To Be a Hero

Chapter 17

    Another hour or so passed, and the arguments had stopped (Techno had almost burned the curtains) and everyone had calmed down for the most part. Though everyone was still stressed, they finally had lunch, and as soon as he could, Techno left to go looking again. Phil and Will also left to look and Kristin stayed back this time with Toby.

"How're you doing kiddo?" She asked, coming into the living room where Toby was now sitting.

He had come out here to get away from the yelling initially and came back after lunch to check the news. His head was pounding, but he'd gotten used to it by now. He also had been texting Niki and Ranboo to try and distract themselves. He didn't see any reason to hide stuff from them, so he'd told them what was going on. They were as worried about the situation as he was...

Toby looked up at his mom, "Uhh, not great, but I supposed it could be worse, right?" He didn't know how exactly, but he was sure it could...probably.

Kristin said nothing at first, before walking in and sitting by him on the couch, grabbing the remote and turning the volume of the tv down, but she didn't turn it off. Toby guessed she wanted to see if they reported anything about Tommy, or maybe just a distraction from everything.

"I know this has to be stressful for you honey..." She said softly, "is your head doing ok?"

"It's fine..." he said, hugging his knees, "better than yesterday at least..."

She nodded, "that's good..." there was a moment of silence, "I know everyone is worried about Tommy, as they should, but you were in a lot of pain just yesterday, and this whole thing can't be good for it...I want to make sure that you're ok too..."

He gave her a weak smile, "thanks Mom, I appreciate it"

In all honesty he hadn't done very good at worrying about himself, with a couple exceptions, even before this morning. He hadn't given any thought to help himself. How could he? His brother was missing and it was more than likely his fault.

"Hey, it's my job." She smiled back, wrapping an arm around him. He smiled, though his head throbbed again. Suddenly, the news channel the tv was on started to fritz out, replaced with a familiar, smug face. Toby grabbed the remote, turning the volume up. The sudden movement made his head throbbed a bit, but he didn't care.

"I have a message for the hero named Tubbo '' Schlatt said, a nasty smirk on his face, "I have something...or rather someone I have no doubt is important to you. You've probably noticed he's been missing since last night. If you don't meet me where we first met by the end of the day, he will die, and I'll be sure to publicly display the body, just for you."

Next to him, his mother let out a strangled gasp, covering her mouth.She probably realized he meant Tommy, it was too big of a coincidence...And there was no way

"Oh! And by the way, if you don't come alone, or lead any other heroes or cops to me, he also dies. Anyways, that's all, I'm sure my message will reach you eventually. Good day! I hope to see you soon..."

And with that, the news station returned the person who'd must have been reporting on something before the channel was hijacked. They were wide eyed, and the faint sound of scattering could be heard, like the news people had been trying to find out what was going on.

Toby quickly turned off the tv. He felt pale and sick. Tommy would die if he didn't meet Schlatt in that damned alley. Dammit...he didn't know what the villain wanted with him, but he knew what he had to do. He turned to Kristin, who had unshed tears in her eyes and her hand over her mouth. He pulled her into a hug, partially to comfort her, but also partially to say goodbye. She hugged back, and they stayed like that for several minutes, before he pulled away.