To Be a Hero

Chapter 10

     After Toby got in his pajamas, and took something for his growing headache, he laid in bed thinking. Despite his best effort to go to sleep, his racing thoughts and throbbing head made it difficult for him. He was still processing the stuff he'd seen and heard earlier...Schlatt had broken into the registries, which as a concept itself was terrifying.

The registries had information on all the registered people with powers and abilities in the city. If the wrong person got their hands on that info, it would be a disaster. Not only that, but The Registry was also thought to be one of, if not the most secure building in L'Manberg, and Schlatt had managed to get in.

But why? If he had the ability to, why wait until now? The note and the fact he didn't take anything made Toby think he was looking for him. Or it was just a huge coincidence, but he doubted he was that lucky. He'd been looking for something, or someone, and hadn't found it. He knew someone was lying. The only people he knew hadn't registered their abilities were Ranboo and himself, and he doubted Schlatt knew Ranboo existed. Schlatt was looking for him.

Well, he was looking for Tubbo to be specific, but that thought alone made him feel a little sick, but he tried to calm himself as best as he could. There was no way Schlatt would be able to find him, right? Surely not. He'd hit a dead end. Toby could only hope he'd leave it alone. But he felt like that was hoping for too much.

But for the time being, he was at least content knowing that Schlatt wouldn't be able to find him the easy way...he sighed, turning around under his blankets. He hadn't thought of the possible dangers of being a hero, not just to him, but his family too.

There was a reason Techno and Phil had taught them all self defense. When Techno started hero work and taking down bigger people, some of them had figured out his identity and come after his family. Will had gotten grabbed a few times, which had given everyone a scare. Techno had lost it the first time it had happened. Toby had been 14 at the time, and had never seen Techno that angry. He didn't know what had happened to the guys, but Techno came back with Wilbur and the two never brought it up again.

Techno's solution after that was to be so feared by the people he fought and arrested that they wouldn't dare come after his family again. And so far it had been effective. Toby doubted he could pull that off though. He would end up scaring the people he wanted to protect too...and in general he wasn't really scary. So that was out of the question.

He groaned, turning again and burying his face in his pillow. The best thing he could do for now was make sure his identity stayed a secret for now. Knowing it could cause people to target his friends as well as his family...that was part of the reason Techno stayed cold and distant with others. He didn't have many friends (though that didn't stop people from persisting). Toby especially worried about Ranboo and Niki. They knew his identity, which could paint a target on their backs. He made a mental note to make a group chat with them. He and Niki could contact each other since she'd given him her number, but he wanted to ask Ranboo before making one, and possibly introduce them to each other too. A group chat would come in handy if either of them were in trouble too.

Everything was so complicated the more he thought about it, but none of this was helping his head. Stop thinking Toby...he thought to himself, just for tonight, stop going down this rabbit hole. You can figure it out tomorrow. He tossed and turned for what felt like hours, though it was probably less than that, before finally drifting off into restless sheep.