked. The same went for any businesses on those streets. It has been at least four days when everyone avoided the outside, people had to go out again, now that they had a chance.
So this time, when Tommy was outside, they weren’t empty. A few people here and there passed him, but it wasn’t nearly as much as it was in normal times. Coming to the clothes store, Tommy went to look for a shirt first. Finding his favourite shirt with red sleeves, he decided to get trousers and probably a new pair of shoes.
Those villains gave him so much money, he hoped they wouldn’t ask for it back.
In case they do, moving wouldn’t be very hard. When Tommy left the shop, he was carrying two bags of clothes. He had to buy a second one because they didn’t all fit in the bag he brought. Tommy looked around and went to his next stop, the grocery store. He still had quite a bit of food left, but now that he had some money, he could buy something a little bit more expensive and not even ration it.
Happily coming back home, Tommy almost didn’t notice what was happening ahead. A few blocks forward of his house, there was a fire. Closer than he would like to admit. Sounds of scraping metal followed, as clanks and chimes hit the streets. Some structure was groaning, about to fall over.
It was loud, there was screaming. Tommy decided to investigate further.
Was that idea stupid? Yes. Has that stopped him before? No. Would it stop him now? No.
Slowly crouching closer, he looked around the corner after he had walked along some buildings. He saw the building which was on fire, it was some warehouse judging by what he could see. He jumped as a metal beam fell right next to him. Tommy quickly turned around to see that the building he was hiding behind was also on fire, and not just on fire, but crumbling.
The structure was broken and each time he heard a crash it seemed to lean more and more to the side. It was about to fall over. It looked okay from the side Tommy saw it from first, but two of its sides were practically gone.
The Sleepy Alliance is known for mass destruction, something he actually remembered.
Fuck.
Tommy almost left when he noticed something. A small cafe he had visited a few times was wedged right between the burning building and the one on top of which some fight was happening. Tommy couldn’t leave the goods inside to just get destroyed. Once he looked around one more time, he ran. Closer to the cafe, until he was in front of its doors.
The cafe had two sliding glass doors, one of which was already shattered by some debris he could see on the other side. Slowly, Tommy stepped and crouched through the broken glass, trying to avoid cutting himself. Finally, he sneaked inside and stood up. This time his smaller stance was to his advantage.
Running up to the front stand, Tommy started hauling the food off. The owner wouldn’t sell that food anyway, so why go to waste? After all, it will all burn or rot if left, but Tommy can bring some use to it!
He took one of the bags the cafe sold, normal paper bags with a couple of hearts and a cupcake on them. Throwing different sweets in one back, he filled those bags to the brim. This could last him for weeks. He walked behind the stand and took the few juice bottles the cafe had.
Now, with bags filled with sweet, delicious food that he stole- gave a purpose to, he stepped outside.
Right at that moment, a person fell right in front of him.
A person he recognised as Siren.
Wow, just what he wanted.
He tried to just sidestep the villain and hope he wouldn’t notice but of course he did.
“You again?” Siren snapped and quickly brought himself to his feet.
Siren took a step bag and looked over him, looking at the bags and the cafe.
“Are you stealing food?” Siren asked, a bit confused and surprised.
“No, I’m saving it” Tommy said, hoping that this would be enough to let him turn and run.
That didn’t really work out, because as soon as he started running, a hand grabbed his shoulder, making him drop one of the bags and spilling its contents.
“You asshole, I just got this food!” Tommy yelled, ignoring the position he was in right now.
He shook the hand off and crouched, starting to put food that was relatively clean back in his bag off the floor. When Tommy picked up a particularly dirty cupcake and started moving it towards his bag, Siren’s foot kicked it out of his hands.
“Don’t eat that” Siren said right as Tommy was about to scream at him.
The words didn’t stop him, and the phase quickly went from about to scream, to just scream.
“Bitch, don’t touch my food and me, your dirty ass shoes are fucking disgusting” Tommy screamed and before Siren could react, he took the foot that just kicked and started pulling off his shoe.
“It was dir- w-what the fuck are you doing?” Siren screamed as it was his turn to do so this time.
At that second Tommy finally untied the shoe and threw it as far away as possible.
“You little fucker!” Siren screamed as he turned into the direction his shoe flew not that long ago.
Tommy just laughed as he saw one of the top villains jump on one leg to retrieve a boot.
Worth it.
When Siren picked up his boot and turned to face Tommy, the boy realised it was a good moment to run.
“Wait you little shit!” Siren screamed, wow he really liked to scream, as Tommy took off.
Siren had to cover more distance than Tommy because he went for his boot, which gave the boy a good enough head start to go and find a good cranny to hide in. He saw as Siren whizzed past him, running around to find him. Soon Tommy heard another voice, one he recognised as the Angel of Death’s.
“Siren, where are you?” He yelled before spotting the villain and flying right to him.
Not long after Tommy heard the heavy footsteps of the Blood God coming closer. He really should hide better. While he knew Siren stood no chance against him, the Blood God was actually competent from what he heard. At the same time, he heard Siren was good at this villain shit, but from Tommy’s experience with the villain, he wasn’t so afraid.
“That little shit was here again!” Siren complained, spreading his arms before closing them on himself and clenching his fists, so much theatrics it almost made Tommy laugh and give away where he was hiding.
“Who?” The Blood God asked, and leaned on the axe he had, the head of the axe on the floor.
“The child that didn’t know who we were” Siren clarified and Blood God’s stance changed a bit, like now he was paying some interest.
“Where?” Angel of Death, Wing Man, asked, as he turned his head side to side, scanning their surroundings.
“The brat ran away, I saw him stealing food but then he fucking took my boot off and threw it away!” Siren complained, and Tommy barely held his laughter.
Good for him, Blood God took on that role as he started laughing himself.
“That’s not funny!” Siren yelled, being desperate at showing his dismay.
“A little kid took off your, one of the top villain’s, shoe off and ran away” Blood God repeated in smaller words, continuing his laughter.
“You’re such a bully!” Siren yelled, stomping his foot on the ground like an insolent child.
How did they keep up with him?
“I’m literally a supervillain” the Blood God answered, to which Siren gave out a long loud groan, when Wing Man started laughing too.
Tommy felt like he could watch them all day. Give him a chair and some popcorn, he could stay here for hours.
“He couldn’t have run far away” the Angel of Death said, bringing them back to the topic.
Tommy froze. He really hoped the villains would just forget about him but instead they seemed determined to find him. He was hidden, but it wouldn’t be very hard to find him. Tommy had to leave. He had to leave now.
The blonde looked behind him, seeing an alleyway covered with scraps of metal. The cranny he was in apparently led to it. As quietly as he could, he started navigating through the debris.
He had to crouch down in some parts, step over the overs. Tommy really didn’t expect it to be so hard. Still, he managed and soon found a way out of the alleyway on the other side. From there, he could quickly run to the bags with clothes and then his house.
On that ended his second meeting with the Sleepy Alliance.