A Cheer to Gods Among Men

Tommyinnit, the man and the best

cw//mentions of abuse and sh

Tommyinnit is a man. 

That's what he told himself when he first joined this stupid SMP, and he said it everyday. Even on his worst days, when he hid in the darkest corners of his little hobbit hole, shivering and begging for the flashbacks to just go away, he reminded himself that he was Tommy Fucking Innit, the man and the best. He was strong, handsome, and most of all, he was better than Dream in every single way.

Tommy glared at the prison from his vacation home, petting Friend as he watched the entrance, where Nikki had gone in a few hours prior. He didn't know why Sam even let anyone in there anymore, especially after the incident.

Friend headbutted Tommy, causing him to grimace a bit. "Watch it buddy, you could knock me off this cliff,"  he said. "Don't suppose you know why Nikki was in the prison?" Friend tilted their head. "Guess not." 

Tommy blew some hair out his face, readjusting his scarf. The sun was going to set soon, so he had to get back home. He put Friend back on their leash and began the long walk home. He passed the crater that was once L'manburg, wrinkling his nose. The smell of the leftover Egg vines stunk up the air, along with the faint scent of gunpowder and smoke. Gross. He made sure to speed walk past that place.

He was quick to make it back to his home, giving Friend dinner before taking them outside to watch the rest of the sunset from the bench. He heard some footsteps from the bridge to the prison, causing his head to turn slightly to the side and his bangs to fall back into his eyes. Nikki was walking back from the prison, writing some things down in a little black book as she walked. She didn't seem to notice him, but he wasn't exactly in a rush to make himself known. He watched as she made her way down the Prime Path and towards the Nether Portal. He didn't know where she was living, but he knew it wasn't anywhere outside of the mainlands. Where was she going?

Tommy's curiosity got the best of him, as always. After putting Friend back inside, he followed Nikki through the Nether portal, keeping his footsteps silent just like Techno taught him. If Nikki ever suspected anyone was following her, she made no move to point it out. Tommy was very proud of himself for that. 

Nikki made her way towards Technoblade's house, humming softly to herself as she went. Tommy didn't understand why she was going towards Techno's house, which is exactly why he was following her. Nikki had secrets that had to do with Dream, and Tommy wanted to know them more than anything at that moment. He needed to know. 

Nikki jumped into a pool of lava. Niki jumped into a pool of fucking lava. Tommy ran up to it, expecting to find her floating and calling for help, but it was silent. There was no death message, no smell of burning flesh, just a couple bubbles from where she had jumped in. Tommy gulped, debating on whether or not he should follow her. On one hand, lava. On the other hand, Nikki seemed to be fine. It was for the sake of learning important things! 

Tommy took a deep breath. "I am a big man," he reminded himself, taking a couple steps back and leaping into the lava pool. It only burned for a moment, but the fire on his clothes went out as he landed in water. Tommy opened his eyes, not realizing he had scrunched them shut. In front of him was a long ice tunnel with a boat. 

Looking up and seeing only lava, Tommy took another breath of courage. He climbed into the boat and began to row himself down the path, picking up speed until he crashed a small puddle at the end. He had landed in a stronghold; he landed in a fucking stronghold.

His breaths began to quicken, but he pushed away the rising feeling of panic. He couldn't be here. He wasn't supposed to be here, and oh fuck, people would know where he was. He could feel the messages pinging his phone in his sweater pocket, asking about the notification that was sent out to the entire server about his appearance in the stronghold. They knew. He was going to be punished for ever stepping foot here. 

The wall to his left opened, revealing Nikki, Phil, and Technoblade. "You were followed, Nikki," Technoblade grumbled, hand on the hilt of the axe on his belt.

Nikki sighed. "I'm sorry, Techno, I swear I double checked behind me several times on the way."

"Whatever, we can just deal with him."

Tommy's shoulders trembled, he was paralyzed in the boat.  A literal sitting duck. They could kill him, right here, right now, and he'd be dead. Dead forever, and he would take damage and he wouldn't ever see Tubbo or Ranboo again. 

"Maybe we should just hit him on the head and let him go?" Phil suggested, half jokingly. 

"Wait!" a voice came from inside the mysterious room behind the trio. Ranboo emerged, worried. "Oh crap, I didn't realize you were at this stronghold when I got the notification," he said, kneeling down to help Tommy out of the boat. Tommy felt his body physically relax as Ranboo's giant hands picked him up. Seriously, this guy was three times Tommy's size, and he was so gentle. It was comforting as fuck. 

"Ranboo, what are you doing, mate?" Phil asked.

"You guys were scaring him," the enderman explained, giving Tommy a look of reassurance. 

Technoblade ignored everything and went straight to the point. "Tommy, why are you here?"

Tommy gulped, struggling to find his voice. Ranboo squeezed his hand, offering comfort. "I," he started, a cold sweat overtaking him. He pushed the fear away, he is a big man. Big men aren't scared. "I saw Nikki go in the prison, I wanted to know what business she had with Dream and why she was going here instead of her home," he explained rapidly, his free hand gripping onto his sweater tightly. 

Phil pulled Techno away for a minute, presumably to talk to him about the situation. Tommy shook the bad thoughts away, fiddling with some of his hair nervously. What did the Syndicate want with Dream? He needed to know. Now. 

Phil took a short breath before speaking. "Me and Techno have decided that you should leave, Tommy. We won't hurt you, but you can't tell anyone about us being here or about this place. Understand?" he said carefully, choosing his words so as not to alarm Tommy further. 

"Wait," Nikki said, stepping forward. "Based on the information I was able to get from Dream, I think it's necessary that Tommy is here. After all, he is Dream's main target." Tommy hunched in on himself, rubbing the scars on his wrists. 

"I agree," Ranboo said before shrinking back. "That is, if it's okay for him to be here."

Technoblade looked to Phil, who shrugged. Then he groaned. "Fine, fine, get in here." 

Tommy anxiously followed Ranboo and the other Syndicate members into the meeting room.