#kryptonite au

So Future AU with Tord as Red Leader. Edd, as PowerEdd, has been the figurehead of the rebellion against the Red Army ever since he made his first appearance. No one watching him knows that this hero-villain rivalry is a lot more… personal.

After all, I knew it had to be something to do with you

When the Red Army was first making moves, Edd knew that Tord was behind it, and despite the giant robot incident still felt fairly conflicted about facing his ‘old friend’. He was tentatively okay with just pretending that Tord hadn’t existed after the robot incident, and his resurfacing led to the resurfacing of …feelings that Edd didn’t really know what to do with. Edd is able to put his feelings aside when fighting against Tord’s army mainly because he knows everyone else is suffering (and he needs his cola).

PowerEdd succeeds in defeating Red Leader… or at least in taking him down. The regime collapses when its leader suddenly goes missing after the destruction of Red Leader’s flagship combat robot. PowerEdd is largely viewed as responsible for this, and is even more of a hero than he already was to the rebellion. But what no one saw was PowerEdd pulling Tord from the wreckage of his robot, dragging him down to the one resistance base only he knew the location of, and trying to patch him up as best as he can.

Tord, of course, is baffled. Why is Edd, who he has been fighting against for the past however long, nursing him back to health? He’s don’t all this shit to him, to them, and Edd is at his side?! The radiation must have driven him crazy, because he certainly doesn’t deserve this. But he had to admit that it was nice being able to talk to Edd again. He hadn’t had someone talk to him as an equal since he became Red Leader, and certainly no one had taken care of him before. Of course, Tord tries to figure out a way to get back into power, but keeps getting distracted by Edd and his constant worrying.

Edd… Edd doesn’t know what he’s doing. Tord has tried to kill him and his friends multiple times, and may have succeeded, since Matt and Tom, originally serving under Tord, vanished some time before Tord was defeated (I’ll be honest I don’t know what to do with Matt and Tom here, but I think having them absent in some way would explain Edd’s mental state. Does Tord know what happened to them? Maybe, but he’s not telling). By all logic Edd should have blasted Tord away along with his robot. But some bizarre part of him is holding onto the hope that if he could just talk to Tord, just get through to him, they could reconcile and find Tom and Matt and things would be like old times. The past few months of battle had almost felt familiar to him, and if Tord felt that too, then maybe they could stay together this time. Maybe the radiation did make him nuts.

I really don’t mind what happens, now and then/As long as you’ll be my friend at the end

After the initial celebration after the downfall of the Red Army, the public realizes that Red Leader himself is still at large. Practical minds are alarmed at a dictator roaming free, while the rest of the public is angrier. To them, the regime only truly ends with Red Leader dead. PowerEdd, as the last person to see Red Leader alive, comes under a bit of scrutiny, but is mostly able to keep it under control. That is, until he’s spotted with Tord in civilian form after a badly-planned attempt to get him to a real doctor. Faced with the leftover weapons of the Red Army in the hands of new governments, Edd has no choice but to use his powers to get Tord (and himself, he supposes) back to safety.

If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?

The public is outraged. Betrayed. Their hero, harboring the Red Leader? What had PowerEdd been fighting for? Hadn’t he saved lives? Had he been working for the Red Army the whole time? PowerEdd goes from beloved to hated in a very short time. Any appearances he makes, even doing the most stock-standard heroic things like saving people from a burning building, are met with scorn. Edd isn’t sure anymore if he’s the hero they need, but he’s certainly not the one they want.

Edd and Tord have run-ins with the law and the public more than once after this initial incident. Each time, Edd is fiercely protective of Tord, even as Tord regains his strength and is capable of defending himself. Tord has to admit that it’s nice having someone protect him of their own volition rather than because they’re following orders. Edd still doesn’t know why he’s doing this. Isn’t he supposed to be the hero? Surely this goes against everything he’s been doing up until this point? Tord is Edd’s personal Kryptonite, and the rest of the world is just going to have to deal with it.

I keep you by my side with my superhuman might, Kryptonite

when wilbur finally turns to face him, his eyes are wide, and he reaches up to run a hand through his disheveled curls.

"i- i'm not." he eventually replies, words quiet and sounding more like a question than an actual statement.

dream steps closer, stomach twisting when wilbur backs away.

he just doesn't get what happened.

only a week ago, they were sitting in this very room, drinking tea and giggling about the guy in the street below getting his hot dog stolen by a bird.

he wants that back, wants to laugh with wilbur again, wants to listen to him sing, wants to finally ask him on a date the way he planned to since his first day here.

but he can't do that if wilbur won't talk to him.

which brings them back to now, wilbur pressed against the counter of their little office kitchen, lying straight to dream's face.

he takes a small breath, smiling softly and sadly at wilbur.

"please be honest. i know you are. i just... i just want to understand why. and if it's something i did, let me apologize."

he's not ashamed of how distraught his voice sounds, trying hard to meet wilbur's eyes.

the other just averts his gaze, plucking at the sleeves of his white button-up.

"it's not- i don't-"

he interrupts himself with a frustrated sigh before he shrinks even further into himself, uncertainty and fear practically radiating off of him.

dream suddenly wishes his superpower was mind reading.

risking a tiny step closer, he quietly says, "i want to understand, wil. please. i have no idea what happened for you to not like me anymore, but i'm sor-"

"i know!"

wilbur's sudden exclamation brings dream's apology to a halt as his eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"what?" he asks, attention fixed on wilbur's dark eyes and the countless emotions in them. dream can recognize fear, worry, desperation, hope, guilt, all mixed together in the warm brown of wilbur's gaze.

he doesn't get where they're coming from.

"i know." wilbur repeats, much softer now.

his eyes wander down to dream's chest before they drop to the floor, and wilbur swallows, explains, "i know what's under that shirt."

in many other situations, dream probably would've used that as the base of a very bad joke.

but with the distress written all over wilbur's features and the actual implications his sentence brings, dream can't really get himself to gloss over it.

"you do?" he asks instead, unsure and concerned.

wilbur looks close to tears when he nods, voice trembling when he whispers, "i have a photo."

dream barely has time to register the words, his heart skipping a beat, before wilbur continues, "and i don't- i don't know what to do! i- i could finally write something important and just not be- be the person everyone overlooks all the time. and i could pay my dad's bills and not feel so fucking useless anymore and-"

he really is crying now, tears rolling down his cheeks, words fast and panicked.

dream's heart hurts, and he has no idea if it's for himself or wilbur.

"but i don't- don't want to hurt you. you deserve better than having your life exposed like that. because you do good and you are good and i like you so much-"

his voice breaks as his eyes meet dream's, looking unbelievable afraid. it makes something in dream's chest twist painfully, the thought that wilbur could ever be scared of him or the things he could say almost unbearable.

but when he tries to reach out, wilbur runs.

and, still reeling from all the new knowledge, dream doesn't follow.

it's only after what feels like hours that he comes back to himself and collapses into a chair, the weight of all the sudden revelations heavy on his shoulders.