Chapter Text
"We interrupt your regular programs with this emergency alert. A man only known as the Red Leader has taken over a large portion of Europe, and is currently threatening the United Kingdom unless they quote 'surrender to his will' end quote. This tyrannical rule-" The television flickered off, heavy rain pelting the windows. Edd groaned, throwing the remote at the TV with a huff. "All it's been playing for the past two months is this red leader, this, red leader, that. I just want to watch something else!"
"Oh about my antique miniature hobbyhorse show?" Matt asked, an arm lazily wrapped around Edd's shoulder. There was this tone of childhood whimsy in his tone, one that the other two often found it hard to deny. Things were... different now. Since Tord had returned, and then left again. Tom couldn't take back the words he had said. Calling that man not his friend, before harpooning straight through his giant mech.
They had all moved in together again, splitting rent elsewhere. Surprisingly, this apartment was more expensive than the house they had shared. Everyone ended up having to take up a second job or worst, having a side hustle. Edd and Matt were on one corner of the couch, and the direct opposite of them was Tom. Sitting alone, but still with them on the couch. A missing space for a missing person. A missing piece of the puzzling quartet. After a long beat, Tom stood from his spot and retrieved the remote, handing it over to Matt before sinking back into his plush spot. Things had been like this for weeks. A silent tension that no one knew how to break. How could they go back to normal?
Tom didn't want their comfort, even if he was dying for physical touch from someone else. Instead, he would just continue to scratch at his arms as discreetly as possible. Thick purple scales had continued to bump up, bubbling across the surface of his skin. For the most part, he had ignored it. Until he couldn't. When people had another reason to point and stare at him. His blue hoodie, that had been torn to shreds and was now sleeveless, was swiftly replaced with yet another deep blue hoodie. This one with its sleeves fully intact, but without the memories. The history that the other hoodie carried. In all truth, it had been shoved in a box and then pushed away into the back of Tom's small closet. He didn't want to remember. Tom didn't want to remember those nights he spent with Tord asleep on his shoulder, or listening to the mans grand plans for the world. He didn't want to remember how much their first goodbye hurt him, and how apathetic he felt toward their second one.
Yet, that was the final goodbye. There was no way that Tord would've been able to survive the explosion and the debris that came with the death of his giant red robot. In a way, Tom wasn't able to live with himself for taking another persons life, despite his seemingly lackadaisical attitude about the entire situation. They continued to watch whatever it was that had fascinated Matt that week, the ginger being starry eyed per usual was almost a relief. Like things hadn't changed between the three of them that much. But Tom was never able to sleep through the night. Edd often got up to make them some tea, and they wouldn't talk. Even if they were talking, it wasn't about anything in particular. It wasn't about what happened on that day. Maybe it would be about the weather, or if they had any success as a delivery driver.
A knock came from the door.
Edd turned towards Matt, a puzzled look crossing his face. "Did you order pizza?" It was an earnest question, but Matt shook his head no. After all, he surely would've remembered if he had ordered pizza, right? Despite Edd's... skeptical look, he stood up to get the door. A deep wave of nausea washed over Tom, leading him to jump up and grab at Edd's wrist, nails digging into soft skin.
"This doesn't feel right." Tom eventually growled out, though his tone was soft. He had almost gone pale, a facial expression that was only reserved for the death of a pineapple deep in his memories. "They knock too hard to be... Whatever. I don't care. Do what you want."
Yet, this unsettled feeling didn't stop. Whatever was behind their front door was seriously freaking out Tom. Enough so that he would retreat back into his own room, leaving Edd and Matt to deal with the immediate fallout. Though, Tom wouldn't leave his friends to whatever twisted fate was behind that door. No, he had gotten a baseball bat from his room, and was pressed up against the hallway. From this angle, Tom could barely see the doorway, but he could see enough. Edd removing the lock's chain, twisting the door handle. Matt not paying him any mind whatsoever as he continued to watch his program. Yet, he couldn't hear everything that was being said. This supposed pizza person didn't speak very loudly, so it was fortunate that he was able to pick up on Edd's side of the conversation.
"Haha, no, this is unit 903, you're looking for 309. They're just a few floors down, and the elevator is working." It seemed that Edd wasn't interested in lying so that they could get a few free pizzas. Something about this entire situation still felt off to Tom, but he couldn't place a finger on it. Just that there was something making his nerves act like a live wire, reacting before he was even thinking. The man in the green hoodie shut the door, locking it behind him before turning to face the other two, "See? It wasn't anything weird, just a delivery boy who got lost. It's not something to be worried about. If nothing else, they should give us a good discount the next time that we do order."
Matt's head had turned slightly to listen to what Edd had been saying, but his eyes were still glued to the tv. Switching the channels every few minutes whenever another interruption about the Red Leader would mess up whatever it was that he was watching. Various shades of blue, yellow, and reds would reflect off of his pale face from the tv screen. Before Edd could even reach the couch, there was another knock at the door. The entire apartment went eerily silent, except for the resonating audio that seemed to be some form of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. A grimace flickered across his face as he turned back, hoping to not have to assist yet another lost delivery boy. As Edd was reaching for the door handle again, the door itself would splinter across the middle.
A heavy boot had collided against it, breaking it in. The chain laid slack, shattered from the force. Two men stormed into the room, each of them pointing a weapon at either Edd or Matt. "What the bloody hell?!" Edd put his hands up, backing toward Matt so that he could grab onto him for comfort. Matt, on the other hand, immediately jumped up to hug onto Edd, thinking that Tom had abandoned the pair of them to go be "emo" off in his own room. "Wh.. Whats going on? We didn't do anything!" Matt insisted, tears watering at his eyes. The men who had just invaded their personal space were in navy blue uniforms, red and gold lining every inch of it. If it wasn't obvious already, the insignia of the Red Leader was embossed upon both of their sleeves. One nameplate read "Paul" as the other was simply "Patryk."
"Get on the ground with your hands in front of you, and no one gets hurt." The taller of the two barked out, Patryk's weapon pushing up against Matt's stomach, the muzzle of the gun digging into plush fat from years of poor diet. Edd knelt to the floor, any words he was going to say dying on his tongue. His eyes flicked around the room, looking to use anything to their advantage.
With their backs turned away from Tom, the eyeless man finally decided that it was time for him to attack. The sound of heavy boots against the floorboards was enough to alert him generally to where they were in the living room, immediately aiming to bash his baseball bat against Paul's head from behind. Just as the wood was about to meet skull with a sickening thwack, the impossible occurred. A third pair of heavy boots. The Red Leader himself. Tord. A mechanical hand was wrapped around the baseball bat and pulling it out of his grip. Tord crossed the distance between the pair of them in an instant, throwing a punch that Tom was barely able to block.
It was almost as though he could feel the rattle of the hit in his teeth, rather than just in his arm bones. But this wasn't the time to worry about a happy reunion, Matt and Edd were still in danger. Tom caught Tord with a hit to the jaw, enough to make the red leader wipe away blood from where his gums had been hit. A shame, looks like world domination took over all the time he had for flossing. Though, something was different. There was no look of fear in Tord's eyes, only self righteous fury. Like this was the rematch that he had been waiting so long for. Tord grabbed Tom by the front of his shirt, slamming him against the brick wall behind him. Right where he had been hiding while watching his two friends be taken prisoner. Hostage. Kidnapped.
"Get off me!" Tom barked, and oh, if looks could kill, Tord would be 6 feet under right now. Hell, maybe even beyond 6 feet. He was probably as close as digging through the world and popping out of the other side, should Tom have miraculously gained that ability. The purple scales were growing in full force now, blanketing around human flesh. Tord tilted his head, a mocking smirk dancing across his lips, "Oh? Well isn't that just fascinating."
This was the kind of distraction that would cost the red leader dearly, Tom managing to shove him back with enough force to make him stumble back, barely catching himself on the back of the couch with his robotic arm. A pistol that had been dangling loosely on the Red Leader's hip hit the floor, and both of them turned to face the weapon. This wasn't a kidnapping. This was a murder plan in action. Both of them immediately rushed for the weapon, in the tussle, Tom ended up swatting away Tord with... his tail? When did that grow in? Thick, and covered in purple scales. It was almost akin to a dragons, but without any of the familiar plumage. Demonic, deep purple horns curved out in front of his head, his fingertips becoming a charcoal black. With this physical transformation deep underway, it seemed that Paul and Patryk became disinterested with Edd and Matt, rather wanting to make sure that Tord was okay as the two of them were struggling for the gun.
"Run! I'll be fine!" Tom growled, though the voice saying those words was most definitely not his own. He could feel his own vocal cords become more stiff, language becoming a foreign thing on his tongue as a literal beast tore through him from the inside out. Matt paused for a second too long, wanting to help Tom before Edd had begun to drag him away. Tord fired what felt like something that was skin to a beam of pure light and heat toward the pair trying to escape, hitting Matt in the eye and lower jaw. The man in the dual purple and green overcoats screamed in pain, having to be evacuated by Edd.
Despite the three men's best efforts, Tom could not be controlled or contained in this state. He had stopped fighting with Tord once he was able to break the gun, ensuring that it would never be able to fire and fatally injure anyone. Paul and Patryk were running circles around him, trying to distract the monster that Tom knew he was going to become. Tord had realized by now that chasing after Edd and Matt was a lost cause, he would have to simply go after them at a later time. That thick tail would sweep Paul off of his feet, the monster turning to dig his claws into him before Patryck would jump on his back, pulling Tom off of the other member of the Red Army. Tord seemed to have had enough of all of this, clawing his way towards Tom. Throughout all the trashing, there was one thing that became obvious. Tom had to be taken alive. He had to be researched. A monster like this could benefit the Army and, in return, benefit Tord. Finally, ruining the man who had ruined his life all of those years ago. A sickening science project.
Tom slammed backward, sandwiching Patryk into the ground before he had the chance to pounce on Tord, thick tail whipping around, knocking out a lamp during the encore of their fight. Just before those mighty claws would come down again, Tom's vision began to blur. Tord, still pinned underneath him had only what could be described as a shit eating grin. "Classic, stupid, Tom." He muttered, just loud enough for the two of them to hear. In his hands was a heavy sedative, one that had just been injected into Tom. The monsterous form growled once again, raising a heavy claw to strike down before stumbling backward, limping his way into a corner. Even as his nerves began to shut down, and sleep grew heavy on his eyelids, Tom refused to stop fighting. Thrashing and hitting until he couldn't, heavy body hitting the floor with a thump that would bewilder anyone. The monster form retreated upon the loss of consciousness, bones snapping and configuring to allow Tom to appear mostly human from the outside view.
Tord was wiping blood from his mouth, an ugly gash underneath his jaw. It seems that Tom just couldn't help himself but continue to aim for his already ruined face. Thick burn scars covered half of his face, an eye patch covering an eye that is now milky white and blinded. A sling was wrapped around Paul's arm, while Patryk had made himself a makeshift splint until they were able to get back onto base. "Sir, what are we going to do with... him?" Paul eventually asked Tord as Patryk patched up the Red Leader to the best of their ability.
"Well, we obviously need to study whatever the hell it was that just took over Thomas' body. He'll be... hm, not a guest of honor. No, he will be the prisoner of honor. Keep him separated from the general population and await my next command." Tord ordered, monotone as he inhaled smoke. Though, he was careful to not blow the miasma clouds onto anyone's faces. Well, anyone but Tom's, who was still peacefully asleep on the floor. His arms were tied behind his back, and his legs were tied together. No way for him to get out of that without transforming again. Hopefully, he'd be asleep long enough to not have to get another dose of sedatives. Carefully, with one of his leather boots, he tilted Tom's chin up. Closed eyes and heavy limbs didn't give any resistance. Tord snickered at the thought, Tom, proud Tom, left simpering like a dog at his feet. What a thought that would be. For now, he had to return to the main base of the Red Army. There was no time to play pretend with his new toy.