Chapter Text
The door was thrown open with a loud slam that caused both Techno and Phil to jump, each of them looking up in turn to see a panicked Ranboo standing in the threshold.
Phil was the first to air out the very obvious concern they were both thinking. “Ranboo? What’s wrong? And where’s Tommy? I thought you two left together.”
Ranboo was standing awkwardly, as though something was keeping him weighed down, and his arms were held in the air in a strange position. “It’s… Okay… Tommy’s right here, he’s just uh,” Ranboo gave a strange look towards the empty air next to him, and the more Phil looked, the easier it was to notice the swirling particles you’d typically see after a potion was used. “He’s having a moment.”
“How’d he get a hold of an invis potion?” Techno asked, sounding just as confused as Phil felt.
Ranboo shook his head. “That’s the thing, he didn’t. I- I wasn’t paying attention, and then there was a skeleton and then he- guy’s, he teleported.”
Phil blinked. “He what?”
“He teleported!” Ranboo repeated, enthusiasm lacing his voice, he looked almost excited. “And then he turned invisible too! So I think- I think I figured it out. All of it is like, some strange self defense mechanism, his code is like, utilizing the effects it’s learned and it’s been applying them to situations that seem dangerous-”
“Hey, I know I’m invisible right now and all,” Tommy’s voice echoed out into the room. “But can we maybe stop talking about me like I’m not here?”
Ranboo’s eyes widened as his head snapped back to where Tommy was. “Oh- Oh gosh, I’m so sorry, I didn't mean to-”
“Chill, I’m not- I’m used to it, it doesn't matter.” Tommy bit out.
“That doesn’t make it okay . Actually, that makes it worse.”
Tommy groaned. “Okay, fine, whatever. Just, stop doing that, okay? So, you said all… this , was some kind of weird self defense mechanism?”
No matter how many times he’d seen it, hearing someone talk while invisible always weirded Phil out. It was like speaking through a communicator, but the voice coming through was crisp and clean, no sort of interference. It left his nerves on edge, knowing that someone was there, but not being able to see them.
“Yeah, like- I don’t know what other kinds of potions you’ve taken, so I can’t really know what could trigger them. But it seems like the teleportation and invisibility work together as a way to get you away from the immediate danger and then hide you from it.” Ranboo explained, and Phil could hear Tommy huff.
“Okay, I got that part, but what the fuck does it mean for the blackouts?”
Ranboo looked downright puzzled at that. “Uh… Stress? You know how being stressed can give people headaches and things like that?”
“And… The glitching?” Phil asked.
“I don’t think it’s harmful,” Ranboo said assuredly. “I’ve interacted with Tommy enough times by now when the potions start up, it hasn’t had any noticeable effect on me, and as far as I can tell the actual glitching itself hasn’t hurt Tommy either.”
“I have to agree with him there, Phil. I haven’t noticed any sort of severe life altering issues, and unfortunately, no superpowers either.” Techno joked.
Phil nodded, he was still going to be wary himself, but it was good to know.
Tommy laughed bitterly. “I wouldn’t exactly call these superpowers, big man.”
Techno tilted his head. “Not yet, but everyone has to learn how to use their abilities, right? If what Ranboo said is true, you can probably stop being invisible whenever you want to by now.”
“And how the fuck am I supposed to do that?”
“Calming down, for starters.”
“Hey-!”
“What Techno is trying to say,” Phil butted in. “Is that you’re probably still a bit anxious from earlier, right?”
“Well why wouldn’t I be? I can’t fucking see myself and I have no idea when I’m going to go back to normal!” Tommy snapped.
“My point exactly. Now, let’s just start by taking a deep breath.”
Tommy growled. “Fuck you, I don’t need air.”
Techno groaned, already annoyed. “Tommy, stop being difficult and just listen for once.”
“How the the fuck am I supposed to feel safe around you?” Tommy shot back and Techno bristled.
“What’s that supposed to mean? If you don’t remember, I’m the one who kept you safe, and let you stay in my home, and then you decided to ditch me!”
“You sold me out! You lied to me, I did everything you told me to do, you didn’t do a single thing I asked for before moving on to revenge!” Tommy’s voice was shaking, and Phil silently wished he could see the boy, so he could know if it was from rage, or grief. “You didn’t uphold your end of the deal, I never agreed to blowing up L’Manburg, I told you multiple times that I didn’t want to and you decided to anyway before even thinking of doing a single thing for me that would have been difficult for you. So yeah, yeah, I left.
“And you know what you did with that, Techno? You gave me back to him, actually, no, you made me, and everyone else think that it would have been better for me to go back to that.”
“You’re the one who was saying you were friends! You’ve still been saying that since Ranboo dragged you back here!”
“Because that’s all I had! I think it was pretty fucking clear I couldn’t tell right from left, least of all whether someone actually had my best interest in mind or. Proof enough is that I actually trusted you. Bet that’s why you kept me around, huh? Because I was still so easy to trick and manipulate, right?”
“I never tricked you, Tommy-”
“Right, because that promise actually fucking meant something? You promised, no matter what happened, you would come help me, and guess who showed up when I sat there for months getting fucking tortured, that's right, not you!”
Ranboo, if Phil had to guess, holding Tommy’s hand. His brow was furrowed and his tail was twitching. That certainly wasn’t good, Phil was well aware of the signs of agitation in an enderman, and he didn’t want to know what one would do under the guise of protecting something.
This was a conversation that needed to be had, though, that much was painstakingly obvious, and trying to drag Ranboo away from it, and therefore Tommy and Techno, probably wouldn’t go over well. So he just had to hope Techno wouldn’t push too far, and that Ranboo would be able to keep his own emotions under wraps.
Techno sighed, long and heavy while running a hand down his face. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? But I don’t see how you expected me to know any of that was happening.”
“It never should have happened in the first place.” Ranboo bit out, and now it seemed like he was shielding Tommy with his own body, not that Techno or Phil could see him anyways.
“Okay, I get that. I do, but seriously, what am I supposed to do about it now?”
Tommy let out a heavy sounding breath. “Nothing you really can do, not like it matters anymore anyways. Just… Don’t even bother next time, I’m tired of waiting on someone to show up when aren’t going to try.”
Techno stared, baffled. “You can’t seriously want to go back, after all you just said-”
“Well I don’t want to stay here either. I’m either a problem, or a fuck charity case .” Ranboo stumbled, Tommy must’ve yanked his arm away or something. “He sucks, but- but at least he makes me feel like I’m actually important.”
“Tommy-”
“Whatever, it doesn’t fucking matter. I’m going to go lay down or some shit.”
Phil grabbed Techno’s arm when he tried to follow, shaking his head. In all truth, Tommy sounded downright fucking exhausted, and it was probably a good idea to give him some space, clearly he was still stressed, if the invisibility meant anything.
“Just, give him some time, alright? Both of you.” He shot a warning look at Ranboo who was attempting to sneak past them after Tommy. The ender hybrid deflated, turning to leave back out the door, though, not before shooting a single, sharp glare in their direction.
Techno just stared as he left. “Great, now both of the superpowered children are mad at me. Is this my villain arc, Phil?”
“They’ll calm down soon enough, you just need to make it up to them.”
“And how do I do that?”
Phil just laughed. “Sorry mate, I’ve reached my limit for handing out elderly wisdom today, you’ll have to figure that out yourself.”
“What? Phil, come on man, I can’t do all this emotional stuff- Phil, Phil no, don’t walk away, Phil!”