guess what! I'm still on my shit and I was thinking about the different groups in the Dream SMP. The Syndicate particularly. The big 4 would be Phil, Technoblade, Niki, and Ranboo. That's them.
They're our beloved mobsters and with that thought I circled back to the MANY supervillain au's where the Syndicate is made up of basically all of SBI, Beeduo, Jack is there with Niki, and then our lovely Las Nevadas bois Q and Slime. I have yet to see Foolish there but he's an honorable mention
The Dream Team and their various comrades are commonly seen as "heroes" so-
This got me thinking. The real Syndicate, the og 4 mentioned above is a mafia group. They're mean and exclusively do things themselves. They have money, they have power, but it's all their own and no one has dared take it from them. Except for our lovely rival mafia that was founded out of spite by the Syndicate's head honchos oldest son who basically stole his youngest son to keep him from being influenced.
L'manberg. Aka The Revolutionists. They specialize in causing havoc without hardly lifting a finger or revealing who the hell they really are. They're great at expressing their intentions without being seen. Some call them cowards, and those people are quickly snuffed out.
Now, who is L'manberg you might ask.
Well obviously Wilbur is the eldest son I mentioned and he took Tommy when he was young to get away from Phil's violent business before Tommy got drug into it as a child as Wilbur did. Wilbur tries to convince Technoblade to join them but his brother craves violence and is forever loyal to their fierce father.
In a habit of taking in those who he wishes to keep out of Phil's violent path, Wilbur finds Fundy and takes him in as well. Then along comes Eret, and eventually Tubbo. Others come and "help" L'manberg but they never get close enough to find out who exactly is a participant in the Revolutionists.
There are a few that get in but go through a process to leave as long as they promise to help when called for, and L'manberg will extend their protection to them as well.
These people are few and far between, most of them never being heard from again. But one man...one man causes issues for both the Syndicate and L'manberg.
Quackity Nevadas forms a vigilante group called the Butcher Army where both people from L'manberg and the Syndicate join in. This causes issues and under an alliases of Orpheus and Theseus, Wilbur and Tommy meet with Phil and Techno (who is the Army's target) to get their men back. Of course, everyone from L'manberg is require to keep their identities secret under any and all circumstances. Fundy, Eret, and Tubbo are not real names. They're covers. Even Wilbur doesn't know their real names and they don't know his. They call him Mr. President, and Tommy is Vice.
In the Butcher Army they keep their identities secret as well, Quackity being one of the only ones who flaunts his. In L'manberg he was known as Q which was short for his new allias Quackity but people don't know this and assume that Quackity's parents were just odd since it was weird for a villain to go by two names without one of them being their real one.
With time, Techno dismantles the hunting party for his head without much trouble and both Fundy and Tubbo return to L'manberg with a thourough scolding from their President. Fundy is particularly affected by this because at this point he has considered Wilbur a kind of father figure, or at least a big brother.
(Side note: Everyone in L'manberg doesn't know Wilbur and Tommy are actually brothers. Phil and Technoblade don't know Wilbur and Tommy are Orpheus and Theseus.)
I've gotten a little off track here and forgot to explain in depth how the Syndicate/L'manberg meeting went.
No one has met President and Vice. No one's seen their faces, no one even knows if they exist really besides the ones in L'manberg and even then the both of them stay behind screens during meetings. Wilbur has made sure of that because he knows that if Phil wants to, he can find out who is running the show with the smallest bit of information. Fundy is the closest one to Wilbur and all he knows is that he's tall and has brown hair.
This leads to Phil (who is known on the street as Zephyrus) and Technoblade (The Blood God) not having a clue that their forgotten family is right in front of them. (who they think either left the city or were killed in one of the many villain hero fights (Wilbur totally didn't plant evidence of their bodies to get Phil off their tracks when they first left or anything))
Wilbur knows, Tommy doesn't because he was too young and Wilbur never exactly told him who Zephyrus and The Blood God really were. Anyway here's the little scene I cooked up from the POV of Wilbur:
"I was told we were meeting with the heads of L'manberg. Not some two bit lieutenants." The Blood God snarled. Technoblade. Wilbur itched to punch him, it was always like that when they met. Only one of them knowing everything.
"Who are you calling two bit Tusks?" Tommy spat and Wilbur held back his little brother from lunging forward. Tommy's temper was vital and it made Wilbur smile underneath the carefully crafted mask. The voice modulator distorted Tommy's voice to a much lower pitch which didn't fit his height, but then again Tubbo sounded like a fucking smoker of 30 years some days with hardly even a surgical mask on.
"Easy Theseus." Wilbur warned.
"Get your dog under control." Technoblade demanded and that hurt. That made Wilbur's blood burn in confliction. If only he knew it all.
"Zephyrus if you would refrain your comrade from insulting mine that would be appreciated. This is business, not pleasure." Wilbur said cooly. His voice sounded so smooth, no cracking from dusty rooms and cheap cologne. Ivory keys in a symphony.
"Blood." Zephyrus obliged. Phil, oh Phil made Wilbur angry. All he saw in the glimpses of his face behind the veil was the violence of his own childhood. Phil wasn't abusive, he was rough when he needed to be and overall it was fairly normal. But his expectations...they crushed Wilbur even now. Good thing he thought he was dead.
"Blood God is right, we were told we were meeting with President and Vice of L'manberg. Not their subordinates. We don't even know who you are." Phil was careful in his tone. Cold and daring for aggression.
"We're who they send to do their business. I'm Orpheus and this is Theseus." Wilbur kept a steady hand on Tommy's shoulder. The tight leather gloves over his hands flexed as Tommy tensed to move. Impatient as always.
"Cowards." Technoblade scoffed and Wilbur snapped his head to the one he used to call his brother. If there was one thing he couldn't stand to be called, it was coward. Bastard, fucker, idiot, two bit trash. A burning ship drowning everyone around him. Call him anything but coward. He was just trying to protect those he loved.
"Say that again." Wilbur said low and the voice modulator almost didn't pick up his voice correctly and there was a fault. A glitch and the illusion of Orpheus' voice was ruined.
"You use voice modulators?" Zephyrus inquired and Wilbur cleared his throat. Tommy was practically begging to jump at Technoblade, but Wilbur knew he'd be skewered before he even moved an inch.
"Our identities are sacred if you couldn't tell." Wilbur lifted his chin to reveal just how high his turtleneck went and a dark beanie fully covered his hair. The mask he wore took up his entire face and another mask under it covered his lower jaw and anything on the side that might show. Tommy had his hoodie and similar ski mask material covering his features. The hood over his hair was secured to the mask, so any possibility of it coming off was unlikely.
"Right." Zephyrus examined them and Wilbur could feel those bright blue eyes running alone every crack and crevice of his body to try and find something to use. A description of his hands, a fault in his stance or posture. A habit. Anything.
"Orpheus and Theseus. Mythological heroes. Interesting choice." Phil noticed and Wilbur's blood ran cold.
"Don't analyze, don't analyze, don't analyze." He begged in his head and tore the conversation away from the topic.
"Orpheus wasn't a hero, and Theseus killed his father technically. I wouldn't call them heroes." Wilbur hissed and he saw Phil's eyes blink knowingly. There was his information. All he needed. Wilbur knew his greek fairytales. In a city full of crime, those who were educated enough to even think of those stories were few. Let alone be well versed in them enough to know the technicalities of them all.
"We're not here to chat over aliases." Technoblade cut in and Wilbur clenched his fist, removing his hand from Tommy and folding them neatly behind his back.
"Right. The Butcher Army is after your head and it consists of both our people." Wilbur smiled behind his mask. Force of habit to appear charming and all.
"No habits. Stop it. Phil will notice." He reminded himself and dropped the smirk. He didn't know if there was anything in his body language to show the grin but he didn't want to risk it.
"Your men are leading it." Technoblade reminded him and Wilbur felt the sting of Quackity's betrayal. And just after losing Eret. It hurt like a bitch to remember.
"Quackity is not one of ours. He completed President's exit trial." Tommy had stilled his temper apparently and Wilbur sent a silent thanks to the heavens.
"I wasn't aware people could leave L'manberg." Phil observed curiously and Wilbur bared his teeth behind the mask.
"It's a difficult task, like everything else and if you'll notice, Quackity isn't exactly untouched." There was an ugly scar running down the man's chest where Wilbur had sliced him. Quackity had earned his keep, and his silence, so Wilbur was forced to send him to a healer known as Ponk. Ponk was in a duo with a technician Wilbur knew as Warden. Warden made all their technology at a costly price, and his loyalty was undecided. He was a neutral party and Wilbur had reluctantly agreed to offer them protection in exchange for services.
"That doesn't change the fact that two more known L'manberg members are in the Butcher Army." Phil reminds him and Wilbur straightens his back at the threatening tone.
"Doesn't change the fact that one of your trusted members is as well." Wilbur looked to Technoblade. "I wonder what violence you must've done to him to make Ranboo hate you enough to join your own murder gang."
Technoblade growled. Oh he growled and Wilbur growled back.
"Prince doesn't hate me." Technoblade growled the code name and Wilbur chuckled, stepping in front of Tommy and facing his brother.
"Ranboo, has met with us a few times himself. He's taken a fondness to-" Tommy kicks Wilbur in the calf and Wilbur blinks. The enchantment vanishes and Wilbur steps away.
Adrenaline; that was part of Technoblade's powers. Causing so much of it to go through a person they don't think clearly until its too late. Perfect for hunting down those who've crossed him and the Syndicate.
"Fond of who? Go on." Technoblade dared and bared his fangs in an ugly smirk. Wilbur scowled.
"This was supposed to be peaceful." Wilbur muttered, lacing his Influence into his tone. Technoblade blinked away the magic quickly, it was weak, only meant to suggest the idea of calming things down. nothing that would alert Phil at whose powers his own were so similar to.
"It is." Phil said, Wilbur's voice had never worked on him. Probably something to do with those damn bird traits of his.
"You've done nothing but threaten and accuse." Tommy stepped back to Wilbur's side.
"Allegedly." Phil said and flared his black wings. "You take care of your own, and we'll handle ours. how's that sound?"
There was something ominous. Something warning and teasing and something that told Wilbur that Phil knew something he shouldn't. A habit of presenting himself as charming and intelligent surely couldn't be enough to narrow it down. Phil did like the hunt though.
That much Wilbur knew for a fact.
Anyways, I'm working on maybe making an A03 account and publishing this fic there. I need a title though. I didn't expect this to turn into something. This started as an AU rant...now I need titles and I'll figure out a proper name for the AU later