Chapter Text
Tommy limped across the dirty concrete of the streets. Keeping to alleyways and corners. Keeping himself out of the light and out of sight of anyone. He did not need attention, he needed to complete his self made mission.
Find the Syndicate.
And, as a hero, that mission would usually be him hunting them down to stop them or arrest them but not tonight. Tonight he's there to warn them.
Something big is going down soon, maybe in a week or months time. But it will be catastrophic and Tommy has to relay this message before it is too late.
Dream has gone mad with power, he doesn't want to protect the city, he wants to control it.
And what better way than to destroy it, is apparently his direction of thinking.
Tommy can't stop this, as amazing as he is as RedWing, the number one hero's loyal sidekick, he can't do this on his own.
He's proven that with the deep cut on his right shoulder and the multitude of bruises and broken bones courtesy to Dream. He's probably dragging his name through the dirt by telling all the heroes lies.
That he's a traitor.
That he's a villain now.
When truly, he's trying to save them, save everyone.
He's somehow made it pretty far out to the city. He could have flown but unluckily enough, his left wing had been clipped during the fight for his life with Dream. It'll grow back but it's a hindrance until then. If he even lives long enough for that to happen.
He's limped his way into the 15th district, it's almost dark now. This place is usually crawling with Syndicate lackeys or even their shadows that follow them. If he's lucky, it won't take them long to notice he's here. And with the past encounters he's had, it won't be that long until they do.
Tommy gasps however, he's in a dark alley and his shoulder is throbbing. His feet shake from under him and his vision blurs. Fuck he's gonna pass out soon.
But he sees something move, a shadow.
"Hello? Is someone there?!" He shouts, he hopes it's someone from the Syndicate, he really needs them before he dies out here. If he doesn't, people will die. Innocents.
The world around him suddenly shifts and the shadows move like liquid. Red eyes blink in the darkness and stare at Tommy's frail form. He knows what this is.
Joining them with a flurry of feathers is an abnormally large crow that lands on the garbage can beside Tommy. It's red eyes stare into Tommy's and Tommy can see a red shaped heart on its chest.
Whispers shadows and BlackWings crows.
Perfect.
He grunts as he turns to lean on the wall with his back, facing the red eyes watching his every move. The whispers coming from the shadow are almost comprehensible with how close and loud they are but Tommy isn't here for that. He's here for the message.
"Please, bring your masters here. Any of the Syndicate leaders will do, I don't care. This is an emergency and I need to tell them something important." He manages to speak to them through a sore throat and painful injuries. He slowly slides down the wall, probably leaving a trail of blood that'll stain like all the others that have stained this place.
He's stared at by the shadows and by the crow. They stare, they whisper, the shadows lick at his feet whilst the crow tilts its head curiously.
Then the crow caws to the sky and the shadows cry and before Tommy can blink, they're gone.
He just hopes they did what he asked, that they went to tell their masters, any of the Syndicate he's here and he needs to speak to one of them. Tell them the message.
But it's getting more and more difficult to stay conscious. He's lost a lot of blood and taken too much energy to get out here. If he passes out now before they arrive, they'll either kill him or leave him to die.
Either way, he cannot pass out now. He needs to stay focused. He stares up at the sky, stars starting to dot the sky as the beautiful rays of the sun's light paint it like a masterpiece.
Blues, purple, pinks, yellows and orange fade into each other, making a beautiful gradient of colours. Stars dotting it lightly to complete the look.
It's so beautiful.
Tommy wants to take a photo. Preserve the memory and beauty he's seeing with his two eyes. Maybe he can make it his wallpaper. No, that'll replace the photo of him and his two best friends. Maybe he'll put it as his lock screen wallpaper, that'll be nice.
The strong flap of wings pull him out of his mind and he's alert once more. Did the crow come back or is that-
A sudden large dark form lands in the alley he's in, kicking up dust that sprays in Tommy's face, making him cough. He looks up and meets the expressionless veil belonging to one individual.
"BlackWing." Tommy rasps, grimacing at the name.
It is not at all a coincidence that Tommy's hero name is RedWing. An almost copy of BlackWings name. Dream had done it to mock the villain and the Government plus the public had gone with it.
Tommy was both thrilled and dreading the name. Thrilled that he was named almost after a well known villain. And dreading that he was almost named after a well known villain.
He's surprised the guy hasn't killed him over it yet. Maybe tonight he'll be able to. A last "fuck you" maybe.
At least Dream won't be able to kill him but first, he's got something to tell them.
"RedWing." He responds, in a monotone greeting. Cold as ice as always it seems. "What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" BlackWing tilts his head. "And you're injured, get hurt on patrol?" He almost sounds mocking which, fair, but Tommy isn't here for banter.
It looks like BlackWing isn't trying to kill him yet. So he takes that as a win and takes a deep breath.
"I'm here to tell you something. Something incredibly important that'll mean the life or death of thousands. Something the heroes didn't want me to tell you." This gets the villain's attention, his back straightens and he leans forward in interest.
"What would that be, little bird?" Tommy jumps at the new voice and to the left of them, a new figure emerges from the shadows, literally.
It's Whisper.
Tommy sneers at the name but keeps his mouth shut about it. He's not here to argue, he's here to warn them.
"Dreams gone crazy." That earns a snort from Whisper which makes Tommy whip his head towards.
"He's always been crazy, that isn't anything new." He humours dryly, taking his place next to BlackWing in the alley. All they need is their third and the package is complete.
"Yeah but he's gone even more off the deep end. He's got a plan, something huge that'll end everything. He's planning on destroying the district's from 12th to the 15th."
This makes both villains still, their entire attention now solely on Tommy and what he had said.
"What?!" BlackWing whispers harshly, wings flaring out in alarm. Tommy copies the gesture with his own.
"It's true, I found out while in his office. Apparently he's making Daedalus build it. A huge ring of sorts that'll be over the 12th to 15th district that'll drop mounds of TNT. He was also going to blame it on you. It's something the people will definitely believe."
Whisper scoffs, looking away as he mutters harshly under his breath. Insults of all kinds being spat at the green hero.
"That's not all." That makes them stop, turning to pay attention to him again.
"He's also building something else. A prison called Pandora's Box. A prison made of obsidian and Blackstone. Something impossible to break out of. It's completely fucked and won't allow you to see the sun. It's so inhumane, small cells, surrounded by lava that'll burn your skin off, they'll go mad in there, no one will be able to break out. It's… it's too much and not something anyone deserves, villain or not. I don't even think it's just even for villains, Dreams probably going to throw whoever in there if they go against him even once. The government won't be against it either, they're as corrupt as him."
It's silent after, Tommy's breath is ragged as he looks upon the reactions of the villains before him. He hopes they believe him at least. That they'll do something. They may be villains but strangely enough, the Syndicate follows some type of code.
Once when Tommy was still early to the game, he saved Jubilee. One of the Syndicate leaders, from a train during a fight. As thanks to that debt, Jubilee in turn saved him during a shoot out he wasn't even a part of.
That's when Tommy learned these guys were legit, could even be relied on if needed. And this was one of those needs. He needs to rely on them being able to stop this madness before it begins. If not, thousands will die and Tommy will have died in vain for it.
"How do we know you aren't lying?" Whisper says, voice gruff but monotonous. He steps forward, grabbing at Tommy's collar and lifting him up. Tommy struggles, his legs kick and he grabs at the man's hand but it's futile.
He's weak and injured, his wings flap on his back to gain balance in the sense of panic but all that does is kick up some dust and disturb BlackWings veil.
"I'm not, you really think I'd travel all this way, injured as fuck from Dream beating my ass, to lie to you?" He shouts, snarling at the man as his fist tightens on his collar.
"Maybe, it could be a trap for all we know." He says harshly back.
BlackWing meanwhile, watches in interest. Even slowly circling the boy as he does.
"I have nothing to lose Whisper, I found the plans in his and Daedulaus' office before confronting Dream who beat my ass and tried to kill me. I barely got away and knew I couldn't trust any of the heroes. I didn't know who else was working with him and anyone who wasn't would be pulled into anyway. He's the number one hero, anyone would believe him but you guys. You were my only chance at stopping this. I don't want people killed or tortured and I know you guys don't want to lose part of the city you occupy destroyed or have something as dangerous as the Pandoras Box around."
He managed to somehow speak even though he was lifted centimetres from the ground and the threat of his wounds. His throat is sore and he can taste blood on his tongue. He's so close to passing out but that's fine. Just this last push and hopefully, it'll allow them to act.
Whisper stares at him through his skull mask, Tommy can just make out the red of his eyes through the shadows of the mask.
"I don't think he's lying to us Whisper, we should look into this. We have people in the Hero Headquarters who can investigate this. Then we'll know for sure if he's telling the truth." BlackWing, who's still circling and making his way behind him now speaks up.
"Fine but what do we do about this guy?" Whisper grunts, momentarily shaking Tommy in the air which he hisses at, since it jostled his wounds.
"Not sure yet, maybe we can take him with us. Probably could have more information on the heroes we can squeeze out of him." BlackWing continues almost casually but so darkly it makes Tommy shiver.
He does however, hate the fact BlackWing is behind him now, having circled all around until he suddenly stopped behind him. It makes Tommy's brain tingle uncomfortably to have someone he calls his enemy behind him, in a weak place where he could do anything to him, to even his wings.
Everything stops though when he feels a hand touch his wings.
Tommy screeches and thrashes in the man's hold on him.
"Hey! Don't touch my fucking wings you asshole!! Who the fuck do you think you are?!" He shouts, wings thrashing making feathers go everywhere as he tries to kick but fails miserably. Energy renewed momentarily by the panic.
Whisper grunts and lifts him higher and away to avoid his long legs from hitting him. But BlackWing is still behind him, silent. It's incredibly unnerving. But at least he's not touching his wings anymore.
"Whisper, we need to get back to the base now." BlackWing says in alarm, concern and panic in his voice Tommy doesn't think he's ever heard from the man. Whisper seems to copy the surprise as he looks at his partner.
"Why? What's wrong? Did something happen?" Whisper sounds a bit alarmed which is the most emotion he's heard from his voice as well. This is turning out to be a weird night in Tommy's opinion.
"Yes and no, we just need to go. And bring him with us." He points to Tommy who's stomach drops. Okay, yeah he was expecting to die but not expecting to be taken. Which he should have expected because he's a hero. Sometimes they are better alive then dead but still, Tommy's panic from before still has given him enough adrenaline.
"What?! No, fucking let me go bitch, I'm not letting you drag me around." He shouts, trying to kick at Whisper but failing miserably. At least it's a struggle for Whisper to hold him, enough of it and maybe Tommy can slip out of his grip.
But something unexpected happens once more. BlackWing chirps loudly, a commanding chirp that forces Tommy still. His entire body goes limp and even his wings drop.
What the fuck? What's happening?
All his energy just drained in seconds and a part of his brain is screaming in panic, ordering his body to obey. Tommy doesn't want to but he apparently has no choice.
Whisper looks confused at Tommy's sudden lax form and then BlackWing as he gets a better grip on Tommy. "What did you do?" He asks curiously, throwing the boy over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.
"It's a command chirp, it'll temporarily leave him comatose like that until we get to the base. Be gentle, he's injured." BlackWing hears the man scoff as they walk down the alley, Whispers shadows forming at their feet as they walk.
"Why should I? Little shits been a lot more trouble for us, he deserves to get roughed up." Whisper says coldly, and if Tommy could move, he'd shiver at the tone. And yes, though he's currently frozen, that does not mean he isn't aware of everything around him.
"Just… Please Whisper, this is important." His voice sounds pleading which forces Whisper to stutter in his step. He ends up stepping a lot more lightly and even shifts Tommy's wings to sit more comfortably on his back.
Although appreciated, Tommy hates having anyone touch his wings without his permission.
"How come you never used that commanding chirp before? Would have helped a lot in our battles honestly." And… Tommy is kind of curious about that too. Why has BlackWing never used that before if he was able to?
"Because Whisper, that chirp is not supposed to work on adult Avians." That makes Tommy's heart stop and even Whisper stops where he is. BlackWing turns to him, eyes, though covered in a veil, meet Whispers.
"RedWing isn't an adult." And with that, the pair are swallowed by the shadows and taken straight to the Syndicates base.