Chapter Text
He was Helios, a villain.
He drove the knife deeper into the man’s chest, enjoying the way his body jerked with every little scrape of bone and flesh, as he pushed harder and harder, blood trickling out of the stab wound and soaking into his fancy suit.
He had the man pinned underneath him, covered in bruises and blood and little scraps, all life was drained from his face as he weakly tried to pry him off of him, unable to scream from the gag in his mouth.
His face was hidden underneath a white and gold mask, with his blonde hair tousled around on his head, and more white and gold clothes adoring him, for he was the villain Helios, a god.
He wore a chest plate covered in gold and white which also binded his wings away, keeping them safely tucked away and out of sight. A white cloak adorned him, with golden lace and a hood he could pull up to hide away his hair, but that didn’t really matter.
Anyone who saw his golden hair never lived to tell the tale.
His hands were gloved and had golden talons on the end of them, sharp and deadly. His villain outfit screamed a hero but he was nothing of the sort.
It was what was so ironic about it all, and he loved it. Anyone who didn’t know of the villain Helios thought he was some new super hero. It was great. But most people knew who he was, that only really happened when he was first premiering as a villain.
He smiled from underneath his mask, enjoying the pain he was causing to this guy. He twisted the knife with a sickening crunch, blood gushing out of the larger wound now. His whole body spasmed, movements growing weaker and weaker as he dug the knife around in the wound, trying to pierce his slowly beating heart with the knife.
He couldn't tell if he did or not, as there was to much blood and he did not know exactly where the heart was in the chest behind the rib cage. Either way he was dying to internal bleeding, so it was still good enough. He probably cut the arteries, there was no coming back from that.
He pulled the knife out of his body, careful not to get any blood on his clothes. He didn’t really want to get any on his suit, he’d have to clean it, his suit was very stain resistance, made out of some special material. It could only really stained if it got cut which would take a lot to do.
Tommy held the knife tightly, staring down at his victims bloodied chest as he began to carve a symbol into his flesh on his chest as the guy died underneath him. It was two lines with a half oval going through the both of them, and then two messy circles at the top.
The symbol meant only one thing to him: a mockery. He was ruining its true meaning each time he carved it into his dead victims chest and he loved it.
He watched the life fade from his dull, brown eyes, as his movements stopped and he took his last struggling breath.
He wiped the blood off of his knife on the guy he just killed pants, before he tucked it away into his boot where it belonged.
He slowly stood up from where he had pinned the guy, his blue eyes scanning his surroundings. He was in his victims room, on the ground, blood staining the rug and pooling on the hardwood, slowly soaking through the floor beneath it. It was nighttime, with the curtains drawn and the door was closed, locked.
He smiled, stepping over the body and blood as he made his way over to his exit.
A mirror.
He rested one hand on it’s cool surface, turning back to look at the bleeding body he left lying on the ground. He felt satisfaction swell up in his chest before he turned and walked through the mirror, his whole body getting bathed in the silver liquid of the mirror as he entered its realm.
Swiftly he made his way through the silver realm, retracing his steps back to his own mirror. The mirror realm was one of beauty and mystery, full of different mirrors all looking into different places, with a flat landscape of just silver that refracted the light, shifting all the time.
His ears were ringing, as there was no sound here, and he could feel the ghostly touches of hands trailing up and down his body, touching his shoulders, back, his head. It made him shiver as goosebumps trailed up his arms, the touches were almost taunting him, a silent form of torture.
He quickly made his way through the realm, seeing his familiar mirror back to his big apartment. He speed up, his cloak blowing around his chest in the soundless plane as he practically launched himself out of the mirror realm and onto his hard wood floor of his living room.
It freaked him the fuck out if he was in there for to long.
He landed on his wooden floors and sighed, leaning against his wall for a moment as he caught his breath. The ghostly touches left him, the ghouls and spirits trapped in the mirror, destined to stare at him forever.
He raised up a hand to take off his mask, finally able to breathe in fresh air as it kissed his skin, cooling him off. He ran a hand through his hair, noting with dissatisfaction that it was all tangled and dirty as he staggered down to his room.
He lived alone, in a rather nice apartment, too. He had three rooms, an office, his room, and a guest room(though he never has any guests over, so it was more like a storage room), and then his big ass living and dining room. They were both connected, with a huge window over-looking the city he lived in, L’Manberg. He was on one of the top floors and had a great view, especially in the mornings when the sun was rising and he could just stare out at the sea of clouds and the colors of the rising sun.
He unclasped his cloak and threw it onto his chair, setting his mask down gently on his desk as he took off the rest of his suit, glad to be out of it. His movements were slow and sluggish, he was so fucking tired and just wanted to sleep already. He grabbed a glass and filled it in his bathroom, not caring the water was just from the tap, and downing the drink in one go before he went off to his bed, ready to pass the fuck out.
He quickly took off the remaining parts of his suit, a binder that protected his wings. Yeah, thats right bitches, he’s also an avian. You don’t see many murderous avians out there— he was breaking all the norms! He had gold and white feathers, with a narrow and slender wing shape, clearly meant for speed. He sighed, feeling all the pressure being relieved from his back as his wings limply drooped behind him, glad to be free.
He didn’t even bother to throw on pajamas as he collapsed into his nest, a content hum building its way up in his chest as he snuggled into his blankets and pillows, feeling the familiar buzz of sleep creeping up on his mind.
He was Tommy Innit, a rich avian kid who dabbled in the fine arts of villainy, and was pretty damn good at it too.
~~~~
He woke up to his alarm ringing, constantly beeping over and over.
He didn’t want to get up, he was still tired from yesterday. He groaned, stretching in his bed, his wings spreading out to their full length as he lazily slapped his alarm clock till it stopped ringing, eventually having to just rip the fucking cord out of the wall to get it to shut up.
He groggily got out of bed after a couple more minutes of just laying in it, his wings drooping behind him and dragging on the ground. He didn’t really care, though, his wings were kind of like his personal mop, picking up the dust and dirt on the ground.
It probably wasn't the best, but he couldn't find it in himself to lift them up. Not this early, anyways. He was too tired.
He sat down on the couch, having made himself a bowl of cereal, turning on the big tv in his living room.
The first thing that comes on is ‘Another confirmed victim of Helios’ on the news. They didn’t show anything from the crime scene but they did show the most flattering picture of him that they always used.
It was of him in full villain gear, on the street, with the sunlight bathing him, creating this godly glow behind him along with the lens flare catching the gold of his suit. His little cape was billowed out perfectly and his golden talons dripped with crimson blood as he stared off into the distance, looking for his next victim.
The news always had such strange opinions about him. Some days they were defending his actions and others they were against him. Tommy had sort of a love-hate relationship with them, almost like a romance that was falling out but the feelings were very much so still there. Or that he was getting cancelled left and right and was one of the most controversial people to talk about.
He hungrily ate his cereal. It tasted dull and like dirt, but still. Food.
Helios was feared and respected, with a reputation that far outlived himself. The police had been after him for years, documenting every crime and murder they suspected him of, even if they never saw a glimpse of him actually doing it.
He only showed off to his victims, for they would never be able to tell what they saw about him to another living soul, before escaping into a mirror and leaving without a trace.
No one knew what his powers were, not even his ‘team’ of villains did.
Xidii, King, and Boreas were top-tier villains along side him(Tommy would say he outranks them all, even Anubis, one of the most feared villains ever). They all worked together, too, fighting the so-called heroes whenever they got in their way.
He turned off the news to the lady talking about him. It was kind of weird knowing everyone knew him yet no one actually knew him. His closest ‘best friend’ would be Purpled, but even then there was still things that got in the way of their friendship.
Tommy was just alone. And it sucked.
But he had Ichor.
He immediately perked up, his wings fluffing up in excitement as he thought about Ichor. His Ichor, his little villain of the Syndicate, the one he put a claim on. Ichor was his, would be his, forever. Not even Anubis would get in the way, Ichor would become his.
He made sure no one even looked at him. But it was hard, when there was so many fish in the sea. Plus there was Anubis and Apophis that were in the way. He could practically feel their presence clinging onto Ichor whenever he’s around him.
He sighed, setting his bowl down on the table where other dirty dishes lay, waiting to be cleaned.
Future Tommy problem.
He wanted to go see if Ichor was out and about right now. He missed him.
Tommy had plans on continuing to… court persuade Ichor into becoming his family. As in brother. As in Tommy plans on kidnapping Ichor and forcing him to become his brother wether he likes it or not and Tommy will not accept no as an answer.
He giddily jumps up, his wings flaring out behind him as he made his way over to where he had left his suit the night before. He tightly presses his wings against his back, the extra limbs folding neatly as he put on his protective binder that kept them in place and out of harms way.
He hated using it but he saw no other choice. His wings were a weakness, unlike Anubis’s who had some freaky voodoo shit or something going on there, Anubis was the stuff made out of nightmares and darkness, his feathers like tar and obsidian.
He quickly slipped on his suit and made his way over to his mirror in the living room, pulling his hood up over his head as he stared at his reflection, making sure his mask was on tightly.
He looked like a god.
He was a god.
Thats why his name was Helios, a god of the sun. He was the sun, burning everything he touches and lighting up the corrupt world around them in dazzling sparkles of red and gold.
No one saw it, no one understood.
Tommy knew Ichor would. He just had a feeling Ichor would understand everything. Ichor would listen to his stories one night and tell him he was right, tell him he was doing good, the right thing.
Then Ichor would hold him as he cries, because no one had ever said that, not even Dream or Purpled or Punz.
Then Tommy would spill all of his darkest secrets he's kept behind lock and key and Ichor would listen and promise him that he’d protect him, just like a big brother was supposed to do. Just like how family was supposed to.
Sometimes, Tommy has to admit, he isn't strong enough.
He has a problem with ghosts or demons or whatever the fuck they were haunting him. Dream says there’s nothing he can do about it. Tommy thinks he's lying. But he isn’t strong enough to deal with them on his own.
There’s also two people he’d never be strong enough to face no matter how hard he tries.
Its why he wants to go out in a spectacular way. He wants to blow up L’Manberg and take Ichor far, far away from here and become family.
All in due time, he reminds himself. He has patience.
He reached out a hand to the mirror, pausing right before he pressed further into it, the liquid bending around him as he stepped through. He never got over the feeling of stepping through the mirror, it was like plunging into icy waters and drowning the whole time he was inside the realm.
It was like the liquid engulfed him, it was cold and clung to him as he passed through into the soundless void of the realm.
Immediately he was swarmed by the ghosts and spirits. He could feel their presence the further he got away from the safety of his mirror, their invisible hands trialing up and down and his body, his hair, touching his wings and hands.
He shivered, feeling cold and uncomfortable as he pulled upon the claim he set on Ichor.
It was leading him towards the city. He could tell from the increase in mirrors, small and large, all different sizes. Fancy huge ones, medium sized ones, long ass mirrors too, but also broken ones that were letting the spirits and ghouls through that would eventually find him to haunt.
Tommy glared at those mirrors, angry that someone broke it. He could not pass through broken mirrors, as it opened a doorway to the invisible world around him, the ghosts. He could only pass through what the ghosts couldn’t, and that was the fully in tact mirrors.
He came upon a mirror in a bathroom, over a sink. The pull was strongest here. He wondered if Ichor was in civilian clothes right now. If so that would be kind of weird if Helios just showed up out of no where and he was looking around for some random guy he would not recognize.
He pondered on if he should go in or not for a while, just staring at the mirror and the nasty bathroom it was located inside of. He decided to go through when he saw the whole bathroom shake and the lights flicker.
Something was definitely happening.
He jumped through, landing smoothly on the tile ground. His ears were ringing immediately as an explosion rang out. The lights flickered before he was descended into darkness, after a minute he could finally hear people screaming.
He rushed out of the bathroom door, pulling his hood tighter over his head as he shouldered past people who barely even looked at him as he made it to the window.
He was in a restaurant, on the bottom floor, with the street right outside. Tommy’s eyes landed upon the fight that was going on in the middle fo the street.
He ducked behind a table, peering over the edge at the fight. He did not want to be seen yet.
There was Ichor and Apophis fighting three heroes, Bay, who could control and create water out of nothing, Ember, who can control fire, and the Warden. The Warden is very dangerous.
Tommy and the Warden have a… interesting relationship. The Warden wants to change Tommy but Tommy never will. He remembers being pinned by the Warden once, as he forced him to listen to what he had to say about him getting help and joining the heroes.
Now the Warden just wants to bring him in. He’s gotten close a few times, but Tommy always escapes and gets away. He can take Warden in a fight, too, he’s won many bloody battles against him.
But still, the Warden was just as dangerous as Ichor is. Plus he had this savior complex about him. He has this idea in his head that Helios was just a scared child lashing out or some shit and that he could fix him.
It was dumb and stupid and the Warden wasn’t scared of him like the others and it pissed him off.
Anyways, he was watching the battle going on in front of him.
Ichor was draped in a magnificent red cape, with a boar skull on his head. His whole face and hair was completely covered up, leaning behind nothing of the person underneath. Ichor wore a lot of gold, too, and he had on a netherite chest plate. Ichor wielded a sword most of the time, but Tommy has seen him use an axe here and there.
Apophis, Ichor’s right hand man that Tommy was not at all jealous of, wore a blue and black suit. He had on a face mask covering everything with glowing blue eyes, unlike Tommy’s that only hid his eyes, and had on a black hood that was pulled up over his hair. He probably looked like some boring old person underneath.
Then there was Ember and Bay. Ember had a very flashy suit, red and yellow and orange with streaks of fire painted across it. He had black spiky hair and a stupid look on his face, no doubt Ember was a bitch.
Bay had a white and blue suit, with a slick looking mask and cool water-like patterns on his suit. Very un-original, Tommy thinks. Bay was kind of a wash-out, no pun intended.
And then the Warden. The Warden had on a gas mask that covered his whole face, like Ichor’s and Apophis, along with electric green hair. He wore amour top to bottom, covered in netherite, and had a trident in his hands. The Warden was pretty cool, and Tommy’s favorite hero, though he’d never admit that.
Ichor was fighting Warden and Ember while Apophis was fighting against Bay, who was completely and utterly soaking the shit out of him. It was kind of funny watching Apophis getting trapped in a ball of water as he used his shadows to help pull him out, only to get trapped again.
He didn’t care about Apophis, though, his eyes were trained on Ichor. He was fairing… okay against the two of them, but the Warden was really plummeting him while Ember sent fire crackling towards him.
He felt a twinge of something in his chest as he jumped up, silently making his way out of the resultant as he decided upon what he was going to do.
Warden was swinging at Ichor with his trident, smoke was billowing out of a crashed car, there was random fires spotted everywhere and giant puddles from Bay. Shadows were flickering back and fourth, everything was just chaos.
Ichor was bleeding, and so was Ember and Warden but Ichor was hurt. He couldn’t allow that.
The moment someone spotted him it was like a pin dropped. The whole world seemed to slow down as he made his appearance, standing on the sidewalk staring at the fight in front of him with a blank look on his face, the whole atmosphere shifting around him, to something dangerous, cold and unnerving.
Everyone was looking at him now, the helicopters up in the air, the civilians that unluckily got caught up in the fight, and the three heroes and two villains that were fighting.
They were all frozen mid-swing or dodge, or in Apophis case, mid drowning.
Bay faltered and time sped up again. Apophis was freed from the water and scrambled away from him while Bay slunk back over to Warden and Ember. Ichor got away from the two, meeting Apophis away from the two behind him.
He was in the middle of the fighting groups as the silence stretched on. He took a couple steps forwards before he smiled, his boots clacking against the concrete.
Everyone was focused on him. The world was rotating around him.
“Helios.” Warden said in a deep voice, not as deep as Ichors though, his grip on his trident tightening as he stared at him.
Tommy tilted his head at him in a bird like fashion.
“What’s going on here?” He asked in a tilted voice, looking from Ichor to Warden. “Fighting without me?” He said in mock offense, but his tone was cold and sharp.
Bay wilted away behind Ember, hiding from him while the Warden steps forward, his trident clanging on the ground.
“You know you have a bounty on your head, Helios.” He said, “Dead or alive.”
“Oh, I know.” He said sharply, looking back at the Warden, “The bounty is useless, though. No one will go after a god.” He simply said and shrugged.
Everyone was quiet at that. The screaming had stopped. Everything had stopped.
“Your not a god.” Ember spoke up, his gruff voice spilling out into the empty streets. Tommy had been staring at Ichor, at the blood and scorched clothes and the way he was favoring one side before his eyes snapped to Ember.
Anger bubbles up in him as he stared at Ember. He wanted him dead for hurting Ichor. He zeros in on Ember, his golden talons glinting in the sunlight, Ember and the Warden would pay.
Ember flinches when Tommy takes a step towards him.
“Helios,” The Warden snapped at him, stepping in front of Ember and Bay. He had his trident pointed at him, ready to strike if Tommy took one more step.
Tommy felt a pang of annoyance shoot through him as he stared at the trident. He sighed, a long dragged out one as he tapped his golden talons on his chin, pondering what he was going to do.
“Leave, Helios. This fight doesn’t involve you.” The Warden said in a harsh, cruel tone that would have anyone cowering away. But Tommy just blinked at him, even though he couldn’t see his eyes, its still the thought that counts.
“Nah, it involves him now,” Apophis said, slinking up besides him as he crossed his arms, water dripping off of him. “You guys jumped us when we were doing nothing, it’s a load of bullshit and I’m glad Helios sees that.” Apophis pointed towards him with a smile.
“I’m on no-one’s side, Apep.” Tommy said sharply, his eyes flickering over to where Ichor was still standing, watching on the sidelines. Apophis bristled at the name, whipping his head around to stare at him for a moment. Tommy imagined he had a stupid look on his face right now.
“But I do care if my fellow villains are out so early in the morning getting into fights.” His voice was like icicles as he looked back over at the heroes, “Especially with you.” His words held venom and hate in them as he glared at the Warden.
The Warden, Tommy thought, was actually a really cool guy and fun to fight. But he had this whole… thing with him. Rivalry, some would call it.
The Warden bristles, catching onto their little game they dance around during fights. It was like a tragic friendship, one filled with tridents and claws and blood.
“What is that supposed to mean?” The Warden asks and the two of them are locked onto each other as they fall into the familiar routine they have.
Tommy could take this so, so many ways.
“You are my hero. No one else is allowed to fight you.” He smiled at him. This one was his favorite. The Warden hates it when he calls him his— as in like, the Warden is his ‘pet’ human so to say.
Apophis looked at him while Ember snickered. He didn’t catch what Ichor did, if he even reacted. Tommy wondered if he did.
“Is that so?” The Warden takes a step forwards. “Then you can’t fight any other hero, little villain.” He says, his trident starting to dimly glow blue.
Tommy smiles.
“You can’t stop me.” He snarked and then they were fighting.
It was only the two of them, Apophis and Ichor fell back together while Bay and Ember cowered away from them.
Tommy easily dodged the Wardens trident as he slashed his talons along his arm, ripping his suit and drawing blood as he danced around him, easily moving out of the way of any of his attacks.
They weren’t actually getting into the fight. Tommy was just trying to scare everyone else and the Warden was trying to impress his fellow heroes and people of L’Manberg as he went up against the big, bad Helios.
It was like their little tango.
Tommy pulled out both his swords from behind his back where they were secured, the silver metal glinting in the sun as he lunged at the Warden, swinging his swords around. One of them connected with his trident while the other ricocheted off of his amour on his chest, sending the force of the impact vibrating through his arms.
Tommy gritted his teeth as he ducked under the swing of his trident, unable to dodge as the Warden tripped him with his foot. He hit the concrete hard, the air knocked out of his lungs for a moment.
He rolled away quickly, jumping back up to his feet with a smile on his face as he recovered flawlessly. The two of them circled each other, slowly taking one step after the next.
“This is your chance to surrender—“ The Warden began but Tommy cut him off, like he always did.
“Nah, no can do, and you know that.” He let a little bit of his cold persona drop as he spoke, his words quiet for only the Warden to hear.
The Warden and Ichor were the only two outside of his little team to ever see that part of him.
He lunged again, having taken the Warden by surprise from his sudden shift in personality. He landed one blow of his sword on his leg, slicing open his suit and spilling crimson blood.
He dropped his sword and rounded on him quickly, using his golden talons to dig into his chest plate and not let go as he used the momentum of his swing to kick the back of his knees in.
He was going for the trident as the Warden fell forwards, his free hand loosely grabbing it as he shoved him to the ground. The Warden, in simple terms, ate concrete.
In one, swift motion he had the trident in hand and the Warden pinned to the ground, the sharp metal at the end of the trident resting delicately against the Wardens spine and back of his neck.
Everyone was quiet, and tense, for Helios had just bested the top hero. Again.
“Uncle,” He heard the Warden sigh. Tommy had to hold back a snicker as he pressed harder against him, drawing a little bit of blood.
“Uncle.” He said in a louder voice, and Tommy released the pressure this time.
“It was fun, Warden, but now if you do oh so mind—“ Tommy began but suddenly the Warden was lunging up, shoving the trident out of his hands as he grabbed Tommy by his little cape and swung him around like he was nothing and threw him into a car.
Tommy could only blink before his back collided with the side of a car, wind whipping past his ears as the metal bending behind him as the car was rocked backwards form the force of impact.
His vision was blurry for a couple of seconds as his ears rung. The whole world was spinning and he didn’t feel right, like he wasn’t truly there in his body.
He snapped out of it real quick when someone grabbed him by his collar and was pulling him up to the sky.
He felt a painful twinge from his wings.
The Warden lifted him up like he was Simba or some shit. The sun was blocked out by a cloud as he stared at him through his dark mask.
“I got you, Helios.” The Warden mumbled victoriously, holding his twitchy form as he brought him closer to him.
“Your mine now.” He whispered, his voice gruff and rumbly as his hold tightened on him. “The Syndicate will not be getting you.”
Tommy froze, staring in shock at the Warden. He had never been this jealous before! All that time hanging out with Ichor must have really made him upset if this is how he is playing, copying his games now.
Well, two can play at that, fucker.
“News flash, bitch, no one’s getting me!” He smiled as he reached up his hands, digging his talons in deep into his arm and kicking the Warden in his chest. “If anything I’ll be taking you.” He snarled.
His hold on him loosened and Tommy was sent flying back into the car, again, hitting his head once more. He ignored the flash of pain as he shakily got up.
The sun was shining down upon him again as he grabbed his swords, stretching out his shoulders as the two circled each other again, trying to ease some of the soreness in his back and wings. His back was going to be aching for days after this fight.
The Warden did not seem to be playing, anymore. Tommy could see by the way his fingers twitched with concentration and how his hold on his trident was so tight his gloves were being pulled and stretched.
Tommy can’t afford to be playing around, either. He let his warmness go, dissipating like fog as the cold settled in. He kept his eyes trained on the Warden, unable to focus on the other heroes and villains standing around.
His head hurt even more when he tried. It was alright. He’d be fine. No one would interrupt his fight, anyways. He just had to focus on the Warden and not the ghostly touches running along his back and shoulders. Definitely not. No ghosts here.
He shivered when they travelled down to his wings. He pretended the invisible hands weren't there as his grip on his swords tightened, bring himself back to the present, to the now. He needed to focus on just the Warden and only him. He could do this.
He wold have to do some actual damage to him.
“Give up, Helios.” The Warden called, stopping in place, “We can do this the easy way.”
“The easy way?” Tommy said slowly, his voice having a certain chill to it as he fell back into Helios, “You should be begging for mercy, Warden.” He said before he was lunging at him once again, his words leaving behind an icy echo that seemed to take root in the silent, empty streets.
As quick as a snake, he ran at him one way before changing directions last minute. The Warden swung his trident the wrong way, and Tommy rose his sword and slammed it down into his arm holding the trident, as the Warden was to slow. So, terribly slow. It sucks for him, though, Tommy would just use his weakness as an advantage.
The Warden screamed as Tommy sliced his leg with his other sword, the sword in his arm having gone in deep, hitting bone and grinding against it. Tommy pulled it out slowly, the trident falling to the ground as blood gushed out of the wound.
His sword was rubbing against his bone as he sliced through flesh and muscle like it was raw meat, blood splattering all over the ground and his suit. The Warden fell to the ground, his scream getting cut off as he placed the edge of his sword against his neck quickly, pressing the blade into his skin.
“Beg.” He hissed, standing over the Warden as the sun bathed him in its golden rays, droplets of blood gathering on his white and gold clothes. But it never stained.
The Warden was heaving in breaths, a huge gash on his arm bleeding out, and the new slice on his leg added to his list of injuries. When he said nothing Tommy put more force behind his blade, causing small droplets of blood to swell up as his sword cut his skin on his neck.
“Please— please, have mercy.” the Warden choked out, coughing slightly, “Please, Helios, I beg of you.”
Tommy smiled, feeling a sadistic grin pull at his lips as he stared down at the Warden begging him for his mercy. After a long, tense moment did he finally pull his sword away. This time, though, he grabbed a dagger out from his boot, pinning the bleeding Warden down with his boot underneath him.
“Shh,” He smiled when the Warden made a confused noise, “Everything will be alright.” He promised. Everything will be perfectly fine when Helios marks him. If the Warden wants to play possessive games he’ll go all out, using his symbol he was well-known for, even if the meaning behind it hasn’t been revealed yet.
The Warden seemed to realize what was happening too late. Tommy was unclasping his chest plate and throwing it aside, the metal clattering on the concrete as he leaned down closer to him. The whole world seemed to be frozen in fear and horror as Tommy took his dagger and rose it above the Warden’s chest. He wasn’t going to kill the Warden, no, just something much worse, something that would always serve as a reminder of what exactly Helios is capable of and how far he is willing to go.
Tommy plunged his dagger into his flesh slowly, earning him a loud cry from the Warden as he shallowly carved his little symbol into the Wardens chest. Tommy drew two, long lines, taking joy in hearing the Wardens cry’s and shouts as he lifted his dagger out, blood dripping from it.
“Hush now, you’ll mess up my work.” He sighed as he plunged the knife into his skin again, making a half oval going through the lines before he went to the top of the lines and carved out two circles.
The Warden was sobbing underneath him, crying out and pleading with him to stop as he weakly thrashed underneath him, trying to get Tommy off of him. But it didn’t work. Tommy wasn’t the one bleeding out from serval wounds.
Tommy admired his work with a smile, reaching out a bloody hand to the Wardens gas mask. He rested his hand on it, blood smearing on it as he smiled down at him.
“You did so good, I’m proud of you.” He praised him, “Now you will remember exactly what I can do, my little hero.” He said before he was wiping his bloodied dagger on the Wardens now also very bloody shirt before stuffing it back in his boot, where it belonged.
Tommy stood up, picking up his swords that were littered on the ground as he looked out at everyone who was still here. Ember and Bay were watching with horrified, sick expressions on their faces as the Warden started to cough and crawl away from him, faintly calling for help. Ichor and Apophis were off to the side with unreadable expressions on their faces, just watching him.
Tommy could tell more heroes were on their way. His little fight ended seriously and there was no doubt going to be so much slander about him later. It felt like every day he was getting canceled for something new.
Maybe they would actually try and bring him in. Tommy’s never carved his symbol into one of them yet. Who knows how they’ll react. He was kind of excited to see what they’ll do, if anything.
The moment he was walking away from the Wardens writhing form on the ground Ember and Bay were sprinting towards him, calling for help as they fell to their knees and tried to stop the bleeding.
If the Warden died form just a few cuts then he wasn’t worthy enough of being Tommy’s favorite hero. Oh well, he supposes he’ll see what happens.
He made his way over to Ichor and Apophis, smiling to them as he stopped right in front of them. Apophis’s face was hidden under his mask so Tommy had no clue what he was thinking right now, while Ichor just had no emotion on his face.
“We should go.” He said smoothly, walking on past them towards an alley they could all slink off into.
“Y-yeah.” Apophis said after a moment, following after him. Ichor lingered behind for a moment before he was tagging along, too. Good. This was all kind of about Ichor. If it was anyone else Tommy would have not stepped in.
They were both quiet as they followed him into the alley. Apophis threw up shadows around them, concealing them from the outside world as they walked further into the maze of alleys until they were far enough away it felt like he could actually breathe.
He stopped and leaned against a wall, feeling a little light-headed. His wings ached, no doubt they were going to be sore for days. But it was worth it.
He turned his attention to Ichor, wishing Apophis would go away.
“Apophis, can you leave?” Ichor asked, as if reading his mind. Apophis was silent for a long time before he looked away.
“Are— are you sure?” He asked quietly and Ichor nodded, never taking his eyes off of him.
“Yes.” He said curtly and Tommy couldn't help the small twitch of his lips at that. Apophis looked back at them before he was gone into the shadows, disappearing into nothing.
Tommy waited a few moments before he sighed, standing up straight as he stared at Ichor. The invisible hands were getting to much, to suffocating, and he just wanted Ichor to hold him and tell him he did good. Thats all he wants.
But Ichor does not do that. Instead he looks away from him, not making a move towards him. Tommy shivers.
“You didn’t need to do that.” Ichor said, “I get stepping in, but hurting the Warden like that? That was a little far.” He said slowly, carefully, looking back at him. Tommy visibly deflated, the blood suddenly feeling heavy on his clothes as he stared up at him.
“But he hurt you,” He said in a soft voice, “He hurt you and then he hurt me and I won’t tolerate that. I had to make sure he would never hurt you again.” He said, his voice quiet and small.
“Anyways, he was going to take me away from you.” He hugged himself at the thought, suddenly feeling all alone and isolated. “There was no way I was just letting that go.”
Ichor tensed at that, staring at Tommy with a weird look. “What?” He breathed out.
“He was going to take me away? From you? Thats what he said.” He shrugged, feeling a dark satisfaction rise up in his chest at Ichor’s reaction.
Ichor reached out and placed a oh-so warm hand on his shoulder, chasing away the invisible hands. Tommy beamed at the touch.
“Okay, Helios, you should have said something, for starters. We could have handled this together, instead of you doing it all alone. Things would have ended so much better if we just worked together.” Ichor began.
“Your forgetting Im not allied with the Syndicate.” He simply said, “I can’t just… team with you. Im barely part of the Dream Team, Ichor. Helios does not team with just anyone.”
“Who cares?” Ichor said and Tommy looked at him with a new interest. “Who cares about that? Does it really matter if we work together in one fight?” He reasoned.
Tommy shrugged, shuffling ever so closer to him. He can’t wait to steal Ichor away and make him his brother. He’d be a good older brother.
“I guess not?” He said, his golden talons grabbing onto his red cape, “Can you..?” He asked unsurely. He wanted to be held by him.
Ichor stared down at him for a long time before he sighed, pulling Tommy closer to him, wrapping his arms around him as they stood in an embrace. Tommy sighed, melting into his touch as he rested his head against his shoulder, wrapping his own arms around him.
“Helios, what do you plan on doing, huh? We can’t go on like this forever.” Ichor began, his chest rumbling with every word, “Either you join the Syndicate or stop this nonsense.” He said, pulling away from him.
Tommy felt his whole world collapse as he looked up at him, mouth slightly agar.
“What?” Was all he could say to that.
“Everyone else would love to have you, I know Apophis really wants to learn more about you, and Anubis wants to become good friends with you, because thats just the man he is. We all want you to join, so will you please just join?” He asked, staring intently down at him.
Tommy looked down, his head spinning. He did not want that. The Dream Team gave him so much leniency but the Syndicate… they would hold his identity over his head, to keep in place, they’d be the ones to send him out on missions and tell him exactly what he has to do.
He’d just be a worker, a mercenary, but he couldn't leave or try to run or they’d leak his info.
He couldn't allow that to happen.
“I’ll— I’ll think about it.” He lied, stepping away from Ichor. “Yeah, I’ll think about it.” He shivered, feeling goosebumps rise up on his arms as he pushed himself out of Ichor’s hold. He was not going to think about it, he already knew the answer, and it was no.
It pained him knowing Ichor was going to stop… this. Their friendship. Tommy would not let that happen. Even if that meant he had to begin his plans to run away with Ichor much sooner then he intended.
Oh well, so be it. He wasn’t loosing Ichor.
“I’ll see you around.” He said before Ichor could get in another word, running down a random alley as he searched for a mirror.
He had to begin planning.