tommyinnit's slightly beatable method of avoiding sudden death

alternative ending

Notes: This is an alternative ending to the previous chapter. This is not canon, but it's here if anyone wants more angst. Trigger Warning for Major Character Death.

Blood dripped through the gaps between Phil's fingers as he glided through the sky, wings flapping in coordination with the wind. It was blowing against him, he noted with heavy disdain. It would only serve to make his race against the ever-ticking clock of time more difficult than it needed to be. Wilbur was somewhere down below, no doubt running in a futile attempt to keep pace with the Wing Hero, Philza. He was much faster than any man who was bound to the ground, that of which everyone knew, but it did not stop his son from trying.

Wilbur was not really his son, nor was Techno. It started as a mere joke, one day when the Siren Hero called him "dad" in the middle of a conversation. Techno soon picked up on it, and it started to become less of a joke. They grew a closer bond, eventually forming the hero agency- a combination of all of their agencies- Sleepy Bois Incorporated, or Sleepy Bois Inc. for short. Phil became a father figure of sorts to the two of them, and at some point, he viewed the two younger men as children of his own, despite not actually having any biological kids.

He didn't know when Tommy became wrapped up in their dysfunctional family. The specifics of it all were blurry and meshed together in his mind, but the infamous vigilante TommyInnit wormed his way through the intricacies of legality and wound himself in the care of three of the top ten heroes in the world. Truly, it was a work of art. None of it really mattered, though, because the present was what really counted. And currently, the present was pretty shitty.

The Siren Hero didn't say much of anything when he arrived. All Phil had to originally go off of was the radio message sent between the squadron of men. Per the practices of heroes all around the globe, radio messages were meant to be short and simple to get the point across immediately as to make sure the mission runs smoothly with minimal injuries. This was a Grade A mission- to save the children in the recently undiscovered trafficking ring and arrest the perpetrators. The message by Wilbur was not unexpected in itself, but it was rather the intonation that caught Phil off-guard. "Backup required. Wings, stay back to take SS injured civilian to hospital."

His voice was wobbly, almost falling into the voice he uses to control others. Something must've been terribly wrong to cause him this much emotion on the battlefield. Whatever it was, Phil would soon find out as he remained in his position. Now, he wished he had just ran to his son as soon as the radio message came through to his side. Early than that, even. Actually, he wished he had gotten to the trafficking warehouse before Wilbur did, for then he might've been able to get Tommy out of there before it was too late.

Wilbur was crying when he practically dropped Tommy into his father's arms. "He- he was stabbed." His eyes were puffy and red, but not the shade of when he activated his power. Instead, it was the red of grief, of anger. More than being afraid, Willow was angry, and that was clear enough even for a blind man to see. "Don't let him die." That was the last thing he heard before shooting up into the air, tightly securing his new son around his front.

Now, as he flew through the air and the hospital came into view below him, he was beginning to let all of his pent up emotions let loose in his mind. He hadn't been thinking much of anything ever since he felt the boy's blood against his body in favor of focusing on the fastest route to emergency care.

He landed safely on the ground. There wasn't a risk that he'd hurt anybody with his wings, considering it was well past midnight and nobody would be out and about the hospital grounds. He curled his wings into himself, briefly squeezing the limp body against his chest as he broke out into a run to the front doors. His mind reeled with every single outcome that was viable, and by God there were quite a few of them. He was soon brought down to Earth by the warm rush of air blowing past his face as he entered the hospital.