Where Butterflies Never Die

Chapter 4: Shattered glass, In flower beds.

Chapter Warnings: Choking a character, reference to child abuse

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The source of all my scarring, accustomed to my running,

from things that shouldn't scare me.

-Monet Issues

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Tommy kept running.

He had stopped for a tiny bit but had almost been spotted by Sapnap who was still looking for The Editor. He thought he could keep going but for some reason, they were always right there; he was gonna be seen and they were gonna take him back to his father. He needed to keep moving.

While hiding behind a few crates, the ground was gross and wet from something unknown. He had overheard Sapnap talking about how he was reported missing by his father. He felt his heart sink into his stomach. He was a dead man walking. He needed to keep moving and not be seen. At this rate, he would be taken back if caught.

Maybe he should go back to his father and apologize for running away, or he could lie and say he had been kidnapped by one of the supervillains but had escaped and ran. He closed his eyes and waited until he heard Sapnap and his colleagues leave. He shook his head, trying to make those thoughts go away. He couldn't go back to his father. He waited longer as his heart raced in his chest.

He had powers now, though he wasn't really sure what they did. In a weird way, he just knew he did. He had heard from Sapnap and George that when you get your powers you just kind of know. When he had asked Quackity the man had told him he wished he never did. He was confused back then as to why he had said such a thing to him; weren't having powers a good thing?

Quackity had been quiet for a moment when he asked and he shook his head. "Powers come from a very, very bad event called a Trigger Event. Not only that but sometimes it can mess with your head." was the answer Tommy was given; that only made him increasingly confused.

"Why does it mess with your head?" He had asked the man.

"I don't know, but it does and it changes some people for the worse. I know you think having powers would be cool but I promise you it's not like how it's cut out to be. Don't listen to your father, Sapnap, or George when they say it's cool; they are lying to you."

Looking back, Quackity had been right.

The others had only smiled and said, "I can't wait for you to get powers! You'll get to be in the Junior program! Perhaps one of us can train you!"

The junior program was for between the ages of fifteen to eighteen. Kids that had cool powers and rich or famous parents could enroll their child to be trained as a hero. His father had explained it before and how if he ever had received powers; he would be enrolled into the program. After all, his father was one of the agency's most prestigious heroes. He would have no problem getting his son into the program. It was a neat program all things considered; it let the teens have more experience with their powers and on the field experience in general. It also made fighting teen villains a lot easier since they could just send one of the juniors to take them on.

The unspoken rule between big-name heroes and villains was to never seriously hurt a Junior. Some villains don't follow this rule but it seems like the Syndicate takes it very seriously the said villains vanish in the night. He knew the Syndicate has their own Junior now, who just made his whole debut a few months ago. He hadn't seen a whole lot of the new supervillain, he wasn't even sure what their name was. There wasn't a lot of news coverage on him despite him being a new public member of the Syndicate.

He opened his eyes and glanced around the empty alleyway looking for any sign of anyone. It was without a sound. He slowly got up and quickly began to run through towards the next alley. He needed to keep moving, he reminded himself. It was still midday which meant it would be much easier to be spotted by any of the heroes that were around at the moment. He needed to move towards some of the lower districts.

He still had the red fluffy blanket in his arms, still nicely folded against him. He was tired and just wanted to sit down and take a long nap. He wanted his bed, though he wouldn't go back. He slowed before almost coming to a stop. He closed his eyes as he leaned against a wall. He missed his father.

His memories drifted to one of the few times his father was in a good mood. He wasn't always in a bad mood though it seemed like he was more times than not.

His father was having a good day. He knew that because he was smiling and laughing with him. He wondered to himself a lot as to why his father couldn't be like this constantly. His father told him that they were gonna be making veggie pizzas. He wasn't a huge veggie fan but was excited to be making something with his father.

"Now we start with making the sauce which is just cream cheese." His father said, grabbing the container and spreading the contents out on the dough. He then watched his father as he got some veggies and place them on the cream cheese sauce. Once he was finished he put it into the oven. As they were cleaning his father got some flour on his hands and chased Tommy around the kitchen before getting the white powder all over his cheeks and hair.

Both father and son laughed and smiled. His father pulled him close to his chest while mumbling words into his hair that only he could hear. He wrapped his arms around the man at that moment, a rare one for Tommy. he didn't fear the man in front of him for once, instead, he only felt the warmth and love that seemed to radiate off the man.

"I love you. I know I don't say that enough Toms, but I do."

"I love you too Dad." He said back.

He opened his eyes at the sound of someone walking. He turned and felt his whole body begin to freeze with pure terror. At the end of the hall was The Editor in all his terrifying glory. He was much taller than Tommy which wasn't all that hard, Tommy was only 5'6 and the Editor was at least a foot taller than him. The Editor stared at him; Tommy's ears began to ring as his gazing persisted.

The Editor spoke to him but he couldn't hear a word of it. Instead, Tommy just watched before turning around and taking off; The Editor right on his tail. He could feel everything in his body ache as he sprinted down the alleyways. There was one advantage he had on the supervillain; He had a lot of experience being chased by his school bullies. Tommy's pace quickened.

He could barely hear the supervillain behind him yelling something about stopping; the sound fuzzy in his ears. He dodged around as his heart was beating intensely. He was afraid he would have some kind of heart attack though he doubted that wasn't very likely. His mussels ached as he ran. He almost tripped on a cardboard box, seemingly sealing his fate.

He looked up ahead and his saving grace and blessing from above revealed itself. Upward a small distance was a small opening in a metal fence just, thin enough for Tommy to easily get through. The detour would slow down the Editor enough so he wouldn't be directly on Tommy's tail. He slightly grinned to himself as he desperately willed himself to run faster. He barely dodged the Editor's grasp as he dove under the fence.

Tommy cried an internal cheer. He turned to see where the Editor was and ended up crashing into something massive. He stumbled backward, looked up at what he had run into, and his heart dropped into his stomach. In front of him was Wildheart.

He tried to swiftly scramble away from him but the man was faster and grabbed Tommy by his coat, pulling him up before putting him into a headlock. If he hadn't been panicking before, he was now. He kicked and tried to fight against Wildheart but it was useless. His limbs gave out and his vision began to darken, limbs falling limp as his breathing became scarce.

The last thing he saw was the Editor walking toward them before losing consciousness.