Querencia || SBI Hero AU

3. The Rise and Fall of Theseus

MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING FELLAS!!! potentionally triggering things listed here:
blood and gore
extreme pain
panic attacks
rearranging of organs
extreme bodily damage, similar to body horror but not quite
mentions of attempt/want to murder

enjoy! :]

It's been a week since Jubilee has visited Tommy in the bakery, and it's been a week since Tommy has done any interesting vigilante work.

Tommy was currently sitting on the bathroom counter of his shared one-room apartment applying all of his disguise accessories. The first thing he did on patrol nights created the illusion of an animal-based quirk— applying the ears, tail, and skin markings of a raccoon. The skin markings consisted of black smudges around his eyes, fingertips, and nose. He also wore fangs, but this was another stretch to hiding his identity- even if he wore a mask.

What would he do if the mask was ripped off? It would be strange for someone with an animal-based power to not have the proper markings on just the lower half of their face.

He then proceeded onto the next step, vigilante attire. His vigilante attire stayed the same all year, but man did he want alterations to it- the outfit stayed simple all year round. The same red hoodie and faded blue jeans with horrible rips and tears in them. His shoes were the only actively changing part of his attire, but that's just a Tubbo thing. Tubbo is always fiddling with them and trying to 'upgrade' them in some way. The shoes were currently lightweight red trainers with track spikes and extra grip to support wall climbing. These track spikes were retractable with a tap of the sides of the shoes causing them to go in and out. The bottom of the shoes was created with some new material Tubbo had invented and fucks around with. It's lightweight and small, with amazing shock absorption for all the times Tommy has plummeted from shocking distances. Tommy didn't think it would be useful until he took a not so graceful dive off a building, which got him the 'I told you so' lecture from both Tubbo and Ranboo.

Slowly clipping the mechanical ears into his mop of blonde hair, he realized he had the perfect thing for this. Tommy reached into the pockets of his work uniform and dug around until he found the elegant obsidian comb with gold patterned around the handle, one of his prized gifts from his hibiscus-colored boss— Niki. He removed the ears carefully and began running the comb throughout the sea of gold placed atop his head. His hair had gotten so, so long... Maybe he should get a haircut.

He sighed and rolled his eyes at himself, proceeding to finish his vigilante costume off with the tail, mask, and fingerless gloves. Similar to the trainers he wore, these gloves also had grips on the palms. Tommy had begged for brass knuckles— but Tubbo refused. He said it was too dangerous. Tommy didn't understand. The tail Tommy adorned shifted and wagged according to his brainwaves, which was absolutely fascinating to him. He didn't understand this stuff like Tubbo did, so he was very grateful for having him— even if he didn't show it often. The tail also provided balance which proved useful during rooftop chases like the one he did with Jubilee.

Speaking of Jubilee— Tommy's quirk wore off about four days in. It bummed Tommy out that he couldn't keep it for any longer, but oh well. The guy did have to use it for work anyways. Did he even realize it was gone?

Now that Tommy was finally decked out in his vigilante costume, he could say his goodbyes to Tubbo and Ranboo for a few hours. Stepping out of the bathroom he stood over Tubbo at his computer desk, his hand out for his earpiece. Tubbo placed it gently in Tommy's palm, "Don't lose this, okay? Try and keep it secure and sturdy in your ear in case you have to move a lot." The older boy lectured, looking deep into Tommy's eyes as if he was staring into his soul.

Tommy shuddered at the thought but took the earpiece and stuck it in his ear anyway. "Well then big man, " he ruffled Tubbo's hair while attempting to avoid his antennae, "I'll see you soon." He smiled and left the apartment complex, taking a deep breath to prepare for whatever chaos could be going on tonight.