The Silence of a Somber Day

The Flaming Sun

"By Prime, Big Q! What the hell is in this?!" Tommy demanded an answer as he heaved the long but thin cardboard box up the stairs. While Quackity was stumbling up the steps, barely keeping himself from tripping while climbing backwards, Tommy was able to calculate every step before he took it. Part of Tempest's training.

"I don't remember," Quackity called out through gritting teeth as he made it to the final ledge. He sighed happily as he kicked open the door, the wood slamming against the wall from far too much wait. Quackity muttered a light curse before calling back out to Tommy, "I think my fiancees are here, so you'll get to meet them!"

"I don't give a damn!" Tommy yelled. Despite his griping, Tommy wasn't bothered by the weight of the box. It had been far too long since he last carried a heavy weight like this, but his body was wired for this sort of strain. His busywork at the hotel did nothing to satisfy the need in his chest for a release of adrenaline. Tommy did all the complaining for show, to make himself more teenager and human.

The truth was, Tommy wasn't human. Biologically, he was, kind of, with the same DNA forming chromosomes in his cells that gave him a human anatomy. A slight difference was he had a few extra or different coding that gave him mutations that gave him his powers and a better agility, speed, strength, and durability than the average human. The rest was training that Tommy had endured by the hands of that woman and the Muffinteers.

In other ways, mentally, Tommy didn't believe himself human. The things he has done and seem, the things he would do and see if told by the right person, were beyond human limits. A regular person wouldn't make the choices Tommy has made, and wouldn't be able to live with themselves either. Tommy had built up an apathetic attitude towards his past that made him into the monster he was born to be.

His narcissistic and cocky personality was more for himself than anyone else. It was an image he built in his head when he was younger. It was an act he put on to appease the people around him. It was a mask fused to his face after years of wearing it without break. Tommy was now naturally brash and loud, but that was after years of conditioning himself.

Even now, far away from the people he loved, Tommy played the part expected of him. It had been a month, and Tommy hadn't truly let himself deal with the emotions because he wasn't human and couldn't deal with human emotions.

"Baby!" A voice called out so lovingly Tommy gagged. It was obvious the person either didn't know Tommy was there to witness the love affair or didn't care they had a visitor. Tommy would pretend it was the former for his sanity.

"Karlos!" Quackity drawled in that stupid El Rapids accent. Tommy shoved the box forwards, hoping to knock some sense into the lovesick Quackity, but Tommy heard someone catch Quackity instead. Tommy would have yelled but he smelled a familiar scent that sent his mind into overdrive. Ash and smoke, just like-

"Whoa! Babe, you already fell for me, no need to do it again." SapNap. Tempest's friend and former mentor who was second only to Dream whenever Tempest was alive. Now he was the man who tormented Tommy's dreams.

Tommy dropped the box, back hitting the edge of the doorframe. Quackity made a disgruntled noise as he lurched forwards. With the box lowered, Tommy was making direct eye contact with SapNap. The sam black hair. The same fiery eyes. The same tanned skin. The same shirt and scent and voice. So much sameness that Tommy wanted to vomit. Tommy had changed, for better or worse, and SapNap was the same. That hurt worse than SapNap not visiting.

"Firecracker?" SapNap whispered in disbelief. SapNap reached a hand out, but he was too far away to touch. Not like it mattered. Tommy felt ghostly fingers clawing at his skin, desperately wanting to destroy him from the outside in. Tommy scratched his own arm, fingers lightly gracing the power suppressor on his wrist.

"Shut up," Tommy whispered. SapNap was trying to walk towards Tommy now, like that would make up for him abandoning Tommy. For getting engaged without Tommy, who he used to call his pseudo brother. Tommy knew that their lives would move on without him, but why had they moved on from him so fast? Tommy was haunted by them in his dreams, but all he wanted was to see them, for them to smile at him, to laugh with him, to care about him like they once did not even two months prior. "Shut the fuck up!"

Tommy bolted down the stairs, leaping down a few with enough force for his body to slam against the walls. The pain kept Tommy going, the physical and emotional. Tommy didn't stop until he was miles away in a direction he didn't even know. In front of a tree in a park somewhere, with nothing but a cloudy sky and his own raindrops from his eyes to accompany him.

Tommy slammed his fist against the tree, blood splattering on the ground while pieces of bark fluttered everywhere. Tommy's arm had already been dripping in blood from his scratching, and this was even more cause for infection. Tommy finally calmed down enough for him to start walking, finding landmarks to guide him to the Logstedshire Hotel. Tommy smiled as he saw the sign. Niki and Sam would be there, and Tommy needed a motherly hug from one of them immediately.

"Niki!" Tommy tried to yell but his voice was breaking and watery as he walked into the hotel. None of the rooms were occupied since Sam took it upon himself to revamp the place. They all still worked around the place to earn pay, and Niki and Jack had their shifts at the moment with Sam being somewhere.

Niki and Jack came out of the kitchen with worried faces. When Niki saw him, her mother instincts took control as she gave a concerned frown with open arms for Tommy to fall into. Tommy was so emotionally charged that his senses didn't alert him to an approaching figure. The next thing Tommy knew, he had a light pain in his neck while masked men took Niki and Jack. Tommy could have sworn he saw a girl with dragon wings staring coldly at him before darkness consumed his vision.

——

"Tommy! Wake up!"

Before any of his other senses returned, Tommy could taste something. Unfortunate since that something was vomit. Tommy blanched right beside where he was, choking on the disgusting chunks that exited his mouth. When that was over, Tommy was able to open his eyes to see Sam worried.

"Niki and Jack were kidnapped by the Cult of Red."