"Tom...?? H-hey, what's gotten into—"

"STEP BACK, MATT. DON'T YOU DARE GET ANY CLOSER TO ME!" Tom yells, falling down to his knees. The atmosphere around him began to glow purple, vision slowly becoming inverted.

...It was painful.

"I'm gonna go call mom and dad. Th-they might know what to do...Tom, please hold on!" Edd hurriedly rushes off. Not knowing what else to do, Matt follows, giving one last concerned glance at Tom.

"Ah...fuck." Tom winces in pain. His horns and tails were suddenly becoming more and more visible.

Tord was worried yet astonished by the phenomenon. He had heard about Tom's outbursts before back at the orphanage, but he never saw it in person.

"...Look, I have never seen you like this in person before, but shouldn't you be knocked out by now? You'd be experiencing the less pain and—"

"Just stop, Tord! I don't want to hear another word! I just—I can't!"

Tom hated to admit that he did make a valid point. This shouldn't be happening. He should've been knocked unconscious before he even knows that he transformed. Why is he aware of his surroundings? Why does he have to be conscious throughout the entire process?! Why is it coming back? After regressing it for so long, why is it coming back now?!?

He sees the door open once more and two feminine figures emerge from it. Both him and Tord turn around in shock, the girls' faces were coated with shock and fear. "W-what...what happened...?" Ell asks, her voice was wrapped with uneasiness and you were clutching onto her arm tightly.

Seeing that look on your face, knowing exactly why it's like that, hurt Tom deeply. He hung his head down in shame. You seeing him like this, was all too unbearable on top of the non-stop pain he was feeling throughout his body.

He couldn't look at you, not with that look on your face. You'd seen the worst of him. You wouldn't accept him now. Knowing this side of him. Definitely not now, not never, not in a million ye—

"(Y-Y/N)?! Hey, what are you—!!" Tord's voice was full of panic when he sees you suddenly rushing up to the half transformed monster.

Tom was covered with your embrace, his head laid on your chest as you supported the both of you on the ground.
His senses were getting weaker by the minute but somehow, someway, he was still able to feel your warmth and smell your scent. It was as if it overpowered everything else. Even the pain subsided for a moment.

But realization hit him once he heard your heartbeat. It was beating fast. Too fast. He knew instantly that was because you were scared, yet here you were, holding him in your chest like it was normal.

You're not comfortable at all.

"I-Idiot! St-stop, stop it, stop it. I don't want to hurt you, (Y/N)!! Please let go of me!" Due to his weakened senses, he wasn't able to pry you off him like he usually would.

You were persistent.

"I know this hurts, but please you have to relax and let me comfort you." You said softly, your breath shaky. He ignored this and keeps trying to get out of your grasps. You didn't say anything as you held on to him even tighter.

Eventually, tears starting to fall down the male's face and finally, he wrapped his arms around you too.

"I...I just...I want to be numb. I don't want to feel anything..." He sobs into your shirt.

"I know, Tom." You give a telling glance at the other two people in the room, signaling that you might want some privacy. Tord opened his mouth, probably to object, but was dragged away by Ell by the hood. Before stepping out, she gave you a look that says, "We're outside if anything happens" and you give her a simple nod in reply.

Tom flinched. You look down to see blackish-purple stains on his skin. The transformation is still going.

"It's going to be alright. I'm right here. The pain's going to stop soon."

You noticed that it was getting harder to breathe. Tom was changing the atmosphere around him, it felt like you were breathing in the air of a toxic apocalypse.

But you weren't gonna let go. If you were gonna pass out, you're gonna pass out securing Tom wrapped around your arms.

~

Everything was dark. There was no solid ground to stand on, you were basically floating in this abyss. You felt compelled to say something, but you couldn't speak. Not a single word you wanted to say would come out.

All of a sudden, a bright light projected from underneath you, sucking you into a rainy day.

You were standing near a lamppost, watching 5 familiar figures walking in raincoats. They look like they ranged from 6 to 8 years old. You knew this place like the back of your hand. You watch the 5 children walk into the all-so familiar front yard. They didn't seem to notice your presence at all.

Not knowing what else to do, you followed them inside.

"Mama, papa! We're home!" The child in blue announced, which was probably a younger Tom.

"Kids! Welcome back! No one slipped in the rain, right?" Pauline appears from the kitchen, helping Edd, Ell, and Matt to take off their raincoats and boots.

"Of course! Not under my watch!" Tord exclaims proudly which Pauline giggles at.

"Your clothes are already on your beds, make sure to change into them then dry off in the living room. The heater will be on so you won't get cold. Make sure to do your homework. I'm going to be making bangers and mash today!"

The children cheered, quickly making their way upstairs to change.

You find yourself unconsciously smiling. This was way before your arrival in the neighborhood. None of them were asking if they can come over to your house or if you were coming over to play today.

You look around in the house. Nothing's changed.

In a few minutes, the 5 children all came running down, some had their Gameboy and some brought books and notebooks. The aroma of fried chicken sausages filled the entire living room.

Oliver arrived not too soon after dinner was announced, and the family gathered in the dining table. The children shared stories of how their day was that day and some asked for help for the homework that was assigned.

"Before going to bed tonight, daddy wants to show you kids something. So make sure that after brushing your teeth, you come down in the living room okay?"

"What is that something, daddy?" Ell asks, tilting her head in a cute way.

"Hm, well, you see, you all have special blood within you. It sometimes bad to be special, so tonight, I'm going to take that blood out of you."

"What if we die?! Don't we need blood to live?" Tord asks.

"Of course you need to have blood! Daddy won't be taking all of the blood from you, just the special ones. Tom has blood that is able to transform him into a monster, and his ability is the most active out of all of you. Tord, Ell, and Edd still haven't had theirs manifested, but for Matt, it had been active since he was born."

The children all looked confused, except for Tom, who had his head down.

"I see that you're wondering what I'm talking about. See, Matt is releasing this invisible chemical around him that makes people seem attracted to him. He has no control over this and only ever works on clueless people. But naturally liking him is a very different thing. Tord is said to have great senses towards metal. This contributes to his liking toward robots and Edd and Ell's 5 senses are heightened to max. These might sound cool when I say it, but your special traits could be proven to be dangerous. Not just in the way Tom's trait can be."

"Why is this not normal? Wh-why does it have to be us, daddy?" Edd asks, similarly tilting his head the way his twin sister had done earlier.

This time, Pauline decides to speak up, finally giving Oliver the chance to eat his food. "You see sweetie, all five of you were exposed to radiation when you were all babies. Radiation is bad chemicals that you breathe in that damages you inside. Too much radiation and you might die, but in some form of miracle, you survived that radiation, and the bad chemicals began to change your cells slowly but surely, to the point that it became a part of you. This is still radiation, so daddy will need to take the bad blood out of you so that you can live a longer life!"

Silence fell on the dining table, and no one bothered to ask any more questions.

"Alright, continue eating your food then brush your teeth right after." Pauline claps her hands together and the chattering started once more.

Your heart felt heavy. This was all so new information. You always knew Pauline and Oliver were scientists that were always busy with the job they have in Australia and were always looking for new things to discover. The fact that the children they adopted all had some kind of ability can not be a coincidence right? Could it be that Pauline and Oliver only adopted them because of their special traits and not the fact that they wanted to start a family?

You can't start going into conclusions now. You're not even sure if you're seeing a flashback from Tom's mind or you're just having a ridiculously vivid and realistic dream.

You took a step forward and the ground wasn't there anymore. The visuals you see in front of you start cracking, next thing you know, you were falling.

After falling for a significant amount of time, you landed on your feet. It didn't hurt, probably because this wasn't your physical body.

You were standing in a dimly lit room with only a desk lamp providing a warm orangey light. A younger Tom was sitting on a table, kicking his feet around while Oliver prepares some medical equipment on the side.
This was probably after the dinner scene you saw.

"Okay, Tom. I want you to close your eyes for me and think of only happy things. I don't want to scare you, but this will hurt. Daddy will be as gentle as he can, okay?" The man warns.

"I don't mind, dad. As long as you're able to finally get rid of him, I'd go through anything."

"Him? You consider your special trait as a living entity?" Oliver asks.

"I mean, do nonliving things give you random negative thoughts and possess you from time to time? I didn't think so."

Tom's sarcastic nature had already developed within him at that age, you couldn't help but smile. Oliver replied with a chuckle, gently holding Tom's upper arm while holding the syringe in another arm.

You watch as the empty syringe began to fill with blood. Oliver stops when it was at its max capacity. Tom still hadn't opened his eyes. "Tom? You can open your eyes now." Oliver says after patching the spot that he injected.

Still, Tom seemed to be taking a nap.

And the heavy feeling in your heart weighed even more.

Oliver lightly nudged Tom once more, resulting in an immediate bright glow that illuminated the whole room in purple as Tom opened his eyes. Oliver rushed to one of the drawers nearby and began to scramble for something.

Tom's transformation was even more heartbreaking seeing a younger version of him having to experience this pain. He was crying and kicking and screaming as the familiar horns and tail began to emerge from his tiny body, and all you wanted was to embrace him again, to comfort him that everything will be okay again, but you were just some apparition.

This was a memory.

Oliver found another syringe, this time filled with what looked like neon green liquid, and slowly approached Tom. Once he was close enough, he stabbed the syringe into the child's neck.

Once again, the ground disappeared underneath you, and you were pulled back into darkness.

~

Your eyes flashed open and the bright light immediately blinded your vision.

"TOM!" You sit up instantly, getting a panicked reaction from Ell, who was watching over you in your room.

"(Y/N)! Please lie back down, your—"

"Where's Tom? What happened to him? Is he okay?? Where are the others?!" You immediately recall everything that happened before you fell unconscious.

Ell looked shocked, she expected you to be at least a little lightheaded and half-conscious, but it seemed that you were fine.

...Aside from the dark purple patches on your skin.

"Look, I don't know either. I stayed with you ever since mom and dad made it to the scene. They told me to not leave you and I did. That was 3 hours ago." Ell explains.

And the clock had read 1 A.M.

"Lie back down. Matt, Edd, and Tord are with mom and dad and I'm sure Tom's fine. Anyways, dad told me I need to inject you this serum when you woke up, it'll help lessen the patches on your body." She added, pulling out a syringe containing the same neon green liquid you saw in your dream.

"Wh-what is that?" You question.

"I don't know."

Your gut did not trust this. Whatever this thing was. However, you stayed quiet as Ell cleaned the spot the syringe was to be put into.

You closed your eyes and let Ell slowly inject you with the serum. You didn't feel anything.

"...Does it hurt?" Ell asks, concerned.

"No, not at all...is it suppose to be like this?"

"Maybe? Tord was also injected with that since he also inhaled some of the chemicals Tom was emitting, and I don't know if it hurt him in any way."

You looked down, your heart was still pounding from the dream.
You wanted to go to wherever the others were right now, but your legs feel like noodles. You inhale and exhale, "Ell, um, could you maybe grab me a glass of water?" You said.

Ell nods and rushes out of your room, leaving your thoughts to yourself.

...Why? Why does life never give you any time to take things in? You were still in mourning for Grandma Susan but fate decides that your life still doesn't have enough drama within it.

You gripped your shirt to where your heart was. After all this, you just really needed a glass of water.

Ell comes back a while later with the glass of water. You gulped it down within seconds.

"I just want to ask..what happened back there?" Ell asks.

"Honestly, I have no idea myself. I acted before I could think and I just had to hold him in my arms to...I don't know, comfort him? The atmosphere got the best of me and I must've passed out." You explain.

"Y-yeah...Tom looked so scary back there. After all these years, it just suddenly decided to come back."

"...Did your ability ever manifested, Ell?"

"My ability? I never had one. What makes you think that?" The brunette questions.

You looked at her, shocked. "What? B-but in my dream—all of you had abilities and...and Mr. Gold was supposed to extract the infected blood from all of you—"

The more things that came out of your mouth the more Ell looked lost.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" You sigh defeatedly.

"Nope."

And so, you went on to tell her about your dream you had after you were knocked unconscious.

"I don't remember any of that." Was all Ell was able to reply with, a firm frown was on her face. "Are you sure you weren't just...dreaming?"

"No! I'm sure what I saw was real. These patches are proof. These purple patches are a part of Tom—of the entity. Tord has to also at least felt some type of connection too. Where are they right now?" You asked, determined.

"U-uh...I don't exactly know..."

"Then call them!"

Ell was surprised with your sudden outburst, immediately standing up to get her phone.

'I need to know what exactly happened to you guys. What your parent's real intentions are. I'm going to get to the bottom of this even if it kills me.'

"This wasn't supposed to happen." Oliver paced around the room, thinking hard as 4 figures were laid unconscious, contained their separate chambers.

"I must've made a mistake somewhere. The fact that that monster was able to take hold of Tom's body again was out of the plan. What made him get so angry?" Oliver narrowed his eyes at a familiar ginger-haired male, sleeping soundly within his chamber. The man couldn't help but exhale deeply in annoyance.

"...I guess this means more work for me, then."

=~~~=
Guess who's back
back again
Tomato's back,
tell a friend.

is she staying?
we don't know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯