Corrupt

Chapter 1: Tommy's Story

When Tommy was a young boy he thought heroes were people you could count on, people that would always be there to save you when you were in trouble. That was until he realized that the heroes were not everything they were made out to be. Heroes were greedy, or at least a good portion of them.

They only looked for fame and a chance in the spotlight, even if it was only for a few minutes. They lived for the praise, only jumping in if they got the cheers they desired. It was something that made Tommy sick.

Tommy was a young child when the slap of reality was finally doomed upon him, such a young boy only understanding the false nature of the heroes. His parents and himself had gone out for his ninth birthday, Tommy had wanted to go out and get ice cream with them.

Now he wished they hadn't gone down that street, the one that would doom his life forever. A villain fight had started, and the two heroes that were taking care of it did little to keep the civilians safe, even endangering them from getting mixed in with the fight.

Tommy's parents had tried to protect him, his father shoving the smaller boy behind him as he tried to use his shield ability to keep them safe. Tommy's mother didn't have an ability, one of the few born without one. Eventually, though, the shield had to come down, and at the same moment, gunshots started ringing out into the crowds of frightened people. Tommy, still confused and scared, could only watch as one of the villains aimed at his parents, yelling at one of the smirking heroes.

"I'LL SHOOT THEM IF YOU DON'T LET US GO!" Tommy couldn't help the tears, his shaking, how his ears fell back and tail wrapped around himself. He'll never forget what the hero said in response to the villain's confession...

"Do it." As if antagonizing the other to do it, pull the trigger. As if the three civilians before them meant nothing. He'll never forget the screams of his parents, or the look on the villain's face when he saw the shaking child. He'll never forget when the man was finally tackled to the ground, chaos erupting around the young boy.

He'll never forget the camera crew that took photos of his crying face, his shaken demeanor, his scared big blue eyes scattering around him not understanding what was happening, only knowing his parents were on the ground bleeding out and no one was helping them.

He remembered the way he started crawling over to his mother, how someone had grabbed him up, restricting him from reaching his parents. He remembers the agonizing sobs he let leave his mouth, not caring who saw him at this point. But he also... remembers how lonely he was after the whole ordeal too.

The hero didn't get charges for letting two unarmed civilians die on their watch when they clearly could have stopped that villain. Tommy had been on the news, some even fighting for the hero's arrest, but even those people slowly began to forget about him. He was lonely, he had no one to depend on anymore.

That is until he met Tubbo (a very intelligent bee hybrid) and Ranboo (a nervous forgetful enderman hybrid), who had similar incidents happen to them as well. Ranboo's was a bit more... complicated, but even with his dark past both Tommy and Tubbo looked past it, arms wide open for the depressed enderman to crawl into.

The young teens decided to strike out on their own after a bit, seeing even the foster system was in shambles. They snuck out pretty easily, not even noticed to be missing. They found a cheap apartment to stay in, Tubbo and Ranboo taking up jobs since they were at the age that they could.

Ranboo ended up working at a really nice cafe, often bringing back treats from the place for his two companions (something Tommy appreciated very much but wouldn't admit to the others' faces). Tubbo was working at a tech company (somehow), he always enjoyed tinkering with things like those. Tommy was still too young at the time to even think of applying for a job to help with rent.

So instead he opted to stay at home and do chores, that or watch TV when he had nothing better to do. It was one of those 'I have nothing better to do, let's clean the kitchen and watch the news' type of day, and the raccoon didn't hesitate to turn the TV on, grabbing cleaning supplies once he did. He stopped though when he heard what was happening on the news. He couldn't help but stop, blue eyes flickering towards the TV.

"Blood God manages to blow up the L'manburg Orphanage, killing over 36 children in the process. The dream team was on the scene, but apparently couldn't see an opening that would have kept all parties safe." Tommy glared as he saw the clip the news played, already pinpointing more than four openings they could have taken but didn't. The leader, dream, always looking back to the cameras, waving as if he was doing something worth the attention and cheers that surrounded him. His grip on the sponge he was holding tightened, jaw clenching in anger. Heroes were sick people.

When His other two companions came home he told them the news, but apparently, it was a big deal because they already knew. The other thing Tommy hadn't picked up on was that the orphanage that had been blown up was the one they used to live at, the owners surely now counting their disappearance as one of the unfortunate dead children. "I'll make us fake IDs, we're gonna need them now that we aren't in the system."

The other two were happy to hear the bee hybrid say this, already heading to his awaiting laptop with a bounce in his step. Tommy couldn't help but sigh, showing he had something on his mind. Ranboo looked at the other expectantly, one brow raised as he slightly shoved the other with his elbow.

"What's up?" He asked. Tommy looked up towards the other.

"What if we became... vigilantes?" Both Ranboo and Tubbo paused, eyes locking onto the other. His tail swished as the attention was put on him, ears slightly twitching as well. "The heroes don't do their jobs, we all know this... l-let's do it for them!" That's how they ended up where they are now, two years later still kicking ass and doing it better than the heroes ever wished to do.

Tommy was proud of them, and even if he now had a job at the same cafe that Ranboo did now, he wouldn't ask for more in life. His life had been pretty shitty up to this point, but now at least he wasn't alone. He had his best friends, who helped him achieve the goal they all shared, just like he had done the same for them.

And since Tommy was working too, they managed to get a better apartment, one that wasn't as crappy as the other. They all had separate beds now, none having to fight over the covers and no blaring alarms going off by his ear but his own! It was heaven, not to mention the better living room and kitchen, which was spacious and nicer than their old one. They were living well, and Tommy would have it no other way.