Behind The Mask - Tommyinnit vigilante

1

His day started out normal. The alarm on his bedside table blaring, waking him up. The rain outside sprinkling gently against his windows. And finally, his apartment building creaking loudly as his upstairs neighbors practiced their obnoxiously loud tap dancing routine. God, Tommy hated that sound. Over and over, day after day, he heard those taps. They were slowly driving him insane.

The blond groaned as he stretched his limbs, got up from bed, and began getting ready for work. The too-big long sleeved shirt and somewhat comfortable sweatpants he put on didn't exactly match, but honestly, he couldn't care less at this point.

All he wanted to do was get this day over with so he could go out at night fighting crime. He loved the feeling of being out in the crowded city, helping people when the hero's weren't there. The wind against his face as he jumped from building to building, the lights blinding him as he danced in the air, all of the pieces of his life that Tommy missed out on during the day.

He sighed sadly to himself before quickly looking at the clock and realizing he needs to go. The boy grabbed his bag and a sweatshirt and ran out his front door. As he rushed down the stairs, the tapping from above him got fainter and fainter until he finally made it to outside the apartment building.

The blond sprinted down a few streets, turning and twisting through traffic until he made it to a small rundown coffee shop on the edge of a court. Barley anyone came to this shop. No one knew what it was. It stayed tucked away but some other fading buildings that had the artificial bricks practically peeling off the sides.

Tommy sighed as he opened to door, pathetic bells chimed as he stepped in. His shirt was slightly damp from the rain outside, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. After an hour or so of preparation and cleaning, a customer came in.

Tommy couldn't believe his eyes. A customer? A real customer? He racked his brain for the script he was given on his first day on what to say. "Umm hello? I uh can I help you?" Tommy cringed internally at himself for stuttering so much.

The woman only smiled and stepped closer to the table that spectated them. "Can I please have a small black coffee?" Tommy took a second to register her words before nodding and quickly going to the back room to get her coffee started.

While he was making her order, the woman waited patiently, looking around the shop before deciding it was a cute, little place. She tucked a piece of her pink hair behind her ear and looked at the clock, hanging up in the corner of the room. 10:39, it read.

She still had about twenty minutes before she needed to get to work.

Tommy returned with her drink in a warm cup. "Here you go ma'am," he said, a soft smile in his face. The woman reached In her bag and pulled out a ten dollar bill.

Tommy eyed the bill with temptation. He was just a few hundred short of paying his rent, but alas he didn't want to be more of a criminal than he already was and gave the woman a five dollar bill back.

"Thank you for coming! Have a nice day," he added politely as she left. As soon as the door closed behind her, he sighed. He desperately could've used that money. It dawned on him that if he didn't pay his rent again, he'd be homeless.

His apartment mangers had already pushed the deadline back a month and he couldn't ask for more. He needed a new way to get money. And quick. Tommy bit his lip nervously as he scrolled through his well-cracked phone for jobs.

Lawyer, nurse practitioner, the bookstore on the square. The list goes on. Still, no matter how long he looked, nothing that payed well interested him. Most of the jobs that he saw required a degree. And school. Tommy can't remember the last time he actually went to school.

The thought made him upset. Stupid world with it's stupid rules. He couldn't afford school. He had to dropout a while ago. Why did money have to be so important in the world? Why couldn't he just get free food and free shelter.

I guess when you lie about your age and say you're an adult when you're really 16 wasn't the best idea. But it kept him out of foster care so I guess you win some and you lose some. A sudden ding from his phone reminded Tommy that he was at work and he quickly looked at what the song was from.

His alarm. His shift was over. Tommy smiled and partially forgot what he had just been thinking about as he grabbed his stuff and practically sprinted home. But something stopped him. A something that made his eyes widen and his heart beat faster.

And no, it wasn't crime. It was something so much better. A flier. Not just any flier though. An advertisement for a job. A job at the hero's tower. Tommy's eyes widened as he slowed down a stared in awe at the small piece of paper.

He moved into action, quickly ripping it off of the pole it was taped to and doing his best to shield it from the rain. This could be it. This could be his big break. Tommy didn't even have to finish reading all the info, before he sprinted the rest of the way home.

As a kid, all Tommy wanted to do was be a hero. After his parents died in a fatal fire, he was put in foster care. The only thing he could think about while he waited to be adopted was helping people. By the age of 14, he was done with waiting. Sick of people seeing him and leaving. So he ran away.

Far away. Until he made it to district 9. Three districts away from his previous residence. Nobody wanted to be in district 9. And for good reason. It was the most crime-ridden district in the city and it was way too dangerous for kids. Most of the population in district 9 was old and middle-aged men or cold-hearted criminals.

Tommy had run into far too many drunk men with knives to know just how bad the place could be. He lived on the streets for just over two years before he was finally able to forge some paperwork and get into a little apartment building.

His apartment room was small. So small, he found it hard to live in it.  The paint was chipping off the walls. The lights only worked sometimes and Tommy kept them off most of the time to save money. He had no food except the scraps he could find in the dumpster. Yeah his life was pretty sad.

Tommy liked to think his life was just fine. He refused help from anyone who offered it (which to be honest wasn't many), he got a job at 15 that payed him minimum wage and he had to steal just to get food.

And by food, I mean stale croissants and soggy muffins. Not the finest food, but to Tommy it was gourmet. Anything that wasn't already half eaten or from a rusty trash can on the side of the road, was a good thing.

Now a normal person would've looked down at this living style, but almost heartbreakingly, Tommy wasn't normal. No normal kid runs away from an orphanage at 14 because they hate it there. No normal person eats from a dumpster. No normal person can't afford to use lights in their apartment because they're broke as hell.

And no normal person decides to become an illegal vigilante then try to get a job at a tower full of hero's. Hero's who hate vigilantes.

Here goes everything.

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Hello! Thank you for reading the first chapter of this story. I've wanted to write one of these for a while now but I haven't had the time. Now that I do though, I will be putting as much time as possible into the two stories I'm writing. I do believe I will be focusing on this one more though.

I promise more action is coming! This was just more of a background info/beginning of the story. The next chapter is when things start to pick up and I'll be adding more characters. Also this fic will have good Dream. Most of the fics I've read with vigilante tommyinnit have evil Dream but I really want to make him a good hero soooo yeah. Also Tubbo will be coming into the story later so no need to worry. Also remember this is an Sbi fic.

Anyways, now that that's out of the way, please stick around and enjoy the book! :))
- Alex